Work Text:
“Damn it!” Kerry threw his holo-phone across the living room. Voicemail again.
It had been four days since V had called him in the middle of the night. Three days since news of another attack on Arasaka Tower took over every news channel.
The knot in the pit of his stomach was nothing new. He knew it was only a matter of time before Johnny pulled this kind of shit. But, unlike before, he cost Kerry more than just a friendship.
Frustrated and tired, he stormed up to his bedroom. He struggled to open the bottle of sleeping pills but eventually succeeded. Collapsing down onto the bed, he quickly faded into a dreamless sleep.
This quickly became the new normal. Wake up, call V, drink, pills, sleep. The days stretched into weeks. Occasionally he would call Misty or Panam to see if either of them had heard anything.
The fact that V didn’t seem to be singling the rockerboy out brought him an odd sense of comfort. But it also renewed his anxieties. V had simply vanished overnight.
Then it happened.
A loud *PING* woke Kerry in the middle of the night. He groaned as he tried to shake off the haze from the medications. It was a text from an unknown number.
L-5 6:10
It took a long moment for his brain to process the information - an address.
Without thinking, he got dressed and made his way to his Aerondight. Why would someone send him a memorial box address at 3am?
His stomach knotted. There was only one reason…
Pulling up to the Columbarium, Kerry looked around before he got out of the car. He still tucked a pistol into his vest - it was Night City, after all.
Slowly, he made his way. Row L, Section 5, Column 6, Row -
It was like all the air was sucked out of him. His chest clenched and he fell to his knees in front of the wall. A simple, 2-word epitaph glowed faintly in front of him.
V. Dreamer.
“No,” he’d meant to yell it but it barely came out as a strangled sob. “No!” He slammed his fist into the concrete.
He had no idea how long he stayed there, sob after sob racking through his body. Finally, he was calm enough to think. He wondered if Misty knew, resolving to call her when he got back to his villa.
Suddenly, he sensed someone nearby and started to stand in spite of his stiff knees. When he turned towards the newcomer, he gasped.
V stood mere feet away from him. His brain tried to reconcile the image in front of him with the epitaph behind him.
“Is this some kind of sick joke, V?” He couldn’t contain the rage, not giving the other man a chance to answer. “Disappear for weeks? Play dead? Hm?”
“Kerry…” there was something off about the cadence of his name.
“Fucking hell, V. Answer me!”
V took a single step towards the rockerboy but he matched it with one of his own, his back now pressed against the wall.
“Kerry, V is… V is gone. It’s Johnny.”
Kerry’s mind recoiled. “What the fuck… Johnny. Why are you here? What happened to V?”
“It’s complicated. The biochip. It was killing him, Ker. We broke into Arasaka Tower to try and figure it out.”
“Damn it, Johnny! I knew that was you. When will V be back?” He was shaking with a strange mix of anger and fear, trying with everything not to punch the man across from him.
“Our engrams were split but… the damage the chip had done to his body… there’s no way to reverse it. So we talked. And V agreed to let me take the reins.”
Kerry shook his head. “No. Why would he… fuck!”
“If he stayed, he was going to die.” Sadness and pain were etched into Johnny’s face. “I wanted him to stay. I tried to talk to him.”
The rockerboy scoffed. “Yeah right! You wanted free rein from the get-go, Johnny. Just admit it.”
“Maybe I did, yeah. But you spend enough time stuck in someone else’s brain and you’re bound to rub off on each other. I really did want to save him, Kerry. But I couldn’t. And now I have to live out the rest of my life in his body. Everyday is a reminder of my failure.”
“A punishment you fucking deserve,” Kerry spat. He shoved himself off the wall and grabbed Johnny by the collar. “Three fucking weeks I’ve been wondering what happened. What I did wrong. Just to find out that you fucking killed my input.” With a shove he pushed Johnny back into the wall and stalked towards the main aisle. “I don’t ever want to see your fucking face again, Silverhand. If I do?” He pulled the pistol from his vest and pointed it at the other man. “You aren’t walking away.”
“You won’t. I’m leaving Night City. Just thought you deserved to know. Goodbye, Kerry.” Johnny brushed past him and disappeared into the darkness.