MGLN: Black Lagoon

Two

The Yellow Flag was a legendary bar in the lawless city, a place were hitmen, assassins, prostitutes and drug dealers could meet safely, on neutral ground. Established by a veteran friend of Arf's it had been around nearly as long as the Lagoon Company, along with the Strikers and other organizations.

“Hey, Amy!” Arf called as the tall, buxom redhead lead her crew in for the required victory drinks, “How's it going?”

“Better until you came in,” Amy Limiette shot back, her brown hair trimmed short. The former intelligence office swept over the group, blinking as she hit the slightly battered looking office lady. “Bit far from home, Miss?” she asked.

“Nanoha Takamachi,” she smiled back shyly, her reddish brown hair falling around her face, two hair ribbons keeping most of it back.

“Our new crew member,” Yuuno Scrya said, his brown hair tied back into a ponytail. He looked at Arf, “What are we drinking tonight?”

“Beer for myself,” Arf said as she took a seat.

“Wine, please,” Yuuno smiled.

“Rum,” Fate Testarossa said firmly, “and not the cheap crap, either.”

“Wine here too,” Nanoha decided to play it safe, well aware of the customers looking her over.

“You got it,” Amy said as she smoothly delivered the drinks. Looking over at Fate she scolded, “Try not to blow up my bar again, Fate.”

“That wasn't my fault!” Fate protested, “If the Liese twins hadn't decided to attack me here, nothing would have happened!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Amy shook her head as she went to serve Ishida the Cleaner, the former surgeon who cleaned crime scenes of bodies and evidence.

“Anyway,” Arf smiled at Nanoha, “welcome to the Lagoon company. We'll put you up at our offices for now, and once you have a job or two under your belt we'll find you a apartment.”

“Thank you,” Nanoha blushed slightly, not at all looking like the fierce woman who had used a pistol to help save Fate.

“I also want to get you on a firing range,” Arf added, “you could be one hell of a back up with some training....”

“Back up, huh?” Fate wondered as she tossed back a cup of rum. “How can I trust a back up that won't drink with me?” she wondered aloud.

“Fate,” Yuuno cautioned.

Fate poured out a glass of rum then she pushed it towards Nanoha. “Come on, drink up. Or do you want to be one of those protected girls like those?” she asked, nodding pointedly to several hookers standing off to one side.

Nanoha met Fate's eyes, then surprised her by picking it up and tossing it back smoothly. “I may not drink with salary men,” she thumped the cup down, “but I can hold my liquor.”

“Not bad,” Arf murmured as Fate gave Nanoha a look of respect and both continued to drink at a more normal pace.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The headquarters of Hotel Tokyo was a busy place, the men and women of the Strikers hurrying to perform tasks and report news to their leader. Vita looked cool as the redheaded teenager walked into Hayate Yagami's office, the mallet she used as a street fighting weapon slung over her back.

“You had a report?” Hayate asked, the seemingly young woman's brown hair tied back by two clips on either side of her face.

“Something kinda odd,” Vita admitted, scratching her head under her favorite hat. “Apparently two women in maids outfits are tearing up the town.”

“Maid uniforms?” Hayate blinked. She rather liked dressing her operatives in distinctive costumes, the more stylish the better, but a maid uniform was too difficult to move in. She gave her second in command Signum a thoughtful look, 'Though at home might be fun...'

Signum blushed, the busty pink haired woman having a very good idea where their boss was going mentally. “Why are they tearing up the town?” she asked.

“According to the older woman,” Vita told them, “they're looking for Suzuka Tsukimura, the lost heir to the Tsukimura fortune.”

“Any signs she's in town?” Hayate asked, frowning as she tried to remember who's name she had heard this Suzuka mentioned with. It sounded familiar, but where...?

“I don't know,” Signum admitted, “but I can put our people on it.”

“Do so,” Hayate ordered, “I don't like random factors running around this town. We need to step on this, as soon as possible.”

“Yes, ma'am,” both Vita and Signum said formally before heading out.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The drinking and conversation in the Yellow Flag drowned out the arrival of the taxi, the two women in black dresses and aprons dealing politely with the driver before they turned to face the bar itself. The shorter woman murmured, “This looks worse than the last bar, sister.”

The taller woman nodded, violet hair falling into her eyes as she said, “But we must carry on until we find her.”

Nanoha, despite being more than a bit buzzed, was aware enough to look up as the doors swung in, two women standing in the light before moving calmly into the bar. “Maids?” she blinked, taking in their strange garb.

“What the heck?” Fate blinked, the blond feeling a odd sensation of forboding. These women were dangerous, no matter their odd looks.

“Barkeep,” the taller woman nodded to Amy politely as she introduced them, “I am Noel Ehrlichkeit, and this is my sister Farin.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Amy said, eying them warily, “what can I do for you?”

Noel raised her voice as Farin moved to cover her back, “Ladies and gentlemen of the bar! We are looking for Suzuka Tsukimura. We have confirmed she is in the city, and we demand that you bring her to us. If you do not do so in five minutes, we will have to become... impolite.”

“Are you kidding?” Amy yelped, “Why would we help you?”

Farin looked over at Amy, “Because if you don't we'll start with burning this bar down and go from there.”

Amy visibly paled, then threw a covert glance over at Arf as she silently mouthed, 'Help!'

“Aw man,” Arf groaned, knowing that they owed Amy at least one or two favors. She collected the group and they walked away from the bar while talking quietly.

“How do we want to handle this?” Yuuno asked warily, thankfully feeling not too tipsy from his several glasses of wine.

“Don't see a lot of choice,” Arf admitted with a sigh. She looked at gim steadily, “Get Nanoha outside and grab the car, we'll need it.”

“And what about you two?” Nanoha asked worriedly as she looked at Fate and Arf.

“We get to dance with our two friends over there,” Fate said with a cocky smile. Reassuringly she added to Nanoha, “Don't worry. It's possible they're just bluffing.”

“Your five minutes are up!” Noel declared as she coolly pulled a shotgun from under her skirt, cocked it then opened fire, blowing away several bottles as Amy dove for cover. Even as Noel turned to fire on the rest of the bar Farin produced a submachine gun and added to the noise and destruction.

“Okay, not bluffing!” Fate kicked a table over for cover even as Nanoha and Yuuno crawled carefully for the side door. AS they made it out she breathed a sigh of relief, one noticed by Arf.

“Worried about her?” Arf asked.

“Of course I am, she's new,” Fate said defensively.

“Right,” Arf half smiled as they turned towards the crazed maids.

To be continued!

Notes: I'm having Noel and Farin channel the deadly Roberta and Fabiola from Black Lagoon. Sorry if they're a lot OOC.