#cp2077 johnny

 a.k.a. “The One Where V(idel) Finally Talks to Misty.” | written by @themaximumpanic

• V and Jackie are back in the merc game, and got a few more gigs under their belt. A simple hit job—that’s all it should’ve been. But when V trips up and Jackie opts to take a hit meant for her, she’s forced to confront the consequences of the choices they made together. And that means looking someone dear to her right in the eyes.

Life Path: Medic | Genre: Drama, Hurt/Comfort | Word Count: < 3700

•••

Boot met the front gate in a hard kick, and summoned a loud iron rattle that startled the ripperdoc inside. Vic pulled away from the boxing match streaming on his monitor to see what appeared to be a bruised and battered V, heaving a half-conscious Jackie in on her back with what mountainous strength she could summon.

“Vic?Vic, I need you! Open up!”

“Jesus, V!” Vic exclaimed, fingers already itching as he rushed to open the door and help her carry him down the steps. Already he knew there was work to be done. “What-“

“Motherfucker took a mantis blade to the chest and he’s been bleeding out the whole way here. I need parts, Vic. Now.”

Glasses slipped down the bridge of his nose when the two lugged Jackie up onto the chair. V was pushing herself; that much was obvious by the sweat which soaked her face, and the dark circles under her eyes. But she was still ready to go.

Ocean eyes met his. “…Vic?”

“Right! Right… Sorry.” Two fingers pushed his glasses back up, and he refocused. Anesthetic gun in hand, needles shot into Jackie’s arm to dull the pain. Now they could get to work. “Assess the injuries. I have to know what implants we need.”

“Lacerations to the sternum, definitely cut down to the bone.” V instinctively reached for the utensil tray beside the chair, taking a rag in one hand and a scalpel in the other. “I need to get a better look. Something’s digging into his lung tissue.”

“Careful with that thing, alright?” Vic’s words hardly carried concern on his way to the storage room, despite the sharp blade in her possession poised over the patient’s chest. They both knew she’d done this before—on dozens of people before. She couldn’t screw it up even if she tried.

V adjusted the chair to the right height, lowering Jackie so she could stand over the injury sight directly. Her face hovered not that far from his, shallow breath heating the air between them. She felt it on her forehead, beneath her skin. Being close to him was like breathing in oxygen, so easy and so, so necessary.

With the scarlet ink staining his chest, she had no choice but to tear away the gold chains, to remove the cross around his neck. When her fingers locked around either end of the chain, she firmed her grip ready to tear it away, but stopped dead in her tracks when she analyzed the damage. A large dent occupied the face of the cross dead-center, caving in the head of the tiny carved out Jesus. The scratches on either side of the hole, as far as V could tell, were from the mantis blade that took him out cold. And to top it all off, there was just the smallest hole in the bottom.

A stifled laugh caught in her chest when she pieced the puzzle together.

That stupid cross saved his life.

A flick of the wrist, and the chain around his neck snapped, sound crisper and cleaner on her ears than any gunshot. Fingers twirled the silver scalpel in her hand. One cut here, another slice there, just enough to peel back the layers of skin for a clear view. Blood stained her calloused fingers—but the sight of the cut confirmed her fears. Jackie’s fourth rib was cracked. That was it. Jackie got away with a broken rib of all things.

“Ready, Jackie?” V exhaled, lip quivering, sweat forming on her brow. The blade lowered to his chest. “You’re about to see what Trauma Team’s Platinum coverage is really like.”

•••

A nick in her nail brought out a flinch. Pulling her thumbnail away from her teeth, V paced nervously beside the patient chair. Hours. It’d been hours since he went under the knife. He should’ve been awake by now. Why wasn’t he awake? Did they do everything right? Every little question that went through her head just made her that much more nervous. They’d taken out the rib and put in a steel replica, stitched all the scrapes up, sewn the lash on his chest shut, checked his vitals, pumped his system full of painkillers. Though the idiot was taking his sweet time napping like it was a trip to get his wisdom teeth out.

“V?” Vic pulled her attention away with a motion of his hand. Shoulders dropping, she followed him to the end of the room.

“How’d we do?”

“Well, he’s stable. You’re lucky that blade stopped digging at the bone. Otherwise-“

“Yeah.” A solemn nod of the head was all he needed. “I got you.”

A firm hand clapped down on her shoulder. “I’ll keep an eye on him. He should be up and around in a few hours. You, on the other hand, need to go home and rest up.”

“But I-”

“He’ll be alright. I’ll make sure of it.” There wasn’t any doubt in that voice. V never had a reason not to trust Vic. The old man was loyal, through and through.

