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Retirement by Noodlehammer
Worm & Cyberpunk 2077 Xover Rated: M, English, [V, Skitter], Words: 181k+, Favs: 2k+, Follows: 2k+, Published: Jan 28 Updated: Jul 29
743Chapter 11: Love and Success
This would have been posted here yesterday, but the website was shitting the bed again.
Thanks go to Alvor for checking this over.
XXXXX
A few days after the gig at the Biotechnica Hotel, Taylor and V were back to their normal appearances and just getting started with their day. In the evening, they would be going back to the Afterlife to collect their pay. It could have been done with a phone call or a message, but the Queen of Fixers asked them to come in person.
Their lazy morning was interrupted by a call from Jackie.
"What's up, Jack?" V asked, a slight hint of concern in her voice. They both knew that he wouldn't bother with a social call when they were already going to meet in a few hours anyway.
"I just had an idea." Jackie spoke the words in that tone he got when he thought he'd thought of something genius.
Taylor dreaded that tone, sometimes.
"What kind of idea?" She asked warily.
"We still need to properly celebrate our success on this gig and I've been dyin' to take Misty out." He explained with growing enthusiasm. "How about we go do some clubbing tonight, eh?"
Clubbing? That was definitely not Taylor's wheelhouse.
"I like it!" V jumped in. "And I ordered a couple of matching outfits for me and Taylor before we went on the gig that would be perfect for it. They'll definitely be ready by now."
Oh no. If V thought an outfit was good for clubbing, then it was probably going to be some combination of skimpy, skintight, and leather. Taylor had already been expecting the leather pants to make a reappearance, but her girlfriend seemed keen on escalating.
"Guys, I'm not really much for clubbing." She said, frowning.
"Come on, it'll be fun." Jackie cajoled, somehow managing to project puppy dog eyes through the phone. "We need to let loose a bit after that gig, get back to feelin' like ourselves."
"I know it's not your kind of thing, Taylor, but please don't just shoot it down." V pleaded, also turning up the puppy dog eyes. She really needed to stop doing that with her snake eyes. "Give it a try this one time? If you hate it, we'll never ask you again. I promise."
Taylor frowned. Was a few unpleasant hours worth it to never have to deal with this again?
She sighed. "Fine."
"Thank you!" V said brightly, leaning in to give her an overly loud smooch on the cheek. "You won't regret this, I swear."
Smiling in spite of herself, Taylor repeated her agreement to Jackie and bid him goodbye for now. Half an hour later, V left to go pick up their outfits, and cheekily hid them in vacuum-sealed bags when she returned.
Time passed and it was time to get ready.
"I knew it." Taylor huffed, half amused and half exasperated.
There was a pair of leather pants laid out waiting for her. Two pairs of them, with two leather vests, the matching outfits V had spoken of.
"Knew what?" Her girlfriend asked.
"That it was going to be something leather." Taylor sighed. "What is it with you and leather anyway?"
To be fair, it wasn't just her. Lots of people in Night City really liked their leather. Mostly people with guns.
"I had a bike, back in Osaka." V admitted, somewhat wistfully. "Whenever everything felt like it was too much or I just couldn't sleep, I'd put on my leathers and race along the freeways at night. When Arasaka was allowed to return to Night City and we were reassigned, my request to get the bike transferred was denied. And then Jenkins started working me into the ground because he was angling for a promotion, so I couldn't even get a new one. Leather feels like freedom."
Okay, that was deeper than expected. She'd figured that V would say that it made her ass look great or something.
"And it makes my ass look amazing." V finished.
There it was. Taylor rolled her eyes with an amused huff and decided to not address that last part. It was true anyway. "Why didn't you buy a new bike already if you enjoyed it so much? It's not like we don't have the money."
"I was more interested in riding you." V purred, but laughed it off before Taylor could do more than roll her eyes again. "I guess I just didn't feel the need without the stress of my job."
"We could go shopping for a new bike together. I'm sure Jackie would love to weigh in." Taylor offered.
"He would!" V laughed again. "Will you ride with me?"
"Sure." She smiled, pleased to have this new information about her girlfriend.
"Now, let's get dressed up." The former corpo put them back on track.
Taylor sighed and picked up the leather vest laid out for her. There was a picture of a monstrous spider lurking over Night City plastered over the back. A quick check showed that V's vest had a snake coiling around it. Real subtle imagery.
"You got these custom made, didn't you?" She asked.
"Of course." V smirked. "We're too preem now to be wearing generic clothes."
"Uh huh." Taylor thought that sounded a bit snobbish, but didn't comment on it. This was more like a cape costume than casual clothing, in which case it made sense. "And what are we wearing under it?"
"Nothing." V replied with a small smile.
Taylor's expression shifted into a deadpan and she stared at her girlfriend flatly. "Valerie, I am not wearing an open vest and nothing under it."
And it was an open vest. No zipper or buttons, and to top it all off it even had a low neckline. She had been willing to entertain V's shenanigans up to a point, but going effectively topless was several steps too far.
"It's not as bad as it looks." V laughed, slinking closer with a small pout. "Will you at least try it on? For me?"
"That's cheating." Taylor muttered back, resolve crumbling.
"Please?" V's whisper became even more heated. "I'll get down on my knees and beg if I have to."
Taylor knew what kind of 'begging' her girlfriend had in mind, and it would result in them both needing another shower and being late.
"Okay, fine. I'll try it on." She capitulated, lightly pushing her girlfriend back and ignoring the burning in her core.
"Great!" V smiled brightly. The happy expression made it impossible to be grumpy about the obvious manipulation.
The leather pants didn't seem like nearly as big of a deal as they had the first time. For one thing, aside from having worn them before, this past month had considerably recalibrated her embarrassment threshold. That had probably been part of the point. V was sneaky like that.
And hearing her girlfriend's reasons for liking leather so much also made it feel different, like V was sharing an important part of herself with her wardrobe.
As it turned out, the vest had a trick to it. What she had taken to be just some decorative metal rings along the inner hemline were actually short, delicate-looking chains that were meant to be connected in the middle. Inside the garment itself, the chains were connected to some kind of material that tightened up under strain. The end result was s skintight vest that had an open front and low neckline, looking like the small chains were holding on for dear life. It also gripped the breasts in such a way that it pushed up and together, further giving the impression that they were about to burst free at any moment.
On V, with her significantly larger cup size, the effect was much more pronounced, but even Taylor's modest B-cups created a pretty deep valley up top and plenty of boob curvature on the inside with the way the vest was manipulating things.
It was technically decent, in the same way that seeing a woman's head bobbing up and down at regular intervals was technically not showing a blowjob.
Just the fact that such an analogy even came to mind told her that Night City had gotten to her.
"This is a bit much…" Taylor said dubiously, glancing at the mirror every few seconds. She'd been put into plenty of skimpy outfits over the past month, and this one didn't even reveal that much in comparison. It was just that the style was so much more aggressive, and it felt different to be doing it under her own name.
This was the kind of badass sexy action hero style that she had long since accepted was never going to work for her. Even with her recent epiphany that she could look good, this style seemed like reaching too far.
