Chapter Text
V nearly scoffs at the ridiculous outfit she currently has on. Even in her corpo days, she wouldn’t be caught dead in a dress. Especially not a very red, very form fitting dress. While yes, her curves were accented quite nicely in it, it was too damn tight . What would she do if she got in the middle of a gunfight in such a horrendous getup? Die, most likely.
But, today was a… special occasion. She’d finally convinced Meredith, the militech lady she did business with sometimes and more than occasionally met at the No-Tell Motel, to go out on a proper date. It took weeks of carefully dropping hints that maybe they should spend time outside the bedroom for Meredith to agree to a date. V had spun it as a way to make the sex even better by getting to know one another on an emotional level. And V was genuinely starting to like Meredith more than just a fuck buddy.
Unfortunately, she had no indication whether the other woman felt the same- thus far, she’d been completely content to fuck V and then leave almost immediately after. V herself had even preferred that in the beginning, but it was going on four months now and she longed for a deeper connection. She hoped Meredith would feel the same.
Which is why she wanted to impress the Militech agent with the sexy red dress. Even if it was impossible to breathe in it.
She checked her holo for the time and cursed slightly as she realized she would be late if she didn’t leave now. They were supposed to meet at a classy restaurant in corpo square that would take V weeks to build her savings back up from, but she hoped it’d be worth it. The reservation was hard enough to get. She had to pull a favor from Jonathan Peralez, who she did security work for once or twice, in order to get anywhere near a decent table.
She checked herself out in the mirror one last time. Her makeup was caked on heavily. Her hazel eyes popped brightly in contrast to the dark eyeliner around her eyes, she wore red lipstick which was a slightly duller shade than the dress, and she’d actually contoured and highlighted her face. She had to admit, she looked damn good. She just felt ridiculous for going to these lengths. She hadn’t been this dolled up since working at Arasaka.
Her Delamain was parked outside ready to escort her to the restaurant when she got a ping on her holo. It was from Jackie.
Jackie: ¡Hola chica! meetin’ up at Lizzie’s tonight if u wanna hang
V: nah got a hot date tonight
next time
Jackie: ay, don’ tell me it’s that militech bitch
V: she’s not bad once you get to know her. kinda fun, even.
Jackie: suuuuuure, chica
but aight have ur fun
hasta luego!
She closed the messages and sighed. It was no secret Meredith had a bad rep amongst her friends. They all thought V deserved better than some bitchy Militech agent who, as they put it, was using V for a kink fantasy. That was the whole point of fuck buddies, though, she argued. Of course, that was before she developed feelings.
She arrived at the restaurant with a few minutes to spare thanks to the Delamain skipping traffic by using a shortcut. Meredith wasn’t around as far as V could see, so she opted for making sure their table was still reserved and ordering them some champagne in advance. After she made the arrangements with the hostess, she waited by the door until she spotted a Militech truck pulling into the valet lane.
When she saw Meredith, she shouldn’t have been surprised to see her in her normal Militech blazer and pencil skirt, but she felt embarrassingly overdressed now. Her only saving grace was that the other people in the restaurant were dressed as nicely as she was. If anything, Meredith was underdressed. But the other woman had such confidence in her stride and sway of her hips that no one would dare question her choice of attire.
Meredith eyed V hungrily and an eyebrow raised in admiration. She didn’t say anything, but the appreciation of the dress was evident. V knew it’d probably kill the woman to give any verbal complement, so she’d take what she could get.
“V.” Her husky voice always sent shivers through her.
“Meredith. Shall we?” After the simple greeting, they were seated with the champagne already being poured into their glasses.
V smiled at Meredith while raising her glass to her lips slowly. She wasn’t trying to be sexy while she did it, but she watched Meredith’s eyes darken and her head tilted in a way that screamed just wait until I have you alone. And while she didn’t mind the notion, V had other goals this evening. Like getting to know the woman she’d been fucking for months.
“So… anything new in the Militech world?” She asked, breaking the sexual tension in an instant.
The corner of Meredith’s lips tugged downward and she crossed her arms while leaning back in her chair. “Hm. Nothing worth noting.”
It didn’t escape V’s attention that Meredith didn’t ask her any questions in return the whole ten minutes they were seated. It was like talking to a brick wall. A very horny brick wall. She kept feeling Meredith’s foot graze her leg and maneuver up and down in slow, teasing motions. And the woman was practically eye fucking her the whole time. Her gaze was so intense and V was so frustrated at her futile attempts at a normal conversation that she excused herself to the restroom.
