Chapter 2: High Pressure Dave
"I still don't get why you're bothering with this." Revy said. Rock and she were in the main office passing time. She was laid out on the couch, holding the coin up and looking closer at it. Rock meanwhile was sat in an armchair. He was reading through a book on old money which Dutch had in his office, trying to find a match for the mysterious coin.
"I'm not seeing anything that even comes close to describing what that coin looks like in here." Rock pondered.
"Duh, the guy probably made this himself. I'd be surprised if it was even solid gold." Revy said, flipping the coin back at Rock. He caught it and closed the book. "Maybe you should fuck off and get an expert's opinion." Revy quipped.
"Great idea!" Rock said, getting up from his chair.
Revy sat up, "I didn't literally mean that!" she shouted.
"I'm just going to see Isaac and get it appraised. What's the harm in that?" Rock said as he grabbed the car keys, Revy reluctantly following along.
Rock started the car and Revy hopped in shotgun. They started their drive, "You know one thing I can't get out of my head?" Revy asked.
"Not at all." Rock said.
"Don't you think it's a little weird how that Harry guy was acting when he was playing pool?"
"He's a good player, I wouldn't expect him to play like a normal person would."
"But I was keeping a close eye on him, every time you missed a shot that I know you wouldn't've, that guy always fidgeted."
"I don't know what you mean?" Rock said.
Revy looked over at Rock and met eyes as they stopped at a red light. "He would like, push up his glasses, or stretch, or something else." Revy said.
"What? Do you think he's a wizard?" Rock chided.
Revy looked away out the window, "No, it's just an observation is all. Just got a weird feeling about him." she said sullenly. It wasn't long after that they arrived at Isaac's antique shop.
Isaac the antiquarian was behind the counter, polishing a small silver trinket when he spotted the duo. "Ah, isn't this a lovely surprise. How are you, Rock?" Isaac said kindly.
"I'm doing just fine, not sure about her though." Rock said, nodding back to Revy.
"Rebecca, I'm sorry you aren't feeling well. Would you care for some tea?" Isaac offered.
"I'm good, just making sure this fool doesn't get his ass in another bind." Revy said, slapping Rock on the back.
Isaac smirked, "Well, what brings you in today? I don't think I've hired your services recently." Isaac said.
"No, I'm here to get you opinion on something." Rock said, taking the gold coin out of his shirt pocket and placing it on the counter. Isaac pursed his lips and picked up the coin.
"Can you tell me what this is, and where it's from?" Rock asked. Isaac nodded and produced a small vise grip and a jeweler's loupe from a shelf below the counter.
He put the coin in the grip and bent over it, the loupe having a built-in light to allow him to see the magnification better. Isaac hummed and hawed a few times as Rock looked on. Revy had busied herself by looking at some of the antique weapons that were on display near the front of the store.
"Well." Isaac said after several minutes, "I think this is a British coin of some kind made within the last ten years or so. I wouldn't be able to tell you the exact origin, but the smithing techniques give it away. The serial number and markings are unlike anything I've seen before, and the animal on the faces don't look like any sort of typical device used on a coin that is so modern in construction." he said.
"Do you think it's solid gold?" Rock asked.
"It could be, I'd have to run a more thorough examination before I could say for sure. But if it is, you might be looking at a solid fifty or sixty dollars' worth of raw bullion." Isaac said.
"Well, at least Bao will be happy." Revy said as she played around with an antique bayonet.
"Didn't your mother ever tell you not to run around with scissors?" Isaac asked.
"Not at all!" Revy said, twirling the blade and pointing it at Isaac.
"Anyways, are you looking to sell, or is this just an appraisal?" Isaac asked Rock.
"I think I'll hold onto this for a while longer, but thanks for taking a look." Rock said, leaving $10 on the counter before heading out, his gold in hand.
"You know you're out thirty bucks on this stupid coin, won't be long before you waste all the profits." Revy said as she got back into the company car.
Rock started the engine, "That's true. But I don't mind the cost, keeps us busy while the others are out, right?" he said as he pulled out onto the main road. Revy sighed and looked out of the window as they headed to the market for lunch.
"We goin' back now?" Revy asked, a cup of spiked punch in her hands as Rock started the car again.
"I wanted to head over to the Hooligan Church first though." Rock said.
"What would they know that Isaac wouldn't?" Revy asked.
