Everything started out simply enough. Jackie began his week by finding more sheets for V's cot. The last thing he needed was Mama finding them sharing a bed. Then he set about teaching V as much English as he could. Problem was he didn't have the slightest idea how to do this. His first plan was to teach V common words like "door", "water", and "eddies". V was good at memorizing everything the first time, but quickly grew bored. When Jackie couldn't get her to understand "friend", he figured a new strategy was needed.

It was at this point that V decided to take charge and started asking about numbers. She placed a spoon on the table and held up a finger. When Jackie didn't understand, she placed down another spoon and held up two fingers. Then she placed a third and held up three fingers. Jackie caught on and started teaching her everything he could. Within the hour, V had a basic understanding of the decimal system. After two hours, she had learned everything Jackie could offer on math.

Learning the alphabet proved to be more of a challenge. The problem wasn't that V couldn't memorize the letters, but she struggled to understand how they went together. English had a bunch of weird rules that could confuse even fluent speakers. It also didn't help that V kept reverting back to her native language, switching to strange symbols if she lost concentration. With V's increasing frustration and Jackie running low on paper, they decided it was time for a lunch break.

"Peet zaz," V said, leaning back in the booth.

"Pizza. It's Italian," Jackie corrected. He divided the locus pepperoni pizza into six triangles and handed a slice to V.

Jackie never liked hanging round the house all day and decided to take V to the local pizza joint. Or at least somewhat local. There were three Luigi's Cafes located throughout Night City, and most people agreed that the best one was in Wellsprings, near the Heywood docks. It's a somewhat long walk from The Glen, but nothing outrageous.

"Pizza good," V said, swallowing her first bite.

"Glad you like it, chica." Jackie made quick work of his slice before grabbing another. "How you liking Night City?"

"Hm?"

"Night City," Jackie repeated. He pulled out his phone and looked up a map. "All of this is Night City." He zoomed in before scrolling over to the edge. "We are here. Luigi's Café. And over here… is home."

"Night City," V mumbled to herself. She started scrolling around the map, trying to get a grasp of just how massive the independent city state was.

"Pretty big, hu?"

"Big," V repeated. She passed the phone back to Jackie and took a second slice of pizza.

The two sat in content silence, enjoying their meal. They were about to take their leave when another group of Jackie's friends approached them.

"Diego! Amigo!" Jackie pulled one of the guys into a hug.

"It's been too long, Jackie," Diego said. "This the girl Verónica was talking about?"

"Oh, yea. V. This is Diego, David, and Isabel. They're in the Valentinos with me."

"Hey," V said, not paying much attention.

"You'll have to forgive her," Jackie said. "She's not all that social, and her translator is busted."

"It's no problem, choom," Diego dismissed. "If you're not busy, you can join us on a quick job. Padre said something about you getting bored." Diego elbowed Jackie, trying to further persuade the man.

"Depends. What's the job?"

"Just a shakedown," Isabel piped up. "Franklin Becker, owns the convenience store on Slade Street? He decided to skip out on his dues."

Jackie didn't answer right away. He was already on Mama Welles' bad side. If she caught wind that he brought V on a gang job, she would kill him for sure. But then again, having V tag along could only be an advantage. The woman could shoot and knew how to throw a punch. Now that she wasn't injured, a shakedown would be easy pickings for the green woman. Assuming, of course, that Mama didn't find out.

"We're in. But let's keep this on the down low. I don't need Mama hearing that I brought my new amiga on a gang job."

The three Valentinos laughed.

"I think we can manage that." Diego led the group to his van and drove off to Slade Street.

"I'll tell you the same thing I told your boss. Piss off!" Franklin walked away from the group, his belly jiggling as he turned his attention to his cigarette.

"I don't think you understand how this works," Jackie stepped in front of the obese shop owner. "This is Valentino turf. You work with the Valentinos, or you don't work at all."

"No. I don't think you understand!" Franklin drew his pistol and held it against Jackie's chest. The other three Valentinos also drew their iron, but the shop owner didn't back down.

"I am sick and tired of you thugs thinking you run this town! I'm just a man trying to make an honest living. And I'm going to defend what's mine. No more bowing down to you little shits."

"Easy, amigo," Diego said. He tried to sound in command, but he couldn't hide the fear of his friend getting shot. "No one has to get hurt. We just want our eddies."

"It's not your money!" Franklin was growing erratic, the treat of a fire fight growing by the millisecond.

