Author's note: Just as a fair warning, there's a lot of swearing in this chapter

Heywood, April 2076

V was currently rubbing bruised knuckles at his personal spot at the bar of El Coyote Cojo, the hub of all decent people in Heywood. As he rested his arm on the bar he looked at himself in the mirror, dressed in a sort of older outfit that was relatively dirty and slightly torn as opposed to his urban clothes. He may have seemed fine but internally he was not pleasant, still hearing the nasally sound of breathing through his currently busted nose.

And it seems he wasn't the only one who heard it as the bartender Pepe pulled up a filled shot glass and passed it over "A little… anesthesia." And V turned over and nodded before grabbing the shot glass and downing the contents in one go. He then proceeded to look back at his broken nose in the mirror and he took a deep breath in and out through his mouth before setting his hands on his nose and resetting it quick and easy, leaning on the counter as he reeled from the sensation "Motherfucking…" and he groans a little before Pepe spoke to him while putting the shot glass back "Everything chill mano?" To which V responded "Some bastard tried to mug me, I handled it." Though personally he wished that never happened to begin with, all his reputation in Heywood and he still gets himself in trouble with back-alley gonks who don't give their two cents about who shouldn't be pissed off. Pepe then proceeded to ask "Who? Local guy?" To which V simply said "You really think somebody local would try to mug me Pepe?" Knowing that to anyone else he might come off as arrogant, but V knew his reputation around Heywood. V was someone who didn't need to be a Valentino to take care of business or learn how to fight or shoot somebody's knee out, someone who had the confidence to try and end a fight before a punch even needed to be thrown and could pull it off if his opponent wasn't too stupid to listen to someone… of course it could be frustrating sometimes that his reputation only extended around Heywood and no further. Beyond the streets that raised him he was just another man in Night City waiting to get shot. It was around when Pepe rested his elbows on the counter and looked V in the eye that his attention got drawn back into the moment "Listen V, I got a problem. Serious this time." To which V chose to get a quick look at the bartender's face in response, knowing from his expression something was definitely up "Found yourself in a hole sounds like, you need help?" Which causes Pepe to smile a little "Ah, knew I could count on you… it's uh, Kirk. I owe him. Don't pay by tomorrow, said he'd bust my legs." Which honestly caused V to be shocked internally. Kirk? The two-bit fixer was practically notorious in Heywood for being underhanded when it came to situations like this, leading him to say "You in it with Kirk?! Every man, woman and rat in Heywood knows he's a fuckin' shark. Goddamn miracle he hasn't been kicked out of El Coyote already for the shit he pulls." Saying the bar's name with a bit of an accent rather than what he considers to be the "outsider pronunciation". Pepe then spoke up "My brother jumped the joint, deserved a hero's welcome. I know I fuck up V… this were anyone else, I'd leave it be 'till I can pay. But Kirk… got cartels in his corner, the man's serious." Leaving V to sigh and pinch his nose upon realizing the full extent of what he's ended up in "You ever gonna get wise Pepe?" Which preceded the bartender to flip him off before he continued "At least tell me your brother's doin' alright." To which Pepe responded "Ah, he's doin' his thing, you know… so, can you help?" V knowing full well that he wasn't just gonna leave Pepe out to dry like this, even if this was Kirk they were dealing with. He then proceeded to slip off the stool "I'll talk to Kirk, but you're gonna owe me one for this alright?" To which Pepe responded "And you're savin' my life for this V, truly." Before V nods at him and heads upstairs to speak with the jackass himself.

