Well; well, chapter 7 already! Thanks to those that have read, and bigger thanks to those of you who have reviewed. I would like to clarify that when I say "One Day Ago" near the beginning of this chapter, it does mean the day before the bar shootout.

To Meech Macko: Don't fret too much; these things you have mentioned in each of your reviews will not be ignored. Also, I'd like to remind you(and anyone else who reads this) that this story takes place before El Baile de la Muerte and a few months after the events in Japan in the canon chronology. At this point, Rock hasn't really had enough extended interaction with Eda to be able to peg her as something more than what she seems. Afterall, everyone in Roanapur has skeletons in their closet. Anyway, that too will be addressed.

Ch. 7: Seismic Rumblings

The familiar red GTO of the Lagoon Company cut through the Roanapur darkness like a knife. All three occupants of the car sat in an uneasy silence as each of them pondered the dead man's last words in their own way. Eda had hitched a ride back to the church with them given that she hadn't ridden her motorcycle and wasn't in ideal condition for such a dangerous walk through the city streets at this time of night. That was where the tension in the car came into play. Although Rock had his eye on the road and Eda was clutching her arm while looking out the window at passing marquees, to Revy it was almost as if they were having a silent conversation. It couldn't really be called a standoff since it wasn't a hostile vibe. This left Revy to sit quietly in the passenger seat and brood with jealousy at being left out.

For several minutes, they traveled the way to the church like that. The tension would originate with the driver, ooze into the backseat towards the wounded nun like a fog, drift up again to Revy, and then start all over. It was a silent Mexican standoff. When Rock could no longer stand the silence, he voiced what had been on his mind since observing Eda's subtle words and behavior on the subject of their foe.

"Eda?"

"Huh?" The woman was so deeply enmeshed in her thoughts and transfixed by the city lights that she jumped at the sound of her name, "Oh. Yeah, Rock?"

"Am I wrong, or do you seem to know more about this Shinji guy than you're telling us?" This time it was Revy who snapped out of her thoughts while Eda tensed up in the back seat. She was glad that neither of them was looking at her because she was certain that the crack in her armor just now would've given something away; if not to Revy, than certainly to the astute businessman. While she had grown to genuinely care about the Lagoon Company in spite of her job, regrettably, she was still CIA and could only disclose so much without blowing her cover.

She smiled, regaining what little composure had been lost, "Oh, a few things." She said coyly, indicating that she knew quite a bit more than a few things on the subject. "The Rip-Off Church has a pretty decent knowledge of most of the major players in the underworld. You'd be surprised how many of our customers have big mouths."

Only two people in Roanapur knew of Eda's true nature. Given the Church's corrupt nature, no one else had any reason to suspect that she was more than she appeared. That's the way it would stay. If Revy ever found out she was CIA, she'd be six feet under in two seconds.

Revy scoffed, "That's all so interesting, but what do you know about this prick, Eda?"

Height, weight, family history, criminal history, what the man eats for breakfast. "I'll tell you this, Two-hands, he's not someone to be taken lightly. You do that, and, well, you'll be goin' straight to heaven…or hell in your case." Eda continued, ignoring Revy's indignant growl. "From what I've heard of him, neither he nor his men make a move unless it serves their purpose. And rumor has it that he's got enough man power to match good ol' Fry-face herself."

Having dodged a bullet for the moment, Eda relaxed back into her seat while Revy pulled a cutlass out and twirled it. Even if her death was likely, the prospect of this kind of a gun fight excited her to the core. Rock, on the other hand, was anything but excited at this new information. A trip to Phuket beach was sounding real nice right about now. Still, something more bothered Rock about the nun's story. It was clear that she knew what she was talking about, but if she really was getting this information from hearsay, then she wouldn't be able to be so confident about its authenticity. It was also clear to him that whatever her secret was, she wanted to keep secret. She wasn't going to offer him more than flimsy answers or vague riddles; at least not in front of Revy.

'Then again,' Rock thought, 'I guess no one is truly what they seem in this city.'

One Day Ago

It was mid-morning and the sun was just beginning to rise above the Rip-Off Church's familiar steeple. So far, the morning was a peaceful one. For those wishing to avoid the constant bloodshed of the city, yet still remain within view of it, the Church was an ideal location.

