Work Text:
Convincing Judy to come along on her gig wasn’t as difficult as V had expected. She thought there would’ve been some hesitation, considering the last time they saw each other, V had stuck a metaphorical knife in Judy’s back by allowing Maiko to not only double-cross them, but also take over Clouds.
So when V asked Judy for help, she tried to sweeten the deal. The promise of an all-inclusive gig at a preem-tiered hotel was enough for Judy to show up early, packed and ready 3 hours before showtime. Of course, that meant they had 3 hours to waste, which was spent watching TV on V’s couch, 5 feet apart.
It was a relief when they got the go from Panam (the person who had recommended V for the gig as a favor to a friend).
“So, we couldn’t just come to this as choombas?” Judy teased after they arrived at the Delta Hotel, a building cut out of stone and glass in Charter Hills. They knew they were no longer in the dank of Night City when a valet offered to take V’s MaiMai, and a busboy rushed over to handle their luggages.
“It’s a couple’s retreat on Valentine’s Day,” V said. “It’ll look odd if we arrived as gal pals, Mrs. Smith.”
“Ah yes, gotta look inconspicuous. Not like I’m full of gang tattoos, and my Mexican ass is walkin’ around with the whitest name badge.”
V beamed, happy to see Judy in a playful mood since they haven’t been as easy-going around each other in a while. The job itself sounded easy enough, but it was spending time with Judy that V looked forward to the most. She even convinced Johnny to fuck off for the next two days while they worked.
They checked into the lobby under the alias Martha Smith (V) and Karen Smith (Judy), newlyweds on a blissful honeymoon. They went incognito, opting to wear fancier clothes to blend in. The first time V saw Judy out of her regular overalls and into a black, v-neck dress that hung at mid-thigh was an enlightening experience.
The hotel itself was decked out in the Valentine’s Day spirit with red and white decorations littering the lobby, and employees dressed in skimpy cupid-attire passed them by. There was even an automatron with hearts painted on, handing out datashards on romantic activities to do in the hotel. V snatched one up, pointedly ignoring Judy’s curious look, and memorized the itinerary.
For work purposes.
As they headed up to their room with other guests inside the elevator, Judy pressed herself against V’s side to avoid snooping ears. “Can’t tell whether all this shit is swanky or tacky.”
V pretended to be chill, despite feeling flushed. “Why not both? Waiting for that gift basket of free condoms I was promised.”
“Think they might gift us a free Mr. Stud too?” Judy waggled her eyebrow. “Feelin’ like a high-roller right now, might give you a baby tonight, Mrs. Smith.”
The mental image of Judy wearing a Mr. Stud flashed before V’s eyes, and she couldn’t have been more relieved when they hit their floor. She let out a breath and extricated herself from Judy’s warmth, feeling light-headed over the playfully lecherous look that appeared on her fake wife’s face. They walked in silence, but instead of entering their room, they knocked on an adjacent door.
“There you guys are.” The client, as well as Panam’s old choom, Ameri Ferra rushed them inside. She snuck her head out the hallway to make sure they weren’t being followed, then slammed the door behind them. “You didn’t do the secret doorknock.”
Judy turned to V, looking far too amused. “There was a secret doorknock?”
V refrained from rolling her eyes. “Not knockin’ to that Ponpon melody.”
“Ponpon Shit is a classic!” Ameri huffed. “How can I trust you’d do this job correctly if you can’t even do that?”
V’s eyes flashed a dangerous red before all the electricity in the room went out. Seconds later, the lights came back on, followed by the hotel's TV coming to life playing US Cracks' music video, Ponpon Shit. V cocked her head. “How about that?”
Ameri’s eyes went wide.
Judy chuckled, smiling proudly. “Show off.”
************************
V watched with amusement as Judy feasted on all the candy and fresh fruits Ameri had laid out for them. Having grown up privileged, V wasn’t a stranger to non-synthetic food. She had never favored sweets, preferring savory meals instead, so she allowed Judy to pick off her portions. She was content with just sitting back and enjoying the moment.
Judy popped another chunk of dark chocolate into her mouth. “This thing tastes as bitter as dirt coffee, and yet, I can’t stop eating.”
Ameri presented them glasses of wine, frowning at the sight of Judy talking with her mouth full. “You can see why I ditched that nomad life and married up. No more crickets dipped in sugar, masquerading as luxury.”
