—xXx—

Chapter 4: The New Guy

—xXx—

"Oi Rock!" Revy pounded on Rock's door. "You awake shit-head?"

"It's open!" Rock shouted. "Come on in."

Surprised, Revy turned the knob and found the door open just as Rock said it was. "You know you can die from doing this, right?" Revy began to berate her partner but stopped when she saw a trip wire she was about to step on.

"I'm sure the bang would wake me up." Rock replied as he walked out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist.

"You're crazy, you know that right?" Revy shook her head as she steeped over the trap and saw it was connected to a flash bang and teargas grenade.

"Still a softy I see." Revy grinned as rock began to clothe himself, seemingly oblivious to his company and state of dress.

"I can deal with the gas and I don't need to hear in order to shoot someone squirming on the ground." Rock replied as he deftly tied his tie and adjusted his collar.

"So ready for a little naval action today?" Revy asked. "Chin's gonna start some trouble."

Rock didn't say anything but put on his shoulder holster and shoved his pistol into it. He normally kept his pistol on his headstand during the night so that it was very easy to find at a moments notice, even in the dark. On the left side of his holster was his S&W M&P 9mm and a five inch combat knife, on the right were three spare 15 round magazines.

"You know I'm always ready." Rock replied as he poured himself and Revy a cup of coffee he had started brewing before his shower. "So when do we leave?"

"After lunch." Revy replied. "We got a couple of hours to waste before we need to be at the docks."

"I'm sure you're thinking of swinging by Praiyachat's, aren't you." Rock grinned into his coffee as he saw Revy's expression out of the corner of his eyes. "You're just that predictable sometimes."

Rock's last comment required him to avoid a swat to his head.

"Come on." Revy put her coffee cup down on the counter next to her and walked to the door. "We got to get some trigger time afterwards. If we don't leave now we won't get it."

"Fine, fine…" Rock cleaned up after his partner and quickly rinsed out both cups and left them in his sink. "Let me show you how to get out of here without tripping the door."

—xXx—

With their morning blown on guns and ammo, the time traveling duo arrived at the Black Lagoon just in time to catch Dutch topping off her fuel tanks.

"I was just about to send Benny out to get you two." Dutch stated. "Help me finish getting her ready. We got a job to do."

"You got it Boss-man." Revy gave the large man a sloppy salute and went to retrieve a large assortment of guns, ammo and explosives from The Lagoon Company's armory, leaving Rock to help plot a course and pull out the necessary navigational charts for the areas they were going to pass through, just in case something went wrong.

Benny stuck his head out of his home-away-from-home and greeted Rock with a friendly wave. "Oi, Dutch I just got word that the Taiwanese Navy is going to be doubling patrols this week. The radio chatter from the locals confirms a lot of sightings and close calls."

"I guess we'll have to appear innocent and harmless." Dutch mussed. "Revy won't like that."

"Won't like what?" Revy asked as she stuck her head down the hatch, her hair falling with gravity, framing her head.

"Gonna need you to dress pretty if any Navy boat gets too close to us." Dutch answered. "Benny any idea why the Navy's out?"

"I think their radar spotted Rock the other day." Benny replied. "They've got more radar boats out than would normally be the case for a step up in patrols. But that could just be coincidence."

In the time it took Benny to answer, Revy had flipped down through the hatch and sauntered over to Rock and used his shoulder as an armrest. "We're ready to go on my end."

"Same here." Rock stated.

"Ditto!" Benny called out from his computers.

"Then let's get moving."

—xXx—

"You should have left the city while you still could Dutch!" Chin's voice came over the Lagoon's radio.

"I was wondering if you'd have the guts to come after us." Dutch cooly replied and then shouted over his shoulder. "Revy! Rock! You two ready?"

"You betcha Boss-man!" Revy replied through her headset and removed the safeties from her grenade launcher and a PM-63 RAK submachine gun. A few seconds later, her headset was replaced with a pair of headphones from her cassette player and Rock could hear the music from his position in the machine-gun turret.

Rock readied his FN FAL assault rifle and focused in on the last boat. It was a tactic that he learned from an ex-American marine scout sniper who washed up in Roanapur a year after Roberta's War. If you attack the target the furthest away target, the ones in front think you're missing them.

Even with a top speed of 40 knots, the Elco-class Black Lagoon couldn't outrun Luac's speedboats. As all six drew alongside the Black Lagoon and began to open fire, Dutch killed the engines, causing the lead boats to kill each other.

"They're amateurs." Dutch stated. "It's common sense to stager yourself when flanking to avoid friendly fire." Dutch quickly brought the engines back up to full throttle.

