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quickhacked · 4 months

Text

– Bloodhound.

Characters >> Andrew Colton (other's oc), Beckett Rydel (oc), Vulture (oc) Total >> 2.3k words Warnings >> Alcohol, blood, body horror, drugs mention, gore, religion, sexual undertones Context >> [DATE UNKNOWN]:// Data corrupted. Subject Beckett Rydel, reported missing from Arasaka grounds. Wanted dead or alive.

Wake up, Beck.

The party was downstairs, in the club’s basement, DJ playing low and gritty EDM of some sort– its deep bass reverberating through the faux marble tiles of the flooring and the stool at the bar Beckett was sat on. He leaned on his elbows and shifted on his seat to make way for other patrons passing by, the rough fabric of his hoodie chafing his skin like sandpaper on wood; a woman his age caught his gaze and smiled at him, though he adamantly turned his head away.

‘We’re leaving tonight.’ A familiar voice, warm, composed– but shrouded in the veil of thick and heavy oblivion dominating the depths of his mind. He had known her, once; and he could tell by the gentle hand reaching for his and squeezing softly upon contact there had been a closeness between them that even his deepest desires could no longer recreate in his dreams.

Too much time had passed, since then.

‘All of you?’ Beckett asked in return, his own disembodied voice resonating between his ears like the hum of the music downstairs. He looked up, at last; three others sitting beside him at the bar and a man standing behind him and the woman on his right, hands placed solidly on the bar’s counter as if to shield the two of them from the crowds.

‘This mess ain’t gonna fix itself, best off skippin’ town before it escalates.’ Another familiar voice, from one of the others at the bar. She avoided eye contact when Beckett glanced over and sipped her cocktail instead– a little too eager, visibly swallowing a cough and setting the glass back with more force than necessary as she struggled to clear her throat.

He hated it there.

The club itself– had often wondered why he let his friends drag him there every weekend in the first place, but where else did they have left to go? One screw-up after another with no end in sight– he couldn’t even remember what they had done this time, what made it so they had to leave Night City behind once and for all.

He hated it there.

The memory, too.

Silence had fallen over them, entirely out of place; as if someone had hit pause on their little group specifically, the buzz of the club a soothing background noise and the feeling of someone’s arm brushing past Beckett’s back a reminder that they were still there, he had not moved or left, stuck in place in the very moment he had last seen his friends before they had lost contact forever and their names and faces had vanished with it.

Wake up, Beck.

It hurt.

The memory– but his chest too, for some reason; the bass replacing his heartbeat and tearing open his ribcage from the inside out, the continuous hum weighing down on his lungs and forcing the air out of him. Someone– or something– was choking him, but no hands wrapped themselves around his exposed throat that night, no one’s body weight on top of his own– the purpose of it anywhere between love and hate– simply his own mind and a faded memory of what felt like another lifetime, of when he had still had a choice.

You should’ve left when you had the chance.

He was on his feet now, stumbling through a heavy crowd of people; dancing, kissing, smoking, grabbing on to him and dragging him along until he struggled to keep walking, trapped in the masses with his head high in the clouds. Oh, to be desired– eyes closed as hands gripped his wrists and arms and waist, vanishing up his shirt and into his hair– he hated going there, but to deny himself that escape, that ecstasy–

It had become like oxygen to him.

Perhaps that’s why he had stayed.

The club stood empty, now.

Neon lights along the walls and ceiling flashed blue and purple but no music played, Beckett’s footsteps echoing between the decaying walls. The weeks alone had been difficult– he had found himself in there every single night, every single day, every single hour spent awake flushed away by booze, designer drugs, and temporary company not nearly enough to satisfy his needs.

His eyes steadily grew used to the darkness engulfing him, though he did not need to rely on his sight to know where he was going. Through the basement, past the stage– no door hung in the hinges, yet he reached out as if to push anyway, muscle memory and his consciousness mixing into one as he struggled to figure out if he was even awake.

He turned the corner, facing a sterile hallway tiled from top to bottom, bright white ceiling lights blinding him to a stop. He wasn’t supposed to be there– and he knew, of course he did. Had always wandered into places no one else in their right mind would even consider visiting and had suffered consequences dire enough to be a lesson more often than he could count on two hands; but a lesson received had yet to equal a lesson learned.

‘It’s time, Beck.’

He quickly shoved the picture in the pocket of his hoodie, the sudden presence of the other man in his bedroom startling him into his defenses; but Colton paid it no mind, straightening his jacket as he walked around the bed and looked down on the man sitting on the edge, knees pressed against each other and feet wearing mismatched socks turned inward.

‘What if I’m not good enough?’ he heard himself ask, eyes darting from Colton’s face to random spots behind him on the wall; his heartbeat resonated through his whole body, his breath shallow as he tried to regain his composure, as if he had to keep up appearances somehow– as if the other man did not know that he was terrified.

But in return, Colton simply smiled, stepping forward and reaching to touch Beckett’s chin– tilt up his head, though not much persuasion was needed to reach the desired result– and Beckett sighed and closed his eyes, the reassurance enough to settle his nerves.

‘Don’t worry, dear,’ Colton hummed, fingertips dragging down Beckett’s throat, cold like the blade of a knife barely cutting through his skin– an apex predator playing with its food, and anyone in their right state of mind would withdraw before the blade would sink into their flesh too deep, before it would draw blood.

But Beckett did not flinch, head thrown back in near-erotic display with his throat exposed for Andrew Colton to do with as he pleased– an invitation to sink that blade as deep into him as he wished for, Beckett’s sole purpose to be at the man’s feet like religion.

He had not made a mistake, turning to Arasaka for his salvation.

‘You’ll do just fine.’

Beckett’s feet dragged him through the hallway, each and every single beat of his heart like a distant drum growing closer. He opened his mouth, and exhaled; his breath visible in the thin air of Arasaka’s secret laboratories and it sounded like a scream, a howl of wind passing by a window causing the glass to rattle in its frame.

He could feel his own fear. The fear he had felt, every single time they had transported him through that hallway– barely able to stand on his own feet, tied to a chair, or a bed– yet he had told them to keep going, no matter how bad it would get, he had to see it through to the end, he had to become perfect–

The fear he had felt that very first time had been the worst of them all.

And it had never stopped since.

The door at the end of the hallway was slightly ajar, a red light on the ceiling flashing directly into his eyes. It drew him closer– eyes glued to the turning bulb, arms slack past his body as his nearly-numb feet dragged him across the floor.

Beckett knew what was inside. He had been there before– time after time after time, just one more test, just one more trial. Of course he had thankfully agreed to it all, believing it would save him, believing it would bring him closer to God; believing it would make him perfect, just like what his parents had wanted him to be.

With trembling hands he reached for the door, though it opened before his fingers could collide with the cold metal handle. His body stumbled forward, pushing itself inside before Beckett could stop– no longer sure if he was in control of his actions at all, and if he even wanted to be there in the first place–

Beckett.

His breath caught in his throat.

Wake up.

Beckett opened his eyes, loud whirring and beeping drawing him out of one nightmare into the other. Two people stood over him– an unfamiliar man wearing small, round sunglasses and bloodied white gloves, and a woman with ashy blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, ice cold fingers soothingly dragging down Beckett’s cheek.

Or what was left of it.

He did not need to see his face in the mirror to know he laid open and bare in front of them, cheeks hollowed and clawed open and neck torn like shredded paper, a futile attempt in a haze of panic to remove his internal cybernetic jaw once and for all. He did not need to see his face to know his eyes were bloodshot and his irises drained of color, and that the deep red blood dripping down his pale white skin stained the ripperdoc’s medical bed and floor.

The woman leaned down, noticing his searching gaze, a soft sigh leaving her chest as she brushed some of Beckett’s long, ash brown hair out of his face.

‘Oh darling– what did my cousin do to you?’ she murmured– but the sweetness of her words left a tangy aftertaste in the back of Beckett’s throat, the look of regret on her face washing away like seafoam left on the beach getting swept away by the ocean waves the second she straightened her back again and turned to the man beside her–

‘Finish the procedure.’

Wake up.

The apartment was dark.

It was nearing six in the morning, the sky above Night City turning a gentle shade of lavender blue. The street lights of Monroe were no longer on, leaving the subdistrict mostly in the dark– on the outskirts of Watson, far away from the bright neon lights downtown.

Beckett blindly navigated to the bathroom, feet dragging over the cold wooden floor and hands using the walls around him as support. He was mumbling to himself– barely coherent verses of a song he was taught to keep the adrenaline inside his chest under control, a weak attempt at keeping his head above water while the aftermath of his nightmares continued to try and swallow him whole.

He had grown used to it, over time. The recurring dreams always played out in exactly the same order, to the point he could visualize them behind his eyes on command; it had gotten so bad that he could no longer tell how accurate of a retelling any of them were, the gnawing fear they evoked stronger than his ability to tell reality from fantasy.

His fingers found the light switch and he flicked it on, the single bulb on the center of the ceiling flickering to life and dimly lighting up the cramped space in front of the sink’s mirror. He squinted, allowing his eyes to adjust and his heartbeat to settle down, gaze landing on his reflection while he leaned forward to get his vision to focus.

Beckett’s face had healed nicely.

Of course the incident had left him with some visible scars– scrapes on his cheeks and throat, though most of them blended in with the old acne scarring from his teen years to the point they barely stood out unless you paid close attention.

He slowly dragged his fingertips over his skin; after all those years it was still his own, despite the damage it had taken. He found his way to the line in his cheek– a thin, transparent line of cyberware barely visible to anyone else which connected the corner of his mouth to just below his ear.

He had two of them. On either side of his face.

And when he tilted his head up to crack his neck, a third, vertical line crossing over his Adam’s apple briefly opened up as the cyberware inside his skin shifted and realigned itself– segments clicking and snapping into place as the two sides of the huge cybernetic maw installed in his neck set themselves back in position, briefly revealing the rows and rows of cybernetic teeth–

Finish the procedure.

His lower jaw unhinged itself when he yawned, the two halves splitting open from his chin and bolts and pins rhythmically snapping into place following the click, click, click of the sliding segments– scales of a snake rolling over one another to relieve built up pressure behind the plating all the way up to the roof of his mouth. His cybernetic fangs briefly extended, a hissing noise leaving his lips as air was released behind the cyberware–

And on the exhale the plating settled back down, jaw snapping back in place as his mouth closed and fangs retracting until back to their regular size, the second row of jagged teeth on his lower jaw withdrawing until safely tucked underneath his cybernetic tongue.

Beckett Rydel had been turned into a weapon.

And as long as he did what he was supposed to do, Vulture would keep him safe.

#nuclearwriting #ok hi. beckett introduction. origin fic of some sort #he's a freak about. everything that's going on in his life sorry. he can't be normal about the people he works for #insanely loyal attack dog to the point it's like. weird. you know. like good for him but also like #don't you want to be loved like a person beckett. why are you begging for attention like a dog. y'know #anyway i am fucking feral about him i hope you guys like this one x

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quickhacked · 9 months

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– WIP CHOICE AWARDS: THE SEQUEL.

yes i voted in my own poll what about it not enough other people were doing it <3 retagging everyone who was tagged in part one: @adelaidedrubman, @reaperkiller, @aartyom, @swordcoasts, @faarkas, @morvaris, @shellibisshe, @strafethesesinners, @katsigian, @dickytwister, @devilbrakers, @aragorngf, @baldursgate2 CONTEXT: while the start of two sides of the same coin is in early 2077, this fic takes place in early 2078 instead, a few months into cassidy and sebastian's somewhat hesitant but inevitable collaboration after trying to kill each other for a full year :)

‘Cassidy?’

Still strange, to hear his name out of the mouth of the man he had once tried so hard to kill.

Cassidy turned to look back at Sebastian, nervously fiddling with one of his rings and barely able to look the other man in the eyes. A regular occurrence, still; though whether it was because of his guilt and shame, or because of his general inability to maintain eye contact with people, or because of how distracting Sebastian’s bright blue eyes were or because of something else, he wasn’t quite sure.

‘You can wait outside if you’d like,’ Sebastian said, his voice surprisingly soft- not surprisingly to Cassidy, of course, but definitely so to any stranger, any outsider watching them talk and not expecting the gentleness to the semi-mechanical voice of the nearly two-meter-tall gang leader.

Cassidy himself was still getting used to it a little. He had seen Sebastian interact with his loved ones enough times to have already known about how caring and kind he actually was; when he was still hunting the man down he had shown him mercy time after time, something that could not be said for all the assassins that had come before.

But to experience it firsthand- to be on the receiving end of such understanding, of such consideration-

No one had ever treated him that way before.

‘I’ll come with you,’ he finally answered, giving Sebastian a quick nod as he averted his gaze to the ground below his feet. ‘I’d rather not be alone.’

‘Understandable.’ Sebastian paused and glared at a passerby who shouldered their way past him and barely looked up from their phone as they did. ‘Manners are off the fuckin’ menu today it seems.’

#tag games #nuclearwriting #nearly two-meter-tall is funny because he's 1.99m by the way. cassidy himself is 2.01m. needs to be said #anyway there's something so deeply personal about learning that the man you were taught to believe is a monster #isn't actually a monster and then learning how to be a human again through him of all people #also cassidy being unable to maintain eye contact with anyone and just. the rest of his behavior in this entire fic #we stan an autistic anxious king. nobody does it like you buddy keep on shining

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quickhacked · 5 months

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drastic + vincent please :3

DRASTIC [x] characters >> vincent mayer (oc), vitali dobrynin (oc) context >> july 2077; vincent and vitali are in tucson to try and figure out a way to stop vincent from dying after johnny silverhand has been successfully removed from his head total >> 1.6k words warnings >> death mention, hospital, needles, surgery mention

‘Vincent. Can you hear me?’

Wakey wakey.

Vincent could barely open his eyes, eyelids and head still heavy with sleep. The air surrounding him was surprisingly cool; as far as he was concerned it was the middle of summer, and he was in Arizona of all places. Wasn’t it supposed to be sweltering?

Someone gently took his wrist. The action itself did not hurt, nor did the feeling that followed– but it caused him instant discomfort that bordered on pain, the sensation cramping up his entire arm and it took him a second to realize it was the work of a needle that was stuck in the top of his hand.

He was in the hospital. He had just gotten out of surgery.

His eyes finally opened, bright light pouring in from the window on his left and momentarily blinding him as he groaned and tried to adjust. The nurse beside him gently placed his hand back on the mattress and hummed a song as she checked something on the screens, gloved fingers rapidly tapping on the keys of the digital keyboard as she typed in some information.

The soft hum of the devices around him was like a lullaby and Vincent slowly exhaled as he closed his eyes again; but a sudden weight on his chest– as well as the sudden realization of what the surgery had been for to begin with– violently ripped him back to reality and he gasped for air, as if all oxygen had suddenly been taken from his lungs.

‘Easy,’ the nurse said, placing a hand on his shoulder to prevent him from sitting up. ‘You’re alright, Vincent. Everything is fine. Try to breathe as normal.’

Easier said than done. He had a fucking cybernetic lung now– and sure, it worked, but the idea alone was more than enough to cause involuntary tears to well up in the corners of his eyes as he could feel his irregular heartbeat in every single inch of his body and his unstable breathing scraped painfully past the dry inside of his throat.

Ever since he had arrived in Tucson it had been one surgery after another. Preventive measures for the most of it– save from the removal of a bullet shard that had still been stuck in his head, the last bit Viktor hadn’t been able to dig out before– replacing damaged organs where possible and removing previously installed implants to minimize risks.

And none of it had helped so far.

Vincent was still very much dying, despite all their efforts. Initially thought to be the damage the Relic had caused in his body, irreparable at that; not so irreparable anymore but with all holes patched and the ship still sinking, he couldn’t help but wonder if Soulkiller was still working its magic.

Sure, the program had been on the Relic itself– but then again, all technology had gotten damaged by that bullet and with Johnny’s engram overwriting his psyche and then his psyche overwriting all of that to separate himself from the biochip, who knows what kind of malware had managed to sneak its way in in the meantime?

‘There’s a visitor waiting for you,’ the nurse said, shooting Vincent a gentle smile after he had managed to settle down again. ‘Would you like me to get him for you?’

‘Yes please, thank you,’ Vincent replied, not needing to ask for a name to know exactly who she meant, and he couldn’t stop his heartbeat from rising in excitement and relief when she left the room to call the man in.

It still managed to catch him off guard, to see Vitali Dobrynin out of his usual work attire. A sight he had gotten to grow more familiar with over the last few months– the whole situation with Johnny had driven Vitali out of the office often enough for Vincent to catch him in simple sweatpants and a hoodie on the regular– yet it still felt a little strange to him. “The man sleeps in a suit,” Jackie had once jokingly told him. Vincent wouldn’t have batted an eye.

‘How do you feel?’ Vitali softly asked as he sat down on the edge of the bed, sleeves of his flannel loosely rolled up and only partially covering his forearms. His hands were clasped together on his lap– for once not a single ring adorning his slender fingers– and he nervously ran his thumb over the side of his index finger.

‘Little strange,’ Vincent admitted as he reached out to take Vitali’s hand in his own. ‘The more I think about breathing, the harder it gets. I know it’s just between my ears, but– you know.’

Vitali quickly nodded, a light smile on his face as he shuffled a little closer and leaned in to press a kiss on Vincent’s temple. Which, of course, also caught him off guard; with the complete chaos of the aftermath of the attack on Mikoshi he had continuously forgotten about the fact he was dating the fixer now, and now that they could finally have some time for themselves it still did not feel entirely real to him.

‘Don’t you think all this is– I dunno, maybe a lil’ drastic?’ Vincent quietly asked, allowing the other man to cup his cheek and run his fingers down his face. ‘I mean– I don’t feel much different than before. Just increases risk of cyberpsychosis if anything. Even with all the removed implants.’

‘You might not feel it now but something is still happening in your body,’ Vitali simply replied, the pre-programmed answer he had been giving Vincent for weeks now. ‘Sooner or later you will start feeling it. And then you’ll be glad we had precautions done before it got too bad.’

‘Costs a shit-fuckton of money.’

‘Which I have.’

‘Well, I don’t.’

‘You don’t need to.’

Vincent clenched his jaw and exhaled sharply, the action causing his chest to tighten a little and he winced, brief panic overtaking him; but nothing else happened, the cybernetic lung doing its job perfectly fine, and he allowed himself to relax again.

It did not feel right to let Vitali pay for his surgeries. He had done so from the fucking beginning, no less– when Vincent had gotten a correction surgery on his chest and Vitali had told Viktor to put it on his tab, despite Vincent continuously telling him he’d get the eddies himself after his recovery.

