Cyberpunk: Fatherhood

by RobinRounds

Car wrecked. Mom in the hospital. Bills are due. Desperation setting in. Our only chance is a number in mom's old holo records. It's listed as "Vinny - Emergencies Only!" I mean, fuck it, he can't make it worse for us. Right?

34. Chapter 34 - Breaking the Habit

Following the training debacle with David, and his and Gloria's confessions that something is wrong with V. Becca didn't know how to feel about the situation. Sure, she had seen V leave Gloria's place all dejected, and saw Gloria a day or two later struggling with what happened – but to hear now that something was actually wrong with V? And that by proxy, meant something was wrong in Gloria's life? And David's life?

Goddammit. Why was it every time her life seemed to be getting back on track that something bad happened?

She remembered how despondent everyone had been when Sasha died. How badly it stressed out and depressed Maine. How it made Dorio even more concerned for his health. And the health of the rest of the crew while dealing with her own feelings on the subject. She recalled how Pilar had lost his usual spark, and was snippy with everyone. Yet he still did his best to try and keep her spirit up, even as she retreated back into her shell. Unable to comprehend losing someone she was so close to after so much joy.

That one event almost tore the four of them apart.

How fucked would everything be this time now that the crew had grown?

She knew Maine had a history with Gloria, but what it was exactly was beyond her knowledge. Old flame? Doubtful. More likely supplier turned friend. What if she decided to 'run' again?

What if David decided to go with her? How would Lucy feel? Would she go with them?

And how would Kiwi feel about losing her 'little sister'? How would Maine and Dorio handle losing another "child" (because damn if she didn't catch the two of them looking at the younger members of the crew with smiles meant more for proud parents than coworkers at times)?

And then there was V. How would he deal with losing Gloria a second time? Or was this the third? And how would he handle losing David?

God, how would she handle losing any of them?

Rebecca shook her head, she didn't want to think about that right now. Didn't want anymore dark clouds hanging around her addled mind. She needed a way to clear her head, but not to dull her senses – so drinking was out. And sitting to watch a BD just didn't sound appealing. And she wasn't in the mood for fighting or shooting, which left her turning to Lucy and Kiwi's preferred option.

Retail therapy.

After going about her morning routine, she had decided to head to Little China, visit some of the shops there. She had stopped by Misty's place, and hung out with her favorite mystic for a little. Over a cup of green tea, the two talked and while Becca tried to keep the heavier feelings out, Misty knew. Told her that Jackie was having a similar issue with the whole thing, but couldn't offer much advice as a lot of it would hinge on V himself. That didn't stop Misty from sending her off with a basic incense holder, lavender incense, and a small tin of the tea they shared. All items guaranteed to help clear the mind and help her relax.

Becca didn't care if it would actually work or not. The tea was delicious and her apartment could use something to freshen the air.

She had browsed the other shops on Urmland street after leaving Misty's, and grabbed an early dinner at Tom's Diner before heading to check out some of the shops closer to the clubs. Even if she didn't drink, it was fun to watch idiots try and dance (and occasionally join them).

She had just left one of the Stylishly stores when she saw the bounty alert come up.

A bail jumper worth ten thousand eddies if brought in alive (or five-hundred dead). By pure chance, she ran into the guy as he was making his way towards the Afterlife. Seriously, how much of a gonk do you have to be to jump bail and then decide to visit a Solo bar for a drink?

Either way, she had manage to catch his eye and drag him into an alley with the promise of a good time. He took the bait and once out of sight she struck. A headbutt to disorient him as he crouched down to her level, followed by a solid pistol whipping from Little Brother to knock him out. From there, it was easy enough to drag his ass to the NCPD Precinct to claim the bounty.

He woke up upon their arrival, tied up and ranting. He rambled on and on about 'clearing his name', when she didn't buy it he started spewing on about 'killing the bastard who ratted him out'. Never mind he couldn't offer up enough eddies to cover half his bounty.

No matter, he was now behind bars, and she was up ten thousand eddies.

"But what do I want to do with them? New clothes? Chrome? Gifts for friends? Another spa day? Save it? Bills?" Becca was running down the list of options on how to spend her money as she moved back to her truck. She had just eliminated the chrome option when her holo started ringing. While not a name she expected to see, it was still a welcome one.

["Hey Jackie, what up choom?"] She greeted, still riding the high of her bounty.

["Please tell me you're at home right now? Or maybe somewhere near Westbrook?"] He sounded tired, strained, and concerned in equal parts.

["I'm in Watson, why?"] Her high started to fade, body leaning against the side of a building as she waited to hear what Jackie had to say.

["Need a lift, and you live closest to where I'm at."] He replied, ["I tried calling Pilar first, but he said you had the truck and that he's currently with Nadia in Wellsprings."]

["Uh sure."] Becca stepped away from the building and started walking towards her truck. ["Do you need me to bring anything along? Guns? Snacks?"]

["Medical supplies."] Jackie sighed, ["and I mean quality ones. Bounce Backs, MaxDocs, and enough bandages, antiseptics, and other supplies to outfit a small field hospital."]

["Fuck."] She picked up the pace, checking where the nearest med vendor was. ["You get caught in a gang war or some shit?"]

There was a long pause on the other end of the line, and Becca would have thought he hung up on her if she couldn't see the connection was still open.

["No, but V-"]

["You're with V!?"] She screamed, recalling their recent meeting. Is that why Jackie seemed on edge? ["Are you-"]

["I'm fine, but he's not..."] The high from the bounty was gone, and so was most of the calm her 'therapy' session brought. ["Don't worry, he's not a threat...But I don't think we should discuss this over the holo."] The seriousness in Jackie's voice stopped the question she was about to ask. ["How soon do you think you can get here?"]

A set of coordinates was sent over, and Becca hummed as she compared her location to the one in Japantown that Jackie sent her.

["If you want me to bring med supplies, I'll need to hit the pharmacy. The one on Ferguson is closest to me. Then maybe a fifteen, twenty minute drive if I floor it?"] By this time, she had reached the truck and was sliding into the driver's seat. ["Although, if you two need medical help...Why not hit one of the clinics? Or why hasn't Trauma shown their ass up to get him?"]

["V needs to lay low for awhile."] Jackie didn't offer any further explanation, and Becca wasn't about to ask.

["Do you want me to tell Nadia to meet u-"]

["No."] He didn't give her a chance to finish. ["Less people who know where we are. And know about this right now, the better."] She heard Jackie grunt, ["promise I'll explain everything better once you get here, alright?"]

["Alright. I'll message you once I leave the pharmacy."] Jackie thanked her and ended the call as she started up the truck and headed towards the pharmacy. "Guess I know what I'm spending the bounty money on now..."

Not that she really cared. If it was for something that would help her friends and potentially fix the rifts that had opened between them, Becca was willing to go into debt twice over.

(；¬д¬) (･｀ｪ･)つ( Д)ノ.·´¯`(▂)´¯`·.щ(ºДºщ)ノ(ಠ_ಠノ)＼(0´)／

After loading up at the pharmacy with everything on Jackie's list and a few extras (a few six packs of beer, soda, and snacks), Becca set a course for the coordinates that Jackie sent her. He had told her the closest landmark to them was the station at Monroe & Sagan, but not to look for them there. Instead, he said they were tucked away in a dead-end alley about a block up the road from the station. She parked the truck at the entrance, and hopped out with a Bounce Back and a few other items. Stepping into the alley, it didn't take her long to find Jackie. Devoid of his usual jacket, the man was easy to see in the dimness of the alley. He was kneeling with his back to the entrance, partially shielding something that was between him and the heat of the steam pipes coming from one of the buildings.

"Jackie?" She called softly, moving down the alley with her bag of supplies. Hearing his name, the man turned, giving her a perfect view of what he was hiding.

It was V...or at least someone who looked like V. He was paler than usual, and his eyes kept fluttering and flicking about unseeing. His head was rolling back and forth slightly, and while he was mumbling, nothing coherent was coming out. She could see the scratches on his face, and the stains seeping through the dark fabric of Jackie's jacket.

"He's alive, just lost a lot of blood and might be in shock now..." Jackie explained, even as Becca whipped off her own coat and threw it over V. Thanks to lessons from both Nadia and Gloria, she knew that hypothermia was a risk from blood loss. Jackie nodded at her actions, taking the bag of medical supplies as she started rubbing at V's arms. "I've kept him warm with the steam pipes, but the sooner we can get him out of here..."

Becca nodded as Jackie pulled one of the injectors out and primed it.

"We've got to get him to a ripper..." She muttered, hearing V groan as Jackie struck him with the injector.

"Told you, not an option." Jackie sighed, tossing the empty injector aside. "V asked to be taken to a safehouse."

"Wait, he was conscious before this?" Becca knew V was tough, but to hear that? "Fuck, we're not too far from the safehouse V gave me."

"Then that's where we'll take him. Just gotta stabilize him enough so we can move him...You mind opening the door to the truck?" He asked, and Becca nodded, not caring if Jackie actually heard her question. "And yeah, he called me shortly after this happened."

"What exactly did happen?" Becca questioned as Jackie slipped his arms under V and, with visible effort, picked him up and moved towards the truck. She grabbed the bag of supplies and ran ahead and opened the door, climbing into the truck so she could help pull V inside. "Ugh, fuck...Did he get heavier?"

It took a few minutes of struggling, but eventually the two got V into the truck. She had ended up in the passenger's seat, with V's torso half sitting on the seat, and half laying on her. Jackie hopped into the driver's seat and Becca gave him the control key, a mutual agreement to crank up the heat passing between them.

"Keep an eye on him, if it looks like he's going into shock, hit him again." Jackie nodded towards the collection of medical supplies.

"Still think we should call a ripper. Maybe get him settled then pick up Vik an-"

"No. V was adamant about not seeing an actual doc. Or leaving records." His eyes left the road briefly to look at the two of them. "Look, I don't know all the detes of what happened. But what I do know is V took a dive off a building onto a passing NCART train. You know how they've got those glass windows?" She nodded. "Well, he hit the glass hard enough to break it, but the train was moving too fast and instead of cleanly breaking through and falling into the car, he got a belly full of glass."

"Guess that explains the blood." Becca looked down at V's chest, once again seeing the stains. Gently as she could, she touched one of them, noting the faint staining of her fingers.

"Should have seen him when I first got to him." Jackie sighed, "he called me from the station, asked me to meet him and to bring some medical supplies. Now, now, I know what you're thinking. The man's been acting suspicious, so why did I go without question? Because I heard something in his voice, and suspicious or not, I wasn't about to ignore a call like that." He looked at V and grimaced. "And it's a good thing I didn't. Anyhow, I grab the health kit I keep in the garage and head over. And as to why Trauma didn't show? V was up to something shady, and he always turns off his Trauma alerts until after the job is done."

"Can't decide if that's brilliant or a gonk move."

"Brilliant, but mad. Last thing you want on any stealth mission is to get injured and be outed by a Trauma squad." Jackie tipped his head at V's muttering form. "And before you ask, I'm not about to summon them."

"Yeah, if V told you not to take him to a ripper, he'd be pissed about Trauma." She nodded, gently wiping V's brow as he started muttering again. "Shh, just relax."

"Yeah, anyhow, I go into the station and after a short search, find that he's tucked himself away in a corner. His eyes are shifting in and out of focus, and his suit jacket's wrapped loosely around his belly with the excess packed into his gut. I hear him speaking, but before I say anything, I realize he's talking aloud on the holo."

"Did...Did you catch who he was talking to?"

"Yeah, his old man." Becca hissed, and Jackie grimaced. "Heard him saying he lost a lot of blood, but that the job is done, but he'll have to 'lay low' a couple days."

"Did he say anything else?"

"Nope, he saw me, hung up, and passed out." The Latino man let out a huff, "I moved in and hit him with a Max-Doc then a Bounce Back. He regained consciousness enough to warn me to keep him away from any ripper or doctor and that he can't leave traces. Think the blood loss caught back up to him after that. He started rambling about slipping his leash, about how his old man is a monster. And he wouldn't stop saying sorry."

"Who was he apologizing to?" She looked down, hearing V whimper and watched a tear slide down his face. Carefully, she wiped it away with her thumb, whispering soothingly to him.

"Don't know." Jackie shrugged, looking over at the two of them with a sad smile. "But what I do know is that until V's coherent enough to answer questions, we're gonna need to look out for him."

"Count me in." Becca placed a gentle kiss to V's forehead, frowning at how cold he felt. "Promise we'll get you better choom, alright? Just hang in there."

V didn't respond, but Becca still tightened her hold on him, keeping up the whispered affirmations until they reached her safehouse apartment.

(；¬д¬) (･｀ｪ･)つ( Д)ノ.·´¯`(▂)´¯`·.щ(ºДºщ)ノ(ಠ_ಠノ)＼(0´)／

Becca was thankful it was late at night as she and Jackie unloaded V from the truck. Sure, it wasn't all that rare to see people moving a body in Night City. But in this case, it hid the awkward sight that was a four-foot-eleven girl and a six-foot plus man struggling to pull a near dead suit out of a truck.

"Fuck. Was he always this heavy?" She cursed, cradling V's torso against her own as they moved him out of the truck and into Jackie's arms.

"You'd think he'd be lighter with half his blood gone but no..." Jackie grunted, and Becca knew he was using the morbid humor to distract from his own discomfort. Something she herself could appreciate even as she noticed how much he was struggling under the not yet completely dead weight that was V. Grabbing the medical supplies, she ran ahead and held the door open for Jackie to bring V in. "Where to?"

"Fifth floor." Becca hit Jackie with an apologetic look as she heard him curse. "Don't worry, while questionable in quality, the elevator works and my place is right beside it."

"Gracias a Dios." Jackie let out a relieved grunt, "lead the way."

Becca gave a nod and lead him past the landlord's 'office' and over to the elevator. Usually she took the stairs, preferring not to look at the mysterious stains on the questionably plated floor of the elevator. But today she made an exception wanting to get V into her apartment quicker than anything.

"It's not the biggest or best, but it's my home away from home." She commented, closing the door behind Jackie as he carried V in. That much was true, as entering put you right across from a cheap entertainment console and some decorations that had been left behind by the previous occupants. A curved couch and ottoman sat across from it, with some wires hanging down from an overhead console she hadn't bothered to play with. "Bedroom's to the right – it's a bit...nicer than leaving him here on the couch."

She slipped in front of him to open the door to her room, the open concept giving them plenty of space to work. Half of one wall was taken up by what V called the server room, but Becca named the supply room. The other half had the nook that her bed was tucked into. There were a couple shelves on the wall beside the bed, and a closet and additional storage nooks on the opposite wall along with several windows to let in 'natural' light.

"Mind the raised step." She cautioned, quickly moving to adjust the sheets before gesturing for Jackie to set V down.

"There you go choom, nice and comfy." Jackie gently patted V's shoulder, turning to look at her and take in the room. "We're gonna need some towels, hot water, and some trash bags. And a place to put all the supplies."

"Hang on...Most of the crap on these shelves was here when I got here." She moved to the shelves next to the bed, and after removing a couple of items and relocating them to the safety of the storage nooks, shoved the rest of the crap into a box. "There we go. That should hold everything. Gonna take me a minute to get the rest of the stuff..."

"Take your time, I've got to get this one settled." He gestured to V and started taking supplies out of the bag as Becca stepped out of the room and into the combination kitchen-dining room. Compared to her place in Northside, it was a little depressing; her best appliances being a coffee maker, toaster, and half a fridge. There was no stove, and she kept forgetting to buy a microwave. Least she had an island counter 'bar' that she could eat, drink, or serve food on. But that didn't make the fact she had to walk to the bathroom to use that sink anytime she needed water less annoying.

Thankfully, it was right beside the kitchen...with privacy granted only by a bead curtain 'door'. Which while it made passing in and out easy, it was a little awkward taking a shit when company was around. "Not that I have guest over all the time." She hummed, recalling how she and Pilar had come to check the place out to see (potentially) who got it more. And how after seeing the place fully, had happily handed 'ownership' over to her.

"I'll crash here if needed, but otherwise – place is yours." The memory made her smile, but it quickly faded as she remembered the reason for being here at the moment. She opened the small cabinet beside the fridge and took out the box of trash bags, and started looking through her cabinets for anything she could use to hold hot water. Downside to not having a stove meant there was almost no need for her to have mixing bowls or cooking pots.

"Only got the one bucket I use for mopping the floor. Not the cleanest and I should probably save that for V's...emergencies." Becca poked around one of the other cabinets, grabbing the two largest cereal bowls she had. Taking them to the bathroom, she turned on the sink and let it run to heat up, using that time to collect some towels from the standing cabinet. Seeing the water was now steaming, she threw the towels over her shoulder and filled up the bowls. Tucking the box of bags under one arm, she carried one bowl in each hand and made her way back to the bedroom.

If she hadn't been prepared for what awaited her in the bed nook, the bowls of water would have been dropped on the floor in surprise.

"Holy shit..." The sight to meet her eyes made Rebecca feel her face had turned a similar color to her hair. V's stomach was torn apart, and she could see bits of glass and other debris peppered about the cuts. There were other scratches higher up on his chest, and she could see bruises forming all over. The parts of his body that were still 'ganic flesh were pale, starting to border on gray compared to the pinkish tint of the synthetic skin. Now in the silence of the apartment, she could hear how shallow and labored his breaths were. "How the fuck is he still alive?"