V had just headed outside with Kirk's skeleton key in his pocket for this half-ass planned gig. Normally he wouldn't take shaky stuff like this, but if it meant Pepe's biz with Kirk was handled he may as well give it a shot. On his way out he noticed a tall burly man stuffing a body in a trunk standing beside an old man on the phone that V would recognize in any inch of Heywood. The old man then proceeded to hang up and turn towards the sound of footsteps "Well, who do we have here… V, long time. Nice to see you again boy." V chuckled a little at the Padre's familiar tone towards him before speaking up "Sebastian Ibarra, haven't changed a smidge." Still remembering when he first met the Padre at the age of 13. Sure V had a friend or two who taught him how to fight or properly aim a gun over the years, but Sebastian Ibarra is the man who educated the young street kid on the ins and outs of Heywood. Padre then responded to V with a smile "No one calls me by my name anymore. Almost forgotten how it sounds." To which V chuckled a little before asking "How're things Padre?" And then hearing an answer from the old man "The same. Heywood… nothing ever changes here. I'd like to hear how you've been." And V then put his hands in the pockets of his pants as he answered "Got back from Atlanta a few weeks ago, seemed to have gotten a proper NC welcome since then… not really a lot to say." To which the Padre responded "I'm unconvinced of that myself V. How was it for you back east?" And V just says "I'll tell you later, I've got something on my agenda right now." Expecting he'll just be on his way, but the Padre instead stated as he began turning towards the vehicle ahead of them "How about you fill me in now? We'll give you a ride. Marcus, start the car." And Marcus proceeded to open the back-right seat for V who decided to step in, sitting across from the Padre as Marcus closed the door and got over to the driver's seat "So where to V?" And V decides to say "The Glen. Drop me off at Embers." As Marcus enters the driver's seat. The Padre then simply asked "Front door?" Which prompted V to actually think about his approach for a moment before saying "Nah, take the ramp at the back of the bar. Show you where to stop." And with that said they drove off.

V had just dropped onto a dumpster before hopping off it onto the street after making his way off the ramp behind Embers. Aside from an encounter with some asshole from 6th Street who threatened the Padre the ride went pretty smoothly, even got his old mentor's number on the way out which was a plus. He proceeded to slip over to a nearby lift and he hit the controls to take the elevator down to the parking garage, receiving a call from Kirk on the way down that he picked up "V, status?" And V proceeded to say as the elevator opened "On location, 'bout to find your man and the Aerondight." Before proceeding to briefly hang up and head into the garage, the whole floor lighting up as V looked around, taking the time for a whistle at the sight of a parked dark red Quadra "Damn I'd like one of those…" and then someone over at the desk asked if he needed something and V came over "You're Rick right?" To which the man nodded before V continued "Kirk sent me." And then Rick proceeded to hit a switch on the terminal in front of him "Cameras are dark, you got 20 minutes. Do your thing." To which V nodded in response before walking away and taking a look around.

V had found the Aerondight parked over nearby which prompted him to dial for Kirk "Found the ride, time to see if your 'wondertech' pulls this off." To which Kirk responded "You're a man of little faith aren't ya? This'll work, just watch." And V then proceeded to take out the skeleton key and switch it on, opening the door into the Aerondight's driver seat much to V's surprise "See choom? We're rich, now head on in and get those wheels out of there." And then Kirk hung up before V got in, the door closing behind him as he let the key make sure the work was handled "Alright, time to roll."

But just as he was about to floor it the door suddenly opened to reveal a shorter girl with pale skin, teal hair and red eyes pulling a pink and teal pistol on him "Out of the car shitbucket." Instead of flinching however, V moved to floor the gas pedal… but rather than the Rayfield taking off, the skeleton key just sparked and gave out, causing an alarm to go off "Shit!" While the unknown girl just said "Aww, car problems? Get. The fuck. Out." Before pulling V out of the driver's seat, which only ended with him shoving her off him "How about you lay off!" But just as things seemed to be coming to blows between the two, police sirens went off and a speaker rang out as a pair of police cars cornered them into the parking lane "NCPD, drop your weapons and get on the ground!" And as the girl was about to take aim V raises an arm between her and the cars "Hang on a minute, you shoot now and we'll just be giving the badges a reason to give us more trouble, dunno who you are but I don't think either of us want the PD stuck on our asses." The girl then huffed in defeat after a moment before dropping the pistol on the ground, they then both put their hands up and got on their knees. A couple of officers then proceeded to get out and then slam them onto the pavement and pinned them with knees on their backs and forearms on their necks. The girl then shouted "Keep your fucking hands off of me!" Before another voice spoke out "Well well, what do we have here? Some dumb angry kid playing merc and… Vincent Drake, two years off in Atlanta and not an ounce wiser." V glancing towards the girl as she shouted "Who the fuck are you calling a kid you asshole?!" Before the cop pinning her down pushed her further onto the pavement. V then looked toward the source of the voice who was now walking out from behind the cars, proceeding to say "Inspector Stints… how many times do I gotta tell ya it's just 'V' before it sticks in your head huh? I haven't messed up that title of yours in 5 years, could at least cut me that much." Although beneath his cool head he was genuinely pissed. V's rule with his real name was that nobody was allowed to know what it was unless he trusted them 100%, the only reason Stints was able to be so persistent in making himself an exception was that he managed to find it the first time he arrested V for assault when he was 11, and in that particular case "assault" meant decking a corpo in the groin for talking shit about his friends.

