Chapter 16 - One problem after another.
"Hey Revy, any idea what might be going on up ahead?" Rock asked.
Revy sat up from her comfy spot against Rock to look out the front window.
Their hotel was just down the street and a number of police cars were sitting out front. None of them had their lights on, they were just sitting there. Due to the fact that no cops were getting out of their cars no one on the streets seemed to take notice they just continued on with their business.
Revy's eyes widened as her instincts began speaking to her telling her this was not a coincidence.
"Rock we're in trouble" she breathed in a low voice.
Rock maintained a calm face as he nodded, they both wanted to avoid making anyone, especially their driver, overly suspicious of them "we need to get out stuff and find out if Dutch and the others are ok" he said sitting up and adjusted his shirt to make sure his gun was hidden. Something was gnawing at the back of his mind but he couldn't see it just yet.
The driver pulled over to the curb right in front of the main doors it was just a short walk and they would be inside but if they walked to fast that might draw attention.
"Rock, the crowd" Revy said.
Rock realized what she meant. The front doors opened and a large crowd of people, a couple dozen at least, were leaving. They could go right through the middle of them and remain out of sight.
"Now" Revy hissed
They got out of the taxi maintaining a casual air to any who might give them a second glance. Both of them managed to get through the crowd with not trouble and were past the main front doors in less then a minute after getting out of the cab.
"Any ideas?" Rock asked. It would be wiser if Revy took charge from here since her instincts were sharper then his.
Revy's eyes expertly scanned the room. She didn't't see the two men Balalaika had posted to sit around in the lobby to act as spotters. She did not see any cops either but it was hard in the somewhat busy and crowded lobby to make out any who were either detectives or wearing regular clothes. She did however have the sensation going up her spine that said they were being watched.
"Alright I don't think were made yet, let's get the fuck to our room and get our stuff then we gotta find Dutch and Sis" she said in a low but calm tone as they walked towards the elevator.
Luckily they got the elevator to themselves. Once the doors had closed Rock took the brief moment of privacy to pull out his gun and pull back on the slide. He would be ready if the worst was to come. He noticed Revy looked very tense and edgy, it's because she doesn't have her guns, no its also because of what she told me before, with out luck the cops out there are ones who still remember her and are itching to take her down, he thought as he slipped his now readied gun back into its home. He also reached down and took Revy's hand to give it a comforting squeeze.
She seemed surprised at first then smiled back at him before letting go when the elevator door dinged telling them they had arrived.
The hallway was deserted as they expected it to be since the whole floor had been booked for them so there should not be anyone here aside from the two of them and their friends.
Rock and Revy moved down the hall to there room and first listened to be sure no one was waiting inside. Hearing nothing Rock quietly drew his gun and nodded to Revy.
Revy turned the door handle and in one fluid motion she opened the door as Rock took a stance to cover her ready for whatever was inside.
They found nothing. No one else was in the room and even the faculty staff had not been by to clean up the room.
"Fuck this is ridiculous" Revy said as she strolled into the room, though not completely at ease just yet.
Rock followed suit and holstered his gun then walked into the room they had slept in so he could pack what they had, he and Revy had both silently agreed it would be smart to warn Balalaika about this and at least be ready to move if she gave the order.
"Catch" Revy called.
Rock turned and with surprising reflexes caught his other gun that Revy had tossed to him. He checked the chamber then pulled back on the slide to ensure he was ready for anything. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Revy slipping on her own holsters and guns. The sight of her armed now was intoxicating almost in its deadly beauty. He could tell she was more at ease now that she had the "boys" with her. They both still needed to be cautious, while they could handle just about anything together this still wasn't Roanapur which could be very helpful or very bad.
Revy came back into the bedroom, as Rock finished packing their things into a small bag. She had a lit smoke in her mouth and was passing another lit one to Rock.
Just as he took it their phone began to ring.
They both tensed as it continued to ring. Then Rock approached it and picked up the receiver.
"Hello?" he said
"Ah Mister Okajima"a somewhat familiar voice said.
Rock was immediately on alert the voice was familiar but not of someone who was a friend. He kept thinking about the Yellow Flag for some reason.
"Who is this?" he asked in a tone of voice that made Revy look up at him. She knew this was serious.
