Author's note: As you can see, this update comes a bit later than usual, because work is making it difficult for me to write as quickly. But I'm still working on the fic and developing ideas, so the chapters will keep on coming! Thank you all for lovely comments and reactions, I am honoured to have readers like you 3

Gigs to pay the bills

"Whatcha smiling at, V?" Judy asked me from across the counter as we began eating our pizza and tried to not burn the roofs of our mouths. Not too much, at least. We settled at her place for the evening, and I was really happy about that, since I really liked the dim, intimate atmosphere her pad had at night, with the dim light, and the drawings on her walls.

"Oh, you know, just recalling the way you were laughing, back at Mama Welles' the other day. And how I was confused, and how it all was just..."

"Really nice? Yeah. I almost choked to death because of you," Judy chuckled, taking her time to catch all of the melted, stringy cheese before properly chewing the piece.

"It was nice. And you look really cute when you laugh. All blushed and out of breath. Not that I don't know that look from other contexts but..." I smirked and she threw a packet of unopened hot sauce at me in retaliation.

I thought it must have meant that she wasn't exactly appreciating my compliment, "But hey, now I at least know what you called me. And what it really means. After showing them the text and having a bit of a proper explanation."

Judy swallowed her bite of pizza and shook her head, "Kinda ruined my plan. Coulda kept you guessing," she shrugged looked away, and I could see in that little move that having her little idea foiled had some true disappointment to it.

"Could have, sure. But what for?" I asked and took a bite of another slice.

"To keep it mine. Just between us. It'd mean it's my word for you. Just for you. Nobody else's business," Jude explained and looked at me in a way that made me stop chewing and just gaze into her hazel eyes.

The way she said it. Was I hearing a bit of a possessive note behind it? Sure, we were growing closer together every day, and realizing how much I needed and wanted her in my life was filling me with a sense of dread at the same time, but this was different. Judy wasn't someone who had an easy time talking about how she felt. Especially in a mushy, rom-com kinda style. So in saying that, she told me a lot.

"I'm still tu calabacita, I said. No one's taking it away from us. Mama Welles and Misty both swore to that picture of Santa Madre in the living room to keep it a secret, so it's a big deal," I tried to reassure her as best as I could. She squinted at me for a few moments, then got back to her pizza, finally smiling, as if in relief.

"You better be," she warned, using that no-bullshit tone that she started using more and more to tease me with me as we began to sort of learn and read each other better. She smirked right after and looked up at me, showing she didn't mean it seriously.

"I dunno. If I'm not, will the MaxTac uniform come out?" I asked, grinning at her.

"Told ya. That's for a special occasion. Not for your everyday gonkin' around," Judy quipped.

"Well, I either gotta start doing really well... or be really, really bad, I guess," I shrugged and focused on the meal, deciding to not tease her any further. My mind did wander, and I was pretty sure she could see that.

"Maybe one day I'll just surprise you," she switched to that slow, almost purring tone that made me weak in the knees.

I suddenly really needed a good gulp of my drink to even think about replying. Judy saved me from the effort and offered a swift change of topics.

"Got a message earlier today. You're not gonna guess who it was from..." she took a bite, looking at me with interest.

"Uhh... I dunno, Arasaka wants to hire you?" I shrugged, ready to dodge another packet of sauce.

"Nope. Peralez. That name say anything to you?" she wondered, carefully watching my reactions.

"Yeah. Screams at me from every second billboard. Some kinda corpo? No, wait. Politician?" as if there was a difference anyway. Corpo may have had a bit more power in town, would be my guess.

"Yup. Jefferson Peralez is running for mayor. But his wife sent me a message, looking for someone who's decent in fishing things out of raw braindances, an investigator for some super secret kinda thing," Judy shrugged, "I haven't replied yet."

"Did she mention the eddies?" I asked. I still needed something of a buffer to pay Rogue so I could try and find Hellman, so every little bit counted.

"Nope, but these people are loaded, V. And if it helps you find a cure, I mean..." she looked oddly self-conscious, "I'm not trying to tell you what to do here... just..." she paused and I nodded.

