Chapter 4: Quid Pro Quo

"You secured a building already." Bayard cast a surprised glance toward his soon-to-be gun shop. The painter was completing his work on the sign, LADY LUCK in blood red paint. The young man was beginning to see the power that the blonde woman beside him commanded; it had been barely a day in Roanapur and the mob boss had already acquired a building. It seemed a simple matter of finding a building and snapping her fingers to secure it. He had a hunch that a flick of that wrist could command much more. This woman was terrifying, and yet he could not help noticing how attractive she was. Hopefully she did not see him glancing at her cleavage through his peripherals.

"Well, do you like it?" Balalaika asked breaking him from his thoughts. He could only nod in response fighting back a blush. "I mean the shop, not my chest." She laughed lightly and cast a grin at him. He felt like a deer caught in the headlights, figuratively of course.

"Do I die today?" The gunsmith asked in a half joking manner.

"Relax, I take it as a complement. At least you are tactful about looking at a woman's body, not like those perverts who gaze intently." The Russian laughed again and decided to return to the matter at hand. "You should have everything you need inside. Remember, I shall be calling on your special talents very soon."

"I am used to it."

Rock moaned slightly as he woke up with a pounding head. Every time he drank with Revy this happened and he would always wake up in the oddest places. This time he noticed that he was on the couch at the Lagoon Company building, not too bad. It took him about a minute to realize that he was not alone on the couch. There was a body next to him which he was embracing. It felt rather nice to be cuddled up in such a cozy way, until he realized who it was he was cuddling. His eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as he gazed at the sleeping form of Two-Hand Revy asleep contently. She didn't seem so dangerous when she was asleep. If he dared say, she looked kind of cute. Wait, what the fuck was he thinking? When she woke up she would probably shoot him in the spine. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves making sure not to wake her up. Okay, they were both fully clothed, so nothing happened between them or at least they didn't have sex, not that he didn't want to. There was no way out of this that he could see; he couldn't get up and sneak away without waking her. He buried his head in her hair and cuddled closer pretending to be asleep. If he was going to die he might as well enjoy it.

"Mmmm, my fucking head." Rock held his breath at the sound of her voice. Revy was never one for mornings, and this morning she had a hangover. The Chinese woman yawned and stretched her arms. She noticed she was still in her clothes and that her guns were on the coffee table. She decided to lie there for a little bit and wait for her head to stop pounding. "Gotta stop doing this." She attempted to get up when she felt a fleshy barrier stop her. There were arms around her waist; the arms were clad in white sleeves, oh no. She turned over to her other side and came face to face with the Lagoon's own negotiator and business man, who was wearing a nervous, don't kill me, smile. "Rock, what the fuck?" She mumbled dangerously

"I just woke up like this."

She broke from his grasp and stood up. She grabbed one of her cutlasses from its holster and pointed it at him with a yawn. "Did you fuck me while I was drunk?" She thumbed back the hammer and pointed the gun toward his crotch. "Well?"

"No! We're fully clothed so we could not have done anything." Rock put up his hands defensively offended at her suggestion. Somehow he managed to be offended with a gun ready to destroy his manhood. "My guess is that Dutch and Benny laid us on the couch. Besides, I wouldn't ever do that."

"Why, I'm not fucking worthy?" Revy kept her gun pointed between his legs.

"What? No, I mean that wouldn't take advantage of a drunken woman."

"I'm just fucking with you." The pirate chuckled and set her gun down on the table. "Well, honest mistake I guess." She strode to the kitchen and began making coffee, leaving Rock with an astonished look on his face. He shakily got to his feet and followed her into the kitchen.

"Just like that? I thought you'd be much angrier."

"Rock, you are not like the scumbag men in this city. Loosen your fucking tie and relax." Rock sighed in relief. A year ago she might have pulled that trigger and he would be, he shuddered to think what that would feel like. He went to the table and practically fell into the seat clutching his head. "Here" Revy placed a cup of coffee in front of him and took the seat next to his. The two drank their coffee in awkward silence. "So……"

"Revy, do you ever think that…." He was interrupted by Revy's cell phone ringing. She trudged to the living room and grabbed her ringing phone from the table.

"So how was your sleep?" She could feel Dutch's smirk through the phone.

"Fuck you, what do you want this early."

"It's noon Revy, and there is a new gun shop in town. I thought it would be fun to check it out." Revy's interest was piqued instantly. For a city of criminals, there was a sad shortage of gun shops and gun enthusiasts. You could get guns to be certain, but most of them came from illegal street vendors who sold from their trunks. The crime syndicates mostly got their guns from the Church of Violence, which was about the only place where you could get quality firearms. Maybe this new place would have better prices and hopefully, the store owner wasn't a prick. "It's right down the street from our shop. It's the shop marked LADY LUCK, interesting name."