V let out of a frustrated sigh. With her hood up and head tilted down, the green woman pushed past the three Valentinos. With her hands up to show that she wasn't a threat, she placed herself directly between Franklin and the gang members.

"V! Get out of the way!" Isabel demanded, but V didn't listen.

"Jackie," V said, waving him over. The man listened, slowly walking over to her with his hands up as well.

"You do realize we can't go home empty handed?" Jackie asked, but V didn't respond. She grabbed his arm and pulled him behind her with the other gang members.

V started to back up, forcing the Valentinos out of the alley way.

"What are you doing?!" Diego asked.

"You all should listen to your friend. At least she has half a functioning brain," Franklin said. He didn't lower his gun until the group was out of the alley and around the corner.

"Great work, V," Isabel spat. "Now we have to go tell Padre we didn't get any eddies. Do you have any idea what this will do to our rep?" The others were all looking just as frustrated, and even silent type David was shaking his head.

"Car," V said. She looked at Diego with her hand out.

"What? No!"

V didn't like that answer and shoved Diego against the building. "Car!"

"Hey! Easy V," Jackie intervened. He pulled her away from Diego, not wanting his allies fighting each other.

"Car," V repeated calmly but clearly not letting up.

"Mind telling your puta to fuck off?" Diego spat at Jackie, resisting the urge to shoot V in the knee cap.

"Just give her a chance. I'll pay for any damages."

"You're both perras locas," Diego said before giving V the key to his van. She smiled in return before making a beeline to the driver's seat.

"Jackie," V said as she opened the passenger door. He got in and directed her on starting the car.

"Push down on the big pedal, and then move the gearstick to drive… it's the D, third one. Good. Now the small pedal will make it go."

V listened with intent, trying to get moving as fast as possible.

"She better not get us killed," Isabel said. She had already loaded into the back with Diego and David.

"Don't worry," Jackie reassured. "V's smart. We'll be fine- whoa whoa WHOA!" In the moments that Jackie wasn't looking, V had lined up the van with the alley and floored it.

Franklin Becker had just finished his cigarette and was about to head back into his convenience shop. His nerves were shot at having faced down a group of Valentino thugs, but he wasn't hurt. If anything, he was proud of himself. He stood his ground and scared off the gang. Franklin didn't know how much of that was luck and how much was them being cowards, but he wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Franklin marched deeper into the alley, towards the shop's back entrance. He held his head high at his victory. Then the sound of an engine caught his attention, and he turned around just in time to see a van barreling towards him. Before he knew what happened, Franklin was on his back with immense pain in his stomach and chest.

V hopped out of the van and stepped over to Franklin. The shop owner reached for his gun, but she kicked it out of his hand.

"No. Not cool."

Out of options and possibly dying, Franklin reached for his Trauma Card. But before he could snap it, V ripped that out of his hands as well.

"The fuck is wrong with you?!" Diego screamed at V. "We were supposed to scare him, not commit vehicular manslaughter!"

"What do we do? We can't let him die, but we can't go to the hospital without getting arrested!" Isabel was going into a panic, talking in circles while trying to think of a way out.

"Alright. Everyone calm down," Jackie said, taking charge of the situation. "Let's think this through."

"Sure, Jackie," Diego said, letting out his frustrations. "Let's see your big brain fix this mess."

Ignoring the hostility from his friends, Jackie knelt down next to V. Franklin was reaching for something in V's hand, begging to have it back. Knowing that it wouldn't be long before his choomba tried to break the poor man's arm out of annoyance, he grabbed her attention.

"Hey, V," he said, nudging her side.

"Hm?"

"What's in your hand?" Jackie pointed to the item in question and V handed it to him.

Jackie immediately recognized the Trauma Team symbol. The six-point cross was printed on to the silver card and had a bronze circle around it. It was slightly larger than a credit card and about five times as thick. Checking the opposite side, it had Franklin Becker's info printed along with the words "Trauma Team Bronze: Snap In Case Of Emergency" in bold letters.

"Trauma Team Bronze. Not bad Franklin," Jackie chuckled. "How long have you had this? Doesn't look older than a couple months."

"P-please," Franklin cried. "I-I don't want t-t-to die."

"Of course, choom. I wouldn't leave you hanging. Though, it only seems fair that I receive a reward for saving you from this tragic accident."

"W-what?" Franklin's eyes went wide as he saw Jackie's play.