"No it isn't." V firmly disagreed, standing next to her. "You're hot as hell."
Taylor felt heat creeping up her neck again. It was far too common a sensation around her girlfriend. But the thing was, the compliment didn't feel like a well-meaning lie anymore. V meant it, and Taylor could believe that she meant it.
"I distinctly remember us talking about my style and agreeing on not sexualizing it." She deflected.
"But you've got so much going on." V pouted. "It would be a waste."
Taylor stared at herself in the mirror with a conflicted frown. She did like feeling beautiful and sexy, and V was doing her best to make it happen. Would it be so terrible to give it a try?
"Let's finish up our looks before you decide." V bargained, and that was easier to agree to.
Finishing their looks meant doing their hair, makeup, and boots. V's high ponytail with the serpent clasp, Taylor's high braid with the spider clasps. The swooping purple lines on V and the spider shadow around Taylor's eye. The boots basically just flashy combat boots that went up to mid-shin.
Once the whole thing was done, they stood in front of the mirror again. Taylor could barely recognize herself compared to how she'd looked like when she first came to Night City.
The biosculpting had given her curves. The bioware upgrades and steady workouts had bulked her up a bit, broadening her shoulders and thickening her arms. She looked less like a runner and more like a swimmer. More importantly, she looked like she belonged next to V, like they were a matched pair. Skitter and Slither. When it was both of them, Taylor didn't feel like she was some fake pretending to be something she wasn't, not when V was right there at her side.
"Mmmmpff, we look so fucking good together." V said in an tone that could only be described as obscene. She even rubbed her thighs together in a clear display of arousal. And it wasn't faked, either. Taylor's bugs could smell the sexual pheromones wafting off her like an aura. "Please don't make me change our look. It would hurt me physically."
"Nobody is asking you to change yours." Taylor pointed out, trying to ignore the very distracting sex pheromones. Increasing her mastery of her bugs' senses was objectively a good thing, but it did come with unforeseen consequences.
"I don't want anyone thinking my girl is available." V said sultrily, reaching over to grab her chin with two fingers. "You and I are partners. Isn't that right, my sweet little peach?"
Taylor's breathing hitched and her body heated up. Damn it, she really needed to stop turning into a puddle whenever V pulled this on her.
"Right." She agreed, swallowing.
"Will you wear this with me?" V pressed, looking hungry.
Taylor still thought that it was a bit much, but she couldn't bring herself to refuse her girlfriend. Plus, if she insisted on something more modest, then V was apparently going to dress down as well… which didn't seem all that appealing a prospect.
"Okay." She whispered. How bad could it be anyway, especially compared to the Biotechnica gig? Besides, she would be shunting into the swarm to give herself creepy body language anyway.
"I'm happy to hear it." V said, leaning forward for a slow, languid kiss.
That did nothing to douse the fire burning low in her abdomen.
"Now for the finishing touch…" V said after breaking off the kiss.
"Finishing touch?" Taylor's brows furrowed in confusion, mentally going over their outfits. What else could they possibly be missing?
Their makeup was done and they never brought jewelry to work, and this was technically work even if they were only going to talk to Rogue and going clubbing later.
V fished a small box from a drawer and took out a hook-like device.
"Is that a vibrator?" Taylor asked flatly.
"Mhm." V confirmed, pulling away the waistline of her pants and inserting the sextoy into herself.
"Just… why?"
V sauntered closer and took Taylor's left hand with both of hers. Then she slid a ring over her index finger.
"So that you can buzz me if you need anything, or if you just feel like it." She explained, smirking. "Go on, give the ring a rub."
Taylor looked at the disguised remote control skeptically, then sighed and rubbed it, hard.
"Hah!" V gasped and bent forward, having to brace herself on Taylor. "Not so rough! If you do it like that everyone will know."
"That wouldn't be a problem if you didn't insert a sextoy into your pussy and hand me the remote." Taylor explained slowly, as if talking to an idiot.
"What can I say, I like living on the edge." V replied unrepentantly. "Besides, I trust you. I'm sure you won't use this to torture me in public."
Why did that sound like an invitation?
XXXXX
After packing up the harpoon launcher, Jackie called his mother to tell her that the gig was done, then he went straight to Misty's. He hadn't been kidding about feeling like he was about to explode, and he ended up forcing his girlfriend to take a day off. She didn't complain, at least not seriously.
Now he was feeling much more mellow as he hung around in her store, waiting for the better-looking two thirds of their crew to arrive. Once they did, Jackie's eyebrows shot up his forehead.
V had said that she and Taylor would have matching outfits, but he hadn't expected this. A proper response was necessary.
Jackie let out a long, low whistle, looking the two women over from head to toe.
"People are going to think I'm the luckiest guy in the city." He joked.
"You are." V said archly, nodding towards Misty. "With a sweet honey like that."
"Stop!" Misty waved it off, grinning. She wasn't the jealous type (which was one of the things he really appreciated after Camilla's freakouts), but every girl liked feeling special and V was making sure to bounce back the good vibes.
Wingwoman of the year.
"True, true." Jackie nodded sagely. "And she'll be looking just as fine when we come to pick her up later."
"Are you really okay with this, Taylor?" Misty asked, concerned. "I know you didn't really want to go clubbing at first."
She had been worried about the teenager and had a soft spot for her. It just made Jackie love her more.
"It's fine." Taylor sighed, tugging lightly at the bottom of her leather vest. "I was promised veto power in exchange for seeing what all the fuss is about."
"It'll be fun, I promise." V assured.
"Not too much fun." Taylor stared at her pointedly. "We'll be taking it easy on the drinking."
"So responsible." V cooed, and got poked in the side for her trouble.
Hehe, those two were so cute together.
Jackie gave Misty a kiss goodbye before following the girls to their car. V had since upgraded from the Archer Hella into something a little more appropriate for badass mercs like them. The Chevillon Emperor 620 Ragnar was a lot like his own Thorton Merrimac, basically an APC with plenty of cargo space, but had a sleeker look to it that appealed to V.
"So, why do you think Rogue wants to talk to us in person?" He asked, leaning forward between the seats.
"If I had to guess I'd say we did too good of a job." V replied, keeping her eyes on the road and her hands on the wheel. "Normally, when you send an operative to bug a semi-public building like the Biotechnica Hotel, it's because you're targeting a specific room. The way Rogue presented the gig feels like a test, just to see how we'd handle it."
"And we bugged the place top to bottom." Jackie concluded.
"She'd have to pay us more than she expected to?" Taylor guessed.
"A lot more." V smirked. "We kept the payment details vague, so she could stiff us without anyone being able to claim she went back on her word, but then we'd never take a gig from her again and she knows it. Not the end of the world for her, but she didn't get to where she was by missing opportunities, so I expect that she'll probably try to cut a deal instead."
"You think we should take it?" Jackie asked. He wasn't averse to taking favors in place of eddies.
"Depends on the deal." V shrugged, which was fair enough.
The trip from Misty's to the Afterlife was short and soon they were stepping out of the Chevillon Emperor and drawing looks. The girls, as expected, got most of them.