With an unspoken agreement, Rock and Revy sprung into action at the same time, Revy jumping onto the nearest port-side boat, while Rock began to put hot lead into the skulls of the last starboard-side boat's crew.

"Ha! he's missing us by miles!" The new lead skipper shouted with a grin as his crew took aim at Rock, only to hear an explosion behind them as one of Rock's bullets found it's way to the gas tank of the trailing boat.

Angered at the loss of yet another crew, Luac recklessly opened the throttle more and closed the distance between him and the old PT boat. "Kill that BASTARD!" He shouted to his gunmen. They immediately pulled their triggers and found themselves coated in brain matter as Rock scored a headshot on the Machine-gunner in the bow. Too stunned to do anything but freeze in their pants, Luac's crew quickly met a similar fate.

On the port side, Revy was just finishing off her first boat when Luac managed to come to his senses and peel off from the hunt. "Rock don't let him get away!" She shouted into her headset.

"You don't need to tell me." Rock complained as he loaded a 50 round High-capacity drum magazine and switched the rifle to full auto. Bracing the muzzle underneath the railing, Rock sighted the fleeing boat and pulled the trigger. Using the railing to control the muzzle rise of automatic fire, Rock was able to put all 50 rounds of the magazine into Luac's back and the controls of his boat. The hefty 7.62 NATO round ensured that both the boat and it's owner were permanently put out of action.

By the time Rock finished reloading with a 20 round magazine, Revy had finished with her last boat and the Black Lagoon pulled up along side the sinking vessel to pick her up.

"Good work you two." Dutch calmly brought the Lagoon up onto a plane again and headed for home. "Job's over."

—xXx—

"Dutch, you awake up here?" Benny asked the large man at the helm. "Haven't heard a peep from you in a few hours."

"I'm just thinking Benny-boy." Dutch replied as he lit up another cigarette.

"About Rock and Revy?" Benny asked.

"Among other things." Dutch admitted. "I have to pay attention to my employees after all."

"Revy has been acting weird since Rock she kidnapped Rock," Benny stated, "And Rock feels like he's lived among us for years. He's familiar with our quirks and handles a gun like Revy."

After a moment of silence Dutch spoke. "I think It's time we had a company meeting." Dutch slowed the Black Lagoon down and shut off the engines.

"Yo Dutch we got a problem?" Revy came over the radio sounding slightly concerned.

"Get your asses inside Revy, Rock." Dutch replied. "We've got to talk a few things over."

Rock and Revy dutifully obeyed their employer and entered the cabin and stood awkwardly across from Benny and Dutch.

"As your employer I understand that you all have certain secrets and pasts that you'd rather not go telling a Fucker in town." Dutch began. "That being said, having one member of the company out on a major secret is not good for business as it puts unnecessary strain on everyone. Therefore I've decided to inform Benny about your connection. I figured it would be best for you two to tell him."

Revy didn't look terribly content with Dutch's declaration, and Rock had to give the large man credit for willingly pissing off Two-Hands. "Ah Fuck it. You tell him Rock." Revy lit up a cigarette and leaned back onto the wall in a semi-relaxed position.

"Revy and I met five years ago when she kidnapped me and brought me to Roanapur." Rock stated.

"Impossible." Benny replied. "I'd have remembered you. Dutch would've as well, and he certainly didn't recognize you a week ago."

"For whatever reason, Revy and I were sent back in time to when all four of us met." Rock stated simply. "Before you go discounting time travel, you logically cannot as the capability to travel through time only has to exist in the future for us to be here from the future."

"A twisted bit of logic, but still workable." Benny replied. "So you're telling me that you two stepped into a teleport and were sent back to now?"

"More like we stepped in the wrong spot while chasing after some weird-ass cultists." Revy spoke up.

"I doubt that you believe us—"

"No it makes sense, and all the quirks I've noticed make sense when you add that story into the picture." Benny interrupted Rock and then spoke only to him. "I don't know you very well, but if we worked together for five or so years, then you can't be all that bad."

"You should have seen this sucker when he first came to town." Revy punched Rock in the shoulder. "He didn't even touch a gun for three years. It took two wars to get him to admit he was one of us."

"Two wars?" Dutch asked, speaking for the first time in the meeting.

"One where Balalaika starts up operations in Japan, and another where a crazy FARC maid tore up a squad of American Marines and took all the major players in Roanapur to take down." Revy clarified.

"It will be some time before Roberta gets here for the first time, but she'll be less drugged up than while during her war." Rock replied. "Hotel Moscow's expansion will pose less risk to us personally while still benefiting us more financially than Roberta's bloodbath."

"So basically shit is about to hit the fan." Dutch muttered, thinking to himself.

"It would be a good idea to make sure the torpedos are ready for use for our next job." Rock stated thinking of the sunken U-boat.