"Tell us where our eddies are. Consider it payment for calling Trauma for you."

"F-fuck you."

"V. Two punches. Face," Jackie said, gesturing his command.

With a massive grin and a slightly disturbing laugh, V wrapped a hand around Franklin's flabby neck and punched him in the jaw. She pulled her fist back for a second jab and punched him across the eye. The resulting damage gave the shop owner a black eye and a broken tooth.

"Oh no," Jackie mocked. "I sure hope Trauma Team gets here soon."

"You thugs are shit. I h-hope you all rot in a cell."

"V. Three punches."

"Okay! I-I give!" Franklin threw his hands up as V was about ready to hit him again. Jackie stopped her and turned to the owner.

"Eddies. Where are they?" he commanded.

"T-there's a safe in the back office. Key is in the desk. Top right drawer."

"You heard him," Jackie said, turning to the other Valentinos. "Get the money, and make it fast." Diego, David, and Isabel wasted no time. The three gangsters dashed through the back door to get the money. Jackie and V waited for them, leaning against the alley wall. After a few minutes, the others returned with cash in hand.

"We got the eds," Diego said. "Now give me back my keys!" V just raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"V," Jackie said. "Diego's car." This time V listened, handing back the van key.

"Perra loca," Diego mumbled, getting into the driver's seat.

"A pleasure doing business with you, Senor Becker," Jackie smiled. He snapped the Trauma Card and dropped it next to Franklin. "Let's go, V."

He should have known better than to think that everything would go smoothly after what they just pulled. Between Padre's disappointment and Diego's rage, there was no way that Mama Welles wouldn't hear about the shakedown. Yea, they got the eddies, but such simple jobs are never supposed to draw attention, much less have Trauma Team involved.

They kept things quiet on their end. During dinner, Jackie made sure to tell the truth as much as possible and omit anything violent from the conversation. V, to her credit, seemed to understand that Mama finding out was a bad thing and would just brag about how fast she was able to learn. Or at least brag as much as she could with single noun sentences.

Jackie tried to make sure their second day was less exciting. After his morning "lesson" with V, he took her to Mama's bar, El Coyote Cojo. They met with Pepe, the head bartender, and shared shots of tequila. Jackie easily downed three while V refused to do more than one.

"You look like a baby that just tasted her first lemon," Pepe laughed. Jackie joined in on the ribbing, earning an eye roll from V.

"Give her a beer," Jackie said. "She likes those."

About half an hour of day drinking later, both V and Jackie were tipsy. They were about to leave to grab something to eat, but were once again stopped. This time by Mama Welles.

"Jackie. Did you remember to pay your tab?" Mama asked.

"Of course, Mama. You know that's a mistake you only make once," Jackie said. He tried to laugh, but there were too many red flags popping up in his mind. Everything about Mama Welles told him to make a break for the Badlands. The way she crossed her arms, how her body was shifted to one foot, how she wore the half frown and unamused eyes.

"Diego was in here last night; downing Old Fashions like there was no tomorrow. Kept ranting on about 'Jackie's puta verde'."

"Oh, you know Diego. He could never hold his liquor."

"So I called up Padre Ibarra this morning," Mama continued, ignoring her son. "He told me you both went on a Valentino job yesterday." She paused, looking between V and Jackie. "That you two nearly killed a man."

Jackie felt his face pale and his heart skip a beat. V watched with a hesitant curiosity. She wasn't sure what was happening, but Jackie looked like he just stared death in the face. Whatever happened, Mama was pissed off.

"I can explain," Jackie said.

"And you will," Mama interrupted. "I will be home in an hour, and if either of you are missing, Dios me ayude Jackie, you will never shoot straight again!" Mama Welles made sure to look them both in the eye before marching off.

"Uhh… Jackie," V said, trying to grasp what was happening.

"Yesterday? Vroom and punch?" Jackie asked. V nodded in response. "Mama knows. And she's angry." Jackie was expecting V to get scared or at least concerned. Instead, she shrugged and finished off her third beer.

"Good luck, hermano," Pepe consoled, patting Jackie on the shoulder. "I think you're gonna need it."

"Gracias. Come on, V." He left for home with V right behind. They stopped at a hot dog cart on the way. They were already buzzed. Last thing they needed was to face Mama while buzzed and hungry.