"I see you do not remember well it can't be helped our last meeting was some time ago and I simply thought you shooting at me would be something you remembered" the voice sound sounding amused but also a little irritated.
Rock gasped. Now he remembered it was the voice of the man who had been following him when his parents had arrived in Roanapur. He had not gotten a very good look at the man's face but had guessed he was Japanese from his tailored suit.
"I'm guessing your Boss decided to give you a second chance" he said after a moment when his composure returned.
Revy raised an eyebrow at what he said but guessed he was stalling for the moment and decided not to say anything.
"I suppose you could say that, thanks to your efforts in our last meeting I have been greatly shammed in front of- oh but I cannot mention him, very clever Mr. Okajima you almost had me there" the voice said chuckling slightly.
"So then what are you doing now?" Rock asked he was trying to get as much information as he could.
"Well I suppose there is no harm in telling you that. To redeem myself in my boss's eyes I plan on bringing you head along with that of your slut on silver platters. Is she there by any chance? Why don't you put me on speaker phone"the voice said.
Rock hesitated for a moment then put the receiver down and pushed a small button that enabled the speaker phone feature.
"Rock what the fuck is going on?" Revy asked not following his actions.
"Ah I see you are as brash as always just like how you were described to me Miss Revy" the mystery caller said. Rock and Revy were surprised with the amount of hate that was laced in his voice this clearly meant that had, had a previous encounter with him that was more then Rock's little shoot out behind the Yellow Flag.
"So who the fuck are you?" Revy asked in her angry tone. Her eyes narrowed like a predator that sensed danger.
"Such unladylike language, I can see why he might have taken a liking to you but I find it disgusting. Surely you recognize my voice don't you since you have committed a grave crime against my family"
"Rock who the fuck is this guy and what the fuck is he talking about?" Revy asked clearly getting pissed off at the man's words.
"He's the guy who was tailing me at the Yellow Flag that night when my parents arrived" Rock explained.
It took Revy a moment to remember as she had always had a weakness with this. Then it came to her.
"Oh right that fucker you picked out real easy. Hey asshole, next time wear some real clothes, and what the fuck are you talking about what did I do to you?" Revy asked in both an angered and curious tone of voice since she could not for the life of her imagine who he was.
"Don't play dumb you bitch you're the one who got him killed and we're gonna get you and your fucking boyfriend back-"another voice said but was cut off.
"I apologize for my younger brother's interruption he is very rash. I am deeply disappointed to hear you do no remember your crime Ms. Revy but you will soon enough that I can promise" the more collected voice said.
Rock recognized the younger sounding voice from the street dressed guy who had been with the suit wearing man before, so their brother's but what could they be talking about. It must have been when we were in Japan…could they be, his thought were interrupted by the man speaking again.
"I would imagine you'll be having some company right about now, and they gentlemen are very eager to see you again Ms. Revy" he said in a cold gleeful voice.
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Revy asked as she started to reach for her guns thinking they were about to be ambushed.
"Why I invited your friends from the 27th Precinct, as an anonymous tipper of course. You would not believe this joy when they learned you were back in town. I can see them right now scrambling into the hotel. You should feel honoured they brought an entire swat team"
Rock and Revy stood frozen at first at the information began to sink in.
"Well I think I will let you go now as you will be having some guests to attend to soon enough. Don't worry though should you manage to escape this rather sticky situation I plan on us all getting together soon enough" he said then the line went dead.
"Fuck!" Revy said
Rock meanwhile was quite now and thoughts began to race through his head and he thought the best plan he could get. He knew that Revy was in the most danger here since he knew the police wanted her behind bars or worse if she gave them a reason.
"Rock? Earth to fucking Rock!" Revy said.
"One second" he said calmly.
Revy noted that he was calm but his eyes were in his gunmen state of mind, he's thinking dumbass give him a minute, she told herself.
Rock walked out of the bedroom and into the main part of their suite he headed straight for the door and look out the spy hole. The image was a little distorted and blurry but he could make out men moving quietly in the hall. They were all armed and wearing standard swat team gear.
"Shit" Rock breathed. He had hoped they would not have gotten into the hall just yet.
