Chapter Text
»And? Whaddaya saying, Vik?«
Yeah, what did Vik had to say? He wasn’t too sure himself. Speechless he stared at the car in front of him. It was a first car. Any first car wasn’t the most beautiful on the streets. In those cars you could see that the owner was young and not the richest yet. The cars looked used and shabby and somehow it always had his charm. The car in front of him, had all of that. Some charm, a lot of used, even more shabby and that much rust that Viktor wasn’t sure if it was more rust than metal overall. The ripperdoc pressed his lips together.
His gaze wandered to V. They beamed with joy and almost lovingly patted the metallic roof of the car. Vik really didn’t want to be too honest and rude, he clearly saw how happy they were. Did his opinion really matter? And to be fair… the car wasn’t the best, but it also wasn’t as bad as it could be. »What did you pay again?«, he asked, avoiding the question itself a little.
»Only 10 grand!« With wide steps V toured around the car, checked every detail and brushed of some dust from the windows with their sleeve. »Would have been about 12 grand but I did a gig for them and haggled a little. And voila!« With wide, open arms they presented the car again. As if the first time hadn’t been enough.
10 grand. A lot of money and still very little compared to the costs of other cars. But Viktor knew how hard V had worked the past weeks. They had taken a lot of gigs, smallish jobs, they had almost done everything to earn some money. It wouldn’t have surprised him if they had started babysitting kids. In some downtime they had been down, not finding anymore gigs because the fixers had preferred mercs with some more experience that were almost equally cheap to hire. The market was harsh in that field. But V had pulled through and now they were standing here with their very own car. They had every right to be proud of themselves. The car had been important to them and they had succeeded. Vik couldn’t help but smile as he looked at them. »A little rusty«, he said. He couldn’t hold it back, but still he was smiling, infecting V with it and they clearly weren’t bothered by his words. »But looks nice. Four wheels, an engine, probably will do what it’s supposed to.«
»Absolutely!« V’s gaze was like when you look at someone you absolutely adore. When you look at family, you had missed and not seen for way too long. When you look at something you had always wanted. »Wanna ride with me?«
»Hell no, V, no chance«, Vik said. He had been at V’s side when they had started driving. They had lent a car from some buddy of theirs and the first times Vik had joined them. He wasn’t very helpful, he himself barely drove a car and it had been quite some time since he had to the last time. He had been more of an emotional and mental support than a technical. And for heaven’s sake, Vik had been so glad when he had been able to get out of the car again. V drove fast, like really fast, and they didn’t even slow down for turns or anything. Every time Vik had left the car he had felt nauseous, and for the next hour (at least) he had to lie down and do nothing. Vik had had his fair share of driving experiences with V. And since they had become confident enough and didn’t need any help anymore he had never set foot in one of V’s burrowed cars again. And he wouldn’t set one in their very own car now. Nevertheless, he opened the passenger door and risked a look.
The inside of the old Galena G240 was as the outside. Old, had seen quite a lot, but still with charm. You could spend some time in here. V had already placed that dog wobble-head they had bought from their first gig money. An old radio was playing some rock music. Vik’s head bobbed to the rhythm and as his gaze wandered, it stopped at the bags on the back seats.
His stomach cramped. He swallowed hard. »You sure, you wanna do this, V?«, he asked and straighten up. The ripperdoc looked at V. »Do you really wanna go to Atlanta?« It had been a topic for quite a while now. V had spoken about it for some time. They had made some connections there and saw a chance for themselves. Vik had heard it all. He knew why they wanted to leave. But it was time now. Back then it had been an idea that perhaps would never happen. But now… it was really happening. And it saddened Vik. The moment had been so happy a minute ago and now he struggled not letting the corners of his mouth fall down.
»Yeah, I think so«, V said. They had taken a moment to think about it.
»And you think the car will make it there?«, joked Vik. A shy try to loosen the mood, to get rid of this uptight feeling he felt himself. It was in moments like these he realised how important V was to him but also how badly he handled it if the situations got any emotional. Vik always tried his best to wiggle out somehow.