"It's okay, I'll take the job. I mean, tell her about me," I smiled at Judy, she was visibly relieved.

"The quicker I start on that, the better. Probably some high-society power games or whatever," I shrugged between bites, making quick work of my last slice. Judy's appetite came back after those moments of uncertainty and we were soon sipping on our colas.

"I'm beat... Wasted some Scavs today. I could use a nice bath..." I stood up to stretch and I could see Judy eyeing me up and down.

"Would love to join you. If you're not too beat up and sore, that is," she offered. I smiled wide and nodded, I couldn't possibly hide my enthusiasm about that idea.

"Think I'll manage. Wasn't too bad anyway" I replied and began cleaning up after our dinner, taking care of the pizza box and the empty cans. Even if I was sore from the day, a warm bath in Judy's company was all I needed to remedy that.

Jude went outside to have a cig, I made my way to the bathroom. I ran the tap and began undressing, checking for any particularly gnarly wounds to clean or use the SkinStapler on before Judy could see them and worry too much.

"I replied to Mrs Peralez," she said when she came into the bathroom and smiled at the sight of me in underwear.

"Great, now let's leave her by the door and just wind down," I smiled. It was as if we developed this little ritual. Whenever we were at her place, we'd sit on the edge of the tub, without words. We'd just hold hands, caress our arms, trace each other's cheeks or jaws. Kind of like we did that night at the bungalow after diving. It became our way of slowing down, forgetting that I was on the clock, at least for a moment. Our little spell to be protected against the insane tempo of living in Night City.

Sometimes we'd just lie down in the bath, me first, Judy with her back against me, using me as her 'gonk-pillow' as she affectionately put it. We even fell asleep like that once. Sometimes we'd sit facing and idly washing each other. It was never boring or weird when I was with her. It just felt right. Comfortable, in all possible ways.

Little droplets of steam began to cover the tiles, turning the bathroom into something of a sauna. I closed the tap and we both undressed, getting into the bath. That day we opted for just facing each other. It was smart of her, because it gave my quickly aging bones some opportunity to rest, meaning I could still be of use for something else later that night...

Judy enjoyed doing the little things, like washing my hair or combing it after we were done with the bath. And I loved the sensation of her fingers on my scalp, massaging all my worries away.

It wasn't just because she had the dexterity of someone whose weapon of choice was a keyboard. It was the softness and affection of it that made me feel like her touch was... helping me stay myself, for just a bit longer. Just enough to get this sorted so we could enjoy life without me having to fear losing my mind. I would not dare fail that wonderful woman, if I had any say in my fate.

The bed at Judy's pad was laughably small. We talked about at least getting a bigger mattress a few times, but since the idea of leaving Night City was still on the table, and there were other, more pressing issues, we had to come up with another solution. And that solution was Judy sleeping on top of me, shielding me from nightmares, soothing me when they somehow managed to get through.

I kept my arms around her tightly, rocking her back to sleep, whenever she woke up in cold sweat, shivering, weeping her apologies to Ev. In turn, she stroked my cheeks and pepper them with kisses whenever I woke up cursing Dex or begging Jackie to keep talking to me. Whenever that happened, we'd sometimes end up with a rough, sleepless night, but it made a world of a difference that we didn't have to deal with our demons on our own.

The following morning we were having some kibble, getting ready to start the day when a contact I wasn't quite familiar with popped up on my holo. The face said it all. Well-styled hair, impeccable make-up, a look of determination. Must have been Elizabeth Peralez. Turned out I was right. She gave me coords to meet them, it sounded urgent. Then again, with people like that, slow mode was never an option. I told her I'd be there as soon as possible.

"Well, looks like I'm gonna have to go," I sighed and walked up to Judy to hug her close and kiss her. The mayoral candidate would surely understand that.

"Just be careful, alright? If it's too sketchy, don't take it," Judy pleaded with me, keeping her hands laced on the back of my neck.

