Nothing to lose, everything to win.
Delamain had sent them one of its best cars, complete with the Excelsior Package, despite V not even asking for it. The AI, if nothing else, knew gratitude and kept thanking V for what she had done for it almost a year prior. They made a quick stop on the way to buy a good stock of pills for V, which made a significant dent in the money she had received from Rogue for retrieving the implants, along with the few bounties from the NCPD for disposing of wanted Maelstroms and Scavs.
The silence reigned supreme in the car until V broke it. "Say, Jude…" Her voice fissured like an old dam ready to give way under the pressure of Mother Nature.
Her girlfriend stopped her in her tracks. "V, you better not be proposing to me in a goddamn Delamain, or I swear to you I'm jumping out of the door right now!"
V smiled in spite of herself. "No, that's not what I wanted to say. I… Listen, what I mean is… Thanks. Thank you, for everything."
"V, stop. We're not doing that. You're not saying your goodbyes!" Judy was visibly upset, her voice descending in octaves.
"Yes, I am, Jude. I don't want to, and I promised you, I'll do all I can to stick around as long as possible. But you heard Vik, same as me. My heart could start leaking out anytime, and no amount of goodwill can prevent that. Right now, my fate is in the hands of Luck, you know it, and I know it."
Judy stayed silent, her eyes fixed on the back of the driver's seat in front of her. "And if that happens… I want to go with the certainty that I said what I wanted to say. I love you, Jude. I freakin' love you. For who you are and all that you did for me. To me. You and I are the most precious thing I ever had, and I… I… I just love you. And I know I can't force you to anything, but if I don't make it, I hope you'll find it in you to go back with Panam, stay with the Aldecados. I know they really like you and consider you family, and I think you do too. I just want you to be happy. Even if it's with Rachel, who has, quote marks, been eyeballing you since you joined camp."
Judy didn't react to the joke. Her gaze stayed locked in front of her. "I love you too, V," she answered almost robotically. "I've heard your goodbyes, but I ain't saying mine. I'm not ready to."
"That's fair," whispered V, looking at her city unfolding through the window, making sure Judy's fingers were tightly locked inside her hand.
"I never felt at home here," commented Judy as she stepped into the chrome-polished elevator of V's building at Corpo Plaza. "This lobby, the concierge… it's too clean."
"I know. I don't like it either. But don't tell me you didn't miss that bed. Haven't found one better yet," V remarked.
Judy snorted. "That's true. I do like your apartment, especially after I did a bit of remodeling in there. It's a nice place. I just don't belong in this neighborhood, that's all."
"Me neither. But screw 'em. This city's mine. It's ours. We belong wherever we go," V declared.
Judy retreated into her silence, suppressing the growing concern that V might want to stay here if she managed to save herself. She couldn't read anything on her girlfriend's face, not when she was in this "badass merc" state of mind. If her loved ones couldn't read her, neither could her enemies.
The black and gold steel door slid open silently as V approached it, recognizing its owner. The apartment was unchanged since their last visit. The comfortable set of couches faced a gigantic TV screen of the highest quality, the kitchen and bar across from the door offered a view of the skyline, and the "bedroom" on the right was only separated from the main space by a wall of bamboo. The whole apartment was squeaky clean.
"Did you girls even sleep here?" asked V, looking at the couple sitting on the couches, leaning over a digital tablet on the table. "Even the bed is still made."
"We are polite guests," answered Caitlyn with a smirk. "We clean up our own mess."
Vi choked. "Cait!"
V laughed. "Well, that's a new side to you, Corpo."
Caitlyn's lips returned to their neutral position. "We're glad to see you well, V. You gave us a proper fright back there."
"Ah, yeah… Thanks for, you know… Saving my skin. I would have flatlined on those stupid docks if not for you. Also for completing the contract. Rogue's happy."
"Don't mention it. It was only natural" Caitlyn replied.
"Yes, thank you," added Judy with a different kind of gratitude in her voice, sounding as if they had saved her life rather than V's.
Vi scratched her head uncomfortably. "Don't sweat it, chica. Not our style to let a friend bleed out on the pavement. Can we get to business? All this PDA's gonna make me barf."
Caitlyn chuckled gently, a sound rather divine to all present parties. "Vi, we both know you're the most romantic of us. Don't try to make them believe otherwise."
"Come on, Cupcake…"
"She's right," cut in V. "Judy told me you found Deckard. Let's get to it. I might drop dead again in an hour, so there's no time to waste."
Caught by the grim reminder of the pressing reality, everybody's face turned serious again.
