Chapter 29: Sunday Morning Coming Down

Revy felt the headache before her eyes even opened, but she was hardly surprised. The wave of pain and general discomfort washed over her, aches and pains throbbing all over from her shenanigans in the Silver Sun the night before. After returning to the apartment with the other three, the rest of the night was more or less a complete blur. The worn-out gunslinger opened her eyes, shutting them again once the light had done its work and pain surged through her head. It was at this point that she realised someone had been knocking on the door. Unsurprisingly, she was in no rush to answer it. Once her eyes had adjusted to the light, she scanned the room, unmoving on the couch she had fallen asleep on. The two bottles of El Jimador tequila were empty on the table in front of the couch. She couldn't have drunk it all herself or the headache would be the least of her worries.

The sound of footsteps came from the other room and Shenhua halted behind the couch.

"What the matter with you, you not hear door?!" she asked angrily.

"Can ya not talk so fucking loud?" Revy asked with as much vigour as she could muster, still in the same position she had woken up in with her face half buried in the cushion beneath her. "I think my head's gonna explode."

"Should have thought of that before you drink so much." Had she the energy, she would have thrown the empty bottles at the Taiwanese woman. Shenhua opened the door and the knocking ceased, much to Revy's relief.

"Oh, hey." The voice was Rock's. After dropping the others off last night, he had returned home, the plan he had set in motion over and done with. Revy assumed she would not be seeing him again, at least not so soon. As he had explained, with Alejandro's people at the Silver Sun massacred, it was only a matter of time before the Colombian came out of the shadows and Revy could kill him. "Is Revy here?"

"She drink too much tequila and now she paying the price." Accepting the fact that she couldn't laze about all day, she pushed herself up from the couch and placed one hand to her head. If she moved too suddenly, she was almost certain her stomach would be emptying itself onto Shenhua's floor.

"What are you doing here, Rock?" she asked flatly.

"Dutch sent me to get you," the Japanese man explained. "We've got a job. He wants us to run through the details."

"You're kidding me. We gotta do this today?"

"Tomorrow. But Dutch wants you back at the office so we can be ready first thing in the morning."

"Alright, alright, quit your yapping already. I'll follow you out."

Once she had composed herself, she exited the apartment with her things and hopped into the GTO. After Rock took off towards home, she lit a cigarette in the hopes that it would settle her nerves and keep the hangover at bay. It did not help. That didn't stop her from smoking three more before the car journey was over, though.

"We got the job from Usagi," Rock explained once it was clear Revy was happy to sit in silence. "Just called this morning, but she's willing to pay us a bonus for giving us such short notice."

"Must have been some fortune her daddy left her," Revy mused. "That girl has more cash than she knows what to do with." She flicked the cigarette butt out the window and produced another one, lighting it as she continued to speak. "What does she want this time?"

"We've got a shipment of weapons to deliver for her. There's someone meeting us out on the water. I assume he's taking the goods back to her followers in Hong Kong."

"How do you think Chang would react if he knew we were helping her rally what's left of the gangs under the Triad's nose?"

"It's just business, Revy," Rock told her firmly. "Chang knows that better than anyone." Revy glared at him, but she wasn't too bothered chastising him this morning.

"Yolanda will be jumping out of her frilly nighties, all the business that girl is giving her."

"No, she didn't order from the Rip-Off Church," Rock corrected her. "Praiyachat and Torchy are supplying this time."

"Smart girl," Revy said, impressed. "Spreading the goods out across different suppliers. That'll make it harder for her to be found out."

"As long as she keeps away from the unauthorised dealers," Rock said with the enthusiasm of a teaspoon. "Remember when they found that guy, Ishmael? He'd been stuffed backwards into a trashcan."

Ishmael had been dealing weapons and equipment without the prior approval of the ruling factions and used to smuggle his equipment into Roanapur by hiding it with larger shipments being imported by the other gangs, a fact which had only been discovered after his death. While Rock and many others believed Balalaika or Chang had discovered what he was doing and had him gruesomely murdered as punishment, the truth was that he had actually been the victim of a certain bloodthirsty assassin in search of answers.

"She can't stay out of the limelight forever, you know that," Revy said matter-of-factly. "Sooner or later, she's gonna slip up and this little gang she's been putting together will be gone."