But Vitali was a stubborn man– painfully so, insisting on helping Vincent wherever and whenever he could. Out of the goodness of his heart, of course; but definitely so out of guilt as well, having to live with the knowledge he had not been able to save T-Bug and Jackie and because of that so desperately trying to save Vincent while he still could.

If he even could.

Vincent lowered his gaze, softly biting the inside of his lip as Alt’s words echoed through his head again. He was dying; there was no denying it, even if he didn’t feel it just yet, and if they wouldn’t figure out what exactly was going on with him he wouldn’t make it to the end of the year.

If he had done the calculations right, he’d be on his deathbed on Vitali’s birthday of all days. He couldn’t do that to him.

But perhaps Vitali was right. Perhaps the surgeries did help and would at least give him a little longer than what Alt had predicted. Perhaps Alt had not even told him the truth; perhaps whatever was going on with him in that moment was only temporary and the effects would wear off the more time would pass.

But with more and more of his body turning into a machine, Vincent could not help but wonder if it wouldn’t just have been easier to transfer his psyche onto a fucking biochip too.

Would’a been a copy, V, you know that. At least you’re still you, now.

But for how much longer?

Even Johnny– or, well the voice in Vincent’s head pretending to be Johnny– couldn’t answer that.

Vitali suddenly turned, pulling his legs onto the bed and moving closer until he was sat directly next to Vincent, leaning back against the raised mattress. He wrapped his arm around his shoulders– and Vincent in return moved closer without hesitation, burying his face in his boyfriend’s chest, grateful the painkillers were numbing most of the pain in his upper body.

‘We will figure this out, my love,’ Vitali softly mumbled and planted a kiss on the top of Vincent’s head. ‘I promise. I’m not giving up on you.’

He had paused all his business and tossed aside all his responsibilities to help Vincent find a cure. Had left Night City behind– had left his business in the hands of Mikhail– and even now weeks later he was still there by his side, paying for his surgeries and keeping him company through it all. Of course Vitali was not giving up on him– and Vincent had never received such devotion before, to the point he had no idea what to do now that it had fallen right into his lap.

‘I love you,’ he simply whispered in return, on the verge of choking back tears when he felt Vitali momentarily tense up. ‘I love you so much.’

He didn’t know how much time he had left. He didn’t know if Alt was right, he didn’t know if any of what they were doing there was helping him at all–

But at least he wasn’t alone.

At least he had Vitali.

#asks #faerune #writing asks #nuclearwriting #THANK YOU AND SORRY FOR THE WAIT. my brain is a bad soup lately i cannot get myself to write but i Did it #all of what they're doing there DOES eventually help out because vincent's body was very much just. dying. slowly #and the surgeries and all that stopped That specific process so that's a win. and then they get rid of the remnants of soulkiller #and then he's no longer dying :^) or well soulkiller is still there but it's dormant now. he's been given a stabilizer #so Technically soulkiller could still become a problem again in the future but i'm not gonna do that. he deserves a happy ending x

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quickhacked · 7 months

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trembling hands for vitali? 👀👀

TREMBLING HANDS [x] characters >> nick vossler (oc), vitali dobrynin (oc) context >> november 2067; it's the morning after this fic takes place, vitali is in college and in general not dealing with everything that's going on in his life well total >> 2.2k words warnings >> alcohol mention, drugs mention, nick being a bit of a dick in general, nsfw mention, portrayal of a toxic relationship (these men make each other worse)

The old and decrepit apartment building in the Glen was freezing cold. Not all that surprising for that time of the year; and stacking overdue electric bills had put an end to Vitali’s access to the place’s central heating, but he was not allowed to complain. If anything, he was lucky to still be able to call it his home at all to begin with.

He woke up with a throbbing headache and a heavy weight pressing down on his chest, and despite the good amount of sleep he had managed to get he still found himself struggling to properly wake up. His ailments were the result of mostly dehydration- though taking the amount of drugs and alcohol in his system the night before, it was safe to assume it was not the only problem at play.

Vitali rarely suffered terrible hangovers. Nothing a glass of water and an ibuprofen couldn’t fix; and whenever he had classes the next morning he still always showed up on time, wearing his best fake smile as always and a mood that was still of questionable quality but never worse than it usually was.

Though that morning was different.

The bleak sunlight that poured in from underneath the curtain of the single window in the living room barely raised the temperature inside his apartment. All it did was cast a single, bright ray of sunshine directly into Vitali’s eyes, an annoyance greater than his comfort on the twin size mattress on the floor to the point he found himself unable to fall back asleep.

He groaned and carefully rolled himself on his side, dragging the covers with him as he slowly attempted to get up. His entire body was sore; had not slept in the greatest position, but the sex he’d had with Nick the night before- pressed against the wall of the expensive nightclub’s hallway- had absolutely not helped either, and the moment he finally managed to stand up he nearly sank through his knees again from the pain in his upper right leg.

Consequences of his own actions.

Vitali knew better than to wallow in his misery, well aware he had caused it entirely himself, no one else to blame. It was not as if he would learn; next week he would make the same old mistakes all over again, a broken record doomed to play on repeat until his trembling hands would lose their grip entirely and he would spiral down into a freefall.

He managed to find his way to the kitchen, still wrapped in the covers as he opened one of the mismatched cupboards to look for a clean cup; could not find any and instead took a dirty one out of the sink, rinsing it a few times before pouring himself some apple juice.

His gaze caught his phone as he brought the glass to his lips, the cracked and dirty screen lighting up from the kitchen countertop beside his keys and wallet and showing- nineteen unread messages and eleven missed calls?

‘What the fuck?’ he mumbled under his breath, lowering the glass again and setting it back as he grabbed his phone instead, blanket over his shoulders dropping down on the floor.

Unsurprisingly so, all of it was Nick’s doing. It would not be the first time he had obsessively tried to get Vitali’s attention; far from it, in fact, a man desperate for validation as well as forgiveness each and every time he had done something wrong. Though as far as Vitali was concerned, nothing out of the ordinary had happened when they’d seen each other in the club- and his curiosity was winning over his exasperation.

Naturally, he did not hesitate when Nick’s name popped up in the middle of his screen again.

‘What do you fucking want?’ Vitali asked, voice possibly a little harsher than he had meant for as he quickly pulled his half-opened flannel back over his exposed shoulder when he heard loud knocking on the front door. Nick did not respond at first- and Vitali quickly figured out why, swinging the door open and instantly being met with the other man, holding up his own phone with an annoyed frown on his face.

‘Eleven fuckin’ times, V,’ he said, lowering his hand at the same time as Vitali did. ‘What’s wrong with you?’

‘Twelve, actually, counting this one,’ Vitali simply spat back, demonstratively hanging up and tossing his phone back on the kitchen counter from where he stood. ‘And you’re the one showing up at my place at fuck o’clock in morning.’

‘It’s two in the afternoon!’

‘Same thing.’

Nick cursed under his breath and stepped inside, tugging on Vitali’s flannel- drawing a protesting, somewhat startled scoff from his lips- to then button it all the way to the top.

‘You need to learn to put on some clothes,’ he muttered, brushing some of Vitali’s hair out of his face to prevent it from getting stuck between the buttons. A surprisingly gentle touch; Vitali sometimes forgot he was still capable of that, after everything that had happened.

‘I’m wearing clothes.’ Vitali paused, noticing Nick’s eyeroll and he punched his shoulder in response, not too hard but not being playful either. ‘Comfort of my own home! Get out if you don’t like it.’

‘More clothes,’ Nick sneered, gesturing at Vitali’s mostly naked legs. ‘And wear ‘em properly. I could see your tits.’

‘So? You’ve seen them before. Did not hear you complain yesterday.’

‘It’s freezing in here!’

‘What’s your fucking point, Nick?!’

Vitali’s voice nearly echoed through the whole hallway behind the other man and silence washed over the apartment, both of them taking a few steps back at the same time. Vitali watched as Nick clenched his jaw and briefly turned around to close the front door, then vaguely gestured around into the room.

‘Was worried,’ he said, and shrugged. ‘Didn’t hear anything from you when I texted if you got home safely. Jackie couldn’t tell me where you were. Jen has me blocked now, wasn’t of any fuckin’ use either- no idea what that’s all about. Where did you go?’

Vitali was not entirely sure how to answer him.

He could barely remember it, was the truth. Everything that had happened after he had walked away from Nicky in that sweaty and suffocating hallway was merely a blur to him now, though he did remember spending another good hour or two stumbling around before he had been able to find his way to the exit.

He vaguely remembered the rain; could vaguely recall getting soaked and taking a cab elsewhere, the air-conditioning inside freezing him down to the bone. He had not gone home yet- had needed more to be able to forget, to wash off the feeling of Nick’s hands on his body and to drown out the voice in his head screaming at him to stop and go home, get his act together while he still could.

‘Took the long way home, I guess,’ he finally managed to say, hesitance dripping from his lips with each and every word he spoke and Nick’s eyes narrowed a little.

‘Couldn’t find a moment to text me back?’ he asked.

‘Did not think you’d care.’

‘Oh, that’s foul.’

‘Usually you don’t. I don’t know what you want me to say.’

Another silence as a sharp, exasperated sigh left Nick’s lips and he averted his gaze to the ceiling. Acting annoyed, but on the losing end- Vitali was right and both parties knew that very well, Nick’s sudden concern entirely out of the blue considering he usually left his phone off for several days after an argument.

‘Why are you really here?’ Vitali asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest and taking another step back, keeping as much distance between himself and the other man as possible. Not out of fear; moreso disgust, unable to believe he’d let Nick do whatever he wanted to him, again, the money much needed but the aftermath and the memories of it embarrassing him to his core in a way he hadn’t even known was possible.

Maybe Jenny was right this time.

Not as if that mattered much. She hadn’t reached out to him at all anymore.

‘I just- wanted to apologize for yesterday,’ Nick mumbled in response. ‘Wasn’t all too nice to you, from what I remember.’

‘You weren’t, no.’ Vitali paused, licked his lips, and gestured at Nick. ‘Go ahead. Apologize.’

‘I just did.’

‘You didn’t.’

‘Fucking hell, Dobrynin-!’

‘What! Saying you want to apologize is not the same as apologizing-’

‘You’re so fucking pretentious, you know that?’

The sharp edge to Nick’s voice made Vitali scoff and he sucked in a shallow breath, adrenaline rushing through his system until the hairs on his arms stood up straight. His body was bracing itself; not expecting a physical blow- even Nick knew better than to sink that low- simply another mental one, a blow to his ego he would carry with him into the next week until his next mistake would come along and take its place.

‘Maybe you’re right,’ Nick bluntly said and threw up his hands in exasperation. ‘Maybe I shouldn’t’ve come. You’re not making it very easy to be worried about you, you know that? And then one day when you do need the help I won’t be here. No one will.’

‘Right, because every time before today when you weren’t there for me by your own fucking choice, that could not have happened, of course,’ Vitali mockingly replied and gestured at the door. ‘You are just trying to cover for yourself now. Get out if you don’t have anything nice to say.’

‘I love you.’

The statement caught Vitali a little off guard and he slowly lowered his hands, standing unmoving as Nick walked closer to him and cupped his face in both hands, strands of Vitali’s long, bleached hair getting caught between his fingers.

‘I love you,’ he quietly repeated himself, thumbs running in circles over Vitali’s cheeks, ‘and I just wish you’d let me.’

Vitali’s eyes slowly moved over Nick’s face- the little marks covering his cheekbones, the acne scarring roughening the skin of his cheeks and jaw, the little bump in his nose caused by a broken bone that had not healed all too well-

He reminded him of Mikhail, sometimes.

But they were not the same.

‘I’ve given you enough chances and you walk away every single fucking time,’ Vitali quietly replied, moving up his hand to place it over Nick’s and he softly kissed his palm. ‘What do I need to do to make you stay?’

Nick couldn’t answer. And Vitali knew that.

Both of them had fucked up more than enough times; both had walked away before, justified, sometimes not, in the heat of the moment or when things just got a little too boring for their liking. They got annoyed about everything they were and fought about everything they were not and instead of talking things out like normal people they would get drunk, get naked, and pretend like nothing had happened the next day.

‘You’re complicated,’ Nick finally said, gently brushing some of Vitali’s hair out of his face.

‘So are you,’ Vitali merely replied, making a biting motion at Nick’s hand who in response cupped his face and leaned in closer to kiss him, a somewhat metallic taste to his lips Vitali could not quite place.

‘I love you,’ he mumbled into the kiss, slowly draping his arms over Nick’s shoulders and pulling him closer until there was no space left between their bodies. He broke the kiss and buried his face in the crook of Nick’s neck- and the other man reciprocated the hug, one hand on Vitali’s back and the other in his hair.

‘Have somethin’ to eat, take it easy today,’ he quietly said, slowly pulling back and fixing the collar of Vitali’s flannel. ‘I’ll see you again tomorrow, okay?’

‘Okay.’

The silences that followed were always the worst.

Watching Nick walk away again, leave through that very same door he had only just arrived through and wishing he would stop, come back inside, stay just a little longer. Whether Vitali had fucked it up for himself this time or not, he was no longer sure; it was impossible to tell what Nick’s true intentions were. Vitali usually was nothing more than a stopover to him.

And of course he wished it was different. If he could have it his way, Nick wasn’t such an asshole all the time. Wouldn’t just be using him for his own pleasure, wouldn’t just come and go as he pleased without taking Vitali’s feelings into account. And in return, Vitali wouldn’t have to return the attitude.

Had Nick even started it all? He wasn’t all that sure anymore.

Vitali scoffed at nobody in particular and walked through the room to the window, sitting himself down on the windowsill to stare outside. He was still cold, but it did not do anything to him anymore- his head was elsewhere, and the shivers running up and down his spine were the least of his worries.

At least I’ll see him again tomorrow.

At least he would always come back.

#asks #devilbrakers #writing asks #nuclearwriting #HEHE THAMK YOU. i've been meaning to finish this fic for a while now but never got to it #but this prompt was perfect for it >:^)#vitali being such a fuckup in his younger years is something that can be so special to me actually #the amount of work it took to get to where he is in life now is so admirable and also makes me insane #because so many people still believe that he got all that he has now because of the status of his family. when that's not true at all!!!#he lost everything at several points in his life and had to start over and over and over again and he fought so hard for what he has now #anyway i'm normal about this man yes why do you ask #finally gave nick a last name also <3 i do not like him but also i'm studying him like a bug in a petri dish

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quickhacked · 9 months

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Chapter >> 19 [x] Characters >> ??? Total >> 7.7k words Warnings >> Alcohol mention, death mention, family / parents, injury mention, smoking

‘More information has been released on the explosions in Charter Hill from a few days ago. The office building in question was supposedly in use as a hideout by the infamous fixer known as “the Broker” on the streets. The explosion itself did minimal damage, but most of the building has been consumed by the fire that broke out on the lower levels.

The NCPD has yet to confirm the number of casualties though emphasizes that no innocent civilians have been caught in the crossfire. The Broker has presumably died on the premises. Their mercenaries have scattered across town and thus far, no further incidents have been reported.

It appears that peace has finally returned to the streets of Night City. And with that, the weather.’

It was the end of August.

The streets were dark. A pitch black sky hung over Night City, heavy rainfall threatening to pour down and a hint of static in the air though not quite enough yet for a full storm to break loose. Nearing the evening hours- the sweet spot right before rush hour where the whole city seemed to be holding its breath, roads left eerily abandoned as restaurants and bars began opening their doors and people packed up their things to leave work and go home.

The run-down apartment building cast a dark shadow on the streets of the Glen, curtains of windows behind bars and grids closed and apartments left unilluminated and cold. The graffiti-covered entrance hall was abandoned- the sound of heels clacking softly on the faded and cracked tiles leading up to the concrete staircase, a single bright fluorescent ceiling light flickering and swaying from a strong breeze blowing in from the hall.

It was one of the older buildings in town. Its initial purpose had been to become a beautiful and bright home to working class families- affordable housing close to work, with stable electricity and HVAC and everything else needed to be able to live comfortably and safely raise a kid or two.

An idea, a dream; exactly how many projects in Night City often started, a vision easy enough to make reality yet halted halfway through because of financial reasons, corporate interference, gang territory expansion, a cyberpsycho incident, economic or political interests or a cocktail of several- or all- of those reasons.

Which is how the building had instead ended up as a derelict ruin with barely working electricity and apartments in the possession of shady owners- some going for triple the rent it was worth and others cheap but in such poor condition one might as well be sleeping on the streets.

Home, sweet home.

The seventh floor stood entirely abandoned, its apartments burnt down after a fire a few years back. All except one; in the far back, safely tucked away from the main street and overlooking the outskirts of Vista Del Rey, though the windows had not been cleaned in who knows how long leaving not much outside to see.

It was small, cozy. A single room apartment with a tiny bathroom in the corner, the door only half in its hinges and never repaired. It held barely any furniture, an old couch with coffee table that missed a leg marking the living room with a mattress on the floor behind it as bed, and a small kitchen on the left next to the front door made out of mismatched cabinets and an old oven and stove that looked like it was as old as time itself.

Despite the clear absence of a resident, the place was not as dirty as it could have been. Recently dusted and the kitchen counter was clean, fridge in working order running on an external generator and stocked with basic foods and some liquors. A safehouse, presumably; or at least a temporary refuge for someone who needed desperately to hide, or simply needed the solitude from time to time.

Cold, grayish blue eyes slowly trailed the dark room, the silence inside nearly deafening. Who had known Night City could be so quiet? Everything else was so far away, an aura of loneliness weighing down on the stuffy interior air making it harder to breathe. Searching hand found a light switch- flicked it on, and a string of colored lights along the top of the window on the other side of the room turned on, bathing the apartment in a soft, reddish pink glow.

Home, sweet home.

It did not feel like it.

He slowly took off his coat, holding it under his arm as he carefully walked further into the room. Ran his free hand through his short, slicked back hair- it was a little damp, still, caused by the humidity outside as well as inside, and he exhaled a little sharper than he had meant for as he quickly dried his hand on his pants.

The place made him uncomfortable, despite the warm and inviting atmosphere the colored lights created. It was too heavy with history- too much hardship had happened between those four decrepit walls and too much of it lingered still and it left him with so many questions; questions he clearly already knew the answers for, but questions that would not leave him alone either way.

Matvey had lived in an apartment like that himself, too.

Many, many years ago; when he had been in his early twenties, only recently escaped his parents’ home, struggling to find balance in the multitude of aspects of his life and struggling to get by.