She ran a hand through her fringe and breathed out a frustrated sigh. She tried to compose herself when she heard the door open, but she didn’t care to glance at the new presence. Her hands gripped the edges of the sink for a moment before familiar arms roughly pulled her into a stall and locked the door. V barely had time to form a complete thought when Meredith’s lips crashed against hers.
Hands roughly explored her body and one tangled in and yanked on her fringe, giving more access to her neck. V wanted to protest but instead a whimper escaped her lips when Meredith bit down and sucked on her neck hard. “Fuck!” She groaned, feeling fingers snake under the dress pulling it up enough so a thigh could slip between hers.
“Are we done playing ‘romantic night out’ now?” Meredith growled in her ear. V froze.
Playing? She braced herself against the wall, trying to find her footing and leverage and pushed the Militech agents' shoulders away. “The fuck do you mean by that?”
Meredith blinked. They stood staring at each other in confusion for what felt like several minutes. V’s heart rapidly beating in her chest from anger mixed with arousal. God, there must be something wrong with her if those two things often went hand in hand when it came to Meredith.
Suddenly, Meredith straightened and actually laughed . “Wait - you were serious about all this?”
“I - well…” V stammered. The mix of embarrassment, hurt, disbelief, and frustration was making her flustered. Her jaw set, a calm rage building the longer she stared at Meredith. Her voice leveled out as she grabbed onto the rage as tightly as she could. Rage, she could handle. The other stuff, not so much. “What did you think this was?”
If Meredith sensed the tension between them now, she didn’t show any signs of it. Instead, she chuckled and ran her hand through blonde hair smoothing it back after their short but heated makeout session left it messy. “Honestly, I thought it was some sort of roleplay. Was kinda into the idea, especially seeing you in that over-the-top dress.”
Roleplay?!
This time, V knew she didn’t hide the flash of hurt very well. Mostly it was her pride taking all the damage, but it didn’t make it any easier. She used to be an untouchable, badass Arasaka counterintelligence agent, now she was a solo with a respectable cred, and here she was making an utter gonk out of herself. Deadly silent, she now glared at Meredith, who finally seemed to take a more serious approach.
“V…“ she began, “Christ, why does this always happen? Look you’re a great lay and you’re smokin’ hot, but I’m not looking to be your output. Thought that was clear in this arrangement.”
“It is now.” V replied curtly.
Meredith sighed and straightened her blazer, V thought the woman sounded relieved . “Great. So, can we take your Delamain to the No-Tell Motel? Supposed to meet with a client around here later so I’d rather keep my wheels parked here.”
For a moment, V thought about agreeing just to blow off steam, then her rage returned and she scoffed at the woman. How could she have been such a gonk for thinking Meredith was remotely interested in her and not just the sex? Could she have sex with her again after today? She wasn’t sure about that one. No one liked being made for a fool, but V particularly hated it. Anything else, she could’ve handled. If Meredith had simply let her down without insulting her, she could’ve let it go. But this? Nah, fuck this.
“Fuck you. Don’t contact me again.” V shoved past Meredith, who - annoyingly - was grinning smugly. V instantly blocked her number and told the waiter her ‘companion’ would be right back to pay the bill. Instead of calling her Delamain, V opted for her Yaiba and she didn’t care that her dress made it very awkward to sit on. She peeled out onto the street with lightning fast speed and tore down the freeway towards nowhere specific.
It was in the general direction of her apartment but she wasn’t planning on going home quite yet. Her thoughts raced as fast as she did through the streets of Night City. Mostly, she couldn’t believe she’d been so dense. Few people in NC wanted an actual human connection with someone, the only ones she knew were Jackie and Panam, everybody else was too self absorbed. Her two best friends got lucky finding each other.
Even V, a year ago, would have been perfectly content with - what was it Meredith called it - their arrangement . In fact, V remembered a girl back in reception at Arasaka whom she had slept with on multiple occasions before the girl tried to get more serious. V cringed. She hoped she hadn’t been as cruel as Meredith had. Karma’s a real bitch.
One thought kept popping up above the rest, she needed a strong drink or several. She pulled up her holo, it was only 8 p.m., Jackie and Misty were probably still at Lizzie’s. Going way too fast to be even remotely safe, V headed in the general direction of Lizzie’s Bar and shot a message to her friend.
