Even in these chains, you won't take me

All were gathered in the evening at Viktor's clinic for a debrief, around a couple of XXL Burritos and Locust Pizzas. The man looked tired, more than V had ever seen him. He, who always was such a strong pillar in her life, untouchable, always here, always the same... Seeing him like that broke V's heart. And made her twice angrier.

"What concerns me the most," resumed the merc, "is that Jinx seems to be involved somehow." Vi straightened up on her seat, and Caitlyn paled.

"What makes you say that?" she groaned.

"Nothing adds up. Deckard is a total new player, but hasn't worked for any fixers. He's got a crew, gear, and eddies, and more importantly, intel, but no one knows how, and he seems determined to mess with everyone, with nothing to gain. He kills the target but doesn't claim the bounty? He steals gear, but no one has seen it on the black market? It looks like his only goals are being a boxing champ, and chaos for teh sake of chaos."

Vi scratched her head. "That does sound like Jinx... She's always got a knack for getting information before anyone else, gods know how."

"But why?" asked Judy. "What's her motive? What does she get out of chaos in Night City? It's already a giant mess all the time."

Vi shook her head. "Only Jinx knows why Jinx does things. And even that I'm not sure. My sister is... not alright."

"Jinx aside," said Caitlyn, "we can be sure there's an ulterior motive. Deckard is not doing this for the love of the sport; otherwise, he wouldn't cheat. There is something for him to gain in this position. Something more than eurodollars and street cred. Maybe there's a bigger contract on Razor Hugh. Some contracts."

"Maybe he doesn't even know," supposed Vi, "and he's just following my sister's orders. She does have a crowd of fanatics hung to her lips."

"It doesn't matter!" yelled V, almost banging on the table. "All that matters is that we find Misty and get her out! The why doesn't matter! I don't give a shit if Jinx is here or not! She can be NC's Overlord for all I care!"

Silence fell in the room after her outburst. Judy moved closer to her and put an arm around her shoulders, her forehead nestled in V's neck. "We don't have time for that shit, Jude," breathed the young woman with sobs in her throat.

"I know, hon. I know..." Judy was as close to tears as her partner. Vi shared a pained look with her wife. There seemed to be something they were missing.

"V," started the blue-haired woman. "What is going on? Why such a rush?"

V looked at Viktor with pleading eyes. "V is on a ticking clock," he explained for her. "Four months ago, I diagnosed her with six months left to live. Her body's shutting down, and there's nothing we can do about it."

V's eyes were locked on the empty pizza boxes in front of her. She couldn't lift them up. "Shit, that's heavy," sighed Vi. "I'm sorry to hear, but..."

She gazed at her wife with a question in her eyes. Caitlyn nodded. "But maybe we can help. The prototype we're here to retrieve, the Hexcore. It could help."

"This is highly confidential," added Caitlyn. "But I already told you: we care. If there's a chance we can save you..."

Every eye was locked on her. "I don't know of a single piece of tech that could do that," said gently Viktor.

"It's revolutionary," explained Cait. "Our top scientist came up recently with this idea... I can't explain how it works, but the gist of it is that it continuously heals the body from the inside. More like a reset, I don't know. The point is, cancer, radiations, maybe cyberpsychosis... We could heal anything."

"That... sounds way too good to be true," choked Judy. "What's the catch?"

"Aside from the price, hell if we know. Why do you think it's still a prototype? We haven't reached human trials yet! But Jayce was confident."

"And," added Vi, "this is very likely to be the reason why Deckard comes out on top every time. As far as we can tell, he's providing us with the human trial we hadn't planned yet, and results seem to be all we hoped it to be."

Judy almost jumped out of her seat. "Then you could heal V! You can help her!"

"Jude..." whispered V.

"It's not that simple." said Caitlyn, ignoring the merc. "It took more than three years to build this one. There's no chance to have one in the next two months. None. Our only shot is to get Deckard's body, and fly it, along with V, all the way to London, to transfer the implant from him to her."

"Stop..." begged V. But her voice was barely a whisper, unheard to all. "

"And even then, I don't know what V's problem is. But Jayce has all my trust, I'm sure he can figure this out."

"What kind of implant is it?" asked Viktor.

"It's not really an implant, more like a series of tech. There's a piece in the brain, one in the heart, two in the back..."

