David stared listlessly into the window, brain buzzing but thoughts failing to emerge in anything approaching clarity. What now?

His checklist for the day had been pretty much 'go to school, punch that fucker, leave.' with no further planning done. He still owed for the medical bills, the rent… and the savings wouldn't cover all of that. Getting the Sandevistan put in had been an impulsive move, but… he felt… right.

Glancing up, a flutter of almost luminescent hair caught his eye, and he glanced rapidly to one side. Once again, nothing. If it wasn't for the fact he had been seeing this since before the install, he'd be worried this was Cyberpsychosis already. Then, eyes flicking left… he saw her.

More specifically, he witnessed her committing theft. A shard shot out of the port of the man she was standing next to, and with a deft movement, it was snatched out of the air. Oh no, some suit got robbed. What a shame.

Yesterday, he would have gone to go talk to her. Yesterday, he would have been excited, maybe nervous. Today… today he just felt numb. Empty. He felt as though everything was being taken from him. His mom. His future. His shard.

Energy crackled along his nerves as he whipped around, eyes wide. He could see a shard, almost drifting through the air, the echoing beep of his slots muted but ringing in his ears. With a moment of effort, he went from standing in front of her to behind, fingers wrapped firmly around her wrist. Hell no. Cute as she was, he was not getting robbed of his last eddies today.

A moment later, he found himself being glowered at in the back of the car.

"Spill it. What's your angle?"

"Angle?"

"What do you want? You're messing up my work."

He snorted. "Work? If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're a picksocket."

"So what? Gonna put cuffs on me?"

Dammit. He had built up this woman in his head, and she was just a petty thief? That was… kind of disappointing. He had been expecting someone mysterious, suave, and-

Now he was being slammed against the door, hand grasping his chin as the cheap-ass ice on his implants was torn through like tissue paper. As his mind whirled, the unknown mystery thief's voice plucking out all his secrets, including his newly installed and stolen military tech, he was suddenly brought to a halt by an unexpected sentence.
"Hey, crazy idea, how about you and me team up?"

Well… he did need the cash… Shit.


He was havin' a bad motherfuckin' day. First he wakes up with a hangover, then he has to delete a tirade from Camilla for how he ended things. He tried to be nice about it, but she just got pissed off and told him to 'wipe that smirk off his face.' Fuck, ain't like it had to be a mopefest. They were just… different people.

Got chewed out by mama for dumping 'a good Heywood Girl like that'. Took ages for her to calm down, and frankly, the way it happened? He didn't feel too good about that either. He had been washin' dishes when someone came to the door and passed on the news. Mama's scream of despair had chilled his goddamn bones.

He had spent most of the day lookin' around the city center, trying to find his now-orphaned nephew. Dario- no, Gloria's kid, Dario hadn't done shit. He was supposed to be at school, but when he got there he was told by some corpo-rat receptionist that he had been expelled.

Now he was on a train headin' towards Arroyo. His head was still pounding, but his mouth was dry. How the fuck could this happen? Gloria was a good one, she had gotten a good job, gotten out of the shit and muck. Hell, she got her kid a place at that big fancy academy. Even if it didn't rub him the right way, she was trying to get a future she couldn't get herself.

After all the fuckin' bullshit she was put through by Dario… and now this. Even if his fuckhead brother had gotten himself killed and she didn't want nothin' to do with them, Gloria was family. He wasn't about to leave family alone, not now.

Scratching under his ear, he felt a sudden brush of air, and cursed. God-dammit. Fuckin' Picksockets. Turning, he moved quietly down the car. No sense gettin' the pendejo caught, this was mostly corpo idiots who could afford to lose it, but he wanted his shard back. Marching up, he grabbed the yellow jacket and pulled back as the girl he was standing in front of whipped her head up to look at him. Then he blinked, recognizing the jacket and the face glancing up at him in fear and dawning recognition.

"... Uncle Jackie?"

"David?"

The young woman started to back away, and Jackie leveled a look at her. "Oi, none of that chica. You and my nephew up to some funny business, ah? How bout you two come have a drink with me, eh? We'll have a little talk."