"Wish I could say its because he's too stubborn to die..." Jackie mused as he set up the collapsible stand Becca had bought and hung an IV bag from it before hooking it to V. She set the bowls of water on the raised step beside the bed and out of the way. "But I suspect its only his chrome that's keeping him going an-" V started to tremble and thrash on the bed, aggravating his now exposed injury further. "Chica!"

"On it!" Becca hit V with another booster, making sure to plug him near the heart and away from the weeping wounds, "stay with us choom!" She demanded, throwing her weight over his legs as Jackie held his chest, gently talking to him as he did. The two of them doing their best to try and keep him from further injuring himself. That moment probably ranked somewhere in the top five 'longest fifteen seconds of her life' as she waited for the medicine to take effect and for V to relax.

"Okay, that should hold him...for now." Her companion took a couple calming breaths, fingers held gently to V's wrist, and then his neck. Becca lifted herself off V's legs, seeing Jackie now looking through their collection of medical supplies. He handed her a long pair of tweezers. "You're smaller than I am. Think you can climb over and get the right while I get the left."

"Sure, long as you hand me whatever supplies I need." Becca carefully climbed onto the bed near V's feet and maneuvered around until she was kneeling on the opposite side of Jackie. It gave her far too clear a view of his stomach. "Damn it V, know I said I wanted you in my bed, but not like this."

She heard Jackie chuckle, the man handing her one of the towels and a bowl. She was grateful for the small shelf in the sleeping nook, giving her the perfect spot to rest the bowl.

"You got enough light in there?"

"Could use a little more. In the closet, hanging on the wall is one of those battery powered press lights." She saw Jackie look in the closet, grab the light and hand it to her. Taking it, she turned it on and placed it on the shelf beside the water bowl. "That's better. So what's the plan, doc?"

"First things first – we clean the glass from his wounds. We'll hit him with some Bounce Backs once were sure an area's clean. You don't want to see what it looks like if things heal around foreign objects. Then we'll bandage him up, and keep checking him as needed." Jackie grabbed up the second bowl of water and gently wet the corner of one of the towels and started wiping the area around V's stomach. "Target the large shards first."

"Sure. Oh, see those decorative bowls? Hand one here so we have something to put the shards in?" She pointed to the bowl in question, nodding her thanks as Jackie handed it to her. She set it beside her and started plucking out some of the shards she could see, noticing Jackie had grabbed the other bowl and was doing the same.

"Oh, that's a big one..." Jackie muttered, holding up a rather large shard. It was at least two inches long, and had lodged itself about four-fifths of the way in V's flesh if the red staining on it was any indication. "In the bowl you go."

"Damn." Becca watched as he turned the tweezers on their side, carefully moving a few smaller shards into a pile before grabbing them in one fluid motion. "How are you so good at that?"

"Not the first time." There was the tiniest smile on Jackie's face as he pulled out another piece of glass. "Heh, its too bad he's got the synth-skin now. Probably could have shown you the scar on his ass from the last time."

"What?" She tried to copy Jackie's method of corralling the smaller shards, but felt she was doing more harm than good and went back to picking them out one by one.

"Yeah, we had been out drinking and V was feeling a little tipsy. He stumbled into the road as we were walking right as a car was coming. I grabbed him and pulled him back, but I lose my grip and he falls right onto a small pile of broken bottles." Jackie let out a light chuckle, "spent a good hour back at Mama's place pullin' glass out of his ass. Ah, good times."

"You and I have very different ideas of a good time."

"What? Wouldn't you want to spend an hour staring at V's ass?" The look he gave her was a playful challenge. "Oh, if I hold this section of tissue aside, can you grab that shard?"

"Cute...Oh, that's not glass..." Becca grimaced, realizing she had just pulled a rusted piece of metal from his stomach. Based on the shape, it looked like a broken bolt or maybe a nail. "Think he got this from the impact, rolling on the train's floor, or dragging himself around the station?"

"Shit. Gonna need to clean that area...Where's the cotton swabs and saline?" Jackie moved away, returning a moment later with a bottle and several long swabs. He looked at V's face, which somehow looked both at peace, yet in pain. "Kind of glad you're unconscious for this...Might sting a little. Be ready with the towel, might need you to soak up some of the excess."

Becca nodded, trying not to flinch as she watched Jackie coat one of the swabs and gently run it around, then into, the small cavity the nail had made. A second dry swab made sure there was no particles left, before he squirted some saline in to wash the area. On his command, Becca gently dabbed at the area to 'dry' it, before the two returned to picking out the glass.

"You know, given how tough and expensive his chrome looks? Kind of surprised he was cheap on the skinn."

"Even the most top-of-the-line skinn is only cut resistant, and even that stuff would have shredded with the impact V took." Jackie helped her free a particularly deep shard. "But between you and me, I don't think, no...I know a lot of this wouldn't be what V would choose for new chrome."

"Are you saying, someone made him get it?"

"Would V willingly pick chrome with Arasaka branding?"

"No." Becca looked at V's arms, seeing the Arasaka logo and labels superimposed on them. "Well, shit. Any ideas on who put him up to getting new chrome?"

The green-haired girl heard the catch of Jackie's breath, and noticed that he had taken a keen interest in the bowl of shards.

"You really want to know?" She nodded. "El Diablo himself...V's old man."

"Fuck." Knowing what little she did thanks to the stories from both V and Gloria, she wished there was a stronger curse to express her feelings at the situation. "What kind of sick bastard...rebuilds their child? Like, I can understand a new layer of skinn. New optics, hair implants – I've got all those things myself! But isn't this too much?"

"Given that you're probably the closest member of the crew to V, you're..." Becca could hear the slight confusion in Jackie's voice. "You're taking that potential revelation a lot calmer than I thought."

"Got a preview of it thanks to Gloria." Becca frowned as she looked at the gash on V's stomach, recalling Gloria showing off the scar of a long-healed similar wound. She heard Jackie hum, saw the question in his eyes even as he finished hanging up the IV bag. "I don't know how much you know about her and V's original split. Or how much I should tell you but...Let's just say that it wasn't fully Gloria's idea and that things got a little messy near the end..."

"Honestly, that's fair. Now, I don't want trouble from either side, so I'll settle for a yes or no." He took a deep breath, "did he have anything to do with it?"

"Yes." Becca gave a single nod, finding the gaping wound that was V's stomach suddenly very interesting even as Jackie muttered some curse or another.

"Okay, now what do you know about him?" The question startled her, but she could tell that Jackie probably knew a lot of what she did. And for some reason, that made her feel just a little better.

"He's an utter contemptible bastard with no shame. He caused all sorts of problems for Gloria and her family – did you know he cost her parents their jobs? Gloria's terrified of the guy, and with good reason. Again, I'm not sure how much I should be telling you without Gloria's consent but." Becca shrugged, "if you want me to sum it up? Guy's a huge dick."

"Sounds about right...And only further confirms my thoughts that he's involved."

An awkward air seemed to settle on the pair, the two working in silence save for the occasional request for help in cleaning or patching up a wound. Eventually, as she was helping to wrap V up like a mummy, she decided to try and break the awkward with some morbid humor that came to her each time she passed the bandage roll underneath V's back.

"You know what the worst thing about all this is?" She tied off the roll, securing it with some medical tape.

"What's that chica?" Jackie sighed, making sure the IV line was secure and working.

"You mentioned it earlier, and it occurs to me now that Gloria's gonna be pissed that V lost his ass." She gently poked the area in question, seeing some of the tiredness in Jackie's face turn into a sort of amusement. "Okay, not that this new one isn't nice, but his old one was just so perfectly tight and smackable."

That got a reluctant chuckle out of the big guy. "Not sure if I should agree with you on that or not..."

"Come on, didn't you say earlier you had a good time look-" Her words were cut off by the yawn that escaped her. "Sorry, a good time lookin' at his ass?"

"Okay, context." Jackie picked up another booster and injected V with it. "And the only reason I say it was a good time is because I got to rag on him the whole time. I made so many jokes and puns that I thought he was gonna beat my ass." Becca nodded, but another yawn escaped her. "I'd say its getting late, but it's already three in the morning. How about we finish up here, and then catch a few winks?"

Becca wanted to argue against sleeping. That the two of them needed to keep an eye on V. However, now that she could see that V should would be fine, a lot of the adrenaline that kept her going was starting to fade.

"If it'll make you feel better, like you did with us when we hit that Glitter lab. We'll take shifts keeping an eye on him. Drag a chair in here, maybe some snacks." There was a reassuring smile on his face as he gestured for her to hand him the trash on her side. "Got a marker? We can draw on his face, pretend he fell asleep first at the sleep over."

"There's a couple in the kitchen." She carefully maneuvered around V, gesturing towards the kitchen. "Folding chairs that the old occupant left behind, not markers." She clarified, noting Jackie's expression. "They're a little rusty, but seem solid enough. Let me grab one."

"Sure, meanwhile I'll finish getting this one tucked in." Jackie nodded, and Becca moved for the kitchen as Jackie tended to V. Grabbing one of the chairs from its resting place, she handed it over to Jackie. "Thanks. You got a cushion for this thing or?"

"No, but there's a spare blanket in the closet." She had already moved to grab the item, folding it over a few times as Jackie set up the chair. "Unless you want one of the crappy throw pillows on the couch?"

"This'll be fine." Jackie placed the blanket on the chair and sat. "Oh, feels good to sit but...You mind keeping an eye on this gonk a moment? Need to hit the bathroom, and I want to get something to snack on."

"Sure." The green-haired girl agreed, watching as Jackie took his leave. She looked back at V, noticing that his breathing had evened out somewhat, but still sounded shallow. Now alone with him, Becca moved closer and gently stroked V's forehead. He felt just a little warmer, and Becca couldn't help but give him a little kiss on his forehead. "Not sure you can hear me, but get some rest V. Jackie and me got this, alright?"

She pulled away in time to see Jackie return; two cans of soda, a bottle of water and a bag of chips in his hand. Jackie sat back down and cracked one of the cans open. Moving to her closet, Becca found an old milk crate and after dumping the contents (some old clothes that didn't quite fit right) on the floor, turned it into a makeshift table.

"Gracias chica." He took a drink, setting the other can and chips on the crate. "Now go get some rest yourself. I'll be fine, not the first time I've babysat his incapped ass. Though this is probably one of the cleaner places." Jackie laughed at his own stupid joke, waving her away with a promise to wake her in a few hours.

Becca wanted to argue, but her body said otherwise and she nodded. Giving one last look at V, she stepped out of the room and wandered to the couch. Yawning, she took a seat and pulled her legs up onto the couch. It wasn't the most comfortable thing, but in that moment she understood the relief Jackie felt as she stretched out on it.

"We can't take care of V if we're tired out ourselves." Her brain reminded her.

"Yeah, so we'll just catch a few Zs and go back to taking care of him." Becca's inner monologue replied, a final yawn escaping her before her eyes closed and she fell into a dreamless sleep.

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Becca didn't know how long she was out for, but as she started to wake and take in her surroundings, guessed it wasn't more than a couple hours. She never slept well on the couch and...Wait. Why was she sleeping on the couch? An unfamiliar sound met her ears, it sounded like something struggling. Honestly if she had to pick something to compare it to? Pilar cursing and 'wrecking' his workshop after whacking his cybernetic hand on something because of the pain.

She heard it again, realizing it was coming from her bedroom. That's right, she was sleeping on the couch because-

"V!" She cried, jumping off the couch and sprinting for the door. "Fuck, wasn't Jackie supposed to be watching him?!"

In the short distance, her brain ran wild with possibilities. Maybe V ripped his stomach open again while Jackie was in the bathroom. Maybe he lost too much blood and was convulsing and Jackie fell asleep. Maybe his lungs collapsed and she was hearing Jackie do CPR? Did you even do CPR for collapsed lungs?

She didn't know, but what she did know was she made it to the door in record time.

And that V wasn't alone like her imagined scenarios would have her believe.

Standing in the door frame, Becca felt her heart break at the sight meeting her eyes. Similar to Pilar, Becca realized that Jackie was an ever loyal sibling to V. The man had moved from his chair, and was kneeling beside the bed nook to comfort a thrashing, gasping, and hyperventilating V. She wanted to run in there, to comfort and try to calm V, but was hit with a stark realization.

She really had no idea what to do to calm him down.

Sure, she had helped Lucy out a few times in the past with minor panic attacks, and comforted Pilar when he was tweaked out on Glitter. But this was something else entirely.

Much as Becca wanted to join Jackie, to be there with V, she knew she wasn't in the position to do so. That due to their history that Jackie could comfort him better than she could.

"Would that have sounded less gay if we said it aloud?" Her inner monologue asked, but Becca was in no mood to entertain herself. Instead, she moved over to the entertainment console. It gave her a decent view of the occupants of the room, while keeping her mostly out of sight. She didn't want to startle V by having too many people around him. Not yet."Patience." She told herself.

She wished she felt what she told herself, watching as Jackie let V grab his shirt, his arm. She could see the white knuckle grip of V's synthetic fingers as Jackie caught one of his hands in his own. Jackie's other hand was rubbing firm circles on V's back.

"Shh, it's alright. Breathe choom." Jack's voice was steady, level and calming. "In, and out."

"I...I can't!" V cried, whimpering and wheezing.

"Yes you can." Becca heard Jackie take a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Just copy me. Breathe in, two, three...Out."

"Fuck. It hurts...It hurts..." The green-haired observer felt a stab of pain in her own chest, seeing V so...scared.

"I know, but you're strong. Just work through it." Jackie repeating his breathing, just more exaggerated this time. "That's it. Breathe in, two, three...and out."

It started slowly, she saw V's unfocused eyes stare at Jackie. Noticed that the muscles in his chest were twitching, but that he was trying to follow Jackie's lead.

"It hurts..." V whined, attempting to go into a fetal position, but Jackie held him steady. Heard him encouraging V in between his own breathing. Watched as her favorite suit nodded and continued to try and copy him.

"That's right, breathe." Slowly, V's convulsing slowed, turning more into a shiver against the coolness of her apartment. Jackie's coaching continued even as V's breathing returned to normal, and Jackie helped him to lay back down on the bed.

Becca let out her own breath at the sight, and was copying Jackie's breathing, willing herself to relax...

"Are we safe?" The cry from V startled her as she watched him shoot back up, eyes wide with fear. His hands gripping Jackie's arms in a death grip, expression begging an answer. Her already hurting heart shattered as she realized the real meaning of the question. Am I safe?

"Yeah, we're safe." Somehow Jackie's voice remained level and steady, something that impressed Becca. "You can relax here, okay?" V nodded, but seemed to be fighting against Jackie's wordless attempts to lay back down. After a moment, the two seeming to compromise on letting V sit up slightly with a pillow behind his back. "We're at a safehouse, the one near Wakako's place, alright?"

"Right..." Becca held in a whine of her own as V looked around, seeing a layer of genuine fear in his eyes as he did. She saw him look down at his stomach, heard the gasp he let out even as Jackie once again reassured him everything was fine.

"Don't worry, I patched you up real good." Becca would have been offended at the singular pronoun, if it wasn't for the fact she knew Jackie was trying to keep V calm. Better that he knows that someone he trusts with his life was the one who fixed him up.

"Fuck happened?" V rasped before dissolving into a minor coughing fit. Jackie grabbed the bottle of water from last night and popped it open. Holding it to V's lips, he encouraged the man to take small sips as he started to explain.

"Just now? You had a panic attack." He pulled the bottle away, free hand rubbing at V's arm. "You're okay, so mind telling me what might have brought it on?"

"A nightmare?" V licked his lips, and Becca could see how dry they looked. Jackie noticed too, and picked up the bottle of petroleum jelly she had bought and put a small layer on V's lips before letting him continue. "There was a surgical table...could see my internals. Couldn't move, but...but I could...I could feel everything. Could feel something covering me..." His eyes locked onto the blanket, rumpled and forgotten off to the side. "Think... think it was the blanket... Couldn't move...freaked."

Some color was returning to V's face, and the sight might have cheered Becca if she didn't realize that it was from shame and embarrassment. She peeked at Jackie's face, seeing no judgment or pity at V's admission, but a more somber amusement.

"That... might have been my fault choom." V's head tipped slightly in interest, "Think I tucked you in a little too good. But I had to do something to keep you still... Seriously, you remember that python we saw crossing the border? You were twisting and turning more than it was trying to eat that...Think we guessed it was, what? A prairie dog?"

"M-maybe." V sighed, grimacing as he shifted on the bed. She saw his head turn towards the window, the red glare from the fucking 'Moore Technologies' at odds with the soft white light of the room. "Fuck...How long? How long, was I out?"

Coughs punctuated his words, along with whimpers of pain even as Jackie offered him more water. The girl saw him pick up one of the medical inhalers and instruct V to take a puff. He coughed again, and while she could still see the pain on his face, it seemed to have lessened slightly.

"Five, maybe six hours? Not sure, stopped counting after spending an hour picking glass and other debris out of your belly." Once more, V's hands moved down to his stomach, looking at the bandages. The two of them had done, in her opinion, a damn fine job cleaning the wound, but she could see a few light stains where the damage was at its worst.

"Probably aggravated them in his thrashing. We'll have to re-wrap them later, won't we?" Becca thought, even as she heard V groan and mutter something about Jackie's work versus that of a ripper.