Stints then spoke up, ignoring V's request "Guess you didn't find that slice of happiness you were looking for after that friend of yours died. I've always maintained that it's the same for all you termites in Heywood. Born here, live here, die here…" and he then looks towards the girl before continuing "And as for you… let me guess, little bitch who got pushed around and decided to stop giving two fucks and push back. How about you tell me how that's working out for ya?" V deciding to cut in before this person shot her own mouth off "And what about you Stints? You've been where I was before you put that badge on… besides, you lock us up, and then what? We see what happens at trial? Worst case scenario is we get a few months… hell, if there's any truth to what I've heard about how the system is lately, we'll probably end up out early. Cut us some slack for this one and you won't get any more trouble…" but just a few seconds later another voice popped up "Are these the thieves? Hmph, ordinary street trash."

V caught Stints quietly muttering "Fuck, he's here…" before standing up and approaching the arrival, V's guess being that he was the owner of the Rayfield. Stints then said "Yes Mr. Fujioka, we've already got them in custody, we'll be bringing these two in ASAP." Only for Fujioka to respond "I have no time to testify or play at an investigation." Rebecca then muttered quietly "Fuckin' high-class shithead." Before V shushed her, knowing that right about now the situation just got a lot more delicate, and unsurprisingly she just glared at him for it. Both Stints and Fujioka briefly glanced at them before turning back to each other, Stints asking "You suggesting we let them go sir?" Before Fujioka poked at Stints "I suggest you toss them into the sea. Cuffed legs broken so this trash doesn't float." Proceeding to walk off with his back turned in a manner that made V think this was just a pointless interruption as far as he was concerned. Stints then said to the officers "You heard him." Before the girl got a pre-emptive blow and they both got flipped over, V's positioning had now forced him to watch as a baton struck him dead in the face.

V wasn't sure how much time had passed before he felt the car stop. Stints then told him from up in the shotgun seat "Ok, get out. And if you're gonna keep this up you better start being more choosy about the stunts you pull before I start having to deal with that asshat again." V nodding while still half-dazed before he slowly pushed himself off of the backseat and stumbling out onto the pavement in a back alley, the girl in the black jacket needing to get thrown out of the car she was in as Stints sent the same order over to the officer in that one. V then moved over to a curb to sit down before setting his hand on his once-again broken nose, mentally cursing for ending up with one so soon after resetting it. The girl then also sat on the curb before inhaling through her nose "Fuck, nose broken by a damn badge…" and V then proceeded to set his hands over his nose "Motherfucking - ah!" Reeling once again from the sensation given by resetting his nose, hearing the girl's nose also snap back into place "Gah, shit…" and after a moment of silence she looked over to V "Can't believe I actually let myself back down to the cops… could've drowned cause of you shitbucket." To which V responded "Nah, Stints wouldn't take a suit's shit like that. Got as much Heywood blood in him as I do, having a problem with trash like that stuck-up gonk runs in it. Did what he had to do, that's all."

The girl then said after a moment "Noticed you had a little somethin' on the dash of that Rayfield, was gonna klep it myself when I noticed a driver and how quiet the lot was… should've known I ain't that lucky." V then chuckled a little before he responded "Don't think it would've mattered anyway. Whole job was toxic from the start, takes more than a good skeleton key to get past an alarm like that. Should've known I was just going to invite trouble... but that's enough mopin' about all that. You got a name or do I start callin' you tats?" Noticing at least two sets of tattoos he could point out on her, some kind of mark on her leg and something just under her neck… looked like a Mox tattoo to him. She then raised an eyebrow at the street kid "You normally try to make friends with people who almost shoot you on the same day?" To which V responded "Well you seem like you're alright, besides it's kinda my fault you lost a piece of iron today so I'd say we're even." The girl then gave a smirk at him before responding "Hah, and you did get your nose busted afterwards which saves you from me breaking it... y'know, what the hell. Name's Rebecca, or Becca if you want… what was it that badge called ya? Vin - "