She hesitated, looking at David, whose face was going through a number of different emotions, and then back at him. "... yeah, alright. Where to?"

Jackie Welles grinned a big, affable grin, and winked. "Oh, I know juuuust the place." Planting a hand on each of their shoulders, he steered them out of the train as it stopped. The girl looked uncomfortable, but he could see her eyes glancing towards the piece on his hip. He wasn't hidin' the fact he had some rough training, and neither was she.

Still, little odd she was goin' with him willing. Did she like the boy that much already? David, you little charmer you.


An hour or so later the trio sat in a booth in the El Coyote Cojo bar. David was nursing a Broseph, and Jackie was having fun watching the boy try to cover up the fact he hadn't drank nothin' before. He had a Calavera, because he wasn't a newbie who picked a shit beer.

"So I let him start punchin' again, and uh… then I laid him out and left. After that, I got on a train, ran into Lucy here." He nodded over at the girl, who had been listening in interest to the series of events that got a fuckin' military grade piece of hardwear grafted to his spine. Jackie roared out a laugh, and reached over to slap his back.

Ignoring the spittake that this created, he shook his head. "That is one ballsy move. Good for you. Never let anyone badmouth your mom like that, y'hear?" Taking a sip, he shrugged. "... Your dad, I won't complain too much, yeah? Not good to speak ill of the dead, but…"

"My dad?" The slight tremble in David's voice alerted Jackie, thick as he was, that he mighta stepped on a landmine. Looking over, his nephew's hands were wrapped around the bottle like a vice, and there was a far-away look in his eyes. "Mom uh… Mom didn't talk much about him. Or why we didn't see you anymore. I was… I don't remember him well. Hell, I haven't seen you in like 6 years either. I figured Dad's dead too, but…"

Sighing, Jackie put down his bottle and laced his fingers behind his head. "I don't like talkin' about my brother much neither, so gonna make this short. Dario was… Dario was a fuckhead, let's be honest. He was a ganger, but he sweettalked your mom and for a while things were good. Then he started getting ideas, took after my own piece of shit dad. One day he hit your mom, and she broke his fuckin' ribs."

Lucy started laughing into her drink at that, and David cracked a smile, wan though it was. "Sounds like mom, alright. You said was. So he's…"

Nodding, Jackie took another drink, grimacing. "Died in some gutter, dunno how. Been years. Your mom didn't want to mooch off us, and she more or less cut contact when she got her new job, said she wanted distance. We respected that, but well… news gets around, and we keep tabs on the family. Just so happened that a friend of the family heard about the death when they got sent to the hospital yesterday. Spent all day tryin' to find you."

Nodding, David glanced over at Lucy, who was silent and looking somewhat uncomfortable, but making no move to leave. "So uh, about what you found us doin'..."

"Ah, don't worry about it. Fuck them suits, and you were tryin' to get some cash to keep afloat. I get it, David. Hell, I done did the occasional shady thing myself, eh? Your uncle's not too shabby when it comes to the merc work. Anyway, we'll get you sorted out. If you're really insistent on keepin' that uh… inheritance… I'll take ya with me on some starter jobs, yeah? For now… we gotta send your mom off right." Lifting his bottle, he smiled as David clinked glasses.

"To Gloria Martinez." They chorused, and Lucy blinked before putting a hand over her mouth.

"Your mom was Gloria Martinez?"

Looking over, bottles still touching, David nodded. "Uh, yeah. Why?"

"Ooooooh. I get what happened. Fuck." Lucy groaned, putting a hand over her face. Just then, the doors swung open, and a shadow fell over their table. A hulking figure with blond hair and glasses glinting in the light was standing behind Jackie, who tilted his head back nonchalantly to look up.

"Welcome to the Coyote Cojo, choomba. Anything we can get you?"

"Yeah." Rumbled the deep voice of the Edgerunner currently standing at the head of a gang of four others, looming very effectively. "I think that little brat there has something that belongs to me. I ain't too happy when some punk runs off with my purchase."

Lucy started to speak up, but David unintentionally cut her off. "Purchase? What are you talking about?" He was about to continue when Jackie held up a hand.