"Take your patchwork a dozen times over, versus dealing with them again." V shuddered, eyes closing as he seemed to shrink in on himself. The sight made Becca look away...Again, she fought the urge to run in there and hug him. Unsure if her presence would help or hurt the situation.

"Whose them?" She heard Jackie ask, the man sounding as calm as ever even as the question seemed to trigger V slightly if the hitch in his breathing was any indication.

"The rippers...His rippers." V's eyes started looking around, and she could hear him starting to pant again.

"Shh, deep breaths choom. Remember, we're safe here. It's just the two of us." Jackie patted his arm, making V focus on him as he once again lead him through a breathing exercise to distract him.

"Just us?"

"Just us." Jackie affirmed, and Becca was impressed at how much conviction the blatant lie was delivered with. V accepted this, and nodded his understanding even as Jackie offered V some more water but he declined. "Again, you're safe here."

"Safe...Right." Becca heard V sigh, saw his hands weakly come up to cover his eyes a moment. When he pulled them away, Becca let out a silent gasp, seeing the tears flowing from V's eyes as he looked at his hands. "Shit, they..Took everything."

"You uh, want to talk about it?" So Jackie wasn't fully immune to seeing his brother in pain, but damn if the man wasn't holding it together better than her. "Might help just to get it out."

"I...I don't," V shook his head, looking to his hands then back to Jackie, "don't know where to start."

"Start at the beginning choom." The big guy offered, moving a tissue box to V's side. "What happened?"

"He got me Jack...The bastard got me." With shaking hands, she saw V attempt to pull out a tissue but only succeed in getting half of it. Understanding, Jackie pulled out the rest of it and another tissue, carefully dabbing at V's eyes. "Dinner...Invited D-David. Gl-Gloria..."

A choking sob escaped him, and he fell forward, almost screaming behind his clenched teeth as he leaned back from the pressure it put on his gut. Jackie was quick to embrace him and hold him up, once more rubbing circles on his back and comforting him.

"They're fine. Last I saw, the two of them...and the rest of the crew, were all with them at Gloria's place." Jackie let out a soothing hum, and V seemed to relax just slightly at the news. "No one's gonna let anything happen to them."

"But..." V whined, eyes squeezing shut as he tried to gather his thoughts.

"Shh, take your time choom." Jackie advised, continuing to rub his back.

"Blindsided... I have a Sister she-"

Becca let out a tiny gasp, and saw the brief flinch from Jackie's frame, even though he remained silent and didn't falter in his comforting of V even as the man continued to ramble.

"Took control. Forced...This!" V gestured wildly to his body, and Becca grimaced that Jackie was right. "I was a puppet!" He whimpered, hiding his face in Jackie's shoulder as sobs of pain, shame, and other emotions wracked his body.

"But you got free?" Becca heard Jackie ask, recalling what the man had said about his finding of V. "That's why you're here."

At the mention of the word 'free', V seemed to catch a brief wind and pushed away from Jackie. But Becca could see that the effort did more harm than good as V fell back against the pillow, a pained groan leaving him even as Jackie helped him adjust. He stammered something that Becca couldn't even begin to understand, but Jackie did and replied.

"...and now you need to 'play possum' while you figure out where to go from here?" She heard V grunt in response. Again, she cursed herself for not knowing if it was in agreement, or from pain. Fortunately, the years of understanding between the two meant that Jackie did, and once again, he nodded. "Don't worry choom, I'll help you."

"Jackie..." V's body started shuddering again, but she could see him shake his head and hear him mutter something. For the first time, she saw Jackie's expression change from the understanding calm he had maintained the whole time to a slightly sterner look.

"No." Jackie shook his head, "you're not doing this alone, not anymore."

"But he...Me..." Another whimper of pain escaped V, face contorting similarly. She watched his hands move again down to his stomach, understanding now that his expression was being caused in equal measures by both physical and emotional pain.

"You've had a rough night." Becca recognized the words for what they were, a deferral and request for a change of subject. She watched as he picked up another injector, as well as another one of the medical inhalers. However, she also noticed that he switched out the cartridge on the inhaler as he did so. "And are due for another dose of medicine. Why don't you take it and get some rest, yeah?"

"Sure..." V agreed, and knowing there was nothing else she could do, Becca moved away from her vantage point as Jackie went about giving V his medicine. She moved to the kitchen, opening the fridge to remove two bottles of beer before moving back to the couch. She opened one of the bottles and took a drink, thinking over everything she had seen and heard.

Jackie knew V, knew things about the man she had only been able to guess at (and not all of them correct). She took another drink, thinking of what she knew about the guy. She thought she had a good understanding of where he had come from, but realized now she had barely scratched the surface. And if that's all she knew...

Becca heard movement from the bedroom, and she turned to see Jackie stepping from the door.

"He's out." He answered the unasked question, steps heavy as he moved to join her on the couch. Giving a single nod, she held out the other beer to him. Giving her a weary smile of thanks, Jackie accepted the drink and took a seat. Opening his bottle, he raised it to his lips and took a drink, even as Becca got up to grab the rest of the six pack.

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It had been nearly an hour since Jackie had administered V's latest dose of medicine, and both of them had polished off at least one six pack each and were working on another. Neither one of them had said a word, both content to sit in silence and drink their beers. After bottle number seven was finished, Jackie seemed to have found his voice again as he opened number eight.

"You know," Becca will deny having jumped at Jackie breaking the silence, "I've known V for years. I've seen the man at his best. Seen him happy, excited." He raised the bottle to his lips, but didn't drink. "And I've seen him at his worst. I've seen him pissed, furious, bored, depressed, lovesick. Even blue balled and brain dead." He took a long drink, draining the bottle nearly a third of the way. "But I have never seen him so...Afraid."

Becca could only nod, picking up bottle number eight for herself, or maybe it was number nine. She stopped counting. "Didn't think he could actually feel fear. I mean, I saw a brief flash of it that time he and David bolted from the Cojo but-"

"No, what you saw at the Cojo that time was more shock, or maybe horror. I've seen him make that same expression anytime Mama picks up La Chancla." He took another swallow, "and this wasn't just fear. I've seen fear, got to see that enough in Mexico...but this? I'm willing to argue that V is downright terrified right now."

"Shit."

"You said it. You want to go check on him or you want me to?" Jackie raised his bottle in a mock of a toast to her. However, she couldn't help but notice that Jackie's head was cocked slightly towards the bedroom. As if giving his ear a clearer route to hear if anything went amiss. "Although I'd say that between the blood loss and the meds, he's probably still out cold or dead."

"I'll check on him." Becca chose to ignore the last part of Jackie's comment, looking instead at her clothes. There were a few stains that weren't there before she got to V. "Kind of want to, change my clothes. "

"You got anything in my size?" Jackie half-joked, the two getting to their feet as she told him no. "Figured, but I think cleaning up a little's a good idea. You said towels were in the cabinet in the bathroom?"

"Yeah." She confirmed, gesturing to the bathroom as she moved for the bedroom. Stepping in, she closed the door just slightly moved to the bed nook to check V over first.

The man was out cold, his brow slightly furrowed, mouth slightly open and jaw slack. Moving the blanket, she noticed the staining from earlier was gone. Jackie must have replaced some, possibly all of the bandages while she was out. As carefully and quietly as she could, Becca placed a hand on V's forehead. His skin still felt clammy, but had regained some warmth.

"Not enough for comfort." She sighed, shedding her current outfit and standing naked before the closet. Her eyes drifted again to V's prone form, recalling how he had look at her in the pencil dress."Never knew that undressing in V's presence could be so...unsexy."

Had he been awake, she would probably be blushing slightly, maybe trying to hide what little assets she had. Instead, she felt no shame or embarrassment as she rooted around. Deciding eventually on a long tank top and a pair of boyshorts, not caring that she'd be lounging about in her underwear.

"Sure its nothing Jackie hasn't seen before. And I don't think Misty's the jealous type..." She heard a tiny squeak come from the bed, and nearly gave herself a case of whiplash as she turned to look. Far as she could tell, V hadn't moved, so what caused that sound?

She heard it again as she moved a little closer, and finally figured it out after staring at him a moment.

He was snoring.

Or maybe squeaking would be the better term. A high-pitched, nasally whine that she could only describe as 'cute'.

"Chica? You good?" Jackie's voice came from outside the door. "You decent?"

"Uh, yeah." She called back, the door opening to reveal a shirtless Jackie. "Sorry, got a little distracted. Didn't realize V was such a cute snorer..."

"Now he is." The corner of Jackie's mouth pulled up in a small smile as she raise an eyebrow. His steps light as he moved to check on V himself. "Choom used to snore louder than my bike. But then he broke his nose, don't ask how, I don't know. What I do know however, is that he now squeaks in his sleep. Not all the time, but definitely when he's dead tired."

"Or passed out on meds apparently." An oddly loud squeak left V's nose then, and Becca couldn't help the airy huff that left her. She heard Jackie let out his own hum, before he motioned that they should return to the living area. Reclaiming their spots on the couch, the two picked up their drinks. "How long do you think he'll be out for?"

"Not sure, the sedative I gave him usually knocks people out for four to five hours...But that's on top of everything else." He took a drink, "could wake up in the next five minutes, could sleep until this time tomorrow."

"You...really think he'll be out that long?" Somehow, the news was troubling to her. She had seen from the incident at the mall how quick V had been able to bounce back. Okay, so the guy had disappeared for awhile and she only saw him a couple times after that, but he didn't seem all that different than usual.

"V's not as invulnerable as you seem to think he is." Jackie finished off his bottle, even as Becca choked on her drink. "Believe me, I know."

"You've..." The question died on her tongue. Of course Jackie's seen this before. This and the time at the mall were probably just more notches in the belt of their friendship. That thought made her change track, and she asked a different question. "You've been through a lot with him, haven't you?"

"A lifetime's worth of adventures...and we're both only in our thirties." He shook his head, taking a quick drink.

"So what, you two been friends since you were kids or?"

"No...We only really became friends after we left Mexico. And no, I will not elaborate on that beyond the fact that he saved my life, I saved his life. We fucked some shit up and caused a lot of problems for the Cartel." He sighed, "fair warning, neither one of us can visit Mexico without running the very high chance of being killed. Anyways after that, V and I? We became thick as thieves, with V giving me all his hand-me-downs."

"Hand-me-downs?" Becca's eyes wandered over Jackie, even without chrome, the man was still a good third larger than V. She couldn't see him taking anything from V but old weapons. "Like weapons or?"

"Little bit of everything, but mostly left overs from various jobs 'saka would send him on." He gestured with the bottle towards the window. "For example; Some scavs piss off Arasaka by klepping some supplies. Arasaka sends V to their den to clear them out and recover the goods. V goes in, does the job and grabs only what he was sent to get. After that, he'd message me the detes and what was there. I would then call up my friends and we'd go in and 'clean up' before others could. Win-win all around."

She nodded, of course V would 'share the wealth'.

"Does he still do that now?"

"Not recently, but I still get plenty of work." Jackie's expression turned thoughtful. "But I'm not sure how long that'll last given the circumstances."

"You mean with..." She left the thought unfinished, not really sure what option she wanted to fill in the blank with. She knew something was going on with his position at Arasaka (she helped him with part of that after all). And that something had happened between him and Gloria causing a separation. Again. And now, knowing his father was back?

"Everything? Yeah." Jackie quit the couch then, moving over to the fridge to grab another one of the six packs that were in there. "Oh that's a good one...But mostly I'd say because of his father."

"You think?" Becca ignored her half empty bottle in favor of grabbing one of the cold ones Jackie had just brought over. It was one of the 'craft brews' Pilar had bought but hadn't yet bother to drink. Popping it open, she took a sip and grimaced – not the worst beer she had drank, but not the best either. Seeing her near empty-bottle, and knowing things were getting heavy, she decided to mix the two together.

"You know that won't actually get you drunker, right?" Jackie seemed to read her mind, and she shrugged.

"I know but I'm just looking for a different flavor to distract from this shit." She took a large drink, and regretted everything she had done in the last two minutes. "Euchh, it tastes like all the worst parts of buck a slice."

"So like eating buck a slice."

"No. Like just stupid, ugh, amounts of lemony malty? Like, have you ever drank a really acidic drink then drank milk and you get that weird acid and base mix and its just like blech." She got up and moved to the bathroom, dumping the bottle down the sink. "And hey, buck a slice has some edible stuff on their menu."

Okay, so maybe that was a stretch, but damn if Gloria's preferred choice of Chilispurt Scopperoni didn't tickle her tastebuds in a good way. She returned to the couch and shoved the craft brew away, going for one of the last bottles of Broseph instead.

"If you say so." Jackie let the thought hang, and Becca could see the worry lines creasing his face. "Wouldn't know, only ate it once or twice. But I know V's eaten it a few times since getting back with Gloria. Just to make her happy. It's like me when Misty makes, and I might be butchering the pronunciation, flackie? I'm not the biggest fan of it, but I'll eat a bowl if she makes it."

"What is it?" Becca asked, hoping she wouldn't regret it.

"A type of Polish soup, and no." He chuckled, "I won't tell you more as you probably wouldn't eat it if Misty ever makes a batch for the crew."

"Fair." She sighed, looking at the bottle she was holding. She thought back to the housewarming party when Gloria first got out of the hospital. The few others times the crew had met up at Gloria's place. And now, their recent 'pot luck' party. Maybe it was her ill-fated blending, or the six-pack and a half catching up to her, but Becca suddenly felt a wave of nausea.

"Chica, esta bien?" It must have shown on her face, as she soon felt Jackie's hand on her back.

"Y-yeah. Just...damn it, it seems wrong that we're drinking, discussing food. All while V's in there," Becca gestured towards the bedroom. "Fighting against himself, his sperm donor, just...I don't know. I feel, conflicted? I mean, we just got a warning from David and Gloria about V being off, and now he's here and you're saying he's normal? But also terrified?" She scratched her head, trying to organize her chaotic thoughts. "Gah, why is this so hard?"

"Because its hard to see those you care about in pain." Jackie moved his hand from her back as he got up from the couch and made for the fridge. "And even harder when you're not sure how to help them." She heard the fridge open and saw Jackie come back with a couple bottles of water. "Oh sure, you can clean a wound and bandage a cut. But how the hell do you, think Maine said it best, unfuck this?"

Jackie pointed to his head, giving it a couple taps.

"Don't know. I mean, I was able to help Pilar get out of his own head with some new chrome...but in this case I don't think a 'downgrade' would help V." She sighed, grabbing one of the water bottles. "Especially if he only got that chrome because of his old man."

"Right, and it would look suspicious if he suddenly changed it all. Even if he told the bastard it got damaged...I suspect the man would just ask why he didn't get the same replacements." He opened the other bottle. "Told you before, I don't know all what's happened the last few days with V. But what I do know, is that if the old man is involved? V's gonna be handling everything with kid gloves while walking on eggshells once he's up and about."

He took a drink of his water, eyes looking out the window as he thought about the situation.

"Guess Gloria's warnings were more dire than we thought." She drank a third of the bottle in one go, "I mean. I heard her stories about him, but I thought he was just high-tier corporate levels of evil. You know the kind who don't care how many people are affected by their actions as long as they make a profit? Not the break out the holy water and religious artifacts kind. Speaking of, can I have one of those crucifixes you always wear?"

"Well, you can't have this one." He wrapped a hand around the cross, "but I know a couple places you can get one. If you want, I'll even get Padre to bless it."

"Couldn't hurt." At this point, Becca was willing to buy a bible and convert if she thought it would actually help. "But what good would that actually do? I mean, it's not like we can directly confront the man or anything."

"S'like the old duck and cover drills. Ain't gonna do shit against a direct hit, but it's peace of mind." Jackie let go of the cross, hand going for his water again. "But you're right that we can't confront the old man, and I don't think we should confront V about it until he's ready. But what we can do is let V know we're here for him."

"You think he'd go for that?" Becca considered everything over the last few months. V had been sending them jobs, but never went along with them...and rarely called them up to help him with a job. Indeed, she could count on one hand the times V had personally called her (or some other members of the crew) to help him with a gig he had. "The man's a solo act through and through."

"Not anymore he's not." Jackie muttered, shaking his head as he stared at the floor. "Shit's gotta change. V's gonna need back up, and we need to convince him of that fact."

"Alright, and how do you propose we do that?"

"Let you know as soon as I figure that out myself." The big guy had a tired smile on his face, "but first things first. We need to get this one back on his feet."

"Right, one step at a time." Becca nodded, taking another drink of water. "So, what's the first step in that process?"

"First step was getting him stable. Now? Those IV bags are keeping him hydrated, but ain't exactly helping him recover the blood he lost." He looked at her thoughtfully, as if he already knew the answer. "Any idea where we can get some blood packs?"

"Well, I have an idea...but we'll need to go against V's wishes just slightly." She took another drink, "think V will mind if I give Nadia a call?"

She saw Jackie shake his head, and after confirming some information with Jackie, gave Nadia a call on the holo.

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While Becca had an odd level of respect for those in the medical fields, she was surprised Nadia had answered as quickly and alertly as she did given the early hour. She explained the situation in as little detail as possible, promising her a better explanation once they could meet in person. The nurse told Becca to give her a couple hours to secure the requested goods, and that she'd be in touch. Becca wasn't about to ask where the ex-Trauma nurse was getting her supplies, nor did she really care. She decided to use her time waiting to help Jackie change V's bandages again, before taking over watching him so Jackie could get some sleep.