He moved away and had Revy follow him back into the bedroom. He picked up his back and went to the window. He opened it and stuck his head out. There was not balcony and no fire escape along this wall.
"What the fuck are we gonna do now?" Revy said more in an exasperated tone rather then panicked.
Rock knew if it came down to it they would shoot their way out but this wasn't Roanapur and these cops would make things very difficult.
Rock then looked up and noticed the vent near the top of the wall. An idea suddenly came to him. Revy followed his gaze and what had gone through his mind was now going through hers.
"Rock that's fucking crazy" she said. She almost laughed despite the situation.
"I though you said all my plans are crazy" he said sarcastically as he walked over and saw he wasn't tall enough to reach the vent grille, only one person will be able to get in we don't have enough time to use furniture for a ladder, he thought as the realized what else what have to be done.
Rock then took off his button up shirt so he could remove his gun holsters, with the guns still in them. He then grabbed his bag and quickly stuffed them inside it after clicking the safeties on both of them for added caution
Revy looked first to the vent then to Rock and it came to her as well.
"No fucking way Rock I am not leaving you here alone-" She began but Rock cut her off by walking up to her putting his hands on her shoulders and pressing his lips against hers.
He did not let current crisis interfere with him doing a thorough job.
When he leaned back he noticed her eyes were wide and shining and also alert as this was still a cluster situation.
"Revy you have to those cops are gonna want you ass on a platter but they'll have nothing on me as far as we know. Just find Dutch and Balalaika and figure this out ok, I'll try and keep their attention" He explained.
"Rock" Revy began as she grabbed him by his arms and was about to make an argument but she saw the look of alarm and love in his eyes. She would follow his plan and figure this mess out but would never forgive him if he screwed up.
"I love you, you fucking dipshit" she said with warmth
"I love you too Revy" Rock said.
They walked to stand just under the vent grilled and Rock locked his hands together so Revy could place her boot in them and boost her self up to reach the Grille. Fortunately it wasn't fastened on with screws just popped into place so Rock might be able to pop back in if he could get something to stand on.
Revy managed to get the grill off but they were too low for her to get a decent to haul herself into the vents. She was still standing in Rock's locked hands and knew if maybe she could get on his shoulder she might have enough reach.
"Rock I need you to boost me up higher so I can-whoa" she said as no sooner had she spoken that moved. Thanks to his improved physical condition he was able to lift her upwards a little higher and hold her steady by her leg brought one hand and planted on right on her ass, then other followed soon after. Since he was slightly taller then her she would get more then what she needed like this rather then standing on his shoulders.
"Rock this is not the time for that, oh now I get it" she said in a slightly embarrassed voice as his hands slightly gripping her ass turned her on slightly.
Revy reached into the vent and pressed her well toned arms against the sides as she used her shoulders to pull herself up into the cramped space. She was now being held up by her booted feet with Rock's hands and was almost all the way inside.
Finally when Revy was able to hold herself inside the vent Rock looped the straps of their bag around her foot so she could drag it behind her as she crawled.
"Rock, be careful" Revy called as her foot holding the bag was barely in sight.
"You to partner" Rock said in a Revy like voice. She was gone a second later.
Rock quickly reached up with the vent grill, but couldn't reach all the way up to pop it back in. He then turned and stood up on the corner of the bed and leaned across the few feet of distance to the wall. He just barely managed to pop the vent grille back in almost falling to the floor in the process.
He then heard someone knock on the hotel room door. Someone called out in a slightly muffled voice telling him it was the police and then he heard the door crash open.
Rock sighed as he stood in the middle of the room waiting for the 'guests'.
Revy was crawling in the vent which was cramped and hot. She was just the right size to crawl along inside when she heard the sound behind her of someone being tackled to the ground by several others and angry voices shouting commands
Looks like Rocky baby is greeting those pig fuckers, she thought. She stopped for a second as she adjusted to the confined space.
"Fuck me. John McClane sure hit the nail on the head, now I know what a fucking TV diner feels like" She said. Despite her complaints she had to admit it was pretty smart of Rock to think this up, guess I really did pick a winner, she thought grinning.
Revy continued to crawl along. It was a good thing that she was wearing her out or Roanapur clothes otherwise she might risk burning her legs and arms on the fairly hot vent.
