Chapter 7: Eight Years Later

Gunfire echoed throughout the firing range. Even though she was used to the sound, Revy wore a set of noise-cancellers to protect her ears from the damaging resonance. Her appearance hadn't changed much over the years. She still wore her hair in the same ponytail style, and she had managed to keep her body in peak physical shape, even in her early thirties. Her attire had changed, but only slightly. On this particular summer day she had chosen to wear a black shirt (to cover some of her tattoo) with short, but length-appropriate jean shorts, and a pair of Steve Madden Troopa Combat boots. Despite her new apparel, her gunman skills hadn't diminished over the years. After each shot was fired, she paid close attention to where it hit the target dummy, except it wasn't her doing the shooting.

Revy watched full of pride as her eight year old daughter Kate fired a Glock 19 downrange. Kate had the exact same hair color as Revy and liked to wear it in a ponytail the same way her mother did. Her facial features however looked more like Rock's with a mix of Revy, and she had Rock's eyes.

Revy had named her daughter Katherine Okajima, but called her Kate for short. She wasn't sure what had motivated her to use Rock's last name. Maybe she had just liked the way it sounded. Of course it had raised questions, especially from Kate. She had often asked Revy why her father wasn't there. Revy didn't like talking about it, and she had never mentioned Rock's name around Kate. After she got a bit older, Kate noticed her mother's sad expression every time she brought it up, so eventually she just stopped asking altogether.

Raising a kid hadn't been easy for Revy, especially in the beginning. It took every ounce of self control for her to be patient, but she had been determined. She wanted to give Kate the life she never had, and she desperately did not want to expose Kate to the demons of her past. Her hard work had paid off. Kate had grown a perfectly normal girl without emotional scarring. Revy was thankful for that. And of course, Kate took after Revy's tomboyish attitude.

Revy continued to observe Kate's firing skills. She was a good shot for such a young age, and it made Revy smirk with pride. Once she emptied her clip, Revy approached her.

"Here, try this," she said, handing Kate her cutlass.

Kate eyed the cutlass in awe. She had always wanted to shoot her mother's prized weapon, but had never been allowed.

"Just keep it forward and keep it steady," instructed Revy.

Kate fired the weapon, but missed her target. The power from the gun had thrown her off. "This one kicks back too much," she complained.

"That means it's more powerful," explained Revy. "The more kick a gun has, the more damage it can cause." She knelt down next to her daughter to fix her stance. "Here, keep your arms extended like this." She held her own cutlass out to demonstrate.

"Like this?" asked Kate, mimicking her mother's stance.

"That's right. Now make sure to keep your feet firmly planted and use your legs to support your body."

Kate did as she was instructed, took aim at the cardboard dummy, and fired. It was direct hit.

"Woah...!" said Kate. She looked up at Revy full of pride and excitement. "Did you see that Mom!"

Revy smiled with pride at her daughter. "Yeah! That was a good shot!"

"I bet I can do it twice in a row. Watch!"

Revy chuckled to herself as Kate eagerly took aim and fired again. She missed, but only by inches. Her excitement turned to disappointment. She tried firing again and again, but wasn't able to hit the same spot as her first time. Her frustration increased. On her last bullet, she took aim, but was stopped. Revy gently pushed Kate's arm down. Kate looked up at her mother in confusion.

"You'll never hit anything if you fire out of blind rage," stated Revy. She took her own cutlass and with one arm, aimed and fired at the bullet-ridden dummy. She easily hit Kate's first shot dead on.

Kate had always been amazed with her mother's firing skills. In fact, it was why she had begged Revy to teach her how to shoot in the first place. Revy, was apprehensive at first, but figured it was better to teach her daughter to respect a weapon than to have her pick one up later and accidently hurt somebody, or herself.

"Remember, have respect for the gun. It's not a toy," said Revy. She stepped aside, allowing Kate to take her last shot. Kate took aim again, but this time, she took a deep breath, and then fired. Again, it was a direct hit.

Kate turned toward Revy with a cocky smirk on her face. Revy rolled her eyes, placed her hand on Kate's head, and scuffled up her hair.

"Hey..."said Kate, trying to act like she didn't like it when her mother did that.

"Come on brat, let's go get something to eat," said Revy.


"Five years," muttered Rock. "Five years since the trail went cold."

