Chapter 24: Walking By The Wayside

As soon as Revy spotted Rock having entered the bar, the atmosphere dropped like a dead bird and any sense of relaxation and calm that had been in the air quickly dissipated. For several moments, nothing happened and Revy held her glass of rum in mid-air without saying a word. When it became clear how tense things were, the Wolf stood up from his seat suddenly and gave the other two a stern look.

"What's say we go have a drink with the Americans?" he asked, unceremoniously gesturing his head towards Revy as if to hammer home the fact that she was to be left alone with Rock. Though the other two Wolf Pack alums had no idea why they had to vacate the booth, Wolf had clearly inferred things were strained with Lagoon Company given the last couple of times he had met with them. It took only a few seconds for them to grab their drinks and take off for the other side of the building. Then, the bar and booths near the entrance all lay completely empty, with only Rock and Revy present.

The air was cold as ice. Revy was unpredictable on the best of days, never mind when confronted with those she was not on the best of terms with. It was a first to have Rock qualify as such a person on this occasion. He was lucky he didn't get the glass thrown at his head. Revy opted instead to finish its contents and slam it back down on the bar, folding her arms while she waited for a refill.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" she asked quietly, her voice calm but with the hint of an edge that suggested she was not far from losing her temper. Rock took a couple of steps forward.

"I came looking for you," he explained.

"Didn't I make myself clear? Or weren't you listening the last time we spoke? We ain't got nothing to talk about. So why don't you turn around and run back home before you get yourself in real trouble?" Her eyes were closed while she spoke. When she opened them and looked in Rock's direction, his expression was both blankly unamused and a tad nonplussed as he listened to her. She remembered when he was awkward and bumbling, an imbecile by some standards who could never quite loosen up wherever he was. That was a long time ago. Today, he was relaxed and alert all at once.

"I thought you might want to know about Alejandro," Rock said cleverly to try and pique her interest. Judging by her face, it worked. At least for a second before her brooding resumed.

"Maybe you didn't hear me," she said quietly, adjusting her folded arms so one hand subtly rested on the handle of her Cutlass. Rock showed no signs of fear. "We ain't pals, you understand? I'm not your buddy, and I'm sure as shit not your shoulder to cry on. So fuck off."

"We're not friends," Rock said flippantly. "Okay. But we are still colleagues, Revy, whether you like it or not. And we've got work to do."

"Oh yeah? I don't remember being hired for a job. Last I checked, I take orders from Dutch, not you."

Rock bravely grabbed the stool beside her and angled it so that he was facing her when he sat into it. He also decided to order himself a drink while Revy's refill was being poured. The gunslinger's grip tightened around her Cutlass as he took his seat, but it loosened again shortly. She knew he was not going to leave her be and she was clearly not going to actually shoot him, even if she had genuinely been tempted to.

"I'm not giving you an order," Rock clarified, taking her words too literally as he often did. Or perhaps he was exercising his rare penchant for sarcasm. It was hard to tell with Rock, who so often walked the line between brilliance and absent-mindedness. "But you'd be foolish not to want to hear what I have to say. You know Alejandro will be coming after you. It isn't about getting paid, it's about survival." Revy scoffed as she lifted her newly filled glass of rum to her lips. Rock mimicked her and drank it down like a man who had been wandering the desert for days and had just been handed his first drink of water.

"Go on," Revy told him reluctantly.

"I think I can figure out where he's been hiding," Rock elaborated as he jumped into his explanation eagerly. "I think he's had help staying under the radar so far. He must have allied himself with someone already operating in the city and now they're helping him get around. There's no way he'd be able to stay hidden for so long otherwise. But I can find him. I've already narrowed down several locations in Roanapur where he could be. When I find him, you can track him down…and kill him before he even has the chance to get to you."

Revy eyed him cautiously as she thought on what he was saying. It was like she was trying desperately to figure out what his game was. She crossed her legs and rested the heel of her foot on his stool, between his legs. He did not react. Their eyes locked, she started clapping dramatically in insincere applause at his intellect.

"Quite the plan ya got there," she said sweetly, her voice also exaggerated. "But I don't see what's in it for you. Last I checked, you didn't give much of a shit about this. So…where's this come from all of a sudden? 'Cause I know you didn't have no fucking change of heart, after all." Rock looked down as he tried to come up with an answer for that, and it was obvious he didn't have one at the ready. Revy knew whatever was going to come out of his mouth would be an evasive lie.

"Alejandro must be getting the attention of the ruling factions, by now. After the trouble with Hawke and the rest of the New Order…and with the 216 scaring them…they won't want to take any chances. It's always smart to get in Chang and Balalaika's good books." Revy rolled her eyes when he hadn't been looking.

