Chapter 7

Vik had many laughs at my expense while he patched me up, though in return I spoiled his breakfast by describing the Maelstrom scene I had witnessed. We both chalked it up to more Night City madness, and I promised that I'd avoid anyone with Mantis Blades for at least three hours after I left his clinic. Back at my apartment, I passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow and I and slept without interruption for what felt like the most peaceful six hours of my life. When I woke up, I noticed that I had a missed call from River. I worried that something might've happened with Randy, so I quickly dialed him back.

"V!" He answered happily. "How ya been?"

His cheerful tone caught me off-guard. "Oh, uh… been alright, I think?" I answered sleepily.

"Er… you don't sound it. What's wrong?" His voice dropped down with concern.

"Fine, I-I'm fine," I stuttered. "Jus' wakin' up. Rough night… But, um, you called?"

He hesitated for a moment before continuing, "Oh, yeah. I just was callin' to invite you to Joss' for dinner, but it's okay if you're not up for it."

I was surprised by the invitation and smiled as I propped myself up. "Really? You want me to come? It's not just a family dinner?"

"Things have kinda lightened up around here, and Joss kinda had a hankering to cook for everyone, but… yeah, I'd love it if you swung by," he replied nervously. "Whaddaya say?"

I tried not to grin like an idiot reading too much into his invitation, but I hummed agreeingly at the idea of an evening without a shootout. "Sure, it'd be great to see all you guys."

"Prime! Heh…" he cheered, but quickly paused and tried to recover himself. "Er… Joss'll be thrilled."

My eyes flared and my heart skipped as I heard his excited reaction. "Sounds great," I added with a curious tone. "Best offer I've had in a couple of days, actually."

"I can believe it," he noted with a more serious but still nervous tone. "Maybe you can tell me about it later if you want. I've actually kinda missed running around with you. Got used to you being there for a minute."

I chuckled for a moment at the thought and bit my lip. "Yeah, kinda missed you, too, River."

"So, I'll see you at Joss'?" he asked eagerly.

"Sounds preem," I replied. "See ya."

I got up and went to find my dwindling supply of clothes without any blood or holes in them. I knew it wouldn't be a fancy dinner, but I didn't want to appear ragged either. Johnny stomped his foot down on the leg of my pants as I retrieved them.

"'Kinda missed you too?!'" he repeated venomously. "I get it, you crawled through shit and fire together, and now you wanna kick back and celebrate your victory. But a family dinner?"

I rolled my eyes and kept getting dressed. "Leave it, Johnny."

"Ugh… fuckin' seriously? I know what this is about, V," he taunted. "Just find a decent dive to grab a tequila – or ten! Smash a bottle over some corpocunt's face. That's a date. I'd say you were going soft if River didn't get you so ha-"

"-Don't even go there," I cut him off. "Even if he is interested in me like that, which he ain't, it's not like I have time for something like that anyway."

"Then why are you going?" he argued. "And don't try to bullshit me."

I paused and considered it, not actually having done so before accepting the invitation. "It just… feels nice, the idea of someone wanting to kick back and relax with me even just for one night. And not a joytoy," I added strictly. "I'm not about to get used to it, but I'm gonna enjoy it while it lasts."

Johnny scoffed and folded his arms. "Fine. But if I have to watch all this, I get to shoot someone this week. Deal?"

I chuckled and shook my head, but then looked up at him and nodded. "Alright, deal, as long as it's not him you're shooting."

"No promises," he grumbled.

When I arrived at the trailer park that evening, Joss' two younger kids, Dorian and Monique, were playing outside while River was fussing around a grill. He wasn't wearing his usual coat, which even from a distance revealed his muscular physique. I gulped nervously as I remembered that there would be family present and I needed to be discreet.

Monique saw me and waved. "Oh, hey!"

Dorian also looked and jumped as he waved. "Hi!"

"Hey," I waved back. "How's it goin'?"

"Over here!" River called, seeing the two approaching me.