On this particular morning, the serenity was occasionally broken by the profane squawking speech of Yolanda's bird. It seemed that the phrase du jour was "dick head". The speech was the only thing that irked the mother superior about that bird. To her, it was such a beautiful creature, but in the end, even the bird was tainted by the walking dead of Roanapur.

At the present moment, the one-eyed woman in question was the only inhabitant of the church to wake. Try as she might, she couldn't get Rico or Eda to follow her example. They both were of the mind that they shouldn't bother waking up for mass if no one attends, anyway. Yolanda, on the other hand, had maintained the same ritual for over thirty years since the city was founded. She'd originally started the church as a way to make easy money since, in her younger days; she encountered religious people who were so willing to give money to a "cause". After it became clear that Southeast Asia belonged to Satan and God alone would make her no money here, she began to deal firearms to the people in the young town nearby while posing as a nun. Overtime, though, she'd actually grown to consider herself a real woman of the cloth. The only key differences being that she never took the vows that she followed and she carried a gun.

Irritation washed over the old woman yet again when she strolled into the chapel to find the reason that Rico and Eda were still asleep at this hour.

"My; my, what do we have here?" She picked up an empty tumbler that still had traces of hard liquor clinging to it.

"That woman will be the death of me, yet." She muttered, placing it back down just as she heard tires pulling up outside.

'I wonder who that could be.' Yolanda wondered, looking towards the over-sized wooden doors at the front of the chapel. To the best of her recollection, they weren't expecting any customers today. The answer came a few moments later when she heard a knock at the door, followed by a friendly voice.

"Open up, Yolanda! Don't ya know it's hot out here?"

The woman smiled before walking the path down the aisle towards the door. "Mr. Chang," She said, opening one of the massive wooden doors to reveal the triad boss with Shenhua on his left and Biu on his right. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" She had anticipated this visit sooner or later since word of the attack on the Triad and Hotel Moscow two days ago reached her ears. She just didn't expect a visit from either Mafioso this soon.

"Sorry to disappoint, Sister, but I'm actually here for Eda. She around?" Chang and his group strode casually past the head nun and into the main chapel. The triad boss eyed the empty glasses and bottles at the altar with a chuckle. Yep, Eda was in all right.

"She is; I'll get her for you." The elder woman turned towards a hall that connected the chapel to the living quarters and was surprised to see the woman in question emerge from the darkness.

"There's no need for that, Sister."

"Well then," Chang spoke giving a subtle nod to his subordinates to stand down for the moment, "Shall we go somewhere a bit more private, Sisters." Both women obliged him and they went back to a meeting room adjacent to the chapel. In any normal church, one such room would be designated as the sacristy and would be used as storage for ceremonial tools; the Rip-off Church, however, had no need for such things.

"So, I guess the reason I'm here goes without saying." Chang said, finally pulling out the cigarette that he had been craving in the chapel and lighting it while kicking his feet up on the coffee table.

"Indeed," Yolanda confirmed, taking a seat across from him to Eda's left, "Miss Balalaika already paid us a very thorough visit, yesterday."

"Good, that saves me the trouble of explaining our problem." He took a leisurely puff of his cigarette and pulled a picture out of his coat pocket.

"The trouble starts with this man: Ginji Matsuzaki. Our new friend has ties to this man. According to Lagoon Company, he calls himself 'Shinji Hakubi'." Eda's eyes widened with interest and sudden recognition both at seeing the picture and hearing that name. Boss Chang took note of her expression and addressed her next.

"As it stands, his name is about the only thing we know about him; other than that, he's a ghost. I figured given your 'connections' that this would be the best place to start looking if I wanted to avoid grabbing too much attention." He took another inhale of his cigarette and then placed it back in his mouth where he began to chew on it. "So, how 'bout it, Eda?"

Eda smirked grimly and removed her sunglasses, looking at Chang directly. "Put simply, he's one bad ass mother fucker." She ignored the slight look of disapproval she was receiving from Yolanda and reached into her nun's habit for her pack of gum. "For starters, Hakubi is an alias. His birth name is Matsuzaki; he's this guy's brother." She accentuated that statement by tapping the photo on the table. "His influence extends quite a bit further than his brother's did. In fact, he's got at least as many men at his beck and call as you or Balalaika." She watched as Chang twirled his cigarette in his mouth in thought. He seemed to be getting pumped up at the idea of taking such a foe on. Eda guessed that it was because he hadn't seen much direct action in Roanapur in a while. The closest he had come to war himself had been back when the vampires twins had been set loose.