His eyes trailed the walls, over pictures that had been left there, faded by the decade that had passed but showing people, friends, at parties and roaming the Night City streets after dark, smiling brightly at the camera with closed eyes and scrunched up noses.

And his gaze lingered on one boy in particular, present in nearly all of them- bleached blond hair that reached his waist, some freckles covering his forehead and cheekbones, pale grayish blue eyes above a wide smile, and a small gap between his front teeth.

Oh, Vitali.

Matvey carefully took one of the pictures from the wall, only barely able to contain his irregular breathing and heartbeat as he slowly scanned the faces of both his son and someone unfamiliar next to him; a boy with light brown hair and golden eyes, face full of piercings and a tattoo peeking out of his shirt on his neck.

They were kissing in the picture. Matvey had never even gotten the chance to meet him.

The howling of the wind outside made him shiver while he quickly put the picture back, hairs on his arms standing up straight as the cool breeze blew through cracks and holes in the outer wall of the apartment.

It did not feel right to stand there. It did not feel right to exist in the space Vitali had once existed in, struggling to get by, struggling to survive in a city that was so desperately trying to swallow him whole. And if Matvey could go back in time to change it- any of it-

But it was far too late for that now.

‘Vitali?’

Matvey stood motionless as he watched his son enter the house- flashlight of his phone illuminating the dark hallway- coming home from one of his classmates’ infamous parties while Matvey himself was already getting ready to go to work.

‘Party lasted a little longer than I had thought,’ Vitali instantly blurted out, and Matvey glanced at his watch; nearly five in the morning, and Vitali would have school in only a few hours- but most importantly, Nadya had not even given him permission to go in the first place.

Matvey lowered himself on the couch and exhaled sharply, the memories washing over him like a tidal wave slamming itself into the coastline. Memories of an easier time; but now he was not so sure anymore, wondering if it had truly been as simple as he had always thought, wondering if perhaps his own judgment was clouded, unreliable.

Matvey slowly walked closer to Vitali, trying to think of anything to say; scold him, perhaps, punish him for his recklessness and misbehavior-

But something stopped him from doing so.

Something on Vitali’s face- the way his eyes widened the second his father began moving closer, the way he clearly tried to find the right words to say- the way he swayed on his legs and could barely keep his phone in his hand and the way his eyes almost glossed over when Matvey got close enough-

He simply reached out and plucked a half smoked cigarette out of his son’s hair.

Nadya had not needed to know.

The lights along the wall and ceiling lightly flickered as another strong wind caused the glass of the window to rattle in its frame. A late afternoon dust storm blowing in from the Badlands, leaving the city streets in a thin layer of sand once it would settle down again; the one time anyone would be glad to have a roof above their head, no matter how run-down.

Matvey clasped his hands together, frown decorating the upper half of his face, the howling of the wind the only thing breaking through the silence surrounding him alongside the ringing in his ears the explosions from a few days earlier had left him with-

His eyes fluttered shut and a shaky exhale left his chest.

Oh, Vitali.

It had not been worth it.

Months of planning, months of fighting- months of losing sight of what was right and what was wrong and everything in between and most of all losing sight of what it had all been for in the first place. Revenge? Trying to prove a point? Trying to be good enough for a woman who had lost interest somewhere down the line, to the point she had started to become more of a stranger to him than his own wife?

And where had it led him?

Where had it all led any of them?

‘Perimeter is clear. You should be safe here.’

The familiar voice was comforting, in a way.

It sounded different now; the years had not been kind to him, but still Vitali had grown up to become a fine looking young man radiating more confidence than he had ever done at any point in his childhood, and Matvey would be lying if he said he was not proud of his son for getting to the point in his life he was at now.

He opened his eyes again and watched as Vitali entered the apartment, cane lightly clacking on the old wooden floorboards with every step he took. His eyes trailed the room- though too fast for anyone to be able to fully take in any of the smaller details, and the white-knuckled balled fist along his body told Matvey he would rather be anywhere else.

‘Thank you, for this,’ Matvey quietly said in Russian, but Vitali cut him off with a single shake of his head. He couldn’t even look him in the eyes- gaze fixed on the photos on the wall as he took a step back, wincing lightly and putting his hand over the patched up wound in his side.

‘I don’t want your gratitude,’ he coldly replied. ‘Words mean nothing. Not anymore.’

Matvey understood.

Nothing he could say would set things right. Nothing he could say would change what had happened, would make it all go away- and as far as Vitali was concerned this could easily be part of his plan, still, trying to get closer to him in a vastly different way; try to gain his trust and strike when everyone would least expect it to come out victorious at the end of it all either way.

It would have been a genius plan, Matvey had to admit- well within his capabilities too, he could have pulled it off.

But that was not who he was.

Not anymore.

‘You have- a long way to go,’ Vitali quietly continued, taking out his cigarette case, flicking one out and carefully lighting it, the flame of his lighter softly illuminating the space around him.

‘Make things right. Somehow. Prove to me that you are better without Nadya. And I can’t help you with any of that, so- good luck figuring it out for yourself. I have nothing to win or lose in any of this anymore, so do whatever you feel like doing.’

A nonchalance to his voice, but the words he spoke were heavy. As if all of it was a burden to him- and Matvey knew exactly why, having had enough interactions with Vitali’s friends thus far to know that they did not fully support his son’s decision.

His actions would speak louder than words.

Of course Vitali did not know that Matvey had come with him to that tiny ripperdoc shop- Viktor, I believe his name is- and had stayed with him all that time, refusing to sleep, agreeing to let himself be handcuffed as humiliating as it was just to ease others’ minds.

Of course he didn’t know that Matvey had helped that fixer, Rogue, put together a fake profile for the Broker to get that poor excuse of a Council’s attention away from the both of them entirely and to make sure the NCPD had a name to settle on to put the case to rest in their archives, never to be seen ever again.

And of course he didn’t know that Matvey had willingly allowed some netrunner he could not remember the name of wipe his own entire existence from Arasaka’s database, to make sure they would never find out the truth but at the same time rendering him incapable of ever returning to the corporation, even if he for whichever reason so desperately wanted to.

But what difference would it make if he knew?

‘I won’t let you down,’ Matvey finally answered, lowering his gaze to the ground. Not out of shame, or dishonesty- but if anything out of fear, fear of what he would see on his son’s face, fear of his words being taken with a grain of salt despite how heavy they weighed on his tongue, despite how sincerely he meant them, and he clenched his fists on his lap as a sharp exhale left his body.

A long way to go.

But at least Matvey knew where to start.

‘Hey, Vito.’

The interior of Misty’s shop was comfortably warm, gently illuminated by a few lit candles scattered around. A welcoming sight as always- the interior colorfully decorated but not too clashing or too bright on the eyes, and Vitali would be lying if he said it didn’t make him feel at home.

She hadn’t closed yet; though no one else was inside at that time of day, most of Little China’s residents seeking shelter from the dust storm passing over elsewhere in either the Megabuilding or one of its many diners or restaurants. Misty herself was stood behind the counter, leaning on top with her elbows and softly humming a song.

Vitali wiped his feet on the doormat and quickly took off his mask and glasses, stuffing them in the pocket of his long coat before giving Misty a wave and a smile as he walked closer. She smiled back at him in return; and reached out to ruffle his hair the second he got within her reach, sand and dust falling out of it like snowflakes and sticking to his clothes on the way down.

‘Is Vitya still here?’ he asked, setting his cane down beside him and leaning on the counter as well, eyes fixed on the deck of tarot cards in Misty’s hands she was shuffling.

‘Of course,’ was the response, as usual. ‘City never sleeps.’

‘Neither does he, it seems.’

‘And neither do you.’

Vitali scoffed, a smile lingering on his face as he lowered his gaze to the floor beneath his feet. He couldn’t even argue with her; had not slept at all last night despite recovering from a shot that could have killed him- that should have killed him- only a few days ago.

‘Got time for a reading?’ Misty asked, reaching out to place her hand on Vitali’s before he could pull back to make his way outside, to get to Viktor’s shop. ‘Startin’ to become kind of a tradition at this point, I think.’

‘Hm- with V, maybe.’

Vitali paused, reaching out to the tarot deck in his friend’s hands- she fanned them out near automatically for him, a slightly questioning look in her eyes- and he picked one out, turning it between his fingers and clicking his tongue upon seeing the result.

‘Your cards do not like me very much,’ he finished his sentence with a wink and a smile, and he grabbed his cane again while dropping the tarot card labeled “death” face up on the counter as he made his way around it through the back door of the esoterica.

He had walked down those stairs many, many times before; knew the route to Viktor’s ripperdoc clinic as intimately as the route between his office and his home. Perhaps even more so- visits albeit sparingly going back years in time to long before his time as a fixer, long before he had moved into the penthouse he lived in now.

The familiar smell of sharp disinfectant entered his nose halfway down the steps. The familiar struggle to open the gate to get inside- the familiar sight of Viktor mid drying his hands on a hand towel on the other side of the room, giving him a warm smile as he slowly walked over.

‘Was wondering when you’d show your face again. How’re you feeling?’

‘Tired,’ Vitali bluntly answered, closing the gate behind him. ‘My whole body wants to lay down in bed and never get out, my skull feels cracked and I have not had an appetite since I woke up, but- what can you do.’

Viktor reached out- a gesture that nearly caused Vitali to flinch, a rush of adrenaline locking up the muscles in his neck- and gently cupped his cheek, slightly tilting his head around as he checked his eyes; then placed his hand on Vitali’s forehead, a soft hum that could have both been of approval as well as disapproval leaving his throat.

‘It’ll settle soon enough,’ he finally spoke. ‘You were-’ A pause. ‘You were close to-’

‘I know, Vik,’ Vitali quickly interrupted the old ripperdoc. ‘I know.’

Vitali could not remember much of any of it anymore.

He remembered feeling the cool night air on his skin, the very same slight breeze that had later caused the fire inside the building to spread rapidly from floor to floor. He remembered being lifted into a car- being held by several people at once, staring up through the half opened car window to the dark sky and heavy clouds and the blinding city lights flashing by.

They had brought him there. To Viktor’s shop. He had no longer been conscious by then, and it had taken him a while to wake up after being stabilized; and even then he could still not remember when and how exactly he had gotten home, and the previous day was by that hour also mostly a blur to him.

Vitali’s gaze met Viktor’s again and he instantly took notice of the expectant look in his eyes; no words leaving his lips, but the question was crystal clear to him either way. And in hindsight, Vitali was not entirely sure anymore why he had gone to Vik’s in the first place, when there was really not much else to say.

‘I brought him to the safehouse today,’ Vitali sheepishly said, fumbling with the handle of his cane and lowering his gaze to the floor. ‘He will be staying there for- well, I don’t know. Until he has figured out what to do next, I suppose.’

‘Good.’ Short response. Vitali nearly wished he had just gone home instead. ‘Did it ease your mind?’

He absently nodded, Viktor’s words taking a moment to settle in his brain and as they did the light bobbing faltered and faded into a sigh, shoulders slumping forward as he reached out to grab a chair from beside him and he slowly sat down.

‘I thought it would, but… I don’t know anymore,’ he answered honestly, barely able to look Viktor in the eye as the man sat down on his own stool nearby and wheeled closer. A comforting move- and Vitali’s heartbeat settled down a little as it happened, glad he did not have to cut the conversation short.

‘Did I-?’ he started, frowning as he reconsidered his words and momentarily searched for something else to say. ‘Shouldn’t I have-’

‘Hey- no. Don’t start doubtin’ yourself now, kid.’

The soothing tone of Viktor’s voice seemed everlasting with his patience, and Vitali closed his eyes and dropped his head as the ripperdoc put a reassuring hand on his wrist.

‘Not after everything you’ve been through,’ he added to the statement, and fuck, how Vitali wished he hadn’t- if he had just made a couple of different decisions somewhere along the way then he wouldn’t have had to-

‘But what if I was wrong?’ Vitali blurted out, the words lingering inside his head for much longer than necessary and rendering him unable to keep his mouth shut, like many times before. ‘What if-’

‘You’ve made plenty of mistakes in your life, V,’ Viktor immediately interrupted him. ‘Just like all of us. Just like me.’

Well, that was unexpected.

Vitali frowned and looked back up, Viktor slightly averting his gaze to a point right behind Vitali to not have to look him in the eyes.

‘One of my biggest mistakes?’ he continued, a sudden instability to his voice that had not been there before and he gave Vitali’s wrist a soft squeeze. ‘Not listenin’ to you. Trying to tell you to not join Arasaka after you’d already let me know there was no changing your mind. Pushing you away like that.’

Vitali could not help but wonder how long the other man had been sitting on that one.

Wind blew in from up the stairs, rattling the gate behind them and causing the orange cat curled up in a little makeshift bed next to it to jump up, hiss, and skitter across the floor to sit between Vitali’s legs instead. He absently reached down to give him a few scratches on the head- Jack, he believed Viktor had named him- and used the moment to let the words settle in his head again.

Fuck, he was tired.

‘You were right,’ he finally replied, vividly remembering how desperately Viktor had tried to convince him to not sell his soul to the corporation so many years ago.

‘Doesn’t matter if I was right or wrong,’ Viktor cut him off again with a single shake of his head. ‘I wasn’t there for you the way you needed me.’

‘You’re not my dad, Vik.’

‘But he wasn’t there either, was he now?’

Silence washed over the room and a pang of anger tightened Vitali’s chest; though he managed to shrug it off with ease, knowing the frustration was unnecessary since Viktor was merely stating facts. He lowered his gaze again, staring at Jack who was slapping his ankles and attempting to bite through one of his shoes- and for some reason it caused a small smile to take shape on his face, despite the rest of the circumstances he’d found himself in.

‘Look, kid,’ Viktor quietly said, ‘I can’t tell you whether you made the right call or not. Truth is, I don’t know. I don’t know what I would’ve done. But I trust your judgment. And I’m not gonna let history repeat itself.’

‘What if I am wrong?’

‘Then we’ll find out soon enough. What else are you gonna do about it now?’

He was right.

Of course he was- what else was there for Vitali to do? He could lock Matvey up, and then what? Accidentally turn him into a second Ravager because of it? He was not leaving the man to his own devices. Was not trapping him but would keep an eye on him either way, make sure the things that had happened would never ever happen again-

‘Every decision you’ve made along the way has led us here. You did the best you could.’ Viktor stood up again, giving Vitali a gentle pat on his shoulder before turning around to tend to the mess on his desk, grabbing a stack of papers and shoving it into one of the drawers.

‘You’re just one man, Vito,’ he continued, ‘and you know what? Him too. What’s wrong with this city is that too many folks have this- this “kill who you can kill” mindset. Let’s be honest here, what real difference would it have made to take this one man’s life?’

‘Others have died along the way,’ Vitali bluntly fired back, reaching down and barely reacting when Jack instantly attacked his fingers, pupils dilating upon spotting Vitali’s rings and trying to pull one off his hand. ‘It would’ve been better to save them.’

‘And you tried, didn’t you? Had you killed him, would things have been different? Who else would have lived? Who else would have died?’

It was impossible to say.

Too many external factors at play- Ravager and Dupoint as rogue variables, as well as each and every single one of his father’s mercs. Nadya’s influence had changed so much; what would she have done if Vitali had successfully killed Matvey at any point in time? Would she still have wanted to remain on the sidelines?

‘Sometimes, living is a punishment,’ Viktor suddenly quietly said and Vitali looked back up at him, needing a second to realize he himself had stood up as well and had followed Viktor further into the room.

‘The human mind punishes itself more than enough- and death just… puts an end to that. It’s what makes it so appealing to some when life gets very difficult for them.’

His words were carefully chosen and Vitali could feel his chest tighten again, a lump in his throat making it harder to swallow. He knew Viktor was just putting out general statements, but he couldn’t help but take notice of the slightly targeted remarks dripping down from between the lines, the backside of a coin presented to him visible through a reflective surface behind it.

‘I don’t think the others understand,’ Vitali absently mumbled, a poor attempt at changing the subject.

‘And I don’t think that matters all that much,’ was the ripperdoc’s straightforward response. ‘Nothing’s been forgiven. Nothing’s been forgotten. You simply spared his life and gave him a temporary place to stay, an opportunity to better himself. What he does with that is out of your control.’

He made it sound so easy.

Vitali rarely worried about his reputation among others, knowing very well he could not satisfy everyone and attempting to do that would be as useless as trying to rid Night City of all crime. Sure, he tried his best to stay on the good side of at least the Council- even during all of this he had done nothing to anger them on purpose- but he did not let his worries about it stop him from doing what he felt was best for the situation, or for the parties involved.

But accusations were starting to stack up rather rapidly now. The belief some had he had joined Arasaka again for a while- unaware of the brainwashing, or simply refusing to believe it had happened- the belief some had he was the Broker himself, and now the doubts people had in him because of the outright refusal to kill his father despite the man being just one person in the bigger picture of things.

‘Do you think it will work out?’ Vitali carefully asked, watching as Viktor began setting some tools back on a shelf- and for a split second he was twenty years old again, swaying on his feet with his head completely elsewhere begging Viktor to tell him it would all be okay, to tell him it would be worth it, only to be met with deafening silence and an averted gaze.

‘Of course it will, kid,’ Viktor quietly said and an involuntarily, relieved sigh left Vitali’s chest.

‘It always does.’

Everything would fall in place in time. Viktor was right- of course he was. Vitali had no idea how long it would take, what it would take, but he wasn’t one to give up so easily and neither were any of his friends and for any of them to walk away now after everything they had been through together would be the most unrealistic scenario he could think of.

Of course it would be fine, in the end.

‘Can’t say I’ll ever like him, though,’ Viktor suddenly jokingly added to his statement. ‘But- s’pose we can coexist in peace.’

Vitali huffed in response, taking a step back to lean against the wall. ‘Can you imagine.’

‘Not in a million years.’

They were quiet for a moment, Vitali’s mind wandering off a little as he considered the possibility.

‘I mean,’ he quickly added- not entirely sure why he felt the need to, but it was already too late to stop the words from leaving his lips- ‘he’s a boxer. Like me. Like you.’

Viktor stopped what he was doing to turn to Vitali, and in his eyes where Vitali had expected to find judgment he instead found a softness that gave him just enough courage to keep talking.

‘Makes the worst jokes I’ve ever heard,’ he softly continued, ‘worse than Mikhail, if you can believe it. We used to… We used to watch those horrible hospital tv shows together every Sunday night when Nadya wasn’t home. We would rank all the male doctors from most to least attractive… We never settled on a winner.’

