The atrium of Megabuilding H10 was dimly lit, with the moon's dark-blue light barely making its way down amidst the enormous structure. Light could be seen in some windows here and there, but most other places that would've illuminated the place during evenings were closed, making the area eerily dark. Especially since almost no one was walking through the corridors of the structure at a time when the night was at its darkest. A female silhouette could be seen sitting on a balcony, which was missing its railing. The woman was staring down at the floor a couple stories down. If anyone passed her right now, they'd probably not recognize her as the reputable mercenary, V. Her face was barely visible, with her dark-blue hair casting a shadow over half of it. Truth be told, the merc has been sitting there for more than an hour now, as she couldn't sleep at night due to the ever-lasting curse of overthinking. She was thinking about the present, future and past. A day has passed since her last malfunction, the one which was witnessed by the two closest women she knew: Judy and Panam. Had they not been there, what would even be the chance of her walking out of that alley alive? Hitting your head on a sharp object in some random alley, all while suffering from an overwhelming seizure wouldn't exactly be an adequate way to go out for an edgerunner such as herself, right? Then V thought about Judy, the person whom she loved the most in the world. Her expression back in that alley: a mix of horror, shock and pain. Pain, which was both physical and emotional. V shook her head with a sigh. She still couldn't find a way to forgive herself for punching her output. Even though she knew that it wasn't her fault and she had no way of controlling herself in that moment, she still felt an immense feeling of guilt eating away at her. How long? How many attacks before she flatlines, not able to find a solution in time?

"You done?" suddenly, a familiar voice could be heard. She looked to her side to see the hologram of the legendary rockerboy stuck inside her head. Johnny Silverhand. Finally. Although she didn't admit it, she was kinda waiting for him to show up with another of his annoying, yet friendly, remarks. She needed a distraction from her paralyzing thoughts.

"Nah, just gettin' started" V rolled her eyes, a sarcastic tone could be heard in her voice

"Y'know" Johnny sat next to her "I liked it better when you were butchering Samurai songs on that guitar when you were feelin' like shit."

"Shut it, Johnny" V sighed, purposely not looking at him "I'm not in the mood for your crap right now"

A click of a lighter could be heard. V turned to the rockerboy to see him taking a puff of the cigarette he's just lit.

"What's eating at you?" he asked, his tone more serious this time.

"Not like you don't know" V chuckled "You're in my head, remember?"

"You know what I mean." Johnny rolled his eyes

V sighed "This whole dying thing is kinda getting on my mind, y'know?" she said "Thinking about it, I'd rather go out on my own terms. Or peacefully, with someone I love by my side" she pictured Judy "But when I look at how things are unraveling, all I can see is me dying from a seizure in an alley somewhere… It's fucked up, ain't it?"

"And what happened to the idea of getting to Mikoshi? What, you're just going to fucking give up?" Johnny said. His tone surprised the merc - it was annoyed, but in an aggressive type of way, with a hint of motivation thrown into the mix.

"All my hope for something better… it died." V shook her head "It's dead and buried in a shallow fuckin' grave. Remember how Judy and Panam had to carry me to the bed? How the fuck do you expect me to do anything when I'm so… weak." her voice cracked at the end.

"Hope is a prison." Johnny stated, taking a puff of his cigarette

"The fuck's that supposed the mean?" V gave him a confused, somewhat annoyed look

"Christ, V, look at yourself!" the rockerboy said, his tone angry. "You're in this weird fuckin' state where you feel like you can't do anything yourself, and have to rely on this mystic force you call hope. What happened to actually making something happen?!" he took a puff of his cigarette "Think of it this way: you cure yourself - then you can get your girl and get the fuck out of this bullshit city. You sit and complain - you won't do jack shit apart from dying and disappointing her in the process."

V looked back at the ground for a moment, processing each and every word he said. Sure, Johnny was annoying sometimes, but she had to admit that he was wise. And he was absolutely right in this manner.

"Well, that's one way of looking at it" V sighed, standing up. Looking at the structure she lived in, her right hand ventured into her pocket, searching for a certain object. She took out the cigarette case that once belonged to Evelyn Parker. Holding a smoke in her head, she stared at it for a minute, as if she was complimenting if the short lived relief that came was smoking was worth the damage it would cause to her lungs. Why was she even considering having a smoke in the first place? Did Silverhand's influence root itself in her behaviors this much? She decided to fight against it - hiding the cigarette away, she turned into the direction of her apartment and made her way to it.

