5
V threw his arms around Kerry and twisted, shielding his lover's face as V crashed into the glass pane around the bar. He could feel a few shards stabbing into his back but ignored them to check on Kerry.
"Sit and buckle in," he pointed to one of the back seats and Kerry did as instructed. V immediately called Panam and radioed the pilot.
"What's going on out there?" He asked.
"Seems the Raffen were closer than-" the pilot started to respond but a second explosion rocked the AV and the radio went dead.
"Fuck, come on, Pan. Answer."
Finally, she did. "V?"
"Fuck, Panam! The Raffen already found us. Please tell me you've got a drone on us already." He could feel the AV starting to make a nose dive towards the ground.
"Mitch launched it as soon as I could ping you. We're on our way. Just… stay alive."
V huffed, "try our best, not sure how high we were. But the pilot's dead, heading nose-first."
Panam said something, but the AV crashed into the ground, causing V to crash into the glass covered ground.
"Fuck!" He pushed himself up, picking pieces of glass out of his palm. "Ker, you ok?"
The rockerboy looked a little dazed, but nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. But we gotta get you patched up."
V shook his head. "Worry about that later. Gotta get into the cargo area. I've got Archangel, but we need more firepower."
Kerry uncliped his seatbelt and motioned to a small door between the seats. "Think you can fit?"
He knelt down and examined the door. "I can try. Just stay here, I'll pass through some stuff." Kerry nodded and V maneuvered himself through the narrow door. He bumped a few cuts along the way, each one sending a sharp pain through his body.
It was dark in the cargo area, but V could make out his Arch. It seemed relatively unharmed. He quickly found his bag and dug under his clothes. He pulled out Johnny's Malorian and a few extra clips for it.
"Here, Ker." He handed the pistol through the doorway. "Be careful. Pistol whipping sets off a burst of fire." Rummaging through the bag more, he grabbed a compact SMG before wriggling back into the room. "Stay close, and do whatever I tell you. No questions. Got it?"
Kerry nodded and crouched behind V as he slid the door open just enough that he could scan the area.
"Looks clear for now, go to those bushes and hide. I'm going to get my bike so we can get out faster." He pointed at some high bushes a couple hundred yards away before opening the door the rest of the way.
The door to the cargo hold was bent but, with some effort, V managed to force it open. With more light, he could see a few more dents in the motorcycle but it seemed mechanically fine. He wheeled it out. In the distance he saw cars kicking up dust as they came closer.
"Shit," he muttered to himself. He waved to Kerry to join him. "Need you to drive, Ker."
While Kerry got situated on the bike, V tried to reconnect the call with Panam.
"Pan, we got incoming. Think it's the Raffen." He straddled the back of the bike and wrapped an arm around Kerry's waist. "Which direction you guys coming from?"
"Relax, it's not the Raffen. It's us. Carol and Cassidy are out front. Mitch and I are in the back in the panzer."
A wave of relief washed over V. As the cars got closer, he could see the familiar paint markings and, in the distance, the unmistakable profile of the Basilisk.
"Nevermind, Kerry. That's the Aldecaldos. We're safe." The two men climbed off the bike and waited, hand in hand, as the clan vehicles pulled in.
"Man is it good to see your face!" Panam hopped out of the panzer and bounded up to him. "And it's nice to finally meet you, Kerry." She shook Kerry's hand.
V interrupted, "we can do introductions later. There's no way we're safe here."
"You got that right," Mitch said. "Drone's showing a Raffen caravan, due over the hill to the East any minute."
V walked back over to the cargo hold and pulled out a couple of Kerry's suitcases and his own duffel bag.
"Need to throw these in someone's trunk." One of the Aldecaldos pulled their car up and popped the trunk.
"Right," Panam jumped back up on the Basilisk. "V, you and Kerry stay in the middle of the pack."
Straddling the bike again, he nodded and Kerry climbed on.
"You're pretty beat up, V. You sure it's ok I ride with you?"
"No time to worry about it right now, Ker. Just hang on tight." He fired up the motorcycle and shivered a little when Kerry wrapped his arms around him.
