Standing on the train, David felt liberated- and lonely. Today was the first time he'd truly felt his mom's death instead of the gray, emptiness he'd been feeling since. It was hard, being honest. He'd had to put effort into getting himself out of the apartment today, taking a shower and putting on his mom's-no his jacket now.

He almost wished the emptiness would come back instead of this new feeling.

But, on the bright side, at least he'd finally put Katsuo in his damn place, the smug prick. He kinda wished he'd done even more, but thankfully his brain caught up to stop him from getting into even more shit than he already inevitably is.

A sudden flash of pastel rainbow, the same hair he'd seen on that woman a couple days ago, flittered into his vision. Through the reflection of the train window, he could see the woman, standing behind a corpo minding her own business until she swiftly lifted her hand and snatched the gonks Shard.

He saw her do it again to another corpo gonk before he lost sight of her.

"Huh?" He muttered to himself in confusion, trying to pinpoint where she'd gone. After looking around a bit to try and find her, he gave up and turned back around. Maybe the window reflection would help him find her again?

BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP

David's eyes widened before his Sandevistan activated instinctually, slowing time down to a crawl again. Swiftly turning around, he saw his Shard flowing into the woman's hand like she'd done with the other gonks on the train before swiftly moving towards her and catching her by the wrist right as she grabbed his Shard.

With a small gasp, the woman quickly looked at him in surprise. Both of them just stood there for a moment, staring at one another in a standoff to see who would make the next move.

Before either of them could do anything, both felt a surge of electricity flow from the Shard in her hand. While ordinarily, their reactions would be to drop whatever was shocking them, this time it felt… different. Like, they were meant to feel this shock.

BZZT

Just as the shock was getting almost unbearable, David remembered.

David was laughing. He was facing inevitable death at the hands of Adam fucking Smasher, but all he could do was laugh. He'd won, after all. He'd saved Lucy- finally fucking saved someone he loved. And the one he saved was the one he loved the most. His Lucy was finally safe, and could finally make it to the moon and fulfill her dream.

"I had some fun, after all." The machine- for that's what this prick was at this point, all machinery with maybe 5% organics left- said. "You know, you could prove an interesting construct."

Fuck that, he'd already won, no need to become a 'Saka toy and spoil the victory.

"Whatever, choom. Like I give a shit" He responded with the biggest shiteating grin he could muster. Most of his Cyberpsychosis had left him at this point, leaving him with a clear mind to only think of Her.

"Oh, well." Smasher responded with slight disappointment in his voice. Good, let the fucker be disappointed, hopefully that arrogance would come back to bite him in his non-existant ass.

The cyborg lifted his arm, opening a compartment on the forearm for a gun to pop up.

All David could do was smile. He'd really protected her in the end. He'd finally done it, even if the price to pay was his own death. But as long as Lucy was alright, he could face the reaper with a smile on his face.

As his life flashed before his eyes, however, a small regret began to form. While he was sending her to the moon, he wished it could've been both of them, together instead. If he could go back, he'd have made a lot of different choices, listened to her more and gotten rid of some of his Chrome. Focused on her more…

While David was gonna die with a smile on his face, he couldn't deny his feelings, especially at the end of the line. If he could've had one more chance, he would focus more on them, rather than carrying the dreams of the dead. If only he could have one more chance…

And suddenly he was back.

Eyes widening dramatically, David kept his gaze on Lucy's face, trying to catch any form of recognition in her eyes, but only saw her eyes glazed over, ignorant of the world around her.

Unable to stop himself, David moved his hand from gripping her wrist to intertwining their fingers together. Taking comfort in feeling her for the first time in what felt like a lifetime, David gently squeezed her hand.

"Lucy?" He asked quietly, unsure if she would remember him- or if this was even real. Maybe it was some fucked up BD developed by Arasaka, or maybe this was heaven. Either way, he didn't care. He just wanted her.