"Time to get some sleep, huh?" Johnny appeared in front of her again as soon as she walked through the door.

"Mhm" she mumbled, falling lazily on the bed. 2 AM, just the perfect time to finally call it quits for the day, huh? After many hours without sleep, V tried her best to let every thought she had in her head disappear for a while, letting her finally get some rest.

/

The merc woke up to the sound of droplets of rain banging hard against her window. She got up with a grumble. Supporting herself with her hands on the window sill, she looked outside. With a grey sky, the weather created a gloomy atmosphere which was just the perfect representation of how she's been feeling mentally since her last Relic malfunction. To outsiders, it might not seem like a big deal, but the whole Relic thing was surely taking its toll on V's mental well-being. As she was unsure about pretty much anything regarding her future, more and more dark thoughts were appearing in her head… all the time.

The merc lazily put on a random black t-shirt and pants that supposedly once belonged to Johnny Silverhand himself. Some black sneakers, her favorite Samurai jacket she got from Rogue that one time and she was ready to go out into the pouring rain to face whatever gigs the fixers would find for her that day. After sending a quick good morning message to Judy, who was her biggest source of happiness, she walked out of the apartment. She took a look at Johnny's dog tags, which she proudly wore on her neck. Even though he annoyed her a lot, she still felt like the rockerboy was a friend to her. He saved her life afterall, didn't he?

Entering the dirty old elevator that would bring her down to the parking lots,V started sinking into the realm of her imagination again. She hated how everything seemed so bittersweet. She felt so lucky that she had people that truly cared about her: Judy, Panam and many more. Hell, the sole fact of being loved by Judy felt so surreal yet so amazing to her. It was a dream come true and she wouldn't have traded it for anything if she could. On the other hand, the feeling that all of this was fleeting overwhelmed her. Never in her life had she felt as lost as she did in the last week or so. Ever since that moment she collapsed in the parking lot in front of Judy's apartment she felt like her mind's been playing tricks on her.

As she was entering the Porsche an elevator ride later, a message from Judy appeared on V's phone screen.

"good mornin love! 3"

V couldn't help but smile at the text. At least one thing to make her day just a little bit better. Judy helped her a lot. The fact that the techie was so supporting to her, even though it was obviously tough to her as well meant everything to V.

As she turned the ignition on, another message appeared. A smile painted itself on V's face, as she reached for the phone, hoping to see another text from her output. However, the smile quickly turned to a frown of disappointment, as she noticed the message was from Regina Jones.

The text was long and detailed, obviously meaning that it was something about a gig. Coordinates for a place somewhere in northern Kabuki were attached to it. Without a second thought, the merc put the cords onto her GPS and started making her way there. She would've lied if she claimed that she reads every detail about a gig carefully and profoundly. At least not until she gets to the required location. It might not be the best way a top tier merc like herself should work, but there hasn't been a single gig she's refused so far, so she figured that this time wouldn't be any different.

Getting closed to the location marked on her map, she stopped her car in an alley a block or so away from the place. No point in getting yourself spotted this early, right? As the merc turned the ignition off, a strange silence emerged. Nothing could be heard except for the rain dropping on the windshield and the ambient noise of the neighborhood. She took her phone out, proceeding to read the gig's briefing, not missing any detail this time. By the looks of it, it was a simple hit, where she had to infiltrate a warehouse taken over by the Tiger Claws and eliminate a member of them. The picture attached to the message showed a Japanese man in his thirties, wearing a black and red, elegant suit. His name was Shoji Takumi and he was supposedly a former worker of Arasaka, who was now providing some sort of intel for Tiger Claws. What's more interesting is that he seemed to be a close associate of Maiko Maeda. A smirk appeared on V's face upon reading that. Ever since she has last encountered her, the merc felt a certain feeling of hatred towards the Asian woman. The way she doublecrossed her and Judy made V regret not killing her there at the spot.

"Kill a guy and delta" Johnny appeared next to her with a smirk "Plain and simple: just the way I like it"

V couldn't help but also smirk at the rockerboy's remark. "Let's go." she said in a more serious tone after a couple seconds.