"You lied to my face, Jackie!" Mama screamed, on the verge of tears. "You said you would find a way out of the Valentinos. That you would stop hurting people. But instead you go torture Senor Becker with… with this demonio you dragged in off the street!"

"Don't call her that! And we didn't torture him!"

"Then what would you call it? Hitting a man with a car then withholding his Trauma Card? No soy estúpida. You tortured that man. At least have the decency to admit it. And as for you…" Mama turned to V, who had spent the entire argument sitting on the couch trying her best to pay attention.

"Hm?"

"I don't who, or what you're supposed to be, but I'm only gonna say this once. You ever pull a stunt like this again; I will not hesitate to end you. You so much as think about endangering this familia in any way, and you are done."

"Uhh…" V didn't respond right away. She was lost between confusion and amusement. She knew Mama Welles was pissed and did her best to hide the latter. It wasn't easy while watching the elderly woman get in her face. "Jackie-ow ow ow!"

"Look at me, not him," Mama scolded, tugging on V's pointy ear. "Use that brain of yours and listen."

The ear pinching was enough to push V to the edge. She slapped Mama's hand away with considerable force and stood up before her. The two were locked in the other's gaze, as if sizing each other up. Not wanting things to turn violent, Jackie ended the battle of wills.

"I'll make sure she understands." Jackie pulled V away, breaking her concentration.

"See to it that you do," Mama said. "She's officially your responsibility. Keep her out of trouble."

For the rest of the week, Jackie felt like he was living with two time bombs. Every couple of hours, V and Mama Welles would get angry with each other. And whether due to his intervention or of her own accord, V was always forced to back down.

It started with Mama not letting either of them out of her sight. Turns out, she arranged to have El Coyote ran without her for two days when she learned what they had done. So for two days, if Jackie and V left the house, Mama went with them. The only way they could be alone was if they were upstairs or in the bathroom. When they went out for sandwiches, Mama followed, and that kicked off the first argument.

Jackie lost count how many times the two women fought. Mama got angry when V used all the hot water in the shower. Mama got angry when V refused to pray before every meal. V got angry when Mama made her redo the dishes. V got angry when Mama made her and Jackie work at the bar. And those were just the big ones. He figured they would fight over mustard or mayo if given the chance.

The arguing was only compounded by the complete lack of communication. V and Jackie had to put in effort to convey even simple ideas to each other. It worked, but was slow and required a level head. With Mama and V, you had one woman switching between English and Español while the other would mumble in some alien dialect with the occasional English word sprinkled in. Nothing was conveyed, no one was happy, V would back down, and the cycle continued.

Despite his love for Mama, it was V that Jackie felt sorry for. He could see the tension building inside the green woman, like someone was pulling on a bungee cord. Constantly losing arguments was putting her under stress, and the more stressed V became the more she clung to Jackie. He was the only person she trusted, and she followed him like a little girl following her big brother around.

It was on the sixth day that V tried to pull Jackie away from the bar.

"Let's go. Bang bang. Eddies," V smiled, tugging on Jackie's arm.

"No, chica. We need to stay here. Put in work."

"Jackiiiiiiee!"

"Cut it out. We need to lay low. We'll get crazy another time."

V continued to pester him off and on all day. She finally stopped when Diego showed up, prompting her to ask Pepe what "la puta verde" meant.

"It means um… 'The Green Whore'," Pepe whispered, a strange sense of embarrassment keeping him quiet.

"Green." V looked at her arms and nodded. "Whore?"

"Uhh… Well…" Pepe made a circle with his left index finger and thumb. Then he poked his right index finger in and out of the circle. "Sex for eddies."

There was a moment of silence, followed by a gasp when V connected the dots. She immediately stormed up the stairs and tried to throw Diego over the second floor banister. And she would have succeeded had Pepe and Jackie not been there to stop her. Unfortunately, Mama Welles witnessed the whole thing. V wasn't allowed in El Coyote Cojo anymore, and the two women yelled at each other the entire walk home. At that point, Jackie was just thankful it was a short walk.

Everything came to a head on the seventh day.

V was put on dish duty again, and was determined to get it done the first time. Putting the hot water on high, she scrubbed with fiery anger. All of her pent up frustrations were focused on removing the grime with extreme prejudice.

"Careful," Jackie joked. "Any harder and you'll burn a hole in the plate." V grunted in response. Jackie shrugged and started drying off the dishes that were already washed. For a brief moment, the two found themselves in a flow. Despite the simplicity of the job, Jackie and V were in perfect rhythm, seemingly communicating with a simple glance.