"V," he had said to cut her off "Just V. You wanna be able to use my real name, gotta be someone who's earned it. Stints just uses it cause he found out a while back and doesn't give a shit." And Rebecca contemplated for a moment before she said with a satisfied expression "V it is." But before V could say thanks his holo went off, noticing Jackie's icon appeared before he picked up, his pupils glowing blue as he spoke over the call "Hey Jackie, what's up?" "Just had a word with Pepe, he mentioned you were runnin' somethin' for Kirk. Something about a favor?" V then pushed himself off of the curb "Pepe owes Kirk some eddies and can't afford to pay by the deadline, so I stepped up. Ended up taking a gig to klep a Rayfield… job went south but I'm still in one piece." Jackie sighing as he responded "Gotta wonder about Pepe, lettin' slimy Kirk boss him around like that." V had crossed his arms on his end before saying "Heard what they say about him, he's backed up by cartels." "Cartels? Nah nah, I know some of those cartel types and I can guarantee you none of 'em have even heard of Kirk. El cabrón's gotta learn, consequences to doing people in Heywood dirty." Which preceded V sighing before saying "Son of a bitch… guess I'll be paying him a visit for thinking he's going to get away with that. Thanks for the heads up Jackie." His expression showed pretty vivid frustration in spite of his thank you. Jackie then spoke "Well, if you've got time to spare first, mi mamá is makin' some lunch. You're free to join in." To which V responded "Yeah I'd be down for that, see you soon." Before hanging up and sighing as he raised his head to look up at the sky with his hands being interlaced behind his head, muttering to himself "First I almost got mugged, then I landed in this shit…"

Right around then Rebecca got up "Sounds like you've been gettin' it rough choom." V turning around towards Rebecca to look at her "Yeah, I guess… 's just that I've grown up on these streets for as long as I can remember. Got rep around Heywood, know who my chooms are… and even with all that, the same streets I earned my rep in still have shitty surprises for me like I'm just a back-alley troublemaker whose only gotten eddies from pulling a pocket knife on bystanders." His tone making it clear that going through all of that was exhausting. Rebecca then just shrugs and says "Why stop at Heywood? Home neighborhood sure, but if you want people to know who you are, give 'em a reason to know it." And before either of them could really do much else Rebecca's expression changed "Hm. Think it may be time for me to cut loose and delta, catch ya around V." And as she walks off she picks up a call "Ey, what's up?"

Epilogue: The following day V stepped into Viktor's clinic to find the ripperdoc himself and Gloria talking "Hey Vik, think it's time for me to follow up." Which ended up getting both of their attention, Vik saying in response "You sure V? We agreed for you to do it only if you were sure." But V just said without any hesitation "It's about damn time I start upping my game... I'm ready to do this, I mean it." And catching the conviction in the mercenary's eye Vik got up and went to get a pair of Gorilla Arms. Vik then looked over to V who just nodded before heading to the chair, thinking to himself (I'm done settling for shit. The only mark I'm leaving is one I'm gonna make, not a splat mark on the street or in a back alley... get ready Night City, here comes V.)

Author's Note: And there it is, first official chapter. I know that once again I'm borrowing from the lifepath prologues, but it felt fitting in this case since there was potential in the details for giving V a reason to start aiming high and it also gave an opening for me to delve a little into V's background like I did with Kyle and Valerie in their chapters (just for the record V and Valerie don't have any actual relation to each other).

As for the choice of how I gave V's name reveal, it seemed like an appropriate circumstance to incorporate V's full name instead of just dropping the bomb later into the story.

And where Becca being in Jackie's place in comparison to the prologue in-game is concerned, I actually was planning to involve one of the Edgerunners already just to give some depth regarding relations between V and the crew and Rebecca seemed like the proper person who'd be quick to act with the Rayfield and also willing to hear V out in the aftermath of the job.

The next chapter or two is going to kind of center around character development before things start to really heat up since I honestly feel like in-game there wasn't really a lot of opportunities to hollow out what V's really like. Plus it gives both the time and possible opportunities to flesh out the part the Edgerunners will have to play since the foundation of this story is to give a better ending for all these characters who for the most part essentially ended their stories as victims, the bulk of the crew especially. That being said I hope anyone who's made it this far will still stick around to see how this unfolds, until next time chooms.

Update: Decided to add in V's first choice of Cyberware just because I think it'll be more coherent if I added it now instead of just revealing it in the next chapter.