"I guess it means we'd have to take away her current cybernetics."

"I think so, but I'm not sure which ones. Jayce would know, and..."

"STOP!"

V's scream resonated all the way to the badlands.

"Don't do this! This tech... it's not right!"

"V, please.." begged Judy, taking her girlfriend's hand. "If there's a chance to save you, we..."

"I'm not talking about that!" she cut again. "You really don't see it? I know you live in your little corpo world, but even you have to realize what something like this would mean! If Arasaka or Militech hear about it, if they get their hands on it... We're talking super soldiers! Unkillable! Immortal corpos! We're talking war, again!"

"But," countered Caitlyn, "we could save so many lives! So much pain taken out of the world!"

"How many lives? I can already tell you. Five. Six maybe. Just the couple of motherfuckers that could afford it. The rest would keep dying all the same!"

Vi stood up and inserted herself between them, her gigantic hand dressed like a shield.

"Easy, buddy," she growled. "Don't take it out on my wife! We're not the enemy here."

"I'm not so sure about that! You created the wet dream of every corp, and you lost it to a maniac and the Animals."

Caitlyn stood up in turn, and gently put her hand on Vi's, lowering it.

"Please V. Trust that we know what we are doing. Everything you're saying, Jayce thought about it ten times over. I hear you, but we're very careful."

"Clearly, not careful enough! We're getting Misty out of there, and if I can fry his brain in the process, I'll take the chance."

On those words, she left the room, shutting the door violently behind her. Both Viktor and Judy tried to go after her at the same time.

"Leave her to me," said the young woman. "She's on edge."

"Okay, kid. Let me know if I can help."

Outside, the summer rain had started to wash away some of the heat and dust. Rain always brought a different smell to Night City. It was heavy with chemicals and something else Judy could never pinpoint. Like a smell from the desert.

Vi was sitting on the doorstep of Misty's, head down, between her hands.

"V. Mi amor."

"I can't do this, Judy."

"Do what?"

"Run after another fairy tale. A secret implant that heals everything? Come on, you can't believe that."

"But if it can give you a chance... if there's a single shred of a single possibility I could have you longer..."

"Judy. I've done nothing but fighting for my survival, for a year. Look what it brought! So many dead! By my hands or for me. Jackie. Saul. Scorpion. Johnny."

"V..."

"Do you know I still talk to him sometimes? To Johnny. I really miss the bastard, if you'd believe that."

She started sobbing.

"I can't do this anymore. I've been at peace for the first time in forever, and now, now..."

"I understand, V, but..."

"But what, Jude? Look me in the eyes and tell me you could endure another hope betrayed?"

Judy grabbed her partner's face between her hands and forced her to look up.

"I don't know. You're right; it might destroy me. It might be that the little bit of time we have left would be blood and sweat rather than sun and beer. Maybe. But what I do know for sure is that, is that I will never be able to live with myself for the end of my days if I know I didn't try all I could to save you."

V shook her head. "I'm not worth it, Judy. This prototype has to die. It's too risky. I won't risk another corpo war just for my life."

"I will."

She took a pause and resumed, more determined than ever. "Go save Misty. I get it. I'll work with Vi and Caitlyn to save your hot piece of ass."

"You promised..."

"Well, I changed my mind! Sue me!"

V chuckled, the laugh distorted by the tears in her throat. "I don't get a say in this, don't I."

"Nope, you don't."

V raised her head to the sky, filled with neon light and invisible stars. "I really don't understand why. What did I do to deserve so much, to deserve you. To be worth a global war."

Judy kissed her, passionately. She let the few raindrops that ignored their small shelter run down her face, making the whole scene worthy of a cringy Braindance she usually made so much fun about.

"You're the kindest, bravest, baddest, hottest fucking woman in this City, V. I know you don't see it, and it always makes me so sad to realize I can't make you see it, no matter how hard I try. But if there's one single person to save in this shithole, just one, it would be you."

V smiled. "You really do love me, don't you."

"More than anything. I'm not ready to lose you, V. Not without a fight. Now let's get back inside. I'm getting drenched here."

Inside, Viktor, Vi, and Caitlyn seemed to have started some awkward pleasantries in the meantime.

"Interestingly enough, the mastermind behind the Hexcore is also called Viktor. A true genius."

