Warning, this is probably the longest one shot I've written so far! It has about the length of Archangel but a bit more. I still hope you enjoy it!
It also got some Viktor in it because we all need more Viktor in our lives.
This one takes place 3-4 months after the end (The Sun ending/Afterlife ending).

UPDATE: I added about one more page of dialogue between V and Ariel and V and Viktor, after the bathroom scene. Thanks nensha for the input!


"Alright, looks good on my end", Viktor said and threw one last glance at the screens before he shoved them aside and gave V a nod. "How are you holding up? The new pills doing some good?", he asked.

"Can't complain, I guess", V shrugged and slowly got off from the Ripper Doc chair. "Not feeling better but... also not worse."

Viktor hummed. V didn't know if it was a that's-good-hum or the opposite. And truth be told: he didn't want to know. But Viktor wasn't so kind to leave him in the dark about it.

"Three months, I think."

"That's one more than you gave me last time."

Viktor nodded slowly, his eyes on V. "Your situation didn't get worse, that's why. But...", he hesitated but V just waved aside.

"Yeah not better either. I know, I know." There was a moment of silence between the two of them before V decided to fill the void with words. "Hey Vik. Got any plans for tonight?"

Viktor blinked, a bit thrown off by that sudden question. "Not really. Why?", he said and rolled with his chair towards his desk so he could prepare a new dose of pills for V.

"There's a big fancy party in North Oak tonight, at Eurodyne residence. I got an invite and was thinking that you could maybe be my plus one?"

Viktor lowered his head a bit so he could throw a look at V over the rim of his glasses.

"You want to take an old greaser like me to a celebrity party up at Noarth Oak."

V smirked. "Vik, most of the guests and the host himself are probably older than you. Also, you're some kind of celebrity too, right?"

Viktor turned around, filling up the small plastic bottle with pills. He scoffed. "One that's forgotten, I'm sure, and I don't want to change that. What's the occasion?"

V put on his green blazer. "Release of Kerry's new album's tomorrow. So this is like the pre-release party. It's amazing that he pulled it off in those few months. He promised me to finish it before I... before my... well. Before I flatline for good."

Viktor lifted his head and turned around, worry and compassion on his face. He noticed how V just stared at his feet for a moment, his mind visibly drifting off towards what would come eventually and inevitable. And damn, Viktor wished to be able to do something. But he was already glad that V frequently stopped by to get checked, even though he knew that he had the best Ripper Docs of the Afterlife watching after him.

He got pulled out of his thoughts the moment V lifted his gaze again to throw a smile towards him.

"So. What ya say? Gonna hit it off with me to night?"

"Hmm", Viktor hummed. "Guess someone has to watch that you go easy on the booze. And I don't trust Kerry to do that."

V rolled his eyes but was still smiling. "You sound like Mama Wells when she calls me to make sure I eat well."

"People care about you, V. Live with it!"

"Alright, Papa Vector."

"You take that Papa back", Viktor grumbled with a deep frown on his face.

"Only if you stop to behave like one!", V replied with the smile now turned into a wide grin.

Viktor took off his glasses to rub his eyes before he threw the bottle of pills for V to catch them.

"Yeah yeah just make fun of your most trusted Ripper Doc, we'll see where that gets you. Alright, kid. Where and when do we meet up?"


"Eyes on the road, V", Viktor said casually while he watched the streets of Night City as they drove through them. All those shining neon lights and lies.

"Well I am sorry but I can't get over what you're wearing", V protested after throwing yet another glance at Viktor before he shook his head in mild irritation and focused on driving again.

"What? It's the same stuff I am usually wearing."

"That is exactly my problem, Vik."

"Hey. I don't aim to impress people. And you're the one who wanted to drag me along. Also I put on a fresh shirt, one without blood on it, you have no reason to complain."

"Yeah I start to think that was a mistake and I should've asked Claire instead..."

Viktor smirked. V was sitting there all dressed up, sure he had a netrunner suit underneath the green blazer and Viktor didn't really understand why, but other than that he looked like he was on his way to a fancy office party at Arasaka's. And Viktor himself? Well he didn't give a damn about how he looked like.