It was then Revy could hear something slightly echoing up ahead.
"What the fuck is that" she said as she crawled further. A few feet ahead she spotted a grill which meant she was passing by another room and that was where the sounds were originating. It sounded like a slow rhythm of thumps against a wall or floor; they did sound a little familiar.
She finally reached the grill and turned her head. When anyone hears a familiar sound long enough there is a natural habit of looking despite anything. However this was one thing Revy could have wished she had never seen. She had to bit down on her lip to keep from yelling out in revulsion at the sight of an 80 year old couple having sex.
"Ah fuck that is sick" she breathed as she crawled as quickly as she good.
Her torture was not over yet
"Oh fuck me what the hell is that fucking smell" she grumbled in a low voice as she came up to the second last room before she would hit the end of the hall.
But a god awful smell was coming from the vent of the second room. It was a very potent and disgusting smell that Revy was gagging to keep from vomiting.
As she got to the grill the sheer potency of the aroma made her look into the room.
She could see the door to the bathroom was open but the angle was too far for her to see into it but she could hear groaning and the sound of someone shitting up a storm.
Revy was forced to bite down on her tongue to keep from exploding but that resulted in having to breathe threw her nose and if she didn't choose the latter she would be swearing to high heaven.
Suddenly the toilet flushed and out came the fattest guy she had ever seen, she could have sworn she felt the room shake with his steps.
"Ah enchiladas" he said with a sigh of relief as he waddled over to the messed up bed.
At this point Revy desperately wished the vent was a little bit larger so she could reach for her cutlass and that she should now start carrying silencers, for situations like this.
Revy then started to crawl as fast as she could. She did catch a break since the bag tied to her ankle as large enough to block most of the smell from following her.
Finally she came to the last room.
"Great I wonder what the fuck I'm gonna see now" she grumbled in a low voice.
When she got to the grill she figured having seen the previous horrors whatever was next couldn't be so bad.
When she pressed her face to the slits in the grill she was not overly horrified but very, very confused.
Benny and Jane were occupying a different room but not for a standard reason like finding some other spot to have some fun. They were both naked, thankfully Revy could only see Benny's bare torso and head, but each sitting at a small portable desk with a laptop and typing away both occasionally giggling.
I have no fucking clue but I know this is just wrong and I wish I had a camera she thought as a look of utter bewilderment remained on her face as she finally reached the end of the of this hall's vent.
Directly in front of her was the grill showing the stair well. At the grill the vent she had been crawling in broke off going up, and down to their respective floors as well as to the left following the wall that ran perpendicular to the one she was in.
To risky to get into the stairwell, cops may or may not have gotten a description of but better play it safe and get up top through this fucking vent, she thought going over the next part Rock's latest 'plan'
She crawled a few inches forward to she could twist to look up. The vent leading up thankfully was larger in size meaning she could climb up but pressing her feet against one side and sliding up along her back.
After a few minutes of manoeuvring and twisting she was finally in the vertical vent.
"Fuck I can see Rock now cracking a joke about how flexible I am at this" she said to herself jokingly.
She was about to lift her foot when the bad thumped slightly against the side reminding her is was only looped around her ankle and she had to keep her foot her foot hooked to hold onto it. This slowed her progress down since now she had to press her hands against the left and right sides to keep her in place while she moved her free foot.
"I'd kill for some fucking rope" she said.
After what felt like an hour she felt her hand hit then opening of the top floor vent. She knew the floor layouts were the same and since the others had rooms right above hers she just had to crawl down until she found Dutch, preferably. She also was pretty sure she would not be witness to any horrors like before.
Revy managed to get into the horizontal vent easily, however she noticed this vent seemed a lot more dusty and she heard a lot more creaks then she remembered from the floor below.
Just as she came to the first grill and wasn't sure if this was the one Dutch was occupying so she stopped and leaned close to the grill to seen in the dimly lit room.
She could not believe her eyes this time.
Chang and Balalaika were sitting together on the presidential suite's overstuffed couch, drinks in hand. There were several signs that indicated the impossible, there were sitting right against each other, Balalaika had her legs crossed but the raised one was rubbing slightly against Chang, and despite their conversation being to low it was obvious it was a topic of pleasure not business.