"Dunno, I just figure it's worth a shot. Besides, what else is there to do? We already went around and did all our collections yesterday right?" Rock said.
Revy sighed and slurped some of her drink, she switched on the radio, Wish by Nine Inch Nails started playing, "Damn, I haven't hard this in a hot minute." Revy said, the beats and guitars ringing throughout the car. Rock rolled down the window to get some air.
"You know, this won a Grammy." Revy said.
"I don't mind the song, just want some air is all." Rock said. They eventually got stuck at an intersection and Rock was lost in thought.
Why would some outsider come to a place like Roanapur and freely throw away hundreds of dollars' worth of gold on his first night? Rock was no stranger to big spenders, even before he joined the Lagoon crew, he had seen some company executives waste tens of thousands of yen on sake and beer at restaurants. But Roanapur wasn't Shibuya or Kichijoji, and this Harry Potter wasn't any normal man, maybe Revy did have a point.
Rock pondered more and Revy jammed out more as they drove through the streets, eventually they made it out and were soon at the doors of the church.
"Would y-" Rock was going to say.
"On it." Revy said. She got out of the car and marched up to the doors, Rock following not far behind.
Revy was about to start knocking on the door when it opened. Harry Potter was being shown out by Rico.
"Hello friends." Harry said as he walked down the steps.
"Good afternoon." Rock said, "Funny seeing you here."
"How so?" Harry asked.
"I just thought the church did appointments in the morning is all." Rock said, turning to Rico.
"Those policies aren't set in stone. Come on in, and best of luck to you, Mr. Potter." Rico said as Revy shoved past him.
The band of three went inside the chapel, Revy taking a chair at the altar. "I'll go fetch Sister Eda for you." Rico said as he went towards the back door.
"Say, Rico?" Revy said, the young priest turning back towards her.
"What's he packin' now?" she asked.
"Sorry, I don't follow?" he said.
"That Potter guy, I saw he had a new bulge." she said.
"Revy, why are you looking at men's bulges? Let alone mentioning it in the house of God?" a woman said, Sister Eda walked out through the door Rico was going for, a devilish grin on her face.
"You know what I mean!" Revy growled, looking at Rico with daggers in her eyes. The priest relented.
"Just a 1911, nothing too serious. He's new in town y'know." he said, making his exit through the door Eda came through.
The nun sat across from Revy at the altar, Rock was standing between them at the side. "What brings you here hot stuff?" Eda asked Rock, the man blushed.
"I just wanted to know if you've seen anything like this floating around." he said, placing the golden coin in front of the nun gunslinger. She picked it up and looked at it.
"Nope, but I bet Isaac would give you a decent price for it." she said, flipping it up in the air.
"We already went there. This idiot didn't pawn it off." Revy said as she lit up a cigarette.
"Is Sister Yolanda in by any chance?" Rock asked.
Eda gave him a sly grin, "Oh baby, don't tell me you're cheating on Revy now..." she said, tossing the coin back at him. Revy chose not to respond.
"Uh, I just want to get her opinion on something." Rock said as he caught his gold.
"She's greedy, but not obsessed with money in the way you're looking for." Eda said as she stood up to leave.
"It's not just this I want to ask about." Rock said as he put the coin in his shirt pocket.
Eda smirked, "As it so happens, she has a client all afternoon. Sorry to say." she said.
Rock put his hands in his pockets, "Well, that's a shame. Just one more thing before we go." he said.
Eda met his eyes, "What do you know about that incident with the Triads?" Rock asked. Revy looked up at him and gave him a dirty look.
"The one with the mysterious deaths? You'll have to pay up for that one sweetie." Eda said as she stalked towards the back door.
Rock rubbed his chin, "How much?" he asked. Eda stopped, her hand on the door handle.
"You know, the Church isn't the only place to get info on that. Why not ask Great Brother Chang?" Eda said mockingly as she vanished back into the belly of the church.
Revy put out her cigarette and stood up. "I should've known." she said demurely. She pushed past Rock towards the front door.
"What?" Rock asked, a few good feet between them.
"I TOLD YOU NOT TO MAKE THIS A THING!" Revy shouted. Rock was taken aback by her outburst.
"I'm not, I was just curious about it is all." he said, his posture trying to plead reason to Revy.