His voice finally trailed off and so did his gaze, glossy eyes trailing over the concrete floor and settling on a small stain near Viktor’s feet.

‘I’m sorry, this is- this is probably too soon, I didn’t mean-’

‘No such thing as too soon.’ Soothing, still, despite it all, like the strong hand he reached out and rested reassuringly on Vitali’s shoulder.. ‘You’ve had to carry that with you for years. Through all of this.’

He had.

Not at any point in time had Vitali stopped seeing Matvey as his father.

‘It feels like a lifetime ago,’ he mumbled, and his eyes fluttered shut when Viktor stepped forward and pulled him in for a hug, a sense of comfort washing over him and taking away any worries he’d had when he had entered the shop.

‘You think things will go back to how they used to be?’

‘No,’ Viktor replied without hesitation, but his voice lacked any hostility.

‘Absolutely not. And that’s for the best.’

The penthouse was not yet dark when Vitali came home, a couple of lights from the living room dimly illuminating the hallway leading up to the front door. A welcoming sight; his years in solitude had not done him well and Vitali would be forever glad to no longer have to live alone.

Mikhail and Vincent were curled up on the couch together under a blanket, quietly laughing about a joke one of them had made. The TV was still on, and Vitali’s eyes trailed over the coffee table- drinks and the remnants of snacks scattered across the marble tabletop.

Movie night. He had missed it a lot in the past few months.

‘Hey baby,’ Vincent said as Vitali walked closer and he reached out to gently grab both of Vitali's hands to drag him on the couch next to him. ‘How’d it go?’

‘Good,’ Vitali answered, leaning in to press a soft, slightly hesitant kiss on the corner of Vincent’s mouth. ‘Good, I think. He’s at the safehouse, everything is settled. For now.’

A short pause, as he sucked in a shallow breath and took a moment to scan both their faces. Vincent had not stopped smiling since he had entered, still looking up at him with a sleepy look in his eyes; but Mikhail refused to make eye contact, visibly biting the inside of his cheek as he instead played with Vincent’s hair. He was notably holding back all of his tics.

‘And here?’ Vitali quietly asked, gaze lingering on Mikhail a little longer until he finally looked up to answer.

‘Rogue called,’ he said. ‘Council has…mostly calmed down by now. The fake profile and “evidence” was enough to convince them and- well, streets are mostly back to normal. Which is really all they ever wanted in the first place.’

‘No ties to me? Or my-’ He stopped to swallow his words. ‘Or to Matvey?’

‘None at all,’ Vincent replied, and carefully brushed some of Vitali’s hair out of his face. ‘Don’t expect an apology from them, but- it’s over now.’

Vitali huffed. ‘All I ever wanted.’

It would do him good to finally no longer have to deal with them. The feeling of their eyes on his back had been a constant annoyance throughout the whole ordeal and all of that could have so easily been prevented if they had simply listened to him from the start.

But Vitali found it was best not to dwell on the Council’s behavior and decisions for too long. As Vincent rightfully said- expecting an apology would be as stupid as expecting to get any financial compensation or support from them for the resources and supplies lost along the way.

At least it would secure his spot out of their direct line of fire during the next Council meeting, whenever that would be. The thought alone already made him shudder- he’d never been all too fond of the gatherings in the first place, but they had gotten significantly worse since, well, recent developments.

‘What about Rogue?’ he finally asked, pushing his own thoughts aside.

‘Mostly just sounded very relieved that it is all over now,’ Mikhail said, shrugging as he grabbed the TV remote to turn off the still rolling credits from whatever movie they’d watched. ‘Will you- Will you go see her?’

‘Did she say anything?’

‘No.’

‘Then I should probably just stay out of her way for a while. Best for all of us.’

That finally got a smile out of Mikhail, glancing over to look at Vincent who had kept his mouth shut but was furiously nodding and Vitali gave him a playful poke in his side, causing his boyfriend to snort and accidentally headbutt Mikhail in the arm in his delayed attempt at dodging.

‘You know what we should do?’ Mikhail asked, playful sparkle in his eyes as he jokingly pulled Vincent closer to hold him in a headlock. ‘Go on vacation. Get out of town for a little bit.’

‘Hmm- Sounds lovely,’ Vitali said with a smile, kicking off his shoes and pulling his legs up on the couch as he moved closer to the both of them and allowed Vincent to drag him in for a hug. ‘Where to?’

‘Panam and Judes are going back to Arizona for a while, meet up with Saul and the others there,’ Vincent said, holding on to Mikhail’s arm with one hand and placing the other on Vitali’s waist. ‘Could go with ‘em- or the east coast.’ He glanced up to look at Mikhail. ‘You still got family there?’

‘I do.’ His eyes briefly lingered on Vincent before moving back to Vitali, and a few soft clicks of his tongue left his lips before he continued. ‘They still want to meet you, by the way.’

Vitali softly smiled back and lowered his gaze, chest tightening a little as Mikhail spoke. He had often mentioned his extended family in their childhood; had often asked Vitali to come with him one day, and how Vitali had wanted to but had never been allowed to travel outside of town because of Nadya and her general dislike of his friend.

Things are different now. She’s not here.

He couldn’t help but wonder where she was, though. If she was doing well.

‘I’m going to bed, important day tomorrow at office.’

Mikhail finally let go of Vincent and kissed him on the head, then reached out to ruffle Vitali’s hair- receiving a fake groan in return as response- and he leaned in to give him a hug, hands on the back of Vitali’s head and running in circles on his back as Vitali dropped his head in the crook of Mikhail’s neck and briefly closed his eyes.

Everything is fine. You’ve not ruined anything.

Mikhail gave him a kiss on his temple and then finally got up from the couch, stretching and yawning before making his way toward the hallway on their left.

‘Good night, you two.’

‘Night,’ Vitali replied in unison with Vincent, who immediately mumbled ‘jinx’ after it and instantly received another poke between his ribs from Vitali. He giggled and shuffled closer, pressing his face against Vitali’s shoulder as he carefully wrapped his arms around his waist.

‘Took you long to get home,’ he murmured against Vitali’s neck, softly pressing his lips against his skin.

‘Had some things to do,’ Vitali absently replied and hooked his arm under Vincent’s leg to pull him on his lap, quickly glancing into the hallway to check if Mikhail was out of sight.

‘Nothin’ I wouldn’t do, I hope?’

Not a surprising question- and Vitali could not blame him. He’d be lying if he said he hadn’t considered it; stopping by a bar on the way there, or on the way home, couple shots wouldn’t hurt him- on a surface level, at least- and at least it would cause his anxiety to settle down for the time being.

But he couldn’t do that to Vincent. Not again.

‘I went to see Vitya,’ he quietly explained himself, gently cupping Vincent’s cheek to make him look up at him, and gave him another soft smile. ‘That’s all.’

Vincent blinked a few times and then leaned in to Vitali’s touch, cheek pressing against his palm- slightly turned his head to kiss it, before turning back and gently fixing the collar of Vitali’s shirt for him. Keeping his hands busy; he was nervous.

‘I’m sorry,’ he mumbled, one of his fingers hooking into Vitali’s shirt a little bit and brushing past his collarbone. ‘Shouldn't've doubted you.’

‘Hey,’ Vitali gently interrupted him and placed his hands over Vincent’s, waiting until his attention was back on him. ‘It’s okay. I get it.’

‘No, no- it’s- I just-’

‘All of it.’

He almost startled himself with it; but it was the truth.

No amount of attempting to justify himself and his actions would take away the fact it made sense people had started to doubt him somewhere along the way. If anything, Vitali’s stubbornness had made everything ten times more complicated than had been necessary and he was surprised it hadn’t caused any bigger arguments to break out in all the time that had passed.

‘My family has always been complicated,’ he quietly continued, lowering his gaze and softly running his thumbs over Vincent’s hands. ‘I- I don’t expect you to ever understand and I know what it looks like from the outside. I do. And I can’t blame you at all.’

‘Vito-’

‘I don’t know if I’m making a mistake with this.’ A brief pause, a shaky inhale. ‘I don’t know what is going to happen next, what he will do. What I will do. But I just- I couldn’t kill him.’

‘I know, baby.’

Vincent carefully cupped Vitali’s face in both his hands and leaned in- a brief moment of hesitation, as if they’d been sent back in time and suddenly had only been together for maybe a month or two- and kissed him as sweetly as he always did, the familiar taste of his peach chapstick spilling into Vitali’s mouth as he pulled him closer.

Vitali would be lying if he said he hadn’t been scared he would never get to experience that ever again.

‘Suppose it was complicated for him too,’ Vincent quietly continued, slightly pulling back and brushing his nose past Vitali’s, ‘considering- well, you know. And… I won’t fully understand it, but I understand that. Can’t fuckin’ stand my piece of shit oldest brother but if I’d find him bleeding out I- I also- you know. A little different, of course, but- I get it. I do.’

‘I never meant for any of you to get dragged into all of this,’ Vitali mumbled, keeping his eyes closed as he softly pressed his lips against Vincent’s again. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘You keep apologizing, but none of this is your fault. He started hunting you down- that’s on him.’

‘I should have dealt with things differently-’

‘How?’

Vincent pulled back a little further and Vitali finally opened his eyes, barely able to see his boyfriend through the blur of his own tears.

‘What would you have done differently if you could go back in time?’ Vincent asked, running his thumbs over Vitali’s cheeks. ‘What would you change?’

‘I would… I would’ve…’

He couldn’t finish his sentence.

‘Bit late, don’t you think? Or should I say early?’

Vitali’s eyes fluttered shut and he exhaled deeply, slowly dropping his head against the front door as he closed it with a soft click and reluctantly turned around to face his father- once again already dressed to leave for work, arms crossed in front of his chest.

‘They really wanted me to be there,’ he quietly mumbled in response, wincing slightly when Matvey reached out to grab his jaw and gently run his thumb past a large bruise on his cheek.

‘I can tell,’ he replied. ‘What happened?’

‘Nothing for you to worry about.’

‘Are you alright, at least?’

Vitali clenched his jaw and could not force an answer out of himself.

He wouldn’t have done anything different. And he knew. And he knew that Vincent knew.

Perhaps foolish, or naive- but it had paid off in the end, as messy as it had been. Death happened each and every day in Night City and even fixers weren’t safe from that; a somewhat morbid reminder of that to mercenaries and the Council alike, and if anything it had finally woken them up after who knows how long of being so certain of their own untouchability.

Who knows how it all would have ended, had Vitali done something different? Who would have lived? Who would have died? He was no longer sure what had caused the dominos to fall in the first place- and there had been no way to prevent it from happening, years of events setting it in motion out of itself- and no one had been able to predict where the chain reaction would lead them in the end.

‘Family’s fuckin’ complicated,’ Vincent said, kissing Vitali on the forehead before getting up and walking over into the kitchen to pour the both of them a drink. ‘I’m just glad that it’s over now. And that you’re still with me.’

Vitali absently nodded, gaze wandering off to the large windows along the wall behind him, looking out over the balcony and the pier of Wellsprings, the vast ocean blending in with the dark horizon far outside the city.

And for a brief second, he could feel his entire body freeze, eyes locked onto the darkness ahead and breath caught in his throat; it felt familiar, too familiar, swallowed whole by the endless void with the feeling of eyes staring right back at him, waiting, expectantly.

‘Hey.’

Vincent had walked back to him, concerned frown decorating his brow as he sat back down next to him and gently cupped his cheek to force his gaze away from the ocean and back on him, the warmth of the light above the coffee table causing the uncomfortable feeling in his chest to settle down- but it did not vanish entirely.

‘I love you,’ Vitali quietly said, the words heavy in his mouth as he spoke and he could only barely stop a tear from escaping the corner of his eye when Vincent smiled at him and pulled him closer to his chest, the warmth of his arms finally making Vitali feel at peace again, and at home.

‘And I love you, baby. Not ever gonna change.’

Life in Night City moves fast.

Its endless crowds are an overwhelming presence during every hour of the day, under the sweltering west coast sun as well as under the blinding city lights long after dark. An ever-growing playground for corporations, fixers and fortune seekers alike- the city of dreams that swallows everyone who does not know what they’re getting themselves into whole; without remorse, and without hesitation.

A city where tragedy strikes too often for people to concern themselves with it anymore- most have grown numb after years and years of hearing the same news on the radio, and most know it’s a waste of energy to even try to care. Cut off one head and two take its place; and one seed planted can infect many at once, leaving the source of the problem nearly irrelevant in comparison to what has grown in the meantime.

Impossible to predict and impossible to control. Many have tried- many have failed- from corporations attempting to get inside people’s heads and control their every move from within to a single man taking matters into his own hands to try and rid the streets of its corruption, starting with its intricate network of fixers and mercenaries as a whole.

But in all of that, there are still people who do care. Who choose each other over and over again- who choose life, over and over again- who refuse to be stripped from their humanity and hold on to it as tightly as they hold on to each other through it all.

The city itself might never change. But people can.

That’s what makes us human after all, isn’t it?

#nuclearwriting #rbs much appreciated :) <3 #well. there it is. final chapter. cries #literally nauseous as i'm making this post and also as i'm posting this post i'm so. ough! it's over now huh!! god #i won't ramble about it too much in the tags because i don't want to spoil the experience so i'll make another post about it all later #but for now: thank you all so much for your support through this whole thang i'm very thankful for it <33 #hope you enjoyed the ride as much as i did :)#ch:the broker

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quickhacked · 7 months

Note

falling for cassidy. tee hee

FALL(ING) [x] characters >> cassidy shaffer (oc), reid bennett (oc) context >> may 2073; cassidy still works for maxtac and is dating reid, who is having a horrible time at work due to suspicions from his superiors and an upcoming deal with arasaka he never wanted in the first place total >> 2.5k words warnings >> alcohol mention, relationship red flags (reid kinda sucks as a boyfriend in this era of his life)

Cassidy despised sleeping alone.

Curious how that worked; for something that had never bothered him before to become such an important part of his nightly routine. He’d been alone for most of his life and had always found comfort in his solitude- and on top of that, he simply needed his space, and especially so in bed and the mere thought of being stuck next to someone all night had never sounded all too appealing to him.

Though it was different now. Ever since he’d been in a relationship, whenever the other side of the bed would be empty and he would be all alone in there he would not be able to close his eyes for many hours to come- more than often leading to a full, sleepless night.

He still did not entirely understand how that had happened. Reid didn’t even sleep right beside him most of the time- their bed was big enough to fit at least three more people in it and the significant distance between their two respective sides always left a cold void next to him, even more so when either of them had not had the best day at work.

Yet still, Cassidy found comfort in it. No longer having to sleep alone, no longer accompanied by merely the sound of his own breathing. It was nice.

So of course he had still not been able to fall asleep that night, all alone in that bedroom of their shared apartment in Charter Hill.

Reid was home- as far as Cassidy was concerned, at least. He had heard him enter while taking a shower, but had not seen him when he’d left the bathroom despite crossing through the living room and kitchen a good few times while getting ready for bed. But his keys had been there, as well as his coat; Cassidy presumed he had retreated into his office again, to finish up some overdue paperwork.

He knew Reid was going through a rough patch at work. Pressured into a collaboration he’d never wanted to begin with and continuously being put through the wringer after one of his colleagues had been fired for selling data to Netwatch; ridiculous, if you asked Cassidy, how little trust MaxTac put into him despite Reid having proved his undying loyalty to them on multiple occasions before. As slimy as he could be on occasions, he truly was the last person to betray them for his own personal gain.

But there was very little that could be done about it. Reid’s superiors were overly suspicious now and Cassidy himself was simply an employee working for Reid- in no way a big name like his boyfriend, with little to no influence that could make any difference were he to step in to try and lighten the load.

Not as if Reid would even allow him to help to begin with. His self-confidence had recently more than often crossed the border of arrogance and his sheer stubbornness prevented Cassidy from reaching out to him- any and every attempt to try and get closer to him politely declined, or simply bluntly cut off.

It saddened him, at times. He loved Reid with his whole heart and seeing him struggle like that hurt him more than Cassidy would ever admit out loud.

But what could he do about it? Reid had made it abundantly clear that, much like Cassidy, he valued his privacy and his solitude and it wasn’t up to Cassidy to take that away from him. All he wanted was for his boyfriend to be comfortable, to feel good; but with the distance between them in their bed and the growing distance between them in every other space they would share he could not help but wonder if Reid had accidentally pushed him away too far.

The door of the bedroom finally opened, dragging Cassidy out of his thoughts and his attention was drawn to Reid’s silhouette shuffling inside in the dark, shoulders visibly slumped and his hair down. He made a surprisingly good attempt at being quiet- usually he would barge in without taking Cassidy into consideration, sometimes even mid phone call, still- and Cassidy waited in silence as he watched Reid quickly take off his shirt and pants and slide underneath the covers next to him.

He turned on his side, back towards Cassidy. Unsurprisingly so.

With the faint bit of light dripping in the room through the curtains and his eyes having adjusted to the darkness surrounding them well enough, Cassidy could so clearly see him, and he let his eyes slowly travel over the sharp outline and edges of Reid’s shoulder, the few beauty marks scattered across his skin, and the large, prominent scar sitting comfortably between his shoulder blades.

He had never told Cassidy about it. And Cassidy was too scared to ask.

He lay unmoving for a while, eyes solidly fixed on his boyfriend’s back and jaw nearly painfully clenched. He was a little unsure what to do; despite the two of them having been together for over a year already, Cassidy still often worried certain actions would cause him to accidentally cross a boundary, or an unspoken rule, and he still often wondered what he was and was not allowed to do.

Reid’s shoulder briefly tensed up and Cassidy could hear a shaky breath leave his lips. Something must have happened at work- he had not seen him the entire day and had not received a single text either, despite having sent a couple of them Reid’s way.

Of course he knew Reid was a busy man with an important job to do. Of course he knew he didn’t always have the time to reply to Cassidy’s texts. But to not hear from him the entire day and- to top it all off- have him be this quiet upon arrival at home was worrying to Cassidy, even more so than usual.

He hesitantly turned on his side and scooted a little closer, moving ever so slowly as he kept his eyes steadily on Reid- almost expecting him to say something, or to move away from him.

But Reid did not move a muscle, and Cassidy carefully tucked a strand of hair behind his ear for him and moved it out of his neck before leaning in further and planting a soft kiss right on jawline.

‘Cassie, please,’ Reid mumbled, slightly shifting position and tilting his head away. ‘Gotta get up early tomorrow.’

‘You could call in sick,’ Cassidy quietly replied, quickly gathering himself and pulling away as if he had touched fire- though he refused to move away from Reid. ‘You’ve been overworking yourself, honey. I think you’re allowed to take a day off.’