It was obvious now, Chang and Balalaika were an item, it would be near impossible to write this off as anything else, or at least their liked to mix fun in with their business.
Revy was so surprised by the newest scene she didn't hear the ominous creak of the vent around her until she felt a sharp jerk causing her to collide with the grill which buckled under her weight like wet cardboard.
With a yelp of surprise she crashed into the room spreading a thick dust cloud causing many of the room's occupants to cough.
"Ah fuck" Revy groaned as she heard the sound of three guns being cocked. She recognized the sound of Balalaika's Stechkin as she pulled the hammer back and the tell tale click of Chang's dual Beretta 76 slides being pulled back.
Oh fuck! Gotta move quick I just kicked one big fucking hornet's nest, a voice screamed inside Revy's head as she put her hands up as a signal that she wasn't armed, you could see them just barely through the settling cloud of dust.
"Whoa Boss-man, Sis it's me Revy!" she yelled quickly as she saw guns being levelled towards her.
"Two-hands?" Balalaika asked cautiously
"That you kiddo?" Chang asked in a casual tone but it was façade underneath he was as deadly as his 'girlfriend', almost.
Revy then slowly got to her feet, she stumbled on the strap of her bag but kicked it free, she walked out of the dusty cloud, her clothes, skin and hair all a slightly grey tone from all the vent crawling.
For a moment the two deadly mob bosses seemed genuinely perplexed and in unison they looked up to see the hole in the ceiling where the vent was.
It was then for a rare moment both Chang and Balalaika were on the verge of genuine laughter but for now they had this rather odd mystery to get to the bottom of.
"You do know Revy there are stairs and elevators for getting up here" Chang said teasingly.
Balalaika lit a fresh cigar, also using the motion to put her fingers over her twitching lips.
Revy meanwhile made an annoyed face as for all she knew Rock could be getting in even deeper shit as they joked around.
Before she could get a word out Balalaika spoke.
"I take it from your rather eccentric entrance Two-Hands that a new problem has occurred and you had to find some other means of reaching us?" she asked.
Revy keep her irritation at their teasing under control
"Ya we got a problem, Rock's been arrested" she said grimly.
Fortunately for Revy, neither Chang nor Balalaika heard the note of deep concern in her voice over the fate of the guy she had fallen for.
Balalaika took a long drag of her cigar as she contemplated this news. Chang lit up a cigarette as he sighed.
"Well that certainly is a pain and my Italian sure is rusty" he said
"What the fuck are you're talking about?" Revy asked confused.
Balalaika tipped some ashes into a tray as she walked towards the door "we have a meeting with the Verrocchio family. Some of their head bosses from Italy are here for this meeting specifically, apparently our activities here have them rather intimidated. The plan now is to meet with them perhaps have a display of fire power and they will be bending over backwards to avoid displeasing us" she explained.
Revy's eyes widened and she was about to lose her cool when Chang stood up.
"I think we better get the rest of your gang in here so we can inform them of Rock's current predicament" he said calmly walking to the door.
Revy's outburst was drowned out for a moment.
Chang walked followed by Dutch, Benny and Jane, who were now wearing clothes again.
"Chang tells me something's happened to Rock, what happened?" Dutch asked immediately taking stock of the situation concerning his valued employee.
Revy then sighed and knew if Rock was here he would tell her to save her anger for certain others and just explain. Dutch noticed the unusual behaviour and began to consider given Rock a raise.
Revy then started from the drive up to the hotel and explained what had happened.
The others all listened intently, with the exception of Balalaika and Chang who appeared to both be thinking about different matters.
"So you think one of Yuri's gang is the guy who tipped off the cops?" Benny asked.
Revy nodded "he did sound kinda familiar and he sure seems pissed off at me and Rock. I think Rock was onto who he might have been but I can't put my fucking finger on it" she replied.
Dutch then turned to Balalaika and Chang "I take it this means we'll be on our own?" he asked.
Balalaika nodded "afraid so Dutch we have bigger things to get to taking out the Verrocchio family's assistance will be a wound to Yuri's efforts along with the death of Colonel Buffalo. I also guess that this Japanese pest is moving on his own once again to redeem himself I believe it won't be to difficult for you to handle" she said
She and Chang then left the room to gather their own forces for their 'meeting'.