"We did. The data I extracted from their netrunner were enough to point us toward a safehouse in Watson, not too far from the docks. We went back with Vi. It was empty and cleaned out, but they didn't scrub their computers as much as they thought they did" Caitlyn explained, pointing at the screen before her.
"We found some exchanges between Deckard and one of his lieutenants, probably the one you took down, V. I traced the IP back to its origin, and you'll never guess where it is," she continued.
V shrugged and waved her left hand, indicating she didn't have any clue, nor did she have time for guessing games.
"Right here. Corpo Plaza. We can actually see their room from the window, across the street, two buildings down."
V choked and almost spat out of surprise. "Wait, what? Animals? Living at Corpo Plaza?"
Then something dawned on her. "The tailored suits… That's why they looked like penguins at a gala! So they would be unnoticed here!"
Caitlyn nodded. "Our conclusion as well. According to my research, they are renting two full floors, so we have to expect many of them here."
"But that also means Misty's probably in one of those. They would want to keep her close; she's their only leverage on Vik right now," V concluded.
"They do," confirmed Cait. "She's in room 2077, right corner, guarded by two Animals. I believe Deckard is also in this room, but I am not 100% sure."
Now V was really surprised. "How do you know?"
"Thermal vision," she answered, pointing at her eye implants.
"Ah, I see. Not a regular Kiroshi, is it?"
"No, it's not. Custom made by Jayce, just for me. It does have some perks to be the daughter of Cassandra Kiramman."
Judy and V scoffed in unison.
"Okay," resumed V, "so we know almost for certain that she's in there, and Deckard likely there as well. How many Animals across both floors?"
"By my count, eight to ten currently. There could have been a lot more, but you trimmed them down this morning. That said, people have been coming and going for the past hour, so I cannot be certain."
"So all we have to do is figure out how to get to the twentieth floor, how to get to Misty, how to knock Deckard out, and how to get both of them out unnoticed."
"In a nutshell, yes," Caitlyn affirmed.
V scratched her chin. "Getting there undetected," she said, "I can do. I can probably neutralize Deckard with Cait's chip too. But getting them out…"
"We can use the camera network to take out the guards," suggested Caitlyn.
"Thing is, if they raise the alert, Deckard is going to bunker himself in his room and use Misty as a meatshield. Maybe even just gun her down. I can't take that chance. Not with her life on the line."
"What if we kill them all?" offered Judy.
V gaped at her. Suggesting something that extreme really didn't sound like her girlfriend. Even when she had asked V's help to free the Clouds nightclub from the Tyger Claws gang, she wanted to do so with the least casualties.
"What do you mean?" she asked cautiously.
"Well, you go in quietly, as you said. Knock him down, secure Misty. Then we zero them all and clear the way out for you. No need to hide if there's no one left to hide from."
The women looked at each other.
"I mean, that could work…" said Vi.
"On one floor, maybe," countered Caitlyn, "but what about the six apartments below? If they hear gunshots, they will be swarming in by the elevator and the stairs. Maybe even the windows if they're nuts."
"I can start with them," solutioned Vi. "I'll wait for V to give me the thumbs up, then I clear the floor below. The goons on your level will probably want to check what's going on, and you cut them down when they step out. And V will be in their backs; they will have nowhere to go. Should be as easy as stealing a kid's toy."
"Please note," added Caitlyn, "that you should not use any hacks on Deckard. Overheat, Short circuit… it might damage the prototype beyond repair."
V just shrugged. "Vik told me I should avoid using my cyberdeck anyway. Might make my brain bleed through my ears, so… Just regular, good old fashioned knockout."
"Hon, he's a professional boxer running on groundbreaking tech. No offense, but you're not built for this fight. Maybe Vi is, but…"
V stood up with a smile. "Wait, I think I left it here."
She walked toward the so-called bedroom, and in front of the bed, she typed a code on a small panel built into the wall. A panel next to her moved, revealing the merc's vault behind. She rummaged through boxes and cases, leaving her friends wondering, swearing under her breath.
"Where's that damn hammer? I was so sure I had left it here! Crap. Ah! Well! That will do the trick!"
She exited the secret room holding a gold-plated baseball bat.
"A good home-run to the back of the head! That should do the trick."
Caitlyn stared at Vi, baffled and confused, but her wife only raised her hands, just as dumbfounded by the artillery and the resources the merc was hiding in her apartment. Silence settled in for a few seconds, each looking at the other, not sure if V was about to step out right then to go and knock on their doors or not.
"How do we get past the lobby?" asked Judy.