"Have you two put any thought into finding jobs?" Mama asked as she stepped into the kitchen.

V tensed up at Mama's presence, the flow she established with Jackie coming to a halt. For the entire day, Mama had been nagging them about what they planned to do for eddies now that V was not allowed to work at the bar. Of course, V's idea was to do more gang work, but she was shot down by both of the Welles.

"We'll find something, Mama," Jackie said. "But it might take some time. You know how hard it is to find decent work in Heywood."

"What about you, V? Any nonviolent ideas?"

V didn't answer. She just kept scrubbing.

"V," Mama said, her patience growing short. "I asked you a question."

Again, V didn't answer. Without looking up from the sink, she raised a wet hand and flicked hot water straight at Mama Welles' face. It wasn't enough to burn, or even be painful. But it was plenty enough to start another fight.

"I should have known better," Mama said as she wiped off the water with her palm. "You have fought me on everything. Every step of the way, you act like brat. Even after I gave you a bed under my roof and food in your belly. Perhaps Diego is right."

V froze at that name. Dropping the cup she was washing, V turned to Mama Welles, her narrow eyes daring the older woman to continue.

"Mama," Jackie said. "I don't think you should-"

"Eres sólo una puta verde."

V's fist clenched at hearing the insult, a week's worth of tension threatened to break. The green woman opened her mouth, ready to scream. But she stopped herself. V knew she couldn't go back to her old self just yet. She had to keep the mask on.

Taking a deep breath, V tried to shove the anger away. But it was a struggle, and something inside would break if she didn't ease the pressure. So she did what she always did. V started to laugh.

"heh… haha… Hahahaha"

"You ok, chica?" Jackie asked. V didn't answer. She just kept laughing at Mama Welles until…

SLAP!

V's eyes shot wide in shock. Mama was now full on yelling at her, but it was all white noise. Her full attention was on the stinging in her cheek and the face of the short, elderly, flarping annoying woman that dared to strike her.

Like a predator that had just sniffed out its meal, V slowly focused her eyes on Mama Welles. The pure rage that burned in her pupils caused Mama to studded, the normally mountain of a woman reduced to an anthill by V's gaze alone. V pulled back her arm, about to bash the target of her fury, but Jackie stopped her.

With all of her attention on Mama, V had forgotten that Jackie was standing right next to her. He punched her square in the jaw, causing his friend to stagger and nearly fall down. Leaning against the far wall for balance, V stared at Jackie with a renewed sense of shock.

"No one touches mi madre!" Jackie howled. "You hurt Mama, I break you."

V once again stared to laugh, her fury replaced by a psychotic need for violence. With adrenaline fueled speed, she leaped at Jackie. Jackie blocked, moving into a boxing stance. Every wild blow V tried to land, he was able to deflect. Spotting an opening, he shoved her away and pinned her to the wall.

"That's enough V!" he commanded.

"Punch V," V cackled.

"What?"

V headbutted Jackie, causing him to stagger. Then she jabbed him in the side, following up with a kick in the shin. Forced down on one knee, Jackie looked up to meet V's gaze.

"Punch," V repeated, gesturing to her own face. Her manic smile only served to egg on Jackie even more.

"Jackie, don't," Mama pleaded, but her son was already caught up in the moment.

Jackie walloped V and she responded with her own hit. The two continued to clash for a minute straight, their fight slowly transitioning from the kitchen to the family room. Jackie was able to block most of V's swings, but every time she landed a hit, it felt like taking a gorilla fist at full power. It didn't help that punching V was like bashing into a brick wall. The green woman was built like a tank, and Jackie didn't have enough stamina to win.

In a desperate attempt to pin her, Jackie tackled V and sent them both over the couch. They smashed into the table, causing the wood surface to break beneath them. Not showing any signs of slowing down, V was able to wrestle her way on top of Jackie. Out of breath and not willing to fight any more, Jackie played his trump card.

He pulled his pistol from his jacket holster and pushed it against V's neck. She froze mid-swing, her smile falling from her expression. The whole world seemed to stop, the only sound being Jackie and V's panting. The two fighters stared into each other's eyes, trying to grasp the situation.

Jackie felt nothing but anger and hatred towards the woman that tried to hurt Mama Welles. But his cold emotions softened when he saw the fear in V. With her psychotic grin now absent, all Jackie could see was pain, confusion, and betrayal.

