Bullet IX

After a hard climb, Revy finally reached the top of the cliff. On more than one occasion, Revy nearly fell and the sharp edges of the rocks cut his hands.

Revy looked around. Everything was clear. She didn't know if it was because of stupidity on the part of the guards, or because they thought no one would be crazy or idiotic enough to climb the cliff. But she was thankful it was, it would have been a real pain in the ass to have to deal with guards.

She looked down, thinking maybe her partner had fallen...But then a hand grabbed the edge of the cliff. She quickly grabbed it and helped Dutch up. While he too had a light layer of sweat covering his body, Dutch didn't look tired at all, and that was with the son of a bitch carrying a backpack with various things in it.

He gave a quick inspection and nodded in satisfaction.

"Come on, if Shenhua's information is correct, and it suits his Chinese ass that it is, an airlock should be near here.". -Dutch said in a very low voice, then stuck to the wall and started walking slowly.

Revy did the same, but couldn't match his stealthy gait. Compared to her boss's quiet footsteps, Revy thought her own footsteps sounded outrageously loud. She wondered if Dutch thought the same thing and if he was annoyed by it, but he didn't say a word about it.

After a short but tense walk, they found their target. There was iron pipe with a fairly large opening, large enough to walk through if they both bent down a bit, through which a good amount of suspiciously murky water fell directly into the ocean.

Dutch pulled a small flashlight out of his backpack and turned it on. It was a long way inland.

"Well, this is some real shit." -Said Revy.

If Benny or Rock were there, they would have made a funny retort or groaned at the idea of going into the sewers, maybe both. But Dutch kept quiet and I went in first. She wasn't upset or surprised by that, and simply followed him. Dutch never spoke more than necessary when he went into his "Commando" mode.

"What a fun vacation." -Murmured Revy.

Rock paced the deck of the ship, restless. Dutch and Revy had left hours ago and had yet to return. Yes, he was aware of their difficult task, though difficult fell short of scaling a fucking cliff and infiltrating a prison, yet another reason to worry, but Rock thought they had already taken longer than expected.

"You're going to blow a hole in the deck if you keep this up Boss.". -commented Gretel, enjoying the scenery. The ocean was beautiful during the day, but it was even more so at night. "You should relax, nothing will happen to them."

"There's too much that can go wrong for me to relax." -Said Rock, pausing for a moment. Hansel and Benny were even sleeping. "You, your brother and Benny are relaxed enough. Someone has to worry about them."

"...A mother."

"What?"

"Boss, you sound like a mother when you talk like that."

Rock couldn't help but smile. "You don't mean a father?"

Gretel shook her head, bobbing her long white hair "No-no. While a father cares about the welfare of his children, he prefers not to express those feelings. A mother, on the other hand, freely expresses what she feels regardless when it comes to her children. That's why Boss is more like a mother."

'Maybe she...' -Rock's smile fell. "Do you miss your mother, Gretel?"

"Not really, I mean, Hansel and I are orphans. We never knew our parents, we grew up in an orphanage."

"Oh...Then the three of us can travel to Romania someday, you know, when our debt to Balalaika and Chang is over, and visit the orphanage where they grew up."

"I think we'd better not. I haven't killed someone in a while and I don't want to break that record, although Hansel wouldn't mind doing it. ". -Gretel finally looked away from the ocean and looked at him, smiling. "You know, they sold us out to the mafia in the country, so I don't want anything to do with that orphanage. It makes me happy that you care so much about me and my dear brother, but I'd rather not talk about Romania anymore, okay? I hate that place."

Rock held back a sigh and nodded. It was hard not to understand why these kids wanted nothing to do with their country. "I understand, but if someday you and Hansel change your minds, let me know, okay?"

"Yep~." -Gretel returned her gaze to the ocean. "See? You're a mother!"

"Although I wish you wouldn't say it out loud."

"Ah, there's no reason for you to keep worrying anymore, Mama-Boss, Anego and the black bald guy are already back."

Rock walked over to her and looked where the girl was pointing, but there was nothing there, just the small empty lifeboat that Dutch and Revy used to get to the islet. Suddenly, Revy's head appeared in front of him. "Boo!"

"Gaahhhh!" -Rock exclaimed, falling into a sitting position and quickly backing up, dragging his butt across the deck to the other end of the boat. Revy began to laugh out loud as he climbed into the Black Lagoon, "You asshole! That wasn't funny, you scared me half to death!"

Dutch went up next, only to take a swipe at Revy's ear, but that didn't stop his laughter. "Enough, I don't want to attract attention and get us shot to death."

