Authors note: This will probably be my last chapter until this weekend, but I will also be doing some one-shots for what I assume will be a collection. I've already got the first one posted under the name Welcome to Night City and I hope you enjoy this chapter and if you read that one-shot, that one as well.


I awoke to the feeling of a partially empty bed, and as I gathered my bearings, I noticed that Panam was already up and about. I looked at the holo-time on my optics and gasped that I'd been out for twelve hours, seeing as it was near noon and camp lunch was just starting, boy was I starving. After getting dressed, I made my way down to the cantina truck and looked over what they had to offer today and to my surprise they had locust meat sausage, potatoes, and bread. Grabbing a plate, I sat down at the lone empty table and started to eat before realizing that I had forgotten my drink, so I went back up and grabbed a glass of water. Walking back to my table, I could hear Panam and Mitch talking about a potential cure to my ailment in NC and how best to handle that situation as they were walking to get some food. Mitch was the first to notice me and waved which got Panam's attention and she looked my direction as a smile plastered her face. The two got their food and drinks and proceeded to join me at the table; Mitch deciding to initiate conversation.

"Morning sleeping beauty; didn't think you'd wake up today." Mitch sarcastically said as I glared at him and he just laughed some more,

"How'd you sleep V?" Panam asked me with a soft but caring volume.

"Like a puppy; that's a cozy little shoulder you got there." I jokingly said as Panam snorted obviously remembering that conversation from when we rescued Saul much to Mitch's confusion.

"Eh, something I'm missing here?" Mitch asked as Panam and I turned to him and just laughed.

"Nothing much; just a conversation V and I had back in NC after we rescued Saul." Panam said nonchalantly as she took a decent bit out of her sausage and my glare convincing Mitch to drop it.

"Right; well, while you were out, we made contact with some of your old friends in the Bakker clan and to our surprise you were not the only one to get out after what happened." Mitch as I processed this information, if more got our and were soloing it, than perhaps we could convince them to join us.

"Interesting; how are they?" I asked as Mitch handed me two contacts, and to my surprise they were the ones who got me into the Bakkers to begin with, Mikah and John. Panam herself was interested now as she looked over the file and wondered what the job was that they needed help with.

"What job are they asking us for assistance with?" She asked as I thought over the situation, I too was wondering what they needed help with.

"Apparently, a small-town sheriff contracted them out to exterminate a highway gang, though from what I understand, they are unrelated to the Raffen Shiv." Mitch said as I processed this information and considered we could use the eddies and possible two old time vets.

"When do they need help?" I asked as Mitch and Panam looked at me, smirking knowing full well what I was planning.

"If we leave today then we can meet him at the old motel that we use to do supply trades with the Bakkers." Mitch said as I thought it over and agreed.

"Agreed; if we leave now than we can meet up in roughly three days and formulate a plan." I said as Mitch and Panam thought it over and agreed as well.

"One thing though, should we take the Panzer?" Mitch asked as Panam and I looked at one another and as if on the same page we determined using the Panzer would be worth the risk.

"No, taking the Panzer would draw to much attention to us, and fact of the matter is Arasaka is still trying to figure out where we even got off to." I said as Panam agreed with my assessment, and should all go well, then we wouldn't need the Panzer to begin with.

"That's actually a valid point V, so, just the three of us then?" Mitch continued as Panam thought it over and decided the three of us would go as a means of attracting less attention to ourselves, and with her truck, we can eliminate any threat before it rears its ugly head.

"Let's mount up and let them know where to meet us; V, you're with me, we need to talk." Panam said as I followed her to her truck before she told me that she wanted me to be the one driving.


It didn't take us long to leave the camp; probably fifteen minutes at the most after we gathered guns and ammo. As I was driving down the old interstate, I could see that Panam was fidgeting with her fingers and knew something must had been up. She normally would never act like this, but maybe it had to do with her talk with Vik last night.

"You good Panam?" I nervously asked her as she looked at me and smiled.

"I'm great V, there's nothing to worry about." She told me and that somewhat set me at ease.

"So, what did Vik have to say last night?" I finally asked her and noticed that she untucked her shirt and pulled it up to her chest before grabbing my hand and placing it on her belly.