Instead of taking the chair, Becca decided to use her small frame to her advantage and sit on the raised step beside the bed. Compared to sitting in the chair, it let her stretch out a bit more, and put her closer to the man in case something happened. Although, while not the first time she had sat vigil beside someone recovering, there was something surreal about watching V. Maybe it was because she wasn't used to seeing him so...broken? Or maybe it was because he was paler than her? Or the awkward of him being in her bed...and her not being in there with him? Or maybe the guilt she was feeling at going against his wishes without him knowing?

Well, she could fix two of those problems in the here and now. But given that she knew it would be unwise for her to snuggle up to the injured emaciated man...She decided to tell V about her decision to call in outside help.

"Hey choom." She started softly, not knowing if he could truly hear her or not. "Know you didn't want us telling a lot of people about this, but I had to call Nadia."

V didn't flinch, the only movement the shallow but steady rise and fall of his chest.

"Look, look, before you get angry, she's the only person I could trust to get some of the stuff we need and not raise a fuss about it."

A tiny squeak came from V's nose, but nothing else to indicate what, if any feelings he had on the matter.

"I'm just waiting for her to call me back. Promise I didn't tell her anything about how you ended up like this..." Carefully, she took his hand in hers, noting that he didn't feel warm or cold. "And that I won't tell her anything more than I have to, alright?"

Silence met her ears as she gently squeezed his hand.

"Thanks V, glad you understand." She leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek. "Get some rest now, you hear?"

Becca let out a yawn as she let go of V's hand, shifting so that she could pillow her own head on her arms on the bed. There was no doubt in her mind that if Jackie walked in and saw her would probably make some joke about not needing to watch him so closely. But damn it, she wanted to be close to him. And the bed was oddly comfortable...

The ringing of her holo woke her, and after panicky answering it and telling Nadia she'd call back, Becca checked on V. Cursing herself out, she was relieved to find that the man's condition hadn't changed, nor had her dosing off disturbed anything. Letting out a relieved sigh, she called Nadia back.

["Sorry about that. Kind of fell asleep on watch and wanted to make sure V was okay."]

["And how is he?"]

["No change from what I told you earlier."] She moved back into the living room, seeing Jackie snoring on the couch. ["You got the goods?"]

["Yeah, and Pilar and I ar-"]

["Wait, Pilar's with you? Thought I told you to come alone?"] Never mind that Jackie had called Pilar first, and that he'd probably be the next one to find out after Nadia.

["Didn't feel confident enough to bring this stuff over alone and partially unsecured."] The nurse replied, ["he's driving while I'm holding the goods."]

["Okay, that makes a bit more sense. Where are you guys?"]

["Hang on."] No doubt Nadia was asking Pilar how far away they were. ["About ten minutes away. You want us to come in or you want to meet us?"]

At the question, Becca hesitated. On the one hand, Nadia could tell if anything was wrong with V better than she or Jackie could. On the other hand, it meant further going against V's wishes more than using her to get medical supplies did.

["I'll meet you guys outside."] She heard Nadia start to reply, but cut her off. ["Look, V didn't want a lot of people knowing about this or where he is."]

["He should still be checked out by qualified medical personnel."]

["Believe me, I said the same thing but Jackie was adamant about it."] Once again, she looked at the sleeping Latino. ["How about a compromise. Once you get here, I'll tell you more details about the accident. If you think he should be checked out, I'll let just you in. If you think he'll be fine, we'll wait a little bit longer."]

["Still don't see why you can't give me all the detes over the holo?"] Nadia asked, even as Becca shook Jackie to start waking him.

["I'm not a hundred percent on that either, but Jackie told me to keep things basic over the holo."] The man in question grumbled as he came back to the realm of the conscious. "Nadia's on her way over. Gonna meet her outside to get the stuff."

"She comin' by car?" Becca nodded. "Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but have her stay in the car. Go out to greet her and hop in, take a little drive to a store. Get out, buy something, then come back."

Knowing what she did now, Becca didn't argue and relayed Jackie's instruction for her to stay in the car.

["Alright, oh...Pilar says we're here. Said to tell you we're parked near the Moore Technologies sign."]

The admittance made her groan, but she told Nadia she'd be out in a minute. Briefing Jackie on V's unchanged condition, she grabbed her favorite jacket and threw it on as she stepped out the door. She was going to take the stairs, but decided the elevator would be faster. Stepping out, she was quick to move though the lobby and out into the streets, accidentally bumping into a passing pedestrian.

"Shit, sorry." Becca apologized, taking a look at the guy she had crashed into. VDB poser was her first impression based on his dark, weathered skin and dark dreads pulled into a ponytail and secured by a length of wire.

"You..." His thick accent didn't help her opinion. "You were there..."

"Eh-excuse me?" She stammered. Second impression? A homeless poser hyped up on chems given his patchwork clothes and the odd look of reverence in the man's eyes.

"You were there." He stated again, "da night the queen was found! You know who released her..."

The sound of tires squealing grabbed their attention, and she cheered internally as she recognized Nadia's van rolling up to the scene. Throwing caution to the wind, Becca ducked under the guy's arm and ran for it. Throwing open the sliding door, she hopped inside commanding Pilar to drive even as the man yelled for her to come back and 'answer us'.

"Fuck was that?" Pilar asked, bringing the van back to the main road.

"I don't know, some druggie..." She shuddered, seriously, what the fuck was he talking about? Shrugging it off, she sat down on the bench seat opposite the door. sitting on the bench seat that was opposite the door. Becca had thought Nadia's van to be weird, until she realized it was a modified shipping van and that the 'back seat' had been added in as an afterthought. "Anyhow, you got the stuff?"

"Right here." Nadia held up what looked like a medical briefcase, the kind with a latch lock, built in monitor and refrigerating unit. "Twelve bags of UDS blood."

Carefully, Nadia moved from the front seat in favor of sitting beside Becca in the back. Setting the case between them, she released the latch. With a slight hiss, the case opened to reveal the twelve bags – six on each side. All filled with the life-saving deep red liquid.

"Formulated from type-O negative blood, universal donor-synthetic is guaranteed to be accepted by any of the eight main blood types, and has a high acceptance rate for some of the less common ones like those in the rhesus group."

"So...It'll work for V?" While Becca was smart enough to know her (and Pilar's) blood type. And that blood wasn't blood (meaning that complications could arise by mixing the wrong types), she had no idea of the finer details.

"Yeah, it will." She closed the case. "Now, you want to tell me what happened that the guy apparently needs a transfusion?"

"Promise me you won't breathe a word of this to anyone?" She might have been talking to Nadia, but her eyes looked at Pilar.

"Did you forget V is my boss, and that I am technically his doctor and thus bound by doctor-patient confidentiality?"

"And I can keep a secret...Unlike some assholes who can't keep in their lane!" Pilar yelled, honking the horn and flipping a guy off.

"Pilar, be careful. This is my work van." Nadia chastised him. "So go ahead, tell us what happened."

Becca nodded and started off with explaining the extent of V's injuries, and the treatment she and Jackie had provided in the meantime. Nadia nodded and praised the efforts of her and Jackie, mentioning that V should probably get a tetanus booster.

"Even if he didn't get a rusty nail to the gut, I'd recommend it as a precaution from the other debris." Nadia admitted, "but how did he get a belly full of glass to begin with? As the damage you're describing would only come from A. Being stabbed with a broken bottle or B. Landing on an already broken window."

"Uh, V had an issue with hopping the NCART?" It wasn't a total lie.

"What?"

"Look, best understanding I have is that V was on a gig. Shit went tits up and his only chance of getting out alive was to jump for an incoming train. He hit the glass and...yeah."

"Did he hit the skylight or the side?" The brunette asked, eyes narrowing as she tried to piece together the information.

"The side..." When she heard it from Jackie, it sounded ridiculous, but saying it now herself? It seemed unbelievable.

"Wait, that was V?" Pilar exclaimed.

"What?"

"It was on the news, a quick story about some gonk who was seen hitting one of the trains. There was even some footage of the impact that was caught by a security camera."

"Great, now to hope it didn't catch V's face or anything that could identify him." Becca quickly sent off a message to Jackie about that particular development, but to the others. "You're kidding me."

"Nope." Pilar laughed and Becca frowned. "Look, it's honestly just footage from a street cam that has a decent view of the tracks. You can see a figure fall from somewhere before he goes through one of the train's windows."

"Can you make out anything about the guy?" She pressed, but Pilar was too busy gushing over V.

"I mean, I thought the clip was fake as, damn. The amount of timing you'd need to pull that off? I mean, I could understand breaking through the skylight but-"

"Oi! Dick-sneeze!" Becca didn't care that he was driving, she punched the back of the chair. "Can you tell anything about the guy to hit the train in the video?"

"The fuck? No, you can't." He cursed again, turning around quickly to glare at her. "All you see is what looks like a human striking the side of the train. Can't even see the guy's face or make out his clothing clearly due to the light and the fact that the elevated track's a fair distance down the street cam's view."

That admittance came at the same time as a message from Jackie, who had found the clip in question and confirmed that there was nothing identifiable about the body. She sighed in relief, apologizing for hitting the chair in the same breath. "Just, can't be too careful right now with V's identity? Security? I don't know what to call it."

"You said the same thing on the holo." Nadia raised an eyebrow. "What exactly did V do that he's being so...secretive?"

"Not really sure, but what I do know is that shit's hit the fan badly on V's end." She hesitated, but figured, Nadia at least, was owed the truth. "And that his old man's had something to do with it. It's got the poor guy's terrified of what might happen to him, which is why he's being so secretive."

"Soon as that man's well, I'm asking for a raise..." Nadia muttered a little louder than intended. "I can understand his concerns, and trauma's a bitch." She pitched her voice low, "Gloria told me what the asshole did to her. I can only imagine what he's done to V."

"So you get it?" Becca knew there was a reason she liked Nadia.

"I do." Nadia nodded, but Pilar scoffed.

"Well I don't." Becca saw him shaking his head, "Nadia baby, not to doubt you, but I'm thinkin' our Spooky Suit's having a freak out because of blood loss. I mean, didn't Vik say I had the same issue?"

"Yes, but you didn't have pre-existing trauma at the time, V does and..." Becca tuned out Nadia's explanation, feeling irked that her brother would dismiss V's suffering like that. At the same time however, she realized something she had started to suspect.

Pilar didn't see V as a friend, but rather as a Fixer or supplier.

Did the rest of the crew see him that way?

Fixers would simply call them up, say here's the detes, and leave them to do the job.

V meanwhile would call them and meet up with them. He'd pass along the detes, and needed supplies and information. Maybe even make recommendations.

But did he ever stay to have a drink or a bite to eat if they were meeting somewhere with food? Or join them to celebrate a gig?

Did anyone invite or ask him to join them?

No, not really. V might have been considered part of the crew, but he hadn't joined them in the friend sense like Nadia and Gloria had. Looking at it from this angle, Becca had a feeling Pilar, and possibly the crew saw V as a co-worker at best.

And now thinking about it. Really thinking about it. Out of everyone in the original crew, it was only her who really had any contact with the guy outside of gigs...And even that had mostly been because she was chilling with Gloria when she wanted to hang with her.

"Jackie said shit's gotta change with how V handles things...And I think that's gonna have to go for the crew too." She kept the thought to herself, noticing that the van had come to a stop at some coffee shop or another. "What are we doing here?"

"Nadia said you said we had to make this look convincing, and I'm hungry." Pilar smiled, and Becca raised an eyebrow. "What? Just because I don't think all this smoke and mirrors is needed doesn't mean I'm not gonna play along. Besides, this place has great crullers." Becca couldn't decide if she wanted to hug her brother or hit him, but nodded as he motioned for her to join him outside the van. "You want your usual baby?"

"Pilar's right, and yeah, get me my usual." She caught the confused look Becca was giving her. "I want to stay with the goods, just don't take too long, okay?"

"Don't worry, we'll be quick." Pilar replied, "come on sis. We'll split a dozen. Pretty sure Jackie-bro might appreciate you bringing back something for him."

"I was gonna hit ya, but if you're buying me breakfast?" The sibling animosity she felt faded as he nodded and she didn't argue as he lead her inside the small shop and purchased two half-dozens of donuts, sugar with some coffee for himself, and a black coffee and synth-egg and cheese sandwich for Nadia. Hopping back in the van with their purchases, Pilar ate one of his donuts before making the return trip to Becca's place.

"Thanks guys, really appreciate this." Becca smiled as she stepped out of the van, accepting the case and the box of donuts resting on top of it.

"No trouble at all." Nadia gave a nod, "and keep me posted alright?"

"Will do. Catch ya later." She would have waved, but her hands were full. Instead, she carefully adjusted her parcels and made her way back inside the building and up to her apartment.

(；¬д¬) (･｀ｪ･)つ( Д)ノ.·´¯`(▂)´¯`·.щ(ºДºщ)ノ(ಠ_ಠノ)＼(0´)／

Returning to her apartment, Becca expected to find everything as she had left it. Jackie relaxing in the bedroom, their mess from the night before still on the footrest turned table and V still unconscious.

What she was greeted to instead was a clean footrest, and the sound of V having another freak out. Case (and donuts) in hand, Becca ran to the bedroom door and stepped inside. V was awake, his eyes wide and fearful as he clung to Jackie with tears streaming down his face. She heard Jackie saying something to him, but couldn't quite catch everything.

"...safe here." She heard Jackie say, saw him rubbing circles on V's back like he had done before. The larger man kept up his soothing while gently encouraging V to lay back down. She saw Jackie's head turn and notice her. Expected him to wave her away. Instead, he smiled and gestured towards Becca. "Look choom, Becca's here with your medicine."

"And donuts." She held up the box, and while Jackie chuckled at the sight, V's eyes widened in fear.

"No. Not safe. Not safe!" He pleaded, once more grabbing onto Jackie. "Not safe. Not safe."

"Shh, shh, it's alright. Remember you're safe here." He grabbed V's arms in his own, trying again to get him to lay down and take the pressure off his gut. "You can relax. It's only the three of us here, you're safe. Relax."

"Can't relax." V shook his head almost violently, and she heard Jackie curse as he shifted his hand to keep V from accidentally pulling out the IV line. "He-"

"Can't get you here." Jackie assured V, finally getting him to lay back down.

"Another nightmare about his dad?" Becca's answer came as V shot back up, eyes wide and clinging to Jackie with a scared determination.

"I need to kill him Jack. I have to! He has to die!"

"You think you can ice him with half your blood leaked out and his chrome covering your body?" It seemed Jackie was done being gentle, as he knocked on V's arm a few times. "You're lucky to be breathing right now."

"You don't understand!" V argued, trying to give Jackie a feeble whack of his own.

"I understand, but it don't change facts." She saw Jackie's head turn to look where V had hit him. "See? You didn't even make me flinch with that fist."

"Jack..." V coughed, and Becca saw the grip he had on Jackie loosen. "You know he can't be left alive...The things he did to me..." His head fell forward. "He's not going to stop Jackie. Not until everything's as he wants. He, doesn't care what it takes to get there. I...I was the start of that, but..."

"Choom, breathe." Jackie coached, shooting her a look that said 'don't move'. "That's it, take a deep breath. Let's try to approach this rationally an-"

"Rational? There's nothing rational about the man!" V's head whipped around the room, as if expecting to be attacked or ambushed. Going against Jackie's instruction, Becca moved and set the case and donuts on the floor before moving so that she was blocking the doorframe. And going against her own wishes, she turned her back to the scene so that she was watching the main room.

"Look, Becca's got the door guarded." She heard the approval in Jackie's voice, and let an unseen smile come to her face. "So let's try and figure this out, alright? What do you mean you were the start?

"Told you, he tried to mold me...Make me perfect..." V's sentences were fragmented, and Becca could hear the fear in them. "I broke, but he's pulling me back...He already got mom...Can't tell with sister...I need to stop him Jack!" She heard the bed shift. "He wants Gloria. David...I need to protect them! Already failed once!"

"You didn't fail..." Jackie started slowly, "you didn't know. Gloria-"

"Did what I couldn't do...She got away." He made a sound that almost sounded like an envious hum. "But she came back...Why?"

"David. And herself." Jackie offered, and Becca heard him moving behind her. "Gloria thought enough time had passed to where she could come back and pick up the pieces of the life she left behind. And it seems she did, becoming an EMT. Getting an apartment. And she knew there wasn't much of a future for David out there. Sure, he didn't quite share her view on that but..."

From the corner of her eye, she saw Jackie's form behind her as he picked up the case. No doubt the man was going to try and hook up the first of the blood packs.

"No, he didn't...I should have been there." A heavy sigh came from V, followed by a string of mumbling that Becca couldn't quite make out.

"Do you really think Gloria would have listened?" Jackie let out a snort of a laugh, "the girl's as stubborn as you are."

"She knows Jackie. Knows what he can do..." V's voice caught in his throat. "Knows that I...I..."

"You what choom?"

"I can't do it..." An uncharacteristic crack in V's voice punctuated the sentence. Heard the hiccup that followed, and the anguished groan he let out. "I can't protect her..."

"V..." She heard the weight in Jackie's voice, and heard him shift again as V started openly sobbing. Turning, Becca let out a gasp as she noticed V had once again buried his head in Jackie's chest. Sobs wracked his body as he continued his mutterings, and while Jackie looked uncomfortable at the situation, he was doing his best to comfort V. "You can. You've already done so."

