Revy angrily dropped the crate in the hold of the Lagoon torpedo boat, "Fuck, how many more of these do we have to move?" she kicked the crate, cracking the wood slightly.

"Only a few more, Revy," Rock said as he walked into the hold with a crate in his arms. He gingerly put it down next to Revy's, "Benny said this is the last batch."

"Hey, Rock, give me that earpiece for a second," he tossed her the earpiece. She put it in her ear and screamed, "Benny, you lazy fuck, why don't you get your ass away from your cyber slut for a few minutes and help us with the fucking shipment?"

Benny's laughter came over the earpiece, "Relax, Revy, it's not like—" the line went dead.

"Benny?" Revy screamed, "Hey, fucker, you better start talking before I shove that computer of yours so far down your throat you'll shit chat windows for a month…..BENNY, fuck." she threw the earpiece back to Rock.

"What's wrong?" Rock asked.

"Nothing, just finish loading the crates. I need to go talk to our technician about talking to his nympho-cyberfuck on the job."

As she walked out of the hold Rock heard her mumble something about giving Benny a new asshole….nothing out of the ordinary. He straightened up some of the crates before heading to the deck, "Hey, Revy, do you think you could wait till we've finished loading the shipment before killing our –"

*Bang*

He was cut off by a shot from a gun, 'Crap,' Rock thought, 'I'm not going to get to hear the end of this.'

"Benny," Revy yelled, "You fuckers, I'm gonna make you wish you were never fucking born," Rock stopped in his tracks. The sound of gunshots filled the air and suddenly Revy sprinted back into the hold and closed the door behind her.

"Revy, what's going on?" he noticed blood flowing from her right forearm.

"Shut up," she took a few breaths, "we have to get out of here."

"What? Where's Benny?"

"He's dead."

"What…dead?"

"Yeah, they slit his fucking throat," she growled, "Now come on," she holstered her cutlasses, grabbed Rock by the wrist and pulled him to the back of the ship.

"How many are there?" Rock asked as Revy started opening a latch at the end of the ship.

"Too many. This isn't some half-assed robbery, it's a fucking ambush."

"You mean…."

"Someone's trying to take us out. And their doing a good fucking job."

"We have to get to Dutch, have you tried contacting him?"

"With what?" She held up the earpiece, "This piece of shit? It's not connected to the office, dumbass," she threw it against the wall, shattering it into hundreds of tiny pieces.

She finished opening the latch and pushed Rock through the emergency exit and into the sea. A few moments later she jumped in herself. "Rock, follow me," she started swimming toward the main dock.

"Wait, Revy," he shouted as he swam after her, "why aren't we swimming toward our dock?"

"Because they'll be waiting for us."

"But won't they be expecting us?"

"Don't worry," she smiled, "I left them something that should throw them off for a bit.

Rock slowed his pace, wondering what Revy meant when suddenly she went underwater. "Revy, what are you?" he heard an explosion behind him and was immediately pulled underwater.

Revy held onto his leg as pieces of ship shot through the water around them. After a few seconds the two emerged from the water. "Come on, Rock, we have to hurry," she said, and the two hurried to the dock.

'This is bad,' Rock thought as he followed his co-worker to the dock, 'for something to phase Revy this much…' he noted how she wasn't smiling despite the large kill, 'we ha ve to hurry.'

The two climbed out of the water at the dock, "Rock, I need you to stay behind me. If bullets start flying get down and don't get in my way." The two ran to the apartment that housed their office.

"Would they leave it this unguarded?" Rock asked as he and Revy took cover behind a car across the street from their office. "You'd think they wouldn't want us to get up there, unless…"

"It's a trap," Revy finished.

"Perhaps," Rock stated, "But with the kind of manpower and planning that seems to have gone into whatever this is, would that really be necessary? I think it's more likely that they want us up there."

"Why?"

"I'm not sure. But for all we know, Dutch is alive, so nothing's really going to stop you from going anyway, I assume."

"Damn right," she took out her cutlasses and swapped mags, "The water ruined those…what a fucking waste. Rock, these are my last clips. Let's hope there aren't too many in there."

"Lead the way."

Revy and Rock moved out of cover and ran to the apartment and up the stairs. When they reached their floor they each stood on a separate side of the door.

Revy counted down on her fingers…..3 …..2…1….. she moved infront of the door, kicked it open and held both guns infront of her.

"Ah, you finally showed up. I'm glad to see that BOTH of you survived." A man's deep, booming voice called out in an American accent, "Mr. Okajima, would you please step into the room with Miss Rebecca?"

Rock stepped into the doorway. Infront of him were six men armed with body armor and assault rifles. And in the middle of them was a clean-cut man dressed very much like Rock, with a smile that showed this had nothing to do with business. "Who are you?" Rock asked.

"Ah, finally, introductions," he cheerfully said as he stood up with a clap. Rock and Revy noted the gun at his hip, "Of course I know you…but my name's Benjamin Striker. And let me just say that this is one fine business you have here."

"What do you want?" Revy asked, one gun aimed at the man's head, the other at one of the soldier's exposed necks.

