Disclaimer: I do not own Black Lagoon or any of its related characters or themes.

AN 1: Obviously there will be a slight amount of OC-ness... but I tried to keep it as in-character as possible.

AN 2: The name of the kid was just the first thing that popped into my head when I was thinking about what names Revy could possibly choose... there are a TON, but this was the first one that 'stuck' LOL

Btw, thanks to ChronoMitsurugi for their suggestion for the fic :)

Enjoy!

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Initiative

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It's been eight years since we got married in Chiang Mai. I'm still not sure who was the most surprised, me or Benny. Probably me... I would've said Dutch... but he did say from the first time that I'd mentioned the proposal to him, that she would eventually say 'yes'. Apparently it was his job to 'be vigilant of any interpersonal relationships between co-workers'.

Watching Revy now is like watching her whenever she's fighting an opponent that she's sure she's going to lose against. Her own paradise. Somehow, she seems to be enjoying this just as much as she had taking out that Kousa Mafia in Japan... or when she fought Roberta.

"Watch where you're pointing that thing, Andrix," Revy snapped, moving the six-year-old's Glock towards the signboard, "Didn't mommy say you point at whatever you want to shoot at? If that thing just fired I would have a hole in my leg! Do you think mommy would look good with holes in her leg?"

The brown haired adolescent looked completely abhorred at her statement and shook his head, "No, mommy!"

"Good... now what did I tell you? How do you shoot?" Revy said and pointed towards the signboard across the yard.

Four months before Andrix was born, me and Dutch had an argument. But, it was a good question that he had asked though, what kind of maternal instincts does Revy have? If her interaction between herself and Garcia Loveless was any indication... then Dutch was right. We were screwed.

"Take a deep breath... " he recited, doing just that, "Take aim... and-"

The shrill gunshot resounded throughout the yard, causing the six-year-old to flinch. Andrix cracked open an eye and beamed as he looked at his mother, "I hit it!" he yelled excitedly. Not a moment later, the young boy popped out the magazine; he pinned the grip between his knees before using both hands to pull back to slide and eject the chambered round.

The fact that my son just pulled the trigger, hitting the target for the first time with a real gun...

In two, four... six years... that target will be replaced by a real person. There's no turning back now.

"Awesome job, baby!" Revy said, catching the ejected round with her left hand while high-fiving her son with her right. "Now, go check out the mark..."

Andrix carefully put the Glock on the ground, and arranged the magazine next to it. He then straightened up and trotted over to the board to check out the hole the bullet left.

Revy stood up, dropped the round a few feet away from the Glock before walking over to the board. It was only five feet away, but she was impressed. She knew exactly how hard holding a gun was, never mind using it... and she was proud that her six-year-old boy could manage to actually hit a target... no, proud didn't even describe it. She was practically glowing. "Ha... you see this one here," she pointed to the hole on the edge of the board, "This is yours!"

The young boy smiled and ran his finger over the grove, "I hit it, Dad! Look!".

I clapped excitedly, "Great job!". Just like your mom, kid.

It was his first actual hit. They'd been practicing with toy guns up until a month ago... but when she found her son looking so enamoured whenever she held her Cutlass... she couldn't resist teaching him.

"Maybe you'll one day beat the Mighty Rebecca! Best Shooter in the West, along with Calamity Jane! ... but you'll have to practice a lot!" Revy said cheerily with a wink. Of course, there was no way in hell that was about to happen... but it always had the desired effect.

"I'll practice lots, mom!" the young boy said with a fierce determination, "Mm... mom, can you show me one more time?"

"Show you what?" she snapped, quirking an eyebrow.

"Your gun? Can you shoot the sign one more time?" he asked, undeniably admiring her.

And, without warning, she drew both her cutlass. It wasn't even two seconds and the signboard was shot halfway to hell, the top-half dangling off and hanging by a few strands of paper. "How's that?" Revy grinned, her fingers still tingling at the adrenalin. Only a few things got her excited like that.

"WOW!" Andrix screamed, beaming brightly; his hands still covering his ears.

Fact is, all Andrix saw was his mom drawing the cutlass and firing shots.

But, I didn't.

I saw all of it. Unclipping the holsters of her Cutlass Berettas. Drawing the guns as easily as breathing. Firing the shots with ease. The calibre of the gun was not reflected by the recoil in her hand. She was strong enough to mitigate the recoil to such an extent that it didn't affect her aim at all.

The shots were shot in an almost perfect horizontal line, at the end of the sign she had fired four more shots than necessary. She missed it. It's been three weeks since our last job, and she's already missing it.

I guess the life of the living dead never ends.

Or, loses its addiction.

The awe in the young man's eyes showed as clear as daylight. He wants to be like her... but, as all kids his age, his mind could only keep that determination going for as long as he wasn't distracted by anything else... Because, at that moment, his fierce determined face was quickly replaced with a smile when a dragonfly buzzed past his nose and he leapt after it in a chase.

She watched the young boy dive after it, chase the poor insect and leap after it before finally falling on the grass, exhausted. "... I'm ... huunnnggrryyy... " he whined flapping a hand dramatically over his chest.

"He's a kid... Revy," I reminded her softly, smiling awkwardly as her fists clenched at her son's sudden attention distraction, "He needs a bit of freedom..."

She forced a smile, but that smile had that twinge of her usual sass to it. "So... what are you going to do about it?" Revy said, grinning at Andrix.

The young boy sat up, suddenly looking pensive. He had his face in his hand, featured twisted into a frown. A spitting image of his dad. "Can I have a samwhich, mom?" he asked, smiling sweetly.

"Sandwich ... and I'm not going to do it by myself, dipshit... you coming?" Revy said with a well-meaning smile, motioning for him to join her.

