Chapter 12: The Hunt Never Ends

The pain in Wolf's eye was the first thing he noticed as he woke, but it was not nearly as bad as it had been hours ago. It had begun to heal, naturally, though it probably looked much worse than before. It hurt to even attempt to open his eyes. The pain, combined with the sunlight that flooded over him, were making his morning rather unpleasant.

"Jesus, you look like shit." Wolf couldn't stop himself from laughing at that. He took a quick glance around the room, finally spotting Revy to the left of the bed he was on. Rock, too, was with her. The assassin's vision was partially blurred in his left eye. That would presumably cease to be in time, once the eye itself had fully healed. But for now, Wolf would just have to put up with it.

"Can someone close those fucking curtains before my other eye goes blind?" Rock went over to the window and did his best to keep the sunlight away from Wolf. "Jesus. How long was I out?"

"Almost fourteen hours," Rock told him. "Not bad, considering. Pius assured us you'd be fine. According to him, your eye could have been a lot worse." They didn't doubt that. Ashur seemed intent on killing the Wolf with sheer blunt force trauma alone. He could have just shot him. That would have made the entire ordeal much quicker. But Ashur wanted it to be personal and gritty. He wanted to really show how much he hated Wolf. The reason why was still a mystery. Wolf did not remember a whole lot before the third punch, but something told him he should be concerned for the others. Considering his memory was failing him, it was very possible that they had come to harm.

"Rock…what happened last night?"

"Your memory ain't that bad, Wolfy, is it?" Revy teased him. He was too concerned about the rest to even pretend to be entertained by that joke.

"The others," he continued. "They're alive, right?" Rock nodded, giving the assassin a massive sense of relief. He sighed loudly and relaxed in the bed.

"Everyone is okay," Rock told him. "Garcia took a bullet to the shoulder but other than that, he's doing okay. Pius is with him now. But the New Order's leaders got away." At least the Lovelaces were alive, that was all that mattered. "Wolf…how much do you remember?"

"I was…in and out," he told them aloud. "After he started really going to town, I basically black out completely. I could…I think I could hear him saying something but that's about it." Rock and Revy exchanged a look with one another when they heard that but it seemed to go unspoken that neither of them would say anything to the injured killer. He needed to rest, after all. Whatever it was they had on their minds could wait.

"So, you don't remember that it was me saving all your asses, huh?" Revy prattled on. "Fucking typical. Not even a 'thank you.'"

"Well, you're being humble about it, that's the main thing," Wolf joked sarcastically. Truthfully, he did appreciate that. He just didn't tell her that. Had she and the others not come to the rescue, he would probably be dead right now and the New Order would have gotten away with what they had done. For that matter, Roberta would probably have been executed too. "What did you find out there? In the countryside?"

"Whole lotta those fuckers," Revy explained. "They had themselves a whole campsite. There must have been fifty of them, ready for fucking war." Wolf guessed that they had all been killed. That thought pleased him greatly. Not only did it eliminate any immediate threat to the Lovelaces, but it also meant that the New Order's leaders would have no reinforcements to call on should they decide to finish out their goal at any point. If the majority of their forces had indeed been wiped out, only three of them remained. While Ashur had not technically been a member, he was as good as in this situation. This would have hurt them. Even if they did want to mount another assault against their enemies, they did not have the manpower, resources or confidence to do so right now. For that reason, they would more than likely go into hiding. But it seemed unlikely that they would give up on this altogether. The fact remained that they were still out there. Somewhere. Wolf weakly dragged himself into a sitting position on the bed, bracing his back against the headboard.

"Pius told us about what happened," Rock began, then, breaking the silence. "He told us what Ashur did, that he set you up. He tried to turn Garcia against you. He wanted them to kill you. He thought their paranoia might force them to do something they'd regret later. I'm glad it didn't come to that, but that can't have been a fun encounter." That was putting it mildly.

"It wasn't the best, no," Wolf told him. "They were ready to blow my head off when I walked through those gates. That was tense, I'll admit. Still, they had their reasons." The other two were silent for a moment.

"Really?" Revy asked, apparently in disbelief of how forgiving Wolf was. She was certainly one to hold grudges. "That's it? They bought Ashur's bullshit story with nothing but his word to go on and you're just gonna let that slide?!"

"Well, what do you want me to do, Revy, put another bullet in Garcia? What's done is done. I don't have the energy to be bothered with it." They decided not to argue with him about it. He had a point, after all. It was over now, everything had turned out okay, for the most part. All that was left now was to pick up the pieces and move on.

"We should let you rest," Rock said gently. Wolf suspected that was an attempt to interrupt any possible outburst from Revy, but she seemed content to let it be. He opened the door, then, to be met with Roberta making her way towards the room. She came to an abrupt stop when she spotted Rock and Revy about to leave.