I nodded to him, but Monique interrupted me.

"Uncle River is cooking something," she informed me astutely.

"I see," I replied as I kept walking. "I thought your mom was cooking today."

Dorian giggled, "Mom? No, it was Uncle River's idea."

My jaw dropped as I looked down at the two of them, then my eyes narrowed mischievously at River as he stood over the grill. "I see…"

The two of them ran off to play while I walked towards the grill. Whatever River was making started to smell good over the dusty smell of the air, but finding out that the evening was his idea only stoked my suspicions about why he was cooking in the first place.

"Glad you're here," he greeted with a relaxed smile on his face, probably the first I had seen from him. "I need your help cookin'."

I nodded and looked into the pot that was cooking over the grill. "What's on the menu?"

"Jambalaya," he replied. "C'mon, you can stir the meat."

"Heh, okay, but I think Joss'd be more help," I chuckled as I took the ladle and started stirring.

"Joss did her bit, just stir," he instructed as he turned around and started cutting vegetables on another table.

I kept stirring the pot as I asked, "This an ancient Ward family secret?"

"Uh-huh," he nodded. "Onions, paprika, thyme, just need to mince some celery and garlic. But you stir, please. Stir."

"I'm sirrin', I'm stirrin'!" I laughed.

He hummed confidently, "Bet my socks you've never had better jambalaya."

I smiled at him even though his back was to me. "Honestly, kinda surprised you're doing the cooking. Thought Joss wanted to for the family."

"Ha," he chuckled. "Joss doesn't know the first thing about cooking. Actually, I like to torture foodstuffs, heh. Haven't had many opportunities lately."

With his back still to me, I shot him a knowing smile and quietly exhaled, now knowing for certain that I wasn't just here because he liked working with me. I eyed him up and down, then up and down again. "You somehow look different than usual today."

"Is that so?" he asked with mock-surprise.

I smirked. "Yeah, different, meanin' normal. Like you got a good night's sleep."

He nodded. "Mhmm. Well, I wanted you to see this side of me too. Sounded like you got a long morning's sleep today."

"Yeah," I agreed, but I couldn't avoid the question on my mind. "Don't mean to spoil a nice day, but I gotta ask… What about 'Peter Pan?'"

"You're asking if I killed him," he clarified curtly. "We'll talk later, OK?"

I nodded. "Sure, no pressure. It's just I, uh… y'know?

"I know," he replied and kept chopping vegetables.

"How's, uh, Randy holdin' up?" I asked, trying to change the subject back to something more positive. "He joining us tonight?"

"Oh, no. Physically, it'll be a long road before he's back to full health," he reported, though with a lightening of spirit. "Mentally though… What Harris did to him – fucked as this might sound – might've helped the kid. Could be wrong, but… it feels like a clean break for him."

I nodded and continued stirring until he turned around.

"Alright, I think you've stirred enough," he took the ladle with his hand just under mine. "Mind grabbing the rice from the kitchen?"

I smiled and let go of the ladle. "Yes, sir!" I replied with a gung-ho cop voice. As I went up the house, I silently kicked myself. "Yes sir? Ugh." I heard Joss talking to someone on her holo, so I tip-toed past her and found the box of rice.

She finished her call and walked over to me. "Hey, V. Really nice of you to come."

I smiled and nodded. "Uh, thanks for havin' me over."

"Haven't had the chance to tell you just how grateful I am," she added with a sincere smile. "I just don't know… how to repay you… If Randy had-"

I shook my head. "You don't owe me a thing, Joss. It was all River. I just helped."

She nodded and sighed. "Thank you. River's out front. He couldn't wait to see you again."

I chuckled and held up the box. "Yeah, I could tell he was glad I came."

"Mmhmm," she hummed slyly as she strolled out of the kitchen.

I shockingly added another mental note to my growing list of reasons to think that I was being set up with River. I waited until my cheeks lost their shades of red before bringing the rice back out.