V leaned over to whisper something to Taylor, getting a terse nod back a second later. Then they stepped out of the car and started walking.
You'd never be able to tell that Taylor was nervous about being dressed up like that. Her shoulders were set, her chin was tilted up, her expression was firm, and her chest was held out proudly. The subtle wrongness of her movements caused by her swarm shunting contrasted sharply with her appearance and swaying hips.
On the other hand, V own swaying hips were much more natural.
Jackie very deliberately took a place at V's left, so that Taylor had a spot on the right. Didn't want to give the impression that they had some weird three-way thing going on. Despite that, he still heard plenty of comments about what a lucky bastard he was. Ah well.
They pushed through the usual crowd of club sluts and wannabes, this time not having to introduce themselves for the bouncer to let them in. That was how you knew that you'd made it into the big leagues!
He'd have loved to get another drink to settle his nerves, but they were immediately directed to Rogue's booth.
"I don't get surprised often, but you managed it." The Queen of Fixers said after they sat down. "I have no idea how you did it, but you did. Bugged every room, all the staff areas, the recreation areas, and even the maintenance shafts, planted the daemon nice and deep in the subnet. And that puts me into a bind right now. At the usual rates for this kind of gig, I'd have to pay you over three million eddies, on top of covering your stay at the hotel and the cost of the bugs. That's a bit much to hand out in one go, even for me."
Jackie's brain stuttered. Sure, they had been making good money with Taylor's ability to sniff out Scav dens and the gigs they were able to take as a crew. Really good money, even. But they'd never gotten anywhere near that kind of payout in one go. His share would be over a million eddies, a number that was hard to fathom when he'd been doing gigs for a couple of thousand a pop at best just a few months ago.
V was thankfully less impressed, sparing him from making an ass of himself in front of the Queen of Fixers.
She reclined in the booth, legs crossed and arms thrown over the back, practically oozing smug self-satisfaction.
"We pride ourselves on the thoroughness of our work." The former corpo said, smiling. "I assume you'd like to arrange for alternative means of payment for our services?"
"I would." Rogue nodded. "With the hotel bugged so completely, I expect that I'll be able to harvest plenty of valuable intel from it before they sweep it or purge the daemon from their subnet. I could pay you a percentage of every information sale until you're fully paid up. Or…"
Jackie found himself leaning forward with interest, noting the way Rogue's eyes flicked towards Taylor.
Unlike V's casual sprawl, she was sitting at the edge of the booth seat, back straight, legs uncrossed, and her hands resting on her knees, completely motionless. It was creepy as fuck, especially with the nearly unblinking stare she was giving the fixer. And the identical outfit was now just straight up making her feel like some eldritch spider demon had squeezed itself into human flesh and was trying to imitate V, failing badly at everything that wasn't surface-level.
Jackie knew what was tripping her up. Rogue must have seen plenty of cyberpsychos, including functional ones, but Taylor wasn't ticking the same boxes and it was confusing her.
"Or…?" V finally prompted after letting the silence drag out for a few seconds.
Rogue seemed to snap back to attention and continued as if nothing had happened. "You've been dipping your toes into fixer waters – making connections, negotiating for a few gigs on your own, even training up a small group of street kids into a personal mercenary force. Small time stuff that won't upset anyone, which already makes you smarter than most gonks trying to become fixers. If you keep being smart and competent, I'd be willing to help you along."
That way she said that was full of meaning that Jackie didn't get, but he did get that this was an offer that wasn't given out lightly.
"Could you explain that for those of us that aren't good at subtle?" Jackie asked jokingly, playing up his role.
They'd talked about this. V would be the face of the group, Taylor would be the unsettling one that threw the other side off, and Jackie was the friendly one.
Rogue's eyes flicked over to him for a moment and he put on his best earnest face.
"There's nothing more valuable in this world than people you can rely on." She said, and he couldn't disagree. "You've more than proven yourselves to be reliable as mercenaries and I want to maintain a good relationship with you. If you intend to transition from mercenary work to fixer work, then I want it to be as one of mine. Write off the pay for this gig now and you'll get preferential treatment in the future."
That did sound good, maybe. Jackie still wasn't entirely convinced about V's plan to just retire from mercenary work, but even he could tell that Rogue's offer wasn't something that she gave to just anyone. On the other hand, three million plus eddies was a shitload of money.
"We'll need to talk it over before coming to a decision." V said, already moving to get up.
"Of course." Rogue's expression twisted into a wry smirk.
The left the bar then, not even staying for a drink (though Jackie did give a wave and a smile to the bartender). Once they were in back in the car, V just closed her eyes and took a deep breath, held it, and then slowly exhaled.
"Alright, this could be big" She finally said.
"Working for Rogue directly… yeah, it could be big." Jackie nodded. "But I thought you wanted us to be more independent?"
"There's no such thing as being completely independent." V shook her head.
"Sounded to me like she wanted to get as much use out of us as she could, as cheap as she could." Taylor said with a small frown, easing up on the swarm shunting.
"Of course, that's just how the game is played." V agreed. "Taking the money is the safe option, and there's a lot we could do with it, but it's just money in the end. And we did make a bit extra from the card games at the hotel. Taking Rogue's offer would be an investment, and the returns would depend on how successful we are. If we play it right, then we could take over Rogue's network in a few years or decades when she dies or retires."
"Aren't you being a little optimistic here?" Taylor remained skeptical. "I've never met a mastermind type that could be trusted."
"We would have to make contingency plans, of course. Put money aside for emergencies and create independent contacts." V allowed. "What do you think, Jackie?"
Jackie knew that he was not built for these kinds of plans. He was a simple guy, with simple goals. For his entire merc career, he'd been chasing the big score, and now here it was. This one payday might be enough to comfortably retire on all by itself, if he was careful. Although he'd prefer to build a bigger nest egg just to make sure that his mama, and Misty and any kids they might have could live comfortable lives.
But V was ambitious. She wanted more, and Taylor enjoyed the action. Honestly, Jackie enjoyed it, too. He knew that he'd feel bored if he tried to put down his guns as he was now. But in a few years? After being a big shot merc and getting filthy rich? Yeah, he could see himself doing it then.
So why not take Rogue's deal?
There was another reason why he hesitated to say they should just take the money – a nagging feeling that he hadn't earned it. All he'd done was be bored out of his skull for a month. And yeah, he knew that his role was important, even if it hadn't been needed, but it just didn't feel like he'd done an equal share of the work. If they weren't friends, he'd be getting the smallest cut of the payout.
"My gut says to just take the money, but if you think we can do do better by taking Rogue's deal, then I'll trust you." He finally said.
"Taylor?" V asked.
The bug master was silent for a long few seconds, then took a deep breath and exhaled gustily. "What if I see something about Rogue's organization that I don't like and turn on her, what will you do then?"
"I'd be right there with you." V said instantly, reaching out to take the younger woman's hand. "You'll always be my bottom line, Taylor. If you decide that it all needs to burn… well, I'm not sure if I could find a nuke, but I'd give it a good try."