No response.

Silence washed over the room and Cassidy blinked a few times as he thought of anything else to say, anything else to do. He carefully reached out again and let his hand rest in the dip of Reid’s waist, gently running his thumb over his cold skin in sync with his slightly unstable breathing, eyes once again moving over his back.

He’d spent so many nights staring at it. Too many nights.

‘I’m not in the mood for this right now,’ Reid plainly said, a monotonous tone to his voice Cassidy was used to on the workfloor, not in their own home. He reached for Cassidy’s hand and tried to nudge it away- though something stopped him halfway through, and suddenly he was merely holding Cassidy’s hand in his own, briefly tightening his grip while he restlessly shifted position again.

‘Can I give you a hug?’

The question had left Cassidy’s lips before he could stop himself.

And a stupid question, really. Reid didn’t like hugging, especially not in bed- had made it abundantly clear many times before and of course it would not be any fucking different now, and Cassidy wished he had just kept his mouth shut.

Yet for some reason Reid remained very quiet for a couple of seconds, still tightly holding on to Cassidy’s hand; and Cassidy could not help but notice he was shaking, slender fingers unstable on top of his own and when Reid slowly turned around he could not even look the other man in the eyes.

Cassidy immediately wrapped his arms around Reid, pulling him to his chest and feeling all the tension leave his body when Reid reciprocated. He pressed a kiss on his boyfriend’s head, gently running his hand through his hair to try and calm him down and he ignored the all too familiar burning sensation starting to build in his torso, his nerves screaming at him and begging for him to pull away-

‘I’m sorry,’ Reid suddenly quietly said, lifting his head and pushing himself up a little until he was at eye level with Cassidy. ‘Have been acting like a fucking cunt all week. Not my intention, but… You know.’

‘I know,’ Cassidy quickly said, cupping Reid’s cheek with his hand and pressing another kiss right on the bridge of his nose, ‘I know. It’s alright.’

It wasn’t, really.

A lot of Reid’s shitty moods were the direct result from his horrible time at work, and Cassidy understood- he truly did. But that did not take away it always made him feel horrible and like he had done something wrong, and it did not take away it had caused him to start bracing himself whenever Reid would finally make it home- just like that night- scared of being caught in the crossfire again.

But Reid didn’t have to know that. And everything was fine again now, right? That was all that mattered to him.

Cassidy gently ran his fingers down Reid’s face and Reid softly hummed in return, eyes fluttering shut as he slightly turned his head to lean in to Cassidy’s touch. And in a wave of overconfidence Cassidy leaned in-

But stopped himself just in time, remembering he- well, he couldn’t.

Last time he had tried to initiate a kiss, Reid had simply laughed at him. Cassidy had not tried anything like that again since.

So instead he merely settled with a light forehead touch and closed his eyes, heart skipping a beat as he pretended he was kissing Reid instead, trying to imagine the feeling of the other man’s lips on his own and trying to remember how in love he had felt the first time it had happened.

It wasn’t the same. Of course it wasn’t- but it was a tactic he had always used, and it helped him enough to let go of his longing, even if it was just for a little bit-

Reid’s fingertips suddenly collided with his cheek and it startled Cassidy to the point he nearly pulled away, the sensation sending a shockwave of stimuli through his entire nervous system. He watched with wide eyes as he allowed Reid to cradle his face, gaze slowly trailing over over his features-

And Reid promptly kissed him, his lips soft and soothing on Cassidy’s while his hands left burning imprints on his skin.

Cassidy eagerly pushed himself a little closer, tilting his head and parting his lips in perfect sync with Reid’s tongue entering his mouth. He tasted of mint, mostly- but no amount of toothpaste and peppermint candies could cover up the taste of the sweet liquor he had been drinking earlier, a constant reminder of his partner’s tendency to head over to the nearest bar after work before he could even think about heading home.

‘Only calling in sick tomorrow if you do the same,’ Reid mumbled into the kiss, lips curling up into a small smile when Cassidy hummed in disapproval. He briefly pushed himself closer to Cassidy again, running one hand down his chest to his side and over the curve of his back; then broke the kiss and dropped his head back on his pillow, smile still lingering on his face.

‘I can’t just-’ Cassidy tried to protest, but Reid interrupted him by kissing him again, teasingly biting Cassidy’s lower lip upon pulling back; and when Cassidy opened his mouth to continue his sentence, he was stopped by yet another kiss, to the point he was unable to suppress a quiet giggle.

‘Got sick, and then you got sick too,’ Reid quietly continued, moving his hand even further down until he reached Cassidy’s ass and gave it a playful squeeze, drawing an embarrassed whimper from his boyfriend’s lips. ‘Said it yourself, darling- I overworked myself. So I can stay home.’

‘Overworking isn’t contagious,’ Cassidy muttered back, though he was no longer actively disagreeing with Reid. It’d been a while since he had last seen this side of him- several months now, actually, now that he thought about it.

And he would be lying if he said he hadn’t missed it.

‘You’re no fun,’ Reid jokingly said, pressing a kiss on Cassidy’s nose and moving both hands to his face again, thumbs gently running over his cyberware as he pouted and dramatically batted his eyelashes at him. ‘Come on, Cassie. For me?’

Of course he would stay home with him.

Cassidy was unable to say no to Reid, ever. Could you blame him? Reid was charming, lovable- despite everything, despite the outbursts, despite the distant behavior. Cassidy knew others wouldn’t agree, but he could see past it like no one else and he knew there was so much more to Reid than what he showed on the surface.

He slowly nodded, finding himself unable to speak and his heart jumped when Reid smiled at him- a genuine, bright smile that caused his nose to scrunch up and the little wrinkles beside his eyes to crease.

‘That’s my boy,’ he said, running his hand through Cassidy’s hair and letting it linger when he noticed Cassidy pushing his head closer to his touch. Another soft kiss on his cheek, and Reid slowly turned around again, though grabbed Cassidy’s hand and pulled it along until his arm was wrapped tightly around his torso.

‘I love you,’ Cassidy softly said, pressing his forehead against the back of Reid’s neck and gently squeezing his hand before closing his eyes and relaxing against him.

He knew Reid wouldn’t say it back.

Still did not entirely understand why- they were in the comfort of their own home, no one else to keep up appearances to, just the two of them safe and sound in the warmth of each other's arms.

But something still stopped Reid from saying the words back at him; rarely even said them at all, usually only uttering the words when he himself initiated it.

Cassidy didn’t mind.

If Reid didn’t love him back, he wouldn’t be there with him anymore. Right?

‘Good night, darling,’ Reid quietly replied, and brought Cassidy’s hand to his lips to press a soft kiss on it.

‘Good night.’

#asks #reaperkiller #writing asks #nuclearwriting #reid is so sucks as a boyfriend to cassidy but he has his moments. and cassidy IS right about there being a lot more to reid #than what shows on the surface. the man just needs to be humbled severely later on in the story to become normal #anyway i'll forever be insane about them because the love was there but ouuu it was doomed to fail from the very beginning

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quickhacked · 8 months

Note

12 for aubrey :3c

CANDLES [x] characters >> aubrey valentine (oc), leon dello russo (other's oc) context >> september 2080; aubrey and leon have been on the spaceship elysium for a few months at this point, to work at the local security force as netwatch and militech specialists respectively total >> 1.2k words warnings >> none

Power outages were a common occurrence in Aubrey’s life.

Plenty of times had the places he had lived in over the years lost power, either because of corporate construction work nearby, overdue electric bills, or simply because of the decrepit state of the building itself; especially the crappy apartment he had lived in with his mother and sisters had lost power often enough to the point they’d had to buy an external generator, to keep the fridge running and prevent food from spoiling.

The amount of times he had sat on the couch huddled up with James and Rikki under a blanket to keep warm, surrounded by candles and flashlights as they waited for Becca to return from downstairs- their mother elsewhere, occupied with other things obviously much more important than her children, sometimes gone for days to the point Aubrey would wonder if she would ever be coming back.

Candles were under no circumstances allowed in Elysium, though. Nor was sitting around under a blanket, waiting until the problem would solve itself.

Aubrey stood motionless next to his desk in the office of Elysium Security, arms crossed in front of his chest as he watched his colleagues run around and yell at each other. No one had given him a task- perhaps they still did not trust him enough to get the job done, or perhaps they had simply forgotten he was even there. Either way, he didn’t mind; would probably find a way to fuck it up again anyway even if it was as simple as a single press of a button, and the last thing he needed was for his boss to put him through the meat grinder because of it.

‘AH-! Fuck. There you are.’

The familiar- somewhat startled- voice came from behind Aubrey, below chest level for him; he quickly turned around, eyes rapidly scanning the darkness of the office’s entrance and he was met with Leon, flashlight in one hand and toolbox in the other. The beam of light hit his eyes directly and he squinted, as Leon quickly lowered the flashlight again.

‘Sorry, did I startle you?’ Aubrey asked, watching as his friend put the toolbox on his own desk and dropped himself into his chair.

‘Hm? No-! No, it’s the- you know.’ A short pause and a sucked in breath as Leon gestured around vaguely, telling Aubrey it was merely the darkness itself that was causing him to be jumpier than usual. ‘Wasn’t expecting you to be there.’

Aubrey once again glanced over his shoulder to the rest of the spaceship’s local security force. They had by then stopped attempting to get the lights back on- the ship was running on backup generators anyway, to keep the rest of its systems up and running- and were instead attempting to duct tape their flashlights and phones to their desk lamps, so they could continue doing paperwork even in the dark.

‘Did you find anything?’ he heard himself ask, slowly redirecting his attention to Leon who was slightly spinning around in his seat while tapping his fingers on the armrest.

‘What I could gather is system failure,’ he quietly answered, voice barely loud enough to be audible over the rest of the ruckus; but Aubrey had grown used enough to it by then and could easily filter out any and all background noises whenever his friend was talking to him.

‘No external damage to any of the generators or the reactor, no one in the systems- otherwise you or Ripley would’ve found them by now. I tried resetting the local grid but that didn’t do anything either. Can’t access the mainframe from here, but a ship-wide reboot should do the trick.’

‘I’ve got no idea what any of that means, but I trust you. And “ship-wide reboot” sounds like it’s going to take a while.’

‘That’s the gist of it.’ Leon licked his lips and glanced in the direction of their coworkers too, a frown taking shape on his brow when one of the flashlights clattered on the edge of a desk and then bounced on the floor. ‘Either way, so much for our workday, then. All PCs are offline until we get the power running again.’

Ever since their arrival in Elysium, Aubrey hadn’t had any days off yet. The weekends, of course- save for emergency situations, or when the weekend crew was a little short-staffed- but he had spent any other day working as hard as his attention span and sleep-deprived body would allow him to.

Which had been difficult, at times. He showed up late for work much more often than he showed up on time, but at least the speed at which he finished his daily tasks made up for it- most of the time, then.

He had found himself having a lot of trouble falling asleep, lately. The deafening silence of outer space made him feel more alone than he had ever felt in his life.

Aubrey slowly sat down too, flinching when another flashlight clattered onto the floor and some of his colleagues laughed, the shrill noise echoing through the office. Leon kept his eyes solidly fixed on the toolbox on his desk- refusing to make eye contact, as usual, but Aubrey was not bothered by it at all.

Gave him more opportunities to take a better look at him without being noticed.

He caught himself doing that a lot more often lately, ever since the two of them had met there. He was allowed; Aubrey was single now- temporarily, as he confidently kept telling himself- and with his soft, long hair, the freckles decorating his cheekbones and the bridge of his nose, and the little fangs that would occasionally poke out over his lower lip whenever he smiled, Leon was most definitely a sight for sore eyes.

They had only known each other for a few months by then. Yet to Aubrey it felt like he had known the other man for a full lifetime already.

‘Let’s get out of here,’ he suddenly blurted out and got up from his chair again, not entirely sure what his plan even was but also not wanting to sit around in the dark office any longer. ‘Pretend to be on patrol or something.’

‘Both residents and visitors have been sent back to their quarters until the problem is resolved,’ Leon said, a questioning look on his face. ‘There’s not much out there for us to do.’

‘Exactly.’ Aubrey gave him a small smile and a wink, gesturing around. ‘We’ve got the whole ship for ourselves, then. We can run- or, well, fly- a marathon in the zero-G tunnels.’

‘What if we get caught?’

‘Best make sure we fly really, really fast.’

Leon looked up at him and a small smile spread on his face, a familiar twinkle in his eyes that always caused Aubrey’s heart to make a little jump. He stood up as well, turning to look at their colleagues one last time; none of them were paying attention to either of them at all, as per usual, and he pushed his chair closer to his desk while nodding at the exit.

‘Alright then. Lead the way.’

#asks #hibernationsuit #writing asks #nuclearwriting #a short one but also an important one because this might be about them 'getting out of there' to have some fun #but they Will end up wanting to Get Out Of There in general. which they can't really do. because they're stuck there. haha x #and yeah we are in 2080 for this one LMAO don't even worry about it. cassidy and sebastian end up going to elysium later in the timeline

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quickhacked · 1 year

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– WIP DAY.

TAGGED BY: @henbased, @florbelles & @phillipsgraves, thank you so much!!

TAGGING: @reaperkiller, @steelport, @arklay, @aartyom, @faarkas, @swordcoasts, @liurnia, @calenhads, @girlbosselrond, @cultistbase, @morvaris, @druidgroves, @devilbrakers, @shellibisshe, @katsigian, @dickytwister, @unholymilf, @adelaidedrubman, @strafethesesinners and YOU!

with chapter 12 of the broker fic dropping tomorrow, have a little sneak peek for that >:^) you can catch up with the rest of the fic here!

The hallway endlessly stretched out in front of Vitali’s eyes.

He had been standing there for five minutes now. Unmoving, jaw clenched, eyes unfocused as he listened to the noises of life behind him, the Megabuilding still crawling with people even at that hour of the night. He wore his combat gear- cargo pants, dark henley, chest armor- though he was unsure why he had decided to put that on out of all possibilities. Perhaps he subconsciously expected it to be a trap, or perhaps he wanted to come across as intimidating, and not scared; but he regretted it now, well aware of the way people had looked at him when he had made his way inside. I’m just here to talk, he had wanted to tell them- I’m just being careful, taking precautions. Justifying himself to complete strangers who had no idea what he was even there for, as if it would clear his conscience, as if it would ease his mind. A curious reflex. It had been a while since the last time he had felt the need to do such a thing. Every step closer to the door at the end of the hallway was heavier than the last, every footfall bouncing off the walls and endlessly echoing through his head. Just there to talk- it sounded so simple, so innocent. A son visiting his mother after many years- save for a single encounter not all too long ago- though in that very moment he felt like anything but a son. And the moment he reached the front door, he froze. What was he supposed to do- knock? Ring the doorbell? Just walk right in, see what would happen? And what would he even say to her, assuming she would be there? What could he say? He tightly balled his fists, brow narrowing when he heard a loud BANG somewhere behind him followed by piercing laughter. His heart skipped a beat and for a brief moment the world seemed to spin around him, and he needed to reach for the wall to regain his balance. He could walk away, still. He could turn back, leave the past in the past, leave his mother behind and simply assume she had nothing to do with it- But he had to know. He had to know for sure. ‘What if I’m making a mistake, Vitya?’ Vitali asked, unable to look the other man in the eyes as his grip on the mug in front of him tightened. ‘Perhaps I should just- I should-‘ ‘You should do what feels right to you,’ Viktor gently interrupted him, briefly glancing around the diner to see if anyone was listening in. ‘Clearly it’s bothering you- clearly you’re still lookin’ for answers. Would it ease your mind if you let this rest? Would it bring you peace?’ Of course not. Nadya was far from the final puzzle piece, but Vitali knew she was an important one; the last one that needed to be placed in order for him to make sense out of it all, even if he learned nothing new, even if she was innocent- or, well, as innocent as she could be. ‘I feel like I’m losing it.’ Vitali slowly drank his coffee; it had turned cold by then, but he didn’t mind. ‘I was doing better, and- and then Roksana shows up, and-‘ ‘Well, of course.’ Viktor smiled a gentle smile at him, but Vitali could see the barely masked concern dripping from his expression. ‘Forgive me, Vito, but- your family is a damn handful. When’s the last time you saw your sister- a decade ago? Like with your brother- of course it’s not easy to see her again. No surprise to me it’s knocked you right back off your feet.’

#tag games #nuclearwriting #this chapter was an absolute beast to write and the list of warnings is as long as my arm #but oogh it's also very tasty. i'm allowed to say that i poured my heart and soul into it #once again horrible with tagging people and you can kill me for any reason even if it's just for fun #there were many parts i wanted to share but i feel like this is the most !!!!!! one. teehee and lol #everything else would've contained too many spoilers already. now i'm just over here building tension #anyway hiii i am very excited to share the whole thing tomorrow :]

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quickhacked · 10 months

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Chapter >> 18 [x] Characters >> Lauren Dimas (oc), Matvey Dobrynin (oc), Mikhail Koshechkin (oc), Rogue Amendiares, Viktor Vektor, Vincent Mayer (oc), Vitali Dobrynin (oc) Total >> 8.0k words Warnings >> Alcohol mention, blood, brainwashing mention, brief transphobia mention, death, descriptions of dying (don't even worry about it), dissociation (sort of), injuries, violence

Vitali was dying.

He could see the sky from where he sat, the ink black void above Night City, turned all hues of blue from advertisement projections and the city lights down below. Could barely hear the alarm blasting through the building anymore, a comfortable ringing filling the space between his ears, low humming wrapping itself around him like a protective blanket as he felt himself slipping away.

Part of him had already known, in a way. Living on borrowed time- the bullet had killed him, and if it hadn’t been for Arasaka forcing a heartbeat back into him only minutes later he would never have opened his eyes anymore at all. Had happened nearly a year ago by then; yet somehow Vitali could remember it as if it had only been a few hours at most, as if all that had taken place since had been nothing but a fever dream and his brain keeping him trapped in a delusion in the final moments before his lungs would give out.

He struggled to keep his eyes open, the familiar voice nearby urging him to stay awake- bitter taste of blood in his mouth and his side burning up, pain gnawing its way through flesh and muscle and bone until it was so constant he could barely even feel it anymore.

‘The sky looks…different, here.’

Vincent chuckled and dropped his head on Vitali’s shoulder who immediately scoffed in return, surprised by his boyfriend’s reaction, and quickly took another sip from his beer.

‘You are- such a fuckin’ city boy,’ Vincent said, looking up and pressing a kiss on Vitali’s cheek. ‘No offense, ‘course.’

