Chapter 17: Epilogue

Upon hearing the doorbell ring, Rock slowly lifted himself off the couch to answer it. On his way over, he passed Revy who was sitting at the kitchen table, her boots propped up on the chair in front of her and her legs crossed, one casually lying over the other. Spread in front of her were the disassembled pieces of her cutlass, which she solely focused on cleaning. Uninterested in who the potential guest may be, she carefully inspected the empty chamber she was currently cleaning while Rock walked past her.

Rock proceeded to open the door and was instantly greeted by a rather nervous young man with a limo waiting off in the distance.

"Oh, hello, Mr. Okajima. I'm here to pick up Kate. Is she ready to go?"

"Not quite yet Kyle," answered Rock, gesturing a welcoming. "Would you like to come in and wait? It should only be a few more minutes."

Kyle nodded and Rock opened the door to let him in. They both took a seat in the living room, Rock in a chair, and Kyle on the couch. Revy continued to clean and assemble her cutlass without fully acknowledging the boy's presence.

"That outfit looks good on you," complimented Rock, referring to the black tuxedo the boy was currently wearing.

"Thanks. It's my dad's. He let me borrow it for the night."

A few moments of silence passed before they heard the small creak of the bedroom door followed by the elegant clacking sound of heels on the hardwood floor. Kate casually strolled into the living room still fiddling with the last bits of her hair.

"Ok I think I'm all ready to g-"

She froze. Everyone in the room, including her parents, were staring at her. She was dressed in a well-fitted, stunning red dress and had her hair up styled elegantly. She may have only been seventeen, but to both Rock and Revy, she appeared completely grown up. Unfortunately for them, Kate also had the infamous temperament of her mother.

"What!? Have none of you seen a girl wearing a dress before? Geez." Letting out her frustration, she stomped over to where Kyle was sitting and flopped down next to him with her arms crossed. Rock let out a humble chuckle, and Revy, who continued to work on her cutlass without making eye contact, allowed a prideful smirk.

Kyle stood up from the couch. "Should we get going then?"

"What time do you think you'll be back?" questioned Rock.

"Prom ends at eleven, but we planned on going somewhere afterwards," answered Kyle.

Rock's expression grew concerned. "It wouldn't be anywhere private by any chance?"

There was a brief pause, and Kyle could have sworn he heard the safety of a nearby gun click off.

"N-no, not anything like that. We were just going to get a snack or something to eat with some friends."

Like he did with many of the people he interrogated, Rock continued to study him with a stern expression. Kyle stood uncomfortably under Rock's gaze. There was no question how deep of shit he'd be in if he was idiotic enough to try anything that stupid. Not only would Kate probably beat the shit out of him, but a bullet would have his name engraved on it before dawn.

Aware of the intensity of the situation, Kate stepped forward and placed a hand on Rock's arm. "Dad, it's alright. I'll be back by midnight. Okay?"

Rock's expression remained stern, but after some consideration, his seriousness vanished and was replaced by his familiar relaxed smile. "Alright," he sighed. To his surprise, Kate wrapped her arms tightly around him, giving him a quick hug and then practically yanked Kyle out the door, thanking him on their way out.

Rock rubbed the back of his neck proud, but nervous. He walked over to Revy who had just finished assembling her cutlass. She aimed it in front of her with one eye closed to inspect her handiwork.

"I wonder where she gets that attitude of hers," he said playfully.

Revy shot him a sarcastic look. Rock smiled, as he always did when he toyed with her. Rolling her eyes, Revy went back to inspecting her cutlass. "You have work tonight?" she asked.

He nodded. "They called me to analyze some data Rick collected." He studied Revy.. It was obvious she was trying not to show it, but he could tell she was worried. "Kate will be alright," he reassured. "She takes after you after all."

Revy huffed and leaned back in her chair. "You seemed awfully protective yourself Rocky baby."

Rock shrugged. "Parental instinct I guess."

Suddenly, Revy stood up from the chair and grabbed the collar of his shirt. Before he could object, she met his lips with hers.

Rock smiled after they broke apart. "What was that for?"

Revy gave him a mischievous look. "Dumbass. We've finally got the place to ourselves."

Kate shut the front door carefully and quietly sneaked through the entryway. It was nearly two hours past midnight, and she was well aware she had broken curfew. Luckily, she knew her parents would be either sleeping or working at this hour, but she still didn't want to risk getting caught. Just as she was about to pass by the living room, a familiar voice caused her to nearly jump out of her skin.