"Not enough...He got her...Found her again..."

"That wasn't him, remember? Just some gonk Animals." It took Becca a moment to realize that Jackie was referring to the accident that turned Gloria into the full-metal MILF. But clearly that wasn't what V was talking about.

"I need..."

"You need help." The gentle tone of Jackie's voice now had an air of determination to it. "Me, Becca, and everyone else is here to help."

"No. Not enough..." V started to panic again. "He knows...He wants her, David...Gotta send them away."

"No you don't." Jackie tried to calm him, "just breathe, relax. Choom, breathe...That's it. Everyone's here to help. You don't-"

"I do. I need to send Gloria and David away." V seemed not to hear Jackie and continued to talk though his gasping breaths. "Somewhere far away, somewhere Arasaka'll pause before starting shit." He rambled, letting out a few more sobs. "Somewhere he...he can't get them..."

"And then what?" Jackie asked, still trying to soothe V as he changed tracks. "You start living your life on the run?"

"No. Not this time." The words were said with such conviction that it seemed V had entered a bout of lucidity. Even though his posture, his breathing, and the fear in his eyes didn't change. "When they're safe, I'll bite a bullet. He can't have them, can't have me."

"No, then we'll protect you." The bigger man urged, trying to get V to look at him. "Help you, and then when that's solved. Bring 'em back."

"Not possible...He's everywhere." V grabbed Jackie's shoulders, eyes rolling and chest heaving. "He'll get you, get...get her...Get me. No me, no problem..."

Becca saw Jackie's mouth move, but his words were lost as V devolved into a set of hysterical rambling as whatever moment of lucidity claimed him passed. She took a step forward, not sure if she could actually help but wanting to be closer to the boys. V jerked, the IV stand falling over with a gentle thump. The sound made V jump, and start freaking out more than he already was.

"Fuck! Chica!" She heard Jackie curse and saw him toss his head towards the IV stand while he went for the medical supplies. Understanding, Becca moved to fix the stand as Jackie threw bedside manner out the window. She watched as he held V down with one arm across his chest, using the other to hit him with another round of medicine. V murmured and thrashed, but Jackie held firm.

"Just your medicine choom, calm down. Can't have you thrashing about and ripping your stomach open again." His voice held a calm Becca could tell he wasn't feeling. The words dismissing everything they had just been talking about even as V continued to fight. Soon enough however, the meds started to work their magic. V's rambling didn't stop, but his thrashing about started to slow. "That's right, let the meds do their job. I didn't mean to be so rough, but you need to relax."

"Can't...relax..." V stopped twisting, but the tears were still flowing from his eyes. "Need..."

"You need to rest." Jackie was back in gentle giant mode, and Becca watched as he helped V get settled on the bed. The guy's movements were deliberate, and he narrated his actions to further keep V calm. "Just going to grab a tissue and dry your eyes, okay? There we go. Do you need to blow your nose?" He picked up another tissue and held it out to V who sniffled, but shook his head. "Lets at least wipe it off, okay?"

V muttered what might have been an agreement, but by the way his breathing was leveling out, and his eyes slowly opening and closing. Becca could tell that his body was losing a fight to the medication.

"Shh, that's right choom. Just relax and recover. You're safe here. Remember that." Jackie patted his shoulder, even as V's eyes closed and remained shut. "Get some sleep. Becca and I will keep an eye on things." He looked back to where she was still standing by the IV stand. "We'll check in on you in a few hours, okay?"

It was part instruction for her, and part comfort for V. While she nodded, a light snore was V response even as Jackie gestured that they should step out. Double checking that the stand was secure, and that V was comfortable, Becca pulled herself away from his side and followed Jackie back to the main room.

"So...We gonna talk about what just happened?" She asked, noticing that Jackie had picked up the box of donuts.

"Not much to say. He had another break down." Jackie replied, pulling one of the pastries from the box and taking an almost savage bite out of it. "And that went about as well as it could."

"He didn't seem receptive to the idea of help..." She stated, helping herself to a donut.

"Figured that would be the case." Jackie took another bite, "you know as well as I do, he's always been a lone wolf. Oh sure, he'll work with a team if he has to but otherwise?" The donut disappeared with his third bite. "He thinks he's protecting everyone by taking this on himself, by keeping everyone in the dark. But all he's done is made it easier for you guys to get blindsided."

"If we didn't know what little we do...We'd never see something coming." Becca took a bite, chewing slowly as he formulated her thoughts. "I mean, you and I might but the others? Not so much."

"Right. It's just...how do we convince V of that?" Jackie asked her, and she realized that he was also struggling on how best to proceed.

"Not sure." She looked around her safehouse, eyes falling upon the bag of stuff she had purchased from Misty. "I mean, Misty told me that a lot of this might hinge on V."

"Yeah, she told me the same thing." He nodded, grabbing another donut. "Told me she'd like to talk to him if she could."

"Right, and-" The bite Becca had just taken hung in her mouth, an odd idea coming to her mind. "Jackie? What do you think of the idea of slowly bringing the crew in to see him? Like how I 'guarded' him recently. We start with the more logical choices like Misty or Nadia for medical care...Then maybe Kiwi or Lucy or Pilar on the grounds of checking his chrome? Or maybe Maine and Dorio, more muscle so he feels safer?"

"Its a good idea in theory, but remember V wants to keep this on the down low."

"I know, but...I don't fucking know." She shrugged, "but we need to figure something out."

"We do...And we will." Jackie reassured her, taking another bite. "I'll admit bringing back Nadia has merit, at least just to make sure we haven't fucked anything up with treating him. But we'd need to tread lightly."

Becca nodded, moving over to her coffee maker. "Maybe we can figure something out while we eat? Gonna make myself a cup of coffee, you want one?"

"Please." Jackie gave a nod, and Becca set about making their drinks. Over coffee and the remaining donuts, the two continued to brainstorm how best to help V.

(；¬д¬) (･｀ｪ･)つ( Д)ノ.·´¯`(▂)´¯`·.щ(ºДºщ)ノ(ಠ_ಠノ)＼(0´)／

Unable to come up with anything concrete, neither Becca or Jackie felt any better about the whole situation. After making sure V was out, the two of them had changed his bandages again, and proceeded to hook up the first of the blood bags now that there was less risk of V freaking out about it. As he started the transfusion, Jackie admitted he put out a call to Nadia to try and figure out how many bags they might need to use.

"Nadia says it should only take three, maybe four bags, but that each bag could take anywhere between two to four hours to fully enter his system depending on how his chrome wants to regulate it." Jackie gestured to the IV stand where Becca could see the life-saving liquid starting to flow into V's body. "She's also insisting on stopping by later to give him a check-up."

Jackie tried to look annoyed, but Becca could tell it was token at best. She meanwhile felt cheered by the news as she worked on settling in at V's side once again. It was Jackie's turn to go out on a supply run, with the man stating he might take a little longer as he wanted to check in with Mama Welles, and stop by Misty's place to see if she had anymore advice. Becca told him to take all the time he needed, figuring the guy deserved a break after everything he'd dealt with over the last few hours.

Half an hour into sitting with V, Becca felt herself get hit with a similar feeling to when she last kept vigil over him. This time however, she realized it wasn't guilt or concern causing it. Rather, it seemed to be because of the awkward quiet that surrounded the deeply sleeping suit. She guessed it didn't bother Jackie because he was used to it – be it from sitting with V or maybe an injured Valentino or two. But for her? It wasn't torture but it wasn't ideal either. She thought back to sitting with Pilar when he was in Vik's care. It had been a similar situation, but she had things to keep her mind occupied. And Pilar was being monitored by various machines so even if she didn't hear something, the machines would.

Here however?

She didn't have that luxury. Watching TV was out, as the one she had was bolted to the wall and couldn't be moved. Listening to music was out for the same reason as turning the TV on and listening to it – as she needed to listen out for anything from V. She could have brought in a handheld gaming console, but needed to watch V more than anything. Out of options, and not caring how odd it might be, Becca decided to break the silent awkwardness in one of the only ways she could.

Talking.

"Hope I'm not disturbing your rest, but I feel weird just sitting here in the quiet." She started, looking at V to see if she might actually be disturbing him. "I mean, I could play one of my handheld games with the volume off but...Fuck! Kind of lost my interest in gaming as Pilar keeps cheating and beating my scores. Like, I don't know if he's using some trainer program or cheats but...Before you argue that I should 'get good', there's no way to get a million points in three minutes without nigh impossible bullshit luck on drops and power-ups."

Like before, V didn't react or respond. "Like the one good thing is that Nadia kicked his ass in Trauma Drama without cheats. But would you believe she had the audacity to claim that game is 'too easy' and that real TT missions are more difficult?" She laughed, but it quickly faded. "Wish I could be so good at a job that a game based on it seems easy. But what do I know? I mean, I got a basic medical knowledge on bandaging wounds. And shooting to defend as well as kill. But beyond that?" Becca frowned, "Jackie had to hook up these IVs, he knew how to find a vein...well, port in your case with those cyberarms."

She ran a hand over them, missing the feel of his original arms. These new ones felt more muscular, but lacked the warmth the old ones did. "All I did was wrap you up like a mummy. And pull debris out of you and administer medicine through injectors. But my skills are shit otherwise. Nadia and Gloria have been teaching me...Teaching the crew actually, some more advanced 'field medicine', but I'm just not getting it." Her eyes drifted to the bag of supplies, most of it provided by the pharmacist when she had passed along Jackie's less than detailed instruction of getting enough to outfit a field hospital. "I mean, I know what a lot of this stuff is, but not what it does. Or how to properly administer it. Didn't realize you can't just pick up a syringe, fill it and inject it. You need to let the air out – which is why you'll see them flick it and squirt some of the stuff out in all those medical shows."

Okay, so maybe doctors didn't actually do that but she was just trying to make conversation.

"Wait, you're probably sick of hearing about medical stuff. What with all your new chrome, and the last few days." V snored slightly, but gave no actual indication of his feelings. "Maybe you'd rather hear about the crew's latest gigs? We haven't had much work to be honest. Just an odd job here and there. We all recently did a security gig for some corpo girl. And Rogue hired Kiwi on for some deep dive job." She chuckled, "I myself had a bail jumper fall right into my lap. Got myself ten thousand eddies just by being in the right place at the right time. Of course, most of that's gone to caring for your beat down ass." She realized how bad that sounded. "Not that I mind, I was willing to go into debt when Pilar was depressed, and I'm willing to do the same for you."

"Relax, I still got some left over for bills and other expenses. Don't want the landlord sending someone after me for being in rent area-ares? Fuck, I know I'm butchering it, but it was some fancy term Dorio used to describe a gonk who wasn't paying rent that she was sent to deal with. I was like, why is a landlord hiring a merc to collect rent? And she replied she was doing it as a favor for her parents."

V grunted, and Becca realized that mentioning parents might not have been the best idea.

"Yeah, I don't know much about them or that situation either. Anyhow, did you know Lucy came up with a way to help David's overheating issues?" She switched to rambling about how Lucy put David through his paces, and how they had pushed his training (conveniently leaving out her use of rubber ammo against him). "But he's doing so much better now. Just needs to learn how to stop...Like Pilar kicking my ass in video games!"

She didn't know how her thoughts had circled back to that (probably had to do with her remembering him getting the high score on one of the machines at the Motel where they trained David) but she didn't care. It was keeping her mind occupied, and judging by the look of pained relaxation on his face, it seemed V didn't mind either. Actually, he was looking at her with interest, one eyebrow raised and the corners of his mouth slightly turned.

"Oh, hello..." She greeted, feeling her face heat up slightly.

"Hello..." He rasped, one hand moving to his throat. Understanding, Becca offered him a sip from the can of soda she had at her side.

"How...How long have you been awake?"

"Long enough." He replied, his voice more solid now that his throat had some lubricant.

"So..." She pulled the can away, not caring that V had drank the rest of it. "You heard me whining about Pilar and David drinking all the limited edition coffee-flavored Cirrus before I could try it?"

He nodded, but Becca saw his face contort slightly at the mention of David.

"How is he?"

"David? He's fine. Like I told you, well, unconscious you, Lucy hooked him up with some new chrome and a netrunning suit. Kid's running cooler than ever." She smiled, hoping it was reassuring him. He seemed to relax just slightly, but tensed as he asked his next question.

"And Gloria?" The fear in his voice tugged at Becca's heartstrings.

"Doing great. We all had a party at her place recently, and holy hell that hot tub's nice." She sighed happily at the memory, "but enough about them. I want to know how you're feeling?"

V didn't respond, instead he seemed to just be absorbing the latest information that she had dropped on him while staring blankly ahead.

"Are you in pain? Thirsty? Nadia said it be okay for you to have liquids if you are. I mean, you did drink all my soda." She held up the empty can and gave it a shake. V didn't respond, his expression turning to one of pain as he started to shiver. "V? You good?

It started slowly, a slight increase in how fast he was breathing that quickly turned into a frantic sort of gasping. She saw his hands move to clutch his chest, before he tried to curl into the fetal position. All things she recognized as V starting to have a panic attack.

"Fuck." She kept the curse to herself, recalling what she saw Jackie doing. "Breathe choom."

"Can't breathe...can't breathe..." He panted, whining as he clutched at his chest.

"You can, just relax...In, and out." She coached, even as he continued to chant that he couldn't breathe. "The fuck brought this on?"

"Can't...pain..." V groaned, hands going from his chest to the sheets as his eyes flicked around the room. Carefully, she reached out and placed one of her own on his. Trying to recall something, anything that might help the situation. She tried reassuring him like Jackie had, but it didn't seem to work. Then again, she didn't quite have the same relationship with him as Jackie did.

"What else? Maybe try distracting him?"

"Hey V, can you stick out your tongue and touch your nose?" It was random, it was stupid.

It worked?

"Wha-what?" V panted, head whipping around to stare at her. His hands came up and grabbed her arms in a crushing grip. It was painful, but she could endure. Especially if it meant V's attention was now focused on her.

"I asked, if you could stick out your tongue and touch your nose." She repeated, noticing V starting to calm down as his mind tried to process the request.

"Why?"

"Just curious, because I can. See?" Becca stuck her tongue out with an added 'melm' noise, and with some effort, brought a finger up to her nose and poked it. "Stickin' by tongue out an' touchin' by nose." She had no idea if it was her preforming such a ridiculous act. The slurring of her words as she explained the action. Or maybe just from the sheer absurdity that she had tried it to begin with, but V's breathing seemed to be stabilizing. She pulled her tongue back in and lowered her hand. "Come on, try it."

"No." V shivered, and Becca helped him get settled again. Pulling the blanket up over his legs, she fluffed his pillow as he laid back down.

"Better?" He shook his head, "what do you need to feel better?"

"I don't know..." V still looked fearful, and Becca was about to try and distract him again, but he interrupted her. "Painkillers?"

"Huh?"

"What do you have for painkillers?" He asked again, and Becca hesitated. "Need something to dull my senses."

"Why do you need to dull your senses?" She moved to the collection of medical supplies and started looking through it. "Wait, should you even be taking these?"

"So I can numb myself." She felt his eyes on her, "Promise I won't tell Nadia."

Becca held one of the pill bottles, debating. She knew mixing meds could be dangerous, and that V probably shouldn't be taking anything without approval. But if it would help V. Help stop him from having panic attacks?

"Let me see those?" Against her better judgment, Becca handed over some of the pill bottles. At least this seemed to be distracting him for the moment. "Two of these, one of these, one of these, and two of those."

He held up the bottle and shook it as he told her the dosage for each. She watched him try to open one of the bottles and fail, and opted to open it for him. She did the same with the remaining bottles, stepping out of the room to grab another bottle of water. She returned in time to see V holding six tablets of various size, shape, and color in his hand.

"If Nadia asks, I was in the bathroom..." She opened the bottle of water and handed it off, looking away as V started taking the pills. If she didn't see it, it didn't happen right? Turning back around, she noticed him chugging the water – half the bottle gone in one go.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure she knows you had nothing to do with this." The tiniest smile came to V's face, and Becca found herself returning it. He took another drink, finishing it off. "Now I'm guessin' you wanna know just how fucked, everything's been for me the last few days?"

"No...Save it for when the meds actually kick in and you can chalk it up to you having a fever dream." Much as she wanted to hear for herself what happened to him, she figured that might be a discussion better had when Jackie got back. This way, they both had the information straight from the source. That, and she didn't want to risk him having another panic attack. "Right now, I just want to get over the fact that this is nothing like how I imagined having you in my bed would go."

"What?" He blinked, and Becca grinned.

"It's true. I mean, sure the IV was expected, but where's the tray of 'ganic eggs?" She gestured to the bag, but then to the rest of the room. "Seriously, have you ever had 'ganic sunnyside eggs fried with real butter? Fuck. I didn't know food could taste rich but." She licked her lips, it had been over a year since Dorio made them that Christmas breakfast at Maine's, but she could still recall the flavor.

"Y-yeah." The tiniest huff came from V, the darkness on his face lifting just slightly. Her initial distraction stopped the panic attack, and now it seemed the non-sequitur was starting to break the shell of depression he was surrounding himself with.