After the merc got out of her car, she immediately noticed a staircase leading up to the rooftop of a three story apartment building, behind which the warehouse was supposed to be located. V walked up to a dumpster and carefully climbed on it. It was just high enough to make her be able to reach a ladder and climb the higher platform. After a while, she was already making her way up and a couple moments later, the mercenary found herself kneeling at the rooftop, observing the warehouse below her as the rain wetted her cheeks. There weren't that many gangsters on the lookout there, so it should be fairly easy. In and out.

V dropped onto a shorter building just below her and using the high ground she's acquired, she hopped over a barbed wire fence separating the Tiger Claws hideout from the rest of the city. Landing with a calculated parkour roll, she quickly hid behind a container. A warning about entering a hostile area appeared in her vision. One of the goons could be seen in the corner of her eye. She scanned the man, temporarily revealing the positions of the other gangsters. Now she needed to somehow neutralize the guy, not drawing attention to herself in the process. The merc slowly walked in his direction, back pressed against the cold metal wall of the container. As she neared the edge of her hiding spot, she carefully peeked outside. Thankfully, the other two guards that were there wouldn't have seen her. With a couple quick moves, she made their way to the gangster and subdued him, choking him unconscious and dropping his body into a nearby dumpster shortly after.

She glanced around the place, looking for a way into the building. However, she quickly realized that luck was there for her all along, as she noticed three containers, perfectly aligned to let her climb them and get into an open window. Without a second thought, she quickly made her way to them, trying her best not to get caught doing so by the remaining goons. V quickly climbed up the containers and a couple moments later, she was entering some sort of an office through the window.

Looking around the room, it was pretty dark, with the only source light being the window and the grey sky and cloudy weather didn't do much to illuminate the place. Thankfully, the room she's just entered was unoccupied by any watching guards, however she could hear some conversations in Japanese just outside it. Peeking out of the doorframe, the merc noticed a pair of guards to her left. She could try to sneak past them, but that would prove useless as they would notice her instantly. On the other hand, she could try to separate the two. Smirking at the idea, she glanced at a vending machine located in the room. Having hacked the object, soda cans started popping out of it, making a lot of noise. The mercenary hid in a shadowed corner, waiting for her prey to enter the place. After a couple seconds a Japanese man walked in to investigate the source of the sound. Not wasting any time V quickly rendered him unconscious and made her way out of the room onto the metal platform.

The second guard that was there before was missing. She carefully peeked around the railing and observed the ground level. A lot of mechanics and more Tiger Claws goons were there. They were repairing or modifying the sports cars and bikes the Japanese gang frequently used. At the other side of the warehouse, there was a room that, by the looks of it, must've been some sort of an office. There was a man sitting behind a desk there. His appearance was similar to the picture attached to the briefing, so she figured it must've been her target. V subconsciously nodded, making up a plan in her head. The metal platform she was on extended all the way through the warehouse, turning right at first but ultimately ending at the entrance to the office. She would use it to conveniently sneak past all the other gangsters.

With her back pressed against the railing covered by metal plates on both its sides, V started moving through the platform. Trying her best to keep her breathing quiet and steady, she slowly crawled in the office's direction. She let out a nervous breath as she looked down to see a man beneath where she was standing. Had he looked up, he'd instantly noticed her through the lattice pattern of the metal platform. Frozen in place, she waited for the gangster to walk away, praying that he wouldn't notice her. As the man moved away, she sighed in relief and continued her crawl to her target. Thankfully, there were no more surprises waiting for her and a couple long minutes later, she found herself standing at the entrance to the office.

Things could go a lot of ways from now on, so she decided to take out a gun. Her trusted Malorian Arms 3516, a power pistol that once belonged to Johnny Silverhand himself and one that she's grown to love so much over the course of multiple gigs and firefights. V closed her eyes for a moment and just focused on her breathing. In, out. In, out. Opening her eyelids and getting into a tactical stance, she was ready now. The mercenary barged into the room, quickly aiming the gun at her target on head level. She never hesitated when doing her gigs. V was surely full of care and compassion for the people she loved, but on the battlefield she turned into a heartless, cold-blooded killing machine ready to do whatever it takes.