"Look at Johnny Silverhand with tits over here. What happened to using him as an example of what not to do?" Jackie jeered playfully, chuckling. "But she's right. Money's nice, but it's people you stay loyal to. If this doesn't work out, then we walk, and we drop as many bodies on the way as we need to."
Judging by the way Taylor stiffened up, she was probably hiding her feelings in the swarm again, the gonk. Still, she nodded. "Okay, I'm in."
"Okay, that was heavy, whoo." V chuckled, obviously trying to lighten up the mood. "Good thing we had plans to go clubbing, because I need to loosen up a bit after that. We can talk to Rogue after sleeping on the decision."
Taylor went completely blank again, which was just hilarious.
XXXXX
V had not seen this coming, but she probably should have. If Arasaka had come across a hyper-competent freelancer with a unique skillset that could benefit them, they would also have jumped at the chance to snatch them up early. It had happened before.
And her former employer wasn't keen on taking 'no' as an answer.
Rogue wouldn't do that – she couldn't afford to – but there were other sharks in the sea. V might be letting her paranoia get the better of her, but she was starting to get afraid that a bigger fish would decide they were getting too uppity. That was how it worked in the corpo world – if you got too ambitious and didn't have a powerful backer, you got slapped back down. Hard.
Soviet corporations and certain criminal organizations, at least, had to be getting annoyed at the number of Scav cells going dark. Deniable assets were expendable by definition, but they might start thinking that they were being targeted personally.
Taylor wasn't wrong when she said that Rogue was trying to get some cheap use out of them. The old fixer wanted to see if they'd burn bright for a short while and then die. She might even be thinking that Taylor was on the edge of cyberpsychosis. So if they took her deal and everything went to shit, then she would have milked them for cheap and then been rid of them before she really had to pay up. In a city that glorified audacious death-defying stunts, that was only sensible.
But Rogue also had no obvious successor. Her closest associates were her bodyguard, Crispin Weyland, and the netrunner Nix. Both were known to be some of the best in their respective business, but they weren't the types that could step into Rogue's shoes. Whether that was by design or happenstance, V couldn't say, but it meant there was an opportunity there. Rogue had been in the biz for decades and was getting old. Rejuvenation treatments and cybernetics would keep her spry for a long time yet, but she was past eighty. The idea of retirement had probably crossed her mind before.
And being affiliated with Rogue directly would protect them from quite a bit. Losing assets on a gig gone wrong was one thing, but being deliberately targeted was quite another. Rogue would have plenty of intel that she could use to hurt even the megacorporations. As long as the secret of Taylor's powers didn't get out, it wouldn't be profitable to target them if Rogue had their backs.
V shook those thoughts off for now. They would sleep on it, think the whole thing over again, then talk to Rogue and come to an agreement that everyone could accept.
Right now, it was time to party, and show Taylor how fun it could be to just dance and go wild for a bit. Granted, V wasn't exactly a party girl either – there hadn't been any time for that kind of thing in her line of work – but had faked it a few times. And Jackie could always be counted on to bull his way through any awkwardness.
They went back to Misty's place to pick her up. The spiritualist had stuck with a miniskirt and fishnets, but replaced her usually somewhat frumpy loose sweaters with a black tube top. Her thick spiked choker remained on her neck, and her makeup was very goth.
"Misty, you look beautiful, mi amor." Jackie schmoozed up to her with a big grin. His simple, folksy charm never failed to amuse V. "I might have a fight on my hands trying to keep you to myself."
Misty giggled as Jackie nosed at her hair like a particularly affectionate dog.
"Let's not have any cliché bar fights, please." Taylor said dryly.
"But if it does happen, will you defend my honor?" V asked cheekily.
"What honor?" The bug master quickly retorted.
"Sweetheart, you wound me your barbs." She pouted. "Fine, I guess I'll defend your honor then, but only if you let me princess carry you home afterwards."
"Sure, V. On the off chance that we get into a bar fight, you can defend my honor and princess carry me home. My knight in tight leather." Taylor rolled her eyes, clearly not taking it seriously.
But she was smiling, and that was the important part.
They filed into the car, Jackie and Misty in the back, Taylor in the front passenger seat, and V at the wheel.
"So… where is this nightclub we're going to?" Taylor asked. She wasn't fidgeting, but V knew her well enough by now to guess that she was a bit nervous.
"It's in Kabuki, the Sin Pit." V replied.
"Suddenly, I'm not so sure agreeing to this was a good idea." The bug master's voice was as dry as the desert.
"Don't worry too much about the name – it's obviously trying to riff on the Afterlife and Clouds." Jackie explained.
"And it is the best proper nightclub in the area." V backed him up.
The Afterlife was a merc bar, Lizzie's was a BD club, Clouds was a dollhouse. None of them catered to people that mostly wanted to dance, so the Sin Pit opened to fill the niche. And as Jackie said, the name and theme were meant to contrast the Afterlife and Clouds, an easy way to get attention.
It wasn't very far, and they were thankfully able to find a parking space nearby.
"Will we need to check our weapons in anywhere?" Taylor asked as they stepped out of the car. "Because if so I'd rather leave them here."
"Nah, don't worry about it." Jackie waved off. "It's just too easy to hide a weapon, so it's better if everyone is armed than only some people."
"Mixing guns, booze, and drugs. Yes, I'm sure there's nothing at all to worry about." Taylor sighed, but took her hands away from her gunbelt nonetheless.
"Will we even be let in?" Misty commented, looking at the entrance with some concern. "It looks pretty packed…"
"We're not just anyone, baby." Jackie bragged, putting his arm around her. "We're the Beast Crew, plus one sexy kitten. They'll let us in."
Well, he wasn't wrong, even if it wasn't for the reasons he was implying.
"Lead the way, Jack, and don't forget our VIP pass." V snorted.
"VIP pass?" Taylor asked skeptically, taking a place beside her as they walked behind Jackie and Misty.
"You'll see." V promised, then leaned down to speak to her girlfriend in a low tone. "You okay?"
"Yeah." Taylor exhaled.
She was obviously still feeling a bit out of place in that outfit. Only time and exposure would take care of that, but there was something that would help her fake it until she made it.
"Bugs on my body again." V said in a low murmur. "What are we?"
Taylor gave her a look, but V just stared back expectantly until she capitulated. "We are sexy bitches."
Affirmation therapy. It had already done wonders and she was going to keep at it.
"Damn right, and that means we walk like sexy bitches."
Taylor gave her a another look and then a short nod. V zoomed in her Kiroshis to maximum so that she could watch the dozens of tiny bugs position themselves on her arms. Against the backdrop of her tattoos they were invisible.
V focused on her walk, putting just the right amount of sway into her hips and just the right amount of bounce into her boobs. Out of the corner of her eye, she observed Taylor copying her movement with impressive accuracy. It still didn't look natural – because it wasn't – but they'd get there. One day, Taylor would be confident in her sexiness.
They arrived at the entrance to the nightclub, which was being guarded by a huge Animal bouncer. He had to be over seven feet tall, with massively bulging muscles and a face that would have been more at home on a gorilla. He probably chugged 'The Juice' like it was water.
There was a long line of people waiting to be let in, but the four of them walked right past them, to much complaining.