"Good. Now, do you have any idea where we can get some?" She pouted. "I mean, Dorio knows but refused to tell me when I asked. And I really want to try them with a little pepper. You ever have a pepper-fried egg?"

"Yeah." V's mouth twitch, "freshly ground works best."

"What?" Becca asked, as if she hadn't heard him.

"Freshly ground black pepper." He stated again, "gives a stronger flavor than the pre-ground powder."

"Wouldn't know, because I've never had it." Once more, Becca turned a not-really upset pout to V. "Any other egg dishes or types I should look out for?"

"Poached eggs...or Eggs Woodhouse." V offered, going off on a tangent about no one being able to poach an egg correctly.

Whatever that meant.

"Enough about eggs. What other rich foods am I missing out on?"

"Ever have 'ganic sushi? Or even fish?" She shook her head, "Jackie hates sushi, but I like it. The synthetic stuffs a bit sketchy in my opinion, but the real thing? Delicious."

"Know where we can get some of that then?" Becca leaned in closer. "I'll gladly pay if you do."

"Biotechnica flats." V offered, "know a guy who works there. Sells some of the 'ganic stuff on the side. It's pricey but..."

"Don't care." Becca grinned, checking his IVs and bandages. "Now, what else does he sell? And do you know where I can get a cheap stove to cook that stuff? No offense but this place doesn't have a stove."

"Yeah, kind of bought this place sight unseen." V admitted, coughing slightly. "Ugh, my throat."

"You want me to get you some more water?" It seemed his earlier hydrating had worn off. "Or a soda. I'd offer you a beer, but I suspect that would do more harm than good."

Was that a laugh? Or just a breath that sounded like one? Either way, she was pleased with it.

"Another water would be nice." There was a tiny smile on his face as he put in his request, and Becca returned it tenfold as she excused herself to grab the water. Picking up one for herself, she returned to the bedroom to find V had once again returned himself to a sitting position. Handing him one of the bottles, she did her best to keep him distracted and talking with her as she waited for Jackie to get back.

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About an hour after he had taken the pills, and more conversations about food she'd probably never get to eat, V had fallen into a light sleep. Noticing the first blood bag was nearly empty, Becca traded it out for a new one like Jackie showed her but left the other IV drip alone. Content with her handiwork, and that V would be okay for a little while, Becca decided to take advantage of having the place to herself to go to the bathroom and take a quick shower. Feeling refreshed, she threw on a new pair of panties and an old T-shirt before her stomach growled.

Figuring V would be fine just on his own a little longer, she moved to the kitchen and grabbed a can of soda and a bag of Moonchies before returning to V's side. Content, she opened up the bag of chips and once again held a one-sided conversation with the sleeping suit. She was happily recounting the time Pilar tried to do a magic trick and had accidentally removed both his arms in the process.

"Bro wanted to kill me so bad for all the puns I made about him needing a hand, or being disarmed." She laughed, but quickly grew serious as she heard the sound of the door opening. "Excuse me..."

"Becca? I'm back." She relaxed just slightly at hearing Jackie's voice, but remained on guard as her ears registered a second set of footsteps. Turning, she was surprised to see Nadia standing behind Jackie in the frame of the door.

"Oh, Nadia. Hey." Becca blinked, "didn't think you were coming over until this evening."

"It is evening." She replied, causing Becca to move to look out the window, then at a nearby clock.

"Shit, you're right." The green-haired girl shook her head. "Hard to tell sometimes with the light of that damn Moore Technologies sign turning everything red."

"No worries." Nadia answered, shifting the medical case she was holding. "Now, where is the patient?"

"Over here." Becca gestured to the sleeping nook, stepping aside to give Nadia a little more room so she could set up whatever equipment she had brought along. Becca was concerned at how V might react if he woke while Nadia was tending to him, and voiced her concern.

"Doubt he'll wake up." Nadia answered, the wording making her gasp as she watched the nurse gently hold open one of V's eyes and shine a light into it. "Sorry, phrased that terribly. What I mean is, the guy seems to be in a...drug-induced haze if the dilation of his pupils is anything to go by." The nurse lifted up V's arm and let it go, watching as it limply fell back to the bed. She watched as Nadia pulled out a syringe and took a blood sample. Popping it into a portable analyzer, she turned a critical gaze to the two of them. "Know I asked earlier, but to confirm. What medications have you two given him?"

"The saline IV drip, couple boosters, gave him a sedative in the early hours." Jackie answered, "is that the same bag I hooked up before leaving or?"

"Second bag." Becca held up the remains of the first one. "Just changed it out maybe an hour ago? Sorry, kind of lost track of time."

"No worries." Nadia answered, moving to check the IV lines and that everything was hooked up properly.

"Do you think he'll need another after that one?" Jackie asked, and Becca saw Nadia nod as she returned to checking out V.

"Most likely. You can tell by the color of his skin that his levels of red and white bloodcells is slowly returning to normal levels. But I'll know for certain once the analysis is done." She pinched one of the few sections of 'ganic skin, nodding at the brief color change. "Now aside from the boosters, has he taken or been given anything else?"

"Not that I know of." Jackie answered, looking to her. "Chica?"

Becca gulped, not sure how Nadia was going to take the next bit of information.

"He...might have taken some painkillers."

"And you didn't think to mention that right away?" She rubbed the back of her neck, feeling Jackie and Nadia's critical gazes upon her.

"Look, V woke up while you were gone and we got to talking. I had to go to the bathroom, and while I was gone he got into the bag of medical supplies." Becca decided to stick to the lie she told V she would use, hoping the drugged man could hear and would back her story like he promised should he wake up.

"Do you know which ones he might have taken?" Nadia replied, her voice holding a calm she could tell the nurse wasn't quite feeling.

"I'm not sure, but these four bottles were out of the bag and beside him." She picked up the bottles she had opened for V and handed them over to Nadia. The nurse's face went from indifferent to annoyed as she studied the bottles.

"Goddamnit...He took a Corporate Vacation." Nadia muttered, setting the four bottles aside.

"A what?" Jackie blinked, seeming just as confused as Becca felt.

"A combination of pills that is basically homebrew vicodin with a morphine chaser." The nurse sighed, "they call it a Corporate Vacation because you are completely de-stressed, your muscles are completely relaxed, and you become high as a space shuttle with a fuel booster."

"What?" Becca's eyes narrowed, head turning to look at V.

"The combined effects of the drugs leave you too stoned to stress out." She flexed her fingers in demonstration. "It also makes it so your muscles can't tense, and fogs your brain to where it can't think of anything that would stress you out. In short, even asleep, he's gonk-high right now."

"Oh you fuck-stick." Becca muttered, glaring at V. The man having lost several points with her thanks to that. Never mind that she had enabled him, she still felt like a fool for listening to him in her quest to keep him comfortable.

"So what does that mean in the long term?" Jackie brought her out of her pity party, and Becca found herself curious.

"In the here and now, his external chrome's basically dead as a lot of the connective tissues between it and his body are too limp to work probably. There's a chance he's gonna be dehydrated, and or nauseous once he comes down. His liver's unhappy at having to work overtime, and there's a fifty-fifty chance of addiction."

"What about his detoxifyer?" Jackie asked, and Becca felt a sliver of hope that the man hadn't given himself a drug habit.

"V tricked it." The nurse had a reluctant smile on her face. "It's called a 'corporate vacation' for a reason."

"What? How do you trick something like that?"

"Anti-allergy medication. This is the kind you'd take if your implants were rejecting themselves." Nadia picked up one of the bottles and shook out a pill, the bright pink a sharp contrast against her skin. Most of Nadia's explanation about how the high power anti-histamines distracted the detoxifyer went over her head, but she was reluctantly impressed at the foresight V had on the matter.

"But he'll be okay? It won't do any actual harm?" Becca was nervous, she didn't want the work she and Jackie had done to go to waste.

"Yeah, he'll be okay...If I don't kill him first for doing something so stupid." The nurse sighed, shaking her head as she started examining V in earnest. "What other treatments have you two done for him?"

Jackie took the wheel again, explaining what she had told Nadia earlier with more details about how they pulled the shards and debris out. How he had cleaned and bandaged the wound as best they could.

"And you haven't noticed any swelling or discoloration around his stomach?" Nadia asked as she carefully cut away the bandages to get her own look at their handiwork.

"Not that I noticed. Becca?" She shook her head at the question, seeing Nadia give a nod as she applied some topical medicine to the wound.

"No signs of pus or any sort of drainage? He hasn't been coughing blood, bile, or anything like that?" Both of them shook their heads, as Nadia continued her questioning in regards to their treatments. "Alright, stomach's good. Chrome's good. Now, when he's been sleeping, has it been a calm sleep or has he been thrashing or?"

"He's been sleeping, I would assume comfortably. But he's had a panic attack almost instantly after he wakes up." Jackie answered, "I've talked him down a few times, but this seems a little excessive."

"Same thing happened while you were gone," Becca confirmed, "but that was before he took the pills."

"That...might be why he took it." The brunette mumbled. "Has he ever had panic attacks before? And if so, have they been like these recent ones?"

"Not since I've known him." Jackie frowned, "like...I've seen him wake up from nightmares, but that's usually a panicked gasp that turns into an uneasy calm as his brain registers the reality. But I've never seen something like this from him..."

"Can you describe it? Is he having shortness of breath? Sweating? Screaming?"

"I don't know how to describe it beyond full-blown panic attack." The man grunted, "it's like...Like when my little cousins would wake up from a nightmare. Screaming, thrashing, panting...Sorry I can't be more detailed. But he's only really calmed down after one of us has talked with him."

"Or distracted him." Becca added, telling Nadia about how she broke V's last attack.

"Believe it or not, both of those are valid strategies in getting someone to relax."

"Alright, I don't feel as awkward now about my methods." A tiny smile moved onto Becca's face at the praise. "Knowing that, you got any ideas on how to prevent further attacks?"

"Based on what you told me, I'd say whatever mental trauma; be it the new chrome, hitting the train, waking up in a strange place, etcetera. Is being exacerbated by the blood loss."

"But would that really make these attacks that much worse?" Becca asked, looking again to the blood bag.

"Yes." The nurse gave a nod, "based on what you described, and my own observations. V was, or still is, showing signs of hypovolemic shock. It usually happens when a patient loses a large amount of blood, preventing their organs from properly receiving blood and oxygen. The accelerated breathing, confusion and anxiety, passing out...Everything you described him doing is textbook symptoms of the condition." Nadia looked at V, then to the blood bag. "My best guess, and to remind you, I'm an ex-Trauma EMT not a psychologist. The delirium caused by the hypovolemic shock is making whatever he's seeing or feeling ten times worse. The transfusions should help lessen the effects, but it won't fully fix the problem."

"So how do we fully fix the problem?" She asked, feeling some relief with Nadia's revelation...Even if she didn't fully understand it.

"We-"

"Nadia?" V's voice caused the three to jump, all heads turning to look at the now awake suit.

"Relax choom." Becca smiled, hoping to reassure V. "Remember I told you I called Nadia?" Okay, never mind that he was asleep at the time, she still told him.

"Before you complain, we kind of had to choom. She's the only one who could get you some new blood." Jackie added, and Becca half-expected V to go into another panic attack. Instead, he let out a breathy sigh and nodded. "Okay, he took that better than expected."

"Were you expecting another freak-out?" Nadia asked, taking out her stethoscope again and instructing V to breathe in and out. Both her and Jackie nodded, but stayed quiet as Nadia went about giving V another examination now that he was awake and could answer questions on his own.

"Well, the good news is that, aside from being high as a AV..." Nadia sighed, and V just smiled. "Your vitals are stable." She picked up a roll of bandages and started wrapping V's stomach again, talking all the while. "I'm going to give you a tetanus booster, and keep you on the saline drip." She looked to the two of them, even as she prepared the promised injection. "Keep giving him the boosters every four to six hours as you have been. Provided nothing negative comes up on the analysis, we're looking at a full physical recovery."

V let out a 'whey' at that, but Becca couldn't help but exchange a glance with Jackie.

"But?" She prompted, having a feeling there was more.

"But there's still the psychological stress we need to address." Nadia admitted, and Becca noticed V was focused intently on the nurse's hands as she injected the booster. "Like I said, if blood loss has been exacerbating the issue, the transfusions will help. But at the same time, it's like taping cardboard over a broken window. It'll help, but it doesn't fix the problem."

"So how do we fix the problem?"

"First, we find all the causes. Once we have those, we might be able to work out a solution." Nadia looked back down at V, a gentle expression on her face. "V? Can you tell me how you ended up like this?"

"My dad's an asshole..." He replied, a sad and dopey smile on his face. Nadia didn't react, and Becca was thankful she had at least told the nurse some of what she knew. And that Nadia had prior knowledge.

"Gloria's told her a couple things about V's old man." She whispered to Jackie, who was looking at Nadia curiously. The other man gave a nod of understanding as Nadia continued to question V.

"Going to need a bit more information that that..."

"He chipped me. Got me new chrome, and cut off my face. Still mad about that." V pointed at his face. "He sent me on a gig. I did it. But my soft got fried. I did that too, I think? Tried to hop the train, but didn't quite make it."

"I can see that." Nadia answered, tying off the latest round of bandages. "What now?"

"Need to lay low. Keep my head down." He responded with a yawn, eyes fluttering slightly before closing. "Told dad, got a side ripper who can keep quiet."

"And how do you propose to do that?" The nurse asked, but V didn't respond. "And he's passed out again. Of-fuckin'-course' he did."

"So what's it all mean?" Jackie asked the question that was on her mind.

"One. Whatever mental trauma he has seems to stem from whatever his dad did to him." Nadia answered, looking through her medical case again. "Two, it's not going to matter how healthy he is physically if we can't get him out of his head. Being fit means nothing if he just wants to lay down and die if he's not high." She pulled out one of the bottles within the case and dumped a single horse pill out of it into her hand. "And third, I am definitely asking for double pay for dealing with his shit. Either of you got a water bottle I can have?"

"Any ideas how to go about that?" Becca asked, handing Nadia the remains of her bottle.

"Keep him distracted as much as you can from his father. I get that he can't ignore the man too much but..." Nadia grunted as she pulled V's mouth open and placed the pill on the back of his tongue. She saw V's throat move slightly as natural reflexes took hold. "Find something else for him to focus on." Nadia poured the remains of the bottle into V's mouth and started massaging his throat, manually making sure he swallowed the pill and water. "And get him to keep talking about his feelings."

"Easier said than done." Jackie shook his head, "might be because of the drugs, but that was the clearest answers I've heard out of him yet. But I suppose we can try. Chica, what were you talking about with him?"

"Food. Like actual 'ganic food." She answered, "he seemed content to discuss various dishes...But I doubt getting us 'ganic food is enough of a distraction long term."

"It's a start." Nadia replied, starting to pack up some of her gear. "Anything is better than keeping him drugged."

"Speaking of drugs, what was that pill you gave him just now?"

"I feel dirty saying this but it's the only celebrity endorsed detox pill that actually works." The nurse held up the bottle in question. "It takes a good twelve hours to start working. And I won't go into the details, but don't be surprised if he starts sweating like crazy as his body flushes out the impurities...among other symptoms."

"Great, all over my sheets..." Becca huffed, only partially annoyed by that particular revelation.

"Consider it a small comeuppance for him for taking the drugs..." Nadia hit her with a wry smile, "and for you allowing him access to them."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." She waved off the playful admonishment. "Long as we get this gonk better, I'll be happy." She turned to look at Jackie then, "now, did you bring back anything good on your supply run? I'm hungry."

The big guy started laughing, and a snort from Nadia confirmed that they knew she was trying to change the subject away from her (willful) negligence.

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Another day had passed, and Becca felt a lot more comfortable with Nadia now being in the mix. Having another body took some of the strain off her and Jackie, allowing them to get a bit more rest than they had originally been able to. It also gave her a little more freedom to move about – something that came in handy when she received a message from Maine.

["Hey Becca, know you've been busy the last couple days, but we're all meeting up at Turbo's later if you've got the time."]

She relayed the message to Jackie, who revealed that Maine had sent him one too.

"Go and hang with your friends." Jackie had told her, "Nadia and I can handle things here. Besides, you're a better bridge than me between the crew and what's going on with V right now."

She had agreed, and after checking with Pilar to see if he had told the crew anything about V (he hadn't), told Maine she'd meet up with them. Talking with Jackie, the two made the decision that they would 'come clean' about being with V, and inform them of his injuries...but not violate V's privacy by mentioning that his old man was involved.

"You or I can fill David in on those details in private later." Jackie figured if anyone deserved the more detailed version – it was him. V had woken up shortly before she left, giving Nadia a first-hand view of him having an anxiety attack once he learned Becca was heading out. She felt bad leaving, but knew this was her best chance to talk to the crew.

She had been the last to arrive at the gang's old party spot, and it didn't take her long to find everyone. They were seated near one of the windows. Kiwi was listening to some story Falco was telling while Pilar, David, and Lucy were playing a game on Lucy's agent. Maine was watching the three of them, while a tired-looking Dorio was leaning against Maine's arm and using his shoulder as a pillow. She'd have thought the woman to be asleep, if it wasn't for the fact she started laughing with Maine as David and Pilar both grumbled about losing while Lucy just smiled.

"Good game." David handled the loss with grace.

"I want a rematch!" Pilar whined, and Becca used that moment to announce her presence.

"Kick his ass harder next time, would ya?" The request made everyone laugh just a little harder as she moved over to the group.