Her pulling the trigger was quick. But Shoji was quicker, as he pressed a button on the bottom of the desk, sounding the alarm merely a second before a bullet pierced through his brain, killing him instantly and sending a splash of blood at the wall behind him.

"Well, fuck." V muttered, as she heard sounds of the Tiger Claws yelling something in Japanese and gearing up, while the alarm was ringing as loudly as ever.

The merc took off not wasting any time, her sight set on the room she entered the building through. As bullets were flying passed her, she sprinted through the platform, making loud thuds whenever her foot hit the metal. Her heartbeat banging in her chest, as she felt like any wrong move could cost her life. Firing the gun at a gangster unfortunate enough to get in her way, she quickly shoved his body aside and made her way into the room. Not fucking around, V swiftly escaped through the window and found herself on the container she previously used as an entrance. It was still raining and the metal she was standing on was getting really slippery, which could easily cause a lot of damage, had she stopped paying great attention to her every move for a second. She took a glance at a fence which stood a couple feet away from the container. A decision had to be made, should she risk it all and try to jump over it from the container, or should she opt for a safer route? However, as bullets flew right passed her, she was taken out of her thoughts and put back into reality. There was no time to waste and she knew it. Trying her best not to fall on the slippery surface, she made a run for it and flew off the container, barely making it to the other side of the fence. For a second, she looked back at the warehouse in disbelief. She was really lucky to make it out alive, wasn't she? The merc blinked a couple times, focusing back on what mattered the most right now: escape. Sprinting to the alley where the Porsche was left, she made sure that no one followed her.

V entered the car, panting heavily. She took out her phone and sent a message to Regina about the gig being now completed. Soon, 3000 eddies appeared on her bank account, making the merc smile subconsciously. She glanced at the notifications and noticed something strange. A couple unanswered calls from Judy and one from Panam. Concern painted itself on her phone, as she started wondering about what could be the catalyst of her output wanting to contact her so bad. Perhaps something bad happened? The thought of something happening to Judy was probably the worst fear the merc had. Without a second thought, she called up the techie's holo.

"V, finally!" Judy picked up. A look of worry could be seen on her expression, which was even magnified once she saw an exhausted V

"Judy! Are you ok? Did something happen?" V spat words out quickly, letting her worry take the best of her.

"I'm fine, you gonk" Judy laughed softly, her face brightening up. "I was worried about you, you know?" she said in a more serious tone now "I had a break from work so I figured that I'd pay you a visit… so I stopped by your apartment and you weren't there. I tried calling you a couple times and you weren't answering… I thought about the worst, y'know?"

"I'm sorry, Jude." a look of guilt appeared on V's face. "I was on a gig and…"

"A gig?!" Judy crossed her arms and a hint of anger could be heard in her voice. "But you barely even recovered! V…" her tone softened a bit "Do you know how worried I am when I don't even know what's happening to you?"

"I'm really, really, sorry." V sighed "I promise, from now on… I'll be telling you anything."

"Thank you. Y'know, you're just very important to me and, and…" the techie stumbled on her words, trying to find something to say. She took a moment to breathe, looking away from the holo for a second, as V examined the emotions that could be seen in her. She felt really guilty for making Judy this worried and she knew that it was only her fault. "Anyway…" Judy looked at the holo again, this time speaking with more confidence in her voice "Panam called. Said she's in town for something and she'd like to meet up if we're down."

V felt her face light up a bit. Finally something that would help her ease her mind a bit and, perhaps, let her forget about everything that's been happening around here. A day with the woman she loved the most and with her best friend was something she really needed.

"That would be nova" V smiled "Do you… do you have time right now?"

"It seems that I do!" A grin also appeared on Judy's face "Meet me at Lizzie's, okay?"

/

As the rain finally stopped pouring from the California sky, the legendary Porsche pulled up to the club owned by the Mox gang. V instantly noticed her beloved braindance expert beside the building, leaning against a wall with a cigarette in her mouth. The neon light coming from the bar's sign illuminated her hair, making it seem even more pink than it really was. V caught herself staring at the woman in awe for a second, captivated by nothing else than the limitless beauty Judy was always characterized by in her mind. There was only one small thing that bothered the merc: her output didn't smoke all that often, unless she was nervous. Stepping out of the car, she couldn't help but smile when she was approaching Judy, who now dropped her smoke and put it out with a swift movement of her shoe's sole.