“Can’t agree with you,” V said. “Reckon chocolate dipped crickets would be delectable.”
Judy hummed in agreement.
Ameri made a face, but chose to ignore her comment. “Can you imagine living like this everyday? Enjoying the taste of real, succulent strawberries bursting in your mouth?”
V didn’t have to imagine, she knew, but she also knew how some would sell out their whole families to live lavishly.
“Can imagine a few other wet things I wouldn’t mind bursting in my mouth,” Judy said, licking off her fingers in such an obscene way that even V blushed.
Ameri sighed. “I see you two can’t help but be crass.”
Judy rolled her eyes, wiping her hands with napkins before tossing them on Ameri’s pristine patio table. “Sorry, this high-class lifestyle ain’t for me. It’s nice for a minute, but then reality hits and you think about all the people you fucked over to be where you’re at.”
“You make it sound like that doesn’t happen regardless of your financial standing,” Ameri said, her tone dark. “I mean, do mercs in Night City have any moral ground? Mercenary biz isn’t exactly an honest day’s work now is it?”
“Speaking of mercenary biz,” V interrupted before Ameri could get Judy going - especially by implying the BD techie was a merc. She placed a placating hand on Judy’s thigh, keeping her attention on their client. “Thank you for the accommodations and fake aliases, must have cost you a fortune. But you don’t need to butter us up, we’re already here.””
Ameri took a seat across from them and straightened out the wrinkles from her off-the-shoulder sundress, recomposing herself. She avoided looking at Judy. “Well, paying for the accommodations was the least I could do for Panam, asking her for such a huge favor. I just wasn’t expecting her to be busy and someone else taking her place.”
“Not like Saul would've agreed to come along with Panam to a couple’s retreat. From what I heard, you left the clan on a bad note.”
“Saul is an ancient old man holding onto a dying past,” Ameri sneered. “Breaking away from the clan was the best decision of my life.”
“But now you need their help,” Judy said, arms crossed and examining Ameri with a glint in her eyes.
“I needed Panam’s help.” Ameri squared herself up to explain. “My husband has gone missing, and I believe his life coach Mike Mikelson is involved. Ethan left to attend one of Mike’s club meetings and never came back. When I inquired about his whereabouts, everyone just gave me the cold shoulder. Some even dared suggest that Ethan ran away. This is my husband, not a dog, why would he want to run away?”
V heard Judy snort.
She moved on before they could annoy Ameri even more. “What makes you so sure Mikelson is involved?”
“His assistant.” Ameri leaned in closer, her face turning deadly. “Mike is a snake in gold plating. He’s only renowned because everyone loves kissing his ass. He treats his dissenters like shit and his help even shittier. After Ethan went missing, I managed to wrangle out some information from Mike’s assistant with a few bribes of my own, and she believes our answers are on his laptop. He scrolls all of his sessions.”
“And he has his laptop here with him?”
“Yes. He’s giving a welcoming speech in half an hour, so you’re welcome to see the man for yourself. Tomorrow evening he's throwing a panel, which will be a great time for you to retrieve the virtus.”
“We can do recon today,” V told Judy.
Judy agreed, then a sly grin spread across her face. “Can’t wait to try out all the amenities here. Pretend to be corpo-rats for the weekend.”
Ameri narrowed her eyes.
************************
Cult.
That was the best word to describe Mike Mikelson’s club.
Cult.
V knew something was off when they entered the ballroom and was met by giant holograms displaying his image. She scrutinized his greasy, slick-back hair and the creepy smile showing off his unnaturally white teeth. The man in real life was just as unpleasant, shouting about the pursuit of love and happiness. After every sentence, a woman would scream, he would point at her and wink, the crowd would scream some more, then rinse and repeat.
Ameri fake gagged beside them. “I had my doubts about him when he started asking if I wanted private lessons. I declined, of course, but he didn’t like that very much.”
V knew about men like that all too well. “We’ll go scout out his suite.”
They bid Ameri a farewell and began to leave, a difficult task considering Mikelson’s crowd. Mindlessly, she grabbed onto Judy’s hand as they slithered in between bodies. When she realized what she did, she let go but Judy had other ideas and tangled their fingers together. V told herself it was just so they wouldn’t get separated, especially since the crowd had expanded. Their only roadblock was at the exit, where an overzealous teenager started badgering people about buying Mike Mikelson memorabilia.
