Chapter 4: Better Late than Never

Rock and Revy sat silently in the car as they sped down the streets of Roanapur. It was nightfall, and Revy was gazing out at the street lit city as she rested her head on her arm. After a long day's work, she had returned to thinking about her prior predicament.

Rock was a bit uncomfortable with the silence. Usually he felt content when Revy was with him, but right now was different. He could tell she was unhappy and in a mental debate with herself about her condition. He couldn't help but constantly glance over at her.

Far from the threat she issued on the U-boat when they first worked together, over the years Rock managed to learn a little bit more about Revy with each passing day. He came to realize that the more frequently he brought up her background, the more information she revealed without retaliating at him. At first, it had been difficult for him to listen to, each story being worse than the last. He couldn't understand how things could have possibly gone so wrong for her, why not a single person had shown her the least bit of compassion. If she had just been given even half a chance at life, things might have turned out different. He had spent enough time with Revy to know that while she may have appeared cold and tough on the outside, he knew what is was that she truly craved deep down.

In the beginning, their relationship, or lack thereof, had been a sort of "friends with benefits" deal. But, as time progressed, Rock noticed a much deeper bond had developed between the two of them. He had grown to trust her skills as a gunman whenever things went south during a job, and in exchange, she seemed to trust him with the secrets of her past. He noticed that as time progressed, the human side of her seemed to surface more and more frequently.

He didn't know when it had happened, but at some point, he had developed feelings for her. Of course he didn't dare tell her that. He was afraid that if he said the wrong thing, it might push her over the edge and cause her to become mentally broken. He had tried showing her affection once, but it had confused her so badly that she became unstable, similar to the time with the Nazis a few years ago. The main problem was she simply didn't know how to live normal life. He wasn't aware of it, but to Revy, that's what Rock represented, normality.

He thought back to a moment when the two of them were feasting on noodle soap in the marketplace a while back. Revy had been unusually distant and hadn't said a word to him all day after their job was completed. While Rock wolfed down his dinner, he noticed she hadn't even touched her bowl. She just sat there, wearing a thousand yard stare. Rock did his best to ignore it and continued eating, but he could never forget what she said next.

"Rock, that U-boat mission, I never did thank you for saving my life."

He had nearly choked to death on his food. It was so out of character for her that it had scared him shitless. In that moment, he had been sure his time had come and that she was finally about to dispose of him, but her guns were never drawn. Later, when he dropped her off at her apartment complex after a night of drinking at the Yellowflag, she motioned for him to follow her upstairs. Maybe it was the alcohol, but he didn't know why he agreed to follow her. When he woke up naked with her already missing the next morning, he was sure he was the luckiest son of a bitch in the world to still be alive.

After his mind snapped back to the present, he glanced over at her once more.

"Hey, Revy?"

"Hmm?" she answered, but didn't face him. Her arm was still supporting her head as she stared out the window.

Rock paused. He wasn't sure if he wanted to bring it up, but he also wasn't sure if he wanted to wait any longer to talk about it.

"What do you think of me?"

Revy stiffened. His question had caught her completely off guard. "What the fuck are you talking about Rock?"

Rock kept his focus on the road. "I've just been curious. You always keep going on about me standing in the twilight. You beat me up that time after Fabiola talked to you during the Roberta incident. And you even pulled a gun on me when you thought I had slipped too far into Roanapur's darkness. There had to be a reason right?"

Revy shifted her focus to the floor. There was a long pause before she spoke.

"You're different, Rock," she answered, her voice mellow. "You have managed to stand in the twilight for so long and not get yourself killed. No one else in this city has been able to do that without getting their ass shot by now."

Rock waited for her to continue. But without a small push, he knew she wasn't going to budge.

"That still doesn't answer my question."

Revy scoffed, but continued to stare out the window. Her tone seemed to get more annoyed as she spoke. "It's like I said before Rock, I don't think you belong here. I still don't understand why you think you're some fucking white knight who is constantly trying to save people in this shit hole of a town."