V: headed to Lizzie’s now. I need a drink
She didn’t wait or a reply and just focused on weaving in and out of traffic, thankful the NCPD didn’t patrol the streets at all. She liked to think they just gave up after realizing that everyone sped.
Lizzie’s Bar was one of those places in NC you could hear before you saw it. Of course, you also saw it from a mile away with the giant neon pink sign atop the building. The bass vibrated in her chest when she walked in after a quick chat with the bouncer outside. Her and Jackie came here every time they closed a big gig, so she was at least familiar to the staff.
She found Jackie, Misty, and a few of Jackie’s old Valentino chooms at a booth near the bar. “V!” He whistled as he saw her attire.
“Clean up real nice, V!” Misty shouted over the music. Clearly, she was in a couple drinks if the red tint to her cheeks was any indication. The two other guys, who were clearly a couple, left for the dance floor.
“Hey. Thanks.” As V sat down across from the pair, she spotted a bottle of half-empty Centzon and poured herself a double. She downed it, slamming the glass back down and pouring another. Jackie and Misty exchanged brief glances of concern.
“Y'alright there, chica?” Jackie asked.
V was beginning to loathe herself further at realizing she brought a dark cloud to the booth and was raining all over the light, easy mood she’d walked up to. With a forced smile, she waved her hand dismissively and downed the shot again. “Yeah, just needa get my mind off things.”
Lucky for her, both Jackie and Misty didn’t push her to tell them what was wrong. They had to have an inkling - considering she’d told Jackie about the date with Meredith and clearly it hadn’t gone well if she was drowning herself in Centzon.
Jackie clapped his hands and rubbed them together like he was planning some kind of grand scheme. “Well, V, my friend I’ve got some great news!” He put his arm around Misty, who leaned into his side with a shy smile. “Me and my girl here are movin’ in together!”
That really was the best news she’d heard all day, so V beamed at the couple and poured them all another round of the Centzon. “That’s fuckin’ preem guys! Finally decided to take the next step, huh? Bout time!”
“Uh-huh! Found sweet digs in Heywood that isn’t too far from mí mamá or Misty’s shop. Should come check it out later.”
“Of course, we haven’t moved any of our stuff over there yet…” Misty started.
“Except for la cama .” Jackie wiggled his eyebrows at her.
Misty and Jackie looked into each other’s eyes affectionately which would have made V barf but she couldn’t bring herself to ruin their little moment. So instead she opted for sliding out of the booth while chuckling. “OK, lovebirds, I’m gonna go… somewhere else.”
She was pretty sure they didn’t hear her.
V weaved around the crowds of people standing around chatting and drinking since all the booths were taken up. Mateo, the bartender, greeted her as she approached. “V! Double of Centzon?” The fact he knew her by name and by drink probably wasn’t a good thing.
V puffed out her cheeks as she sighed. The Centzon wasn’t so bad while she was sitting, but now that she had walked around, her entire body was buzzing. “Nah, definitely need to take it slow. I’ll take a beer.”
“Mateo - gimme a double of Centzon.” A woman's voice exasperated right beside V.
Before she even turned her head around to look, V chuckled at the timing, but when her eyes landed on the woman the sound died in her throat. Without meaning to, V was openly gaping at the fringed pink and green hair tucked behind an ear. The tattoos adorning her ridiculously smooth skin, which was hard to ignore with the tied crop top and overalls leaving much on display. She spotted several Mox tattoos and various others that she knew had to have some sort of significance or story behind them.
“Susie again?” Mateo asked knowingly while pouring the frustrated woman a shot.
“Ugh! She jus’ won’t get off my back ‘bout the new girl.”
“Ehh - you did promise to stop bringing in every girl in need, Jude.”
V was only half-listening to the conversation between the two, just picking up highlights really, when ‘Jude’ side-eyed her and made a strange face. “Didn’t know you were so chummy with corpos, Teo.”
It took V a moment to realize she meant her and she cleared her throat awkwardly to defend herself but no words came out. Wow . It had been a long time since she’d become completely… awestruck for someone. Her past self would have been utterly disappointed and humiliated by her inability to form words in front of this woman who had technically just insulted her.
“It’s my job to be polite to everyone, but V here isn’t actually a corpo - well, not anymore, she’s a solo.” Mateo came to her aid like a knight in shining armor.