V took an opportunity to unleash System Reset on him, causing nearby employees to freak out. She hoped the distraction would keep everyone busy for a while as they sped-walked to the elevators. Inside the empty shaft, Judy poked at her. “You know, I should be scared at how easy it is for you to quickhack. You’re like, one ping away from becoming a cyberpsycho.”
V smiled, unable to keep from swinging their clasped hands. “Are you regretting coming along with a potential cyberpsycho? We’re about to ruin a man’s whole career and possible media empire.”
Judy’s smile faltered. “Yeah, you seem to have a thing for taking down people’s biz don’t you?”
“Judy…”
“It’s cool, V. All in the past.”
V’s hand slackened in her grip, but Judy held on tight. Guilt gnawed at V’s stomach, but she couldn’t bring herself to apologize for doing the right thing. Plus, bringing Clouds up again would probably dampen the mood, and V quite like having Judy cling to her as they pretended to be newlyweds.
The elevator opened to Mikelson’s floor, and they stared down a winding hallway that was fortunately empty. They quickly went to work, with V taking over the security cameras while Judy tinkered with the elevator box to buy them some time.
She broke away from Judy to search through the hallways, and spent the next several minutes hacking all the camera feeds to scoop out various rooms. She came across the fanciest one, littered with pamphlets and posters of his face (narcissistic much?) and knew she found the right suite. Their target, the laptop, rested on his nightstand.
Easy as paella.
Judy’s voice pulled V from her netrunning. “They got the elevators working again. I think someone’s coming up here.”
V nodded. “Jude, do you trust me?”
Judy regarded her quietly, and for a moment V felt her stomach drop before Judy answered, “Yes.”
“Go with the flow,” was all V said before wrapping an arm around Judy’s shoulder who then stiffened, but followed along as V led them away. The elevator doors dinged open, and a group of cybernetic-endowed men who must’ve been Mikelson’s security entourage stepped out. V pressed her lips to Judy’s ear and whispered, “Just laugh.”
Judy began laughing and wrapped both arms tightly around V’s midriff. As for V herself, she took the opportunity to sprinkle kisses to the shaved side of Judy’s head, pretending to say something funny. Her heart was racing in her chest, but it wasn’t from the possibility of getting caught.
One of the guards with a gold faceplate halted them, a hand resting on his hip where the hilt of his gun must’ve been. “Hey! You’re not supposed to be up here.” The others walked around them, openly leering at two hot women hanging all over each other.
A disgusted glare threatened to overtake V’s face, but she tampered it down to keep up the pretense and looked around innocently, “Oh, I’m sorry! We got lost on our way to our room. Must’ve pressed the wrong button.”
“You know, honeymoon jitters,” Judy added, her voice unnaturally high-pitched. “We just got married!”
“I really couldn’t give a shit,” the man deadpanned. “Get out of here.”
They got close to the elevator before his voice rang out and stopped them. “Next time you two decide to get lost again, you can get lost inside my room. I got a nice honeymoon present for ya.” He grabbed his crotch and cackled, his choombas joining in with laughter at his stupid joke.
Judy jerked in V’s arm, and she was afraid Punchin’ Judy might make an appearance. Instead, Judy pulled her the rest of the way to the elevator and smashed the button, ignoring the dirty laughs behind them. Fortunately (for the scummy guards' sake) the doors immediately opened and they made their escape.
V could see Judy’s jaw overworking. “Proud of you,” she remarked, and she was, because the Judy of last week would’ve decked gold faceplate right in the mouth.
“Learning from a pro.” Judy's arms around V’s stomach relaxed, but she didn’t move to separate them.
************************
They decided a good day’s worth of recon deserved a good day’s worth of dinner. Judy had only ever eaten synthetic meat or insect proteins, so V wanted to show her a little bit of everything since it was all paid for by the generous Ameri. The best way to do so was a 7 course meal, which Judy found fascinating.
“So they give you 7 different things to eat?” Judy balked, squinting at the menu in front of her. “Isn’t that a little excessive?”
V grinned. “Oh, you’ll see.”
And Judy did see. In fact, she saw enough to come away offended. “What the hell is this? Did they harvest grass and pine cones in the street for this? Where’s the rest of the food?”