"Yeah, it's your damn curiosity that got you kidnapped twice. It's your curiosity that got me a bullet in the arm from Moscow during the maid fuck-fest. It's your curiosity that's led to me shooting dead dozens of people over the years. ALL ON YOUR BEHALF!" Revy said. Rock looked at her, maybe he was pushing too hard.
"I'm tired man." she said, walking towards the door, "The kind of tired that sleep won't fix."
The stars looked down upon Harry. He was standing across the street at the opposite corner from the entrance to the morgue. He was doing his best to look natural, pretending to smoke a cigarette while he observed the Triad guards patrol in front of the entrance. Harry also noticed a black car with tinted windows sitting a few dozen meters away, he assumed those were the Russians.
Harry had done some basic recon of the building earlier that day, and he found that there was a door around the back of the morgue. All he had to do was get into the alley where the door was, stun the guards, and unlock the door to get in. He would have already started, but he noticed that the Chinese had beefed up security since he was here last. Harry wanted to see what happened.
Harry lit up another cigarette and waited some more. Before long another blacked-out car came around the corner, it stopped in front of the entrance. Harry saw a man get out. He was dressed in very fine business attire and wearing sunglasses, which was odd since the night was already too dark as it was. Harry made the judgement that this was probably the Triad boss, Mr. Chang.
Mr. Chang led a small delegation of men inside the morgue, Harry got up from his seat, and took out his Invisibility Cloak. He looked over at the Russian car and decided that even if they were keeping an eye on him, they wouldn't be able to explain to their boss how a man just disappeared in thin air without being laughed out of the room. Harry donned the Cloak and made his way to the back alley.
He came upon the back door, there were two mean looking guards in front of the door, talking about something in Cantonese. Harry raised his wand and sent two stunners at them. The red streaks of light hit both the guards squarely in their chests and they toppled to the ground unconscious. Harry didn't waste time. He unlocked the door and went inside.
Closing the door behind him, Harry quickly cast a few silencing charms to make sure that his footsteps and breathing wouldn't be heard. He was standing in a hallway, one way a dead end, at the other a staircase that led down, with the hallway bending at a 90-degree angle at the stairs. Harry gingerly walked to the end where the stairs were. He heard voices and ducked behind the corner.
Mr. Chang was speaking to one of his men, presumably the guard's captain. They were speaking in Cantonese, and Harry had no clue what they were saying. Soon enough the two broke off their conversation, Mr. Chang looked annoyed, Harry assumed he wasn't the type of man who liked to wait for anything. He and one of his subordinates came walking towards the stairs.
"Biu, get in contact with a linguist to tech these guys English. I can't stand Cantonese." Mr. Chang said to the man following him.
"I'll be sure to do that sir." the man, presumably Biu, said. The two walked downstairs, a sign hung by the entranceway, the Thai symbols probably sounded more official, but below it said, 'Cold Storage'. Harry followed the two gangsters downstairs.
After a short walk, the two Triad members and their unknown follower were stood in an operating room with a few morgue slabs lining the walls. All eight of them were occupied by dead men, a mix between Chinese and Thai, or at least Harry assumed so. There was a tired looking woman sitting at a desk at the far end of the room. She had black hair and was dressed like a goth.
"Hello Sawyer." Mr. Chang said to her, Sawyer gave him a look as a greeting, Harry noticed a nasty looking scar across her throat that was half-covered by some odd-looking necklace.
"Thanks for doing this for me, I know this isn't your usual line of work, but with your experience…" Mr. Chang said as he pulled up another desk chair.
"No, problem, sir." she said in a robotic voice. Harry was hanging back, just within earshot, Biu was standing just behind his boss. "I, have, a, more, compre-hensive, report, here." Sawyer said, handing Mr. Chang a folder.
He accepted it, and looked briefly inside it, "This is good stuff! Thanks again, you'll find your pay in the usual account." Mr. Chang said. Sawyer nodded and went back upstairs.
Mr. Chang was sitting in his chair reading the report still, his subordinate was on his cell phone, speaking in Cantonese about that woman's payment presumably. The man hung up and turned to his boss, "The payment's been arranged." he said.
Mr. Chang nodded, "Biu…" he started to say as he turned a page, "Would you go back to the office and find the contact info for my relatives in the UK? I'm specifically looking for a niece of mine, her name is Cho Chang." he said.