‘None taken.’

Neither of them spoke as they both looked up again, eyes trailing over the stars shimmering above the camp of the Aldecaldos stationed a few miles outside of Tucson. Vincent was right- Vitali had never left Night City far enough to be able to see the night sky in all its glory, and he had never known there was so much up there to see.

Oh, how Vitali longed to see the stars one last time.

At least the end was more gentle for him, now. No one hovering over him, hurting him, choking him out; no one crying beside him, failing to save him- tears spilled, wasted, over Vitali’s own shortcomings, his alone and no one else's.

‘We should come back here, sometime,’ Vincent quietly said, reaching out to take Vitali’s hand in his own and he gave it a little squeeze. ‘After- you know. We finish up business in Night City. Take a break for a while.’

‘That sounds lovely,’ Vitali replied and smiled at him; a smile that widened when Vincent smiled back and gently bumped their foreheads together, eyes fluttering shut as he breathed in deep, his lips brushing past Vitali’s skin.

He had not even gotten the chance to say goodbye.

A tear rolled down Vitali’s cheek, eyelids heavy as he felt himself sinking; no current pulling him down this time but his arms and legs were no longer strong enough to keep his head above the water, and he sucked in a final, shaky breath before the cold river swallowed him whole.

He knew what dying felt like.

Vitali had very limited childhood memories.

Early ones, at least; shrouded in a strange sense of alienation, a name that did not belong to him and a body turning into something he did not want it to be. Siblings, who got a better treatment than he had ever received; a mother who did not love him, who thought her oldest daughter was merely a doll for her to play with, to dress up and order around until she would grow tired and throw him out; and a father, who-

Who-

Well, Vitali was not sure anymore.

‘You’re bleeding, мое солнышко. What happened?’

Vitali refused to look his father in the eyes- not out of shame, but out of pure anger- still shaking on his legs as he stomped through the living room and dropped himself on the couch. He was a little out of breath, still; had run all the way upstairs rather than use the elevator in hopes to get rid of the adrenaline running through his system, but it had not helped him in the slightest.

‘Stupid fucking shit kids,’ he simply answered Matvey, who had put his work down and walked over to him to join him, sitting down in the armchair on his left.

‘Oy- Language.’

‘What? I’m right.’

‘What did they do?’

‘Called me names. Said I dress ugly.’

‘And then they punched you on the nose?’

Vitali huffed and looked away, crossing his arms in front of his chest and he pouted as he stared out of the window, eyes slowly trailing over the ocean next to the pier of Wellsprings.

Alright, perhaps he had landed the first punch this time- but could you blame him? All the little fuckers ever did was harass anyone younger and shorter than them, and Vitali with his ten years of age was no exception to that.

One too many times and he had simply snapped.

Matvey reached out and gently took Vitali’s jaw, tilting his head back to get a better look at his face; and Vitali merely stared back, counting the few freckles covering his father’s forehead and cheekbones as his heartbeat finally settled down.

‘It hurts,’ he mumbled, slapping his father’s hand away.

‘It looks broken,’ he replied.

‘Next time I see them I’m pushing them off pier. All of them.’

‘Hm. Good luck explaining that to NCPD. Davay- let’s clean that blood off your face before your mother gets home.’

‘HEY-! Fucking watch it!’

Vitali clenched his jaw and flipped the other driver off as he quickly maneuvered around the car, switching lanes and accelerating while ignoring the loud honking from behind. His other hand was tightly wrapped around the steering wheel, white-knuckled to stop it from shaking too much.

Not as if it helped.

The city lights flashing by were blinding- street light after street light and billboards and neon signs and Vitali struggled to keep his eyes open, the almost hypnotic pattern lulling him to sleep despite the adrenaline coursing through his veins.

He accelerated more, nearly subconsciously so, heart rapidly beating in his chest and breathing high up in his throat- a feeling he was all too familiar with, a near constant state of being in combat situations or right before an important meeting with some rich and influential client.

This was different, though.

‘Turn right here, getting close.’

Mikhail spoke softly, just loud enough for Vitali to hear, his usually calming voice only slightly soothing his nerves this time. He was sat shotgun- Eddie on the backseat with Rogue, Cato and Vincent with Panam in the car following suit- leg nervously bouncing up and down and hands clasped around his rifle to keep his tics at bay.

‘I understand. Listen, I- Yes, I understand.’

Rogue’s voice was starting to sound increasingly more annoyed with every interruption from the fixer on the other end of the line. Her gaze met Vitali’s in the rearview mirror; and she made a gun with her free hand and pretended to shoot herself in the head, rolling her eyes while moving her phone a little bit further away from her ear when the fixer raised their voice at her.

‘I get your frustration and I get that the Council is starting to lose their patience, but just give us this last fucking night, goddamnit!’ she replied, every last ounce of friendliness she’d previously feigned entirely gone now. ‘Vitali is here with me, we’re on our way to the location- gonna deal with it once and for all. One night, please.’

Once and for all.

The reality of the situation they had found themselves in had yet to kick in for Vitali, his brain lagging behind and struggling to catch up. But it was better that way; he did not want to, did not need to think about what that statement meant- despite already being fully aware of it.

Going to drink myself into a coma after this.

Charter Hill, Westbrook.

Vitali clenched his jaw as he entered the subdistrict and passed its university grounds, memories flooding back into his brain- memories of attempting to break in, memories of nearly getting shot by security while trying to reach Mikhail in their years apart. Perhaps that’s why his father had chosen to seek shelter there of all places; perhaps he knew Vitali still avoided it like the plague, heart suffocating under the weight of all the sleepless nights he had spent there looking for his friend.

Hiding in plain sight. Smart.

High risk, high reward.

Vitali had an intimate relationship with the concept, from his years in college with the fine line between his personal and his school life, to the operations he led at Arasaka Counterintel, to the gigs he took from clients and divided under his mercenaries.

His own office in Wellsprings handled a similar strategic approach. Of course Arasaka knew of him- of course they knew where he could be found, and of course they could strike at any given moment in time without any warning and of course they could level the whole building with the ground with a single press of a button if they so desired.

But with his front and enough finesse practiced by both clientele and employees- and most importantly, Vitali’s intimate knowledge of the APEX program- even Arasaka stood powerless in the situation, knowing there was nothing they could do without raising suspicion, without drawing attention to themselves among other megacorporations, especially after the fiasco with Grant Armitage.

As long as Matvey’s mercs had behaved, no one would have expected their hideout to be in the midst of busy Charter Hill.

Not even Vitali.

‘Fucking imbecile.’

Rogue’s phone call had finally ended and she exhaled sharply, exchanging another look with Vitali when he glanced in her direction and she shook her head at him.

‘They want you dead,’ she plainly said. ‘Think everything will solve itself when you’re six feet under.’

‘Are you going to kill me?’ Vitali calmly asked in return.

‘Gimme a good reason not to.’

‘I’m driving.’

‘Eh, that works.’

As stupid as the Council was acting, Vitali understood; grasping at straws, similar to him, except focusing on the one thing he had thus far been trying so desperately to avoid. As if it would matter- as if it would make any fucking difference- the insignificance of a single man in Night City had become overly apparent to him in the past few months and if anything, his death would probably cause more problems than it would solve.

Another right turn and Vitali slowed the car, steering to the side of the road and coming to a stop behind a traffic jam, cars long abandoned for obvious reasons- a road block, heavily armored trucks and SUVs surrounding the main entrance of the building Vitali needed to be at and mercs patrolling the streets.

‘Let’s go,’ he said, slowly getting out of the car as his eyes trailed the entire building. It stood detached from surrounding facilities, enough space between to prevent any collateral damage; if anything, an explosion would perhaps cause some of the windows to rattle, but Vitali doubted it’d get worse than that.

He glanced behind him and gave Panam, Cato and Vincent a nod, all three of them readying themselves as they joined the rest- and a hushed but urgent ‘there you are!’ drew his attention into the other direction, a surge of adrenaline nearly causing him to reach for his weapon before he realized it was merely Huxley jogging over to them.

The group followed her into an alley just outside of view of the roadblock up ahead. An already crowded place- Vitali counted six other mercs, five whose faces he only semi-recognized- and Viktor of all people, dressed in similar combat gear as everyone else.

The defeated, somewhat exasperated look in Vitali’s eyes merely made the ripperdoc smile.

‘What’s the plan?’ one of the mercs asked, and right at the same time Rogue placed three bags with explosives on the dumpster beside the group.

‘Some sort of fucked up déjà vu cycle I seem to be stuck in,’ she said, gesturing at Vincent and Vitali- but her gaze lingered on him specifically. ‘Thought our good friend the rockerboy used to be stuck in your boyfriend’s head, not yours.’

‘What can I say?’ he simply replied. ‘Suppose the parasite infected me.’

The plan was straightforward, essentially the same as the last two times- get inside, plant the explosives, activate them, and then get out of there before the place would blow. They didn’t have blueprints to work with, nor did they know where any of the supplies were stashed exactly; but Vitali did not worry about it too much, knowing all would be lost either way once fire would break out following detonation.

All easy enough.

That part of it was, at least.

‘Small teams,’ he said, ‘three or four people max. Rogue, V- you’re with me. These are all rigged to activate at once from a single explosive so planting them is enough- just get out of there fast, once they’re activated we have about ten minutes to leave and there is no way to stop timer from going.’

‘Can’t Lauren control ‘em?’ Cato asked.

‘Unfortunately not. Older models- specifically made for field use, keep runners at bay.’

‘Balls.’

‘We’ll be fine.’

Vitali stood back as the- for now harmless- explosives were split between everyone present, eyes slowly trailing over faces and mostly steady hands gathering supplies and reloading weapons. He wandered around the group- paused to place his hand on Vincent’s arm and give it a gentle, reassuring squeeze- and closed the distance between himself and Viktor, who conveniently turned his head when Vitali tried to catch his gaze.

‘What are you doing here?’ he quietly asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest. ‘This is no job for you, Vitya. Please just go back to office.’

‘And leave Mikhail as the only available field medic here? Didn’t think so.’ Viktor paused, inhaling deeply before placing his hand on Vitali’s back. ‘Wasn’t planning on letting you do this all by yourself, kid.’

Vitali wasn’t alone there. But he understood what Viktor meant.

‘Are you sure about this?’

Vitali scoffed and took a few steps back, accidentally bumping into some medical equipment behind him in the small interior of Viktor’s shop. He straightened his back again- but swayed on his feet, the alcohol in his system not mixing too well with his medication, and he couldn’t keep his eyes focused on the other man in the room.

‘There is nothing else left for me out there,’ he answered in Russian, widely smiling and spreading his arms. ‘You thought I was studying to end up as someone’s secretary? Become some- some random exec for a starter company in Watson? Hell, a fucking politician?’

‘Arasaka isn’t going to solve anything for you, Vito,’ Viktor interrupted him, slightly raising his voice. ‘What are you hoping to find? Mikhail? Your parents?’

He tightly clenched his jaw and closed his eyes when Viktor moved his hand to his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze, the gesture somehow enough to make his heartbeat settle down again.

‘Maybe, yes.’

A delayed answer, the two words violently cutting through the heavy silence lingering between them. Vitali dropped his arms and scoffed again- though it sounded more like a sob- and turned on his heels to walk away, nearly falling over the same medical equipment a second time that night.

Curious how that worked. Being so trapped inside one’s own head that it would feel like loneliness even when surrounded by people, swallowed by the Night City crowds. Vitali was intimately familiar with it- and even in that overcrowded alley he could feel it pressing down on his chest, choking the oxygen out of his lungs.

At least Viktor is still here.

Vitali could not remember much from the last time they blew up a building.

To be fair, it had been less about the explosives that time, and more about getting Vincent’s cure- and Vitali had only been barely present for it, mind still a little hazy from the remnants of Arasaka’s brainwashing attempt while he’d simultaneously had to run around and try not to get himself- or others- killed.

What he did remember, however, was the adrenaline; the pressure and the gravity of the situation pressing down heavily on his shoulders and his chest, his heart nearly beating itself free from within his ribcage, and the slight tremble of his hands while he had fought his way back into the secret laboratories where they had kept him in their captivity, mere days earlier.

Oh, how history loved to repeat itself.

The same pressure weighing down on him, the same tension in his spine- the same clammy feeling on the palms of his hands and the same shallow breathing as he left the safety of the alley with the rest of the group and they split up to move around the building in different directions, to try and cover as much ground as possible.

‘What’s the plan, jefe?’ Lauren asked, her voice a bit crackled through Vitali’s earpiece as a result of the static produced by what he could only assume was attempted enemy netrunner interference.

‘Rogue, V and I- we’re taking the lower floors,’ he answered, staying low to the ground as he moved around some vehicles. ‘Hold out there while everyone else moves up to plant explosives. I can see at least nine, ten- wait, thirteen hostile mercs outside currently. Can you take them down?’

‘I can try. Stay still.’

A cold shiver ran down Vitali’s spine when Lauren took over his vision and he shakily exhaled, clenching his fists in an attempt to calm down. It’s just Lauren, no one else- kept repeating it over and over in his head as he straightened his back and peered over the car he was sat behind again to give her a clear visual on the entrance of the building.

The sudden zoom of his Kiroshis caused his eyes to water and he swallowed heavily, nausea bubbling up in his stomach as a sudden rush of panic washed over him- panic that vanished almost instantly the second he noticed the enemy mercs dropping to the floor one by one, Lauren’s enhanced quickhack rapidly spreading until the entrance was clear and Vitali could finally stop digging his nails in the palms of his hands.

It’s just Lauren, no one else.

‘Sick,’ Vincent said from beside him, very much unaware of the uneasy feeling nested deep within Vitali’s stomach and he glanced at Vitali with a dangerous shimmer in his eyes.

‘Let’s move in.’

The entrance hall was a large, open space, similar to Vitali's own office but significantly less inviting; if anything it reminded him more of the entrance back at Arasaka, front desk blocking most of the path to the back of the building where two wide stairs led up then curved around against the back wall, meeting each other in the middle.

The plain white walls and asymmetric tiles on the floor had a medical feel to them, clearly a remnant of whatever the place used to be before Matvey and his mercenaries had moved in- but with the blood pooling at Vitali's feet and splattered across walls and ceiling and corpses scattered about it felt more like a slaughterhouse than anything else.

His stomach turned as he entered after Rogue and Vincent, several mercs inside instantly directing their attention to them- but they moved quickly, using the front desk as cover as gunfire started and the deafening noise echoed through the building and bounced around between Vitali's ears, the ringing putting a near painful pressure on his eardrums.

He steadied himself on the counter, relaxing his muscles before pulling the trigger and firing a couple of shots in the direction of their attackers. Just gotta keep them busy- everyone else had by then surely already entered through the back entrance or the fire escape and surely they were already nearly done with planting all the explosives they carried with them.

He just wanted to get it over with.

They locked him up.

The thought creeped into his head without warning.

Matvey was still somewhere inside, trapped- and Vitali's aim was starting to get worse with every passing second, his heart nearly beating out of his chest from stress. A shaky exhale left his body and he pulled back, wincing when a bullet bounced off the counter right where he'd just been, and he made direct eye contact with Vincent-

And suddenly they were kissing, Vincent's hands tightly holding his face, teeth clacking together from the force with which he had leaned in and Vitali gasped for air in his mouth, stealing the oxygen from his lungs.

'Stay focused, alright?' Vincent said, his voice only barely audible over the noise surrounding the two of them but Vitali could hear him clear as day, as if they were alone, as if they were completely elsewhere.

'It's almost over.'

And Vincent was gone again, moving around the counter on Vitali's other side to close in on their enemies. Vitali exhaled sharply and moved into the other direction instead- moved around Rogue, gave her a quick nod- trailed along the side of the room, using the large planters and benches as partial cover while taking more shots at the mercenaries.

'Lauren, security details!' he said, reloading his gun; he was on his last twelve bullets, and had forgotten to bring any spare.

'Their runner's been isolated, got them in a corner,' Lauren replied. 'Security protocols shut down- automated turret system entirely offline, seems like they can't get access to the codes.'

'Any automated doors?'

'Oh, yeah, most of 'em.'

'Can you open them for me?'

'Sure thing, jefe.'

One thing less to worry about.

Of course Vitali didn't know if he was even still alive. There was no way for him to find out- had no idea where his father was being held, and wasn't about to abandon Rogue and Vincent when they had more important things to worry about.

But he could not let it go.

And of course his body betrayed him; vision going blurry to the point he had to lower himself to the floor behind a planter and rub his eyes, but that only seemed to make it worse. Could feel himself slipping again, just like back in that Arasaka facility- time and time again, each and every direct reminder of the megacorporation causing his body to lock up and revert back to autopilot, to rely on the carefully programmed killer instinct planted inside his head.

'Please, not now,' he pleaded to no one in particular, voice a little shaky as his eyes tried to find something- anything- to focus on. He could feel his heartbeat in his temples, behind his eyes; could feel himself losing control of the muscles in his arms, in his legs-

'Please, not now.'

Vitali's voice was absent, distant. Even to himself; had not meant it that way, but it had happened almost automatically so, as if he was too tired to make an effort to make himself sound nice.

'I know you're busy,' Vincent quietly replied, shuffling a little closer to the couch. 'I just- I'm worried about you. You've been doin' nothing other than this paperwork for several days now. And it's getting really late.'

He did not even need to glance at the clock to know it was far past midnight.

Vincent sat down next to him and gently brushed a strand of hair out of his face, finally managing to get Vitali to put down his work and slowly take off his reading glasses. He turned to look at his boyfriend; who smiled at him in return and gave him a soft kiss on his cheek, arms sneaking their way around Vitali's waist to pull him a little closer.

Vitali opened his eyes and breathed in, shaking hand finding his left forearm- and without hesitation he pressed down his fingers, hard, a sharp and searing pain rushing through his nerves and he screamed, clarity once more washing over him until he could finally feel his legs again.

Focus, V. Focus.

He reached for his gun again and turned around- fired once, fired twice, three times and he was out- noticed someone running in his direction and hurled the empty gun directly at their head before whipping out a knife and pulling up the sleeve of his right arm.

A split second of hesitation-

Before he deployed his mantis blade, the only one he had left, and he jumped over the planter to close the distance between himself and another mercenary and slit their throat with both the blade as well as his knife at once.

A risky move, but Vitali did not care.

High risk, high reward- the adrenaline surging through his veins was enough to keep him going, the energy enough to keep his head on his shoulders and not lose his cool. Completely in control of each and every of his movements, using his enemies as cover as he rapidly worked his way through them, staining his blades and clothes with blood.