"Why me anyway? Don't think one of your other friends would keep it cool among all that glamour and shine and fame?"

V snorted. "He. Yeah that is one reason. But I wanted to give you something back, Vik... you did so much for me and I... I don't know. I felt like I owe you something."

"And you think a party will do that?"

"Hey! It's a high exclusive party! Drinks and music! And when was the last time you had organic food, hu?"

"Hmm good point."

Truth be told, Viktor didn't care about drinks or music or organic food. Or all those famous people that would probably be at this sort of party. He was someone who enjoyed his evening in front of the TV, watching old boxing matches that he'd already seen a hundred times and finish the day with a nice, cold beer. And he would've never said yes to such an invitation – if it hadn't been V who'd invited him.

V's remaining time was short. And Viktor was worried about him. That guy just didn't know how to slow down. When to stop. King of the Afterlife? Invading and hacking Crystal Palace? A relationship with a hot headed Rock Star? Sex, Drugs and Rock'n'Roll...?

But Viktor wouldn't word his worries. V was an adult and it wasn't up to him to tell him what to do with the time given to him. But he figured that it would be nice to share that time once in a while. Wasn't that often that V made up some free time for ol' Viktor in his basement clinic. So he would grab the chance to spend a night with him – and yes, maybe he would have an eye on the amount of booze V would consume.

They weren't the first to arrive. Not even the second. When V parked the car in front of the mansion, they saw a lot of expensive vehicles standing around in the drive way or close to the road and just like that a Delamain was about to take off and fly away after dropping off who-knew-who.

V got out of the car and took in a deep breath. Blasting music hit him right in the face, together with the mumbled mix of voices, laughter, mingling and chatting people, women screeching, men cheering.

V let out a whine and Viktor raised an eyebrow. "You're not a fan of this, are you"

"Nope", V sighed. "I don't think I know anybody and they are all this eccentric and loud kind of people and all of this is not really my style..."

"Guess you had a few reasons to drag me with you, hu"

"Yep, need someone to hold my hand", V said with a smirk and Viktor just shook his head with a grin before they entered the place. V flattened his blazer and put on a smiling face full of fake confidence. "But if I learned one thing in my office days, then how to deal with this", he said and made a wide gesture with his hands to point at, well... everything.

It was a warm night and one couldn't say if the party was happening in the house or in front of it. However it looked like most people enjoyed being outside. There were fire bowls all over, several bars that offered drinks for free and preem food and a DJ playing the hottest shit of Night City. But no songs from Kerry's new album – V recognized that.

However one thing he noticed for sure: it wasn't even midnight yet and people were already drunk. And there he'd feared he would arrive too early.

And oh boy he saw himself confronted with a mob of people. While making his way through the mass, he thought that he even recognized a few faces – and was that Lizzy Wizzy over there?! - though he didn't know the names of most of them. Yet V had no eyes for any of them while he was looking for Kerry.

Viktor was behind him but obviously not wowed by anything he saw. Or anyone, on that matter. V wondered if it was even possible to impress this man at all. Would probably take another fight against Razor Hugh to achieve that. However this calm and cool nature, that he basically radiated like a soothing aura, was exactly what V wanted and needed here.

"V!", he suddenly heard a familiar voice calling out his name and suddenly he became much more relaxed. His eyes searched for the source of the voice and he found him in the middle of a group of people, waving eagerly at him.

Kerry just shoved the people aside like they meant nothing to him – which was most likely true – and made his way to V.

"Finally you show up! Already thought you would ditch me", Kerry said and flung an arm around V's shoulder.

"It's called being fashionable late", V stated and earned a snort from Kerry who then turned his head and gave Viktor a greeting nod.

"Viktor."

"Kerry."

For a second or two there was something unspoken between the two men. Viktor was one of the few people who actually knew about the relationship between Kerry and V. Because, as Kerry liked to say, no one needed to know shit about his private life. And V wasn't one to be very open about it either. But Viktor was special to V and Kerry understood.