"Don't worry, we're far enough away.". -Said Revy, finally calming down. "By the way, where's Benny and the other brat?"

"They're both sleeping in the cabin.". -answered Gretel, since Rock still hadn't recovered from the scare.

"¿Sleeping, huh? And here I am all tired and reeking of shit, unacceptable." -She marched into the ship as she rustled her nestles, promising a rude awakening for Hansel and Benny.

After returning to base, and a much needed shower, everyone gathered in the kitchen for a short briefing, as Rock prepared a quick midnight meal for Dutch and Revy. A simple potato scramble, ground beef, eggs and accompanied by rice.

"So..." -Said Benny, with a bump in the middle of his head. Hansel detected the danger and was able to avoid the blow, but he was not so lucky. "Were you able to find a way in?"

"Sdf hin nho." -Responded Revy, wolfing down the food eagerly. All that activity had worked up his appetite. And heck, the dinner was good.

"Don't talk with your mouth full.". -Rock reprimanded her.

Revy swallowed the food. "Ah, I said 'Yes and no.' We went in through the fucking sewer and walked a long way until we hit a grate, we couldn't get past that. It was steel as thick as my hand."

Dutch nodded, being more polite as he first chewed his food thoroughly. "I was expecting something like that, and I carried a blowtorch, but cutting through all that will take a good while. But that'll be tomorrow, today was just scouting and I didn't want to risk it until I was 110% sure someone wouldn't show up in the middle of the job."

"Were there guards nearby?" -Benny asked.

"Not a single one, so we were able to take the time to try the other entrances. They're all blocked at a certain point. But using a fucking blowtorch isn't exactly quiet, so don't rule out the possibility of guards arriving while we're cutting that grate." -Responded Revy, then passing his plate to Rock. "Waiter~, more food."

"I'm a temporary bartender and cook. And it says 'Please'."

"I don't mind. Come on, serve me more food."

"And what if a guard shows up and sees them?" -asked Rock, obeying the order and serving more food.

Dutch scratched his bald head. "That's a good question. I have a hard time with the idea of leaving live witnesses, but we can't go around leaving dead bodies all over the place either. Someone's going to notice we're short-staffed, they'll start a search and by the time we figure it out, our asses will be sharing a cell with our friend in there."

"I guess it's up to luck then." -said Benny letting out a sigh.

"I've never liked depending on my luck, but yeah." -Dutch got up from his seat and put a hand on Rock's shoulder. "Dude, thanks for dinner, it was delicious. Tomorrow it's your turn to go up the sewer."

"Thanks, it really wasn't..." -Rock took a second to process the information. "What?!"

Dutch raised an eyebrow. "What, you think me and Revy are going to go up every fucking night up there while you rest and scratch your ass?" -He let out a small laugh. "Well, no."

"But I don't know how to climb!"

"We set up a couple of thick, perfectly safe ropes to ensure your safety while you climb...unless your hand slips and you fall down." -Dutch replied, shrugging his shoulders. "Anyway, Revy will go up first, then she'll throw the ropes and you'll climb."

"Dutch, I'm just an office boy who can't get down the stairs without flailing!" -Said Rock, grabbing Dutch by the shoulders and shaking him a little. "And I'm only supposed to be here to translate!"

"And cook."

"Shut up Revy!"

"Whoa~, it's okay, it's okay. I didn't say anything."

"Yeah, that shit is Chang's thing. But since you're part of this team now, and you're living with us and eating with us, you'll be working with us too." -Dutch brushed him off smoothly and turned away. "And that involves climbing a cliff and getting shit stained. Get a good night's sleep, it's going to be a rough night tomorrow."

"That's not fair..." -Rock muttered, no longer hopeful of getting out of that one. Again, they were dragging him into their crazy shit.

"Life isn't fair." -Responded Dutch, coming out of the kitchen.

Shenhua thought she would never see Fang Jian again until they hauled his ass out of prison and put him on a boat. But there she was again, in that pitiful, musty-smelling visiting room, and facing Fang Jian. She had met him before, when he was a "respectable" Triad mobster dressed in expensive clothes and without a speck of dirt on his body.

But now, Fang Jian was wearing the typical garish orange uniform of a prisoner, he was as dirty as a doormat and replete with wounds and bruises that he didn't have before. Shenhua also noticed that he had a slight limp, which he was trying hard to conceal. She didn't know if the one who beat him up was another inmate, or one of the guards.

He slumped heavily in the chair and picked up the phone to speak. "Miss Shenhua, what a nice visit.". -said Fang Jian, smiling.

"I can't say the same."