"Not my fault I lost. They just got more experience with the game is all!" Pilar whined, making a space for Becca to sit.

"And what were you playing?" She asked, taking the spot.

"Dots and boxes." He grumbled, making her laugh.

"That old game? Oh my god..." It was both sad, yet endearing to hear her brother got his butt kicked in another game. An analog game at that. "So what's everyone been up to?"

"Got another netrunning gig, from the Moxes of all people." Much to Becca's surprise, Kiwi was the first to answer. "Judy, their BD editor recommended me. Just some data retrieval from a rival club but..." She took a drag on her cigarette, "made me a fast thousand eddies."

"Nice." Becca gave a nod as Pilar told her how he had been making some new 'toys' for the crew following a trip into the Badlands to visit a 'traveling caravan' with Falco.

"Bullshit directions to get there, but they had some really preem stuff." Her brother grinned, "I'll show you later if you stop back by the apartment."

Maine and Dorio had been taking a few odd jobs here and there, but hadn't really been doing anything too crazy. The same went for David and Lucy, who explained how they had been helping Gloria in between containing David's training.

"And what about our new guy?" She asked, "has he joined up yet or?"

"Julio?" Maine answered, and Becca nodded even though she didn't know if that was the guy. "The kid was supposed to join us today – part of why I called this meeting, but had to bounce at the last minute."

"He say why?"

"Had to take care of his drug addled little brother." Maine answered, "poor kid got hooked on Lace or something similar. He's trying to make some eddies to pay for his brother to get treatment, but can't always get away for a gig."

"Ah, makes sense." While everyone else might have been annoyed at him not appearing, Becca felt an odd level of respect for her unknown coworker. "Guy probably hates druggies as much as Pilar and I do."

"So what about you Becca?" Falco drawled, "what have you been up to the last few days?"

"Well, now or never..." She took a deep breath, "I've been looking after V."

The reactions from the crew were exactly what she expected. Pilar looked surprised, but Becca knew it was just an act. Lucy seemed unsettled, while David looked to be annoyed and disgusted. Dorio looked almost concerned, while Maine, Kiwi, and Falco all seemed indifferent to the situation.

"What the fuck?" David slammed his hands on the table, and looked ready to cause a scene, but a glare from Maine stopped him. He lowered his voice, "didn't mom and me tell you to stay away from him?"

"You did, but it's not my fault the guy practically wound up on my doorstep." She met David's glare with one of her own. "Look, you were right when you said something was wrong with V. Long story short, something happened and his brain got fried. Ya'll see that clip of the gonk hitting the NCART? Yeah, that was V."

"And he's still alive?" The tired look Dorio had was gone, replaced with one of amused amazement.

"Yeah, but the whole situation has really fucked him up." She told them about she and Jackie had nursed him. How he was currently holed up at her place as it had been closest to the station. "Guy's had a panic attack nearly every time he's woken up, and Nadia says he's stuck in his own head."

Becca looked at the crew, trying to see if their reactions had changed. Pilar's played up surprise changed to indifference, his expression now matching Kiwi and Falco's. Dorio's initial concern was still there, but Becca could tell she was thinking something to the extent of 'how does this affect us?'. Lucy too had acted indifferent, now lighting up a cigarette of her own and showing more concern for David that anything.

David meanwhile looked more annoyed than ever at being left out of the loop. V was his father after all, and for his uncle to not say anything either? Becca could understand his frustrations. She looked then to Maine, the man somehow looking indifferent but also contemplative.

"You think he's got something like PTSD?" The big guy asked, face shifting to a more neutral expression.

"I mean, Nadia didn't say that but from what little I understand about it, maybe?" Becca felt a tiny sliver of hope, recalling how Maine had mentioned dealing with that himself in the early days. "Got any advice that could help him out? Help get him out of his head?"

She saw Maine's expression shift slightly, saw the corner of his mouth twitch as he mulled over the information. After a moment, he gave a nod and answered her question.

"Nothing that a suit would care about." The answer surprised her, and she noticed a lack of concern on Maine's face. "If you ask me, all this is just another Corpo getting a taste of the real world."

It was bad enough hearing Maine say it, but it got worse when she realized that the crew was laughing at what he said. Even David let out a snort at it, clearly he was still annoyed at everything V had done over the last few weeks. The sight made her see red, and she snapped.

"What the fuck is wrong with you guys!?" She slammed her hands on the table, not caring if she was causing a scene. "There is a man fighting for his life in more ways than one and you are laughing at him? Never mind that he's a suit. He's a father, and a damn good friend to those he trusts. And he's got a damn good head on his shoulders." Becca glared at Pilar, Maine, and Dorio. "V could have iced the three of you so easily that day you fucked with David." She looked at Lucy, "could have killed you...or worse, sent you back to Arasaka once he realized who you were."

Ignoring the cries to come from the crew, Becca continued her rant.

"Instead, he was willing to overlook all that. Any other suit would have iced us all without batting an eye...But not V. He saw an opportunity that not only helped him, but helped us." She turned to look at Kiwi. "Since getting them, how many times have you used those quickhacks V gave you for nothing? And Dorio, how's that truck he handed over been treating you?" Never mind that Kiwi could have saved up and gotten them herself over time. Or that Dorio could have bought a new car after her old SUV had been destroyed on a gig. V saved them both time and money. "Oh, and let's not forget him giving us fucktons of chrome and other supplies. And quality reduced cost healthcare, access to a quality ripper. Oh, and better housing in some cases."

She saw several heads look down at that. Had they all forgotten that a lot of the stuff they currently had was thanks to V's efforts?

"And now, the one time that's its us that needs to help him, you write him off as just another suit? Look, I can understand if Faraday was still our boss. Fuck, I'd feel the same way. But this is V we're talking about. Time and again, the man was sticking his neck out as he got this stuff for us. Risking his ass while we simply enjoyed all that was given to us with barely a thank you." Never mind that she had been just as guilty of that in the early days, but she got to know V. Got to know the man behind the suit.

Got to see that he's only human.

Something that she relayed to the crew as she felt herself tear up. Grabbing a napkin, she used that time to look at the crew. Most of them were now looking uneasy as they were obviously considering what she had told them, but only David actually seemed affected by her speech if the way he was hiding his face in Lucy's shoulder was any indication. Blowing her nose, Becca was about to continue her rant but Maine's voice stopped her.

"Fine...You're right." The man let out a sigh, and Becca saw his eyes look down to his arms. "Look, when you put it like that...I can admit I was being an ass about the situation. It's hard, dealing with traumatic events, no matter the cause. But look at it from our angle. V isn't exactly our choom." He gestured to the crew. "You're right that V's given us work, tools, connections that we might not otherwise have had. But has the guy ever just sat down with us and had a beer? Or a bite to eat? Yeah, he did in the early days – show of good faith. But as time went on? Not so much...When's the last time he hung out with us? Shortly before shit went down at the mall, and even that was more business than anything else."

"And have any of you reached out to him to invite him to join you when you go out?" She crossed her arms. Okay, she could admit that she hadn't asked him out all that often, and the few times she did he declined but...

"No, but while its not uncommon for crews to reach out to Fixers, it's usually for work." Maine countered with a huff. "Not to just hang out and shoot the shit."

"But V's not a fixer, he's-" She made to stand, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her. Turning, she was surprised to see Falco of all people holding her.

"Becca, calm down." He gently patted her shoulder, "hate t'say it, but you're a little too sensitive about this subject. After all, you've been dealing with him the last couple days, yeah?" She nodded, appreciating the man's understanding more than anything. "Rest of us, well we don't have that insight. I'd argue we're all bein' kind of dismissive of the situation, yeah?" The others nodded, and Falco let out a hum. "I'll admit it, we kind of let a wall build up between him and us...And while your trying to tear it down, get him to reach out to us for help, we're still holding that wall up."

Becca saw a lot of the crew looking ashamed at the admittance, and she was thankful for the driver's insight on the matter. It was only Lucy who seemed unaffected by Falco's speech. But given her history with V and Arasaka, she had a feeling Lucy's opinion might be the hardest one to change.

Least she seemed willing to put up with it for David's sake.

"Well said," Maine gave a nod, looking from the driver back to her. "Look, I'll admit I might have been dismissive. I'm...not the best at dealing with trauma..." There was nothing behind the glare he sent at Dorio for the snicker that escaped her. "But unfortunately, think I'm the one with the most experience in that department."

While looks were exchanged, it seemed no one was willing to argue with Maine on that.

"That's why I asked you." Becca admitted. Sure, she could have asked Pilar the same thing – but Becca knew what her brother went through was a birthday candle compared to the bonfire that was Maine's past. "I mean, not to sound insensitive but, I know you've been through some shit."

"Ain't that the truth." The smile on Maine's face seemed out of place given the circumstances. "Anyhow, best I can offer is to give the guy something to work with. Otherwise, his mind will get stuck on whatever's wrong and end up going in circles rather than solving the problem."

"And how do you propose we do that?" More than once, Becca had heard from Jackie how V would throw himself into work to distract himself. Maybe there was something she was missing, but that didn't sound like the best idea given the circumstances. "Not like the guy can just return to the office. Or that we can drag him out on a gig."

"You're right, but that's not what I mean." She saw Maine's head tilt to the side as he tried to better explain himself. "What I mean is someone needs to give the guy something to work for. A goal that can't be achieved overnight or by throwing eddies at it. Something difficult so that it takes away from his focusing on what's wrong."

"Is that what you did?" Becca asked, the gears starting to turn in her head. Okay, so maybe Maine's case wasn't the same as V, but maybe she could adapt what he did?

"Sort of? I mean, I had my trauma getting out of service...But I was too busy trying to survive to focus on my issues during the day." Maine looked down, "used to look at pictures of vintage cars to distract myself at night. Would distract myself by trying to figure out how much I'd have to save to buy myself a sixty-six corvette. And I don't mean one of Toyo-Chevrolet's twenty sixty-six models. I mean a nineteen sixty-six vintage one."

"How'd that work out?" Dorio asked, looking at Maine with a fond smile even as the rest of the crew chuckled. Like they didn't know. Maine wasn't affected by the question, instead going off on a tangent about his current car. Becca was only half-listening, trying to decide the best way to put Maine's advice to work to help V.

(；¬д¬) (･｀ｪ･)つ( Д)ノ.·´¯`(▂)´¯`·.щ(ºДºщ)ノ(ಠ_ಠノ)＼(0´)／

Following her discussion with the crew, Becca had returned to her apartment full of pep. A brain full of various plots and ideas...And an odd sense of self-loathing. Multiple times now, she had been told V needed something to focus on...And she was going to give him something. She didn't quite know if her plan was going to work, but damn if she wasn't going to give it her all. She immediately saw Nadia and Jackie in the main living area, with the nurse showing Jackie something on a datapad.

"Hey Becca, Nadia's just giving me a rundown on V's condition right now." Jackie greeted, waving her over to join them.

"How's he doing?" She asked, moving so she could see the screen.

"Better now that the transfusions have fully taken. He's still going to need to take it easy for a couple days, but there shouldn't be any long lasting physical issues." She showed the two of them some additional test results, most of which Becca didn't actually understand but they looked good. "Anyhow, there's not much more I can do for him. So if you don't think you'll need me, I've got a couple things to take care of back in Watson."

"Go ahead, we should be fine." Jackie gave her a thumbs up as Nadia nodded and worked on packing up the last of her gear. While the nurse went about her business, Jackie turned to address her. "So how'd it go with the crew?"

"Good, mostly just hung out and caught each other up on what's been going on." She smiled, waving as Nadia took her leave. "Fair warning. David's more than annoyed that we left him in the dark about V's condition."

"Shit, had a feeling that would happen." Jackie raised a hand, "before you say it, it's not your fault. Think I'll give him a call...or maybe see if he wants to meet up." He looked towards the bedroom. "Between you and me, I'd rather go deal with David's teenage angst than go back in there to deal with mister sad sack."

"Something happen between you two while I was gone?"

"Got into an argument with V." Jackie sighed, "told him he can't just sit around and mope. That he needs to do something, but he just wasn't listening to me. Nadia tried, hitting him with the medical facts. But apparently the threat of developing bedsores didn't get the guy either." He grunted, hands strangling the air. "I just, ugh, don't know how to reach the guy...Or want to be around him right now."

"You want me to take over on babysitting duty?" She asked, placing a hand on Jackie's shoulder. "I don't mind dealing with his depressed gonk ass if you think you need a break."

"I'd appreciate that." Jackie stood up and stretched, an uncomfortably loud pop coming from his neck. "Need me to bring you back anything?"

"Should be good, but is there anything I need to know care-wise for our patient?"

"Not really, V hasn't shown much interest in wanting to eat, but if he mentions it?" He closed his eyes a moment, thinking. "Liquid diet, or simple easy to digest foods like white rice, toast, fruit sauces, etc. Water's the idea drink for him, but fruit juice is also acceptable. A soda or two won't hurt, but hot drinks like coffee and tea should be avoided. Same for alcohol."

"Okay, anything else I should know?" She asked, and Jackie's expression changed to a more apologetic one.

"Yeah, the medicine Nadia gave him has kicked in and he's been sweating up a storm. Might need to bring in a few more towels or some water to wipe him down. Cracking a window may help, but no guarantee."

"Liquids, towels, got it." Becca gave a nod. "Last question, is he currently asleep or awake?"

"He was awake...But if you ask me, he looks like he's going to fall back asleep any minute." Jackie offered, moving towards the door. "Buena suerte chica."

"Via con Dios." Becca replied as Jackie stepped out of the apartment, leaving her alone. The perfect condition to put her plan into motion. "Alright, let's see what we're dealing with."

Keeping her steps light, Becca moved into the bedroom and over to the bed. Nadia and Jackie had already set everything up; a couple spare towels, and some bottles of water on an actual TV table Nadia had brought in. The IV stand was still up, a saline drip still connected to him. An additional source of nutrients and hydration if they couldn't get V to actually consume something. The man himself was still on the bed. The blanket was in a heap at his side, and a towel was draped around his shoulders. He was shirtless, showing off the bandages around his stomach. Her eyes drifted down to his legs, noticing that he was now wearing a loose pair of sweats. Doubtless Jackie had brought them back on his last trip. His head was tipped slightly forward, hands on his lap – as if reading a book.

At least, that's what Becca thought until she looked closer. There was nothing in V's hands, his tired eyes staring blankly at nothing. She felt certain if he still had 'ganic skin on his face that he'd have eye bags for days. His face looked haggard, and his expression was one of tired annoyance. She felt tired just looking at him.

"Hey choom." She kept her voice soft, trying to adopt Nadia's style or professionalism. "How you feeling?"

"Like shit." He answered, turning a tired glare her way.

"Understandable." Becca checked the IV drip, before moving closer to the bed to check his bandages. "Are you hungry? Would you like something to eat? Or drink?"

V didn't respond, choosing instead to just stare blankly at the wall.

"How about a fresh towel?" She picked one up off the table. "That one's looking a bit waterlogged."

"It's fine."

"Alright." Becca set the towel back down, "is there anything you do need? Or want?"

"No." He stated, once again softly glaring at her.

"Okay, well let me know if there is." She tried again to reach him, but her patience was starting to wear out. How the heck did Nadia and other medics deal with difficult patients? "You can talk to me V, I just want to help."

It was her hope that reassuring V that there was someone there for him would help. That he would start talking, so she could steer the conversation where she wanted it to go.

"You want to help?" The question was hard, but Becca nodded. "Then leave me alone."

He adjusted the towel and shifted so that he was looking away from her.

"V, you shouldn't be alone right now." Tentatively, she reached out a hand with the intent to comfort him, but he slapped it away. "Bitch..." She cursed, rubbing her hand. It didn't actually hurt, but she had to vent her own frustration at the matter somehow.

"I said, leave me alone." V grunted, choosing to lay down and roll over this time.

"And I said you shouldn't be alone..." Her patience was starting to run out. "Come on choom. Talk to me."

V's response was to throw the towel aside and instead pull a pillow over his head. Further blocking her out. She was reminded of Pilar's dismissal of her, and felt the same level of annoyance at the sight.

"So what? You'd rather smother yourself than talk about your feelings?"

She was met with silence, but the way V shifted on the bed told her she had struck a nerve.

"Come on V," Becca gently placed a hand on his arm. She didn't know if it was a good or bad sign that he didn't shrug it off this time. "Know you've got a lot on your mind. Talk to me. Let it out."

She saw the pillow move, but V still didn't respond. Becca knew she had to tread lightly, but damn it, it hurt to see the man ignoring her.

"I promise it will help." She started rubbing his arm. "Just, talk to me. Tell me your thoughts – doesn't matter if they don't make sense. Or if you don't think I'll like what you say. Hell, scream into that pillow for all I care." He shifted under her touch, rolling over to face her just enough that she had to stop. "Just...Say something, would ya?"

V muttered something, but it was all lost to the pillow that he still had over his face.

"I'm sorry, can you repeat that?" Throwing caution to the wind, Becca reached to pull the pillow away from his face. "Come on V. We can't talk about this if I can't hear you."

"Shut up." He spat as she pulled the pillow away. Having lost one of his physical barriers, he grunted and tried to roll back over. "Just leave me alone."

"No. Not this again." Becca's patience ran out, and she physically grabbed him and stopped him. "You need to talk about this. Not roll over and ignore everything."