"Well, he said that we are expecting a child." She nervously said as I took that information in and

"Wait, you mean you're pregnant?" I asked her and she smiled

"Yep, and you're the first to know; I plan on telling the rest when we get back to camp, though we are gonna need to find a crib or just make one from scratch." She said as I turned my head back towards the road to keep an eye out, a mixture of emotions plastered on my face, but also a new determination to get cured.

"Damn V, let me be the first to congratulate you." I heard Johnny say as he materialized into the back seat all lounged out like he use to back in NC.

"Sounds like a preem plan Panam; if you need anything at all from me, just let me know." I told her as my holophone started ringing and much to my annoyance the number was unregistered.

"Hold up a minute Panam; I've got a call coming through, though it isn't telling me from who." I said as I answered the holocall.

"V here." I said and to my surprise the figure was entirely darkened out where not even his eyes could be distinguished; must be that AI alt told me about.

"V, we've heard much about your exploits with Arasaka, as well as your 'condition' and would like to set up a meet. I believe we can help each other out, and you'll get a second lease on life." The mysterious stranger said, but the way he spoke sent me on edge; last time I had any type of dealings with mysterious strangers, they straight up threatened me when I was doing a job for the Peralez's.

"Right, well, do you happen to have a name?" I asked as the figure who just simply shrugged.

"My name is not important, but what is important is you don't have much time left, and I'm the only chance you got at surviving past a year." He said as an assistant came into view and handed him a data shard.

"And why exactly are you my only chance at surviving?" I was skeptical of this person, but if my hunch was correct than this may be my only.

"Let's just say that my employers know about your biochip and are eager to get their hands on it; therefor they have agreed to a one-for-one swap. You give us the biochip and we fix the damage it has done to your body." He said, but I was still not buying it; for all I know they could be Arasaka agents hired by Yorinobu to exact out revenge for both raids on Arasaka.

"And what assurance do I have that you are true to your word; last I checked my bodies DNA was largely reconfigured for the engram on the biochip." I said as the mysterious stranger locked his hands together before his eyes flashed a bright blue and I started receiving a data packet much to my surprise and horror. This individual was able to bypass my ICE as well as other protective programs like it was nothing, but to my relief it came through virus free.

"Look at those files and you may find some interesting information." He said as I opened the folder and to my horror my entire deeds in NC was there. From entering NC and delivering an Iguana, the Biochip heist, my meetings with Panam, and even the Mikoshi heist. There was literally no stone unturned, and I knew this information must had cost a fortune to acquire and they had leverage over me, or so they thought. However, to my surprise there was another folder that was titled DNA; opening it I found that there was an intact strand of DNA labeled Vincent.

"Fuck V, I don't like this one bit; this smells like shit and this corpo fucker obviously cannot be trusted." Johnny said through our shared neural link, and I had to agree with him on that. Whoever these people were, they had friends in very high places, and we needed to tread carefully. No doubt they have the resources to track the Aldecaldos down and if they really wanted to, eliminate us with extreme prejudice.

"Meet me at the Sunset Motel in one week." He said before disconnecting the link and leaving me with my thoughts.

"V, what was that about?" Panam asked me and was worried how my entire mood changed, and so I told her and not leaving out a single detail.

"What do you think Panam; you think this could be legit?" I asked her and she pondered it over.

"I'm not sure, but I think a good idea would be to send that DNA sample over to Vik for analysis." She said and I agreed; pulling up Vik's number, I called him up and he answered pretty quickly.

"V, how's it going, Panam tell you the good news?" Leave it to Vik to kill two birds with one stone.

"Everything is going good Vik, and she told me; however, I'm calling because I need you to look into something for me. Also, I have patched Panam in as well so she can be up to date as we discuss this." I said as Vik's face betrayed the look of intrigue as I sent him the folder and he ran a diagnostic on it; his reaction to it all but confirmed my fears. As I sent the folder, I also patched Panam in and the three-way communication was encrypted so that no one could intercept our conversation.

"V, I need you to be honest with me; where did you get this?" Vik asked me as I explained the situation to him, and much to his annoyance and horror, someone managed to hack into his database and klep data on me, and who knows what else. Vik himself knew that if these people were capable of that, then there was no telling what else they would be capable of. After waiting two minutes, Vik was alerted that the DNA testing was complete and read the report comparing the two.