"Course I will be. You're way too cute for me to die," I decided to use A-grade logic to combat her worries.

She scoffed and leaned in to kiss me instead. I assumed it was a more pleasant way of her saying 'No, you'. Besides, any reason to feel her lips on mine was fantastic enough, if a reason was even necessary in the first place.

My lips somehow found their way to Judy's neck and I could hear her soft sigh as I felt her pulse with a brush of my tongue, "V... I hate to be the one to say it but..."

"You're right... We'll have more time for this when my head is fixed," I closed my eyes and buried my face in the crook of her neck for a moment. We rocked together in a cuddle, both reluctant to break the embrace, but eventually I pulled away and smiled, "See you tonight? My pad?"

"Sure. Hope the job is easy eddies," she smiled back and got back to her preparations. I grabbed my gun and headed out to the location Elizabeth Peralez had sent me.

I could tell the car was theirs at a good distance. Didn't get much high-class than that. I even got to shake the possible future mayor's hand, lucky me. The job seemed simple. They wanted to know how Lucius Rhyne had died. The screamsheets claimed that he died in his sleep, because of heart failure. Of course, it was more standard to die of something like a fatal case of lead poisoning or an even less sophisticated assassination attempt, but Rhyne had it easy.

These people had ways of getting things. Especially if they wanted to confirm something they believed. They had borrowed a raw recording for a day, just it could be analyzed. It was a supposed attempt on the mayor's life, some cyberpsycho waltzing into the city hall. Péter Horváth, a waddling mess, humming a tune while readying his mantis blade. Creepy, even by psycho standards, I'd say. Oddly enough, moments before the psycho got there, a cop came in. Some Detective River Ward. The whole thing looked sketchy, and according to the Peralezes, Ward was the guy to talk to further.

After a brief call, he agreed to meet up with me at a joint called Chubby Buffalo's. My first thought when I heard about it was Flo's Diner in Laguna Bend. Maybe the burgers at Chubby Buffalo's were nice? It was kinda close to water, too. Could take my girl there at some point, if she felt like it. I smiled to myself and shook my head. I needed to focus, at least a bit.

Ward was a cop to the bone, even sitting across from him made me feel like I've done something wrong. Not to say that I hadn't done many things wrong in life, and some of my day to day activities were certainly questionable. What was even more unsettling, he seemed like a good enough guy. Considering his profession, I was surprised he was still alive in this city. He was on board with the Peralezes when it came to Rhyne's death. Something was off there.

I recalled that in the BD, Rhyne mentioned a place called Red Queen's Race, and an arrangement he had there that evening. Oddly enough, it didn't ring a bell. Then again, the mayor himself having a favorite dive probably wouldn't be good for his polls. I asked Ward if he knew anything about it, and he didn't. But he knew a guy who might. There was also Horváth's employer, apparently the closest he had to next of kin, at a market in Japantown.

We had two avenues to try, and we went with the latter, first, though something told me that the cyberpsycho was something of a plan B in whoever was trying to get rid of the mayor. That, or I was just taking on their collective paranoia. I even decided to ride with Ward. He wasn't Jackie, even if we were temporary partners. Then again... I didn't think there was really anyone out there who could be a true choomba like he had been for me.

Horváth's employer didn't tell us much. Only that he had a tendency to rant. Obviously, at some point something must have short-circuited in the guy's head, because even his employer didn't sound like there was any hope of recovery for him. It still didn't explain who gave him all that chrome.

Next stop was Ward's CI in Vista Del Rey. I was glad the cop was driving, it gave me time to update Judy on my day. Not that I had to, but a message or two from her always brightened up my day.

V: [Hey you, job seems easy enough so far. Your day alright?]

Judy: [Hey, V. It's okay. It's okay. Same old. Lots of smut]

V: [At least you're getting entertained, right? Better start thinking what you want to eat tonight]

Judy: [Hmmmmm]

My brows raised, I chuckled and shook my head.

