DISCLAIMER:This is purely a work of fiction. I don't own Black Lagoon or it's characters, they are the property of Rei Hiroe. I am not profiting from writing this fan fiction.

Damaged Goods

Never in all his life had he ever encountered another human being quite so infuriating as she. Before meeting her, he hadn't even known he was capable of the outbursts she made a habit of provoking from him.

She was the most stubborn, arrogant and rude of individuals. Trigger happy and impulsive hardly began to cover it. Selfish, rebellious and spiteful were putting it nicely. She was the most volatile and difficult personality he'd ever had to endure.

And he'd never wanted anyone so badly in his life.

Good God, what did that make him? How fucked up did a person have to be to put up with that kind of thing? Who in their right mind enjoyed the company of a person so obviously damaged? Enjoyed wasn't even the right word, craved was more accurate.

Christ, he sounded like a Goddamned battered woman. Cursing under his breathe dug out a half crushed box of smokes and lit up. His hands shook lightly as he tried to puff away his resentment.

Deep down he knew he wasn't being entirely fair. She was a bitch, but she did have her good points. A wildly protective nature and fierce loyalty towards those she bothered to give a damn about being at the forefront of those points. Benny, Dutch and him were about the closest thing she had to a functioning family; and he knew she'd be more than willing to take a bullet for any one of them. Not that she'd ever admit to it, she'd take just as many bullets to avoid the topic entirely.

But blinded with rage, those could be hard things to see.

He heard the hatch to the upper deck creek open but he didn't turn around. Instead he stood rigid, praying it wasn't her as he sucked down another cloud of nicotine. He didn't want to deal with her right now, he needed a minute to collect himself.

Casually, Benny wandered over to stand next to him. For a while neither said a thing. They just stood there watching the waves crash against the night sky.

It didn't last though. Benny spoke first, his voice neutral yet somehow mildly sympathetic. "You know Rock, things would get a lot easier for you if you'd just stop expecting her to, I don't know," his fingers made little air quotations. "see the light."

Rock snorted."I don't expect shit from her. She doesn't see anything. For her it's just another run, another pay check and an excuse to get bloody. But it's not that simple, things are gonna get ugly and she doesn't care." He flicked at his smoke, just then noticing it'd long since reached it's end. Absently he reached for another; only to find the pack empty.

Benny fished out his own pack and offered him one. "Of course not. She lives for ugly, you know that. That aside though, we both know the real reason she's so set on going with you. Shes just looking to keep your ass from getting shot."

Rock raked a frustrated hand through his hair but his eyes had softened a little. "I know, I know, It's just that I..." He searched for the right words. How could he describe what he felt for that temperamental woman still sulking below deck? How could he put into words that the thought of dragging her into this mess he'd created had his stomach doing somersaults? It didn't matter that she was a Goddess with a gun or that she'd survived fine on her own for decades. It was his mess and he didn't want her involved.

He didn't need to voice his inner workings, Benny had already figured as much. Rock was ever the tragic hero, always looking to help the hopeless, even when the hopeless would rather shove a gun down his throat.

Benny leaned back against he ships rail, looked up at the stars as he spoke. "Look, I get it okay? But Revy is a big girl, she knows what she's doing. So well in fact, that I'd bet she's already thrown together a bag. She's going with you Rock, whether you like it or not."

He'd already resigned himself to that. He'd done so the second the words had left her mouth. She was going with him and there was nothing he could say to stop her. But that didn't mean he had to like it. It didn't mean he was going to go down without a fight. That was why he'd pushed the matter, started shit with her even though he'd known he'd already lost.

She'd screamed, he'd yelled. She'd thrown a bottle, he'd ducked. The usual insults were tossed about and shots were fired, the only casualties being inanimate objects. Then he'd stormed off, mad as all hell. She'd had enough sense not to follow him, this time at least.

Now that the worst of his mad had passed he was left with the bitter taste of that resignation. "Fuck, I know it." He breathed, finished the last of the smoke Benny had given him. "I just wish I could make her stay here."

Benny scoffed. "Nobody makes Revy do anything," He flicked his smoke over the rail into the churning waters and turned to head back below. "though I suppose if she were willing to let anyone, it'd be you."

Rock arched a brow, his dead smoke followed Benny's into the ocean. "What's that supposed to mean?"

His friend continued toward the hatch, waving rearward dismissively but never looking back. "You tell me, I'm not the one in love with the crazy bitch." With those words he disappeared below.

For a moment Rock just stood there wide eyed. Was it that obvious? He'd thought his little masochistic obsession to be a well kept secret. Apparently not.

He let out a dry laugh, it didn't matter anyway. Revy wasn't the type to open her arms and accept confessions of love and devotion with a bleeding heart. Frankly he didn't want her to be, he liked her just the way she was. She had her kinks but she was her, she was Revy. She didn't believe in happily ever afters and riding off into sunsets. And that was fine, because honestly, at this point he wasn't sure he did either.

He'd settle for whatever she'd offer him. It sounded pathetic but it was the God's honest truth. She'd saved him from a endlessly monotonous career of ass kissing, years of bending over with a smile and waiting patiently for the pounding. She'd pulled him from the water when he hadn't even known that he was drowning.

He woke up and he owed her everything. So yeah, he'd damn well settle.