"Hey babe" V greeted her, giving her a soft smooch on the cheek.

Without a word, Judy pulled her into a kiss. In that moment, it felt like all of their worries disappeared, even if for a couple seconds of uninterrupted bliss. Pulling away from the kiss, although still remaining in a warm embrace, she giggled softly as she looked into V's eyes, which were full of shock, but in the positive sense.

"I needed this." Judy smiled, lovingly staring at the woman she adored so much.

"I did too." V whispered softly, her breathes hitting the techie's neck.

"But… I need to scold you." Judy said in a playful tone, her finger softly poking the spot where V's heart was. "I told you not to do any gigs right after a malfunction… and yet there you are, probably popping off some guys again."

"I'm sorry, it's just… I can't really sit all day doing nothin' while…" V closed her eyes for a moment. She didn't want to ruin Judy's mood and talk about the cancer inside her head again, even though she perfectly knew that it was the techie's main source of concern. Right then, another thing was on her mind and while she probably could pin down the cause of Judy's nervousness leading to her ruining her lungs with yet another cigarette, she'd rather ask and get a direct answer. "What's going on?" she asked, her eyes glancing at the butt of the cig laying just at her feet.

Judy pulled away from the hug with a slightly somber frown painting itself on her face.

"I've been thinking about you." Judy softly touched V's cheek. "V, I'm fucking scared. About your condition and all of this… I need to know…" even though she hated it, she felt a tear appearing in the corner of her eye. "How much time do you have left?"

"I… I don't know." the merc said in a slightly bleak tone. "Maybe a couple weeks… maybe days." her voice cracked at the end.

Not a word came out of Judy's mouth, but V knew that the techie wasn't holding the weight of the worsening condition easily. That the thought of losing her output was absolutely devastating and every time she let it into her mind, it took everything else. Judy buried her face into V's neck, while the merc lightly kissed the top of her head to comfort her, maybe even both of them. Judy's warm embrace was the one thing that always managed to make V feel a little bit better, even if for a moment, even though everything about this was bittersweet.

There were many moments like this, where Judy was at a loss for words, not knowing how to deal with all the feelings flowing through her heart. Conflicting thoughts appearing in her head. On one hand, she hated herself for falling in love with someone that was dying, but on the other hand she hated herself even more for even letting herself think like this. It obviously wasn't V's fault that she was like this. It was just… unfair.

"I don't wanna lose you." Judy said, her voice muffled by V's skin touching her mouth. "I can't lose you"

V wanted to reassure Judy. To tell her that everything's gonna be okay. That they'll live together and grow old in some cabin far away from the dirty, bustling streets of Night City. But she chose to stay quiet instead. It just didn't feel right to her, making Judy believe in something that she didn't know could even happen.

Judy was somewhat burdened by the merc's lack of response. However, she chose to focus on the warm feeling of V's arms around her, while she was listening to her steady heartbeat. Her girlfriend's embrace was the place the techie felt safest. V was one of the few persons that knew the true Judy. She knew that whenever she felt vulnerable and lost in the deepest depths of despair that often creeped inside her head after Evelyn's passing, the merc would always be there to support her, to offer her a shoulder to cry on. But… for how long would she be there?

Suddenly, a car parked behind them and a honk caused them to pull away from the embrace and look in the noise's direction. The source of her distraction was Panam herself, as she was just out of her easily recognizable nomad truck. As she approached them, the women exchanged friendly hugs and greeted each other. V couldn't help but smile at the fact that Judy and Panam have managed to become friends in such a short time. It was almost a dream come true to have her beloved output and her "sister" like each other.

"What, you're just gonna leave the Porsche here on this dirty parking lot?!" Johnny appeared, shooting V an annoyed look once the three girls entered the car.

"Oh, c'mon, you know all the cars have autodrive enabled anyway." V rolled her eyes

"Whatever." Johnny crossed his arms, not bothering to look at V as he spoke "At least you're not getting all mushy with your girl now that the nomad chick is here"

"Look at you, you say that yet you didn't even interrupt us earlier. How considerate of you." V said with a sarcastic smirk appearing on her face.