Harry's eyes widened, "Sir, do you mean the one…" Biu said.
"Yes, the witchy one, I might need to use her abilities. Make sure she comes here a normal way. I don't want this getting out of hand." Mr. Chang said.
"Very well, I will head back now." Biu said before hurrying out of the room and back upstairs.
Mr. Chang was still reading the report, and Harry decided that he wanted it. He looked around the room some more, trying to see if there was anything else he wanted to take. Harry spotted an evidence bag sitting on a nearby counter, a bundle of wands was sat inside, the label read 'Sticks?'.
Harry decided to take those too. He crept towards the bag and slipped them under his cloak, he stuffed them into the inside pocket of his sports coat, which he had magically expanded to fit everything he had packed. Just as he turned back to Mr. Chang to stun him, the Triad boss stiffened up.
"I know you're there." he said, "I thought that the atmosphere was off since we came down here." Harry's brow started sweating. Mr. Chang stood up, placing the report on the desk. He drew two pistols. Harry looked at the guns, they were engraved ornately, and he could tell that this man knew how to use them.
"The question is, where exactly are you?" Mr. Chang said, looking throughout the morgue. "For the last two years you wizard fucks have been a pain the ass." he said, wandering towards where Harry was standing.
"Thucrit? Did you have the balls to come here yourself, or did you send one of your lackeys?" he asked the air in front of him. Harry was at the exact opposite end of the room from Chang, the stairs were to his left, and the desk with the report on his right.
"Very well, I guess we do this the fun way." Mr. Chang said. Time went in slow motion for Harry. Mr. Chang pointed his pistols right at him and fired. Harry only just managed to dodge out of the way. He jumped over to his right, the cloak slipped off Harry's body and the wizard raised his wand.
Mr. Chang scowled and based off years of instinct, "EXPELIARMUS!" Harry yelled. The spell struck Mr. Chang and his pistols flew out of his hands. The gangster looked amused,
"Haven't seen that before!" he said before he charged Harry, who was still on the floor.
The boss kicked Harry in the head, the force flattening the Auror on his back. "Your tricks don't beat a good hit in the face huh?" Mr. Chang said as he wound up a punch. Harry wasn't down and out however, he flicked his wand upwards, and a red stunner sent Mr. Chang toppling to the floor next to his foe.
Harry sat up and was breathing heavily, he had never prepared to have been found out so easily. He felt warm liquid coming from his nose, adrenaline keeping away the pain. He pointed his wand at his broken nose, "Episkey" he muttered, a shooting pain went up his nose like a cotton swab, but he could tell it was better than before. It was just as he did this when he heard frantic voices coming from upstairs, they must have heard the gunshots.
Harry pointed his wand at the report on the desk and summoned it. It flew into his hand, and he stuffed it down into his pocket, just as he saw a man come down the stairs, he had gotten his Invisibility Cloak back on. The man from before, Biu, ran up to his boss, "BROTHER CHANG!" he shouted.
He checked for a pulse and looked relieved. Harry slipped back upstairs as the subordinate started to shout rapid instructions to his men in Cantonese. Harry didn't have to do a lot of thinking to understand that he had to leave now or never.
Harry slipped out of the back door and jumped over the two guards who were still unconscious from earlier. He dashed down the alley where he had come from and back out onto the street. He took off his cloak and he saw more cars rolling up to the morgue. The blacked out Russian car wasn't there anymore. Harry accepted that he might have screwed up badly, but he just walked away, as if he were just another random person.
*Thunk* … *Thunk* … *Thunk*
"Hm… I think need another fifteen points." Benny said. He pushed up his glasses and looked at the dart board. Rock was squinting at the board.
"Yeah, looks like it." he said. Rock got up from his place on the couch and collected the darts, he stood up straight as Benny sat back down and lined up his shots. Rock threw the darts, a triple twenty, a double ten, and a bullseye.
"That's, uh, 'hundred thirty?" Benny said.
"Yep, I'm over by ten, good game." Rock said.
"Yep, good one." Benny said. He fist-bumped his coworker as Rock sat back down.
Rock picked up a can of Heineken that he had been nursing, and Benny sipped a glass of water he had.
"So, what happened while we were gone?" Benny asked.
"Not much, Revy and I had a run in with this weird out-of-towner over that the Yellow Flag." Rock said.
