David pouted at the bottle in his hand, condensation dripping onto the counter of the bar.
"I don't see why I have to-"
"Shut up and drink your Broseph." Lucy glared, the bite was gone from her gaze, but her tone still indicated mild irritation.
"Damn David, what'd you do to piss Lucy off this badly?" Kiwi asked, Rebecca merely laughed at him.
"A job went sideways," he drank the beer, grimacing as the carbonated bubbles hit his tongue. "Got a little sidetracked and missed a bunch of her calls."
"You scared me, gonk-brain." Lucy sighed, gaze softening. "I thought I lost you for a moment."
"I know." David said, taking Lucy's free hand in his own. "I'm sorry."
They sat like this for some time, enjoying the music of the club, basking in each other's company.
Kiwi rolled her eyes at the couple's intimacy, Rebecca mock gagged, grumbling about the pair's need to get a room.
"Heads up you guys." Kiwi said, "Looks like trouble's just walked in."
The group turned to look at the disturbance, a squad of Arasaka hitmen.
Lucy tensed up, her grip on David's hand tightening.
They waited with bated breath, only breathing a sigh of relief when the squad walked right past the counter and to a corner table.
"Hey, isn't that Jackie?" David asked Lucy, the woman gave a shaky nod in response.
"I dunno who that woman is with him though." she added.
They observed the exchange, the woman sitting with Jackie suddenly slumping over in exertion.
Jackie stood, placing himself between the hitmen and the woman.
"Ah hell." David said, tapping Rebecca on the shoulder. "We need to go talk to them."
"David!" Lucy hissed, gripping his hand tightly.
"Don't worry." he smiled reassuringly, "Under the radar"
They caught a fragment of the conversation as they approached.
"I'm guessin' you suits forget just how far from home you are." Jackie said, crossing his arms.
"Is that a threat?" one of the men, evidently the leader, stepped forward.
He wasn't a small man by any means, but Jackie towered over him all the same.
"No." David said, "Just that you fuckin' suits apparently don't seem to realize you've just walked into Lizzies and threatened its customers in full view of... everybody."
The leader looked around, taking stock of their current situation.
Apart from the pair of mercenaries that had just approached, every member of the Mox currently present in the club had their eyes planted firmly on the corporate squadron.
Some had their hands on their holsters, others had their weapons drawn.
Even Mateo, the bartender, was glaring at them from the counter, hands obscured underneath the counter.
The leader barked something to the others in Japanese.
"Fine, keep the woman, we're leaving." he spat.
As he walked away, he glared at David.
"You, you are known to us, street trash." he growled, "Arasaka is not so quick to forget."
"Fuckin' try us, corpo swine." Rebecca glowered back.
Once the hitmen had left the club, Jackie turned to face the pair.
"Thanks for the assist." he said with a smile.
"Any time, choom." Rebecca grinned, "Name's Rebecca, but you can just call me Becca."
"Jackie," the older man shook Rebecca's hand. "This is Valerie."
"Hey." the woman groaned, "I'd shake your hand too but I'm... feeling a little under the weather."
"Let me take a look." Kiwi said, brushing past David.
He felt a soft hand slip into his and smiled as he felt Lucy lean into his shoulder.
"Hey." he whispered.
"Hi." she whispered back.
Kiwi hummed as she read Valerie's biomon.
"Arasaka, huh?" she said out loud, Lucy bristled at David's side. "Counter Intelligence unit."
"Was." Valerie groaned. "Think I just got cut off."
"Makes sense," Kiwi said, "Your hormonal cyberware's been disabled. Well, all of your cyberware really. But the hormones are the issue. All the fatigue you've been holding back, hormones that are thrown out of wack, you're going into shock."
"We gotta get her to a ripper!" Rebecca said.
"Hope you have a car." Jackie grimaced, "I came here on a beat up old bike."
"Falco can pick us up in five." Kiwi said. "I can monitor her in the car until we get to the ripperdoc."
"No." Lucy said, "I can do that. Kiwi, can you and David follow behind us on Jackie's bike, make sure we aren't followed?"
Kiwi nodded, David furrowed his brow.
Lucy was acting strange.
Usually she'd steer clear of jacking in to a 'Saka suit. Especially after what happened with Tanaka.
Something wasn't adding up.
Lucy met his eyes, trying to communicate silently.
Later, we'll talk later. They seemed to say
David nodded.
"Alright, let's move."
Viktor's Clinic.
"Well, how is he Vik?" Jackie asked.
"She'll be fine." Viktor said, placing his tools in a tray and setting them aside. "I removed the non-functional cyberware. Gave her medical grade replacements of the essentials. When she comes to, we can see if she wants any upgrades."
"Nova." David said, breathing a sigh of relief. The ride to Vik's clinic had been tense, not least because Kiwi had insisted that he drive.
Need to focus if anyone is actually following. she had said Riding at high speeds while trying to break corpo ICE is a great way for me to crash into something.
"Figure she can get at least some decent chrome." Jackie said, "Those suits drained her accounts but they didn't take this"
He placed a large bundle of Eurodollars on the table, wrapped in a paper band.
"I'll make sure she gets it when she wakes up." Viktor nodded. "You two go get some rest, dunno when she'll come to."
Saying their thanks, the pair ascended the steps, into the alley.
"Oh, also. David!" Jackie placed a hand on his shoulder. "Got a job, wanted you to tag along."
"Preem." David grinned, "Share the deets."
"Nothing exciting" Jackie said with a chuckle, the pair walked into Misty's store, taking a seat on the couch. "Just some light smuggling. We gotta meet up with a contact though. Some nomad. Calls himself... V?"