V: [Oh I see how it is. Keep hydrated, work's making you hella thirsty I see]

Judy: [Thirsty for youuuuu ~~~]

V: [Well if we can't decide on dinner, I know what I'm havin ;);)]

"What's so funny?" River asked, clearly too curious to not ask about my giggling. I could have been a bit more polite, but I didn't want to accidentally steer the topic into anything that might incriminate me in his presence.

"Oh, I was just talking about dinner arrangement with my girlfriend for tonight," I explained in with a shrug, not seeing a reason to keep that a secret. My girlfriend. That sounded so nice.

Ward frowned for a moment, then nodded, looking back at the road, "Oh, you guys roommates or something?" he asked, but I wasn't sure if he was desperate or oblivious.

"No, we're girlfriends. Partners. We're gay, detective. That a crime?" I challenged, deciding to make my tone decisively more blunt.

For a moment, he looked like a kicked puppy. Like I insulted him personally for some reason. I realized he had been subtly eyeing me this whole time, checking me out like anyone would really do, if they were trying to show interest. But when I assured him that Judy and I weren't, in fact, mere roommates, I think I may have rid him of some hope. Too bad, choom.

"That CI of yours. Is he reliable?" I offered a quick change of subject, we both needed it, stat.

"Should be. Bit of a skittish type, but he talks when you use the right methods. Works at a sex-shop, we're almost there," Ward stopped partly on the side walk and I got out of his pickup truck to go talk to the CI.

Unsurprisingly, the moment I mentioned Igor, the guy tried to delta through the back door, going into full panic as if it was Arasaka that had sent assassins after him. Ward and I cornered him in the alley. It took being face to face with the barrel of a revolver and a punch to get him to talk, but he finally sang. The Red Queen's Race was somewhere in Bonita Street area. Tough break. Animal turf. But I managed worse, so I could do that, too.

Once we got there, it was time to take a look at the warehouse and the surrounding areas. Just as I suspected, even with overgrown guards posted around, there was a way inside through the maintenance tunnels. The place could have been easily overlooked as storage space, indeed. But Ward had his hunches, and we had his CI's detes.

It didn't take long to find a container that was somehow different. Namely because it had an elevator door at the other end. The entrance to the Red Queen's Race. Going down there seemed like a descent into neon hell. Red, pink, blue, purple, all those lights forming one big gradient in the palette of whoredom. It did its job relatively alright, distracting prospective patrons from graffiti and the more decrepit elements of the secret club. Hell, they even had a big, red neon crown in the lobby.

Ward suggested finding an office, it was our best chance at finding some hard evidence, like a scroll from a camera or something. We split up, like we did in the market, remaining on the holo to keep in touch.

I saw a gangoon in one of the booths, eyes closed, a BD wreath on her temple. I don't think she saw me, so I moved along to the next booth. I didn't make it, because someone grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and threw me against the padded wall. I guess she wasn't in the BD yet... or it was an actual Animal with some smarts to them.

I was really glad for the padding, but when gravity pulled me back to the ground, I felt a boot to my ribs, no mercy whatsoever. That hurt. A fucking lot. In the extremely painful moment where I wondered whether my lungs got punctured in the process or not, I forgot to breathe and tears welled up in my eyes. I didn't even want to imagine what it would have felt like without pain inhibitors.

The next kick was to the side of my head, making my vision swim and blur. I was lucky the gangoon didn't stomp on my face. That would have been a really shitty end to my career. I hoped the Relic wasn't damaged any further... Fuck, so many things trying to kill me, I shouldn't even be leaving the pad. If I was going to die because of that gangoon... Judy. I couldn't fail Judy. I promised her I wouldn't die...

I reached to my gun with shaky hands and aimed. A few bullets made the gangoon move away, but didn't stop her from keep on trying to kill me. Fucking integumentary implants...

I began to crawl away, effectively backing myself into a corner. That was when Ward stepped in with his revolver and finally blew the Animal's head off. I sighed. Now we were in for more fun since more of them were surely going to come after us, but at least we could both concentrate fire on them.