The waiter who had dropped off their dishes with a flourish let out an audible gasp, sounding as offended as Judy looked.
V dismissed the affronted waiter with the flick of her hand, biting down her lips to keep from laughing. “It’s an appetizer, Jude. A hors d'oeuvres.”
“Yeah, that means nothing to me.”
Judy studied the funny looking chunk of cheese garnished with herbs and nuts on a toasted cracker. She put the whole thing in her mouth and chewed it slowly, watching V watched her, and finished it off with a shrug. “It’s good, but it’s not a car payment good.”
V took that as a good sign.
Their next couple of dishes were more appetizing, although Judy couldn’t fathom how vegetable soup decorated with pretty colors could be considered luxurious. The ingredients were a lot fresher, she understood that part, but it didn’t make up for the price or the lack of...fulfillment.
“No wonder rich people are such assholes,” Judy said. “Cause they’re still hungry after eating this.”
V snorted out a little bit of wine she had in her mouth. The table next to them looked on in disgust, but V didn’t care, especially if that got Judy laughing. Judy had never looked happier, appearing absolutely stunning under mood lights, still wearing her out-of-character black dress. With every cheeky smile and sarcastic remark that flew out of Judy’s mouth, V saw herself tipping closer to that proverbial edge.
Didn’t hurt that the atmosphere was nothing less than romantic to go with the Valentine’s day theme. Soft ambient lighting, candles flickering, smooth violin playing, and loved-up couples everywhere, there was no mistaking what having dinner here meant. Part of V didn’t want to delude herself, but another part was aware of her and Judy’s blatant flirting and lingering touches. She was worried she might’ve screwed it up with the Maiko thing, but Judy gave no indication that the feelings weren’t reciprocated.
So V decided to enjoy the moment.
Judy grew quiet when a plate of seared scalloped arrived. She glanced up at V with a pensive smile. “Remember when I told you I loved diving? I’ve read so many shards and seen so many videos about what the ocean was like before all the toxicity, the pollution, the human intervention. It was so beautiful, V.” She stabbed the scallop with her fork and raised it in the air. “It still baffles me that we spend so much time and effort trying to bring these sea animals back to life, just to eat them.”
“Does it bother you that we’re eating them?”
“No.” She finished the whole thing in one bite. “Bothers me that they went extinct in the first place, only to come back cause corpos wanted fine dining. Gotta make earning the creds worth it somehow, right?”
“I grew up eating stuff like this,” V revealed, “It was still a luxury, but it never crossed my mind that not everyone knew the texture of real fish. Arasaka blackballing me was a wake-up call to how fucking lucky I had it.”
“Do you miss it, that life?”
V took another sip of her wine and pondered that question. Would she give up everything to be able to go back to Arasaka? The street knowledge, the experience, the people? “No,” she said honestly. “The eddies were nice, won’t lie, but I spent part of my week puking my guts out cause I was so stressed. There were times when I could only function by poppin' 6 different pills in my body. Don’t miss being corporate property.”
“Seems like grass ain’t greener on the other side.” Judy raised her wineglass. “Cheers?”
The rest of their evening went smoothly, with Judy letting out the dirtiest, most orgasmic-sounding moan after biting into her first quality cut of steak. V heard the table next to them complain to the waiter, who then took pleasure in telling them to quiet down. In her old life, V would’ve dragged that waiter by the ear all the way to the manager and demanded to know why an insubordinate would talk to her that way, but this V merely gave him a thumbs up.
V didn’t want the night to end, so after they were done, she took the chance to hook her arms through Judy's and asked, “The hotel’s throwing a garden show in about 10 minutes, do you wanna take a walk and check it out?”
Judy smiled from ear to ear.
************************
V imagined once upon a time, there had been lavish botanical sanctuaries all around the world with real birds and animals. For now, she’ll make do with what they had, which were digitized holograms of birds and butterflies flapping in between rows of flowers and plants. Judy stopped to read every placard that described what sort of plant or animal they were looking at.
Judy’s carefree exuberance at discovering new things with every step melted all the chrome inside of V’s body.