Johnny rolled his eyes and flipped her off, disappearing into thin air shortly afterwards.

"So, Panam." V turned to the 'nomad chick' as Johnny called her. "What are you doing in Night City again?"

"Had to do a favor for a friend of mine." Panam shrugged "Did it and I figured I'd hang out with you girls. It's a pretty lazy day at camp today."

"Let's get something to eat, huh? I'm starving" Judy suggested, changing the topic.

"Yeah, sounds nova." Panam turned the ignition on and drove away.

A fifteen or so minutes later they found an Asian restaurant near Kabuki Roundabout. The area was bustling with life at that time, as more and more customers were heading there to get something for lunch. V couldn't help but worry about the fact that they were in a neighborhood strictly controlled by the Tiger Claws. The curse that came with being a mercenary was recognizability, at least amidst the different gangs. With the amount of damage V has caused the Japanese gang over the course of many different gigs, including the one from earlier that day and the Clouds job which turned into a disaster for both parties involved, any Tiger Claws associate noticing her could inevitably lead to a catastrophe. Even though the worries plagued her mind, she tried her best to ignore them at least for a while and let herself enjoy a day out with the two of her favorite girls. Just before entering the restaurant, V took a couple of the omega blocker pills to prevent any potential relic malfunction from ruining their lunch, as it did the last time.

Soon, the women sat down, ordered some meals and chatted away…

/

An hour has passed. The trio has already long since finished all of their food, drinks and conversations. Now that they were leaving the restaurant, V had no choice but to wonder about the bad things that haven't happened yet, but were still well inside the realm of possibility. While they were still eating and talking, she subconsciously kept herself on alert to be able to defend her loved ones in case anything goes wrong.

As they were nearing the car which Panam parked at a small parking space on the other side of the Roundabout, the mercenary noticed something in the corner of her eye. A gold-plated Quadra, two Tiger Claws goons inside, stopped at the other side of the street.

"Trouble." V hissed quietly, taking out her gun and signaling Panam to do the same, while softly pushing Judy aside to make her hide somewhere.

The merc and the nomad hid behind a stone bench just big enough to cover the two of them, while a terrified Judy managed to find her hiding spot just behind Panam's truck. The mercenary breathed out in relief as she noticed her girlfriend taking cover. She knew that Judy could handle herself in tough situations like this one, but contrary to her and Panam, the techie wasn't carrying a gun, and her number one priority right now was to make sure she was safe. The two goons walked out of the Quadra and just as V suspected, bullets fired from two cheap Copperheads suddenly flew in their direction, barely hitting the small stone structure.

The bangs caused by the gunshots created an atmosphere of terror on the roundabout, as people screamed in panic and a disarray of cars driving in all sorts of directions appeared on the street. It took mere seconds for the place to empty out, creating a perfect arena for the shootout to happen.

V separated herself from Panam, quickly rushing to find cover behind a parked Archer while the nomad provided suppressive fire. One of the gangsters yelled something in Japanese to the other one. V didn't understand a thing, but she could've sworn that she heard him saying the name of her last gig's target. Fuck. This means she fucked up earlier and this sudden attack must have been somehow related to her getting caught during the hit. There was no time for overthinking now, as another bullet flew right passed her. She was now pinned down to the car, as peeking out of it would likely result in her own demise. Seconds later, a thud was heard: one of the men fell on his back with a bullet wound right to his head. A somewhat relieved smile appeared on her face. She looked at Panam, who gave her a thumbs up.

She peeked out, but instantly cursed under her breath as a bullet hit the car's hood, ricocheting somewhere.

No time to waste. When the gunfire stopped for a second, V jumped out of her cover and rushed through the empty street to get to her enemy. She slid behind the Quadra he was hiding behind and quickly fired a couple bullets in his direction. The man fell to the ground, dead, as a surprised look still remained on his face.

"What the fuck was that about?!" Panam walked up to the mercenary, hiding her pistol as she looked at the two killed gangsters.

"No clue." V replied rather coldly, kneeling in front of the one she's just eliminated.

She searched through his pockets to find a shard that might've helped her identify the cause of the attack. Looks like the luck was at her side today, as she found one that was simply labeled ORDERS. The mercenary couldn't help but smile, although her smile was short-lived and quickly turned into concern as she heard a familiar voice from the other side of the street.