God, she hated that.

“Thank you, Vic.” She didn’t give him a chance to see that sad smile of hers, and with a quick nod of her head departed the clinic for sleep ahead.

The door slid closed behind her with a rattled thud. Her mind didn’t control her body. She just started walking while her thoughts kept her preoccupied. Every time she closed her eyes, the dark of her eyelids brought her back to that harrowing scene.

Tiger Claws pounced from either side. He and V had each other’s backs. In the heat of the momet, she slipped up, ran out of bullets, didn’t see one of them coming in time… But Jackie did. Jackie pushed her out of the way and took a hit meant for her.

It should’ve been her.

Why didn’t he just listen to herandstay out of the way???

“V?”

First thing she saw when snapping back to the real world was the warm hue of candle lights cascaded down brick walls. The aroma of burning sage flooded her lungs, perfumed the air she breathed in a sigh of sweet relief. She was almost tempted to take a seat in one of the empty chairs, poised in the back of the…

Oh no.

It took but a turn of the head to locate the source of the voice. There she was, leaning over on the other side of the counter. Lips parted, eyes sullied, hands curled one over the other. Heavy air weighed down on her shoulders, dropped V’s heart into her stomach, her tongue caught in her throat, eyes dragged down to the floor so she couldn’t make eye contact.

Fuck, this was awkward. Last time she was in the presence of this woman—an innocent bystander in this emotional mess—she’d been wheeled off back to her apartment and shared a pretty deep heart to heart conversation. Now? There was rift in the ground between them. V could easily jump it, but she was paralyzed, scared to take the first step. She feared what would await her on the other side when she crossed over. Tears? Outrage? A sucker punch to the face? V felt like it was all coming, that she deserved this somehow. Misty deserved to take out her frustrations somehow. Regardless what she thought, there was only one way to find out. And now that they were in the same room again, it was time to take the leap.

“…Hey, Misty.” That slightly perplexed expression of hers morphed quickly to mask the tension and replaced it with a smile—warm, nevertheless, but a little forced.

“Is Jackie doing okay?” she inquired, a tilt of her head.

“Fine, fine. He’s just resting.” The back of her hand rubbed over her eyes. “I was headed home to do the same.”

“Hope so. You deserve a break.”

A soft grin crossed V’s lips. “Yeah. Feels like I’ve been taking babysitting jobs for everyone in Night City the last coupla days.”

“…It can’t be easy, can it?”

The question finally urged V to magnetize her attention to Misty’s face. “Beg your pardon?”

“Running around Night City, killing cyberpsychos, stealing valuables, saving people… It’s a lot to keep up with. Dangerous, too.” Misty removed herself from the counter and wandered across the room. She sat back in one of the chairs, legs crossed, hands folded on her lap, gaze far off in the distance. For fuck’s sake, V could almost see her stomach turning into an actual knot just from the sound of her voice cracking. “I don’t know how you’ve handled it up until now.”

Wow. She must’ve been thinking about that kind of thing all day if she were this bent out of shape over it. V exhaled most of the oxygen she’d been holding in and relaxed her stance, arms crossed over her chest. Her attention was drawn to a candle, idly watching its flame flicker and dance about. It was…oddly calming, actually. Of all the times she’d dropped by Misty’s place, how many did she come just to stop and relax? None. That was the problem.

“Because I love it, Misty.” The blonde perked her head up with surprised eyes, only emphasized further by the makeup. “I’m doing something that’s benefitting other people where Trauma Team and the NCPD don’t want to. It pays my bills, connects me with new people, and it gives me something useful I can do with my skillset. This thing I’m doing, that most half-wits couldn’t dream of? It makes me fell alive.”

Silence. Tension wrapped its fingers around V’s neck. She waited for Misty to say something, anything. At this rate, the quiet was more painful than anything she had to say; at least then she had a clear idea what was going on in her head. But closed lips meant a cacophony of intrusive thoughts could run rampant in her own head.

That wry smile returned with a stifled laugh. “Funny… Jackie said the same thing.”

V felt her heart flutter and stared in surprise. “He did?”

A gentle nod. “I didn’t understand why he loved it so much. But hearing the way you talk about it…” She pressed a hand to her forehead, lifting honey tinted bangs. “I get it now. ”

Just from that look, V could see the well’s worth of sadness beneath the surface. She didn’t realize until now how hard this was on them both. All she had the time to focus her mind on the last few weeks was how Misty would react to her when she finally the news about herself and Jackie. But she hadn’t even considered the possibility her favorite fortune telling friend was worried how she would respond to all of this.

V didn’t deserve a friend as compassionate as her.