"Chill out for a sec, let Uncle Jackie handle this. You gonna keep fuckin' accusing my nephew, in my family's bar? Better be ready for a problem." The big man snorted, pointing a thumb at himself as his compatriots sighed at the incoming clash of testosterone.

"Fine by me. Name's Maine. Gonna leave it imprinted on your dumbass forehead, then come back in here and get my shit back. Let's go, jackass."

"Oho, Jackass? Alright then, Jackie Wells, and Imma bout to BEAT your ass, fuckface. Mano a mano, outside, lessgo." Slapping his chest, Jackie stood up. "Oi, Gustavo! If this chrome chingado tries anything funny or breaks my neck, ventilate his crew."

"You got it, Jackie." drawled a voice from the top floor, and Maine looked up to see the various other patrons with hands on weapons.

"Shit, you weren't kidding. Well alright then, don't nobody want a firefight, but I ain't leaving without my kit, ya got me?" With that, the two strode outside. Sighing, a muscular blonde-haired woman turned to Lucy and David, who had been watching all of this in silence.

"Kid, don't suppose you're willing to just hand over that piece quietly before someone gets hurt?" There was the sound of a thud, and a cry of pain from outside. "... More hurt?" Lucy shook her head, running a hand under her hair as she lit a smoke.

"Turns out this here is David Martinez, Gloria's kid. She got zeroed in a car accident by some Animals yesterday, and David found the package in her coat, Dorio." Looking a bit taken aback, the older woman glanced back at the other two with her who were currently standing between the table and the door. A few Valentinos had moved over, and there was now betting going on as to the outcome of the fistfight happening out front.

"Well, shit. Sorry for your loss, kid. But I dunno that Maine's gonna be willing to hand it over that easy." There was a smacking sound, and then Jackie's voice filtered in through the door. As everyone looked towards the door, the smacking continued.

"That's his MOM you stupid hijo de puta! She just got zeroed yesterday and you're showin' up complainin' your toy ain't here in time for christmas? Fuck off!"

In response, the sound of someone crashing into motorbikes followed, and Maine roared "What! Gloria's dead? Fuck, how!" Shrugging, Dorio turned back.

"Sounds like they're figuring it out themselves. So what do we do now."

"Well… I could pay you back the money my mom sent. I was gonna use it to pay for her treatment, but…" He looked down at his drink, then emptied the bottle. She winced, and nodded, hand raising for a second as if unsure whether to try and comfort him or grab Jackie's half-finished bottle and drain it.

Instead, they sat in awkward silence together. A grumbling crowd soon parted, eddies exchanging hands as Jackie and Maine re-entered. Jackie had a black eye, a myriad of bruises, and a busted lip. Maine had a busted lip as well, and Dorio raised an eye and smirked. Rolling his eyes, the big edgerunner ran a hand along his jaw self-consciously. "Hey, fucker ain't half-bad. Besides, we weren't using any fancy shit. Didn't want to start somethin' in the heart of Valentinos territory."

Sitting back down, Jackie grabbed the bottle and drained it in one go, before placing it on the table. "So, we ain't takin' shit out of my nephew, but in fairness, can't expect you to go empty handed. Here's my pitch. David's pretty good with his new gear. Seems he's used it bout 6 or 7 times today."

"Fuck, what!" "No fuckin' way. That scrawny brat?" "Holy shit."

The storm of cursing and disbelieving glances drew the attention of the other patrons, and it took a glare and sharp slam of the table from Jackie to get some privacy again. "Fuckin' nosy gonks… so anyway. Here's what I got. He does some jobs with you, makes up the difference, but nothin' that's gonna get him zeroed off the bat. I got the right to refuse to send him on it or go myself as well, won't even take a cut. We can work out the details later. Think you can live with that?"

Staring down Maine, Jackie didn't blink until finally, the other edgerunner let out an exasperated snort. "Yeah, fuckin' fine. Gloria was a good one. For her sake." Turning to David, he leveled a finger. "Listen kid, you run, I'm takin' my cut out of your uncle's ass."

