"Tell me again who gave you this job?" Lucy said, David knew she was crossing her arms even over a voice call.
"Kirk." David said as he dropped down into the side entrance to Embers.
"Mhm." Lucy deadpanned, "And how badly did you hit your head today that makes you think you can trust a gonk like that?"
David chuckled softly, trying not to draw attention to himself.
"Don't trust him either." he said placatingly, "I'm doing this to help out a buddy of my mom's."
Lucy fell silent at that, so David continued.
"Always used to look out for me and mom. Would drive us home if she fell asleep at the bar." he said, soft smile on his face. "He owes Kirk, I took a job to settle the debt and square away some extra enny's for the moon trip."
Lucy let out an irritated groan. "You and that hero complex of yours." she sighed, "Just make sure you come back to me, okay?"
"Always." David grinned, "We still good for lunch?"
"Sorry, dinner ok? This job is looking like it'll take us a while longer." Lucy said.
David furrowed his brow at that. As he slipped into the sterile corridor of the club's garage, he internally pondered what could have delayed her that much.
"That's fine, is it-"
"No, don't think it's actually Bartmoss." Lucy said, "Least, I don't think it is. Still, if there's even a chance it might be, I want to be prepared. Think I managed to narrow down the sig though. Me and Kiwi are going to check it out right now."
David hummed to himself. He understood, anything to do with the Old Net, DataKrash or the Rogue AI's hiding beyond the Blackwall troubled his netrunner. He suspected it was mostly for peace of mind rather than any legitimate danger, more reassurance that she didn't need to run, that her past was behind her.
Still, it was relieving to hear she wasn't going alone. With her former mentor-turned Netrunning partner at her back, David didn't think it was possible for her to be any safer handling Net related dangers.
"Alright," he said, "Dinner it is. Gotta go, call you later?"
"Of course." Lucy said, "Love you."
"Love you too."
David rapped his knuckles against the counter, the man behind the wire grate looking up from his Screamsheet.
"Help you?" he droned.
"Kirk sent me." David murmured, looking around to make sure they were alone.
"Cameras are down." the man said, pressing a button on the counter. "Got 20. Hope you're fast."
"Choom, you don't know the half of it." David muttered to himself as he entered the garage proper.
His target, a Rayfield Aerondight, was on the far side of the garage, easily visible from where he was standing.
"Nova!" David grinned to himself, jogging over to the supercar. "Easiest eddies I ever made."
His reverie was interrupted by a call, Kirk.
"How we looking on the job, Kid?" the small time fixer said.
David rolled his eyes. If he had any choice in the matter he would have paid Pepe's debt himself and washed his hands of this slimeball.
Still, a fixer was a fixer, and it's not like he himself had any street cred worth a damn.
"Found the car." he responded, "Time to see if your 'wondertech' holds up."
"You're a man of little faith." Kirk chuckled, an irritating noise. No wonder Lucy didn't like the man, beyond the obvious, that was.
Cutting the connection, David pressed the button on the jury rigged service key, surprised when the super car unlocked with a chirp.
"Fuckin' tech wizards." David muttered to himself, getting into the drivers seat. "Wonder if they stock any cyberdecks for Lucy..."
As the service key began running its bypass routine, David let himself get comfortable in the seat.
Definitely not a corpo car. He thought to himself. This was a ride fit for the super rich. Arasaka suits definitely couldn't afford it, the people with whom the company shared a name however...
David momentarily had thoughts of himself and Lucy, legends in edgerunning circles. They would live in a Penthouse in Japantown, driving the Aerondight and living like kings.
He was snapped out of his short daydream as the door to the Rayfield opened with a hiss.
"Get the fuck out." the intruder said curtly, pointing a pistol at his head.
Shit.
David floored the accelerator, cursing as the service key fizzled and sparked, acrid smoke emitting from the small piece of technology.
I take it back, I ain't gettin' Lucy anything from these fuckin' "tech wizards"
"Wow, you got moves, kid." the bigger man scoffed. "Now fuckin' out."
David let his sandevistan carry him into a trance-like state, slipping in and out of 'bullet time' felt smoother after his visit to Viktor, more natural. Instead of the world screeching to a halt around him, it felt more like taking a deep breath, watching as everything began to grow more sluggish, all in the space of a single heartbeat.
Almost leisurely, David slapped the pistol out of the other man's hand, diving out of the driver's seat and tackling him to the floor. He didn't have a hope of competing pound for pound with the man normally, but he was much faster, doubly so under the effects of the Sandy. It was simple physics really.