"Goes with the name," laughed Vik.

"Okay," interrupted V with a newfound motivation. "How do we take down a gonk without destroying his head, heart, or backbone while he's continuously healing?"

"It's a prototype," answered Caitlyn with a smile. "It's full of weaknesses. EMPs, for instance, Jayce didn't have the time to protect it against those. It might damage the hardware, though; we'd have to carefully calculate the power. Or there's this chip," she said, showing a little data card between her fingers. "Jam it into his slot, and it will shut down completely. Little safety from Viktor. I wrote the code myself."

"Means we gotta get close to him undetected. Thankfully, it's my specialty."

"Still need to find him," reminded Judy.

"Rogue gave me a good tip. A Maelstrom's den is bound to receive a shipment of implants tomorrow. Some gear they bought from scavs. Some fixers have received a request from Militech to get it back, but they don't have any trustworthy merc. Until me, that is. Rogue's sure as one can be that Deckard's crew is gonna try to steal it before everyone else."

"But how do we know they haven't already? They're always one step ahead."

"That's the thing. The shipment arrives at Northside's docks. By boat. It's untouchable until it's here, tomorrow."

"So we intercept his guys and make them talk," confirmed Judy.

"And thankfully, that is my speciality!" concluded Vi, clenching her metal fists with a grin.

"I have to meet Razor Hugh, tomorrow," declared Viktor with a hint of fear in his voice. "First check-up. I suspect the Animals will contact me soon after."

"Good. It's good. It means you'll be off the suspect list when we cross them. Keep it tight, do as you would normally. Nothing out of the ordinary."

"Understood, V."

"The shipment is expected at dawn. Less traffic. So we better get some sleep, and meet there before the sun gets up. I'll send you the address. You girls can stay at my place all you want. See you there at 5."

On these words, she got back up again and left once more, this time for good. Caitlyn looked over at Judy, but she wasn't worried. She knew that look on her face. It wasn't the panicked look, the flight mode. It was the focused, *I'm working* mode. "See you tomorrow," she concluded before joining her girlfriend outside.

V stared at Judy's naked body. Even with all lights off, the neons from the city's skyscrapers could light up the room like the sun through the blinds. She had fallen asleep quickly, her skin still covered in sweat and lipstick from V's kisses.

For some time, sex had been weird between them. They would both throw themselves into it with unmatched passion, knocking lips to the point of hurting, grabbing each other with iron grips, doing everything they could to melt into one another. V was painfully aware that they kept making love as if everytime would be the last, and the more passionate they were, the more obvious the reason why. It kept messing with her head.

She was certain it was on Judy's mind too, but perhaps she was just better at hiding it. Glancing at the clock, it was already 1 am. Sleep was a necessity, but the more she needed it, the less it seemed to come.

Searching through the bedside table, she hoped to find some pills she had left before leaving town. Luck was on her side, and she quickly downed them before lying down, resting her head on Judy's chest.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

The rhythmic sound of a heartbeat, more soothing than counting sheep.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

Darkness finally enveloped her.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

Judy woke up abruptly, a sense of panic overwhelming her. Something in her sleeping brain screamed that V was missing. She didn't know how, but she was certain. What time was it? Twenty-two past seven.

"FUCK!" she swore. Rushing out of bed, she nearly tripped over the blanket in her haste. Her clothes were scattered throughout the bedroom and on the stairs, evidence of the night's passion and impatience. She grabbed them hastily, tears swelling up in her eyes.

"Fuck! Fuck you, V!" she yelled to no one. "Where did she say she was? The docks? Damn it, where?"

She called V's line, but there was no answer. She pinged her implant's IP, but there was no response. V was elusive. Swearing more in Spanish, Judy stumbled down the stairs, heading for the elevator.

Her comms rang in her head. At first, her heart calmed down, relieved. Then, it raged again as she thought of all the insults she would hurl at V. Then it stopped. Her heart skipped a beat, feeling like it had stopped altogether. It wasn't V's name displayed in front of her eyes. It was Caitlyn's.

"Caitlyn? What's going on?"

"Judy! She's down! V's down! What do we do?!"

A/N : Hello everyone !
New chapters ! A bit shorter. The good news is : i'm almost done writing the fic :) I've written some heavy and angsty scenes i'm very very eager to share with you all! So stay tuned !