Summary/disclaimer: Time for another chapter of Shooting Blanks. Enjoy the 1200-word chapter. I don't own Black Lagoon; Rei Hiroe and a few others do.

Andros looked at the letter in his hand. He was curious as to what was on this letter. He wanted to open it, but he was quite scared how scared when it came down to it. Anything could be said by her, anything that scared him. He knew that she was far more scared than she looked. Andros looked around for Alexis.

"That man seeks to make me regret even the concept of possibly having second thoughts, damn him so much." Andros said as he shook his head, unsure of what to do next. "Which means that I constantly have to deal with him guilting me constantly." Andros stated as he sighed and grabbed his knife next to him.

He looked around the empty office, this place felt entirely like a prison to him. They don't care what happened when it came down to it. Balalaika was his rock in the constantly drifting ocean around him. If he was not careful? They'd cut her down.

"Ok, I need to see it, good or bad? It's better than nothing." Andros said as he cut the letter open, curious as he shook his head, knowing that it wasn't shocking to be what he wanted.

"My love… I must regret to inform you, there has been some issues, here." Andros stated as he shook his head. "These hostiles were forces we didn't expect. They were pinning us down. I've picked off at least 20-30 soldiers, they are not smart, but they are powerful." Andros read as he clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth.

He chuckled. Balaika was more than a soldier. She was a hunter, a force of nature. The woman could not be stopped, it often made him wonder why she was a mere officer when it came down to it.

Andros cursed and chuckled as he thought about why that was like that. She wanted to fight, Balaika thrived in warfare. She fed on soldiers who were quite willing to fight. Balaika was a soldier, just like him. The only difference was the fact that he planned better when he had the safety of his office when it came down to it.

"I cannot believe that they sent her into the hellscape… Wait, yes I can, because they hate here." Andros said as he shook his head, curious as to what she was doing currently. "The more I think about it? The more terrifying it becomes. I cannot be there for her, and that is what they want. Her isolated and cut off from support." Andros said as he curled his fist into a ball.

"I feel so helpless and alone here, it's so ridiculous. Why would they do this crap?" Andros questioned as he leaned back in his chair with annoyance clearly written on his face.

"The more this goes on?" Andros questioned as he pressed his hands together. "I cannot hope that this ends well, however. It won't end as well as it thinks when you think about it." Andros stated as he wrung his hands, eager to put his mind to ease.

"Bal. I cannot begin to think about when it came down to it…. But there's far too many variables involved in defeating this." Andros stated to which he slowly stood up, cracking his fingers on the table so. "I just hate the idea of them killing her, I'll be hopeful to think on how well this could go." Andros added, humming to himself as he did so.

"There will be no end to the miracles taking place if she lives." Alexis stated, slowly entering the room as he did so. "There needs to be something we can do." Alexis said as he brushed off his uniform.

"Don't think everything is that easy, soldier." Andros said, pointing a finger at her as he did so. "Do you want me to point out you don't want her back home?" Andros said as he shook his head.

"And yet you think saying nothing is better?" Alexis questioned as he looked up. "I'm curious what the hell their doing next." Alexis said to which Andros was silent.

He knew that his officer was just curious, there was more war to focus on. Andros was going to point this way into focus, there was plenty of war to fight.

He was quite unsure of that work… Unsure of what to do next, the longer this occurred? The longer they hated her. they were furious they couldn't control her. They weren't a soldier; they weren't aware of what her sacrifice did.

"Balaika would want you to fight for the people when it comes down to it." Alexis stated to which Andros rolled his eyes, shaking his head at them.

"Don't, I have plenty of matters to attend to it." Andros stated while he shook his head. "Stop trying to use her as a weapon, she's not. That woman would be one of the soldiers fighting to stop this, yes. Would you like me to rile the masses into being gunned down in the streets? Because one of us seems to forget that the government hates my wife." Andros added, crossing his arms over his chest as he did so.

"Which why she's a champion of the people." Alexis stated while he turned away. "We have better things to do, you are right. Give it a day and this war will continue to escalate upwards and onwards, they will continue to attack, they will continue to move this upwards when it comes down to it." Andros heard to which he sighed, shaking his head back and forth.

"I am never going to be able to do my job, am I?" Andros asked, raising an eyebrow over his shoulder. "You want me to do something that you think I can do so easily? Fine. I will do something about it. I will see what I can do with the limited power I have within our blasted government." Andros said as he pushed himself to his feet, walking towards the door to his office.

Alexis sighed, looking at the one letter he held in his pocket. He knew what giving it to Andros would do. He was quite curious as to how this was going to end. Giving it to him would start him down a spiral that would destroy his entire plan, but withholding it would cause more issues than he wanted to do. There was only so much information that one man could handle before they went insane.

"Yeah, well there's still something owed a man such as that." Alexis put in as he sighed, thinking about the best of the next option would end up be.

Author Notes

Phew. Another chapter done! Next chapter will be in 2-10 months and will end up showing the start of the series and Andros beginning his own path and such. I plan to have Andros and Balaika reunite eventually and such. Until then, Lighting Wolf out!

P.S: Next chapter will be longer and will be 900-3500 words and such. Until then, Lighting Wolf out!