Smirking a little, David shrugged. "Long as it's not mine. You're not my type."

"Heh. Fuck you, kid. Dorio, Pilar, Kiwi. We're outta here. I'll call you tomorrow to discuss details." With that, the crew exited the bar, and the tension dropped a few levels. Lucy stood up, looking awkward but relieved.

"I should probably head too." As she stood, David's hand caught her wrist again. Looking back, she expected anger, betrayal, or confusion. Instead, his steady gaze took her off-balance.

"Can we talk? Outside or… somewhere."

"...Sure." Looking over to Jackie questioningly, David nodded towards the back door. Shaking his head, Jackie pointed upwards. "Roof's quiet, less people listening. I'll be here, or getting a room ready for you."

The profoundly grateful look on David's face at that kept Jackie feeling warm through half of his second beer, before he realized that he had basically volunteered to adopt a kid.

Fuck. How did you raise a kid? What did you do?

Maybe… maybe he should call a pal on this one. Stiff suit as they were, they were technically more 'responsible', and like fuck he was gonna try to pawn this one off on Mama. She had enough to do.

Dialing, he waited for them to pick up.


Sitting at their desk, V ran a finger down the bridge of their nose and groaned.

This was horseshit. They were Arasaka Counterintel, not a fuckin' childcare worker. And yet, despite this, some high-ranking fucker from the Academy had shang-haied them to find a kid who had assaulted his son in the classroom and then vanished.

Not only that, but they had taken a fucking military-grade implant. All this while Jenkins was conducting some shadow-war against a rival in Osaka. Promotion to Director of Special Operations for Night City was in the cards, which would definitely be a step up if their superior got it. There was some increasingly reckless decisions being made though, and this distraction was not helping.

What next?

The answer was apparently heralded by the contact-id for Jackie Welles. Maybe he was aiming to get drunk tonight. It was pretty late, and if this Tanaka hadn't waylaid them, V would have been heading home already. Sighing, they picked up the call. "Jackie. How are you. I've been sent to hunt down a teenager."

"Huh. No shit. I had somethin' but this can wait. Hunt down like kill em?"

"No, no. Jesus, we're not Maelstrom Jackie. They wanna take a look at him, seems he was an Academy student but he got expelled. Thing is, and fuckin' get this, the kid used a god-damn Sandevistan to punch out his classmate."

The line was silent for a long moment, then Jackie let out a long exhale. "Sounds like we both have a rough day today, choomba. Come on down to the Cojo. We should talk."

"Yeah, alright. Not like the day could get any fucking weirder."

V turned from the kid sleeping on the couch to their friend, then back to the kid, then back to Jackie, before quietly stepping out and closing the door. Exiting the house, they swiveled to face Jackie, and grabbed him by the collar.

"Are you fucking with me right now?"

"Does this look like a joke to you, V?"

"That's your nephew. The kid who somehow rocked a Sandevistan and attacked the kid of an Arasaka Exec is your nephew."

"Yup. I uh… I gotta be honest V. I'm not really buying your line about them wanting to 'just talk to him.'" Jackie said, rubbing his neck as he looked out. "I ain't about to let Arasaka swallow up my nephew."

"Fuck, Jackie… I can't say no to this. If they find out I'm letting this go, or something… I lose everything. I'm fired, no two ways about it." Leaning against a wall, as sirens wailed in the distance, V's fingers dug into their sleeve.

"I know, V, but… fuck. His mom's dead, his dad's dead… I'm the last one of my momma's kids, and he ain't got nobody else but me." Jackie turned, serious and stern, a rare expression for the jovial man. "God-dammit V, you owe me. This is where I draw the line."

The alley was silent for a long moment, before V straightened up. "You're right, I do. I'll try to derail the search a bit, figure something out. I mean, kid's had enough excitement for a lifetime in two days."

"How much trouble could he really be?"

(A/N: Binging game and series, and due to some lively discussion on Toybox, this occurred. Ain't gonna be a straight-up fix fic, and there will be some pain. If you're looking for fluffy-happy no problems, this ain't it. Beyond that... enjoy the intersection of two of Night City's intended legends-to-be.)