Afternoon, on the Highway
"Kid's asleep."
V checked the rearview mirror and sure enough, the kid was leaning on the window and snoring softly.
"...you know what, I'm not that surprised."
He caught a glimpse of Panam's raised eyebrow and shrugged. "This has gotta be the most peaceful stretch for him in a long while based on that footage. Heh, this might even be a vacation for him."
"...I'd say you're nuts if we were talking about anyone else," remarked the Aldecaldo. She then glanced at Shinji. "But I've gotta ask you V, do you have a plan?"
The merc shot her a quizzical look. "You heard me back at the camp. We're gonna -"
"I'm not talking about the doc" she said, cutting him off. "I mean, what is he gonna do in the city? You just gonna plant him in an apartment or a hideout between the doc's sessions?"
"Panam, he won't last a minute out on those streets alone. Not to mention Arasaka's probably looking for him."
"I'm not saying to hand him some iron and take him with you on your jobs. But leaving him cooped up alone sounds like a bad idea."
V grimaced; she had a point. What if something happened to the kid, like a panic attack? So he had to leave him with someone who would watch him when they weren't around. The question was who did he trust that much and for how long.
"I'll…think of something." Panam shot him a skeptical looked, but he ignored her. "Don't worry, I'll have something planned out by the time Vik is done with him."
He hoped he would. He had to.
Night City Border Crossing Station
Early Evening
Shinji awoke to the sounds of tapping. He slowly and tiredly sat up straight as he rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes.
Panam and V sat in the front, talking to some heavily armed people. Shinji's mind was too foggy to register what they were saying properly.
V rolled down the window and allowed the border agent to look inside.
"Reason for entry?"
The Agent asked, eyeing Shinji, who was still trying to wake up.
"We're trying to get a new life here in Night City."
The agent nodded slowly before examining the vehicle. V could tell the agent wasn't buying the story.
"You sure this kid belongs to you? Doesn't seem like he came from either side of you two."
The agent was right, Shinji was Japanese and neither of them was or even looked like him. Nervousness washed over both the merc and nomad but soon said the merc had an idea.
"Hey uh, how much was the border crossing fee again? Ten-Thousand?"
The agent stopped for a moment as if considering the offer. V knew they were all corrupt, they would take a bribe one way or another.
. . .
"It's Fifteen Thousand."
Immediately as the agent finished his sentence, V transferred the large sum of EuroDollars to them.
It was barely noticeable, but V could've sworn he saw a small smirk form on the agent's masked face.
He waved at another border agent who nodded and pressed a button.
The barriers immediately began to lower allowing the vehicle to pass through unobstructed and the guards lowered their weapons.
"Enjoy your new life in Night City. Stay safe."
He patted the roof of the car and stepped back, allowing them to cross. V nodded and unparked the car, moving forward through the checkpoint.
A small lump formed in V's stomach as he remembered how bad this whole situation was, but he quickly shook it off as he drove past.
"So, we go to Vik's, then what?"
Panam asked, setting up the navigation to Vik's clinic on the car's GPS.
"Unsure, We might need to head to Misty's Esoterica first. She might also be able to help Shinji with his trauma or something. She's good with that stuff."
Panam turned to him with a confused look.
"You mean the tarot card lady? I guess she might be able to help…"
She gave it some thought as the car drove down the long stretch of road.
She watched as the sun was barely visible over the horizon, closing the curtains of the day.
"I'm going to call her, and let her know to wait for us when we get there."
"Alright."
V pulled out his phone and pressed Misty's contact, calling her, all while keeping his eyes on the road. The phone rang a bit before the other side of the line connected.
"V? It's been a while… How have you been?"
V braced himself to speak as it had been ages since they last spoke.
"It's been good… We finally got the tumors under control and removed, so I'm still alive and kicking."
"That's good! I'm glad to hear that, although I feel like this isn't just a check-in call."
V chuckled, he knew the spiritual woman would catch on quickly.
"No, it isn't. We have a kid here who might need your help, he needs some special help that I think you can help with best."
There was a pause.
"Is this for a job?"
. . .
"No, it isn't. We rescued a kid from a ruined facility where Arasaka and Militech found him. He has a lot of mental baggage that I thought you might be able to help out with."
The city grew ever closer as they saw the lights of Rancho Coronado shine brighter. Misty sighed.
"Bring him here, I'll check him out."
"Thanks, we might also hand him to Vik to see if he is able to get some implants."
. . .
"Alright, I'll let him know. Just head into the shop when you arrive and call me if I'm not there."
"Gotcha, I'll see you then."