Viktor gave V a nod of approval and made his way towards one of the bars.

Kerry frowned a bit, his arm still around V's shoulders.

"Never got the feeling Viktor likes me very much", he stated.
"Oh that's just the grumpy old man image he likes to keep up", V said with a thin smile, "Pretty sure he fell in love with you the moment he saw your Vodka collection."

V noticed how Viktor ordered something and not a second later a woman spoke up to Vik, wearing some serious interest on her face. Of course he couldn't hear what she said but V was sure that not all of Night City had forgotten the man who once fought in the finals of the Watson Boxing Grand Prix.

"Come on, want you to meet a few people", Kerry said and got V's attention again though he'd hoped that he wouldn't have to go through a night of shaking hands and meeting people but whatever made Kerry happy.

After learning and forgetting the names of fifteen figure skaters, Kerry's new new manager and someone who looked like he belonged to Maelstrom but had money to golden up every chrome in his body, V decided that he needed a drink. Half way towards the bar he ran into Viktor who seemed to know exactly what he needed – because he carried two glasses and pressed one of them into V's hand.

V took a sip through the straw.

"Vik... is that a Virgin Piña Colada...?"

"Yep", Viktor chirped, feeling completely innocent of this crime.

"Really now...", V sighed, "... excuse me while I make my way to the bar to fill it with something tasty."

"Do what you must, then. I am going to plunder the buffet."

V knew that Viktor meant well. So what, yes, he was a dying man. No cure in sight. And yes, maybe alcohol made the symptoms worse. Dulled the effect of the pills. But then again how much worse could it get? That he would die more?

"Hey choom, can you put in something strong? I don't like my drinks virgin", V said and lifted the cocktail glass, in front of the bartenders face – who just stared at him and then searched for some Rum.

"And your flings?", someone suddenly said next to him and V turned around, almost startled. He relaxed and smirked when he noticed that it was in fact Kerry who just emptied a glass filled with whatever (Martini, most likely) like it was water. That man could chug down booze, it was impressive.

"Nah I prefer my men with some experience", V answered, jumping on the 'hey-lets-act-like-we-just-met-at-the-bar-and-flirt-like-crazy'-train.

"That an invitation?", Kerry purred and there was this look in his eyes, this deep gaze that send a pleasant and hot shiver through V's spine, even though he felt like a rabbit in front of a snake. Helpless prey, surrendered to its hunter. But before he could sulk on this feeling, the bubble burst.

"Hey Kerry. Nice party." The voice was unfamiliar and cold and came from someone behind V. But judging from the look on Ker's face, it was someone he knew.

"Ariel, wow! Didn't expect you to show up but it sure is nice to see you!", Kerry said, dropping the seducing tone in his voice in an instant. He grabbed V by the shoulders and turned him around so he could face the newcomer who just broke into their little chat.

"This is V, my uh... right hand. The little bird who comes and frees me out of every stupid situation I skitter into. Also a really preem merc, if you ever need one. V, this is Ariel. Good pal. Refused to work as chef for me once – his loss, I say. Would've been fine money, Ariel!", Kerry introduced the two to each other. V couldn't help but wonder if Ariel was one of Kerry's exes. Not that he cared that much – Kerry had been living a long life before running into V – but there was a strange tension. At least around Ariel. V noticed something like that – Kerry obviously didn't. Maybe he was just in a too good mood or had too much drinks already or just didn't care enough. Could be all of those things, actually.

"Come to think of it, that was kinda the last time we talked to each other", Kerry said and something in Ariel seemed to snap. Obviously he'd been holding up some front that now collapsed.

"Seriously, Kerry? Seriously? Have you gone senile now or did the drugs finally wiped out the last brain cell that tried to hold up?", Ariel hissed and V took a surprised step back.

And it looked like Kerry was just as confused as he was. "The fuck you're talking about?"

Ariel narrowed his eyes. "I don't know, maybe the fuck we had last week? And you promising me to call but instead you didn't even stay 'til the morning or even invited me to this little get-together, where half of Night City's who-is-who seems to be present? And when I tried to call you the number I had wasn't even working any more!"