'Most explosives are in place, Vitali,' Lauren said, right when he dragged his mantis blade out of the chest of one of the last mercs in the entrance hall. 'Just the ones you're carrying. Whenever you're ready.'

'Time to move!' he yelled, acknowledging Lauren's comment simply by shifting his focus back to Vincent and Rogue. The latter held up the bag with explosives she had taken inside; and then vanished into a side hallway on the left of the building, and Vincent and Vitali followed suit.

But the second Vitali entered the hallway, he knew something was wrong.

'It's nothing I can't handle, Vik.' Vitali's voice was quiet, a mere mumble, as if he knew it was of no use to argue with the man. 'I've had it for all my life, now.'

'That doesn't mean it can't get worse.' Viktor paused and put some pressure on the side of Vitali's leg, right next to a muscle- and it instantly cramped up, causing a pained involuntary whimper to leave Vitali's lips and he kicked his leg to shake Viktor's hand away.

It was so easy to push himself too far. So tempting even; Vitali knew he could handle it and if he wanted to get results, he sometimes simply needed to make the effort whether he liked it or not.

It's exactly how his leg had gotten worse over the years, just like Viktor had warned him.

And it's exactly how he was starting to lose control again the second they were out of the entrance hall, his brain suddenly catching up with him to the point he could barely walk straight and his head felt like it was going to explode.

'Honey, are you alright?'

Vincent's voice sounded miles away, as if there were at least four thick walls standing between them despite the fact he was right there. Vitali tried looking up at him but his eyes found no one, as if he was suddenly all by himself; but with a blink of his eyes Vincent was right there again, holding his face, hands ever so careful and gentle and Vitali closed his eyes, wishing they could stay like that forever-

'I suppose I'm scared.'

'Scared? You? Please.'

A scoff left Mikhail's lips and he gave Vitali a playful nudge before taking another sip of his beer. Vitali mocked the scoff and snatched the bottle out of his friend's hands, downing the rest of it in a single go.

'You'll be fine, V,' Mikhail simply continued. 'Being away from your parents will do you good, and- I mean, they won't go anywhere. Give it a week or two, then reach out again. And you will always have me as well, you know that.'

'In another district,' Vitali mumbled in response. 'Where I can't reach you.'

'Once I'm settled in I'll give you call. You can come visit. We have plenty of time between classes.'

Vitali opened his eyes, and he was alone.

Again.

A sharp exhale left his chest as he returned to reality, body bouncing back to catch him but he hadn't even been falling in the first place.

Where am I?

He frantically looked around, back finding the wall behind him- it was sticky and a quiet whimper left his lips as he moved away as quick as he had dropped himself against it, jaw clenching tightly upon noticing the large amount of blood splattered onto the faded green and white wallpaper of the storage room he found himself in.

His eyes trailed down the wall to the floor- two corpses, mercs, dressed in heavy armor similar to that of Arasaka guards, and beside them stood the bag they had carried the explosives in, only one of the packages still inside, waiting to be installed.

Vitali blinked, hearing static on the line through his earpiece; though he was unsure if it was merely regular interference or an actual problem he should be worried about. The familiar thrumming in his head was still there, endlessly putting pressure on his skull- as if it could snap at any given moment, as if he could fall back into the darkness of his own mind with a single wrong move.

Not the time to feel sorry for yourself.

Far from it, even.

Vitali bent forward and grabbed the final explosive from the bag, quickly unwrapping the small device from its protective wraps and he placed it on one of the empty shelves of the storage room, turning the centerpiece to click it in place and snap it to the metal.

'Last explosive installed, ready for activation,' he absently said, unsure if anyone could even hear him. Exhaustion was washing over him now; body pushed far over its limits once more and he rubbed his eyes in an attempt to wake himself up again, knowing if he would pass out now it would be over for him.

He turned back around, straightening his back and getting ready to leave-

No.

Not now.

A figure stood in the door opening, wearing a suit; no jacket, sleeves of his shirt rolled up and gun in his hand, and Vitali unwillingly took a small step back when his gaze met that of his father.

Now or never.

Something was different.

Something had been different for a while, now.

And as much as it hurt him he charged forward without hesitation, ramming Matvey against the wall of the hallway and reaching for his gun to try and get a hold of it- but Matvey was fast and smashed the butt of the gun down onto Vitali's elbow, making him cry out in pain and loose his footing.

He was kicked back, the force of it startling him but not enough to knock him off his feet and he regained his balance, balling his fists and readying them in front of his face. Matvey scoffed in return, corner of his mouth slightly pulling up- then dropped his gun and in that same movement threw a punch aimed at Vitali's side, which Vitali blocked with the inside of his forearm and countered with a solid punch straight in Matvey's stomach.

He grabbed the man's shoulder, digging his nails into his shirt and flesh and baring his gritted teeth as he kicked his knee up with all the strength left in him- once, twice, three times as Matvey coughed and his hands clawed at Vitali's clothes to try and get a hold of him.

This is it.

Vitali's heart was racing wildly in his chest and he saw nothing but red- though not from anger, but out of fear, shallow breathing making him light-headed and causing him to lose control of the muscles in his legs. He pushed Matvey back, balled his fist- swung at him and hit his cheek, knuckles colliding with bone and only partially healed scabbed wounds tearing open, leaving his own blood on his father's face.

You can just leave.

He could.

He could just walk away now, no one had to know- no one had to know he couldn't do it, no one had to know he’d even seen Matvey there. It would be so simple; so fucking simple, yet there he was, bending over to grab his father's gun from the floor to then raise it and point it at his head, steadying himself with his other hand.

'Vitali,' Matvey said, slowly raising both his hands in defense as he struggled to catch his breath.

'Shut up,' Vitali sneered back. 'Just- shut up.'

Oh, how his voice betrayed him.

The slight tremble as he spoke, the sob mixed with the words he tried oh so desperately to spit out as violently as he could. No amount of anger, no amount of hatred could mask how scared he was-

And the amount of anger inside him was not even close to being enough to be able to pull the fucking trigger.

A door opened behind Matvey- the stairway, several mercs coming out and Vitali readjusted his aim and fired at them, walking backwards to create more distance between himself and everyone else in the hallway.

But suddenly he was no longer on his feet, tackled into one of the rooms on his side onto the floor by yet another merc, appearing out of nowhere from the side when he had least expected it and the gun was no longer in his hand, skidding over the floor entirely out of reach.

Vitali grunted and swung his arm blindly, hitting the merc's head and effectively pushing them off himself. He grabbed their hair and held them in position as he turned himself around- readying himself and pushing them into the ground to smash their head repeatedly against the floor until their cries of pain faltered and their attempts to escape from his grip stopped.

He jumped back on his feet, well aware of the danger closing in; turned, and froze, the merc in the doorway aiming their gun at him-

But before they could shoot, Matvey grabbed their arm and pulled it down, shoving them into the side of the doorway as he pushed himself a way inside and smashed their head against the frame before letting them drop to the floor.

Two more mercenaries entered and Vitali charged forward, using himself as a battering ram to separate the two to get one cornered in the room and push the other toward Matvey. He deployed his mantis blade and slashed the merc across the chest, once, twice-

And then heard a struggle behind him, jaw clenching tightly as he quickly turned around to assess the situation, breath caught in his throat as he feared for the worst-

Matvey was fine. Snapped the merc’s neck like it was nothing, and the fight was over.

But Vitali hadn't-

BANG!

He swiftly turned back around, mantis blade moving up- slashing the merc’s throat as quick as he could, and he retracted the blade in the same movement, sharp and short exhale leaving his body together with the sudden adrenaline that had arisen the second he had realized what he had done.

But something felt wrong.

Very, very wrong.

And Vitali fell to the ground.

He was light-headed again; and confused, too, shaking hand reaching for his side as a tingling sensation rapidly spread through his body. Cold fingertips found his shirt- it was soaked, like on his first day at Counterintelligence when one of his colleagues ran into him and accidentally spilled their poor excuse of a coffee all over his suit.

He had never been able to wash the stain out.

Which is why Vitali had mostly worn black button-ups under his suit jacket ever since, with the exception here and there- which is why at first glance it looked like someone had simply just spilled their drink on him again and he wasn’t bleeding heavily from a deep gunshot wound a little bit below his ribcage.

The red liquid on his hand would taste nothing like a lukewarm latte macchiato.

The thought caused Vitali’s lips to curl up in a smile as he closed his eyes and rested his head against the cold wall behind him. The initial confusion had washed away and pain had taken its place, burning and eating its way through his body and locking up his muscles, rendering him unable to get up.

Fuck, I’m tired.

‘You’re bleeding, мое солнышко. What happened?’

Vitali’s eyes fluttered open and he saw his father, standing in the doorway- on the other end of the dark hallway, slowly walking closer, reaching out to pluck a cigarette end out of Vitali’s hair- gun once more in his hand, eyes fixed solidly on the dark, wet stain in Vitali’s shirt right below his armor.

‘Stupid fucking shit kids,’ Vitali simply mumbled in return.

Though he was not sure if his father had even said anything to begin with.

‘Explosives locked and loaded. Ten minutes until detonation- everyone get the fuck out of here while you still can.’

A soft sigh left Vitali’s lips, Rogue’s voice barely audible to him through his earpiece though he did not need to hear her to know what she was talking about. They succeeded; the explosives would rid the place of all resources and would leave the mercs defenseless and they’d have nothing left to continue their onslaught with.

Though with Vitali bleeding out on the cold, laminated floor right in the lion’s den- exactly what they had wanted from the beginning- he was starting to wonder if everything could have been prevented had someone just fatally shot him a little earlier.

He grunted and pushed himself up on his elbows a little more, using what little strength he had left in his legs to shove himself further up against the wall. He opened his mouth to speak- had no idea what even to say, but felt like he had to say something- perhaps to get someone to look for him, even though that was the last thing he wanted.

Enough people had died and gotten injured because of him.

And as much as he tried, not a single sound left his lips, words caught in his throat and only blood dripping down his lips. He closed his eyes again and dropped his head back against the wall, exhaustion washing over him; and it felt like a relief, for some reason, feeling himself slowly drift off into that dark void that had become all too familiar to him in the past year.

Sudden pressure on his wound caused Vitali to cry out- mostly in surprise, less so in pain- and his eyes shot open again, back lifting slightly from the wall as he reached for the hands that attempted to stop the bleeding-

‘Don’t struggle. Save your energy.’

What?

One chance to set things right.

A little late, in the bigger picture of things; Matvey knew he’d had plenty of opportunities to give up, to just walk away for good. He was no longer sure why he hadn’t- did not know what he’d been trying to achieve, what he’d been trying to prove, but it was far too late for that now.

‘What are you doing?’ Vitali quietly asked, his voice barely audible above the alarm that had started blasting through the building only a minute ago. His bloodied hands tried to get a grip on Matvey’s wrists, but he kept slipping, and a choked sob left his throat when Matvey lifted one hand to take Vitali’s earpiece out and put it in his own ear instead.

‘Does anyone have eyes on Vitali?’

‘Vito, respond-! T-minus eight minutes until detonation, I can’t control them from here!’

‘Vitali, are you still inside?’

Matvey slowly lowered his hand, time seemingly slowing down around him as his eyes found Vitali’s- one of them a little bloodshot, both a little hazy from tears and pain, each and every blink lasting longer than the one before.

‘Second floor,’ he finally spoke, reaching up to gently cup his son’s cheek with his hand and leaning forward to kiss his forehead before moving his hand back to the wound.

‘Third door from the stairs. He’s bleeding out. Hurry.’

Why?

Vitali could not force the question out of his mouth, tears rolling down his cheeks as his gaze wandered off to the window next to him. He could see the sky from where he sat, the ink black void above Night City, turned all hues of blue from advertisement projections and the city lights down below. Could barely hear the alarm blasting through the building anymore, a comfortable ringing filling the space between his ears, low humming wrapping itself around him like a protective blanket as he felt himself slipping away.

‘You got what you wanted, no?’ he softly said, turning his head back to look at his father, using the last bit of strength in his body to lift his head from the wall.

‘I was wrong,’ Matvey simply answered, unable to look his son in the eyes as he glanced at the closed door of the room, some gunfire nearby causing the hairs on Vitali’s arms to stand up straight.

‘Wrong.’

Mockery dripped from Vitali’s voice and he scoffed- and coughed, blood spraying out of his mouth as he struggled to find a moment to breathe, spots dancing in front of his eyes.

It all felt so stupid now. The grand finale, everything had led up to this- but his father had been wrong, and none of it had mattered one single fucking bit and now Vitali was bleeding out and dying in a building set to explode in less than seven- six- minutes.

‘Wrong about what?’ he spat, letting his head collide with the wall with a bit more force than he had meant for.

And Matvey hesitated, visibly thinking as his gaze finally met Vitali’s again; cold, gray eyes staring right back at him, almost as if he was looking in a mirror, and Vitali finally realized- and Matvey could not help but notice- just how much he had started to look like his father over the years.

‘All of it.’

In a way, Vitali understood.

From the moment it had first been brought up, Vitali had known he would not be able to kill his father if it had to come down to it. A weakness, and he knew that; the one family member who had always complicated everything for him, the only one who had not rejected him in the way the others had- and even with everything else that had happened since, Vitali had not been able to stop seeing Matvey as his father.

Another choked sob left his lips as he tried to move, pain burning through all of his muscles with every single movement and panic was starting to take over, breathing shallow and barely enough to provide him with the oxygen he needed and he knew he was starting to pass out.

‘What changed?’ he blurted out, grabbing Matvey’s wrist again to force him to look back at him- but the move caused him to collapse, body sinking forward until his father caught him and instinctively pulled him closer, one hand still on his wound and the other holding his head which rested steadily on his shoulder.

Oh, how Vitali wanted to push him away- how he wanted to punch him, to scream at him, to tell him how much he hated him for putting him through hell most of his life and for never being there for him and for never standing up for him or picking his side when he needed it, and when everyone knew that Vitali was right and Nadya was wrong.

‘You did,’ Matvey finally answered, his voice barely audible and Vitali pushed his face into his father’s shirt in return, staining it with blood and sweat and tears- balled his shaky hand into a fist and dropped his knuckles against his father’s shoulder, wondering how it would feel to knock it out of place but knowing it wouldn’t solve anything and wouldn’t even make him feel better.

‘Suppose I did, too.’

Vitali could only see flashes.

A door opening- people charging in, enemies perhaps-? Mikhail appearing in his view, though Vitali could barely recognize his face as if he was looking at his friend years after they had last seen each other- six, if I remember correctly- forced apart by unforeseen and unfortunate circumstances that could probably have been prevented but it was too late to change any of it now.

The pressure on his wound vanished and he opened his mouth to scream, sudden sharp pain immobilizing his entire body and causing his vision to go dark. He felt a hand in his neck- someone plugging into the port below his ear, checking his vitals- and another on his chest, moments before plunging a Bounce Back directly between the two halves of his tattoo, a mere inch above the long faded gunshot wound the bullet of the Arasaka guard had left him with.

It hurt.

All of it hurt, and the brief rush of adrenaline caused by the medication made him nearly bolt up, several sets of hands gently pushing him back against the wall. He saw Mikhail again- and Vincent too now, reloading his gun moments before turning back toward the still open door of the room and firing at something that Vitali couldn’t see.

He was scared.

Reached out for Vincent, but he was too far away; reached out for Mikhail, but he was preoccupied, hands steadily working on something Vitali could no longer feel, wound numbed by-

By pain? Medication? Fear?

Vitali’s hands were gently pulled aside, held tightly by his father who was still there- still right beside him, despite everything, as if all their years apart and everything that had happened since did not matter anymore and in that moment it genuinely did not matter to Vitali, a strange sense of comfort washing over him and slowing the rapid, panicked beating of his heart.

Time to go.

Vitali was lifted on his feet, supported by Matvey and Mikhail- and suddenly they were no longer in the room, the blinding lights of the hallways disorienting and making it even harder for him to see. He no longer heard gunfire, the alarm blaring through the building swallowing each and every other noise whole- though the humming in his head was getting louder and louder, canceling everything else out.

More familiar faces- Cato, Huxley, Eddie- and Viktor, hurrying himself over to them but pausing upon spotting Matvey, cautious look in his eyes before giving him a barely visible nod and taking Mikhail’s place at Vitali’s side.

Two minutes.

They were almost at the exit now. At least, Vitali assumed- although he could not remember going down any stairs, and he could also not remember where the exit was in the first place. His head felt heavy and he could barely keep his eyes open now, exhaustion once more washing over him like waves rolling in on the shore.

‘Just hold on, Vitali. Almost there.’

He couldn’t even tell who was talking to him.

One of his legs gave out and he sank through his knees, held up by the two men by his sides alone, each and every blink becoming more and more difficult to recover from as his eyes wanted nothing more than to stay shut. Another voice urging him to stay awake, and his feet were lifted from the floor, and he could feel a cool breeze on h

#nuclearwriting #rbs much appreciated :) <3 #the chapter is supposed to end like that yes. sorry about that. giggles #do you want to kill me yet. :) do you #you'll have to read between the lines a little bit to see like. the similarities between vitali's and matvey's points of view #i didn't feel like spelling it all out but like. if you read a few of these paragraphs and switch the perspective it'd still read the same #vitali is a fucking beast in combat by the way he is so sexy #also the clear lack of a cane / the brace he usually wears is also making me insane. yes i initially fogor about it BUT.#it fits. it fits very nicely with the rest of the everything that's going on here #anyway as always lmk what you think!!! send me asks. yell at me in dms. kill me if you must. very excited to get some feedback :D #ch:the broker

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quickhacked · 8 months

Text

– Afterparty.

Characters >> Aubrey Valentine (oc), Sebastian Vidal (other's oc) Total >> 5.8k words Warnings >> Alcohol, blood mention, drugs, NSFW, some vague mentions of uncomfortable sexual experiences, violence mention Context >> It's August 2081, some time after Cassidy and Sebastian return from the spaceship Elysium; the Cobras have started a collaboration with Aubrey's fixer business, which often leads to Aubrey and Sebastian going on gigs together, much like this one Disclaimer >> No cheating going on here, these men are in some weird undefinable polyamorous relationship don't even worry about it

‘Watch your step, darling.’

The motel room was mostly dark, some bright pink neon light from outside pouring in through the half opened door and the blinded window beside it. Both men entering struggled to find the light switch, simultaneously giving up before slamming the door shut behind them.

Not the most ideal way to spend the night- but they could not complain. Motels in Japantown were significantly better than the cheaper variants in neighboring subdistricts and taking the end of their recently finished gig into consideration it was safer than going back home for the night, in case any reinforcements had been sent to track them down.