"You're late."

Kate whirled around to reveal the identity of the stranger. It was Revy. She was sitting in the shadows, her arms and legs crossed and was facing forward with one side of her face still concealed in the dark. Despite the poor lighting, Kate could tell she was dressed in gunman attire with her freshly polished cutlasses at her sides, faintly glistening as they caught the rare hint of moonlight.

She slowly turned to face Kate.

Kate felt a small ball of panic form in her gut. Her mother's tone was cold and detached. Something about that tone always made her feel uneasy. It was different than how any of her friends' parents talked to them when they were in trouble, and it was different than when she made an honest mistake or simply was arguing for the sake of arguing. To Kate, it was almost as if another person had possessed her mother, like she had slipped too far out of reach for anyone to bring her back to a stable state. And it could only mean one thing, she was in deep shit.

"I t-thought you were working tonight," said Kate, unsure of what to say. So much for the brilliant plan of sneaking in.

Revy narrowed her eyes. "You changed your clothes," she stated coldly, referring to Kate's jeans and sweatshirt.

"Um...I brought an extra set to change into before we went out to get food. I didn't want to get anything on the dress."

"And the booze, was that before or after you got the food?"

Shocked, Kate stood frozen in place. "H-how did you-?"

Revy stood up and approached Kate so that she was directly in front of her. Due to Kate's age, Revy was only a few inches taller, but to Kate those inches may as well have been yards.

"You're joking right?" Revy growled. There was a hint of anguish and disappointment in her voice, and she was doing her best to suppress her building rage. "I would recognize that smell on anyone's breath in a heart beat,"

Kate began to grow defensive. "What's the big deal. It was only a few shots. Besides, you and Dad drink all the time and in way larger quantities. And I made it home okay. Doesn't that count for something?"

Revy felt her eyebrow twitch. She started to clench her fists. "Like hell it does! Do you have any idea the shit that has been going through my head for the last half hour!?"

"I'm guessing paranoia, since you and Dad are always worried that I'm going to get kidnapped again. I told you, I can take care of myself!"

Revy felt her body start to shake with rage. Getting involved in an argument was not new to either of them and like any teenager, Kate had begun testing her parents' limits. Unfortunately unlike most people, Revy lacked the ability to understand how to handle such conflict. There had been no role models for her to learn from growing up. The type of arguing she was used to had ended with the other person earning a gunshot to the head. Except with Rock, although to be fair, she had come close. But when arguing with Kate, she was forced to completely restrain herself.

"There are worse things than kidnapping!" shouted Revy.

"I'm not a kid anymore!" Kate shouted back.

"Don't be an idiot! You have no idea the way the world works!"

"Yes I do! You can't protect me forever!"

"I'll protect you as long as I god damned have to!"

Kate stepped a bit closer. "This isn't Roanapur or whatever that place is called! If it's so dangerous here, why did you leave that city in the first place!?"

"I didn't have a choice! I wanted you to have a better life than that!"

"Oh right, boo-hoo. Must have been so hard being a big bad pirate and stealing money by waving a gun around! How hard could that be?"

That had done it. In an instant, Revy snatched the loose fabric of Kate's sweatshirt to bring her close enough that they were face to face. Kate's eyes grew wide. Her mother's expression couldn't have been clearer.

"You...have NO FUCKING idea what I've been through!"

Revy released her grip, nearly tossing Kate back to the ground, and angrily stormed past her to the master bedroom where she slammed the door behind her.

Kate, still frozen from the shock, remained where she was. Never had she managed to trigger such a raw response. She had argued with her mother many times in the past, but this was on a whole different level. This time, she had seen something else in her eyes, something clearly Revy didn't want her to know about. Something that had been buried deep, deep down for many years. Despite what Revy wanted her to think, her mother's expression no longer looked angry, but seemed to be masking a lifetime of pain and sadness.

Concerned, Kate followed after Revy to the master bedroom. When she got there, she noticed the door was slightly ajar. Placing her hands softly against the door, she cautiously peaked through the slight opening.

Revy was there, sitting on the edge of her bed, her bangs masking her face. Kate sighed and invited herself into the room and took a seat next to her mother. She could still sense the raw tension in the small space between them. They sat in silence for a while, neither of them really knowing what to say.

"Kate, you shouldn't be in here," Revy spoke, her voice dark and distant. "It's...not safe."