"Oh Rebecca, such energy. Well, let me assure you that this isnt some hit. No one sent me with a bullet engraved with your names."

"Then why are you here?" Rock asked.

"Simply put, you annoy me." Rock and Revy raised their eyebrows at this. As fucked up a place as Roanapur is, something as trivial as that never led to this kind of attack, "Most people who survive in this town, especially in your line of work, do so by getting in with one of the big houses: Hotel Moscow, The Triads, The Italians….you know the list. And generally they STAY with that house."

He signaled to one of the soldiers, who walked into another room.

"But not you. For some strange reason you have managed to stay on good terms with most of the big guns in the city. And, even more surprisingly, the biggest two: Hotel Moscow and the Triads. And frankly, that just pisses me off. We Americans have tried for years to find a footing in this city, but no matter how hard we try, we are unable to reach the same level as your clients."

Rock stepped forward, "So this was a jealousy hit? Nothing more than schoolyard bullying?"

"Sure, if you want to call it that." he motioned something with his hand and the soldier came back with Dutch sunglasses broken and hands bound in front of him.

Revy started grinding her teeth and nearly pulled the trigger, but stopped when she noticed Dutch slightly shaking his head at her. "You're a fucking dumbass," she said, "this is why you don't have a strong footing. No one will do business with a crybaby who wails at everyone near him. Why not go back to the US where you might actually be able to scare some teenagers." she took a step sideways, making sure Rock was behind her. He could see her hands shaking.

"Revy," he whispered, "what are you thinking?"

"Rock, Revy," Dutch said as he spat out blood, "is Benny okay?"

"Shut up." A soldier was about to hit him with the butt of his gun, but Striker stopped him.

"It's okay. Give them their last words."

"Nah..." Revy said, "these fuckers slit his throat while he was cyber fucking his bimbo."

"Well, at least he got to die happily." Dutch smiled.

Rock wondered how he could take it so well.

"Hey, Striker," Dutch said, his grin extending, "blow me," in the blink of an eye Dutch sptrang for the cabinet below his liquor, breaking it with his shoulder, and Revy kicked Rock out the door. Then, before anyone else could react, he pulled a grenade from the shelves and Revy fired.

Time seemed to slow down as the grenade detonated. Before Rock could react, he felt Revy grab his collar and pull him to the side as shrapnel and flames blew out the doors and windows.

"Rock," she said, her voice sounding strained, "are you okay?"

"Yeah," Rock coughed as he peered into the remnants of their office, so he sacrificed himself to save us…" He moved back, "Revy we should," he noticed her covering her eyes. "Revy, are you okay?"

He saw a tear fall from beneath her arm, "Rock…why."

'What's going on?" Rock thought, 'This isn't like her.'

"Come on" he helped her to her feet, "let's get out of here," they slowly made their way down the steps and to the car. Rock started it and drove away from the apartment.

After a few minutes of silence, Revy finally spoke, "He was like a father to me." Rock looked over, wondering where this vulnerability had come from, "He took me in when nobody else would. He, unlike the slime I worked for in New York, actually cared that I came back alive. He was there to pull me back just before I fell over the edge."

Rock brought the car to a stop on the side of the road.

"Rock. I always thought that there was no right or wrong…just a paycheck at the end of the day. But now I know differently. Look at this city…corruption….money….power….it's like God to it's inhabitants. But to the outside world, this must be the Devil's home. So where does the line lie? What really is God and what is the Devil? That is life in Roanapur…a life where God and the Devil are the same. That's what I thought, at least. Until you came."

Rock stared, unsure of how to react.

"You who, despite everything you have been presented, despite all the corruption, backstabbing, and pain you have faced, have never fallen into the darkness of the city. But just by looking at you, I know that you have left the quiet life of Japan behind you." She sighed, "I fell into that darkness. I fell into it even before I came to this city. I never knew what it's like to live in the light." She looked over at him, "Rock, Dutch was the one thing keeping me from getting lost in that darkness…..that is, until you came along."

Rock sat up.

"Rock, today I lost a father, and a brother. I'm sick of this. I want to see what life is like from where you are. I know that living in the light is impossible for me…but please, show pull me out of the darkness. Bring me to the twilight with you. I want you…no, I am begging you to pull me away from the abyss."

Rock just stared at those tear-filled eyes. He saw no trace of a killer there. Those eyes which had always held a bloodlust….had become empty. With no one to wreak vengance upon… 'Dutch. Did you intend for this to happen? In just those few minutes after your capture, did you plan on pushing Revy from this city?' "Revy I…I will…"

'You weren't just a father to her, were you, Dutch' Rock thought, 'she was like a daughter to you, giving you someone to look after….and, knowing how hard it is to survive here, you not only severed all her ties with this city, you ended any hopes of revenge she may have.'

"But we're going to need some help…"

"Thank you…Rock," she said. She looked down. No more tears fell from her eyes.

Those empty eyes…Rock couldn't stop thinking about them. Because in those eyes was the little girl that never was. The little girl who never lived the life of a cold-blooded killer. But, most importantly, Rock saw a lost soul reaching for the light.

I hope you enjoyed the new story. Please Review.