Rock was sitting at the Yellowflag drinking with Dutch and Benny. He had been searching for the last two remaining members of the Red Wa group for years without any luck. He had managed to track down and "kill" the other three, but the last two had eluded him.

Since then, the Lagoon Company had been conducting business as usual, except for one problem. Every time Dutch hired a fresh gunman, Rock wouldn't work with them. The other problem was that most of the people who took on the job were wanna-be gunman who always managed to get themselves killed. In the last eight years they had run through three new coworkers, and tonight was the night after their most recent counterpart had been killed.

Dutch had called him Billy, as in Billy the Kid. The man was half white, half Spaniard with a mustache. He talked like a cowboy and always acted like he was dying for his next gunfight. He wasn't a terrible shot, compared to the last two hires, and was actually useful when situations got a little hot. But every time they came back to office from a job where there was bloodshed, Dutch would always let out a heavy, unsatisfied sigh. He hadn't taken on any high risk jobs on purpose in fear that it might compromise the rest of his crew, but he never told Billy that. In fact, he hardly ever even said more than one sentence at a time to the man. At least Benny would socialize with Billy, even if he felt indifferent about him, but Rock wanted absolutely nothing to do with him.

Earlier that day, Dutch got a call from the Columbian Cartel. They needed a shipment of cocaine delivered to a buyer in Bangkok. It had seemed like an easy job until a rival organization had intercepted them mid-transport. They wanted to steal the shipment and sell it for themselves. It wasn't long before gunfire broke out. The Lagoon crew had been outnumbered, but with the help of his shotgun, Dutch had managed to keep them off the boat and get them to retreat. Billy hadn't been so lucky and had died from a stray bullet to the head.

Dutch took a shot of whisky and then turned to Rock. "Rock, we need to talk about this partnering problem. It's not doing well for business."

Rock's expression didn't change. He remained hardened and continued drinking his Bacardi. Dutch simply continued, his voice stern.

"It's been eight years Rock, more than enough time to move on."

Rock continued to stare at his glass. "It's more than that Dutch. Like you said, in this line of work, if you are going to get close to anyone, you better be prepared to lose them. I promised myself I wouldn't get close to anyone again. It's a lot easier to watch them die when you don't get to know them in the first place."

Dutch faced forward again and looked down at his glass. "Yes, I suppose things are easier that way," he said as Bao refilled his shot glass. "However," he took another shot of whisky, "if you choose to live like that, you might as well go back to Japan and continue your life as a salary man."

Rock turned to Dutch in annoyance with a scowl on his face. "I left that life because it didn't make me happy. Day in and day out I was a slave to authority. If it wasn't for Revy opening my eyes-"

He stopped, realizing what Dutch was trying to tell him. The reason he had been so happy working for the Lagoon Company had been because she had been the one who opened his eyes. She had pushed him to the point where he had been forced to stand up to her, and that moment had changed him. He no longer feared oppression. After that, she had been the first person to treat him as an equal and as a partner, something no one is his former life ever did. He had gotten used to working alongside her and in time, had gotten close to her. Once that had all been taken from him, the thrill of the job never seemed to be the same, or enough.

After her "death", he had spent first three years tracking down the remaining Red Wa leaders, using Hotel Moscow as his source. Asking Balalaika if he could be of assistance had been the foot in the door to his first lead. Most of his jobs for her had been mediocre. She used him for translations during meetings, negotiations, interrogations, etc, but at the same time he had been using her to get closer to his objective. She had the clues, and he wanted answers.

After months of data collecting and putting the pieces together, he was finally able to determine the location of his first target, who just so happened to be working as a mole in the lower branches of the Chinese Triad. Chang, of course, had been unaware of this. Rock had asked to Benny to dig up the evidence and print up a few documents that proved someone was stealing drug money from the Chinese. Rock anonymously mailed the documents to Mr. Chang, who immediately turned his organization upside down to find the culprit. It didn't take more than a week. The Red Wa mole was tortured for information and killed. From this information, Chang learned the location of another one of the Red Wa leaders and set out to kill him as well. It wasn't long before Balalaika picked up on Chang's activity. Loving the idea of a "friendly" competition, she set forth immediately to join the hunt. Soon enough, the second remaining Red Wa leader was eliminated, and then a year after that, so was number three. Rock's plan had worked.