She watched Judy’s eyes flicker down to her dress and raise a questioning eyebrow. Seemingly unconvinced, she shrugged and finished her drink. “Well, V - “ Judy leaned a little closer to her, her eyes flashed dangerously with seductive prowess that almost took V’s breath away. “You got a starin’ problem.”
Trying to regain as much of her dignity as possible. V put on her best charming smile, though it was likely the booze giving her a boost of charisma, and dropped her voice so only Judy could hear. “I do when I see somethin’ I like.”
Judy huffed and V swore she saw a strange hesitation before the other woman moved away from her, her gaze lingering a bit too long, and waved off something Mateo said. She watched her walk away, a sway in her hips that V couldn’t help but admire. She wondered if the sway was there naturally or if she knew she was that hot. “Fuck, Mateo, who was that ?” Her whole body was leaning forward on the bar as she eagerly waited on Mateo’s answer.
“That’s Judy, she’s a feisty one... ah, I’m not sure you’d wanna get involved with her. She’s also a Mox and they watch out for each other twenty-four seven.”
V smiled into her beer, staring at the spot where Judy had walked away. Oh, she very much wanted to get involved with her. Her gaze snapped back when Jackie clapped her shoulder with his very large hand, she had to hold back a wince at the force of it. “ Jaina ! Just got a message ‘bout a gig, big eddies to be made with this one. Whaddya say?”
“Mmm, thought we were relaxin’ big guy. ‘Sides, aren’t you a little too drunk to be acceptin’ gigs right about now?” She raised a teasing eyebrow.
Jackie just ‘pffted’ and leaned his weight on his elbow against the bar top. “C’mooooon, don’t gotta be completely sober to know a preem gig when I see one.”
V downed the rest of her beer and braced herself for what was sure to be a hard-to-follow briefing. Jackie motioned for them to head back to the booth. She did her best to remain steady as she walked back with him.
“‘Kay, contact name’s Evelyn Parker.” Jackie began as soon as they got themselves safely to the booth. “Didn’t give me all the deets, but job’s a search and rescue type shit. Somethin’ ‘bout a doll gone missin’.”
“That’s it? Thought you said this was big eddies?”
Jackie waved his hands in a “settle down” motion and continued. “We’re gettin’ more intel tomorrow but - thing is, this contact - Evelyn Parker, she’s a big shot in the doll industry. She can afford to pay us real good, ‘sposed to meet back here tomorrow to discuss everything.”
V frowned, so far he hadn’t really explained anything, but Jackie was usually good about finding decent paying gigs so she decided to trust his gut on this one. “Tomorrow then! Guess that means should turn in for the night, ‘sides I’d rather not be hungover for our big meeting, choom.”
“Suit yourself! Think me and Misty’ll stay a while. See ya mañana.”
-
The next morning V’s head was pounding from the alcohol she’d consumed at Lizzie’s. Apparently, she’d had more than originally thought. When she got home the night before, she immediately crashed on her bed not bothering to change or anything, so she woke up in that ridiculous dress and was reminded of her disaster with Meredith. Groaning and feeling sorry for herself, she showered and threw on clothes that were more her . Tight black leather pants, a muscle tank top of the same color, her trusty Samurai leather jacket, and black and white sneakers. For good measure, she threw on some aviators too.
She took a quick peek at her holo, just in case she missed a message from Meredith, and groaned when she saw nothing. Her stomach dropped, but she quickly shook it off - she didn’t have time to worry about Meredith. If this job Jackie mentioned was legit, she’d be getting out of the city for a little while with that kind of scratch.
She met Jackie at the bar again, the bouncers outside giving them both curious looks when Suzie Q gave them the go-ahead to enter before operating hours. They were led by a Mox girl to a private room where a single blue haired woman sat with a cigarette between her fingers. Her fur coat was heavy around her neck and she was adorned with jewelry and had perfectly done nails.
“Thanks, Jenny. You can leave us now.” Her voice was silky smooth and V noticed the easy air of confidence surrounding her almost immediately. She motioned for them to sit, a circular holo cast a faint glow of an exotic dancer above it.
Jackie eagerly sat and made himself comfortable by kicking his feet up onto the holo base. The woman eyed him momentarily before her gaze came to rest on V who was sitting slightly more gracefully than her companion. “You must be Evelyn Parker?” V asked although she already knew the answer.