She trailed along wordlessly, wearing a goofy smile and being unable to keep her hands off Judy. Whether it was to intertwine their fingers, to place a hand on Judy’s lower back, elbow, or swing a whole arm around Judy’s shoulder, V played up the fake couple facade. At this point, it felt less fake and more natural, but without the kissing.
And how much V wanted to kiss her.
When the moon was far up in the night sky, they retreated back to their hotel room. They debriefed with Ameri before settling in for the night. They knew they were coming back to a single bed, but both of them weren’t that awkward to make a big deal out of it. It was almost inevitable to end the night curled up against each other.
************************
On Valentine’s day the next morning, V and Judy attended a couple’s day spa. Being forced to get undressed in front of each other was an out of body experience, but it was Judy’s unabashed heated stare never leaving V’s body, and V being bold enough to soak up tattooed skin in return, that nearly did V in.
Was this how she was supposed to die?
Or maybe her death came in the form of an automatron masseuse going to town on her back. She must’ve murdered a robot relative, because why else would each jab and chop feel personal. Judy was on the next table over, grunting and moaning in pleasure since she'd gotten the less evil masseuse. V wasn’t going to be a gonk and complain, but she swore her masseuse was out to break the bones in her neck.
By the end of it, V did feel like a brand spanking new person. The cranks and tight knots that plagued her for months had disappeared, and V had enough respect in the craft to apologize to the automatron for doubting its abilities.
The automatron who stood motionless, staring back at her with its blank metallic face.
“V, it's a robot,” Judy said, tapping V’s stomach. “Doesn't have a brain, won't know what the fuck you’re saying.”
They had lunch at a shop in the upper floors with an outdoor patio overlooking most of Charter Hills. They gorged themselves to the point where V wanted to take a long nap right there in her chair, while Judy looked to be on the verge of throwing up. But it was worth it to see Judy try and stuff handfuls of chocolate marshmallows in her mouth.
“Are you having fun?” V asked, cheek on her knuckles and an adoring gaze in her eyes.
“Yeah,” Judy answered with the same look in return. “Best I’ve had in years, to be honest.”
“Good. Happy Valentine’s day, wifey.”
Judy took a rose off the vase on their table and flicked V’s nose with it. “Happy Valentine’s day to you too, wifey.”
They next attended a couples’ health and wellness class run by one of Mikelson’s instructors, which was basically an exaggerated version of yoga. The tight yoga pants turned out amazing for Judy’s ass, as did the cut-off exercise shirt, but that didn’t stop a few looks and a few whispers of, “are those Mox tattoos?” coming from the others. V and Judy ignored them, intent on making complete asses out of themselves when they messed up a pose, or when they kept trying to topple the other by tickling.
Midway through, they got kicked out by the instructor after getting too rambunctious with the downward dog position.
************************
“Heard there was a ruckus during one of the sessions,” Ameri said, meeting up with them for Mikelson’s panel. They camped out in the secluded back of the auditorium as people filtered in. “You two didn’t have anything to do with it, did you?”
“Course not,” V said. “We’re laying low, remember? Two happy newlyweds.”
“We’re being outstanding Night City citizens,” Judy supplied.
Ameri appeared exhausted by both of them. “Fair warning, his panel might bore you to death, but it’s what he’s presenting that’ll interest you. Top of the line braindance, and the reason why everyone flocks to him -”
“I’ll be the judge of that,” Judy whispered so only V heard.
“- Afterwards we’re migrating to the ballroom, where he’ll be busy with everyone kissing his ass. You should have time to sneak off and grab the recordings. Also…” Her eyes flashed blue, and both V and Judy received four numbers on their phone. “...the code to his door, courtesy of his assistant. I’ll be on coms with you the entire time to give you updates on his whereabouts.”
V was impressed. “Seems like you have everything planned out. Do this a lot?”
Ameri’s lips curved into a genuine smile. “Used to go on a lot of scouting missions with Panam back in the day.”
“You can take the girl out of the nomad life, but you can’t take the nomad out of the girl,” Judy commented, earning a glare from Ameri.
Ameri was right, Mike Mikelson was an enthusiastic speaker who talked a lot but said very little, and unless you were already his fan, prepare to take a nap. Eventually, he introduced his ‘treat’ for everyone who had signed up for the Valentine’s weekend getaway. He proclaimed it was a top of the line BD, and any new guests can learn more by contacting his people - introductory fees were non-refundable.
