Chapter Four: Burden
On the following morning, Revy woke up next to the sleeping form of Mr. Chang.
Gradually she blinked her eyes open, and immediately after doing so, she wished she hadn't. The headache that followed her wakefulness was so profound she thought her head would split apart any second. Thus she spent the next few moments solely in trying to get the hammers that seemed to be pounding in her head under control. When the pain had subsided enough that she deemed it safe to try again, Revy slid her eyes open once more, this time with such care and tenderness she'd rarely shown to anything.
This time the effort paid off, and she could actually manage herself to a sitting position. As she brought her hand to her head and let out a low groan, bits and pieces of memories of last night began to come back to her.
After the annihilation of the nazis had been successfully brought to a close, Revy had found herself in the company of the Chinese triad leader, Mr. Chang. The original plan was for him to take Revy back home, but of course the excited and happy man couldn't let the night end without a proper celebration of a job done well. Thus it came as no surprise that the pair had gone off to the Chinese man's residence for a private party.
A party that had not lacked the appropriate serving. Ranging from the softest of beers to the strongest of whiskeys, the liquor cabinet of Mr. Chang was ample and generous. And the two of them had not been ashamed to indulge themselves.
Thus the night had proceeded on, with the freely flowing booze eventually lulling them to a state of light headedness and prompting them to reminisce about the times past. Laughs had been shared at the memories of their adventures, cheers had been made at the union between the master and the apprentice.
In the midst of merry recollections, the pair had been reminded to their mutual respect and fancy for each other. And from there the trail had led to the inevitable. With a quick glance at the nakedness of the man beside her and the slight throbbing that lingered between her legs, Revy didn't need to recall last night's events any further to figure out just what had happened.
With another groan that this time had very little to do with her headache, the redhead proceeded to get out of the bed and pick up her clothes.
She had intended to dress quickly and get out of the place as soon as possible without alerting the Chinese man, but at the light chuckling of the man in question behind her, Revy saw those hopes swiftly blown away.
"In a bit of a hurry now aren't we, Revy?" Mr. Chang chided her with a mixture of amusement and reproach.
Embarrassment surged through Revy, and despite the flush on her cheeks, she found it in herself to turn slightly towards the man as she spilled out the first excuse coming to her mind.
"W-well, I gotta get back to the office sometime, lest I worry my dear comrades, don't you think?"
"Although in your situation, I guess I can kind of see why you would want to scramble as fast as you can and as far away as possible", the Chinese man spoke up while ignoring Revy's words completely, before continuing:
"Seeing as you just last night duped Balalaika for good and left the evidence of your little lie literally dangling in her hands. Tsk tsk, that was mighty careless." Mr. Chang concluded nonchalantly with a hearty laughter.
Revy was rendered speechless. Had she told the truth to the other man in her drunken state last night? But before she could utter a word to ask about the matter, Mr. Chang had already guessed the question by the look on her face and made to answer, still in a good natured tone.
"Oh yes, last night you poured your heart and soul out to boot. It was actually kind of cute to see you flustered like that and almost close to tears. I was really touched, you know, albeit a good deal surprised as well, ha ha" Mr. Chang seemed completely unfazed and carefree as he made his speech, seeing as there seemed to be no end to his mirth.
Revy had trouble discerning whether the man was really in such a good mood or if he was mocking her. Both confused by his behaviour as well as terrified that her secret was out in the open, Revy decided it was best to discard all her shame and gamble to see if she could make use out of the situation.
"Well then..since you seem to understand my position here, how about you lend me some of that good spirit of yours. You know, like, help get the hell out of this town, for starters?"
The laughter died on the Chinese man's lips, and he had the decency to adapt a solemn look on his face as he gave his answer.
"I'm afraid I can't do any such thing for you, Revy." He began, scratching at the back of his neck in embarrassment.
"You see, as much as I would like to, going against Hotel Moscow is just something too dangerous and really not in the best interest of me and my organization. It's not just my life on the line here, but the whole gang's gonna suffer if I make a careless move, so..." Mr. Chang trailed off with a shrug and a sad smile.
For a moment, the feelings of cold rage, shame, and self-loathing almost overcame Revy. Millions of thoughts of lashing out at the man shot through her mind. She quenched them on the last minute, however, after one of the most violent inner struggles she'd ever been through. Together, they had enjoyed a bloodbath last night, after which they'd drunk together, after which they'd fucked. It was as simple as that, and Revy felt another pang of hatred for herself for even thinking of trying to plea to something as nonexistent as...