"You have anything else you can tell me?"

"Of course." Eda smirked, popping her gum, "He's wanted by several major agencies ranging from Interpol to FBI. Even the guys over at Scotland Yard would love to take a crack at him."

"But…" Chang supplied

"But, he's obviously very cautious; and well protected. Aside from his underlings, he's a professional killer himself. He's very proficient in a wide variety of blades and firearms. He's also been described as very persuasive." Eda tilted her head back in thought for a moment and then slipped her sunglasses back on.

"That's all I got for ya, Mr. Chang."

Thinking back on that now from her cell in the church living quarters, Eda wondered if she had been under cover for too long. Sure she still had that spark in her eyes that everyone else in Roanapur but Rock lacked, but with each passing day it seemed to grow smaller when she took her sunglasses off. There was also the fact that she had voluntarily given over classified information to a mafia boss in the genuine hope that it would aid her friends in their impending fight and help keep this city intact that she called home. She laughed to herself at that thought. How fucked up was she that she had actually come to like the city of shit and sin more than her own homeland…more than her job.

"Miss Balalaika," Dutch stated, opening the Lagoon office door fully to allow her and Boris entry into his office. It was around ten on a Monday morning and, surprisingly, everyone was already gathered in the office despite the fact that Rock and Revy had been out drinking late the previous night.

"What can I do for you this mornin'?" He asked politely, offering the pair a seat. Balalaika accepted the offer while Boris chose to remain standing, taking his mistress' great coat from her shoulders before she sat on the couch.

"I wonder if I might have a word with Rock and Two-Hands." She spoke calmly, retrieving an old cigar and reigniting it.

"What about?"

The Russian's initial answer was to let loose a mouthful of smoke into the air, "The owner of the Yellow Flag contacted me regarding damages to his bar, this morning. It seems the two were involved in a fire fight with a group of Japanese men at some point last night."

"You'll forgive me if I don't know anything, myself, about that," Dutch said, standing and making his way over to the small kitchen area. He opened the liquor cabinet above the coffee pot and offered both Russians a bottle of his finest Vodka, which they accepted. "If I kept track of everyone Revy pumped lead into, I wouldn't have space left in my noggin' for anything else."

Almost on cue, The pair that Balalaika had come to see came walking through the door at the top of the staircase. Revy was carrying a sack full of Lagoon Company's usual groceries, while Rock was carrying a bag of spare parts for the PT boat.

"Well, would you look at that, Rock." Revy glanced at Balalaika and Boris before setting her bag on the counter top, leaving Rock to follow suit. "That only took all of about six hours." Revy deadpanned, picking an empty seat and lighting two cigarettes, passing one to her partner.

"What? Did Bao send you to skin my ass for him?"

"No, not at all." The Russian chuckled, going along with the gunslinger's joking for the moment. "Actually he was quite happy to hear that I'd be paying for the damages…again." Balalaika had gone from a casually bantering tone to a deeply annoyed dark tone by the final word. She and Boris each took a sip of the Vodka that Dutch offered them. "Truth be told, Two-hands I am getting rather tired of paying to fix that bar." She said, glowering mildly at Lagoon's hired gun.

Revy growled with irritation, "First Bao; now you? I really hope you didn't come all this way just to chastise the way I use my boys!"

"No." Balalaika smiled, "I merely came here to inquire about who you used them on last night." She gently tapped her Cuban on the edge of the ashtray residing on the coffee table to rid it of the excess ash at its tip.

On his end, Rock had known that a conversation with Balalaika was likely after last night's little conflict, but as he sat mulling over the dying rasps of their unnamed enemy, the businessman became unsettled. From what little Eda had said, this man seemed like he would be capable of having eyes on them without their notice. So he spoke up just as Revy was about to start talking.

"Wait; Revy."

"Rock." She said in her impatient tone, exhaling a cloud of toxic smoke as she did so. "You didn't really think we were gonna listen to that prick's warning, did ya?" The gunslinger copied Balalaika's earlier use of the ashtray and ruffled Rock's hair in a patronizing manner. "I mean, we were gonna have to tell Sis here." For all his intellect and the fact that he had his own sharpened instincts for danger due to his time in this city, Revy, in particular, could still underestimate him at times.