"Back to the end of the line." The bouncer rumbled, taking a particular moment to glare at V and Taylor. Probably because of their themed makeup.
Animals…
"We have a pass, friend." Jackie said, reaching into his jacket.
The bouncer tensed for a moment, but quickly relaxed when Jackie handed him the money fold he'd just taken out.
The Animal quickly leafed through it, finding it to be worth a thousand eddies.
"Not sure this is a legit pass, friend." He said.
"Alright, how about this one?" Jackie got the hint and handed him another money fold.
"Yeah, this one's good." The Animal nodded and waved them in.
"Two thousand eddies just so we can get into a place with overpriced drinks and too loud music." Taylor leaned in to comment, needing to raise her voice a bit to be heard over the aforementioned music.
V knew that her girlfriend came from a working class family of modest means. She didn't understand the joys of flashing money.
"I know, but just look at Jackie." She pointed out his proud swagger. "He's so happy that he can throw that kind of cash around like it's nothing."
"As long as he doesn't throw it all away." Taylor sighed.
As if she would let him. Yeah, they had been spending eddies like it was water ever since they started really raking it in, but it wasn't on stupid junk. V had learned her lesson about how easily liquid cash could disappear from your accounts when she was fired.
Those might have been Arasaka accounts, and therefore technically not hers, but the money in them had still been something she'd earned. V would never again trust a banking service to play it straight with her, and that meant investing in tangible things. Or even keeping stacks of cash and loaded money shards hidden somewhere.
"Alright, let's go get a round of drinks, then we can do some dancing!" Jackie declared enthusiastically, keeping an arm firmly around Misty.
The Sin Pit had a typical club layout – booths and bar along the walls, dance floor in the middle. What set it apart was the fact that the dance floor was in an actual 'pit' and you had to go down a set of stairs to get to it. The lighting shifted between red, pink, and purple, the music was very sexually charged, and there were four cages around the dance pit. One held a man-woman pair, one had a solo woman, one held two men, and the last held two women. A visual aid for people that felt like they needed help figuring out how to move.
Very comprehensive, V was impressed.
The four of them moved around the dance pit and towards the bar. It took a minute for the bartender to get to them and deliver their orders.
"A toast!" Jackie, raising his glass high. "To love and success."
Misty giggled and copied him, clinking her glass against his. "To love and success."
V shared a look with Taylor and smirked. Her girlfriend's blank face cracked a bit. They were going to do it.
"To this!" They chorused, clinking their glasses against the other two.
"Why?!" Jackie despaired dramatically.
"Awww, don't be upset, you big lug." Misty soothed, only slightly ruined by her obvious amusement. "Their feelings are more important than their words. The heart always speaks the truth."
"You always know what to say to me, mi amor." Jackie sighed, squeezing her a bit tighter.
"Save that for after the dancing, you two." V interrupted the lovey-doveyness, knocking back her drink. "Come on, Taylor, let's show them how it's done."
"I don't know how it's done." She deadpanned, but knocked back her own drink all the same and didn't fight when she was gently pulled along by the hand.
"Neither does Jackie, he just has no shame." V riposted.
"Whoa, what is this disrespect?" Jackie protested, 'angrily' slamming his shot glass on the counter after downing it. "You trying to start a rumble on the dance floor, V?"
"Try not to break a hip, old man." She taunted him, as if he wasn't only two years older than her.
"Old man?!" He sputtered in outrage, playing along. "Oh, it's on. We can't let this stand, Misty."
"I'll do my best." Misty agreed, clearly amused. She quickly knocked back her drink and let herself be led along.
"Was that really necessary?" Taylor asked dryly as they made their way to the dance floor.
"It's all in good fun." V chuckled. "But I do want to win."
"And how are we going to pull that off?" The teenager asked. "I told you I can't dance."
"Cheat." V smirked, nodding towards the duo of female cage dancers. "Copy their movements, I'll follow your lead."
Taylor's expression went blank, and she was reasonably sure that the younger woman was experiencing a moment of panic. But Taylor was very good at controlling fear and just getting on with it. Her expression remained stony, but her body began to mimic the sensual movements of the cage dancing women.
V gave her most alluring smile and stared into her girlfriend's eyes, following along as she'd said she would. Success and experience bred confidence, and she hoped that killing it on the dance floor would be another brick in the structure of Taylor's social confidence.
They had entered the dance pit in the middle of a slower song with whispery lyrics, and mostly just got a minute and a half of rubbing against each other out of it. The next one that came on was much more energetic, and the other dancers quickly gave them some room as it became clear that they were better at it than whatever random flailing most of them were doing.
Skillshards for dancing did exist, of course, but the club scene mutated too fast for them to keep up and they just weren't adaptable enough. It was the same reason why martial arts skillshards were good for showing off, but tended to get you killed in a real fight.
Thanks to that, it was easy to assume that Taylor was close to being a professional-level dancer, because she was perfectly mimicking the movements of one.
"What was that about not knowing how to dance?!" Misty yelled over the music, grinning. "You're killing it Taylor!"
"Oho, chica got some moves." Jackie weighed in. "But we're not going down that easy!"
If she wasn't swarm shunting, the bug master would probably be blushing like mad. Not that it would be visible in the club's lighting, but still.
V moved in close, pressing them together chest-to-chest and pelvis-to-pelvis. She put her hands over Taylor's hips and held her tight, moving her hips in the same rhythm.
"There's nothing to be afraid of, baby." She said, staring into her eyes again. "It's just you and me. Don't hide."
There wasn't much chance of being overheard with how loud the music was, but no point in being careless. Taylor understood regardless, and her stony expression slowly cracked as she left the swarm.
Then V was spinning around as the bug master mimicked the cage dancers, her hands slowly moving up V's body.
The vibrator she was wearing triggered, probably accidentally, but V still bit her lips and moaned low in her throat. She'd been waiting for Taylor to use it ever since they left home.
Taylor's movements stuttered for a moment, but then she continued… and rubbed the ring again, this time on purpose. V was happy to reward her with another low moan and a shudder.
Good, she was figuring out how fun that particular toy could be.
XXXXX
Taylor had never understood the appeal of nightclubs. Literally everything you could do at one seemed like a bad idea. Staying at home with a book or going for a nice walk seemed much better.
But… but, V had been doing those things with her for months, never complaining about boredom or pushing to do something else. She had been the perfect girlfriend, creating a lovely, peaceful home for them. So when she asked for just one trip to a nightclub with Jackie and Misty, with the offer of veto power against it in the future if she really hated it, Taylor would have felt like a real bitch if she'd refused.
It had definitely been an alien environment at first. The bright lights and loud music was not her, the drug use in the corners was not her, the people dry-humping each other on the dance floor (and worse in hidden corners) was not her, the overly sexualized outfits was not her.
And yet, despite all that, Taylor somehow ended up having a good time. V really was a terrible influence, damn her sexy little pouts and half-lidded looks. Even with her swarm, she was able to just focus on her girlfriend and let the rest fade away into the background after a while. Being able to copy the moves of the cage dancers had also helped her feel like she knew what she was doing.