"There you are," he observed as he added more ingredients to the mix. "Tomatoes are next, and now you can toss in the rice."

I avoided looking up at him for fear I'd blush again, but I followed his instructions and mixed in the rice from the box.

"OK, now this has to bubble and brew. Patio?" he suggested, gesturing to a small table in front of the house with a few bottles and a couple of chairs. "Grab a chair and a beer, or… something else."

I groaned happily as I sat and took a sip of beer. "It's nice out here."

"Yeah. Seems all good, like nothing bad ever happened," he agreed, then reached for a beer and took a sip. He stared at the bottle. "I paid Harris a visit at the hospital. He was still in a coma, a strange slumber between life and death. An empty shell in a hospital bed."

I nodded and stared at him, trying not to press too hard for what he was about to tell me. "One shot to the head," I offered. "Quick and clean?"

"I had the same thought," he replied as he glanced over to me, then looked back at the bottle. "It would be so easy… I pressed the gun to his head and… Remembered something. How my parents died." He shuddered and gripped the bottle tighter. "Sure you want to hear this…?"

I nodded and took another sip. "What happened?"

"My parents opened a small grocery. We lived on the floor above," he began. "A loud noise woke us one night. They wanted cash, register was empty, so they stormed upstairs. Forced us all to kneel and demanded my dad tell 'em where he hid the money." He paused and took another drink. "Mostly I remember my mom cryin' while my dad swore they'd found all we had… One was skezzed out of his mind. He fired first, blew half my dad's skull off."

My heart sank as I heard it, and I let out a pained sigh. "Jesus, River… I'm sorry."

He shook his head. "He was erratic, went rabid. Handed me his gun and ordered me to aim it at my mom's head. I can still see her tear-filled eyes at the end of that barrel to this day. I just stood there, frozen. Finally, he just snatched the gun back, shot my mother, and they left. Police never caught 'em. That was why I joined the force. I couldn't live with scum like that roaming free, no one to hunt 'em."

I exhaled shakily and took another drink. "Was Joss there too? Saw all this?"

He shut his eyes and nodded. "Mhm. And I think, when she looks at me, she still sees that boy holdin' a gun to her mom's head."

I shook my head and breathed, "Can't tell you how sorry I am. That's horrible."

"No, V," he looked at me again. "I'm the one who's sorry. I treated you like crap for being a merc because you were taking down those kinds of people better and faster than I was. You were right about what happened when I reported to Internal Affairs, and you were right about Harris. When I stood over him in that hospital bed, barrel to his brow… I was that kid again, but I was also the junkie who shot my parents. It wasn't right. I've ended a few lives in my time, but… never like that. Never an execution. I slipped outta the hospital quick, told myself the case was closed. I wanted you to come tonight so I could tell you that I'm sorry, and that in truth, I wish I could be more like you."

I offered a comforting smile. "Thanks, but you really don't have to apologize. What now, though? Are you going back to the PD?"

He shook his head. "No, that's done. But 'PI' has a nice ring to it. Who knows – maybe you and I can roll together again. Worked a couple of times, right?"

My smile widened at the suggestion, but the kids quickly ran up to us and completely snapped us out of the moment.

"Uncle River!" Dorian called. "You said you'd play with us!"

"You promised!" Monique added.

River grinned and set down his bottle. "Alright, alright, let's go. V, join us?"

I raised a curious eyebrow and stood up to follow them, my brain now buzzing with all the information I just ingested.

The game we played was called "Big Trouble in Heywood." It was an Augmented Reality game where the "bad guys" were simulated images we'd shoot at with fake (but realistic-feeling) guns. River asked me to let the kids win, though more than once, I instinctively made quick shots to the targets that jumped out instead of letting the kids get them. I held back just enough that they still won when Joss interrupted the game to announce that dinner was ready. The kids were reluctant to stop playing, but they raced each other to the table, leaving River and I behind.

River laughed as they ran, then looked at me with a bright smile. "Thanks for lettin' em win. They had fun."