But then, the trail went cold. The last Red Wa leader wouldn't talk and died from the extensive amount of torture. There were still two leaders left, but the rest of the organization had gone underground and hadn't been heard from since. Both Chang and Balalaika didn't seem to care all that much, as long as the problem had been eliminated and their respective organizations were secure. After that, things in Roanapur had returned to normal, and it was then that Dutch had begun hiring the new recruits.

"Sorry Dutch," apologized Rock. "But there wasn't a whole lot I could do to help him at the time."

"Well, you're right I guess," said Dutch. "Those dumbasses got themselves killed after all. I'm just glad you and Benny didn't get shot. You're more valuable to have around than a class C gunman."

There was a moment of silence between the two of them. Then Rock spoke up.

"Hey Dutch," said Rock. "Do you still miss Revy? I mean, was she really just an employee to you?"

Dutch fiddled with his shot of whisky. "Rock," he said lifting up the shot. "She was the best damn gunman I ever had, and watching someone you practically helped raise get killed is a difficult memory to erase. So I would appreciate it if you quit bringing it up."

He downed his next shot of whisky. Rock shifted his focus back to his glass, which had just been refilled. He grabbed it and knocked it back as well.


Revy sat with Kate at a nearby outside burger joint. The two of them were enjoying freshly grilled hamburgers when a tall, Caucasian man approached them.

"Rick!" shouted Kate as she ran over to greet the man. Rick greeted Kate with a smile and picked her up to hold her in the air. He was a relatively strong man in his mid-thirties with dirty blond hair and blue eyes. Revy was used to seeing him in a suit and tie, but today he was in casual attire.

Kate immediately dragged him back to the table. She liked having Rick around. He was like an uncle to her. Kate had been shy at first when Rick had been assigned as Revy's partner, but it didn't take long before the little girl had warmed up to his warm, playful nature.

"Hey Rebecca," he said greeting Revy.

Revy glanced up at him. "Looks like your gunshot wound healed."

Rick took a seat between Revy and Kate. "Well, to be fair it was just a graze. It's still gonna leave a cool scar though." He gestured to the spot above his elbow. He leaned in a little closer to Revy. "Listen, I just wanted to say thanks for getting me out of the scrabble a couple of days ago."

Revy took a sip of her soda. "That's my job isn't it? To make sure both of us get out alive?"

Rick smiled. "Yeah, I guess so," he said rubbing the back of his head. He didn't mind Revy's distant nature. She did her job well, and that's all he really asked for.

Kate interrupted the conversation. "Did you bring Kyle today?" she asked eagerly.

Rick smiled back at her. "Not today sharpshooter. This week he's with his mom."

"Awww man," grumbled Kate as she focused her attention back on her lunch.

One of the reasons Kate liked when Rick showed up was because a lot of the time he brought along his nine year old son, Kyle, who had become close friends with Kate. Rick had gotten divorced from his wife four years ago and they shared custody of their son. When he introduced Kate to Kyle the two of them had become fast friends. Rick had also helped Revy out a great deal with her parenting skills over the years. Revy hadn't liked working with him at first, but after he had helped her out with Kate, she grew to respect him, much to her superiors' liking. She didn't have any feelings for the guy, but she didn't mind working with him.

Rick pulled out some money from his wallet. "You know Kate, I'm kind of hungry, but I don't know what's good here. You think you could help me out?" he conned, handing Kate the money.

Eager to please, Kate snatched the money from Revy and dashed over to the counter. Once she was gone, Rick turned his attention back to Revy.

"Actually, the reason I'm here is because I received a notice about our next assignment."

"Where are we headed?" asked Revy.

"Hong Kong. There's some criminal activity we have been told to investigate. They chose us because you look Chinese and it's easy for you to blend in, but I'll stick out like a sore thumb. The idea is to appear like we're on vacation, but walking around alone or with me could give you away. If you brought Kate along-"

"No. No fucking way," interrupted Revy.

"Listen, we are not heading into any dangerous territory," explained Rick. "Hong Kong is a big place, but with your street smarts you would be able to spot suspicious activity no problem. You could take Kate out and pretend to be sightseeing while you scope out the streets. You two would be practically invisible. I'll stay behind in the safe house until you find a lead. Then the guys in the house can keep an eye on Kate while we go in and wrap everything up. It should only take a week or two. Piece of cake."