She kicked her foot down in frustration. Her hormones were causing her emotions to stir again, and his questioning was seriously starting to piss her off. Luckily they were nearing her apartment where she knew she would be dropped off soon. However, the next thing that came out of Rock's mouth completely stunned her cold.

"Do...you want to be saved Revy?"

Revy clenched her fists and her muscles tightened. She clenched her teeth and felt her whole body shake slightly. Now, she was pissed. How dare he ask something like that? Did she look like a fucking child? She had built her own life from nothing, all on her own. She was one of the most feared women in Roanapur, and just her name alone was enough to cause some poor fucker to piss his pants. She was more than capable of taking care of herself. In an instant, the barrel of her cutlass was digging into the side of his skull.

"Stop the car," she demanded. Rock obeyed and, Revy immediately got out and slammed the door behind her. She continued on to her apartment, which was only a couple of blocks away, alone and on foot. Rock sighed and parked on the side of the road. He stepped out and followed her, but at a slower pace, allowing her to put some distance between the two of them.

When he reached her apartment door he noticed that she had left it open slightly. At this point Rock knew her well enough to know that if she hadn't wanted him to follow her inside, she would have made it obvious. He proceeded in and shut the door behind him.

When he entered her bedroom he found her hunched at the edge of the bed dangling a full bottle of Bacardi. She had opened it, but had yet to take even a single sip.

"Rock," she said to him, her eyes still on the bottle of rum, "you think if I drank this whole thing right now, that that would solve all my fucking problems?"

Rock looked at her with concern. "Revy..."

"How am I supposed to fuckin do it Rock? I can't raise a brat in this shit. You know damn well that once the cocksuckers around here start noticing, it will be like sharks after blood."

Rock approached her quietly and sat down at her side. "You have been thinking about keeping it," he said. It was more of a statement than a question.

Revy stayed quiet. She was too ashamed to answer, but Rock could tell that was a yes. He understood what she meant, about raising a kid. Roanapur was no place for children, and Rock certainly did not want any child of his to grow up in a city like this. The two of them sat there silently for a long while, thinking.

"What if we got you out of Roanapur?" asked Rock, breaking the silence.

"Where would we fucking go Rock? Ask Dutch for a ride to the mainland and then catch a plane to fucking paradise?" She stared back at the bottle of Bacardi, sadly. "I don't belong anywhere else Rock. It may not be too late for you to rejoin the world of the living, but I've been dead for a long time. I was born into a shit life, and those memories don't just fade. I don't want to have a kid that will have to go through the same shit I did."

Rock's glance snapped back to Revy. He was a little surprised to have heard such a selfless statement come from her mouth.

Revy lifted up the bottle of Bacardi. "Guess it's fuckin better late than never." She lifted the bottle up and slowly brought it closer to her lips, but Rock noticed her slight hesitation. She was just about to take her first gulp when she felt his hand cover her own and force the bottle back down. She opened her eyes, ready to chew him out for stopping her, but froze, when she was met with the sternest expression she had ever seen him wear.

He didn't say a word. He didn't need to. He knew what decision she really wanted to make. He wasn't afraid of her fists or her cutlass. He was prepared to take whatever beating might come his way. He wanted her to make the choice she wanted to make deep down, regardless of her better judgment. But a beating didn't come, nor was a gun being jammed into his forehead. Instead, she just stared at him in utter shock and confusion. Her eyes locked on his.

They stayed that way for a long time, just the two of them, staring. Rock, sensing he had the upper hand, felt his body slowly moving closer to hers. She still didn't move. The stern look on his face and his hand covering hers, still had her captivated. The truth was, she didn't know how to react. She was stunned and at a complete loss for words. Somehow, her go-to self defense mode had been disabled, and her body simply wouldn't respond despite her better judgment. Still, Rock moved in. His face came closer to hers until he inches away. Revy didn't know why, but her body seemed to respond to his motions automatically. He came closer and closer until his lips barely brushed up against hers, causing her to shudder slightly. Then, he stopped.