“Listen, Misty,” she spoke up. “As long as we’re both in this gig, I’ll keep bringing him home alive, alright? He’s not doing this alone. Because I’ll be damned if something happens to him on my watch.”

Misty pulled herself up and approached. Arms reached out, V stiffened up expecting something bad, something like a punch or a slap. But the next thing she knew, they were hugging.

Hugging.

Hands clutched gently at the divots of her upper back, squeezing just a little for reassurance. So what did that mean? Was everything okay between them?

“Take care of each other, V.”

V stared wide-eyed at the wall before her, then down at her shoulder. Blurry; everything was getting blurry. Her eyes stung, nose scrunched, teeth gnashed together to stop the choked sob from escaping her throat. V didn’t waste another second reciprocating the gesture, arms wrapped underneath, chin rested on her shoulder, taking what little time it lasted in stride.

Hands retreated. She took that sentiment as the hint to make her exit, start a new chapter on the road ahead. Things were still shaky—and despite the trails of tears streaming down her face, the smile she bore was genuinely happy again.

“I will.”

•••

[Gooood evening, Night City! This is your man Stan, with the-]

Thatstupid voice… Sleep was a much more welcome option than having to listen to the tv blaring the weekend bullet count or something about election season. Which was worse, she knew not. Nor did she care to know.

Eyes pried open slowly, letting the light leak in so she could gradually adjust rather than going blind. Fan blades spun above her head. Hair was tangled down her back and over her shoulders. The plan was supposed to be going to bed, but with all that happened she just couldn’t bring herself to relocate from the couch. It was already comfy anyways.

“Your choom’s gonna have a panic attack when he wakes up and realizes you’re not there.”

Eyes went wide when she heard that voice—that other stupid voice. Bolting up, V took a look around and spotted the digitized Rockerboy at the other end of the couch with his feet propped up on the table. He seemed…unusually relaxed. He was right, though. Considering the time, Jackie must have been so confused to wake up in Vic’s clinic by his lonesome. Then again, after all she just did to haul him back?

“Vic will fill him in. Besides, he’d understand…” Fingers raked back through her disheveled hair. “He always understands.”

“Understand what, that you used him as a human shield?”

Brow furrowed, she leaned back and rolled her neck with an irritated huff. “Oh, fuck off, Johnny. You and I were both there. We didn’t see what happened until it was too late.”

“V, that man put a collar around his neck and then handed you the leash.”

“Yeah?” She stared deadpan at Johnny’s face. “So what, you’re saying he’s my bitch?”

“Something like that.” Pulling himself up, Johnny leaned his weight on one knee with a snide grin. “He’s thirsty like one, anyways.”

“…It sounds like you’re trying to make this out to be a bad thing, so-”

“Don’t let him go, V.”

When he glanced over, her eyes were wide open and her jaw dropped, like it’d been pulled through a taffy machine. Silver fingers raised to point at her.

“What?”

“Did you forget? I can feel what you feel. And the way you feel about Jackie, fighting through hell and high water to save his ass over and over again, I felt the same way about Alt once upon a time. The difference here is you didn’t fuck it up like I did. You’ve still got a chance to make it work.”

A boot on the couch served as his anchor when he leaned forward. His face was in hers now, dead serious through the cabernet tint of his sunglasses, and he poked his silver hand at her forehead.

“So take my advice seriously for once, and don’t. Fuck. This up.”

V really didn’t know what to say. Johnny had his moments and all, but to see him so passionate about such a personal topic was beyond her comprehension. She angled herself to pull up off the couch, hair pushed back behind her shoulders.

“I won’t,” she nodded, hands ironing down the folds in her shirt. “Not after she gave me her blessing.” It actually summoned a chuckle from her. “God, that’s gonna be a good one. How do I tell-“

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

“…The fuck?”

The front door took a serious pounding from the other side, it sounded like. Tension curled in her gut. V approached with a hand hovering down by her leg, over the strap keeping her gun holstered in place.

“Who’s there?” she hollered.

“Relax, chica! It’s just me. Can you open up?”

Shock coated her eyes when she recognized that voice. The door slid aside. Standing out in the corridor, with a couple bags of food in one hand and the other posed on his hip to keep himself upright, was her patient and once human shield with a sheepish grin on his face.

“Holy fuck! Jackie, what-”

The pain in his chest was hardly any concern—not when he came bearing dinner. “We missed lunch, so I picked something up on the way here. Is sushi good?”

“Get in here!” V exclaimed, exasperated as she took the bags and shut the door behind them. “God, Jackie, why aren’t you lying down?! You shouldn’t be putting any weight on your chest!”