“Perceptive.” Evelyn’s expression was a picture of amusement. “I’ve heard good things about you two, your rep is nothing to scoff at and several personal friends have recommended you.”
Jackie puffed out his chest a little. “You need a job done, we’re your mercs!”
“Excellent. I’ll cut to the chase, then. A doll by the name of Rose Sawyer has gone missing, she’s a personal favorite of Yorinobu Arasaka, so he’s worried about her.”
V’s eyes widened a bit at the name. “ Arasaka? Fuck.”
Evelyn’s eyebrow quirk in a way that let V know she was more than a little curious of the reaction. “That won’t be a problem, will it?”
It was then V stole a glance at Jackie with uncertainty in her eyes. For his part, he seemed eager to accept the job. This was big if it was coming from Yorinobu Ara-fucking-saka. It was unlikely he would know who V was, if he even knew the names of the people Evelyn hired, but if for some reason the doll of his ended up dead - well, that wouldn’t be good for anyone. And Arasaka just did not tolerate failure. V knew that from personal experience.
Jackie seemed torn about his next words, he was clearly unused to seeing V hesitate. She saw him look from her to Evelyn a few times, his eyes pleading with V to take the job or say something. V knew he needed this, especially now that he got a place with Misty. With a sigh, V shook her head. “No… no, it won’t be a problem. We’re gonna need more deets, though. Last place Rose was seen, access to her client list, you know - that sort of thing.”
She thought for a moment before adding, “And - like to know what kinda payment we’re talkin’.”
Evelyn quirked an eyebrow and took a drag from her cigarette, there was a glint in her eyes that V didn’t miss. She looked positively delighted. “Eighty thousand eddies, each. And that’s a firm price. As far as the other stuff, I’ll send you down to my BD specialist - she’ll give you access to all Rose’s information.”
Jackie practically bounced with anticipation, V could tell by his foot shaking impatiently on the base of the holo - it was a tic of his that she’d picked up on when he couldn’t stand to wait for something. But V was thorough and needed to get all the info she could manage. “One more thing… why’s Yorinobu wanna hire some street merc’s for this? ‘S got a whole army of runners and assassins at his beck and call.”
The look of intrigue V noticed earlier vanished for a moment, but Evelyn schooled her features quickly - V had to hand it to her, she knew how to remain calm and collected which was probably how she managed to stay on top of the doll biz.
“Yorinobu would prefer his… ‘behind closed doors activities’ stay out of his family business. He doesn’t want to waste business resources on this. Besides, Rose might’ve just left the city without telling anyone - or ended up in a field somewhere by her own choices. Hardly worth sending runners and assassins as you put it.” Evelyn remained nonchalant about the whole situation. She took a long drag of her cigarette, then, “We good? Or do you have more questions?”
V huffed while she glanced at Jackie, who was still oozing anticipation. He knew full well whatever job he lined up - he needed V to see it through. She was, in a way, the brains of any job they took. She’d gotten them out of dicey situations on numerous occasions and avoided them completely on other occasions. Not to say Jackie didn’t pull his weight, though. V owed him her life for so many things. He’d been the one to help her after ‘Saka fired her, alone and starving on the streets, one wrong move from being off’d by some street thugs. He pulled her out of a dumpster after a bunch of Raffen’s jumped her, and he’d even saved her from many crazy ex-girlfriends. Not to mention all the jobs that’d gone sideways and he muscled his way out of the situation, saving both their asses.
There was no question she’d do this for him, even if something seemed off with the whole situation, they’d just have to be extra cautious. “Yeah, sure, we’re good. Mentioned something ‘bout a BD tech?”
“BD specialist - but yes, follow me.” Evelyn stood and led them out of the room, down a hall past some booths V distinctly heard moans coming from, and finally to a stairwell leading down.
Jackie shot her a questioning look. V doubted they were in any danger, this was Lizzie’s after all, but then again it was still Night City. Evelyn spoke to one of the Mox girls by the entrance of the stairwell, V couldn’t make out what they were saying, so she turned to Jackie. “Thoughts?”
“This could be major league biz, right V? I mean - sure, ‘Saka’s bad news but, the eddies could be worth it.” He shrugged as if to further convince V it was no big deal. But Arasaka was always a big deal, V knew that better than most.
Evelyn motioned for them to follow her down the stairwell. V braced herself for whatever or whoever awaited them at the bottom of the Mox bar.