"As cold as ever." -Fang Jian wiped away her smile. His tone of voice was suddenly harsher. "When the fuck are you going to get me out of this hole? I've been here for almost three months." -Shenhua didn't reply, just gave a quick glance at the guards. Fang Jian noticed and made a sharp gesture with his hand. "Forget about those sons of bitches, they're all bought off. They won't say a word."

"I thought Taiwan police were not bought.". -She said.

"Bah. These aren't cops, and 'not bought' is a way of saying the price is too low. Chang is a fucking cheapskate, I was the one who paid these morons.". -Fang Jian replied. One of the guards gave him a hard look, and he returned it as he raised his chin in defiance. "Or what, you're going to tell me it's not true, you Chinese piece of shit?"

The guard averted his gaze silently.

"Yeah, I thought so, bitch."

"We're working on it." -Responded Shenhua. "Coming in here is no walk in the park, you know."

"Then work faster." -Demanded Fang Jian, gritting his teeth. "Last night I almost got my ass busted between three guys. If it wasn't because I paid for bodyguards, I'd be a whole fucking lady right now, literally. One of those assholes put a blonde wig on me.".

Shenhua raised an eyebrow, that explained the injuries. "I imagine you didn't call me just for that..."

"No, I called you here because I want you to give me an exact departure date, I need one."

Shenhua shrugged. "It could be a few more weeks or it could be a year. Like I said, we are working, or rather, the mercenaries Chang hired are working."

"What is there to work so hard on? They simply have to come in, kill a few guards and take me out. Nothing complicated."

"The part where they shoot us dead seems complicated to me."

"It's the hazards of the trade, you of all people should know that." -Fang Jian lowered the tone of his voice. "Listen, Miss Shenhua, tell Mr. Chang to send me some cash. I really need it, I'm running low on funds and I can only buy the guards for one more month."

"Why don't you tell him yourself? I'm not your fucking messenger girl. I wouldn't come here if it wasn't part of my contract."

"You know for a fact that Mr. Chang won't answer any of my calls."

"Then much less send you money, he's pretty pissed off about that little problem you had with Miss Hekmatyar."

"And how was I supposed to know that bastard would try to kill me? I just offered to pay him half the load with dope, not that shit they sell over there in the UK or Germany, but good dope. But the little bitch ordered her bodyguards, that one-eyed piece of shit, to shoot me and my men."

Shenhua shrugged again. "I'll talk to Mr. Chang, but no promises."

"I wish you the best of luck then. And mention to those nice mercenaries that I'd like to leave here as soon as possible, you know, to keep my anal virginity intact."

"Why don't you let them play with your ass? Maybe and you like it."

"No thanks, I like to give not receive. But if you want I can offer your services to my dear roommates, I'm more than sure they'll be more than happy to receive that firm ass of yours."

"I'm afraid I'll have to decline that offer."

"That's too bad. In any case, I need to be out of here in less than a month, Shenhua, less than a month."

She smiled. "That will cost you extra pay, both for me and for them, you know, unless you liked that blonde wig."

"Of course..." -Sighed Fang Jian.

He understood about mercenaries, after all, no one would go into a fucking maximum security prison for free to rescue an unknown prisoner. But one couldn't talk to Shenhua without the fucking bitch asking you for money. Still, what was losing a little more money if that way he could ensure the integrity of his own ass?

"And don't forget to discuss my difficulties with Mr. Chang."

"No promises."

Revy returned from his patrol rounds, a routine he had picked up on those nights, to switch shifts with Rock. It was now the fifth night that the Lagoon company had worked their way through that makeshift entrance.

They had to speed things up a bit, as the pack asked to get him out as soon as possible, or his life and ass would be at risk. But a blowtorch wasn't designed to cut through steel that thick and they could only go at night.

Also, climbing was fucking exhausting, and descending was even more difficult and dangerous, as one had to climb down without using the previously prepared ropes.

But somehow, they were able to adapt to the new hurried pace, and now seemed to be the end of that tedious task, as it was only a short time before the grate would be open enough to get through, and Rock was doing the honors.

Seeing that the job was almost complete and not wanting to rob him of that small sense of triumph, she decided to wait. Revy thought he had earned it, since for someone who had never before done a physical activity as hard and strenuous as climbing a fucking cliff, Rock had done quite well.

She tried to imagine Benny in Rock's place, but could only see Benny giving up halfway up the climb and then letting himself fall lazily into the ocean. Or if he somehow miraculously made it to the top of the cliff, Benny would be dead tired and useless.

That made her think that Rock might actually be tougher than he appeared to be.