"Out of the fucking way, Glasses," Revy snapped as she waltzed passed the maid brazenly. Roberta did not seem to have the energy or interest for a confrontation, allowing the gunslinger to continue on her way unhindered. Rock nodded meekly by way of an apology before following Revy. Roberta came into the room, then, and slowly closed the door behind her. Her walk was not as confident or coordinated as it once had been. Now, each step seemed as though it had to be planned carefully so she didn't accidentally trip. But she appeared to be managing just fine as she proceeded over towards the window and took a seat on the bed next to Wolf. She seemed jaded, as though this whole ordeal had been particularly straining for her.

"The men that came here escaped last night," she started solemnly. "After your friends arrived, Ashur took the survivors and left the grounds. We do not know where they are." Wolf did not care that much right now. As long as they stayed away from the estate for the time being, he could live with that.

"At least nobody died," he reminded her. "It could be a lot worse. I'm just glad you're safe." His words managed to pique her interest. "All of you." That was a sloppy save. It was not a lie, however. He was genuinely pleased none of the Lovelaces had been killed. The cards had certainly been stacked against them last night. "Rock told me Garcia took a shot."

"Yes, he did. Hawke came for me. He wanted to finish this at last. But the Young Master…he would not let that happen." Roberta clutched the crucifix around her neck and sighed. "He could not bear the thought of losing me. For a moment, I feared the worst. I feared he had come to more harm than he had." Though Roberta was composed as she said this, it was obvious the mere thought of Garcia in danger terrified her. She could not stand the idea of anyone hurting him in any way. She turned to the Wolf, then. She looked melancholy as she worked up to saying the words that next escaped her lips. "There is something I must confess, Wolf. On behalf of the Lovelace household, I owe you and apology for how we greeted you yesterday." Wolf held a hand up to stop her.

"No, forget it," he told her.

"Excuse me?"

"It's alright. Look, that was a hell of a stressful day. None of us were thinking clearly. You guys…well, you had every right to be paranoid. You were just being cautious. So, yeah, it's fine. Water under the bridge." He did not necessarily consider that unreasonably forgiving. After all, his words were true, it had been a very stressful, emotional time for Garcia and his family. Had he not been as overcautious, Wolf would have considered him foolish. He did not expect an apology of any form from any of them, despite the harshness of his words last night. "I, uh…I didn't expect to see you wearing all that again." Roberta looked down at her outfit once he said that. The white sleeveless shirt and weathered black trousers that Wolf had seen her wear too often made up her combat gear, the ensemble she donned during missions and assignments, even now. It was already a source of annoyance and distress to the assassin that she had been called out of retirement on his behalf, even more so now that she had seen fit to don the outfit again.

"I felt it was necessary," she muttered. "When we believed Ashur's story, I expected the worst. I wanted only to protect the Young Master from danger."

"But you shouldn't need to," Wolf told her. She looked up at him and his eyes met her own remaining one, a brilliant blue colour. There was a warmth and gentleness to her gaze as it fell on him, not that sharpness and alertness that so often accompanied the glances she gave her enemies or even other killers. "You were supposed to stay here with your family. After everything, you could finally have a life. You shouldn't need to bear arms again, not after everything you've been through." She turned her body towards him so she was facing him as he spoke. "It's just…I never wanted to come back out here after Lucille. I wanted to just leave you alone. Even when I asked you to go after Black Bear, I didn't want to. You shouldn't have been put in danger on my account. Your family shouldn't-"

He seemed to cut himself off, sighing with exasperation when he realised he had no more to say. The last day had been incredibly taxing. He just had a lot of emotions pent up inside him that he needed to vent. Roberta reached her arm out slowly and placed her hand on the back of his head, pressing her forehead to his as he breathed deeply. They were both exhausted. All they wanted to do was rest, to forget everything that was happening. But that would be irresponsible considering Ashur, Hawke and Alejandro were still alive. They would come for their targets again in the future, however long it took to put their plan into action.

"You are very troubled," Roberta spoke quietly. "You are too concerned for me. I have seen and endured what this world has to offer me for too long. You need not worry yourself so much." Wolf had no answer for her. He could not help his concern, but he did not know what to tell her, either. So he said nothing. He just continued breathing, his eyes shut tight and that pulsing pain in his eye one of the only things distracting him from the predicament they found themselves in. "We will prevail through this," Roberta continued. "They will not hurt us. With all of us, together, they won't stand a chance. I assure you."

"I hope you're right," he told her quietly. They had a long, winding road ahead of them, that much was certain. But for now, they had no obligations, no other business to see to. So they remained there, together, revelling in the silence, the calm before the storm.