"She knew the risks," Rock said. "She's not cut out for this. She has nobody to blame but herself if things don't work out. It might be the wake up call she needs." Revy narrowed her eyes, but held her tongue and kept her eyes on the road. It was unclear exactly where Rock's head was at these days. With the way he was behaving, it was safe to assume he was not himself, but that had been the case for longer than Revy cared to admit. There was a time when she thought this was all about Yukio Washimine. She assumed Rock's nefarious actions and decision to gamble with the lives of others were born from his experiences with the Japanese schoolgirl and how he had been taught more than a few hard lessons while in Tokyo. It seemed he was trying to prove something, both to himself and the deceased Yukio. But now, it was uncertain. Revy no longer believed that's what this was about, if she ever truly did. His intentions were more unclear than ever, but the person he was did not matter to Revy anymore. That was how it had to be, now. They were partners in the professional sense, work colleagues who would be civil so they could get the job done. But they were no longer friends. She didn't care what he was playing at anymore, and she would leave him to do what he wished.

"Stop by the Yellowflag on the way back," Revy said all of a sudden.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Rock advised her. "We have to be ready to go first thing tomorrow." It was obvious from his voice he had already resigned himself to acceptance. He knew Revy well enough by now to know she was just going to berate him until he gave in.

"What are you, my fucking minder? I need a drink." Surprising, considering the alcohol she had consumed the night before, but Rock gave in. Dutch would probably pop a vein when they showed up at the apartment later tonight. It had been after midday when Rock collected Revy and the afternoon was setting in when they arrived at the bar. Revy exited the car wordlessly and headed inside, with Rock close behind. He silently came to terms with the fact that they would probably be here until the wee hours. Revy pulled up a stool and waved at Bao.

"Two-Hands," he greeted her. "Was starting to think you'd found yourself a new watering hole. You want a drink?"

"No, I want a glass of milk and a little bag of peanuts," she growled sarcastically. Bao rolled his eyes and poured her a glass of Bacardi. Rock took the seat beside her.

"You want one?" Rock eyed the glass in front of Revy and entertained the thought that he was going to be good tonight, but he knew that was wishful thinking and he gave in.

"Screw it," he said with a carefree tone.

"It's just one a drink," Revy told him. "We're not gonna wake up in bed together in the morning." Rock wasn't quite sure how to respond to that, so he just took a drink instead.

"You'll have to explain it to Dutch when we get home. You know he'll be annoyed we didn't come straight back."

"Don't be such a wuss. I'll be up bright and early so we can collect that little girl's firepower. Dutch knows I'm always ready for a job." Rock took her word for it and eyed the rum as he swirled it around in the glass. It was going to be a long day tomorrow. As Rock understood it, Usagi was accompanying them on the Lagoon to oversee the exchange and make sure Rock had verified she had been sold the correct equipment. The last time they had spoken, things had been a tad uncomfortable, and it felt as though some of the conversation they had had remained unresolved. It was likely Usagi was going to continue to badger him like so many others about his decisions. He had no time for that anymore and the thought almost made him roll his eyes. He couldn't help but feel like she was exercising one of Chang's greatest pet peeves; hypocrisy. Considering the person she was, it was a little rich for her to judge Rock, after all. He would have no qualms about letting her know as much, either.

Rock felt something push against his back and a loud, annoying voice funnelled into his ear before he realised the stranger's arms were wrapped around him and Revy.

"Look who it is!" Lexi exclaimed with an irritating excitedness. "Long time no see, Rocky Boy!"

"What the fuck?!" Revy snarled, struggling against the woman's hold on her. "Get your fucking hands off me!"

"Aw, don't be like that, Twinkie. I know you missed me, but you've got a funny way of sho-!" Without warning, Revy's hand shot up into the air and caught Lexi in the face, sending her tumbling backwards across the room. Rock was good at keeping his composure these days, but his jaw hit the floor when saw that. Revy was on her feet like a shot and making her way over to Lexi to deliver a full-on beating, but the American woman was too quick and she kicked her feet up into the air, coming back to an upright position and giving Revy a punch of her own.

"Hey, hey! Take it outside!" Bao roared, but he must have known by now that it was no use. Rock didn't bother trying to intervene. To tell the truth, he found himself curious to find out who was going to come out on top, so he just let them fight it out. "Can't you talk some sense into her, Rock?"

"I gave up trying a long time ago," he croaked. "Besides, my money is on Revy. I haven't seen her this fired up in a long time."