"Bullshit," she said sharply. "Yeah…I ain't buying it. Guess I'm never gonna have you figured out, Rock, cause I don't see any reason why you'd waste your time with this. You and me, we both know it's not like you to stick your nose where it doesn't belong…well, not anymore, it's not. But your fucking personality changes day to day." Once again, Rock didn't give much of a reaction, but she must have been getting on his nerves. He did not respond, allowing her to continue her ramblings. He would come to regret his silence on the matter soon enough. Judging by Revy's manner and what could only be classed as excitement while she verbally abused him, the alcohol was doing its work. "Huh. Beats me why you're doing this. The Rock I knew wanted to just watch from the sidelines while the rest of us got ourselves bloodied and beaten cleaning up his messes." She started to examine her fingernails as she continued. "But that ain't the only Rock I remember. It's sure not the Rock I followed to Tokyo. Or the Rock who handed the Lovelace kid a gun and made him play, what was it…Cambodian roulette?" She took her feet down from his stool and repositioned them on the footrest of her own. She then leaned forward until her face was close to his and she could almost feel his breath on her face. What began as a generally tense but amusing series of verbal bashings had now grown far more serious and Revy's expression said as much. "So, which Rock is it I'm talking to now? 'Cause I ain't sure anymore. You've got a fire in your eyes I haven't seen in a long time. Just gotta be careful I don't get burned."

Rock's coolness never faltered even when her face was inches away from him and he could smell the rum off of her.

"You won't," he told her flatly. She had done several times in the past. It had been the subject of many an argument and rift between them, how Rock would constantly put her in danger on his behalf or bring danger to her unintentionally through his actions. It would take a lot for her to believe him when he told her there would not be a repeat of that. Although, given that something had clearly changed recently, perhaps there was some truth to his words. But it was never simple with him. "I could have done nothing. I could have stayed in my apartment and let Alejandro come for you. But I came to you with the offer of help, instead. What do I want? I want to play the game. And I want to win. That's all there is to it." Revy looked serious for only a moment, donning a smirk seconds later to hide her true feelings.

"That so?" she asked, taking her drink in hand again. "Should have known you wouldn't be able to stay away. It's not your style. And here I thought you were just worried about little old me getting my tight little ass blown off by that beaner." It was at this point that Rock's patience wore thin and his mouth pulled back in what could almost be described as a growl.

"Won't you just listen?!" he snapped, shutting his eyes out of annoyance and placing one hand on his head. "I'm trying to help you! You know he's probably looking for you already. I thought you'd jump at the chance to take him out first."

"Relax," Revy told him.

She swirled the rum around in her glass and watched it as she thought about how to proceed. It was bad enough that their relationship had all but been completely destroyed, but now Rock was back to his old habits. She knew he couldn't just be doing this out of the goodness of his heart, or to win the affection and praise of the city's leaders. It was safe to say he had plenty of the latter already. This was dangerous. Rock was becoming unpredictable and ballsy like he had been in the past, but after everything he had been through with Lagoon Company it was more noteworthy now. It was unclear why he had chosen to walk this path, however, especially when he had been committed to not caring about anything so recently. It was safe to say that, whatever happened with this, he was still very much apathetic and indifferent to what happened around him. But he was apparently resuming his old hobby.

The only reason I wanna do it is because…it's my hobby.

Hobby?

Yeah, that's right. Some people like to die in the gutters. Others like to go to war. Then there's me. When it comes down to it…I'm really no different than you.

Gambling with the lives of others for the sake of the 'game' was a dangerous hobby, indeed, but there was nobody better at it than Rock himself. The only problem was it tended to get others hurt in the process. Revy wanted nothing more than to break his nose again, to add to the bruises he still bore faintly and walk away from him and his games. A part of her also sank upon hearing the revelation that he, in fact, hadn't been motivated to protect her from harm by offering to find Alejandro for her and just wanted to play the game instead. Or so he had her believe, anyway. Regardless, something stopped her in her tracks and she could not quite muster the willpower to walk away from him. It was like everything about the entire situation filled her up from top to bottom, an intoxicating lust for violence and destruction that Rock was promising to fulfil.

Revy knew she was mindlessly walking into the darkness again and envisioned herself walking a shoreline like she had done so many times before and she knew she truly was one of the walking dead, one of the damned. And despite this, she remained seated as if rooted to the stool as she drank in the sight of the man who had caused her so much pain in the past. But she had accepted her death a long time ago and she thirsted for more of this sensation that made her eager to send herself into the jaws of death once again, this feeling that was sweet and warm and borderline orgasmic. It was time to be free and unleash her Cutlasses on any and all who would stand in her way.

"You do what you do best," she told Rock solemnly. "And when you find this asshole, you let me off the leash and I'll do the rest. There ain't gonna be so much as a scrap left when I'm done with him."