Cold. Severe cold was what V felt in that moment. It was like he'd been thrown into a pool of ice. And why did it feel like someone put their hands around his throat and tried to strangle him? He fought hard to keep up his composure, his front and his brain immediately switched into merc-mode, it was an act of self protection, an instinct that kicked in when he was in deadly or tight situations while doing his job. Last thing he wanted was to snap right here, right now.

He took his drink.

"Excuse me. I guess you two have something to talk about", he heard himself say with a diplomatic voice and tone that belonged to an old V, a corpo V, an office rat.

"V, wait- Ariel what the fuck-?! V...!" Kerry's voice seemed to come from far away, like his words had to fight their way through a thick cloud that suddenly engulfed V's brain. He paid him no mind and felt how his body moved him towards Kerry's house and into the bathroom.


V looked at his mirror self.
It was pale.

Of course it was pale – he'd just thrown up.

"Shit", he mumbled to himself and splashed another wave of cold water into his face.

He heard a knock on the door and Viktor's voice.

"V – that you in there? Are you alright?"

'Shit no, I am not.'

"Yeah, yeah don't worry, I'm fine just a bit dizzy, it will be gone in a minute."

"Are you sure? I just saw you basically raging off from the bar. And you were damn white in the face. I can check you up, if you want, see if everything's alright with the-"

"Vik, I'm good. Really", V insisted. It was hard right now to keep the anger out of his voice. Viktor didn't deserve that. Wasn't his fault, after all.

Kerry however...

"Viktor, is V inside?" Speaking of the devil.

V clenched his jaw and hoped for a sudden telepathic connection to Viktor to tell him to lie to Kerry. He didn't want to face him right now. Not like this. Not when he looked and felt so weak. Oh he would face him for sure. But he wanted to do this like an adult. He wanted to tell him: 'Kerry, fuck off' but he wanted to say it with dignity. Not when his feelings were boiling over and made him throw up into the bathroom sink, for fucks sake.

But there was no telepathic connection.

And Viktor had no clue.

"Yeah, guess he's-", Viktor started and Kerry just barged in.

"Could swear I locked the door", V said dryly.

"It's my house, ya know", Ker replied and shut the door behind him and quickly closed the gap between them.

"V – fuck. It's bullshit. I would never-"

"You couldn't even wait for my body to get cold to find someone new to fuck?!", V snapped, giving Kerry no chance to even finish his sentence. It wasn't usual for V to burn hot like this but fuck, this situation was something entirely different. It was at this moment that V realized how much he fucking loved this man – because otherwise he wouldn't be in such a gut wrecking pain. And his words – they hit the right spot with full force. Kerry looked thrown off. Actually hurt. It was no secret to V how much Kerry hated the confrontation with V's inevitable death.

"Yes, me an Ariel we had something going. But that was before I met you and it was actually him who turned me down. Yeah I might have appeared a little bit too desperate back then but fuck, I was lonely. But we haven't met again. And I have no fucking clue what this leadhead is talking about."

"He seemed pretty certain", V said and rather stared at the pale face in the mirror than at the man next to him. "Didn't look like he was faking his disappointment either."

"I know, I know. And it makes no fucking sense. V. I would never cheat on you." Kerry grabbed V's shoulder to force him to turn around, to face him. V wanted to resist but found no strength to do so. Yet it was impossible to look Kerry straight into his eyes right now.

"I know how it feels like, okay? And I wouldn't want anyone to ever feel it too. Specially not you", Kerry said.

V frowned. But said nothing.

"Once caught a guy I've been with balls deep in another guys ass. In my own fucking bed. Believe me. I do know how it feels like. It crushes your heart in the most fucked up way possible and only utter human garbage would cheat on their partners. Those things are not fucking accidents. It's not like you slip and oh, surprise, your dick landed in the naked ass of someone else! V. You gotta believe me."

V had to admit there was sincerity in Kerry's voice. And honest hatred about cheating, too. Yet it made no. Fucking. Sense.