"Don't do it," Mama said. Both Jackie and V turned their heads to see Mama standing behind the couch with pleading eyes. "No more bloodshed."

Jackie lowered his gun, prompting V to get off him. She stood and helped Jackie up. All she felt was shame. She screwed up. There was nothing else to call it. A screw up.

"V," Mama sighed, struggling to keep her voice level. "I need you to leave. Jackie, go help her pack."

"W-what?" V stuttered. She knew what Mama had said, but couldn't believe she had heard it.

"V," Jackie said, tapping her shoulder. "Come on." He took her hand and led her up the stairs.

Grabbing an old backpack, he started to fold V's clothes and pack them in the bag. To his surprise, V was helping. It was a bit weird that she wanted to keep her old shirt and dress, but he could understand it. Things got awkward when they finished and she started to fold one of his shirts.

"V, no," Jackie shook his head. "I'm not going."

"Bang bang. Eddies," V said.

"No V. I have to stay here."

"J-Jackie…" She struggled to find the word. She just kept pointing between them.

"Come on. I'll walk you out."

"Friend."

Jackie froze before turning around. For a brief moment, he didn't see the battle hardened maybe-an-alien that just beat the living crap out of him. V looked more like a small child that had just lost a loved one. He wanted to hug her and tell her everything would be alright. But Mama came first. He nearly beat his own father to death to protect Mama. He wasn't going to give V any leniency.

"V. You need to leave," Jackie said. He felt like a soulless corpo as the words left his mouth, but it had to be done.

V's face hardened into a scowl as the scared woman slowly faded, replaced with the criminal he first met.

"Fuck you," she spat. V ripped the backpack out of his hands and stormed down the steps. Jackie couldn't move, only listen to the stomping and then the door slamming shut.

When Jackie finally went down stairs, Mama was sitting on the couch praying. He sat down beside her and said his own small prayer. The Welles house was silent for a long time, neither resident having the courage to speak up. Eventually, their natural desire for movement kicked in. Jackie started to clean up the shattered table while Mama grabbed two beers from the fridge.

"She's gone now," Mama said, albeit sorrowfully. "It's best for us to move on with our lives."

Jackie nodded and took a sip of beer, but didn't say anything. The gut feeling was back. It was telling him he would be seeing a lot more of V very soon.

Sebastian Ibarra was reading through the news feeds while drinking lemonade. Drought in the Midwest NUSA was expected to drive up food prices later in the year. Despite it only being April, farmers were already seeing low yields. On one hand, things were already rough in Night City. They had only been granted independence the prior summer, and Mayor Rhyne was struggling to set up relations with North California. Unless the Mayor worked a miracle, there would be many evenings without supper for Night City's non-elites.

But then again, times of struggle often proved to be times of opportunity if one knew how to seize the moment. Ibarra had been trying to branch out as a fixer and work with people outside the Valentinos. He already made some headway with Dakota Smith of the Aldecaldos. Perhaps they could set up a path for smuggling together. Feed the people of Night City and make a fair deal of Eurodollars in the process.

Ibarra's thoughts were interrupted by one of the Valentinos.

"Padre," he said. "V is here. I think she wish to speak with you."

"Very well. Bring her here."

A few minutes later, V was standing before Padre's table in the gym. Normally, the air would be filled with the soft grunts of Valentinos doing pushups and lifting weights. But as people spotted the green woman flanked on either side by Padre Ibarra's bodyguards, almost everyone stopped what they were doing to watch. Everyone had heard about how Trauma Team was called in when Jackie and V got involved with a shakedown. Now they want to see what the strange woman did next.

"V, to what do I owe this visit?" Padre asked.

"Eddies," V said, sitting in the folding chair across from him.

"Everyone want's eddies. It's part of living in Night City. How does this concern me?"

V slowly yet deliberately pulled out her revolver with both hands and placed it on the table. Then she did the same with her combat knife.

"Job?" V asked the single word question with her now trademark grin and a casual demeanor most wouldn't dare have when talking with Padre. The former priest glanced at the weapons before raising an eyebrow at V, causing the woman's smile to grow wider. It was almost disturbing large and unnatural looking, but made somewhat comical by V's missing tooth. In that moment, Padre wasn't sure if he was sitting across from someone on the edge of cyberpsychosis or El Diablo himself. Either way, she was confident in her skills and Padre wanted to test those skills.

"I believe we can work something out."