Pained at what she was hearing, Kate softly placed her hand over her mother's. Revy felt her body immediately tense at the touch. In her current state of mind, the contact was strange and foreign, but the sensible part of her that she had miraculously managed to retain still welcomed it. Undaunted, Kate moved closer to her. She had lost whatever anger she had possessed during their heated argument. At this point, her curiosity and concern for her mother had taken over. "It's okay Mom," she said quietly. "I've never been afraid of you."

Revy tightened her grip on the bed cover. She wasn't sure if it was the context of the sentence or something about the way Kate said it that was breaking her heart. "I'm a murderer Kate. I've killed out of cold blood. And when I'm like this..."

Kate looked up at Revy. "I understand. You have to kill people during your job. And you killed all of those men that time you rescued me when I was little."

Revy shook her head slowly. "No...this is different."

Confused, Kate's gaze grew more focused. She waited for her mother to continue, but Revy remained silent. Kate knew how difficult it was for her mother to talk about her feelings, let alone express them, but she had never expected something like this. There they were, alone and secluded in the safety of their own home, and the great gunslinger of Roanapur still couldn't even talk to her own daughter.

Feeling worthless, Revy hung her head in shame. How pathetic that she couldn't even explain what was wrong with her. She wished Rock hadn't been called into work. He always knew how to handle these situations. She had come so far and he had been there to counsel her every step of the way. But the damage that had been done had been potent and severe. Even decades of rehabilitation had not been enough to fully erase it.

Suddenly, Revy felt the weight of the bed shift. Before she knew what had happened, she felt Kate's arms wrapped around her. Just like when Rock forced her out of her comfort zone, such an act of affection caused her to became instantaneously lost. She felt the psychological need to push Kate away, but somehow couldn't bring herself to do so.

At first Kate thought she had made a mistake. Nothing was happening and she was sure that she had just made her mother angrier. It wasn't until she felt her mother's arms squeezing back tightly, returning the embrace, that she was sure she had done the right thing.

Revy hugged her daughter closely as if she was the last thing she had left in the world and buried her face in the familiar plum colored hair that was so identical to her own. "Kate...I'm so sorry," she whispered, her throat tightening. Her body was trembling and she was fighting a losing battle against her tears.

Kate hugged a little tighter. "It's okay Mom. I love you too."

The last four words were enough to cause her to finally break.

From the start, everything in her entire life had been so damned unfair. But in that moment, her past finally seemed to no longer matter. She continued to hold on while the waterworks broke loose, her face buried in Kate's hair and clothing. She refused to let her daughter to see the mixture of anguish and heart-felt thankfulness streaming down her cheeks.

Eda hung her coif on a nearby chair and let her hair breathe freely for the first time in hours. She was exhausted. It had been a long week of bloodshed after shit had started to go south on the east side of the city, but after an immense amount of damage control, things had finally started to quiet down.

She let out a sigh. I'm getting too old for this shit.

Just as she was about to strip down to sleeping attire, the phone on the desk began to ring. Casually, she answered it. "Yes, who is this?"

"Aw come on Eda. I know we haven't talked in a while, but can't you at least sound happy to hear from me?"

The voice was male and chipper. Eda sighed and sat down in the chair. "It's has been a while Rick. How is Kyle doing?"

"He's doing well. Although, he just got back from prom night with Kate this weekend and apparently they found themselves a bit of booze at an after party."

Eda burst into laughter. "Two-Hands daughter!? He must have a death wish."

She paused. "How is she doing by the way?"

She couldn't tell, but on the other end, Rick smiled. "She's happy."

Eda tilted her head back a bit, as if to contemplate the meaning of those words. She wasn't sure why, but somehow it gave her a satisfying feeling. "What did you do to Kyle for breaking the rules?"

"He's grounded for three weeks, but are you really surprised? He's your son after all."

"Make it two. I have a feeling his new girlfriend's temper about the whole thing is going to be punishment enough."

There was another long pause before hanging up.

"Say Eda, just hypothetically speaking, any chance that we would have another shot?"

Eda tilted her head down slightly. "You sure would want to trust me? I believe you were the one who asked for a divorce."

"I am ready to forgive you."

Eda paused a minute before hanging up. "We'll see."

After she hung up, Rick smiled. That was as close to a yes as he was going to get.

After Revy finally calmed down, both her and Kate were mentally and emotionally exhausted. They lay on the bed side by side staring at the ceiling.

"Hey Mom?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm thinking about becoming an author. I even have an idea for my first book. I'm going to write a fictional story based on your life as a pirate."