"Same way we did with Arasaka," answered V on the spot. "We hack them, insert ourselves in their systems, and be welcomed as guests."
"I can do that," confirmed Caitlyn with a nod.
"How much time do you need?"
"Honestly? By the time we get down the elevators, it will be done."
V grinned. Judy was sure she spotted some teeth stained with blood, but she decided she might have been wrong.
"Then let's get rolling, ladies. In an hour, Misty's home safe."
Caitlyn delivered as promised. By the time the four of them were out in the street, she had created four fake identities and implemented them as registered guests to the housing company owning the magnificent building the Animals had invested.
"I still don't know how they got that kind of money," grunted V. "There should be no way any gang would afford this. Even backed with Corpo money!"
"Don't underestimate Jinx," groaned Vi on the same tone. "We can't prove it, but I'm pretty sure she stole, or destroyed, enough tech and properties to buy a damn country if she wanted to. It's likely that she made enough eddies to just retire already for five lives; she just keeps doing it because she loves the chaos."
As they approached the doors, V noticed how silent Judy had been since they had left her apartment.
"Jude? You okay?"
For a second, the young woman contemplated the possibility of the easy and convenient lie, the usual 'I'm fine' that escapes people's mouths before they even register the question. Yet, she decided very consciously that she didn't want to lie to V.
"Not really. I'm scared, V. I'm not used to winging it like you are; I don't show up to a place, get a call from Rogue or whatever fixer to steal a chip inside, and get out with it in my pocket twenty minutes later. I usually take days of planning and scouting."
"Yes, I remember your plan for the Clouds. It was a good plan."
"It all went to shit, and you know it. Days of preparation! But it's okay, V, I'm okay. Just scared. Especially for you."
V deposited a gentle kiss on her cheek.
"Don't worry. We got this. In thirty minutes max, we're out."
The four of them entered the building on those words, walking as if they knew the place and belonged there, short of owning it. The lobby was similar to the one in V's building, although with different color patterns. The black and gold colors that adorned hers were here replaced by light and dark wood, giving the whole place an impression of nature and calmness rather than exuberant wealth. V couldn't help but snicker thinking this place was the den of the most dangerous pack of Animals the city had seen in a long time. Few bamboos decorated the corners; even flowers, fake of course, were sitting on the counter of the concierge's desk.
"Go ahead, darlings," said Caitlyn with her warmest, most genuine, although professional smile. "I'll wait for you here."
With the very slight push in the back, she welcomed Vi toward the elevators in the back and turned around. The concierge, a young man with dark hair and two gold-plated earrings, watched them gawking, and when he opened his mouth to ask who they were and what they were doing here, Caitlyn nodded to him.
"Good morning, Jacob. How's your mother?"
The man's shock turned to embarrassment, and his cheeks reddened to match the color of his carmine uniform.
"I'm, I'm, I'm sorry, Madam, I didn't see you," he stuttered, visibly very confused and ashamed of not recognizing this woman who seemed to know him well enough to be a regular at his workplace.
"It's alright, Jacob. I will wait for them here, if you don't mind."
Without waiting for his answer, she let herself fall into the comfortable couch the lobby offered the visitor, biting her lips to hide her satisfaction's smile, happy that her little prep work and research paid off. She looked up at the ceiling and started counting her breaths, trying to ignore the uncomfortable acceleration of her heartbeat. She took a pair of sunglasses out of her jacket's pocket, black and silver, simple but elegant, and let them rest on her eyes, as if she was about to take a nap. Behind the shades, her eyes turned from her natural blue to the brighter, digital nuance of turquoise. Her mind went to the cyberspace. With a few commands, she set up the group call with her three partners and took control of the camera system of the whole building.
"Cameras are mine," she whispered. "Hallway is clear on the 19th, but two guards on the 20th, four more in different rooms, and three with Misty, including Deckard. Good hunting, girls."
The ride up the megabuilding was swift and smooth, but it still felt like an eternity. None of them spoke a word, eyes locked on the rising number on the digital board. The 19 appeared, and the door opened with the characteristic ting.
Vi looked at the merc and her girlfriend for a second, then stepped out with a simple nod. The doors closed on her.
"You know what to do?" asked V, her voice steady and calm. She grabbed a pill in her pocket and threw it down her throat, waiting for the pain coursing her body to be relieved.
"I do." confirmed Judy.
"Good. I love you, Jude. See you in a minute."
A/N : Only two chapters left ! Getting close to the finale, so stick around! it's all written and just waiting to be published :)