"So... what. You wanna tell me Ariel made it up – why? What would he gain from confronting you with something you'd never done? I'm sorry, Ker. But it makes no sense."

"V... I... I don't know, okay? Maybe he's gone Cyberpsycho or wants to fuck with me for whatever reason...!"

As much as he wanted to – V found it hard to believe Kerry. And Ker on the other hand seemed to sense it.

"Alright. What's... what's your rate. As a merc."

"Say what now?"

"Your rate. Pay scale. How much money do you take for a job. Ah f-fuck, forget about that, I pay whatever."

"Kerry. What. The fuck."

"You do infiltration, correct? Gathering of information too, right? Well I wanna hire you to find out what the fuck this stupid gonk is talking about."

V closed his eyes. "Kerry this is...", he started with a sigh.

"What? You do it or not?"

V opened his eyes again and offered Kerry nothing but silence for a few moments that seemed to stretch to an eternity. Part of him just wanted to get away. From Kerry, this party, this house, everything. Grab a bottle of whatever, go home, get drunk, maybe yell into his pillow. Another part of him, however, just didn't want to believe that Kerry would actually cheat on him, no matter what Ariel had said, no matter if it made no sense for Ariel to lie about it, either. He couldn't possibly know about their relationship, so why bother destroying it? And it was one thing to lie in front of media or the public about having a one night stand with Kerry Eurodyne but why confront Kerry himself with it if it wasn't the truth?

And that was the thing.

If it wasn't the truth.

V was torn between trusting Kerry and trusting his common sense.

But alas – there was also the professional in V.

"Alright. I will dig for the truth. And I will dig it out. That's not a promise – that's a threat", V said before he shoved Kerry aside and left the bathroom without another word.

Kerry suddenly saw himself confronted with a side of V that he never got to see before. He knew that this V existed – the V who wasn't a sweet and cute gonk that send him smileys and cringy but oh so lovely messages. Kerry knew that there was a ruthless V too, the man who wiped out entire gangs, unseen, hiding in the shadows. The man who hacked and reprogrammed a whole Militech base and forced their tech to kill every single soldiers inside, a man who made Cyberpsychos his bitch without blinking an eye – or actually turned people into Cyberpsychos, turning them against their allies. The streets thugs knew his name and they feared it.

Kerry wouldn't exactly say that he was scared but suddenly he wished they would've just yelled at each other for a while, maybe thrown a bottle or two against the wall, maybe cried a bit, figured out that Kerry didn't lie and Ariel was a fucking asshole, had intense makeup sex – and everything would be preem again by the morning.

But Kerry knew: life wasn't a love song.


Fresh air was good. Fresh air was nice. Even though the air was still filled with voices and blasting music and it was giving V a headache, he felt better after he'd left the bathroom. Or maybe it was because he wasn't stuck with Kerry in a tight room anymore.

He took in a deep breath and tried to concentrate. There was a vortex of emotions swirling inside of him, somewhere between wanting to scream, throw up again, smash something and an almost frightening tranquillity. But maybe that was just the calm before the storm. V figured that it was the best to focus on what he needed and wanted to do instead of trying to sort the chaos in his mind and head right now. Was no use anyway.

V found Ariel at the edge of the party. He was sitting on a lone chair and stared into the wilderness beyond Kerry's property and judging from the empty glasses around him, he'd already downed a lot of drinks. V noticed a slight blush on his face – could be anger, alcohol or tears. Part of him didn't give a fuck how this man felt. But it was important information about the sincerity of his claim. Faking emotions through words was easy – but the body spoke its own language.

"Ariel. A word?", V said, his voice cold, looking down on this pathetic piece of a man – in more than a literal way.

Ariel lifted his head and frowned.

"Ah. Kerry's right hand", he scoffed and turned his gaze away again.

"His right hand, head of his security, king of the Afterlife... I have many names. But let's just stick with V for now. And I just got a couple of questions, nothing else. Where did you and Kerry meet last week?"

Now Ariel gave him more than just two seconds of attention. Maybe dropping 'king of the Afterlife' gave him something to think about. Ariel frowned on the question and let his gaze wander over V, from tip to toe, like he could read his intentions that way.