Revy chuckled. "That would be one hell of a story."

They were quiet again for a moment before Kate continued. "One more question. When you said I didn't know what you've been through, what exactly did you mean by that?"

Revy felt a sting of guilt remembering the fight they had earlier. She wasn't sure if she was prepared to corrupt her with such personal information. "Trust me Kate, you don't want to hear any of that shit."

Kate sat up. "I think...I think you should talk about your past. It might help you move forward, and I'd be willing to listen."

Revy paused for a moment, contemplating if she was ready to talk about the demons that resided in her thoughts. Sure she had discussed it with Rock, and that had helped, but somehow explaining it to Kate was a lot more difficult. She sighed. "Damn it. You are just like your father."

She sat up on the bed, cross legged. Oddly, felt the strange sensation to flick open her lighter, as if an invisible cigarette was being held between her teeth. She gave an invisible smirk upon remembering those days being long gone. She looked back at Kate. "You sure you're ready to hear this?" she asked.

Kate nodded.

"All right then...It all started in on Mott Street."

Kate sat in bed with her computer on her lap and began typing. It was nearly sunrise, but she wasn't ready for sleep yet. For the last three hours she had patiently listened to her mother's story. It had been shocking to say the least, hell it had been downright heartbreaking, but she managed to keep a strong poker face the entire time, concerned that if she expressed any hint of pity or sadness that Revy would be too afraid to continue.

After completing the opening sentence to her first book followed by a few paragraphs, she heard the creek of the front door. Not willing to reveal the events that had unfolded throughout the night, she set her laptop down and climbed into bed. Utterly exhausted, she was out before her head even hit the pillow.

Rock noticed Kate's door was open as he made his way to the bedroom. It was strange since she usually kept it closed at all times. When he got closer he realized that Kate hadn't bothered to pull the covers over her. He smiled. She slept the exact same way Revy did when she was tired, lack of covers and all. He reached down and pulled the comforter over her. As he exited the room, he hadn't failed to notice the open laptop at the side of the bed.

And with a smile, he read the first sentence:

People are like dice. We throw ourselves in the direction of our choosing.

Author's Note: And that is a wrap ladies and gentlemen! Thank you so much to those of you who stuck around long enough to see this through to the end! If you've made it this far, please review! For those who are curious about the story or have questions feel free to send a private message! Also, I want to stress that this is a work of fiction and does not reflect my personal views, so no hate mail please.

I apologize if Revy seems a little out of character at the end here, but this is supposed to be the final step of her integrating into a normal life. She has finally let go of her past and is focusing on her family and her hard earned future. Also, anyone who has ever lived with a teenager will understand how frustrating they can be. I can picture Revy finally snapping to the point where she reverts back to her old self simply because she doesn't know what to do, but feels terrible for taking it out on Kate.

I also came up with the idea of having Kyle be Eda's son just because it seemed too awesome an opportunity to pass up. I am aware that if Eda was deep undercover, she would not use her actual name, but I couldn't come up with a fitting name to give her and felt that if I had it would have been almost an insult to make one up. So I just stuck with Eda.

Song for this chapter: Song For Someone - U2 . I felt this song fully enveloped the whole story for Revy, lyrics and all. At least I felt it was perfect for the ending.

Also as promised, here is the soundtrack for the entire story:

Intro song: Red Fraction - MELL (Black Lagoon opening theme)

Chapter 1. Demons - Imagine Dragons

Chapter 2. Another Day in Paradise - Phil Collins

Chapter 3. Ain't No Rest for the Wicked - Cage the Elephant

Chapter 4. Dancing in the Dark - Bruce Springsteen

Chapter 5. Mad World - Michael Andrews

Chapter 6. Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley

Chapter 7. Need You Now - Lady Antebellum

Chapter 8. Skyfall - Adelle

Chapter 9. You Know My Name - Chris Cornell

Chapter 10. To Be Loved - Papa Roach

Chapter 11. I'm Still Here (Jim's Theme) - John Rzeznik

Chapter 12. Lead Me Home - Jamie N Commons

Chapter 13. Saturday Night's Alright (for fighting) - Nickleback feat. Kid Rock

Chapter 14. No Matter What - Papa Roach

Chapter 15. See You Again - Wiz Khalifa

Chapter 16. Angels Fall - Breaking Benjamin

Epilogue: Song #3 - Stone Sour and/or Song For Someone - U2