"Oh, that Harry Potter guy?" Benny asked.
Rock nodded, "Yeah, he was paying Bao in these weird gold coins." he said, taking the coin out of his shirt pocket and handing it to Benny.
"So, this is what's gotten her all upset at you?" he asked benignly.
Rock was taken aback, "Oh come on Rock, she's pissed at you." Benny said.
"I'm not sure what for."
"She says you're getting too curious."
"She already yelled that into me."
"I heard." Benny said, the two sat in silence for a while.
"You know Rock, I think you ought to let this go." Benny said.
"Why? Don't y-" Rock was saying,
"Doesn't matter what I think." Benny interrupted. Rock was silent, "After that stunt you pulled with that PLA hacker and screwing over Jane, I don't think you know how much Revy did to make that go as well as it did." Benny said.
Rock didn't seem to get it, "Man, do you honestly think she's the type who wants to get into shootouts even if she seems to revel in them? Is she really the type to be putting her life on the line for people she doesn't care about? Do you really think she wanted to go and dance at Rowan's?" Benny pressed.
"But she did anyways." Rock said.
"She was doing it for you." Benny said. Rock looked down at his feet. "I'm not one to get psychological, but I think her patience is wearing thin. Whatever goodwill she has towards you isn't going to last long, especially if you don't pay it forward." Benny said.
"Benny, when did you get like this? You're acting like Revy and I are an old married couple." Rock said.
"Well Rock, I'm not sure how you're the only one who hasn't accepted it, but you two basically are even if you don't sleep in the same bed." Benny said, "You two balance each other out nearly to a tee. She becomes more passive with you around and you become more aggressive when she's around. It's a perfect Ying-Yang. But it's not built to last." Benny said. Rock thought for a moment.
"Why are you so up in arms about this?" Rock asked.
"Because when you push Revy too far and she doesn't have the will to keep putting up with you, I don't want to be in the way of whatever storm she brews." Benny said. The blonde hacker stood up and stretched. "I like you quite a lot man, I'd hate to see you with a few extra holes. I like Revy too, and I don't want her to be mourning your death for the rest of her life." he said.
"Benny, are you and Jane doing alright?" Rock asked, he knew that Benny and his girlfriend weren't getting along too well after her hacking plot got turned around.
"No Rock, we aren't." Benny said, with an uncharacteristic amount of venom in his tone. A tension filled the room, but just as Rock was about to say something, the phone rang.
Benny took the opportunity to break off the conversation and he picked up the phone. "Lagoon." he said lazily, "Sure." he said to the other person on the phone. He held it out to Rock, "Mr. Chang is asking for you." Benny said.
Rock took the phone and Benny went off somewhere else. "Hello." Rock said.
"Hi Rock, do you think you can swing by my place later today?" Mr. Chang said.
"Sure, but may I ask what for?" Rock said.
"An incident happened last night. We need someone to come investigate it." Mr. Chang said.
"But why me?" Rock asked.
"Because I think the Russians are involved, and when I made my concerns known to Fry Face, she tried to deny any role in this affair. We met and agreed to have a third-party step in." Mr. Chang said.
"And I'm meant to be that third party?" Rock asked.
"Correct. Come to my place for dinner. I'll send a car to your office around seven." Mr. Chang said, he didn't wait for a response before he hung up on Rock.
Rock put the phone back on the receiver and stood there thinking for a moment. "Who was that?" Revy had just walked into the room. She plopped down on the couch and started throwing darts.
"Mr. Chang. He wants me to be a mediator, or something." Rock said.
"A mediator?" Revy's face scrunched up in confusion.
"Yeah, apparently something went down last night, and there's conflict with the Russians and the Triads now." he said.
"Do you want me to come with you?" Revy asked, looking up at Rock.
"If you don't want to, you don't have to." he said. Revy met his eyes, and she backed off.
"Fine." she said, waiving him off and turning back to the dart board.
Rock turned away and looked at Revy before he left. Was he really taking advantage of her like Benny was saying earlier? Was he pushing too far? These were questions that he didn't have answers to. Rock left the room and wandered down the back stairs towards the dock where the Black Lagoon was.
He looked at the boat somberly. Rock thought about how long it had been since he was made a part of the crew, and how much stuff he and the others had gone through. He resolved that whatever happened, he would try to do this job by himself, he would let Revy rest.
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