"What's the point?" Becca nearly lost her balance as V didn't resist her attempt. "It's not gonna help."

"Neither is laying here like a soiled rag." She pointed to the discarded towel, reaching for a new one. "Come on V, talk to me." He grabbed the towel from her almost violently, but didn't use it. Instead, he rolled it up and held onto it with a death grip. "I can-"

"Shut up. Just shut up." He growled, striking the towel against the bed. "There's nothing that can be done. I'm fucked, okay? All this?" V gestured to the room, to the IV, the bandages. "This is just delaying the inevitable."

"It's not-" Becca's eyes flicked to the IV, afraid that V might rip it out. Fortunately, it seemed the man still had some level or reason and left it alone.

"Oh yeah, sure this is bringing me back to full strength. But for what? Just to be beaten down again." He growled, gesturing to the window.

"You're not gonna get beaten down." She argued, "you're tougher than that!"

"Bullshit! Moment I'm out of here, he's gonna be on me. Sure, I slipped the leash, but I've still got a collar and ID tags." V brought the towel up to his face and wiped off some of the sweat. "Moment he finds out I fried the chip? He'll just reinstall it."

"So fry it again!" Becca still didn't know all the details about it, but if he could do it once?

"Can't, he'll set up a counter. Make an inoculation. It was a one-shot, and look where it got me." He grunted, looking down at his chrome with disgust. "All top of the line chrome, chosen by him so he knows how best to counter it. Sure, I've got money for days and could have it all replaced, but he's got Corpo-lined pockets. Nothing to stop him from paying off every ripper and med center in the city to deny me that luxury."

"What about going into the Badlands? Bet there's a ripper among the nomads you could pay. Or fuck, see if the scavs would help you." She crossed her arms, "fuck. Could probably pay a bunch of them to guard your ass while they worked on you."

"He'd just pay them more. Or save a couple eddies and shoot them." V grunted, "not much a bunch of nomads or scavs could do against a corporate funded army."

"Then what-"

"Rebecca, shut it." Any other time when V would use her full name, it made her smile. This time however, it pissed her off as she knew he said it in the same tone an angry parents does to a misbehaving child. "There's no one-"

"Vincent..." She narrowed her eyes, using the same tactic. "There's plenty of people out there who could help."

"No there isn't. This is my fight." Again, he cut her off, and Becca got the final confirmation she needed; V was too much of a solo to even consider bringing in the crew. The man was just too used to having to do all the heavy lifting by himself.

"Fine, you don't want to drag in a whole crew? Then what about Jackie? What about me?"

"No one else needs to get involved."

Becca felt certain she bruised herself with how hard she facepalmed at that.

"Newsflash choom, myself and others are already involved." She pushed, "you think you're being selfless. Shouldering this battle all by yourself...But in reality, you're being selfish."

"How is it selfish?" V pushed back. "This goes tits up, only I have to suffer by his hand. I go, he leaves everyone else alone."

"You really think he'll just, go away?" Becca wanted to laugh, realizing another angle she could play. It would be a low blow, but she had to go for it. "Fine, you're gone. Now what's to stop him from going after David?"

"Shut up..." He growled, the muscles in his neck tensing. "I'll make sure he doesn't get them..."

"Oh sure, you'll go down swinging...But once you're gone? There's nothing standing between him and them." She shrugged, "but go ahead. Leave David without a father again...Leave Gloria by herself."

An inarticulate cry of rage came from V, his hand striking the mattress. "Shut up!"

"Just sayin'. You've seen how much David's improved with a father figure in his life. I mean, sure, he'd still have Jackie and Maine but...They just don't have the experiences you do." Becca sent a mental apology to the two of them. "You know V, my opinion of you has been low recently, but this dropped it even further. I can't stand shitty parents who abandon their kids, I'd argue its worse than neglectful parents as at least they made an effort." She tried not to grimace at the few memories of her own parents. "Oh well, at least he still has Gloria."

V's mouth moved, and she saw his hands clench, but he didn't move or make a sound as she continued.

"Speaking of Gloria. You know, she's happier than I've ever seen her. Getting a second change with her true love, wanting to make up for lost time? Oh sure, she left you all those years ago, but she came back. Took you back. But go ahead and throw that away. Go ahead and leave her this time."

"Oh, but just so I know for sure and don't feel guilty about it." She braced herself for the card she was about to play. "If you're planning on shuffling off this mortal coil, would you mind if I took Gloria out? Now, I'm not necessarily talking about dating her myself...But maybe taking her out to mixers and singles bars. Let her have something lined up for when you do? I mean, might be kind of hard for her to find someone whose not gonna dick her and dump her once they find out her kid's got Corpo ties but...Oh, if she does find someone, do you want to meet him? Make sure he can-"

"Shut the fuck up!" He screamed, throwing the towel at her. "Fuck that. Fuck this. Fuck you. Fuck everything you're saying. Fuck the fuck off." V swung around then, still sitting but his feet on the floor. "You try that, and I'll make sure you're blacklisted from every club in Night City. I'll make sure Gloria and everyone else knows how low of standards you have."

The words stung, but Becca had V right where she wanted him.

"So you can get angry at me. Come up with ways to get back at me for hypothetical situations?" She spoke with a calm she didn't feel, seeing the tiniest nod of V's head. "Then what's stopping you from coming up with a way to fix this fucking problem?" She heard the breath V let out, saw some of the fight drain from him. "Look, even if you fail. It's a hundred times better than just laying here like a sad sack and waiting to die."

Becca could feel the anger, the hurt, and other emotions behind the way V's eyes were boring into her. She could see the thoughts swirling behind his eyes. She swore she could hear his heart hammering in his chest, and see every twitch of his muscles. Everything on display as her tirade hopefully sunk in.

She saw V's leg twitch, but the man made no move to stand. Saw his hand flexing, but making no move to grab anything. His mouth moved, but before he could speak, a loud screech filled the air followed by a metallic crunch. The ever-present red glow in the room flickered, before being snuffed out.

"What the-" She looked away from V and moved to peer out the window. A car had wrapped itself around the Moore Technologies sigh. Hit it so hard it damaged the base and caused the sign to short circuit if the sparks shooting off it were any indication. Heavy as the atmosphere in the room was, Becca couldn't help but laugh.

That little laugh became a deluge of giggles as the absurdity of the situation hit her.

"What happened?" V's voice sounded a bit scratchier than normal, but had lost all of the anger from earlier. Curiosity filling the void of emotion.

"A car crash! A fucking car hit the goddamn Moore Technologies sign." She waved him over, but he shook his head. "Judging by the damage, gonna take weeks to fix it. If not outright replace it."

"It...was a bit of an eyesore, wasn't it?"

"Huh?" Becca squeaked, trying to catch her breath with how hard she was laughing at the scene outside.

"Yeah, that was one of my other hang-ups about this place." V admitted, "meant to get the light block curtains for this place but..."

"You found someplace better?" She moved away from the window and back towards the bed. Much to her surprise, V scooted over so she could sit with him.

"Yeah, and then I kind of forgot about this place until you and the crew came along. Figured you guys might appreciate it more." He admitted, and Becca gave a nod.

"Well, I sure do." Becca placed a hand on his arm, "might not be as nice as my other place. But it's mine...Well, yours technically." That got a laugh out of him. "Do you mind if I get a contractor in here to give me an actual bathroom door?"

V shook his head, offering a recommendation as they continued to talk about the apartment for another few minutes and possible improvements. Feeling a dryness in her throat, Becca hopped off the bed and picked up one of the bottles of water.

"Want one?" She held it out to V, who accepted it with a quiet thanks. Grabbing one for herself, she moved back to the window. "You mind if I open the window a little? Kind of stuffy in here"

"Go ahead." He replied, and Becca heard the bed shift behind her as she cracked the window. Turning around, she noticed that V had pulled his legs back up onto the bed, but wasn't actively trying to turn away or bury himself under the covers or pillows. She also noticed the sheen of sweat still on his brow and torso, and realized he noticed it too. "You mind giving me a towel?"

"Here." She handed him one of the fresh towels, and watched as he wiped off his face and torso before asking if she'd mind getting his back. She agreed, taking the towel back as he leaned forward. With gentle hands, she wiped away at all the spots he couldn't reach before giving him back the towel.

"Thanks." V hummed, rolling up the towel and hooking it back around his neck before taking a drink. The request had been so simple, but Becca took it as a sign that enough time had passed. And that she'd be safe asking the main question that had been on her mind.

"So, feeling better?"

"Kind of?" He took another drink, "I mean, I'm still sweating bullets but..."

"Yeah, Nadia said that would happen when she gave you that pill." Becca didn't care that he dodged the real meaning of the question.

"What did she give me exactly?"

"I don't know, all she told us was that it was some celebrity endorsed detox pill." She saw V grimace at that, "guessing you know what she gave you."

"Yeah, a goddamn cleanse tablet." He frowned, "in particular, a cultivation pill. Loosely based off the concept of the pill of immortality of Chinese legend, they were considered bullshit for the longest time. But then someone came across a combination of fiber pill, diet pill, and medical bullshit that actually worked to cleanse oneself." He took another drink. "They reek to high hell, taste worse than the stagnant water of the canal. And thanks to the Chinese being stingy on selling some of the ingredients – really fucking expensive. But all the health gurus worth their salt insist on them."

"It sounds like you're speaking from experience on this?"

"Yes," he growled. "Fifteen thousand eurodollars for one tablet...That Nadia's no doubt going to bill me for."

"Didn't you say you have money for days?"

"There's a difference between having money for days and reckless spending." He sighed, "least I'm guaranteed to pass a drug test if I take one in the next twenty-four hours."

"It's that powerful?" Concerned as she was, Becca could admit she was intrigued.

"Purges everything unnatural from black lace to the caffeine in your morning coffee." He wiped his brow again, and a gentle silence settled over the room. Becca used this time to tidy up the room a little, all the while keeping an eye on V. His posture was more relaxed, and while he still looked tired, he didn't seem as whipped. Something that she felt the need to comment on.

"So does this mean you're done being a sad shit?"

"Sad shit?" V raised an eyebrow, and Becca gave him a small smile.

"Sad sack was getting old, thought I'd change it up." He didn't need to know she was going to call him a sad sack of shit. "But it's a serious question. And I feel I should apologize for what I said earlier."

"It's alright." He sighed, taking the last swallow of water and tossing her the empty bottle. "Think I...Needed to hear some of that."

"Didn't mean I had the right to be as harsh as I was..." She admitted, dropping the bottle in the trash before turning to look at him. Much as Becca could say V had improved – she was afraid of him lapsing back into depression. The awkwardness from earlier seemed to have returned. Evidenced by V just sitting on her bed, making no attempt to move or adjust himself in any way as he stared blankly at the wall of the sleeping nook.

She noticed his eyes had closed, and for a brief moment thought he had fallen asleep sitting up, but then he spoke.

"You just gonna stand there?" He asked, expression unchanged.

"That depends." Becca saw an opportunity to try and bring back his earlier spark. "Are you just gonna sit there and stare at my wall?"

"My body aches, I'm sweaty, and I really have no idea what I can do." V's hands came up to hold onto the towel. "Much less what I should do."

"Refresh my memory..." She prayed that this question wouldn't undo her earlier efforts. "Didn't your 'saka training teach you how to take down big corpo targets?"

V's expression didn't change, but he did roll his eyes. "Somehow, I missed 'Overthrowing the Evil Overlord' one-oh-one."

"So?" She shrugged, thankful that he hadn't starting freaking out at the thought of taking on his old man again. "Let's go old school. Gain some XP, level up, and git gud scrub." Becca taunted, "the BBEG doesn't stop because the hero feels like being a sack of sadness."

"I appreciate the nerdy motivation." There was the tiniest twitch of his mouth. "But just because my body is full of blood again doesn't mean the psycho-scarring isn't still there."

"And that's why we're doing this dance." She kept the thought to herself. "And we both know that you laying around and continuing to marinate in your brain isn't going to help with any of that." Becca moved closer and gently tapped his head, seeing his mouth twitch again. "As such, we're going to try 'Plan Becca'."

V blinked, head tipping to the side, "...Plan Becca?"

"Saying plan B is lame and overused." And given that this plan involved covering a lot of what they 'spoke' about earlier again – just with less adrenaline and more logic? Becca wanted to go in with something fresh.

"Alright, I'll bite. What is it?"

She let a small smile come to her face. "Instead of thinking what you can't do. Think of what you can, you gonk." Carefully, she took a seat on the bed beside him again. "Look, we both know assassinations and charging in like every Solo BD stereotype is off the table. But is that really the only option there is?" She shook her head, other ideas coming to mind. "Of course not, let's see...Can you sell his info to rivals? Is there a big valuable thing that can be stolen? Can you pee in his favorite slippers?"

Okay, so maybe she shouldn't be taking ideas from Lucy's cat but damn it. She needed to keep it interesting.

"If I sell data worth a damn, he'll start hunting for the leak." The grip V had on the towel tightened, but he seemed to be working out the details. "If someone were to swipe something valuable, he'd come in twice as hard. The man is scary possessive of what's his. And no. Just no. Even if I could, I wouldn't." He shook his head, expression shifting to a scowl. "If I'm going to die, I want to go out with at least some dignity. I'll piss on his servers. More effective use of suicidal spite."

Becca raised an eyebrow. "You've thought about this before, haven't you?"

"Many, many times." His grip slackened on the towel as he once again wiped his forehead.

"So in all those times..." She paused, "You couldn't come up with some way to inconvenience your personal dark lord?"

"By the time I hit one spot worth targeting, he'd already be tracking me." V's hand twitched towards the water bottles, and she handed him another without question. "By the second, he'd be on to me." He opened the bottle, "and by the third, it'd be a trap waiting for me."

"Huh. I see it now." Becca hummed as V took a long drink. The man raising an eyebrow at her as he pulled the bottle away from his lips.

"What?"

She picked up her own bottle from earlier and gently swirled the contents. "Think I see where David gets it from."

"Seriously, what?" The annoyance was coming back to his face, but Becca knew she had to keep picking at this particular point. After all, talking about David and Gloria worked earlier, it should work now.

"How are you so smart most of the time, but the definition of gonk at the weirdest moments?"

The water bottle crunched slightly in his grip. "Are you gonna tell me what you're talking about?"

"Teamwork really wasn't the top priority of Arasaka's training was it?" She smirked, he had taken the bait, now she just had to reel him in.

"Oh, Ha fuckin' ha." Again, she heard the water bottle crunch in his grasp. "Told you, the power of friendship isn't gonna help me here."

"Okay then." Becca shrugged, she took it as a win that he didn't immediately dismiss the idea again. "Then would you settle for an experienced crew with two heavy solos, three if we count Jackie. Two sneaky solos, a techie, two medics, two netrunners, and a getaway driver?"

"What?" V looked just a bit more alert, eyes blinking as he puzzled through her description. "...No. Hell no. Especially hell no if you included David and Gloria in those numbers."

She almost left Gloria out of her numbers, but his reaction made her happy she decided against that. "What? You said yourself that if you did it on your own, then the big bad bastard would come down on you hard and heavy pretty quickly right?"

It was a risk to remind him of that fact, but Becca was willing to take it.

"That doesn't mean I want to-" His mouth fell open then, and Becca could see the gears starting to turn in his head. Much as she wanted to give him a moment to think, the green-haired girl also wanted to make sure he stayed with her.

"Choom?" She gently poked him. "You okay there? Kinda drifted off there."

"I think I just had an idea hit me." V sat up straighter, once again pulling on the towel.

"Gonna fill me in on the details?" Becca leaned in, batting her eyelashes attentively. If he had something in mind, she wanted to know.

"Depends." He threw the towel aside and took another drink, "know what 'DDOS' means?"

"You know I love it when you talk nerdy to me, but all I heard was an acronym." Her eyes followed the towel, before going back to him.

He shook his head, "before the Red runner 'lingo."

That did even less to enlighten her. "Okay, so what's the idea?"

"Gimme a bit, I'm plotting." V took another drink.

"Plot faster." She pouted, trying not to smile as she felt him glaring at her.

"These things take time." He sighed, and Becca took that opportunity to change tracks.

"Fine, you plot. I'm gonna grab us some snacks. Brain food and all that..." She got up off the bed, trying not to let her joy at seeing V willing to fight transfer into her steps. Stepping into the kitchen, she checked her cabinets and found a box of saltine crackers. "Jackie said toast was okay, and these are toasted crackers...Kind of tired of drinking water. Think I'll grab us a couple sodas." Becca moved to her fridge and took out two cans of Cirrus cola.

She had just closed the fridge when she noticed V haphazardly 'dressed' and exiting the bedroom, his posture straight and steps sure. He was moving for the door. The cans of soda and box of crackers fell to the floor with a dull thump.

"What the fuck?" Becca moved to intercept him, but even in his recovery state, he could still move.

"Get the crew together, all of us at the Coyote Cojo tomorrow at two." The statement made Becca look over to a nearby clock to see what time it was. "Make sure to bring David and Gloria too."

Too late, Becca realized her mistake as she heard the door open and quickly close as V took his leave. She ran to the door and opened it, but V had already hopped the elevator.

"Goddamnit!" She cursed, more annoyed at herself for letting him get away than actually at him. That didn't stop her from grinning like mad as she sent out a summon to the crew.

She hoped this was a sign of some major changes to come.