"Sure thing, Dutchy. And next time could you place us on separate furniture?"

"I wonder who I'll have to kill." Bayard thought aloud as he worked on assembling some guns. The majority of the parts and supplies hadn't come in yet, so pickings were pretty slim. He could make due; he was used to making guns from crappy parts. The first gun he ever built was made out of common household tools and used nails as ammunition. He was currently working on building a sawed-off shotgun. He was wondering if it could be a bit more powerful. The shop's bell broke him out of his thoughts. He strode out to the front. "Welcome to my shop." He saw the black man from the previous night with the three others that were at the bar.

"Apple Tini" Dutch smiled at the young man

"Mr. Dutch, I didn't think I'd see you so soon. You brought your crew." Bayard replied

"I'm Benny, tech support." The blonde tech shook the young man's hand.

"I'm Rock, I run negotiations, sort of."

"Revy, I'm the Lagoon's gunman."

"Nice to meet all of you. I am Bayard Cowan. So what brings you to my shop? Need some problem solvers?" He cocked his eyebrow playfully and manned the counter. "I don't have much yet, but my guns are top quality, if I do say so myself." Revy surveyed the guns with deep interest. Rock looked on as she looked over the weapons with an almost childlike enjoyment. The Japanese man didn't really understand the appeal of guns, but looked on anyway. "I should have more in stock later…………..those are nice." He pointed toward Revy as he noticed the guns holstered on her shoulders.

"Ogling tits is bad for business buddy." Revy commented dryly

"I mean the guns." He shot back with just as dry a tone. "Mind if I see them, the guns I mean."

"Sure." She drew one of the guns and set it on the counter gently.

"Very nice, this is one of the best pistols I've ever seen. Nine millimeter, a vey underestimated caliber, and I love the jolly-roger motif on the barrel." He examined the gun from every angle making mental notes about its design. He was guessing that she was no rookie gunman, either. "As long as we're having show and tell, take a looked at my gun." He pulled the gun from his hip holster and handed it to her. She examined his gun as he did hers, and while she was no gunsmith, she had a pretty good grasp on weapons. She pointed to the little switch on the gun and cocked an eyebrow. "That switch turns it to full-auto, for when I need an extra burst of firepower." She handed it back to him.

"Finally another gunman, are you any good with that thing, the gun I mean?"

"Pretty good I'd say, good thing in this city. You know, I hitchhiked into town after I got off the boat and the driver tried to get me to blow him and knife point."

"Did you do it?"

"I shot the fucker in the head and stole his car."

"Both of them?" The two laughed as the others looked on in amusement. Rock felt a twinge of jealousy at the site. Wait, what the hell was he thinking? The two were just talking about guns, not flirting. Was it that this was a thing that he couldn't connect with her on? He shook the thoughts from his head. "Rock, you feeling alright?"

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine. My head is still pounding though." He lied and clutched his head.

"This is getting to be a real annoyance." Balalaika scowled as she heard to news from Chang. Some rat bastards had robbing businesses under the protection of Hotel Moscow and the Triad. It started out small and she'd taken them to be just a bunch of kids getting cheap thrills. The punks had been getting bolder and it was actually becoming a problem. Not only were they disrupting business, but this was sending a message that Hotel Moscow and the Triad were to be fucked with. They even had the audacity to kill some Triad and Moscow enforcers. It was time to crush these fuckers like the bugs they were. "Now would be a good time to test out my new employee."

"I heard you picked up a stray. Are you sure this newbie can handle it? We don't want any fuck ups." Chang replied

"Don't you trust me Changy baby?" She joked

"I've told you not to call me that. It makes me feel rather dirty." The Triad boss sighed

"If it makes you feel better, you can send one of your men to assist him." The Russian replied

"I know just the person. She'll be especially helpful in this situation. An example needs to be set."

"Then it's settled. Talk to you later, baby." Chang was met with a dial tone before he could reply. Why did he put up with that woman? Oh right, the intense military training and her personal death squad.

"Goddamn Ivan."

"Nice bunch of people." Bayard commented as the Lagoon Crew left his shop. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. He made a few sales and finished tinkering with his shogun. He was about to close up when his phone rang. "Hello, Miss Balalaika. I'm surprised to hear from you so soon. Who do I have to kill?"

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Authors note: My college semester has ended, so I'll be able to update regularly.

Tell me what you think of my scene change; that is my biggest concern as of now.

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