"V, this DNA sample is the exact same one that I have on file from when you first came to Night City; whoever these people are, I would suggest you stay well clear of them." Vik said as Panam decided to ask him a question as well.

"Vik; I was curious if you would happen to know if the child that I'm carrying has V's DNA, or the DNA that was integrated onto the biochip for Silverhand?" She asked, though it would make no difference as it was me and her who conceived the child, not Silverhand and her.

"You've got nothing to fear Panam; V's DNA didn't start to get overwritten until the very last minute. I reckon your child was already conceived by then, but you just were not aware." Vik said as the worried look that Panam had melted away and a small grin adorned her lips.


We arrived at the old, dilapidated motel early and decided to enter one of the rooms that still happened to be open, and to my surprise there was power still being supplied. Looking around the room, I could tell that while the perfect little spot for a escapade, it was uncomfortably open. Panam had decided to lounge out on the couch that adorned the east wall and Mitch and I joined her. Sitting down, I pulled a table up to place my legs and Panam decided to use my legs as a leg rest again, much like that night in that old house after we rescued Saul from his imprisonment. Mitch wasn't even sitting for a minute before he got back up and told us he was gonna go look for some alcohol leaving us alone.

"Should I fear a health code violation?" I sarcastically asked Panam causing her to snort as she started tracing her figures over her thighs to tease me.

"Oh no, I wouldn't want to put Mitch through that; though I'd watch what you say next otherwise you'll be spending the night with your hands off my thighs." Panam sarcastically replied as she slapped me on the shoulder.

"Panam, you can be so cruel sometimes." I jokingly said as she pulled one of my arms to her thigh and I gave her a good squeeze with my reward being a small moan escaping her lips.

"Only to you V." She quipped as we heard engines off in the distance, no doubt our contact was about to arrive.

"Well, sounds like we got company." I said as I got up and turned towards Panam to help her up as well.

"Such a gentleman V." She smailed as she said that, and with vigor we made our way outside to meet some old friends of mine, ones I had not seen since leaving the Bakkers.


Panam, Mitch, and I are waiting outside under the shade of a overhang; the temperature at this time of day was well over a hundred degrees Fahrenheit. Mikah and John parked next Panam's truck and walked up to greet us, at least until they noticed me standing next to Panam. Interestingly enough, they still had their Thorton Galena Rattler and it appears to be in really good shape; though it couldn't hold a candle to my Mizutani Shion "Coyote". And then there was Panam's truck, damn beast was in a league all its own; just as it's driver was in a league all her own, and she was mine.

"Damn V, aren't you a sight for sore eyes." John said in his thick Tennessee accent, it amazes me he never lost it considering how long he's been out west.

"It's good seeing the two of you again." I said as I shook their hands, and Mikah looked me over from head to toe.

"Riding with the Aldecaldos now I see; guess Night City didn't work out after all." Mikah said as

"How ya doin Mitch, it's been a while." John said as he proceeded to shake Mitch's hand, and turned to Panam and addressed her as well. "And if I ain't wrong, your name is Panam." He added as she greeted him.

"Where's Scorpion and Saul?" Mikah asked and noticed how Mitch and Panam had looked saddened at their names.

"They passed away a few months back." Panam said as Mikah and John took that info in.

"Damn shame, both were good people." Mikah said as both he and John were saddened by the passing of their friend.

"Who's leading the Aldecaldos now?" John asked as Mitch and I pointed to Panam.

"That'd be me, though I understand you'll are no longer with the Bakkers." Panam said as she was trying to get clarification on their situation.

"That's correct; V was the catalyst for many former Bakkers to leave. We realized what he said was true months down the line and Carol made the decision for us." John said as that intrigued me greatly, sounds like the whole joining Snake Nation did more harm than good for Carol.

"Though Carol was right on one thing; V was never one to stay away from being a Nomad seeing as he's riding with you now. If you don't mind me asking, what's the story with you becoming an Aldecaldo." Mikah asked me.

"Perhaps we should head inside; it's much cooler in there than out here." I said as the five of us walked inside and sat down on the U-shaped couch, the first thing that caught Mikah and John's eye though was how Panam was scooched really close to me. Mitch placed a bottle of Kentucky Whiskey that he found on the table as well as three shot glasses and poured some for the three of 'em, also telling 'em that Panam and I were no longer drinking. It took about an hour to two to tell them my story of what happened, and towards the end they pieced together that Panam and I were a couple now.