His staff went down the rows scanning name badges before handing over a customized wreath. “Enjoy Mrs. and Mrs. Smith,” the staffer told V and Judy when it was their turn.
They exchanged wary looks before turning to Ameri who nodded for them to put on the device.
V woke up on an island. She could taste the sea on her tongue, the rough feel of sand beneath her bare feet, and the warmth of the sun wrapped around her naked body. She felt unbridled happiness in her bones, carefree in such a way that her real self hadn’t felt in so long.
“Martha.” A voice that shouldn’t be Judy but was Judy’s, called out to V.
“Karen?” V’s actor replied in V’s actual voice, turning around to the sight of...Judy. It shouldn’t have been, and yet it was - the other actor looked like a clone of Judy, but something was still wrong. They had Judy’s face, her body, hair, tattoos, but it was off-kilter as if she was an artist replica instead of the real thing.
V watched - no, experienced - as Judy hugged her. Then suddenly, a supernova exploded all around them, and V was sucked into the weirdest fucking trip of her life. All around them, the beach disintegrated into the night sky, dots of stars speckling the horizon. V started floating, wrapped in Judy’s arms as they were engulfed into space.
Is this what nirvana felt like?
All too soon, the braindance ended. V yanked the wreath off her head to seek out Judy’s equally flustered face. She noted the way Judy’s chest rose and fell rapidly as they tried to catch her breath, and knew then that Judy must’ve undergone the same experience.
“What the hell was that?” Judy demanded. “That wasn’t a regular BD, how were they able to use us as actors?”
Ameri wiped at her cheeks. “It’s a new tech that his sponsors have been developing for him,” she said, her voice sounding far off. “They took your image and your voice from when you checked into the hotel, and implemented it into their virtu.”
“Are you ok?” V asked when she realized Ameri’s cheeks weren’t wet from sweat, but from tears.
Ameri snickered bitterly, her eyes blazing like a woman on a warpath. “Of course, they still had my husband’s data from the last time we were here. Do what you can so I can take Mike down.”
************************
V and Judy snuck back up to his hotel floor the same way they did last time, except this time they were both distracted by the lingering sensation of being inside that braindance. Everything - the emotions, senses, experiencing it with each other - it all felt so real. No wonder people sought out Mikelson and stayed, if he can promise them that type of trip every time.
As they entered his room, V broke the silence. “I’m sorry about the BD,” she blurted. “If I’d known it would be that weird I’d snuck us out sooner.”
“It’s ‘k, really.” Judy chuckled, looking deep in thought. “Although it did give me a few ideas to work with. Gonna go home and tinker with the wreath a lil’ bit, see if I can mimic the tech.”
“That’s nova.” V believed she could do it, and was happy Judy took away a positive experience from it. All V felt was an odd sense of…
...Horniness?
She tried to clear her thoughts and focus on the mission. Their first bump came when they couldn’t find the laptop by Mikelson’s bed anymore. With a curse, they had to manually search around the suite, hoping he hadn’t taken it with him to the ballroom. Next blunder came when Judy opened up a closet, and a plethora of sex toys, swings, and mechanisms came tumbling out.
“What the freakity freak,” Judy said with awe and disgust.
There was even a chair with straps at the wrist and foot. How he got away with bringing this shit to the hotel was beyond V. Finally they spotted their target, leaning up against the side of the wall behind a clear box containing dildos. Judy poked at V, urging her to venture through the mess and fetch it.
“You think you can hack it and get us the virtus we need?” she asked Judy.
“That's my specialty. Could probably fetch you shit from when he was 15.”
“Atta girl,” V mimicked Judy’s old words back at her. Judy ducked her head with a shy smile, and V felt enormous respect and admiration for the techie who had snuck in and stolen her heart. In another lifetime, Judy could’ve been a great asset to Arasaka, but V was glad the corps hadn’t tainted such a wonderful person.
The next few moments consisted of V scanning around for anything they might need, while Judy hacked into his laptop and searched through his files. Then, cutting through the quiet of the night, Ameri’s voice crackled over the coms.
“Mike’s security detail is heading up to his room, I repeat, his security is heading up to his room,” she hissed. “Looks like the scumbag is having company tonight. You two need to hurry up and get out of there.”
