Rock...

Rock groans in satisfaction the moment his body hit the made-up bed, his face burrowing into his new soft pillows, smelling their factory-fresh scent. He sighed heavily with contentment.

Heaven in hell.

There was just no other way to describe this.

After fifteen hours of nonstop transcribing and language translations, it was a miracle he could still have the energy to look for a place, let alone shop for a bed, sheets, a few groceries, and toiletries.

His new apartment was situated in a relatively quiet location a little farther from work than he would have liked but nothing to fuss about. Outside of the bed, the kitchen with a stove and refrigerator and the bathroom, there was nothing else but the dark green wall, AC unit, and blind-covered windows. When the door and windows were closed, he heard nothing but the sound of the AC. He would have to get some furniture for his cavernous new space. He had space now for crying out loud and the rent was unbelievable.

To get a place like this would have been entirely impossible in normal circumstances and on such short, short notice but at the mention of Balalaika's name and the impossible became a series of groveling;

"No problem."

"Of course."

"Anything for Ms. Balalaika."

Five hours before the deadline, Rock found himself in her office. Honestly, he wasn't expecting that she'd still be up at that hour. Even at three in the morning, the woman looked fresh and professional. Not a hair out of place nor wrinkle in sight. Rock didn't even wanna know what he looked like. On a diet of strong coffee and cigarettes for hours on end?

Something out of a horror movie comes to mind. He thought, attempting humor to keep himself awake.

"You've finished already?" Balalaika had said, sounding genuinely impressed.

"Yes," Rock answered succinctly. His voice rough from lack of sleep.

She looked to his assistant, Viktor and the man nodded confirming that everything was in order.

Balalaika opened a draw in her desk then reached in.

"I'm sure I don't have to impress upon you the delicacy of the information you've just perused."

"No, you do not." Rock said but his tired eyes were on her hand while his mind worked on what she would do next. In his sleep-deprived state he chews over the possibility that at any moment now, he would have a bullet in the back of his head from Viktor or between his eyes from Balalaika, whose hand was slowly coming up out of the draw. With the things he's heard on those tapes, why would they let him live?

Though he could be a dead man in a few seconds, all Rock could think about was- Finally, I get to sleep.

Gallow's humor? He was never good at jokes.

The gun was not a gun. Instead, a fat manila envelope appeared on the desk.

"Well, I must say Rock, I'm glad that Mr. Kageyama was an idiot. A diamond such as yourself deserves proper polishing."

She patted the envelope. "Fifty large."

She smiled at him.

"Thank you," Rock said.

"If there is anything else, I will be in touch. And if there is anything I can do to help with your…current situation, please don't hesitate to ask."

"Actually, there is," Rock said.

Well, she did say don't hesitate.

After taking a nice hot shower and changing into the only pieces of clothing he cared to acquire since leaving hotel Moscow in the early morning; a white marina and a pair of boxers, Rock stretched out his long lean frame on his new foam mattress, feeling his bones creek with the action. The overnight growth of black stubble along his jaw had aged him, making Rock look more like his father than he would like to acknowledge but he couldn't find the strength to march back into the bathroom and shaved it clean like he would love to do.

He wanted to sleep like the dead.

His mind was more exhausted than his body but there was that nagging feeling that he was being watched. Maybe it was the fact that two times in a row his hotel room had been broken into. Once by Revy and then by someone else in connection with the job he just pulled off for Hotel Moscow. Sleep was at his heels, seducing him to close his eyes but he couldn't help the feeling that this wasn't over. Normally, it took him fifteen minutes, the least, to fall asleep and that was when he didn't feel like a shell of himself. Thoughts kept coming to his head, questions that he didn't have the answers to bubble up from the spring in his mind and he could feel the beginnings of a migraine pulsing at his temples; proof that he was beyond the point of exhaustion. Closing his eyes, he cleared his mind of the sundry of problems and possibilities that could arise.

No work today because he'd already contacted Dutch.

The phone had rung twice before an answer came on the line.

"Yeah," The dark-skinned man drawled sleepily. Understandable since it was 4:30 am. Rock didn't want to call but he had to.

"Dutch, I'm sorry about calling you so early."

"Rock?"

"Yeah, it's me."

"Mm," Over the phone Rock could hear the strike of a lighter and a few moments later Dutch blow out a breath into the receiver. "You calling to tell me that you're not coming in today?"

"How did you-?"

"Balalaika got in touch with me about the nature of that little assignment she had you doing."

"That was nice of her."

A deep laugh sounded from his boss, "I've never heard Balalaika being described as 'nice' in any fashion."

Rock snorted.

"So you found a place yet?"

Was there anyone that didn't know about what happened to him before he told them?

"Yeah, I got somewhere."

"That was fast!"

"Yeah," Rock said.

"Well, it's a good thing," Dutch said sounding relieved for some reason. " 'Cause I was going to offer you a couch at the docks until you got back on your feet," Dutch told him and Rock cringed.

Him, in the same place as Revy? As in after hours? Bad idea.

"Uh… Thanks, Dutch," Rock had said, trying and failing to hide his feelings on the suggestion. "See you tomorrow."

"Yeah."

X

Rock shook the conversation from his mind. He needed to sleep.

Nothing's going to happen. Rock thought tiredly trying to convince himself. Just go to sleep.

He sighed a long breath, listening to the AC whirling overhead. It blew icy breaths over his clean skin. Even though it was only seven in the morning, the heat outside was unforgiving. But with his apartment closed off and the AC working its magic, the heat was only real when he thought about it. Fluffing one of his pillows, he got comfortable and closed his heavy lids.

Within seconds, he knew nothing. Out like a light.

Sometime later the sound of water entered into his sleeping consciousness.

Water? Rock thought dazed. He was half awake-half asleep but he wasn't dreaming. Of this, he was certain.

Was it raining?

When the sound of a door open then close, he blinked open his eyes suddenly very awake indeed and aware that he was no longer alone in his apartment. Alarm and De Ja Vu slammed into him hard. He looked around the empty space to find something, anything to help him fight whoever it was that had broken into his place. Again!

This is not happening.

Investigating the kitchen silently for something he could use as a weapon, he discovered that whoever was in the bathroom had taken the liberty of eating the deli sandwich and fruit bowl he'd been too tired to enjoy and merrily left the empty plastic containers on his kitchen counter.

"Oh. My. God!" Rock's hushed tone was appalled at the audacity of his uninvited guest. His migraine redoubling.

Finding nothing to defend himself with, he decided that he would confront the problem head-on. Marching to the bathroom door, he wasn't thinking clearly. The collective of the last 24 hours plus the sum total of three back to back break-ins had his mind reeling.

Rock was at his limit!

Yanking the door open, he took a breath to shout only to choke on his words when his eyes took in the woman stepping out of his shower.

"Get the fuck outta here and shut the fucking door, you fucking pervert!"

"Revy?" Rock said bewildered. "Wha- What are you doing here!?"