David exhaled as the world began to move again, raising a fist to strike, he froze when he recognized the man.
"You're the guy from Viktor's clinic!" David said, eyes widening. The other main groaned, observing the younger mercenary.
"Shit," he coughed, "You're that chico who visited with his output!"
Any words David was about to say were drowned out by the blare of police sirens.
"NCPD! Don't move!" a distorted voice shouted from a speaker.
"On the ground! Now!" two officers jumped out of their vehicles, pointing their guns at David.
A hard boot drove itself into his ribs, knocking the air out of him. Hitting the ground hard, he gasped for air, crying out as a knee was planted on his back, cold steel of a gun barrel placed against his head.
"Hey!" Jackie shouted, the knee on his own back evidently not bothering him as badly. "Puerco! Lay off him, he's just a kid!"
"What do we have here?" a voice dripping with false cheer cut through the blinding lights of the police cruisers. "Jackie Welles, see you ain't grown an inch wiser, choom."
"Detective Stints!" Jackie said, "C'mon amigo, this is just a misunderstandin' that's all."
The man in question took a step forward, coming out of the shadows into the harsh headlights. He had a cruel sneer, face weathered by the stresses of street life.
Not a corpo pig then, David grimaced, trying to get his breathing under control, That's a good sign, at least."That's Inspector Stints." the man glared, turning his gaze over to David, "You, I don't know your face, but I've seen faces like it. Street trash that gets swept up into the gang life."
David wanted so desperately to say something, anything, but all his focus and energy was dedicated to trying to fill his lungs with as much air as he could get.
"That's right, it's all the same with you gutter rats." the detective said, crouching down to observe the young edgerunner. "You think you're hot shit, try to run with the toughest perps. Then you'll get yourselves whacked in a back alley trying to give your dime a dozen street girls the life they 'deserve'"\
David's eyes narrowed, his breathing was almost under control now, and he was going to make this son of a bitch eat his words about Lucy. Unable to do much physically beyond squirm, David spat, as hard and as accurate as he could.
Evidently he was a better shot when he was pissed as the globule of saliva flew straight and true, colliding with the Inspector's eye.
"Fucking-" the man cursed, pulling an arm back, ready to strike the helpless man.
"C'mon, Stints." Jackie called out suddenly, diffusing the tension momentarily. "You know that ain't the worst thing anyone's done to you. Let us go, eh?"
Before anyone else had a chance to speak, a cold voice cut through.
"Are these the thieves?"
"Yes, Mr Fujioka." Stints said, eyeing the new man with hostility. "We can handle it from here."
The new man, Fujioka, reminded David of his old school bully, Katsuo Tanaka. The smug sense of superiority, the way that he wouldn't look at any of them, not Jackie, not David, not Stints, unless he had to, and even then his gaze was filled with contempt.
"I have no patience to give testimony." the main said flatly.
"Saying we should let him go, sir?"
"I'm saying you take them for a swim." Fujioka glared. "Cuffed legs broken so this trash doesn't float."
Without another word, the man walked away, seemingly already done with the conversation.
"Corpo ass munch." Stints muttered under his breath, nodding to his fellow policemen.
Immediately, the knee on his and Jackie's back was removed, rough hands flipping the two over. David heard a metallic clicking as batons were extended.
"Ah shit..." he heard Jackie groan.
With a sudden whack and a sharp pain, darkness swallowed him.
David opened his eyes, somehow both unsurprised yet feeling vindicated at the realization he was not dead.
He smelled burning CHOOH2 as he saw a police cruiser speeding away from him, by his side, Jackie groaned, opening his eyes as well.
"Shit, didn't think we'd make it out of there." Jackie groaned, touching his bloodied nose gingerly.
"Stints grew up on the streets like you 'n me, right? Think he rebels against corpos in his own way." David said, touching his own nose as he heard how nasally his own voice was.
Broken, shit.
"Maybe." Jackie said, extending a hand towards David. "Jackie Welles."
David grunted as he adjusted his broken nose, Lucy would kill him, assuming she didn't try and find and kill Stints.
"David." he accepted Jackie's hand. "Appreciate you not putting a bullet in me back there, choom."
"Nah." Jackie chuckled, "Wouldn't shoot a kid. 'Sides, I should be the one thanking you for not pounding my face in. That Sandy of yours, military grade?"
David nodded, Welles, why did that sound so familiar.
"Welles..." he murmured, "Like, El Coyote Cojo?"