"Ah what the fuck she's ditching us and not gonna help us get Rock back" Revy said angrily.
"This coming from the woman who said she would shoot him through the kneecaps if he ever got kidnapped again" Jane said repeating something Benny had said to her once.
Revy first when red in the face with embarrassment as she also remembered that job months ago, ah fuck her Rock's asked me to marry him I think it says somewhere you can give your husband a get out of jail free pass in this kinda mess, she thought then rounded on Jane with a standard threat.
"Alright calm down Revy we gotta think this through carefully, this ain't Roanapur we can't just bribe a few cops or stroll in guns blazing and rescue Rock. Besides I think this player wants us to lose our shit and go wild, what we need to do is something he may not expect, get Rock some legal help" he said with a mischievous grin.
"What are your talking about Dutch?" Benny asked.
Dutch however was heading for the door. Jane told Benny she would sit this one out and wait in their room for him to get back.
Revy meanwhile was going through her and Rock's bag to take out anything she might need. She took out her boys and slipped them home then took out a small back pack which had only one strap which looped around her chest diagonally, she put Rock's guns and both their mag carriers since she wanted to keep them close.
It was odd but in a way the fact they she and Rock used the same guns was a kind of connection between them, "hah fucking gun symbolism who would have though" she said as she put her light coat on to cover her guns then her slung the back pack on.
She caught up with Dutch and Benny, they decided to err on the side of caution and went out the back way to use the borrowed car Balalaika left for them.
Benny got in the driver seat and Dutch rode shotgun, and Revy got in the back. Dutch then began giving Benny directions on where to go.
Both Benny and Revy tried to get more information out of Dutch on who they were going to see but all he said was "you'll see soon enough".
About 45 minutes later they entered a residential area of Manhattan. Revy looked around curiously, it wasn't a heavily crowded area but she did see some kids and families around.
"Hey Revy do me a small favour and keep the cutlasses out of sight" Dutch said over his shoulder.
Revy did not need to be told but it would work better for everyone if they avoided gunfire in a place like this.
"Right here Benny boy" Dutch said pointing at a house at the end of the street.
The house was a good size for the neighbourhood and also had a larger amount of space from the others homes, it was clear whoever the owners were they liked quite.
Benny parked the car in the driveway and they all got out.
Revy noticed a curtain suddenly fall back into place at one of the windows on the ground level, next thing she knew the front door flew open and a high pitched squeal was heard.
Instinctively Revy reached for her gun, but Dutch waved a hand to tell her not to worry.
Then Revy caught sight of a young girl dressed in a small pair of jeans and a purple zip up sweater running towards them. She had black skin like Dutch's but the skin tone and complexion was a bit lighter, she was a petite thing standing maybe to Revy's stomach, who guessed her to be 10 years old. Her hair was dark and hung down slightly past her shoulders with a red ribbon holding it back.
"Uncle Dutchy" the girl cried happily as she charged right for Dutch who kneeled down slightly and lifted her up easily in his arms so she could hug him around the neck. Dutch had a big smile on his face as he hugged the girl back
"Hey there lil Marlene how you doing kiddo" he said warmly as he set the girl, Marlene down.
Marlene gave him a wide smile "I'm good Uncle Dutch, come inside Daddy will be happy to see you" she said excitedly, she had not yet noticed the two shocked people standing behind Dutch.
Surprisingly enough Revy and Benny still managed to function enough to follow Dutch when he waved them forward as Marlene dragged him towards the front door.
A man appeared in the open doorway as they made it to the porch stairs.
Dutch looked up and nodded "Been a while Dyne" he said.
The man who Dutch had called Dyne chuckled "Sure his big bro Dutch" he replied as he and Dutch clasped hands.
Revy and Benny remained as shell shocked as before.
A/N: Sorry for the wait I know earlier I was updating like a fiend but now I'm gonna be a bit slower as life has also gotten a lot busier recently. Anyway as some have guessed I am going to be trying something a little new, my own attempt at a past for Dutch. Next chapter will reveal who the mystery man from Japan is and a nice action scene for Rock and Revy's payback. Look forward to your Reviews, Enjoy . Stay Tuned! : ).