"None of your damn business. That's between me and him alone."

V had to swallow his disgust for Ariel. He didn't even know this man, he wasn't used to have such feelings towards strangers but just the mere thought that this guy and Kerry, naked and entangled in some hotel room-

V took in a sharp breath. Bad timing for such images.

"Well he made it my business by paying me to find out what your game is. It's bad reputation if someone goes around spilling false claims about one night stands, specially that close to the release of his newest album...", V said and for a moment he was amazed by his ability to sound so calm and professional right now.

Ariel however laughed dryly.

"Game? My game? Just piss off already."

What followed was the sound of charging Gorilla arms. Suddenly Ariel sat up straight, his face turning white.

"I usually prefer to do things the kind way but I also have other options to get the answers I want to have", V stated almost friendly and Ariel's eyes widened on the implication.

"D-dark Matter!", Ariel stuttered.

Pathetic piece of...

"It was last week, like I said. I was surprised to see him there, haven't seen him in months. I was sad, I wanted to get drunk and maybe get a bit uh... company..."

"Get to the point."

"I am, jeez! A-anyway Kerry was there and I thought: why not. I regret that I turned him down and cut things off with him... so I thought maybe I could refresh what we had an... you know, in hindsight it was a bit odd and I was pissed off, because he didn't recognize me at first or even remember my name. But I was a bit at a... low point that night. I suppose he was on some mean ass drugs... which would explain why he didn't remember our night last week now...", Ariel continued with bitterness in his voice. "But after a few minutes he seemed to remember and he was so full of energy and so... so charming, in a disarming way, and next thing we got us a room and ended up doing it the whole night only for him to vanish the morning after and I woke up, alone."

God, V just wanted to throw up again.

But he had to focus on the important things Ariel had told him: Kerry acting odd. Dark Matter. Also Ariel clearly didn't sound like a liar. Which just raised the desire in V to actually lift his fists and release the charge into this stupid face and-

"V, hey. What are you doing here." Viktor's voice cut sharp through V's thoughts. He turned around and it was only when he saw Viktor's concerned face that he realized how close he'd gotten to Ariel already, fists raised and all.

"Let's get you home, come on", Viktor said softly and put an arm around V's shoulder to gently force him to leave.

Ariel relaxed visibly.

Just a minute later they were sitting in V's car on their way home.

"Stupid question, I know but: are you okay, V?", Viktor asked.

"No."

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

"No."

For a while they sat in silence, Viktor driving down the streets, V staring through the window.

"You know all those years ago... when I lost the Finals... I remember lying there, on my back, in the ring. Couldn't move an inch. People cheered. But not for me. And I thought: that's it. My chance to be someone in this city – wasted. A once-in-a-lifetime-chance. And I screwed it up. It ate me up... until I realized I had to let go. Things that drag you down... you need to drop them. Or you'll drown", Viktor said and threw a quick glance at V, to see his reaction.

"Can't and won't, Vik. Not this time. They say you shouldn't go angry to bed... but I don't want to flatline without solving this issue. And I will solve it."


The next night V parked his bike in front of the Dark Matter. And his mood could not have been worse. It was the day of the album release – and every screen in this cursed city showed Kerry's face, every radio played his songs. A week ago V had been looking forward to this day. Throw the big party the day before and sit with Kerry on his couch on release day, just the two of them.

The club was full of people. And V didn't need long to find out why and who could be seen in the center of attention.

He grabbed his phone.

"Kerry, where are you right now?"

"Home, ass on the couch where you should be too, why?"

V grit his teeth about this comment that was so absolutely unnecessary right now, but at the same time he suddenly felt how anxiety, anger and pain just rolled off from him like a water drop from a lotus leaf. A sigh of relief escaped his throat.

"Because I am looking right at you right now. You got like two women in each arm and look pretty busy."

"The fuck?!", Kerry yelled from the other side of the phone. "V! Where are you! I am going to-"

"I will handle it, Ker."

And with that V hung up.