A snorty laugh escaped them : »Sure it will!« They grinned for a second before they turned serious. »I have to Vik.« They fiddled with their fingers. Vik noticed. They had done that way more often when they had been younger. Now V only did it when they had to talk about difficult topics or if they couldn’t find the right words. »It’s too hard finding gigs here. And I really wanna work as a merc. But you know… it’s difficult here. And I want people to know me and my name. And somehow … I have no luck here. Feel like Atlanta might be better to me.«
Vik nodded. »You want to make a name for yourself.«
»Exactly! And I wanna see something, experience something. Something other than only NC … somehow… I don’t know, it feels like NC is just not really working for me. You know? I think I can make it there!«
»Sure. And it’s best if you leave now. While NC hasn’t swallowed you yet. Go while you still can.« Viktor had heard multiple people say that. And at first it had strike him odd. It was weird to say something like this. When he had been younger he never understood why people would say something like this. But now he himself knew that they had been right. If you stay in NC for too long and have the feeling that you are getting somewhere and that you are not the one at the very bottom, then you are already lost and you can hardly leave this city behind. You could still try but there would be always some part missing. You would leave a piece of you behind in NC. And you would always want to return. The city was like a strong magnet that pulled everything towards itself and refused to set it free again.
He himself was stuck here. There was no chance he could imagine a life somewhere else. And as far as he could tell V wasn’t as stuck yet. So if they wanted to leave, now was the time. They still had the chance. »Just wanted to make sure you are sure about this.«
»I really am! Thought a lot about it.«
Vik could tell. He had noticed how they had lay awake many nights. And then they had told him. From then on it only had been a waiting game again for it to happen. »And if you want to come back, you know that there is a place for you here, kid.«
The grin returned on V’s face. »I know, Vik. Thanks for everything.« They made their way around the car and hugged Vik. It was odd. There were only a handful of occasions when they had hugged as Vik could recall. V had never been a huggy-type kid and Vik himself wasn’t as well. So it had been only so many times they had looked for a hug. When Smokey had died or V had been terribly sick or they had been hurt. In these moments the younger version of V had craved some closeness. But Vik savoured the moment right now. It let his heart drop and again he felt this hint of sadness and the longer this took the harder it was for him to push it away. »Really. Thanks for everything«, they said again.
Vik patted their back while they still hugged and nodded. »Nothing to thank for, kid.« A happy grin, probably the happiest he had looked in years, was on his face as he looked at them. »Take care, will ya? Don’t do anything stupid and call now and then.«
»I will! Promise!« They looked at the ripperdoc for a moment until they hugged him again and then walked back to the car. They opened the door and waved to Vik.
»At any time, yes, V?«
»Yeah«, they laughed und some time ago Vik would have felt stupid. But not now. Now was not the time anymore to convince himself that he wasn’t THAT close to V. He was. And now he saw them leaving. It felt so unreal. Again a small wave towards him. »Bye, Vik.« They got in the car, the door closed.
»Bye, V. Show ‘em what you’re made of!«
They said something, but Vik only saw their lips moving (he could swear, it would be ‘Roger that’ again). The next second he heard the music getting louder and then they drove off. Jerkingly, a little unsteady on the first metres and then they got faster. Vik stood there. Hands in his pockets and watched as the car got smaller and smaller. He felt so tired. And weird. He hadn’t expected that it would hit him so hard if the day would come and V would be leaving. He himself had thought a lot about it. How it would be. How he would feel. But everything he had imagined wasn‘t like it was now. It was one more bittersweet memory in his life. He was happy for V, was excited to see and hear what they could achieve, but he would miss them. He already missed them now and they hadn’t even left the city. He would miss them running into the basement, telling him stories, dreaming loudly about their merc life. He would miss the little sparring sessions. He would miss how they would help him here and there. He would miss all the empty NiCola cans around the place. He would miss them asking for stories of his past now and then. He would miss them venting about gigs. Vik would miss everything. And everything was different again now.
He stared into the distance. The Galena was long gone, disappeared between all the other cars of the city. And yet he was still standing there. People walking around him, bumping into him now and then. But he wouldn’t move. Vik clenched his fists. There was no point in denying it anymore: he just had watched his kid drive off into the world. They were gone. An adult now. Living their own life. Before his damn eyes behind his shades could start to water (he already felt it coming), he quickly turned and walked back to the clinic.
His kid was gone.
Gone.
His kid.
It sounded so weird. But they had been happy in the end, he figured. This thought let him smile. Perhaps he had been doing good. It had been worth it. He didn’t regret a single decision, not a single minute or day. His steps were heavy as he took the steps to the clinic.
A soft meow echoed from behind.
Vik turned around. It was a sphinx cat. It looked with bright greenish eyes towards him, tilting the head a little. Vik had been lost in his thoughts, fixated on V and how everything would be different now, but the cat took him back. He looked at the cat until he nodded with a smiling sigh: »Sure, I’ll get you some food.«