Love?
One of the words she'd grown to hate and loathe so much. What love? The kind of love her parents had shown her, casting her aside when she was but a child? Her earliest memories were of herself with a gun in her hand, fighting to survive and for no one else.
Or perhaps the kind of love she'd had every now and then, with men like the one who was grinning stupidly at her from the bed this very moment? Excursions of one night, always accompanied by a great dose of any and all intoxicants, forgotten before the night was even over.
Love indeed.
Revy fastened the belt of her short trousers, correcting her posture the best she could. Fighting down the nausea of her hangover, humiliation, and, despite trying to deny it, the slight feeling of betrayal, she bid her farewell.
"I see. Have a nice day then, boss."
Without saying another word, Revy left the apartment.
The cellar was dark and damp, with the smell of mold on the walls thick in the air. A single light bulb hung from the ceiling, swaying slightly at the end of a thin cord. Both of their hands were tied together behind their backs, their legs having likewise been chained to the foremost legs of the chairs they'd been put to sit on.
This was a part of the Hitel Moscow headquarters neither of them had ever seen, and they weren't the least bit delighted by discovering it now either. Circumstances being as they were, the two of them waited with growing dread of what was to come.
In short, Rock and Benny had never been this terrified in their lives. Neither Rock's memories of being captured by the Lagoon company seemingly ages ago nor Benny's mishaps with the FBI on the other side of the world could compare to this; with Rock, he'd at least known his captors' intentions when he'd been taken hostage, and Benny had been rescued by Revy on the last minute. No such comforts were offered to either of them on this occasion, however: Rock had no idea of what was going on and it seemed very unlikely that anybody was going to come for them.
It had all started just few hours ago well past midnight. Both men had given up on trying to stay awake to see Revy come back, and when they had already retired for bed, the door to their office had been knocked down without warning. Armed men who Rock and Benny recognized to be those of Balalaika's burst in and forcibly dragged them away without a word of explanation, and here they were.
Finally the door to the nauseatingly threatening basement creaked open, admitting the person who could both give them the answers they needed and at the same time deliver them to doom unimaginable.
As Balalaika walked towards them, the sharp heels of her shoes echoed ominously on the damp cobblestones. She was again dressed in her usual regalia consisting of a large dark green overcoat and a formal suit of wine color underneath.
The woman stopped not two meters away from them, and for a while, all she did was fix them with a glare that froze the two men in place, both ceasing their small fidgeting and struggling against their bindings.
As the tension of the evident staring contest finally overcame Rock, he blurted out the first words issuing from his mind.
"G-good morning, Miss Balalaika! I-I'm afraid I don't quite grasp the situation; for what reason have we brought here in this manner? And-"
"It is me who will do the questioning, Okajima Rokuro. Do not even think to assume otherwise."
What little hopes Rock had entertained for a casual conversation or things being solved simply died at the icy tone in Balalaika's words. His mouth remained open in shock, and he only remembered how to use it when the insanity of the situation hit him in full. In order to give anything himself, he needed to have at least some answers.
"Please, Miss Balalaika you have to understa..."
A sharp stinging pain cut across his face as the sound of Balalaika's raw backhanded slap rang in the void space.
"You are in no position to demand anything of me, is that understood!?" The Russian woman growled to emphasize her point.
It was rare to see Balalaika losing her composure and being this passionate about anything, which alone gave Rock a pause. Indeed understanding finally that there were no words with which to plea with the elder woman, Rock ground his teeth together and gave the slightest of nods.
Balalaika seemed to cool down instantly as she nodded in return and proceeded, in a far more civil manner than just moments ago:
"Good. Now, what I want to know is in fact very simple, and depending on the level of your co-operation, we may be able to wrap this up in a pleasantly short time."
Hope flared in the two bound men yet again, and both of them corrected their posture, signaling that they were ready to hear what the woman had to say and would do their utmost to answer properly. Balalaika, on her part, took a deep breath and asked a single question, putting weight on every word so as to deliver the message as clearly as possible:
"Where is Revy?"
It was as if a damp cloth had been thrown on the flames of hope of the two men. Both of them exchanged looks, blinked a couple of times, and, as it had grown to be the custom over the interrogation, Rock was the one to give the answer. An answer they well knew was the worst they could give, even though it was the truth:
"We don't know."