It hadn't been an accident. He had chosen to stop there on purpose. It was already too late to turn back. If he had crossed the line, he was already a dead man. Once she regained control, only one of two scenarios would come of this, and he desperately hoped it was the better one. All he had to do was wait for her to take that last step.

After what felt like an eternity, Rock suddenly felt a pair of warm, soft lips contact his own. Rock's eyes flew open. He was astonished. She wasn't kissing him aggressively this time, but gently, as if asking him for the first time to take the lead. He relaxed, and slowly brought his hand up to meet the soft skin under her cheek and placed one hand behind her back. It was an invitation to bring her closer to him. To his surprise, she didn't pull away. He opened his mouth slightly, hoping she would do the same. He eagerly allowed his tongue to slip into her mouth and deepened the kiss even more passionately. He unexpectedly felt her entire body go limp for a few seconds, but she quickly recovered. He smiled, satisfied that his actions were having such an effect on her.

Revy had no idea what was happening or why her body was reacting the way it was. Her mind was screaming at her to shoot Rock there and then, but her body ignored her and instead, melted at his touch. She didn't understand it, but he had somehow managed to totally immobilize her. Every motion he made was new and foreign to her. Every time he touched a part of her, she felt something more than just the physical feel. Somehow, he had reached in and found a part of her she didn't even know still existed. Somehow, he had managed to find her heart.

She felt the heavy bottle of Bacardi slowly slipping from her grasp. It was over. She had given in. Within seconds, she on top of him, returning the most passionate kiss she knew how to give him. She had never felt this way during any of the previous accounts the two of them had slept together. This time it felt different. Instead of being driven by pure lust, every fiber of her being yearned for passion. She spontaneously grabbed on to parts of his shirt, begging him to satisfy her craving for affection. She wanted more than just to jump straight into the act. She wanted him to show her the meaning behind it. She wanted to feel something emotionally. She wanted him to love her.

A couple of hours later, the two of them lay satisfied under Revy's bed sheets. Revy rested on her side, exhausted, with Rock's arm wrapped around her waist. He was sound asleep and cuddled up behind her. Despite the dried tear marks down her cheeks, she had a genuine smile on her face. Revy wasn't sure when she had started crying. Somehow, she hadn't been able to hold back any longer and let the waterworks flow somewhere right in the middle of it all, but Rock had been there for her every step of the way. While keeping up his steady pace, he had kissed her on her neck and under her jaw line just to comfort her. That act alone had finally caused her to break, but he understood that she hadn't been crying desperately out of pain or torment, but out of happiness. No one in her life had ever given her affection. No one had ever shown her what it felt like to be loved. He wanted to make it known to her that someone actually did give a damn about her, and it made him happy to know he could help her understand what that felt like. By the end, everything he had done had eventually built up to quite possibly the most intense climax of her entire life.

Rock had successfully shown her what it felt like not to just have sex, but to make love, and it had easily been the best thing she ever had experienced. Revy sighed as she shut her eyes. She knew it wouldn't last forever. How could it? Nothing ever worked out for her in the end. Tomorrow when she woke up, everything would return to the way it was. Life would be shit, and she would have to face the real world with a smoking gun and a bad temper. Still, she was thankful. For the first time in her life, she could at least once get a taste of what it was like in the world of the living. She didn't even notice or care about the half empty bottle of Bacardi that had spilled on the floor as she drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

Author's note: For those of you who kept begging me to add a sex scene, sorry to disappoint you here. I have nothing against it. I'm just pretty terrible at writing stuff like that, and it would just ruin everything if I tried. Also, sorry it took a while, but I had to rewrite this chapter quite a few times before I was finally happy with it. I wanted the emotions to come across clearly while not wanting it to sound too corny or dumb. Hopefully it wasn't too bad. :/