"V…"

As the merc turned around, she saw Judy in a state that seemed like the picture of all of her nightmares brought to life. Her face a canvas for all sorts of emotions: shock, disbelief and immense pain as she looked down to see a dark red gunshot wound forming itself on her stomach, her hands trembling as the thick, crimson liquid covered them. V was stuck frozen in place, as if time stopped for her. When Judy looked at her with a look of despair and desperation, she felt as if her whole world had come crashing down around her. She's never felt so helpless. Then the person she loved the most collapsed. With complete terror piercing every inch of her being, V rushed over to Judy and kneeled beside her, holding her weakened and fragile body. With her arms shaking from all the panic she caressed the woman's cheeks, desperately trying to make her pale face regain its colors.

Judy has never felt this weak in her entire life. The pain coming from the wound was unbearable and all of her limbs felt almost unresponsive. Even though her left hand desperately clutching at the wound, blood was slipping through the cracks between her fingers, soaking her clothes and the ground underneath. With the sweet blanket of unconsciousness slowly covering her, she tried her best not to succumb to it, even if it felt like falling asleep would bring her relief. If not for V holding her head up to face her, it would surely fall helplessly to the ground. In the corner of her eye she noticed Panam frantically searching for something in the back of her truck, but the tears that appeared in her eyes successfully blocked off the view. V was saying something to her, but she couldn't understand a word due to the sleepiness that was, unfortunately, starting to take hold, making her hands feel more and more limp. The world around her was starting to get more and more blurry. Apparently amidst all the tears and panic, V managed to rip off a part of her t-shirt and put the fabric underneath her hand, successfully making the bleeding slower. Her output lightly slapped her cheek in desperation… but only after a harder slap came seconds later did she come back to reality.

"Judy please, please, don't do this to me" a teary eyed V said, her voice shaking and full of panic as the horrible realisation of everything that was now happening came to her. Her girlfriend, the person that she loved the most, was now… dying and it was all because of her.

The realisation came to Judy as well, creating a bubble of panic that her mind was now in. All of this was so unfair. She didn't want to fucking die. Tears flew from her eyes as she thought about the concept of dying and simply not existing. She just wanted all of this to be some sort of a bad dream. V softly caressing her cheek with her thumb calmed her down a bit, but it wasn't enough. Judy knew for a fact that her lover was just as terrified as she was, with her eyes full of fear, sadness and guilt.

"V, I'm…" Judy mumbled, taking a second to swallow back the metallic taste that found its way into her throat "I'm scared…" words were becoming more and more difficult to form now.

"Shh" V pressed a kiss onto Judy's forehead. "It's gonna be okay, you're gonna live Jude, it's okay, it's okay" she kept repeating like a mantra as her output was barely holding onto consciousness.

Panam returned and rushed up to Judy with a concerned look on her face, kneeling beside her. The wounded woman didn't particularly know what was going on, as her mind was drifting in an infinite void, like she was a spaceman flying through the empty abyss of space. The nomad and the merc were talking about something, panic apparent in both of their voices, but Judy had trouble making out the words they were saying. Suddenly, Panam put a MaxDoc up to the techie's mouth, with V holding up her head to let her use the inhaler.

"It's okay, baby, just breathe." V said softly, kissing the top of Judy's head.

Judy took a puff of the inhaler, letting a couple seconds of euphoria that came with it flow through her system. The pain disappeared and the bleeding slowed down a bit, making way for a brand new feeling of determination. Determination to survive. Even though her eyelids were getting heavier with every passing second, looking into V's eyes made her believe that everything is going to be okay in the end. She heard Panam say a couple more things which she couldn't really understand and after a moment, she felt herself getting carried over to the back of the car, while everything spiraled around her. Even though she was hanging by a thread, the warmness that came with being in her output's loving arms was enough for her to feel somehow peaceful. Her vision was fading in and out, as the immense blood loss was finally taking its toll, letting unconsciousness take hold of her body.