"No, I…It's not that." Rock abruptly pushed her hand away in a fit of annoyance, leaving her surprised. "Didn't you listen to Eda?" He was on his feet now, looking down at her with deep concern in his eyes. Rock shut his eyes and shook his head against the memory of Eda's warning to Revy that she'd die if she took Shinji lightly. That was the very last thing that he wanted.

"Anyway," He addressed Balalaika in a manner that was just slightly off kilter, not giving his partner a chance for what he was sure would be a heated rebuttal. "My concern is about safety. How can we be certain that he doesn't have ears listening in on us?"

Balalaika brought a finger up to her chin as she thought for a moment. The possibility of espionage honestly hadn't occurred to her yet, either. "Yes, that is a good point." Her head lowered and her burned face turned to meet the Lagoon boss' hidden gaze. "Dutch, your entire crew was at sea the day of the attacks, is that correct?"

"That is correct."

"Comrade Sergeant." Boris snapped into attention upon being addressed, "Ma'am?"

"You know the drill."

With that, Boris nodded and began searching each of the most likely nooks and crannies of the office for anything that should not be there. Three cigars later, he ended his search with empty hands and returned to his post behind the Kapitan.

Now that Rock's immediate worry was eased for the moment, Revy resumed her account of events leading to the deaths of the Japanese men at the bar. She and Rock explained how they were simply having a drink with the nun from the Rip-off church and then went on to tell her about the message and the following shoot out.

"I see." Balalaika spoke pensively. That tactical look that she got whenever she was playing a mental game of chess and planning the total annihilation of a particularly difficult adversary adorned her eyes as she stared into her half-empty glass of vodka. "Well Rock," She met the former salary man's gaze with that cold, calculating look. "I must say I agree with your attitude. Chang has already filled me in on a few details about our problem. Caution and subtlety will be our best friends right now." At that statement, the Soviet gangster's eyes bored straight into Revy with a knowing look. The tattooed brunette responded merely by crossing her arms over her chest and turning her head the other way. Unfortunately for Rock, however, her reaction to Balalaika's warning had caused his face to contort into a concerned expression, which was brought directly into his partner's field of view when she turned away from Balalaika.

Judging by the glare he received, Rock wasn't entirely successfully in his attempt to drop that expression. He dropped his shoulders and exhaled deeply in defeat. He knew one thing for certain, no matter what happened, they were due for a long talk…maybe even several. True enough, memories of Japan had been stirred up since this whole thing started and most of them he could live with, but that terrible image of his partner writhing on the concrete with a blade protruding from her shin was a sight that would stick with him for a long time. Rock had no desire to relive that situation.

'It may not be avoidable, though…'He thought, getting lost in his own thoughts while Dutch began chatting with Balalaika and Boris.

The white collar was snapped from his thoughts when, somewhere in the recesses of his mind, he registered the mention of a plan for Revy and Rock's meeting with that night.

"It's obviously a trap." Came Dutch's voice.

"Agreed." Balalaika responded, "That little detail is most troubling to me. We already know that this is a personal matter to the man, but it seems rather counter-productive that he would risk coming after Lagoon without first taking out the more powerful Triad and Hotel Moscow forces."

"Maybe not." Rock chimed in again

"Hmm?"

Rock narrowed his eyes in contemplation, "Think about it; almost every gang in Roanapur has come to rely on this company to the point that your business would be severely crippled without our services." He leaned forward in his seat and looked the Kapitan directly in her scarred face. "Maybe that's what his secondary aim is."

"Yes, that does make good sense, Rock. Sometimes it's a wonder you don't carry any weapons with the way that brain works." He was sure she meant it as a compliment, but he wasn't very comfortable with having his way of thinking compared to a soldier's. "Now we have an idea of the why; what about how? How are we going to go about this meeting tonight?"

Once again, Rock felt himself tense up as the last moments of the gunfight at the bar ran through his head.

"Come alone and tell no one." That was a threat that he was not willing to test, especially if it meant the difference between life and death for his friends; so, for the second time in six months, Rock did something completely insane. He challenged Balalaika.

"Miss Balalaika," his voice was firm yet it betrayed an underlying tone of fear as considered his next move and remembered the feeling of being pressed against that car hood with a gun to his face. "With all due respect, I'd appreciate it if you did not get involved with this meeting, tonight."

That's chapter 7! As always, I hope you liked it, please R & R!