Balalaika closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, after which she released the air in her lungs with a long sigh. Then she opened her eyes yet again and snapped her fingers. Instantly two of her subordinates came from behind her, stopping right in front of the two prisoners.
The next thing Benny and Rock knew, their lungs had been emptied and a choking pain spread in their midsections by the blows the guards gave them.
Without sparing a glance at the agony playing before her eyes, Balalaika lit a cigar and addressed the hapless men again.
"You are a diplomat yourself Rock, surely you know that such answers won't do at all in these sort of affairs." Balalaika regarded without emotion the men lying on the floor and gasping for breath, before continuing:
"Now, are you willing to search you memory more thoroughly, or do you require more of the assistance my men just gave you to remember?" There was no mockery nor special coldness in Balalaika's words, she was simply stating the fact of the matter.
Rock gasped for breath yet again, collecting his thoughts before making to answer:
"Revy did not come home nor call us after last night's operation. All we know is what Boris told us over the phone, that the operation was a success and Miss Rebecca and gone off with Mr. Chang. Beyond that, we are quite uninformed about the current situation."
"Ah, yes indeed, Mr. Chang did make the kind offer to take your beloved Two Hand home. We have contacted him, just in case, and the good fellow reported to have done just that. What have you to say?" Replied Balalaika, her tone once again acquiring an ominous tone.
The two men were silent for a moment, and when it appeared that Rock had lost is willingness and ability to utter words he knew would be futile, it was Benny who took the task of speaking up.
"I'm sorry, but we haven't seen her since moments before she left for the mission yesterday."
The only sings Balalaika gave of her frustration were casting the cigar she'd smoked only for a while to the ground and smashing it under her heel. Then she turned around swiftly, her large overcoat swishing in her wake, and spoke to the two guards that had accompanied her:
"Well, then. Report back to me immediately if either of them say something of use. Until then, I leave their handling to your discretion." And with that the Russian woman made for the door, pulling it shut. The room's occupants were left under the cold illumination of the lone ligh bulb.
The screams of the two Lagoon members didn't make it past the cellar's thick walls.
Revy watched the statue of crucified Jesus Christ that hung above the altar. Head drooped and hands nailed to the sides, the prophet from two thousand years back was indeed a miserable sight. Revy had never been much of a religious person, but every now and then she caught herself indulging in the morbid fascination of reflecting on the idiocy of the whole concept.
The woman herself was sitting amongst the long rows of wooden benches, legs crossed and arms akimbo in her lap. The church around her was getting dark, with the growing dusk outside deepening and lengthening its shadows. The air was warm and stuffy, with the smoke from her cigarette only adding to it. She had been sitting there for a while now, quietly in wait for the person who now loudly and obnoxiously made her presence known.
"Oy there, Revy! Sure is fancy seeing you in a place like this for once, especially when I haven't even called you over for a drink." Eda taunted, her nun attire still on, familiar pink shades covering her eyes, and the irksome smacking of chewing gum issuing from her mouth.
"Screw you" Revy called back at her lazily, her exhausted mind not having the energy of coming up with anything better.
The other woman let out a loud hmph before taking seat next to her. Without a care in the world she took the gum out of her mouth and plastered it at the bottom of the bench they were sitting on. Soon the gum was placed with a lit cigarette as the blond woman took a deep breath of it.
"So, what brings you here?" She asked, her tone surprisingly serious.
"I'm sure you've heard." Revy replied, her tone emotionless and grave.
"About you being the one who offed Dutch? Yeah, you're basically the talk of the town right now. So, what, all else has failed you and you've decided to finally discard your evil ways and seek the guidance of our Lord, hm?"
"It's not a joking matter here, damn it! Balalaika is all but surely arranged a manhunt for me, so ain't no way I'd waste my time on something as useless as that."
For a while, the two remained completely silent, both knowing what was to come next but neither willing to take the initiative. As if to provoke the helpless woman only further, Eda was the one to break the silence with a question only humiliating Revy even more.
"So what is it, then?" She said while casually puffing a cloud smoke out of her mouth.
Revy grit her teeth. She knew very well the other woman was playing stupid, but she was in no position to hold on to her pride and retort at her because of that.
"I need your help", she finally managed to growl through her teeth.
"How much?" Eda asked without skipping a beat.
"Oh, nothing too major, just help me find a way to get out of this town or hide somewhere, and I'll be sure to-"
"Not that, moron. I meant how much will you pay me just for not handing you over to Balalaika myself and collecting the bounty, let alone do anything to help you." Eda replied shamelessly, her tone a peculiar mixture of cold business and taunt.