They started moving and kept towards the center of the group as Panam had instructed. Almost as soon as they started rolling, gunshots rang out behind them. There was a burst of rockets in response that V recognized as the launcher Mitch had mounted to the Basilisk.
The caravan picked up speed and, before long, they had a clear path back to the Aldecaldo camp.
Panam showed Kerry around the camp while V was getting fixed up by the ripperdoc. While he felt kind of bad for calling the scene "a little post-apocalyptic" when V left, he wasn't entirely wrong. Trailers sat in a wide circle, tents were set up in seemingly random places.
A group of Aldecaldos was gathered around a fire at the center of the camp. One man lounged on a worn out sofa, softly strumming on a guitar. Probably the best thing about the camp so far. Well, except for V being there.
"This is V's tent," Panam indicated to a small tent near where the Basilisk was housed. "I'm going to head to the bar, want to join me? Or I can bring you a beer or something."
"No thanks, gonna hang out here. If that's alright?" Kerry took a step towards V's tent.
Panam nodded. "No problem. I'll send V over once he's fixed up. Dakota should have holo service back up soon. Then we can get you sorted with your record label and everything."
She walked off and Kerry unzipped the doorway to the tent. The inside was simple. There was a bed, a table and chair, a small water basin, and a mirror. He examined the few pieces of decor. V had hung up a Samurai poster. Next to the bed was a framed photo. Kerry smiled at it. It was a picture of them with Us Cracks the night they broke into Riot to confront the J-pop band. Before that, Kerry had seen V as a reliable merc to help him through some shit. But that night, he realized that he was more than that. And that he was chipping away at the old rocker's heart whether he realized it or not.
He sat on the bed. How V had managed to sleep on it, he didn't know. It was creaky and way too firm. The adrenaline from the crash was finally wearing off and Kerry started to feel a sense of relief. Relief that he was ok. Relief that V was ok.
Before he knew it, tears were streaming down his face. With the tour and everything, he hadn't had time to process his emotions. V was alive. He'd come back to him. Hell, he'd driven halfway across the country to say he loved him. Without a second thought, V had put himself in harm's way during the crash to keep Kerry from getting hurt.
"Kerry," V sat on the bed next to him and wrapped his arms around Kerry.
He'd been so caught up in the sudden flood of emotions that he hadn't noticed the other come in. Without a word, he returned the embrace, not bothering to hide the tears.
"Talk to me, Ker." V rested his chin on top of his head.
It took a few minutes for words to form. Kerry curled his fingers in V's shirt. "I'm ok, V. Just everything... it's all coming out at once. I thought- I thought you were gone."
V gave him a squeeze. "I thought I was gone too, Ker. But I'm not. I'm right here. And I'm not going anywhere."
"And I'm sorry, V. For the hotel." He still felt ashamed from trying to fuck a groupie that night.
V shook his head. "No need to apologize, Ker. You didn't do anything wrong."
Kerry wasn't entirely convinced, but his body relaxed a little. He leaned into the embrace, nestling gently under V's chin. The other gave a slight shiver at the action, his hold tightening for a moment.
When the tears finally stopped, Kerry sat up and looked at V. He was wearing a plain t-shirt, his Aldecaldo jacket laying next to him.
"How are you feeling?" Kerry carefully lifted the hem of the shirt to inspect the bandages poking out.
"A little sore, but otherwise, never better." He took Kerry's hand and brought it to his mouth. His lips brushed over his knuckles and Kerry was gone. Every emotion was still in overdrive.
He freed his hand from V and pulled him into a deep embrace, his lips finally landing home. It was slow, making up for months of loneliness. Kerry tenderly curled his fingers into V's hair, pulling him as close as he could get, desperate for touch.
Despite his best efforts to take things slow, before he knew it, V was tugging at his vest - both men touching any part of the other that they could reach.
"Eh hem," Panam cleared her throat from the doorway and they split like teenagers. "You forgot this with the doc, V. Supposed to take another dose in an hour." She tossed him an inhaler. "Have fun you two," she smirked as she turned to leave. "Just be careful, V. Don't bust a stitch."