"Luce? I'm here. Come back to me, please."

With a sudden gasp, Lucy's eyes regained cognizance, staring at him in a mix of emotions- shock, happiness, anger, sadness, but most importantly, he could still see the love in her eyes.

"D-David…?" She asked with desperation, clearly unsure if he was there or not. Tears started to form in her eyes, and her hand tightly squeezed his back.

Unable to stop himself anymore, David pulled her towards him into a tight hug, left hand bracing the back of her head against his chest. He put all of the love he felt for her in that hug, trying his best to make up for all of his mistakes with it.

"I'm so sorry, Lucy…!" He felt tears of his own starting to form in his eyes, spilling down his cheeks as the raw emotion he felt started overwhelming him. "I'm so sorry I couldn't stay alive with you! I'm sorry that I couldn't get to the moon with you!"

At this point, he was sobbing quietly into her hair, still holding her as tightly as he could. All of his previous regrets had come bubbling up at this point, making him cry even harder.

"I'm just- so sorry…! Lucy!"

"David…" He heard Lucy quietly start, as she grabbed the hand holding the back of her head so she could look at him. As she lifted her head to look at him, her hand tightly gripped his own as her own tears trailed down her cheeks. "You're really here. David…!"

Letting go of his hand, she cupped his face with both hands before kissing him with more love and passion than any of their previous kisses.

After their kiss finally ended, both of them rested their foreheads against each other, just staring into the other's eyes. They stayed like that until they felt the train lurch to a stop, snapping them back to reality.

"So, this is actually real…? Did-did we really get a second chance?" David questioned after the majority of their car had gotten off. He was still a bit wary of this being a 'Saka experiment.

"I-I'm not sure. But it feels real. So, even if this is a trap, even if Arasaka has somehow found me, I don't care. As long as you're here, David, I don't care what happens anymore." Lucy admitted, still holding his hand tightly, afraid to let go in case he would disappear if she did.

And David felt the same. Even if this was a setup, as long as Lucy was here, that's all that mattered. And with that thought in place, David spoke up suddenly.

"Lucy! L-let's do things differently this time. As I was dying, I realized that the only regret I had was that I couldn't stay with you. That I didn't listen to you." David stated, staring into the Netrunner's eyes. "Let's just change things. We can prevent Maine, Dorio and Kiwi and Rebecca from dying. We can actually go to the moon together this time! I prom-"

"I don't care about the moon, David…!" Lucy interrupted harshly, tears starting back up again. "I stopped caring about that rock in the sky a long time ago! The only thing I want you to promise me, is that you'll stay with me forever…!"

She stopped to sob gently, panting erratically at the panic setting in.

"Promise me that you won't leave me again!" She pleaded desperately as a panic attack started forming at the thought of being alone on the moon again. "Please, David! I don't care where we go, as long as you're with me. You're my moon, not that rock in the sky!"

"..." David stared at Lucy in slight shock, not expecting the shift in perspective of her dream. The more he thought of it though, the happier it made him. The more love he felt.

"I promise, Lucy." He smiled at her, gently stroking the back of her hand with his thumb. "No matter what happens this time, I will stay with you. I won't leave you alone again, okay?"

Lucy threw herself into his arms, allowing him to wrap her in another strong hug, placing her ear against his chest to hear his heartbeat.

As they stood there, she heard his heartbeat stronger and stronger, and she smiled. They truly had been given a second chance, and they would both make sure that they took full advantage of it.

As long as they had each other, nothing else mattered

Author's Notes: So, this is the first story I've ever written. I've been thinking about writing a bunch of other stories for years, but could never really get the motivation to do it. I even struggled a bit to get the motivation to write this short first chapter. So, as a full warning: If there are any more updates to this, expect sporadic updates.

On top of that, don't expect any other potential chapters to get much longer than this one. The reason? Simply put, this story is for me. Like the description said, this is my copium for the tragic ending of Edgerunners :')