“I-“ He grunted softly. Taking his place on the couch, he leaned back with a hand on one knee and that stupid happy grin on his face. “I’m fine, V. Don’t worry about it.”

“I’mgonna worry about it!” Just looking at her, he could see her blood pressure rising. V set the bags down on the table and planted her ass beside him to take a look. “How long have you been up?”

“Bout an hour. Vic told me what happened. Did you really carry me all the way to the clinic?” No concern on his face whatsoever. In fact, it seemed Jackie was ecstatic his girlfriend had suddenly turned She-Hulk to get him to safety.

She, on the other hand, was still having trouble processing how quickly he bounced back.

“Y-yeah? Well I had to do something. We don’t have Trauma Team memberships, and waiting for help wasn’t an option. If it weren’t for the reinforced tendons, I don’t think I could’ve pulled it off.” She shook her head. “And you’re sure you’re okay???”

“Better than okay! I got ribs of steel, cariño!” Jackie sat up and grabbed the bag on the table, slipping out and stacking the takeout containers on top of each other. “But since you’re so worried, I think I should crash here so you can keep an eye on me, yeah?”

He looked up, and the bewildered expression V bore shifted when she scrunched her brow, palm to her eyes trying to keep from completely bursting into tears.

“V?”

“I uh-” She choked back a laugh, and forced a grin. “I was scared for you, y’know? I mean-“ Once she saw his visible concern, she sighed and leaned back. “I talked to Misty, after I left.”

His shoulders visibly dropped, curling and uncurling fingers around the box in his hands nervously. “What’d she say?”

“…She gave me her blessing. Told us to take care of each other.” V waited for something—shock, fear, concern, anything of those things. But he stared blankly into space for a hot minute. “…Jack?”

Warmth. She saw it in his face, in those tired, battle-worn eyes, and on his lips when they peeled back into a soft smile. Relief. That’s what she made of it.

“I’m glad,” he nodded. “I was worried after we started going out she was gonna hate one or both of our guts. But if she supported you, then I got nothin’ to worry about anymore! ¡Gracias a dios!”

And just like that, the weight of the guilt, the anxiety, the fear, was off both their shoulders.

“C’mon, you gotta eat something.” Jackie popped off the lid and showed her the contents—perfectly wrapped makizushi rolls. “You still like these, right?”

A light snort, and V took it in hand for herself, free hand searching the bottom of the bag for chopsticks which she quickly took in hand. “Of course.” She plopped one in her mouth and dug in. At the rate she was eating, she could’ve set some kind of record.

“Carajo, V. When was the last time you ate?”

“What’s today, Tuesday?” she asked.

“Yeah?”

“Monday morning.”

“Fuck’s sake!” Jackie wasted no time sliding her the wasabi and the NiCola can out from the other bag. “What have you been doing all day?”

She stared at him bluntly for a second, shifting eyes from his chest to his face and back again before it registered in his brain.

“Oh.”

“Mhm.” Another gulp, and her third roll was already down. “That, and fighting on and off again with Johnny.”

“That pendejo still bugging you?”

“Nah, not tonight. Wanna hear something funny, though?”

“Sure.”

“He gave me relationship advice.”

Silence.

Then Jackie slapped his knee and burst out laughing. Just the sight of him cackling with his whole body amused her to the point she started, too.

“You-Haha! You can’t be serious!” He wiped a tear away from his eye. “We’re talking about the same Silverhand, right?”

“Yup.”

She picked up a flicker in her peripheral vision. Johnny was leaned back on the other side of the couch, obviouslyunamused.

“Very funny, Johnny’s a bad relationship guru.” He spoke with such dry enthusiasm and a flat brow, gesturing a hand to her compadre. “Motherfucker’s amused by the smallest things, huh.”

“Don’t get me wrong,” Jackie chuckled, “he’s an NC legend and all. But he couldn’t give advice to save his ass if he were dangling off the side of Arasaka Tower with his good arm. And I’m not talkin’ ‘bout the silver arm!”

“Alright,that’s it.” Suddenly, Johnny was leaning over Jackie with one mechanical fist clenched tight. “V, pop one of those pills so I can give this muchacho a piece of my mind!”

What, did the big scary man hurt your feelings?

“I’m gonna hurt a lot more than his feelings when I finally get to meet him,” he barked.

It was that little bit of angry energy that got V laughing to the point of tears. After the heartache, the anxiety, the fear and constant shadow of death looming over her the last week, things were finally at ease again; the atmosphere resembled a sense of normalcy compared to when they first started living life in Night City. The only difference? She had two friends by her side, and one became something so much more to her.

She missed this.

•••