-1-

Rock and Revy lie stretched out on the couches of the Lagoon Company office, both fanning themselves with magazines.

"Fuck it's hot today."

"You said the church doesn't have air conditioning, right?" Rock asked.

"That's right, only fuckin' place that has A/C and is open this early is…" Reading where she was going with this, Rock cut her off, "No, we're not going to the Yellow Flag, it's 10 in the morning!"

Before he even finished his thought she was already at the door, "You coming or what?"

-

"Bao, another round." Revy demanded as she slammed her empty glass onto the bar.

While she polished off her next shot, Rock was keeping a discreet eye on a man in the corner of the bar.

Without altering his gaze, he asked, "You see that guy in the hat in the back?"

Revy stretched and casually peered around the bar as to not give away her intentions. She turned back to Rock and asked, "Yeah, so what about him?"

"He came in just a little while after us. He hasn't touched his drink and he keeps looking over at us."

"Want me to shoot him?"

The man in the back stood from his table, dropped a few dollars and headed out the front door.

As the doors closed behind him, Revy asked, "Feel better now?"

Rock stood from the bar looking a bit under green bringing Revy to ask, "Where are you going?"

As he walked around the bar he replied quietly, "To the bathroom."

Just as he entered the men's room, the man who had been keeping an eye on them walked in behind him.

"Rokuro Okajima?" He asked.

"Who's asking?"

"I have some information concerning both you, and your friend Rebecca."

Rock was caught off guard, "Revy?! Information about what? Who are you?"

The man removed his hat and retrieved a small manila envelope from beneath his coat. He handed the envelope to Rock who removed several black and white photos from it.

As he flipped through the photos, the man explained, "Those were taken 4 years ago in Tokyo."

Rock's eyes widened as it became clear that this man was not lying. The photos absolutely concerned him as they portrayed not only Revy, but also Rock's father as well in the process of performing what appeared to be some sort exchange.

"We'd been watching Rebecca for some time back in New York. One day she up and disappeared and we hadn't seen her since. Then one day, one of our associates in Japan sends us these."

As Rock struggled to comprehend the contents of the pictures, the man again reached into his coat this time retrieving some loose photos. As he raised them into Rock's view, his eyes widened, instantly filling with tears. The photos depicted the bodies of Rock's mother and father, both fatally shot.

"These were taken several weeks later. Apparently whatever happened during their first meeting was lucrative for her and she returned to your parent's home in order to further their dealings. No one knows what happened or why, but something went south. Now here we are; your parents and a friend of theirs are dead and there she sits, safely outside of anyone's jurisdiction."

Rock closed his eyes tight and quietly asked with a lump in his throat, "Who are you?"

"You're concerning yourself with things that don't matter. I've come a long way to find you, to tell you about the woman you're associating with. I'm sure I don't need to explain the irony that you've actually found each other on your own."

Rock was a businessman and he knew there was an ulterior motive at hand, "You say you sought me out to tell me about her, but that's not the only reason, is it?"

The agent again reached beneath his coat, this time retrieving a small pistol which he offered grip first to Rock, "No serial number, and it's coated in oil. No one will ever be able to trace it back to you."

Rock looked down at the gun with fury in his eyes. Could he really bring himself to punish her as he so desperately wanted to?

He returned to the bar and downed the fresh shot Bao had poured in his absence.

His face clearly showed signs of crying and even slightly intoxicated, Revy took notice and asked, "What the fuck happened to you? You look like shit."

"I'm fine." Rock replied signaling Bao for another round. While he was careful to nurse his drinks, he allowed Revy to keep knocking them back, allowing her to get as close to black-out drunk as he could. The hatred written on his face clouded by her inebriation.

Several hours passed and Revy was barely able to keep herself upright at the bar. Rock on the other hand was almost sober and decided it was time.

"Come on, let's get out of here."

Revy merely nodded and Rock helped her to the car.

While she was barely conscious, she had noticed they were not going back to the office but towards Roanapur's outskirts.

Fending off vomit, Revy asked, "Hey, where the fuck are we going?"

"Someplace special." Rock said calmly.

-

Rock turned the car into a heavily wooded area and they both stepped out.

"What the fuck is so special about this place?" Revy asked.

With her back to him, Rock pulled out the gun the agent had offered him, forced it to the back of her head and cocked the hammer, "Take off your guns."

One of Revy's many talents included the ability to sober up in a heartbeat, her eyes tightening as she growled, "What the fuck Rock?"

".Cutlass."

"I don't know what the fuck you're thinking but…" Rock cut her off squeezing off a round just to the side of her head. She flinched as the muzzle flash burnt the side of her face.

"Take off the fucking guns, NOW!"

At a loss, Revy slipped her holsters off her shoulders allowing her cutlass to fall to the ground.

She slowly raised her hands and asked, "Wanna tell me what the fuck this is about?"

"On your knees." Rock ordered.

"Rock…" Again he took a shot, this time on the other side of her head, "I said on your fucking knees!"

His eyes filled with tears and he struggled to keep it together, "Was this how you did it? Did they beg? Was it the money or were you just getting off?"

"I don't know what the fuck you're talking about." Revy replied through her teeth.

Rock kept the gun trained on her and walked around to face her.

He dropped the pictures of his dead parents to the ground in front of her and asked, "Ring any bells?"

Revy's eyes widened in disbelief as she reached down to the photos, "What the fuck?!"

"You killed my mother and father; and now, I'm going to kill you."

Genuinely frightened, Revy replied with a wavering tone, "Rock, it's not what you think. If I could just…"

Again he cut her off as his anger overtook him, "Shut up! Just shut your fucking mouth! You're a fucking liar!"

"Rock you don't understand…" Rock cut her off slamming the gun across her face.

Just as she regained her composure, he knelt down, pressed the gun to her forehead and ordered her, "Put your hands behind your head."

Regardless of her story, she knew he wouldn't hear anything she had to say and did as she was told, allowing her eyelids to close under their own weight as she awaited the shot.

Rock's hand shook as he began to squeeze the trigger. Before he knew it, the magazine was empty. Not a single shot had hit her, though she was visibly shaken.

Her eyes opened, coated in a sheet of tears and she peered up at Rock who almost looked satisfied simply having discharged the weapon.

Her tears slipped from her eyes, "I'm sorry, Rock. I'm so fuckin' sorry, but you have to believe me; it was an accident."

Rock dropped the gun to the ground, stepped beside her and sat up against a tree. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and threw one to Revy as he lit his own.

As she picked up the cigarette, she looked into his heartbroken eyes.

"Tell me Revy. Tell me everything that happened. How you met them, your business with them, why you killed them, how you killed them…" He turned to face her to see she was no longer crying though obviously upset and he finished his thought, "…everything."