With that, the call hung up and V was left back to driving. Panam didn't speak and neither did Shinji who was already awake.
Shinji stared out of the bulletproof window and out towards the badlands. He saw the strange and unfamiliar landscape with unease.
He felt every bump in the road as they drove through the true border of Night City. He watched as the city's infrastructure began to surround them.
The denizens of Night City could be seen minding their own business, ignoring the armored car. It was an odd sight to see; the brightly colored and ragged clothing they wore. The most glaring things however were the mechanical bits and pieces that poked out, covered or flat-out replaced parts of their bodies.
The streets were somewhat dilated and littered with trash. Occasionally he would see bullet holes and dried-out smears of blood dotting walls and sidewalks.
A faint stench wafted into the car, entering Shinji's nose with a violent entry. It was foul and smelled like when NERV was under siege…
The teen gagged and covered his nose, cringing in absolute disgust at the vile miasma in the air. He tried not to focus on the thoughts associated with this smell.
It smelt like something was constantly burning.
He shook his head back into reality seeing the lights up ahead.
Or to be more specific, the city head.
Towering Skyscrapers that lit up the sky with neon lights.
Holographic advertisements shot straight upwards, in an ever going attempt to catch people's eyes.
Flying vehicles soared in the areas around it, weaving around the towers to reach some sort of destination.
The sounds of voices were blasted on speakers, talking about their products or doing a public service announcement about never leaving home without some form of protection.
It was a rather ugly sight…
Yet at the same time…
Hauntingly Beautiful…
V looked back in the rearview and saw Shinji staring out into the city. He saw the wonder in his natural eyes.
The merc chuckled before turning back to face the road, but he was quickly drawn to sounds of gunfire ahead.
Panam's head perked up as she too heard it. They could see it happening up ahead.
A gang shootout…
And they were driving right into it.
"Shit, it's 6th Street. We have to turn back now or we'll get caught in the crossfire and I'm not gonna deal with these morons."
"Agreed."
The car quickly swerved around, sending Shinji's face smack dab into the window with a yelp.
The dusty vehicle rapidly made its way out of there and headed down a road that didn't have an active gang shootout.
Shinji fell back into his seat with a thud, his head hurting from the sudden impact on the window.
"You alright back there?" Asked V, not looking back so he could focus on the slowly improving dilapidated road ahead.
"Y-Yeah I'm fine…"
Misty's Esoterica
Watson, Night City
The car came to a stop in a spot just off the alleyway that led to the mystical shop.
V shifted the drive to park and opened the door, taking his first step back in Night City. Panam followed suit, opening the door for Shinji who somewhat struggled to get out of the tall vehicle.
The woman sighed and helped the rather pathetic kid down.
"T-Thanks…"
She brushed it off and watched as V came around the car and stopped in front of them.
"Can't believe it's been 2 years since we stepped foot here."
Panam murmured as her eyes flickered around the alleyway. Not much has really changed as she observed the dark street.
"Here, let's head inside."
The pair followed him into the store, where a small wind chime sounded their entry. A blond mess of hair could be observed moving behind the counter.
"Is that you V?"
The sounds of clinks and clanks from bottles could be heard from there.
Misty popped up from behind there and straightened up, a small yet warm smile forming on her face.
"It's me."
Chuckled the merc, who stepped forward to greet his old friend. Panam followed behind him while Shinji stayed back, not wanting to be a distraction in this reunion.
Misty waltzed over and lightly hugged him before looking behind him.
"Is this Panam? It's nice to meet you."
She reached out her hand to which Panam took it and shook.
"I am, It's good to finally actually get to formally meet you."
"Likewise."
. . . .
Misty saw the boy shyly standing behind her, she knew he was very nervous.
"Is this the boy?"
She questioned, to which V responded with an affirmative grunt.
She smiled and leaned over, trying to appear friendly to him.
"Hi, V never told me your name… I'm Misty, Misty Olszewksi. What's yours?..."
He hesitated for a moment before managing to mutter out a sentence.
"I-I am Shinji Ikari. It is a pleasure to meet you…"
. . .
. . .
"Well Shinji, Mind if I did a tarot reading for you?"
. . .
. . .
. . .
"S-Sure I don't mind…"
Aaaahhhh! This one took quite a bit of time to make! I got stuck a few times before I got some much appreciated help from a fan of the fic: Darkscythe Drake!
He helped write the first part and some details around the chapter, so Thank you so, SO much for your help!
Anyways, I must now get someone to do a tarot reading on Shinji!
Thanks for reading this chapter!
-DerpymanMT
Deus