Now in a half-aware state, the techie felt as if she was losing grasp of reality. Her weakened body was laying on the truck's backseat, while V was softly stroking her hair with one hand, and holding the piece of fabric up to the wound with the other one. Even though all the sounds she was hearing were terribly distorted and muffled, V's worried, albeit calming voice was enough to reassure her that she will live. Judy could catch small glimpses of the moving outside world through the window, but her perception of where she was was now gone, with her diving into the lake of sleep every couple minutes. Her body was now almost completely limp, only her eyes were moving, trying to get a grasp on the places they passed through as Panam drove. A small part of her still wanted to scream at her not to succumb, but any last bit of strength she had in her system was now completely gone. After a couple more minutes, she was already out, letting herself fall into the void of blackness.

/

V was pacing back and forth around the alley smoking cigarette after cigarette, desperately trying to keep herself at least somewhat calm and convince herself that Judy was gonna be okay. An hour has passed since she and Panam rushed into Victor's clinic, carrying the barely alive Judy with looks of desperation painted on their faces. The ripperdoc was absolutely surprised, but being a professional, he instantly dropped everything else he was doing and put Judy on the operation table, knowing how extremely important saving her was to V. Her thoughts were racing all over her head, deep inside she knew that this whole situation wouldn't have happened, had she not fuck up during that gig earlier. Now Judy was wounded and unconscious and she couldn't take the fact that there was a slim possibility that she might not survive.

"V." a hand touched her shoulder. She turned to see Panam, giving her a soft, reassuring smile. "I know just how much she means to you, I… whatever happens, I'm here for you, alright?"

"I'm here for you too, V." another hand found itself on her shoulder. This time it was Misty.

V tried her best to smile, but she was too overwhelmed with all of her emotions to make way for any sort of optimism. She sat down on the staircase leading down to Vic's clinic, not saying anything. The two women did the same, surrounding her and making her feel a bit safer.

"Thanks, I… fuck…" she muttered, burying her face in her hands while she struggled to find any words to say. "I appreciate it, I really do." streaks formed by the now dried up tears on her cheeks were still visible.

Panam softly patted V on the back, letting a little bit of warmth from her hand cross over to the merc's body.

"When Jackie passed…" Misty started, looking away for a second as tears built up in her eyes. After wiping them, she continued "I felt as if my whole world came crashing down. But I made it through and sometimes, I still feel like he is looking down at me from wherever he is" a bittersweet smile formed on her face "But V…" she placed a hand on V's leg and looked her straight into the eyes "Judy will make it. I believe in it, I somehow feel it inside."

"I just can't bear the thought that…" V shook her head, trying her best to hold back tears "She might still die… because of me."

"Sometimes we can't control how our fates unravel." Misty said in a serious tone "But you know how amazing Vic is. He'll do whatever it takes to make her live."

"We saved her, V" Panam spoke, making V turn in her direction "I was there and I've seen it in her eyes. She's a fighter, won't give up that easily." she continued.

"I know." V chuckled quietly "If I know one thing for a fact, it's that Judy isn't the type to give up."

"Also, the fuck is up with those cancer sticks, huh?" Panam turned her attention to the pack of cigarettes that V smoked out earlier and was now lying squashed on the pavement, as she tried to lighten up the mood just a bit.

"Fuckin' Silverhand made me start smoking." V said with a little smirk appearing on her face, making Panam chuckle softly.

Speak of the devil - Johnny just appeared in front of V. He was leaning against the wall at the bottom of the staircase with his arms crossed.

"You're lucky." the rockerboy said

"How exactly?" V shot him a confused glare

"You have all these chooms that support you…" he started "You know a great ripperdoc who agreed to save your barely living girlfriend. I wasn't that lucky, when…" he frowned, not finishing the sentence.

"I know, Johnny…" V couldn't help but feel sorry for the man, knowing what happened to Alt and how he tried to save her, unsuccessfully. "Fuck, sometimes I think that if there is a god, he threw some sort of a curse over me with all of these bad things happening all the time."

Johnny chuckled, taking out a cigarette.

"I'm sorry V." he took a puff of the cig "All our gods have abandoned us."

At that moment, the door opened. The three women immediately looked in anticipation, as a tired Victor walked out of the clinic. V could feel her heartbeat race faster and faster, knowing that there were two outcomes to this situation. With every atom she had in her body, she hoped that her worst fear would not come true. As Victor opened his mouth to say the words, a glimpse of hope and relief could be seen in his eyes.

"She'll live."