I chuckled and shook my head. "Nah, they're great kids. It's no problem."

He raised an eyebrow and continued smiling as we locked eyes. "Seems they took a liking to you, too."

I kept staring at him as the space between us seemed to get smaller and warmer, but Joss yelled out that dinner was waiting, so we both sighed and walked over to the table outside. I kept ahead of River so he wouldn't see my cheeks flushing red again.

"We kicked their big butts!" Dorian announced.

Joss hummed interestedly. "The bad guys?"

Dorian looked confusedly at her, then replied, "Huh? Oh, yeah, the bad guys, too!"

I laughed to myself at what he meant as I sat down, then started digging into my bowl of jambalaya. Joss shot River a competitive look.

"Time to see if this tastes as good as it smells."

I looked up at River. "Unemployment's been good to you. You seem good."

Joss smiled. "River's been discovering the joys of family life."

"That and police duty – never a good mix," he added. "This here's a way to get some of those years back."

"I haven't seen him this… untroubled in a while," she observed gratefully. "What about you, V? You got a family, or just relations?"

I took another bite and explained, "Grew up in Heywood. Whole street was my family. Neighbors helped each other out, thought nothin' of it."

She nodded. "Well… you brought my family back to me, and I'm grateful." She cast a sly sideways glance to River and smirked, "And my brother likes you."

"Joss!" he whined.

She shrugged but maintained her smile. "Well, why hide it?"

Monique joined in the fun, "Who thinks V and Uncle River make a good couple?"

Both kids raised their hands. Joss watched me and River to see who would make a move, and with both of the kids looking at us as well, I decided to make the bold move and I raised my hand.

"Haha, I do!" I called out.

Both kids broke out laughing while River looked down at his bowl, his face heating up to a deep shade of red.

"V just voted!" Dorian giggled.

River dropped his forked and embarrassedly stood up. "Well, that's decided…" he noted nervously and started walking away.

I was worried I'd gone too far, so I decided to go after him. I made a noise like radio static and started talking into my hand for the kids' entertainment, "Got an 11-99, officer needs backup."

River laughed and shook his head. "C'mon, pull you outta this ambush. Thanks, Joss," he called sarcastically.

I got up from the table, but as I left, I noticed Joss had a victorious grin on her face. I was relieved that River wanted me to go with him, and I felt like had confirmation on where this night was headed. My heart was racing when I caught up to him. "Phew, situation was gettin' dicey," I whispered quietly to him as we walked.

"That's what partners are for," he replied confidently. "You were about a hair's breadth away from havin' to look at photo albums."

"Ha!" I chuckled. "You're just getting out of doin' the dishes, admit it."

He nodded, "Also true, which gives us two reasons to go. Here we are."

We reached a water tower that was surrounded by a tall fence topped with barbed wire.

I looked up at the tower. "What're we lookin' at?"

"A water tower. Great spot," he replied as we reached a door in the fence.

I raised an eyebrow. "Great for what?"

He shrugged. "Y'know, the views, havin' a drink, shootin' the shit. Anything."

My throat seemed to close. No one gave a shit about views of Night City unless you owned one of the tallest towers, and we were about to be alone after a pretty nice evening together.

He rattled the gate to try to open it, but it wouldn't budge. "Ah, fuck, gate's stuck again. Gonna fix it one of these days," he lamented. "Lemme give you a boost. Climb over and open it from the other side."

I smirked at him and jumped over the fence on my own with the help from my implants. I landed with a thud on the other side and kicked open the gate.

"And we're leapin'!" he laughed and seemed impressed. "On our way." He led me towards the first ladder up the water tower. "Area's not bad, actually. Unlikely to dazzle. Make a good first impression, though."

I hummed in agreement. "Certainly no Corpo Plaza."

"No, but life's livable here," he added. "Know of worse places to raise kids."

"Hmm. Randy's problems with the law? Those didn't pop outta thin air…" I implied.