A few pounds of bullet casings later, the Red Queen's Race fell quiet again and I could finally wipe my bleeding nose. I felt woozy, my ears were ringing, and I regretted going out the door, but I still had a job to do. We managed to find the office, and that was when the real star of the show came out.

Turned out that Ward's choom from NCPD helped cover up Rhyne's death. Either it was a really spicy BD that got him... or something else in that booth. We had to check. It made me wonder just how deep Ward's partner, detective Han, was in this stuff, since he just casually ordered Animals around as one of them dragged Rhyne's lifeless body from the booth. At least we had some hard evidence.

I found the booth where Rhyne had been that night. Oddly enough, the wreath was still there. Without thinking much, I grabbed it and out it on my head to play out. This whole case was pissing me off. I signed up for solving a politician's whim for big eddies, not being beaten up by Animals. I wanted to see what killed Rhyne and be done with it.

That was a mistake. I was still feeling dizzy and confused from the altercation with the Animals, I could see beams of bright lights in front of my eyes, like some freaky ocular implant malfunction. The moment the BD began, I felt an electric spike of pain go through my head, like a bad netrunning trip with a faulty deck. I thought I was going to flatline there and then, with a mass of colours and shapes forcing themselves into my consciousness, overwhelming every other thought of sensation to the point where my already divided brain had trouble keeping up.

My scream must have alarmed Ward, because he came up to me and pulled the wreath from my head, throwing it to the side.

"V! What's going on?! V, are you still with me?" he kept asking as he helped me sit upright after I slid from the spot on the sofa and curled up on the floor. I couldn't exactly reply, because I felt so sick that I couldn't stop myself from vomiting on the floor right next to him. The dizziness was too much, and my consciousness in a very uncertain state. I was pretty sure that if this wasn't death, it was damn close to it. Judy… I couldn't fail her. I had to live. Damnit, I had to pull myself together… I wanted to…

The next memories were hazy. Some didn't even make sense. I remembered being buckled up in some car. For some reason Ward was saying Judy's name… and mine, too. And then something about my Megabuilding. Why would he be talking to Jude about where my pad was? For some reason, it was where I woke up. I felt the familiar sting of a MaxDoc lingering on my skin. Must have been recent.

I was in my bed, in one of my oversized t-shirts that I slept in, and underwear. I didn't recall undressing. All I could really focus on was a massive headache and the wonderful feeling of analgesic bandages around my chest. I very carefully rolled to my other side, groaning.

Judy was sitting on the edge of the bed, she gasped and looked at me, sniffling quickly to hide she was on the verge of tears, "You're awake, hey…" she whispered, beaming a smile at me.

"Hey… sorry I missed dinner," I replied, reaching out to touch her hand. She took it and moved to lie down next to me, facing me.

"It's okay. Scared the shit outta me when that cop called me from your phone and then brought you in, all cross-eyed," she said, frowning, "Glad he did, but…" with a sigh, she shook her head and closed her eyes, "Don't scare me like that…"

"Doing what I can, Jude. Part of the job," I tried to explain in the least possible number of words. Thinking wasn't doing me any favours at that moment.

"I know... I know… Doesn't stop me from worrying," she confessed, "Was it at least worth it?"

"Ward's got a lead on something. I got info for the high rollers… Gotta call'em." I frowned. Shit. They probably wouldn't appreciate having to wait. Might cut my bonus or something.

"You can call'em. But you're not driving anywhere. I'll take you, if you need it, but damn… Think you're concussed or something. It almost fried you, some BD he said?"

"Serves me right. Your stuff is the best," I tried to joke.

"At least you still have your amazin' sense of humour, V," Judy smiled and leaned in to kiss my forehead. She was too good to be true. And I felt, even in that sorry state, that I could conquer the world with her.

With her help, I managed to show up at the Peralez residence in a fairly acceptable state and present my findings to them. They seemed more than satisfied with the things I've found, and I in turn with the sum I got for it.

It was time to speak to Rogue and find Hellman. I was still in the fight.