V was hit with a nauseating sense of deja vu, but she quickly gathered herself together to help Judy clean up any mess they made. The entire time, she kept looking out for Judy, to make sure she was nearby in case they ran into any trouble.
“Hey, we’re good to go,” Judy whispered, too soft to not sound like she was aware V was going through some inner turmoil. “C’mon. We got this.”
They got this. It wouldn’t be like last time. She repeated the mantra over and over as she took Judy’s hand and without further ado, raced out of the suite without any issues.
************************
Mike Mikelson killed Ameri’s husband.
Judy had found a few raw virtus of that night, and while she edited it in real time, V watched on. Ameri, fortunately, had business she needed to attend to first before she could join them.
From what they gathered: Mikelson threw an orgy and had the bright idea to scroll the whole thing, which Ethan took part of. The night ended with Mikelson and co. getting a little too into it, and Ethan accidentally dying of asphyxiation. Mikelson had his gold faceplate bodyguard dispose of the body.
V slowly peeled the wreath off, meeting Judy’s concerned look. But the concern wasn’t meant for her, it was for Ameri.
“She’s going to be devastated,” Judy said.
V nodded, rubbing at her face. She thought hard on what she was about to suggest next. “We can tell her we didn’t find anything of interest, and keep her in the dark. Or we can tarnish the image she had of her husband and their marriage, but tell her the truth.”
If Judy was shocked at hearing those options, she didn’t show it. She regarded V with a long look before picking up the wreath and fidgeting with it. Finally, she made up her mind. “We need to tell her the truth, no matter how much it’ll hurt her. Her husband deserves justice too.”
V had a hunch Judy was going to choose that route.
Ameri, to the surprise of no one, was devastated and ended up throwing a chair off the balcony. It took them a while to calm her down, but by the time they did she was composed enough to devise a plan to take down Mikelson’s entire empire, and everyone who took part in the orgy.
Judy let out a low whistle. “Damn chica, didn’t know you had that in you. I’m starting to like you.”
“It’s a pride thing. I guess once an Aldecaldo, always an Aldecaldo.” At Judy’s fist pump, Ameri smiled back. “Thank you both, for all your help. I know you said you’re not together, but you two make a great team. On and off the field.”
V and Judy traded embarrassed glances before looking away. Ameri spent that night teasing them, but also ordered enough room service to throw a party. They drank, and ate, and helped the widow let loose in the final moments. Ameri promised to keep in touch as she planned to ruin Mikelson’s life, and both V and Judy agreed to help when she does.
All in all, another night in Night City.
************************
V tossed the last of their bags into the trunk of her MaiMai then joined Judy up front. “Ready to go?”
“All set,” Judy said while flipping through V’s radio. “Gotta say though, that was the weirdest weekend of my life.”
“About an average day for me.”
“Biggest lesson learned? Money can’t buy love, that’s for damn sure.” As they hit the road, Judy tapped on V's hand. “Hey, just wanna let you know, I get it, why you had to do what you did with Clouds and Maiko.”
V glanced over at Judy, catching sincere brown eyes staring back at her.
“I was angry at first,” Judy added, “But I understand you had to take the road with fewer casualties. Sorta ran on nothing but emotions that day, so I’m glad one of us had our heads on straight.”
“Happy you understand now," said V. "If I could make a choice without hurting you, I would. Felt a lil bit of my soul leave me when I agreed with Maiko. I just want us to be ok, Jude.”
“Here...” Judy stretched over the console and placed a red origami flower behind V’s ear. She gave V a sweet kiss on the cheek before falling back into her seat, smiling fondly. “Pretty.”
V blushed. “What was that for?”
“We’re ok. Just happy we didn’t get caught and murdered on our, what is it? 3rd mission together?”
“3rd mission together huh, starting to make it a habit.”
“Wouldn’t mind.” Judy sounded nonchalant even though V could see her knees bouncing more than usual. “I like spending time with you, learning your history, seeing how the other side lives but leaving this place knowing I made the right choices in life. Also happy to be away from the drama of...well...everything else.”
“Replacing gang drama with scandalous sex and murder affairs. Sounds like a fair trade.”
V heard Judy’s sweet laughter, followed by the feel of soft fingers inching down her forearm before they clasped with her own fingers. As Judy held her hand over the center console, V finally got the answer she was searching for, and reminded herself to thank Panam for the gig.