"That's my mom's dive." Jackie grinned, "You a regular?"
David smiled nostalgically, "Nah, my mom used to be."
Jackie blinked, as if only now taking in David's EMT jacket.
"Shit, you Gloria's kid?"
David turned to face Jackie properly.
"Yeah, you knew her?" David asked, Jackie chuckled.
"Shit, so you're that David." he said with a smile, "My mama's been asking me to check up on you both. Well, 'asking'."
Quirking an eyebrow, David decided to let the man keep speaking.
"'Jackie, tesoro. You should check on Gloria, see how she's doing." Jackie spoke, imitating his mother. From what David remembered, it wasn't actually too far off. "She's got a good head on her shoulders, just like Camilla. Could use some help, hmm? From a responsible Welles boy, maybe?' Shit ma, ain't like Misty don't got a good head on her shoulders either."
David mentally noted that Misty, the woman from Vik's clinic, was dating Jackie. Then immediately began thinking of a way to divert the conversation away from the idea of Jackie's mother trying to play matchmaker between him and David's own mother.
"She died." he said, Jackie turned his full attention back to David. "In a car accident."
"Shit, David." Jackie patted him on the shoulder awkwardly. "I'm sorry, I didn't know."
"S'fine." David said, forcing a smile. "You couldn't have known."
The pair sat in silence for a few minutes. Suddenly, Jackie got up, offering David his hand.
"Shit, almost lunchtime." he said with a chuckle, "C'mon, my 'ma probably wants to meet you. If you're free that is."
David took the older man's hand. "Sure, I'm free until the evening."
"You're in luck, chico" the man laughed as the pair made their way down the Glen's streets. "My 'ma makes the best chilli in NC!"
Bonus:
As the pair walked, they made idle chitchat, giving David plenty of time to check his phone idly.
Oh. Oh no.
Messages from Lucy, lots of them.
"Ohhh I'm in trouble." David muttered to himself.
"What's up, D?" Jackie turned to look at the younger man, still not breaking his brisk stride. They were in Heywood now, Jackie didn't need to see where they were going to know where they were.
"My girlfriend. With all the biz with the cops I missed a bunch of her messages."
"Shit." Jackie whistled, "Better handle that right now then."
"Yeah." David said, opening up the chat.
[Me n Kiwi are done for now, dead end lead.]
[Kiwis gonna do some digging on the net]
[Can meet up for lunch if you didn't eat already ;)]
-13:36
[David?]
[U there?]
-13:54
[Missed Call from Lucyna Kushinada]
[Missed Call from Lucyna Kushinada]
-14:32
[David this isnt funny]
[Pick up]
-14:35
[Missed Call from Lucyna Kushinada]
-14:50
Oh I'm in so, so much trouble.
Swallowing nervously. David called Lucy.
The call barely reached its second ring before Lucy picked up.
"You fucking gonk!" Lucy shouted the moment the connection went through.
"Hey Lucy..." David said, all wit lost for the moment.
"Hey?! Hey?! That's all you have to say for yourself?!"
David winced, he hadn't heard her this pissed since, well, since he got himself kidnapped by Kurosaki.
"Sorry, job went a little sideways." he said, placatingly, Jackie chuckled.
"I told you not to trust Kirk!" Lucy was really pissed.
"Chill, chill." David said, "Met a guy, he knew my mom. He helped me out. I'm headed to his mom's place for some grub, nothin' bad happened, honest."
He wasn't going to bring up the fact that the older man had pulled a gun on him right now, he still had enough sense to know that was gonk timing.
"Where." Lucy demanded. "Send me the address, I'll head there now."
"The address? Uh..." David looked at Jackie, silently pleading for help.
"I'll flick you the deets." Jackie said, laughing even harder now. "My 'ma doesn't turn away anybody. More the merrier."
"I'll message you the address." David answered Lucy, mouthing a 'thank you' towards the older man. "Sound good?"
"Fine." Lucy's voice wasn't explicitly angry anymore, something that was even more terrifying to David than straight up rage. "I'm hanging up now."
"I love you-" David was cut off by Lucy ending the call early.
Oh I'm in so much trouble.
"Gonna be sleepin' on the couch?" Jackie slapped David on the back, almost sending the younger man tumbling to the floor.
"Doubt it." David said. As pissed as Lucy was right now, he hoped a mix of his charms as well as Jackie and his mother's good natured influence could placate her. "But I hope your neighbors don't mind a little bit of shouting."