And after a few trips to the bar, the alcohol had lived up to its name of 'liquid courage'. The booze was strong, and if her liver hadn't been upgraded, she would probably already be passed out. As it was, she was in that pleasantly buzzed state where everything felt right in the world. No wonder people enjoyed drinking so much.
She had danced with V a few times before, in the Biotechnica Hotel during their last gig, and a few times in their loft just for fun. Under the influence, it didn't feel too different from that, except for all the people looking at them. Again, the booze turned a mortifying experience into a huge ego boost.
Just like any unpopular, introverted teenager, Taylor had fantasized about being the life of the party and having everyone admire her, while her bullies fumed helplessly at her newfound popularity. They had been ridiculous daydreams, but she'd had them nonetheless.
Now she was getting something like it and she fell into a haze that was somewhat similar to the adrenaline high of combat. Unlike a Sandevistan, the synaptic accelerators didn't have a toggle and reacted to hormone surges. Everything seemed to become sharper and her focus narrowed.
V seemed to wrap herself around her in slow motion, kissing her passionately and moaning, practically dry-humping her leg. Taylor had initially been far too embarrassed to use the vibrator control her girlfriend had given her, but she had quickly grown to enjoy the rush of power it gave her. She might have felt bad about it, if V wasn't so obviously enjoying it as well.
The cheers and 'whooos' of the dancers around them merged into the mass of noise and were easily ignored. Taylor pulled away from the kiss and looked at her girlfriend's flushed face and slightly sweaty body. Both of them were a bit sweaty thanks to the exertion of the dancing and the mass of humanity making the air stuffy.
"Come on, let's go sit down for a bit." She said, pulling the older woman along.
They left the dance pit and went for the booth that Jackie and Misty had claimed for them a little earlier. Their silly dancing competition had been quickly forgotten, and they had even switched dance partners a few times. It hadn't been as natural as dancing with V, but Jackie was a goof and Misty was nice. It had been fun.
"Quite a show you put on down there." Said goof had to comment as soon as they sat down, grinning widely.
"If you're going to have a good time, then you might as well have a good time." V replied shamelessly, reaching out for the glass of whatever had been ordered for her and sucking on the straw.
Taylor had to stop herself from staring at the way her girlfriend's throat was moving as she swallowed. V really had corrupted her.
She still felt it moving thanks to the tiny ticks sticking to her neck.
"Damn right!" Jackie agreed, knocking on the table and raising his own glass in a toast. "To good times!"
V clinked her own glass against his with a smirk. "To this."
Taylor burst into laughter at Jackie's outraged expression. Her whole body shook and she had to lean into V to stay upright.
"Taylor, you're laughing!" Misty exclaimed with a happy grin. "I've barely even seen you smile before – you two are really good for each other. I knew you would be, your energies are very compatible."
Ah, that's right. This alien sense of lightness wasn't just inebriation, it was joy and happiness.
"It's been a long time since I had anything to laugh about." She offered as a non-explanation, settling against the booth with a sigh, still pressed close to V.
"I guess I can't be too mad at V's shitty toast if she was doing it to make you laugh." Jackie grumbled good-naturedly.
"I love making my sweetie laugh." V cooed, leaning over to kiss her on the forehead. "Does this mean you won't ban nightclubs from our itinerary?"
"As long as it's not too often." She conceded, feeling an increasingly familiar wriggling warmth in her chest at the affection.
"I'm not a big fan of them either, so let's work together to keep our party animals in check." Misty said to her, smiling impishly.
"I'm glad to have a fellow introvert present." Taylor nodded back.
"You hearin' this, V?" Jackie spoke up. "They're plotting to hold back our animal magnetism."
"Hmm, I don't mind being tamed and domesticated if it's the right person." V hummed, smiling lazily and taking another pull from her straw.
Taylor pinched her hard in the thigh. "You should stop drinking, you're already talking nonsense."
"Nah, she's just got it bad!" Jackie guffawed.
V wasn't denying it, and Taylor had no idea what to say in response. But it turned out that she didn't need to, because a pair of Tyger Claws were heading right for them. At a second look, they were a familiar pair of Tyger Claws.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me." She groaned.
"What?" All three of her friends asked, confused. V was the only one that realized it was because of the approaching gangoons, but not the full story. She had never shared that stupid encounter with anyone.
"Hey there, pretty lady." The one with the red hair said, a smug undertone to his words for some reason. "That is you, right? The girl from the tea shop in Kabuki? I see you've had some work done. Looking good!"
"What do you want?" Taylor demanded, irritably. "Last I remember, you called me a frigid bitch for refusing to go with you."
"You seemed like you've thawed out since then." He replied unrepentantly and then flashed an inhaler. "If you want to relax a bit more, we've got something you might like. Black Lace, I'll give you and your friends a free puff as an apology for my rudeness back then."
"And then we could dance a bit." The green-haired one added.
He seemed to have gotten more confident in the intervening months. Had new cosmetic cyberware on his face as well.
Taylor's good mood quickly evaporated. She'd learned to largely ignore the rampant drug problem in Night City. Having a couple of petty drug pushers try to get her and her friends addicted was considerably more aggravating.
"Go die in a fire." She replied, the alcohol making her meaner than she would normally be.
"Bah, she's become an even bigger bitch than before." Red Hair scoffed.
V slid out of her seat in a single smooth motion, getting in the gangoon's face. She was actually a couple of inches taller than him, so she was glaring down.
"You don't get to speak to her like that, boy." She said dangerously. "Apologize."
"V, it's fine." Taylor said, although a bit ticked off when she noticed their eyes dipping towards her girlfriend's chest. For some reason, that felt more annoying than the other looks they'd been getting all night.
"No, it isn't." V refuted, not looking away from the gangoons. "Toothless little kittens should know better than to try biting off more than they can chew."
Taylor knew that V was capable of being more diplomatic than this, even while buzzed. She could have talked them down and got them to leave. Why was she escalating?
Jackie saw it too and went to stand at V's side.
"How about we all take a step back, huh?" He said, but his body language was making it clear that starting a fight wouldn't end well. "It's been a good night so far, no need to ruin it."
"The apology." V refused to compromise. "You won't like what happens if I have to insist."
Taylor could already see that this wasn't going to end peacefully. She made to stand, but was confused when V subtly signaled her to stay back. What was going on?
The two Tyger Claws had at first been momentarily distracted by V's boobs. Then they had been intimidated by Jackie's size. But neither of those two things lasted long, and they'd had their pride poked too many times. The results were predictable.
"Fuck you!" Red Hair snapped and swung at V.
Too predictable. V had been waiting for that and moved out of the way, grabbing his arm as it passed by her and using her other hand to land a brutal punch right into his liver. He went down like a sack of bricks.
Green Hair was a moment behind his friend, but got swiftly manhandled by Jackie. With his biomodded muscle, the Latino was significantly stronger than him.
"Now, about that apology?" V asked sweetly, digging her thumb into the space between the neck and shoulder.
"I'm sorry!" The Tyger Claw squealed.
"For what?"
"For calling the pretty lady a bitch! She's not a bitch, I'm sorry!"