A loud metallic sound brought her out of her thoughts. Rock turned off the blowtorch and turned to look at her, smiling and with a thumbs up. "The way is clear."

"...How long did it take you to plan that sentence?" -She asked, looking at him blankly.

"All day." -Rock replied, dropping his smile and thumb. "I've also thought of phrases like 'This done' or 'Ready, let's move on.' But I think 'The way is clear' sounds cool."

"What are you, a fucking kid...although 'It's done' sounds like a good phrase to me."

"It's a shame no one asked for your opinion."

"Fuck you Rock."

"Maybe later." -Rock stood up, and ended up bumping his head against the 'ceiling' of the big pipe. "Shit!"

"Served you right." -Said Revy, walking past him as he laughed.

It was certainly puzzling to her how he could at times be a guy with enough balls to threaten Dutch, and at times be a really dumb guy. It made Revy want to test how far Rock could go if she pushed him to show that tough side of him.

But that would be another time. The last thing Revy needed right now, was to screw it all up somehow while they were stuck in that sewer.

She heard Rock's footsteps and his voice coming from behind her. "I thought being 'up to my neck in shit' was just an expression."

"You learn something new every day." -She replied. "I bet they didn't teach you this in fucking college."

"Nope~, or maybe I missed the classes where they prepare people to enter a prison through some shit-filled sewers, I don't know. By the way, what's the next step after leaving this lovely place, how will they get to the target?"

"We don't know yet."

"Do you two think you're going to find a door that says 'Top secret prison entrance and exit...Do not escape this way?'"

Revy shrugged. "Not really. Besides, we work better on the fly and not planning a thousand things that are going to fail anyway. We don't waste time thinking about stupid things like you do."

"Interesting, so your thinking abilities are limited only to pulling out your guns, shooting, and kidnapping people."

"And not exactly in that same order. Although we also think about breaking the noses of idiots who make intelligent comments."

"I see. One certainly learns something new every day."

After a while walking in a straight line, the two finally came to a wall. "Ughh..." -Murmured Revy, quickly turning off the flashlight.

"What's wrong?" -Rock asked, confused.

"Nothing." -She said. With the light on, he could see that the path ahead was suffocatingly small in a circular shape. It would be almost like stepping into a chimney, and perhaps just as dangerous. "Just get on all fours, and watch where you step. If you fall down a well, screw you, because I'm not going to be able to pull you out."

"That's what you have a flashlight for-" -Revy sighed and turned the light back on just so he wouldn't insist. "Aw, shit."

Revy turned the light off again. "Yeah, now stop whining and get going...and don't look at my ass."

"I'm afraid the darkness and shit passing near my face has my full attention right now. But don't worry, I'll look at your ass some other day."

"Asshole."

After that they didn't talk much, just slowly moved forward. The space was much smaller than it seemed, as Revy could feel his back bumping against the wall. For a terrifying instant, he thought they might reach a part that was too narrow to cross and they would be stuck there.

They would both die there in the dark, unbeknownst to anyone, and in the middle of shit.

She had to stop for a moment, with her eyes closed, and shake her head to calm down a little. Thinking about stupid things like that would only complicate the job even more. The sweat pouring down her face and all over her body was almost unbearable. "Are you okay, Revy?"

She could hear loud gasps, and thought they were hers, but they were Rock's. He was just as affected. "Yeah...yeah, damn it, I'm just a little disoriented."

"Just put your head down and look at the ground, it'll help a little with the dizziness."

"How the hell do you know?"

"That's what I've been doing from the beginning. And it works, but only a little."

"I'll give it a try then." -Said Revy, opening her eyes again and resuming the hard march.

A little further on, she felt the smell starting to change, it was getting fainter. It went from simply smelling like shit to a less sickly smell, more like bitter. Revy felt a bit of relief, as it meant they were close to an exit, or a much larger chamber.

And fortunately it was true, as she suddenly stopped feeling the pressure on her back and sank almost to her chin in the murky water. Revy stood up and turned on the flashlight, it was a large enough chamber to straighten up freely, the water was up to his knees.

Rock came out a little later, and sighed in relief at being able to stand up.

"I'd say I'll never crawl back in there again, but I'll probably have to do it again." -Rock said bitterly as he stretched. Being bent over for so long made his back ache. "So where the fuck are we?"

Revy surveyed the place with his flashlight, finding only one exit; a worn yellow-colored staircase leading upwards. If the information Shenhua gave Dutch wasn't wrong, then this was the end of the sewers and access to the second floor.

She smiled, "We're in, baby."