I stood up, standing to the side and waiting for Revy to catch up. It's been an interesting evening, watching her play with Andrix like this. Usually she'd wait until I was off running an errand for Dutch before she would.

Andrix jumped up from his spot, running over and taking her hand. That is, before she stopped walking and gave him 'The Mommy Eyebrow'.

"Hey..." I tapped Andrix on the shoulder, looking pointedly over to the gun left on the grass.

It took a few seconds, but Andrix finally clicked what we were trying to get him to remember. He quickly ran over to the forgotten Glock and snapped the magazine in place before joining her again.

"Come on now, you're still missing something..." Revy snapped, pointing to the place where the gun was previously lying. "... we had a gun... a magazine... what else?"

The young boy stared at her with a quizzical expression.

I tapped the slide of the Glock, "What was inside here before you dropped it all on the ground?" I asked, trying to get the young boy to understand without directly telling him. That was one thing Revy prided herself upon, teaching him how to be independent and use initiative to get the job done. But, I couldn't help but try and help from time to time.

"OH!" Andrix exclaimed, running over to the spot where the gun was lying before stopping. He looked around, looking anxious after a few moments, "I can't find it!" he said, looking like he was about to cry.

"Keep looking, bullets aren't cheap, you know!" she commanded, smiling as he kept on searching with a amount of fervour that made his mother proud.

I started towards him, but Revy grabbed the back of my jacket, "How' s he supposed to learn if you help him all the time?" she growled, leaning absently forwards.

"I find it!" he yelled happily, waving the silver round in the air, disrupting the moment.

"... found..." she corrected automatically.

"I found it!" he kept repeating without pause, joining her as they walked inside "Here...".

She took the round from the outstretched palm, quickly loaded it into the magazine before snapping it back in place, reloading it. The natural motion had captivated her son's admiring gaze again. "Good job at finding the lost round!" she said, grinning before she paused when I cleared my throat pointedly, "Hmm... wait... I think I forgot something..."

She tapped the side of her head, huffing as she looked dramatically confused at the Glock in her hands, "What the hell did I forget to do...?" she tilted the gun so her son could see the safety switch clearly, "Can you remember, Andrix?"

"Mommy... you forgot to put the safety on!" Andrix said, having to push the switch with both hands.

"Oh! Thank you!" she smiled and ruffled his hair playfully, "Now... what do you want to eat?"

"Pizza!... with ... twizzlers!" he said, practically skipping on the spot.

"Just take it easy on the sugar, Andrix, I don't need you bouncing off the balls when me and daddy drop of you off at Auntie Eda's," Revy said sweetly and walked over to the top shelf of the cupboard and opened it. She grabbed a red packet of twizzlers before turning back.

I couldn't help but start laughing at that point. Auntie Eda's...

"What the hell are you laughing at?" Revy said, pouting a bit.

"Auntie Eda?" I repeated, laughing louder this time.

"Shut up!" she snapped and looked down at the young boy in front of her, "Well? What are you waiting for?... the pizza isn't going to walk out of the fridge on its own!"

"Okay!" the young boy replied, completely unaffected by her mannerisms, "You want me to get it?"

"No, I want Santa Clause to bring it here for Christmas!" she growled sarcastically.

"... that's a 'yes', dude," I said, trying to keep my grin as suppressed as possible.

She kept a close eye on her son as he pulled open the fridge and had to drag out the box of pizza. He brought the pizza over to the counter and handed it to his mother. He walked back to the fridge and looked back at his mother, "Mommy... Daddy, do you want some juice?" he asked, already pouring some of Revy's favourite brand of Rum in a plastic cup. His idea of 'juice' included anything we drank. I doubt Revy made the distinction clear for him and I wasn't about to ruin it for him.

Then again, I still can't believe she taught him which ones were her and my own favourites... although, she did take the time to learn his favourites as well and always did her best to accommodate... I guess it's all the little things that count.

"Sure," she answered, popping four slices of pizza in the microwave, "... and yes, you can have more grape juice..."

The pre-emptive answer to his request had him grinning from ear to ear. Oh yeah, his mom DID have psychic powers.

Andrix handed her the cup he had balanced carefully with both hands- since it was filled to the brim with Rum- with a grin before walking over to fridge... then back to me, smiling as he held up a cold one, "Dad?" he said, waiting patiently for me to take it from him, his own grape juice in his other hand.

When he turned five, Revy took him for a 'taste-test' and had him taking small sip of rum and then beer. In the end, instead of becoming a "happy drunk little sailor", he just pulled a sour face and gagged. Since then, any curiosity for anything that either of us drink just dissipated. He also avoided it as best he could, walking almost a wide circle around any type of beer cans or liquor bottles.

... But, since then, he'd become a grape juice-junky. At least that's the only thing we had to worry about... Damn, I still need to warn Eda about that, I doubt the Rip-Off church is stocking Grape juice along with all their usual wine and booze ... heheheh, auntie Eda...

I held my arm open and hugged him for a moment before taking the beer from his hand. He waltzed back his chair next to the counter. He clambered up and sat down, straight back and hands on his knees.

"Now, sit still and behave, sweetie " Revy said, knowing the request was not even necessary anymore, as she plated a slice of pizza for her son. She couldn't help but smile as the young boy sat quietly, waiting patiently as she finished fixing up his lunch, "Get our bags, Rock. We're leaving in ten minutes".

"Sure thing, Revy..." I said, pausing as I turned back to her, "He's staying at the Rip-off Church till tomorrow, right? ". I didn't have to ask if everything for him was packed... when it came to Revy, she was always prepared, no matter what kind.

"His bag's next to the door, don't forget it!" Revy pushed the plate towards her son, smiling warmly as he thanked her, "Don't take long, Rock... your pizza's getting cold!"

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