Revy scowled in disappointment.

"Look, it's either this or that mission in Afganistan," stated Rick.

Revy placed a hand to her forehead. "Shit..."


Later that night, Revy put Kate to bed and waited for her to fall asleep. Since Kate was on summer vacation from school, it had been easy to convince her that they were going on "vacation". Of course Revy was opposed to the idea of bringing a kid with her on an assignment, especially her own daughter, but Kate wasn't the average eight year old. Thanks to her father's genes, she was exceptionally smart for her age. As a result, when Revy had to explain to her in a serious tone that because they would be in a foreign country, she had to do everything that she was told, Kate understood.

Revy went over to the fridge and poured herself a glass of straight Bacardi. She then headed over to the couch, flopped down, and switched on the TV. She wasn't interested in watching anything in particular, just something that she would make her tired. She lifted up the Bacardi and stared at it.

Eight years, she thought. It had been eight years since Eda had gotten her out of Roanapur, and still, whenever she drank a glass of Bacardi, the thoughts of Rock still surfaced. It had been difficult, to let her past go, but that hadn't changed her feelings for him. She knew he was probably still alive, still living out his days in Roanapur. She had kept her promise to Eda about not returning, but it wasn't because she was afraid of the fake nun bitch killing her. She was afraid of what her death had done to Rock. She was more afraid to find out what he had become.

Letting her thoughts pass, she downed the glass of Bacardi. Long gone were the days of heavy drinking. She had given that up for her daughter's sake. But that didn't mean she couldn't enjoy a glass or two every now and then before bed.

Once she was tired enough, she made her way to her room and went through her nightly routine before climbing into bed. As her head hit the pillow, she felt herself drifting off to sleep.

She was chasing somebody; that much was clear. She didn't know why or how, she couldn't even see who she was pursuing. She just knew she needed to catch them. The world around her was dark and her only focus was on the target in front of her. Suddenly, a male figure transpired into focus, and Revy's pace quickened. She then realized she was carrying her cutlass in hand. She took aim and fired. The bullet traveled in slow motion and hit its target. The man collapsed. When she finally caught up to see who it was, she froze in her tracks. There, lying in the pool of his own blood, was Rock.

She immediately knelt down and turned him over. He was still alive, but only barely. His bloodied hand was covering his chest where her bullet had pierced through.

"Fucking dumbass," she cursed at him. "What the fuck were you doing?"

She fought back the tears that threatened to cloud her vision. She opened her eyes and looked down at him. He was smiling. She could swear she felt his hand on her cheek. Then, he started to say something, but she couldn't hear him. As he started to slip away she began to panic.

"Rock! ROCK!" she yelled. It was too late. He died there in her arms. She kept screaming his name as he started to vanish into thin air.

"ROCK!"

Suddenly, she shot awake from her nightmare. Her brain immediately tried to make sense of her surroundings. She realized she was back in her bedroom. Her heart was beating rapidly, and she was laced with a cold sweat. Realizing nothing had actually happened, Revy sighed with relief and ran her ringers through her bangs. She looked over at the clock.

3:15 AM

"Dammit," she swore silently. She took a deep breath and turned over to lay back down, but soon realized something was weighing down part of the other side of her bed. She opened her eyes. Sitting in front of her with a concerned expression, was her eight year old daughter.

"Mommy, who's Rock?"

Author's note: Aww Revy has a little girl. I thought about giving her a son, but having a daughter works better for the story, and I feel like it makes more of a personal connection with Revy. I also realize that if eight years have passed, Kate would actually be seven years old, not eight, but I want an eight year old for this story. On the flip side, I didn't want more than eight years in time to have passed because that would have been too long. So, Kate's eight, and eight years have passed.

And yes I know the reality is that the CIA would never allow a child to be a part of a mission, but it works for the story and it speeds things up without having to dig too deep in character development. Overall, this chapter was really fun to write. I hope to hear some positive reviews!

*Fun-fact afterthought: Something demonicDRAMAqueen pointed out to me, the name Rick is literally one letter away from Rock (even on the keyboard). It's a funny coincidence, but I actually came up with the name because I was busy watching The Walking Dead while I wrote this. Didn't even realize what I had done. Oh well. Now you know.