"Don't say it to me, say it to her."
"I'm sorry, pretty ladyyyyy!" His squealing got very high pitched.
"Good boy." She said condescendingly and let him go.
The entire altercation had happened in a matter of seconds, and the little bit of attention it got from the rest of the club-goers quickly disappeared when they realized the show was over.
"The hell was that about?" Taylor asked, puzzled by the whole interaction. There had been no need for it. If they got angry over every little dog barking then they'd never get anything done.
"I defended your honor." V replied smugly. "That means I get to princess carry you home."
Taylor just stared at her blankly for a moment. Then she thumbed the vibrator remote control extra hard, just to wipe that smirk off her face.
XXXXX
V was in an immensely horny mood. It had been a great night all around and she couldn't wait to top it off. They'd already dropped off Jackie and Misty and were now making their way back home. The car was set to auto-drive, not just because V was more than a bit tipsy, but because Taylor had really gotten confident with that vibrator. It would be hard to pay attention to the road when her mind was full of lewd plans for what she would do after princess-carrying her sweetie home.
"Turn left here." The sudden cold command was so unexpected and jarring that it actually took V several embarrassing seconds to properly register it. She blamed the booze.
"What's going on." She asked even as she took hold of the wheel and obeyed, knowing that Taylor wouldn't just tell her to do something like that for no reason.
"Just something I can't let pass." Was the terse reply. "Turn right at the next intersection and slow down."
V did as she was told, but internally pouted at the ruined mood. Whichever gonk had drawn Taylor's ire right now had better hope they don't survive.
The bug master rolled down her window and drew her Tyranny, pointing it down a rather grimy-looking alley. This was one of the poorer parts of Heywood.
V's cybernetic eyes just barely caught a glimpse of a man pinning a woman face first to the grimy wall of the alley before the Tyranny barked and the guy's head exploded. The woman screamed in shock and ducked down, disappearing from view as the car drove past.
"Rapist?" She asked. It wasn't the first time Taylor had done something like this. Once she got used to the way things were done in Night City, she'd taken to playing judge, jury, and executioner with a certain gusto that spoke of a long frustration with the law.
"Rapist." Came the confirmation.
V made a noise of acknowledgment, thinking of a way to restore the sexy mood. Unfortunately, murder had a way of ruining that for most people, so she just took hold of her girlfriend's hand while the car drove them home.
But once they got there, she was in for a surprise. Instead of broodily going inside, Taylor crouched down a bit and threw V over her shoulder.
The former corpo made a noise of surprise, then laughed in delight. "What brought this on?"
"I wasn't feeling like a princess." Taylor answered, marching towards the door with intent.
V just smiled and relaxed. She wasn't smiling only because it looked like some sexy fun was still on the menu, but because she hadn't felt any jolt of fear at the surprise move. It looked like her brain was fully conditioned to trust Taylor. Finally.
XXXXX
A few days later
The minions had behaved themselves while they were doing the Biotechnica gig, keeping up their training and not slacking off despite the lack of supervision. That meant that Taylor had to keep her word to them and take them on a gig.
Finding a Scav operation was depressingly easy – the scum had repopulated during the one month hiatus. Even taking into account the likely factor that the Soviet corps and criminals were both importing Scavs into Night City, the sheer speed at which their operations popped up as soon as there was a gap in the market was absurd.
"Alright, I've found a target for you." Taylor said to the minions.
They still looked so awfully young, especially the sixteen-year-old Veronica. Objectively, she knew that they were about the same age as her, and that Veronica was a bit older than she had been when she started caping, but they still felt so young and green. Training them and turning them into killers felt wrong, no matter how much she told herself that these kids didn't have any other options in life.
Fortunately, Taylor was good at ignoring inconvenient feelings. And she couldn't begrudge them for preferring to take risks instead of trying to eke out a miserable existence at the bottom of society.
"A Scav den, Ma'am?" Alejandro asked with restrained excitement.
"A Scav den." She confirmed with a nod, gesturing towards the silent Jackie standing next to her. Both of them were wearing their armor, and covering them with long full coats to remain somewhat inconspicuous. The entire getup made them look very bulky, but it was less eyecatching than the armor itself. "Stampede and I will be nearby in case shit hits the fan, but other than that you'll be on your own. R0n1n will be your netrunner support and this should be a cakewalk, but I expect you to take it seriously, understand?"
The former corpo brat netrunner they'd blackbagged had, after some waffling and attempting to see if he could go independent, realized that having protection was valuable and was willing to play ball.
"Yes, Ma'am!" They chorused, standing at attention.
"Good, then gear up and let's get moving."
"Damn, chica, If I didn't know better I'd have sworn they were military." Jackie commented once it was just them.
"PRT troopers were deployed to contain trouble that was often way beyond their ability to handle. They had to be efficient." Taylor explained. Wards obviously didn't get the same kind of training, but there were enough similarities and she had used her bugs to spy on actual PRT training as well.
"I gotta admit that it does make me feel better to see them like this instead of being dumbass gonks like I was at their age." Jackie admitted, looking at the kids with a sigh. "Back then I was all bluster and waving my gun around."
She looked at him sideways, slowly raising an eyebrow.
"What's with that look?" He groused. "Have you been taking lessons from V on how to make people feel stupid without saying anything?"
"Not at all." Taylor denied, letting a hint of amusement slip into her tone. "Come on, let's get in the car."
Jackie gave her another suspicion look, then huffed, grabbed his helmet and walked towards his Merrimac. She followed behind.
The kids started filing into the car soon after, all geared up. Unlike the usual mish-mash of style that characterized mercenary groups in Night City, they all had standardized equipment. Armor, weapons, and eventually cyberware or bioware.
That had been the part that had been the hardest to beat into their heads. Most of them had gone into this life because they wanted to be cool – or nova as the slang was – and rich and memorable. They wanted to be special. Standardized gear was neither of those things in their minds.
But Taylor had refused to budge. She was not letting anyone she trained run off into battle bare-chested just because they saw it in a movie or something equally stupid. They would wear armor and they would only get chrome after Viktor gave the okay for as long as they were under her command. V backed her up, because having standardized minions was apparently a sign of success.
Jackie kept the drive to the location light-hearted, bantering with the clearly nervous kids and easing their minds. Still, Taylor could practically feel the tension vibrating off them with the bugs she planted.
Good.
When she first started training them, they were all a bunch of dumbasses who thought picking up a gun made them invincible action heroes. Months of physical conditioning to hone their discipline, war games to show them how easily they could die, and the occasional beating had eventually gotten it through their thick skulls that this wasn't a game. Now it was time to see how much of it had really stuck.
The Scav den was on the edge of Watson, which seemed to be a favorite for them. In truth, it was just one of multiple Scav dens she'd found, but it was the one that would be the easiest to provide cover for. They stopped the car out of sight of the place and filed out for the final bit of instructions.
"Alright, wait here with Stampede until I get into position." Taylor ordered, picking up a long box.
It held a Techtronika Grad sniper rifle. The brutal Soviet piece of iron worked better for her than the more high tech Arasaka or Militech designs.