With sudden and professional calm he took his time to order a drink at the bar and found himself a nice booth, one without spotlight, one where no one would pay attention to him. Not that it was needed – all eyes where on 'Kerry' right now anyway, praising his new album.

It didn't take him long to get through the firewall, turning off all warning signals about someone breaching in was a bit harder though but only a bit. With that clear he uploaded a tiny Contagion virus into the brain of this 'Kerry' and waited.

And he didn't need to wait long.

'Kerry' suddenly seemed very green in the face and excused himself quickly, forced his way through the people and headed straight towards the bathrooms.

That was when V was right on his heels – and after slipping through the door, he made sure to lock it so no one else could follow.

He found 'Kerry' in one of the stalls, puking out his guts. Quiet and calm V waited for him to finish and then walked over, kneeled down next to him and grabbed him by his hair to force this man to look at his torturer.

"You and me – we're going to have a nice, long talk now, choom."


Two hours later V was sitting where he should've been sitting the whole evening: Kerry's couch.

"Got everything here. His name, address, birth place, family, personal ID, name of his dog. Everything you want and need to know", V said, holding up a data shard while he watched how Kerry walked up and down in front of him, completely furious. The 'fuck' ratio in Kerry's language had never been higher.

Finally Ker stopped and grabbed the shard. "Gonna let my lawyers off the leash. They are going to ruin this fuckers life. He's so fucking screwed. They are going to tear him a new corn hole. Ya know there's a good reason I trademarked my face couple of years ago but that someone out there actually has the guts to-! Again!"

V raised an eyebrow on the again. But he didn't want to dig deeper on that matter. He watched Kerry a while and waited until he was at least a bit more cooled down before he grabbed his hand and stopped him from walking restlessly in circles.

"I'm sorry, Ker. So sorry that I believed even for a second that you would cheat on me. Sorry that I doubted you."

Kerry's constant frown of anger turned into a surprised look by that sudden apology.

"V hey – honestly? It's okay. I don't know how I would've reacted if the tables had been turned."

"Oh but I know. You would've made a scene, trashed a guitar and burned my non-existent yacht."

"Woah. First of all: fuck you. Second: probably."

With a heavy and annoyed groan, Kerry finally dropped on the couch next to V.

"I know I can be a pain in the ass at times, a demanding diva at others and that it's not easy to put up with my shit either", Kerry said with a sudden soft voice, the complete opposite to the angry fire just a few moments ago. "But I would never betray your trust, V. Never."

V smiled.

"Though I am a bit offended, that Ariel didn't notice the difference. You would've noticed the difference, right V?"

"'course I would", V said and Kerry let out a pleased hum.

"Hey Ker... why is it so quiet in here, by the way? Not gonna listen to the newest and hottest album out there...?"

Kerry scoffed. "I've been through these songs so often in the past fucking weeks and months, listening to the demos non stop to smooth them out and perfect them... honestly all I want is some nice, fucking silence right now."

V's gaze fell on the guitar next to the couch.

He pouted.

"Really?"

"Alright. But only for you", Ker smirked and grabbed the guitar, tuned it and hummed the first two tones before hitting the frets. "Whisper your desires in my ear, I won't punish you, believe me, I swear... "


Sooo there is a lot of hidden stuff in this one.
Ariel is indeed a man, even though in the English version it's not really clear but in the original Polish texts it is. You can read about his and Kerry's e-mail exchange on Kerry's laptop in game. (thanks at nensha for confirming!)
The song Kerry sings at the end is once again A Vision Of Your Memories, because it's the song he wrote with V in mind.
The title comes from Never Fade Away.
The thing with the fifteen figure skaters is like a little inside joke I made here (again, btw) - read Kerry's e-mail exchange with Louise to know what I mean.
And finally what gave me the whole plot idea:
As a media-proclaimed "god of rock" and living legend, Kerry had been compelled to put a copyright claim on his own biometric data and sign an agreement with the NCPD to scan for unauthorized replications of his facial structure. The process being necessary can be verified by exploring personal data of a Samurai Psychofan.