Revy felt a flush of anger rise up her neck, but she bit it back with force once again. Of course, this was the corrupt Church of Violence, where everything was decided with a price, first and foremost. Revy scolded herself for having forgotten that in her stressed state of mind and haste to get help.
"I haven't got much on me at the moment, but if we manage to get back to the office unnoticed, I'm sure I can scour up a few grands-"
Revy's words got cut off again, this time by a mighty bark of laughter from the fake nun.
"Rebecca, dearest, surely you know that this is Hotel Moscow we're talking about. I wouldn't lift a finger against them for the pennies you're talking about, to say nothing of doing something as outrageous as help the killer of their leader's close comrade to escape." She lectured her nonchalantly, not seeming to have the slightest qualms of refusing to aid her peer because of the lack of money.
Revy sat aghast, letting the waves of humiliation, disappointment and anger wash over her. So distracted she was that she didn't notice the ash from her forgotten cigarette dropping on the wooden bench and staining it, barely registering the nun's complaints about destroying the church's property. She and Eda had known each other for a long time, and although it appeared that they never quite seemed to get along with each other, Revy hadn't exactly minded how some people took the liberty of referring to their relationship as...
Friendship?
Again, one of the words she could imagine those other kind of people using. Flusteredly Revy wondered when the hell had she let such an empty word enter her vocabulary. Of course she'd met people she didn't consider as enemies over the years, but in the end, it all came down to just herself fighting alone her way through the hell that was life. The closest she'd got to others' perception of friendship was her camaraderie with Dutch, and along his death had died her last ideas of any deeper companionship.
Revy shot up from her seat. On her way to the church's aisle she stopped right next to where Eda sat. Without even looking at the woman she took the cigarette out of her mouth and stumped it on the nun's headpiece.
"Thanks for nothing", she said as she continued walking away.
"Be sure to contribute to the common good!" Eda called leisurely after the departing redhead, motioning towards the small chest where the alms of the church-goers were gathered.
Revy complied, spitting in the chest on her way out.
Scrambling through the dark alleyways of Roanapur, Revy roamed the city without specific destination or purpose in mind.
In hindsight, she knew she should've made her plans of escaping the city, whatever they would've been and wherever they might have taken her, last night at the latest. In fact, she knew she should have taken leave of the accursed city as soon as she got back from that fatal mission with Dutch only a few days ago, god has it been such a short time, she wondered inwardly as she hunched among the shadows.
From her viewing point, she could see the neon lights of the main streets just few paces away. The night pulsed with sinful life as it always had. The prostitutes posing and offering themselves on the sidewalks, she thought she could even recognize some of them. Those dark suited men standing guard in front of the entrances to some richer places where the more wealthier gang leaders were either holding their meetings or just plain relaxing. Or they could be patrolling in search of me. She thought with some trepidation.
Revy pressed herself against the damp and cool wall of the building next to her, closing her eyes and letting her body slide down to a sitting position.
She had to think, but her options were short. She had some varying contacts across the town, but she was doubtful if any of them had not already been contacted and bribed or threatened by Hotel Moscow in case she tired to look for their aid. She could try to sneak back to the Lagoon office, but she was certain it had been the first place her pursuers had gone to look for her. Besides, the only means of transport there were their meagre car and the torpedo boat, both of which wouldn't get her too far; the car wold run out of gas or be recognized, most probably both, and she didn't have enough knowledge how to operate the boat.
Even though her first musings didn't take her to a satisfying conclusion, Revy decided that doing nothing was the worst possible solution. Thus she tore herself from her dormancy and got up quickly, only to bump into someone in her haste. She stumbled a few paces but managed to keep herself upright. Normally this would merit her shooting curses and insults at the other person, but at the moment she was too preoccupied to think much of it.
"Watch where you're going, will you?" Revy opted for the simple retort, before hastily turning and heading again deeper into the shadows.
But she was stopped by a large and extremely strong had grabbing her by the wrist. She made to snap back and look at the intruder, only to have her head firmly pushed against the building's wall. From behind her back she could hear a deep male voice speak:
"Miss Rebecca of the Black Lagoon, I believe Captain Balalaika would have a word with you."
Outright horror froze Revy on her tracks. As the man holding her delivered a powerful strike to the back of her head, the last thing her mind registered before falling into oblivion was the scarred face of Sergeant Boris looming over her.