Taylor knew that proper sniper training was long and difficult, but she was once again able to cheat like crazy. Swarm shunting made it so that she could be perfectly still and never flinch, her bugs let her read the wind easily, and in an urban setting, she could effectively see through walls. She had only needed to practice with it for a few days to get used to the recoil, the bolt-action mechanism, and get a feel for its ballistics before she was confident in being able to use it at least proficiently.
This was a poor area, so many of the buildings looked like something out of a warzone, with broken outer walls and collapsed floors, when it was actually just neglect. Mostly. Some of the damage was definitely from explosives. She jogged up to the roof, getting some curious and wary looks from the various loiterers. The smarter ones looked at her hands and feet, realizing that she was wearing armor, and decided to aggressively mind their own business.
Once on the roof, she shucked her long coat and laid down, setting up the sniper rifle. The Scav den was in a shorter building just down and across the street, well within her range.
"Skitter in position." She said. "Veronica, you have operational command."
Veronica was the youngest person on the squad, as well as the only girl, but her background as a Militech corpo brat made her the most receptive to a military style of doing things. The squad leader position was rotated between the four members when they played war games, and the same would be done on these practice gigs, but Taylor expected that she would eventually be confirmed for the position.
"Affirmative." The girl confirmed. She tried to sound confident, but couldn't hide the nervousness.
"Let's do this!" Johnny exclaimed quietly.
"No chatter on the comms!" Veronica hissed back at him.
"Sorry." Johnny mumbled sheepishly.
"Don't be sorry, be quiet."
Taylor approved. When they had failed to maintain comms discipline during training, she had made the entire squad run until they puked. Even if only one of them said a wisecrack, all of them would get punished. It had made the lesson sink in real fast. It had also been the thing that had driven off several potential recruits.
She'd have done it again if Veronica didn't rebuke Johnny, and would definitely do it if any of them said a single unnecessary word until the combat portion of the gig was finished.
Jackie still had the same problem sometimes, and he was harder to discipline about it, but she and V had been able to gradually browbeat him into realizing that making running commentary on what was happening was not a good idea. Now they just had to deal with the occasional stupid joke.
Taylor could feel the tension and nervousness in the kids' movements with her bugs, smell it in their sweat, but they moved in competently. They covered for each other, checked blind spots, and didn't rush in carelessly. R0n1n took over cameras for them and pinged the Scavs to reveal their location, but they remembered her constant warnings to not assume that the ones revealed by pings were all of them.
They were able to take out two from stealth before they were discovered and didn't freeze from the shock of killing. Night City had a way of desensitizing people to that, and most didn't really consider Scavs 'people' anymore.
Taylor kept her finger on the trigger and the sniper rifle trained on the most dangerous of the Scavs, ready to take him out if it seemed like the minions were in any actual danger. Jackie was also waiting just out of sight, ready to bulldoze his way in and kill everything.
But it didn't turn out to be necessary. The kids made good use of cover and didn't try any stupid heroics. This particular pack of Scavs was just street trash with no morals, and Taylor had drilled those brats relentlessly because she didn't want them dying under her watch. They were well-equipped and overqualified for this level of combat, and it showed.
"All clear?" Veronica asked more than stated.
"Is it?" Taylor asked back coolly.
"All clear." The girl said more firmly, remembering that they had swept every room.
"Good. What's next?" She prompted.
"Umm, R0n1n! Any police response?" Veronica remembered.
"None." The netrunner replied.
There wouldn't be, not in this part of town, not over a little gunfire.
"Then we take our time and loot this place bare." Veronica said this more confidently.
"And then we take you to the Coyote to celebrate your first successful gig. Drinks are on me!" Jackie proclaimed.
That broke all sense of discipline as the brats started cheering. Probably less about the free drinks than the notion that they were finally proper mercenaries. Taylor couldn't really begrudge them the enthusiasm, but she would have to warn them not to blow their entire pay on something stupid.
She swore that if they spent it all on hookers and booze, she was going to kick their ass. And if they spent it on drugs, she might actually expel them from the squad.
XXXXX
It was well past sundown before Taylor made it back home, and all she wanted to do was take a hot shower and collapse into bed. She was a bit buzzed from the obligatory social drinking that Jackie insisted was necessary and her hair stank of cigarette smoke, because way too many people in Night City smoked.
V was already home, obviously long since finished with whatever errands she had been on for the day. She took one look at Taylor and immediately came over to help her take the armor off.
"How did it go?" She asked.
"Pretty much perfectly." Taylor replied, happily letting herself be peeled out of the armor. "I'll have to find some way to keep them from getting too confident about their success, but at this point most of what they need is experience."
A few more monitored gigs with her providing overwatch, but pretty soon she would have to let them fly solo.
"You've done more for them than anyone else would have." V said, guessing at her thoughts. It had been one of the things they'd talked about while lying in bed.
"I know. I just… really don't want to attend any of their funerals." She sighed.
V didn't offer any platitudes, both of them knowing that Night City didn't have any guarantees of tomorrow.
"Come on, I'll scrub you down and give you a backrub." She said instead, tugging her towards the shower.
Taylor let herself be pulled along and stepped into the shower while V quickly undressed as well. Then she turned around and paused. There was a new tattoo on her girlfriend's chest.
It was a cartoon heart, placed right over the location of her actual heart, but it had spider clinging to it. It was a very cute spider, with eight fuzzy legs wrapping around the heart, and equally fuzzy pedipalps and chelicerae latched onto the top of it. There was a thin line of drool coming from its hidden mouth, making it seem like the spider was gnawing at the heart like a teething baby. Its six eyes were huge and adorable.
"V?" She asked, gesturing to the new tattoo.
The older woman smiled and stepped forward, enveloping her in a hug. "I wanted you to be able to see how I feel. I love you, Taylor."
A tremble went through her body that she would have instinctively shunted into the swarm not that long ago, but V had conditioned her to not do that at home. Her chest felt tight and warm.
Both of them had been avoiding any such declarations, an effort that became more obvious with every passing day. Taylor had been refusing to think about it too much, as was her usual MO, but V was apparently less of a wimp.
"Love you too, Valerie." She murmured back.
An almost invisible tension drained out of the older woman, along with a tiny exhale of relief. "That's good to hear. I'd have been upset with myself if I failed to seduce you."
Taylor snorted in amusement and reached down to give her girlfriend's ass a squeeze. "You did just fine, now give me that scrubbing you promised."
"Yes, Ma'am." V chuckled.
XXXXX
The next day, Taylor was doing something she hadn't done in a while – sitting at a table, chewing on a sandwich, and staring at a biosculpt clinic.
Once she was done eating, she went inside, paid the receptionist and entered the booth. Then she started designing a tattoo – a cutesy snake coiled around a heart, just left-of-center on her chest.
Tattoos were another one of those things that she had long associated with 'the bad crowd' kind of people. But after the insufferably sweet gesture V had made with one, she couldn't help but feel like she should give it a try. Worst came to worst, it wasn't like on Earth Bet, where removing a tattoo was almost impossible.
Besides, she kind of was 'the bad crowd' these days.
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