"And you two became a couple after doing some solo work together." Mikah said as John smirked; it was obvious to anyone paying attention that fateful day when I met the Aldecaldos for the first time.

"It wasn't after a few jobs; Panam wanted to take things slow and we did. I invited her on some of my Solo contracts and paid her of course, but it gave us time to get to know one another." I explained as they took that in, obviously proud that I had managed to find someone that I could share life with.

"So tell me, what was the craziest job you two lovebirds went on." Mikah asked as Panam snorted in annoyance and thought about a gig that we had and the perfect one came to mind.

"Hey Panam, you remember 'Beep Beep Motherfucker', right?" I asked as she burst out laughing at that; that fucking Delamain was something else.

"Oh my god, how could I forget." Panam snorted as she struggled to catch a breath.

"Shit V, you never mentioned anything about a cursing cab AI." Mitch told me and he was right, I never did mention Delamain.

"Alright, but it's gonna be kinda long. So, I'm driving Panam to my apartment one day and we come across this Delamain cab and we get a call from it. Lo and behold, the damn thing says 'Beep Beep Motherfucker' and tries to run me off the road much to Panam's horror and my irritation at the time. You see, AI taxies are not supposed to do that, so when you get a homicidal AI that's chasing you through Night City, things get interesting." I said as Johnny materialized and was laughing as well as he remembered our first encounter with that rogue Delamain in the garage.

"Shit, I remember that gonk taxi; should have let it live it's life and programmed it to go after Arasaka." Johnny said we could just imagine a Delamain chasing Arasaka agents through NC.

"Or, what about that one Delamain that you had to talk out of committing suicide?" Panam added as I remember that one as well, though it was not as funny as the overtly hostile Delamain. Sure enough, everyone was laughing so hard that trying to catch a breath proved futile; hell, thinking back on it even made me laugh.

"Well, guess we don't have anything that could come even remotely close to that." Mitch said as she struggled to take a sip of his whiskey and John and Mikah agree. Finishing my story, we finally got down to the matter as to why we were here, and why they needed help. A highway bandit gang had set up shop in a abandoned gas station and was wreaking havoc on the locals.


One of the modifications that I made to overwatch was the introduction of a Thermal scope as well as an electronic range finder; Panam herself was intrigued at these modifications as well how I engraved her name onto the barrel. Taking it out from its protective case, I handed her over to Panam; she and I were going to provide overwatch for Mikah, Mitch, and John as they entered the bandit's base of operation. While I would usually go in with them, my injuries were still not healed up completely so I was relegated to net running which would prove far more useful anyways. Panam and I also decided that thanks to her pregnancy, it would be best if she was more in a support role to stay out of direct danger; though it also helped that she was a very deadly shot with the rifle, and having a thermal scope made it even deadlier. I also did a major upgrade to the thermal sight as well, though it required me to be jacked into it so that Panam could see exactly what I was seeing through my optical implants. It didn't take all that long to kill the bandits seeing as there was about fifteen total and with overwatch support as well as net running, they never knew what hit them.

"So, where are you two off to now?" Mitch asked as John and Mikah looked at him.

"Well, we're gonna go collect the money for this job, but assuming it's alright with Panam, we'd like to ride with the Aldecaldos." Mikah said as John agreed, though it also helped that Mitch and I could vouch for 'em if need be.

"We'd love to have you'll, and it'd be great for us to have more vets with us." Panam said with a smile and

"Right, well, we should be getting back to camp before Raffen's decide to show up." Mitch said as everyone mounted up and we high tailed it out of there.


Note 1: For those who are wondering who Mikah and John are, they are two OC that I made in a one-shot that I posted not to long ago titled "Welcome to Night City". It's a prologue of sort for The Nomad mission and gave a bit more back story into my V and how he met Panam and some of the Aldecaldos before traveling to NC.

Note 2: My prequel story for right now is on Archive of Our Own along with this story, but I'll probably add it to Fanfiction as well.

Note 3: I wanted to thank everyone who have liked, followed, left comments, and overall decided to read this story.