"True," he agreed. "But Randy takes after his old man. He'd find trouble in a nicer neighborhood, too."

I nodded. "I get it. I live in one of the Megabuildings. Dunno how people safely raise families there, either."

"How does anyone do it in Night City?" he asked as he reached the top of the last ladder. "Apparently the worst city between the Atlantic and the Pacific."

Once I reached the top after him, I took in the view for a moment as well. The red light from the top of the tower washed over us, but in the distance, I could see a good deal of the Night City skyline. I had to admit, even though I wasn't there for the view, it was pretty nice.

"I sure do love this," he continued as he stared at the city and sat down. "Find it calming."

I nodded and cautiously sat next to him, our legs almost touching as they hung over the edge of the catwalk. "View's pretty good, I gotta say. Great spot, indeed."

He looked at me and smirked. "Heh, told ya. Here, got something for you." He picked up his revolver from his holster, weighed it in his hand, and handed it over to me.

I frowned with surprise as I took it. "Your piece?"

He nodded. "Had her a long time. Too long. I think it's time she found a new owner, and I think you've got your head on straight enough that I can trust you with her."

I smiled and looked up at him, now almost feeling embarrassed that I didn't think to bring anything to give to him for leaving the PD. "I dunno what to say…"

"Just promise you won't blow your foot off," he replied.

My eyes widened and I chuckled, "Oddly specific request."

"Joss' husband did it," he explained. "Drunk. This very spot."

I laughed and holstered the gun. "Which made this your special spot! Family landmark?"

He nodded and grinned. "Something of the kind. I forgot to ask, what happened to you last night? You got a pretty long scar on your arm, there…"

"Nah, that's nothin'," I waved it off. "Hazard of the trade. Just some Maelstroms up to their usual gonk ideas. Ripper fixed me up before I went home, so the scar should be mostly faded in a couple of days. Honestly, been havin' such a great day here that I kinda forgot about it."

"Heh, good," he smiled. "Up for a drink?"

"Oh yeah," I replied and leaned back. "Somethin' strong's sure to hit the spot."

"Now that I understand," he hummed mischievously as he retrieved a bottle.

He sat back down next to me, and our legs and feet touched for a moment. He held out the bottle in front of me to give a toast while he looked down at me. I looked up at him, my heart in my throat, and I was sure this was the moment.

I put my hand on his arm and leaned in to kiss him, whispering, "To us."

He jolted backwards and nearly dropped the bottle over the edge. "Woah! V…"

My entire body tensed in shock, and I felt my stomach twist. "Oh my god… I'm sorry, I thought…"

"Riiight, uh…" he breathed uncomfortably. "Listen…"

"I-uh… Look, no need to explain," I quickly talked over him as I slid myself a few inches away, wishing I could just slide off the water tower and fall to a quick death. "I-I get it, and it's fine."

He still looked completely stunned, but he still looked at me and not away. I had to think of a distraction, so I grabbed the bottle out of his hand.

"To Night City," I toasted and gulped down three shots worth, then took a deep breath and handed the bottle back to him.

He took it nervously, but then raised it towards the city. "To Night City."

I stuck my gaze on the skyline, still contemplating if the fall from the tower would be enough to break my neck, or if I should follow Joss' husband's example and shoot myself, or if there were any local Maelstrom available for another bloody ritual – anything not to be in the most awkward moment I could imagine. But as the alcohol poured down my throat, I figured that drinking would be my closest escape. "Got any more of that?" I asked.

River nodded. "Two bottles of whiskey and a case of beer oughta be enough."

"Huh," I huffed, kinda hoping he was feeling just as awkward. "We'll see about that."

We drank both bottles of whiskey dry, though I slowed down as I could tell he was starting to get tired. No more was said of the attempted kiss or about anything that wasn't making fun of gangoons we had met. Regardless of how relaxed the alcohol tried to make me feel, as soon as River was fading, I delta-ed the hell outta there.