‘Could’ve gone better, won’t lie,’ Seb said, the mechanical edge to his voice sharper than usual as a result of their long night out. He fumbled taking out his phone, squinting at the screen while turning on his flashlight and he shone it directly into Aubrey’s eyes who immediately attempted- and failed- to slap his hands away.

‘Always room for improvement,’ he mumbled in return, landing a successful hit on Seb’s phone and nearly knocking it out of his hands. ‘I’d say we did quite well considering the circumstances.’

‘Circumstances-? You mean the easily avoidable consequences of our own actions?’

‘I mean the unfortunate reality of the fine and significantly more dead than before young man being heterosexual and not falling for our irresistible charm. How were we supposed to know? Him dressed in a suit like that?’

Of course it was always a gamble- though usually their attempts at seducing security went a lot better than that particular night, where the incident had not only caused them to be unable to gather enough information on their target, but had also caused a huge fight to break out leaving more than a dozen gang members dead and the two of them covered in blood, scrapes and bruises.

Seb sighed a little more dramatically than necessary and put his hand on his hip, still shining the flashlight directly in Aubrey’s face and moving his arm around to dodge his attacks. But the upturn of the usually slightly lopsided corner of his mouth and the shimmer in his pale blue eyes told Aubrey the adrenaline of the fight was still in the other man’s system, and he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t feeling the same thing too.

‘We did what we could, and there’s always next time,’ he said, finally managing to get a hold of Seb’s phone and he tossed it on the nightstand, the flashlight illuminating the ceiling above their heads. ‘We know where the target is- can always get them tomorrow.’

‘Love how you keep saying “we”,’ Seb interrupted him, taking a step closer- using every single one of the nearly four inches they differed in height to tower over Aubrey, who felt anything but intimidated. ‘Shifting blame, now?’

‘Are you saying it’s my fault?’

‘I’m not not saying it.’

‘Curious.’

‘Interesting.’

‘Now you’re just saying words back at me.’

Seb wiggled his eyebrows and Aubrey rolled his eyes, turning his head away- though before he could do that a strong hand suddenly grabbed his jaw, locking his head in place, and he sucked in a shallow breath when Seb pulled him in and leaned a little closer.

‘Trying to change the subject?’ he asked, not loosening his grip but simultaneously gently running his thumb over the edge of Aubrey’s cyberjaw. ‘We failed the gig, Bee. And I wanna know why.’

They’d been drinking.

Not as if it did them much; both men could easily down several bottles in a night and would barely suffer the consequences the next morning, a mild headache and some dizziness at worst but nothing an ibuprofen or- well, another shot or two- couldn’t fix.

But the influence of the alcohol, as little as it was- mixed with whatever drugs they’d been snorting and inhaling and shotgunning directly into each other’s mouths and the leftover adrenaline from the fight- was causing Aubrey’s head to spin in a way he had never expected it to in the presence of Sebastian of all people.

And naturally when said man reached up his other hand to wipe some blood off his cheek, Aubrey in turn grabbed his wrists and shoved him back into the wall, pinning his hands above his head and barely able to suppress a smile when a noise of surprise left Seb’s throat.

‘Too close for comfort?’ Aubrey playfully asked, though tilted his head in genuine questioning manner as he waited for Seb to respond- a simple shake of the head, causing the tips of their noses to brush past one another.

‘Perhaps you do have a point,’ he continued, tightening his grip on Seb’s wrists when he tried to wriggle himself free. ‘Suppose I was a little distracted. Rarely happens. Caught me on a bad day it seems.’

That was a lie. Aubrey was very easily distracted by everything around him, though that was not nearly what he was aiming for with his monologue, his free hand running down Seb’s half exposed chest under the glittery suit jacket that he was wearing- before he hooked his thumb into it to pull the single button holding the two halves together loose.

‘See?’ Seb said in return, slightly arching his back from the wall and rolling his hips forward- similar to how the two of them had danced together in that overcrowded club while on the gig, and it was almost as if Aubrey could hear the music play in the distance again. ‘So easy to just admit when you’ve done something wrong.’

‘Hm- You’re right. I’m sorry.’

The whiny undertone of Aubrey’s voice was feigned, though his spiked heartbeat was very much real, as was the blood rushing down when Seb’s hips collided with his own once more. He leaned in- ‘I won’t let it happen again,’ whispered right against Seb’s skin while pressing a soft kiss on the corner of his lips.

It was funny, how their relationship had developed over time.

To think that Aubrey had been jealous of Sebastian at first- scared of, well, what, exactly? That Leon would fall for a man in a committed relationship with someone else and Aubrey would no longer have a chance with him?

Seb finally managed to free his hands from Aubrey’s grip and cupped his cheek with one, the other freely roaming his mostly naked torso under the thin mesh shirt he was wearing. Their foreheads still rested against each other- and Aubrey grabbed Seb’s shoulder tightly when his thigh was gripped with equal force, foot lifted from the floor when Seb pulled his leg up to his own.

‘Good,’ he breathed, lips brushing past Aubrey’s with a hint of a smile lingering on them. ‘Wouldn’t want to get punished for it now, would we?’

From a strained collaboration in Elysium- circumstances leaving them with no alternative and Aubrey’s initial wariness of the two strangers on the spaceship lingering longer than necessary- to perfectly in sync teamwork back in Night City, both in their respective businesses as well as in the field. The last thing Aubrey had expected to happen; as well as all the kissing and dry humping in their work breaks, but he was all but complaining.

He leaned in even further, leaving a trail of kisses on Seb’s cyberjaw all the way to his ear- ‘Maybe you should, make sure it won’t happen ever again,’ teeth grazing past the sensitive skin just around his cyberware and tugging on one of his earrings.

‘I’ve been told I’m good at that,’ Seb replied, nails dragging over Aubrey’s thigh as he instead grabbed his ass and gave it a squeeze. And Aubrey merely pushed himself closer, tight pants even tighter now that he had given in to the tension in his lower abdomen and he reached up to grab Seb’s jaw-

‘I’ll be the judge of that.’

It was always exciting to kiss Seb- the sweet and sour taste of the cherry candy cocktail he’d been sipping away at earlier that night spilling into Aubrey’s mouth like a drug entering his bloodstream and causing his head to spin. A muffled moan left his lips when Seb eagerly bit his lower lip- and another followed when the other man took advantage of the moment by pushing his tongue into Aubrey’s mouth, teeth clacking together as they both pushed themself as close to the other as physically possible in the slightly out of sync kiss.

He felt weightless; quite literally so, lifted off his feet by Seb who tossed him on the bed and lowered himself on top of him, locking him in place though keeping most his weight on his forearms still.

‘Are you going to be a good boy for me?’ he asked, purposely deepened voice accentuating the raw, mechanical edge to it even more so than before.

‘Can’t make any promises,’ Aubrey breathed in return, grabbing Seb’s jacket to yank him down for another kiss- though Seb was stronger and pulled back right before their lips could touch, leaning down further to move toward his ear instead and causing the hairs in Aubrey’s neck to stand up straight.

‘That’s alright,’ he whispered, and pressed his lips right on the spot where Aubrey’s cyberjaw connected with his skin.

‘I’ll make sure you behave one way or another.’

Aubrey had heard that sentence before. Many, many times.

Had never had the money to go to college himself but had had enough friends to essentially live on campus with them, hopping from dorm to dorm- payment through providing tech services, shady hacking jobs or, well, through other means- free access to any and every party and other activities they participated in.

And he had always been so easily influenced by others. A strange need to fit in, in a way; perhaps not in appearance or behavior, but through playing along with their little games, people-pleasing left and right by doing everything they wanted of him just to feel something, just to feel like he was part of something, just to not be all alone.

How often Aubrey had found himself pinned to a mattress in someone’s shitty dorm room or in a random motel, hands freely traveling over his body, lips and teeth marking territory, hips rolling down and colliding with his own; how often had he stared at the ceiling caught in a haze of pleasure, breathing in the same air as the person- or people- on top of him, or underneath him, how often had he surrendered himself completely to strangers just to feel alive.

And he had loved every single second of it.

But it had never felt right.

Aubrey wrapped his arms around Seb’s neck and pulled him closer, lips brushing past each other before he slightly turned his head and instead licked some blood off Seb’s cheek. The bitter, metallic taste barely bothered him- he had become familiar enough with it over time after everything that had happened in Elysium- and leaned in for another kiss when a quiet whine left Seb’s lips.

‘Eager tonight, huh?’ Seb mumbled in return, his thighs locking Aubrey into place the second he attempted to push himself closer. ‘What’s the rush?’

‘None of your business,’ Aubrey mumbled back- but the sudden higher pitch of his voice and his heart racing in his chest gave him away and his eyes fluttered shut when Seb left a trail of kisses along his jaw all the way to his ear.

He still often could not help but wonder how things had changed so suddenly for them. He and Seb were friends, nothing more- right?- and both in a committed relationship with someone else, and while Aubrey was polyamorous and would not mind at all to broaden his horizons he had no idea if anyone else involved would be okay with that.

Yet somewhere along the way they had started to kiss each other. An accident at first- less so of an accident the second time round, and Cassidy and Leon were fine with it so obviously it had kept happening in the heat of the moment after jobs, during jobs, hell, whenever they would find a moment in the car waiting for a target or client to show up.

After all, why wouldn’t he? Seb was a very attractive man, a fighter on the surface but a lover first and foremost with a gentleness to him that nearly exceeded Leon; Aubrey would be lying if he said he had expected any of that from the man who had once been meant to become an Arasaka killing machine.

Gentle, and kind, and careful- teeth grazing past Aubrey’s ear and breath hot on his skin but lips curled up in a little smile as he pressed another kiss on Aubrey’s jaw, who in return could barely suppress a whiny sigh while running a hand through Seb’s silvery gray hair.

‘What’s the matter, Aubrey?’ Seb whispered in his ear, tightening his thighs around Aubrey’s hips the second his hair was pulled on with a bit more force than initially meant for. ‘You seem restless. Anything I can do to help?’

Aubrey was unable to answer, breathing shallow and head spinning as Seb rolled his hips forward and grinded down on him causing blood to rush down even more than it already had. Seb dipped his head forward- ‘Use your words, baby,’ softly whispered against Aubrey’s skin before he pressed a kiss on his neck and let his hand travel up Aubrey’s mesh shirt to grab his chest.

Is this really happening?

Another whine escaped Aubrey’s lips and he reached down for Seb’s waist, pulling him closer as his mouth involuntarily opened and he was only just able to suppress a shaky moan. And Seb kissed him again- somehow messier than before, thumb running over Aubrey’s nipple and his other hand gently holding his neck.

One thing would lead to another and before he would know it, it was already too late.

It had left him with more regrets than he could count on his hands, but his desperation- and addiction, to a certain degree- had rendered him unable to stop making the same damn mistakes over and over again, like a broken record player blasting the same old tune on full volume for everyone to hear.

And even now, still, Seb’s jacket draped over the doorknob of the motel room’s entrance, Aubrey’s mesh shirt dropped on the floor and their shoes kicked off and scattered across the room, it was happening again- but this felt like anything but a mistake, Seb’s body heavy on his own but comforting in a way only few had managed to do in all of those years, and despite the man’s teeth once more digging themselves into his lip and his hands gripping Aubrey’s body tight enough for bruises to take shape he felt safer than he had felt at any point earlier that night.

‘Mmh- Fuck, baby,’ Seb breathed, briefly pulling back to gasp for air but before he could fully do so Aubrey had already yanked him back by his necklace and he allowed Seb to steal the air from his lungs, the taste of his lips more addicting than any amount of pleasure he could give him. He moved his hands down, grabbing Seb’s thighs- nails digging through the tight leather into his flesh and it was met with an approving whine directly into Aubrey’s mouth.

How good it felt, to be that close to someone. How good it felt to trust someone enough to let them take full control- and in that moment Aubrey would let Seb do anything to him, desperately attempting to spread his legs locked between the other man’s thighs just a little further, searching for just a little more friction.

His desperation had never been all that reciprocated.

Not in the way he meant it, at least; obviously wanting the pleasure, but wanting the vulnerability too, both the physical as well as the emotional closeness with another human being he could not easily get out of any other situation. His past partners had mostly been chasing their own high- and their own finish- leaving Aubrey satisfied enough in the end but still wondering where he’d gone wrong.

But Seb was different.

The constant grinding since he had tossed Aubrey on the bed, the not-so-subtle glances to check his reactions between kisses and teases, the soft smiles before his teeth would dig into the sensitive skin of Aubrey’s neck- his fingertips leaving a burning trail behind on Aubrey’s skin as they traveled down and locked his hips into place, one hand slipping into the front of his pants drawing an embarrassingly loud moan from his lips.

‘I’ll be honest with you, this- this doesn’t feel like- like punishment much,’ Aubrey breathed, eyes fluttering shut as he rolled his hips forward to meet the rhythmical movements of Seb’s hand in the middle. ‘But I’m not complaining.’

‘I can tell.’ A quiet giggle left Seb’s lips with the statement and he sank his teeth into Aubrey’s shoulder again, speeding up the slightest bit when another moan rolled off Aubrey’s tongue.

‘Now shut up and let me do my job, yes?’

‘Yessir.’

‘Good boy.’

Aubrey’s head was spinning.

Seb gently held his waist and Aubrey instantly grabbed his hand, squeezing a little as Seb began leaving soft kisses from his shoulder down over his collarbones and chest, following the curve of the cyberware crossing over his side to his hip and then back to his tummy and down his happy trail-

Surely he was dreaming.

The feeling of the other man’s lips locking around him was enough to raise Aubrey’s back from the mattress, arching into Seb’s gentle touch as he tilted his head up and opened his mouth for a soundless moan. The wave of relief quickly settled deep within his stomach; and he reached down to rest his hand on Seb’s head, fingers burying themselves in his hair.

Surely he was dreaming. Right?

Aubrey glanced down, barely able to see Seb through the haze of his own pleasure- their gazes met in the middle and Seb briefly pulled back, reassuringly smiling up at him before pressing a kiss on his tip and without hesitation took him back in his mouth, drawing yet another moan from Aubrey’s lips and he quickly covered his face with his free hand, biting down in a mostly futile attempt to keep quiet.

Oh, he was definitely awake.

His grip on Seb’s hair tightened instantly and Seb moaned, the vibrations sending shivers up Aubrey’s spine. But suddenly the warmth of his mouth was gone- ‘No, please, don’t stop-’- uttered before he could stop himself but simply met with Seb bringing himself back to eye level to gently remove Aubrey’s hand from his mouth and kiss him when Aubrey tried to protest, cheeks rapidly flushing red.

‘It’s okay, baby,’ Seb hummed, thigh brushing past Aubrey leaving him throbbing and tightening the building pressure in his abdomen. He leaned in closer to Aubrey’s ear, gently biting down before speaking up again-

‘I want to hear you.’

Curious, how self-conscious Aubrey could still get from time to time.

But he put no more thought into it, the gentle encouragement enough for him to let the worries slide off his shoulders as Seb moved back down and pulled Aubrey’s legs over his shoulders, wrapping his arms around his thighs before getting back to work.

And he seemed to know exactly what he was doing, cheeks hollow and eyes locked on Aubrey’s face- hand wrapped around his base and rhythmically moving along with the bobbing of his head, the occasional soft moan leaving his throat whenever Aubrey’s grip on his hair would tighten.

It felt so good.

Of course it did- Seb could do anything to him and Aubrey would enjoy every second of it, just like with Leon. The mere fact that it was them- not someone else, not some stranger he had only met a few hours ago but two men who Aubrey loved more than anything else in the world- it never failed to make him lose himself in his pleasure, muscles desperately tightening as he could feel himself getting close.

And Seb took notice too, significantly speeding up and grabbing Aubrey’s ass to pull him even closer, the cool metal of his tongue piercing dragging over Aubrey’s length and his hips lifted off the mattress once more to get himself as close to Seb’s touch as possible while another desperate whine left his lips-

And all of it was enough to push him over the edge with a relieved sigh, hips twitching as his eyes rolled back in their sockets and he pleadingly held Seb’s head in place; though it had not been necessary in the first place, the other man making no attempt to move away from him and instead eagerly pulling him closer, not stopping until Aubrey had given him everything he had left to give.

‘Fuck, that was good.’

Aubrey smiled at the compliment as he lifted his head, scrunching up his nose when Callum ruffled his hair. He left a soft kiss on the other man’s hip, then quickly moved his way back up and leaned in to kiss him- only to be met with Callum’s finger pressing against his lips.

‘Go wash your mouth first, honey,’ he absently mumbled, yawning as he shrugged Aubrey off and turned on his side. ‘Don’t feel like tasting myself on you.’

And for some reason, Aubrey had listened to him.

He had always listened to him.

And that very night he had once again made his way through the bedroom to the bathroom, quiet as he could as to not wake the others who had already been fast asleep, and he had cleaned himself up as Callum had told him to despite knowing his partner would no longer be awake the second he would return and he would have to curl up on the edge of the bed all by himself.

‘Good night, love,’ Aubrey whispered against Callum’s back, pressing a soft kiss between his shoulder blades and wincing when Callum groaned and rolled closer to Reyes instead.

He still missed them, sometimes.

Aubrey sucked in a shallow breath and nervously glanced down, watching as Seb carefully lowered his legs on the mattress and looked up at him with a soft smile on his face. Aubrey ran his hand through Seb’s hair again- then down past his cyberware, fingertips trailing the freckles scattered across his cheekbones and nose- gently resting it on the back of his neck to pull him up, lifting his head from the pillow to meet Seb’s lips in the middle.

A desperate but hesitant kiss, his heart skipping a beat or two when Seb momentarily tensed up against him; though his initial surprise washed off within seconds, melting into the kiss with similar passion as before but with a newfound softness that made Aubrey wish the moment would never end.

But before he knew it he was on his stomach, pinned to the mattress once more with Seb’s full body weight on top of him and his hands gripping Aubrey’s hips with significantly more force than before. Surely he was just fucking dreaming- the thought once more bouncing around in his skull as he gripped the sheets and whined into the pillow, momentarily unable to find a comfortable position.

‘Shh,’ Seb quietly shushed him, lifting his hips to give Aubrey more space and gently running his fingers through his hair. ‘You’re okay. Just relax.’

Another shiver ran down Aubrey’s spine when Seb’s lips left a soft kiss on the back of his neck- and another one a little further down on his back, and another one on his shoulder- covering him in sweet little kisses until the tension vanished from Aubrey’s body and he reached around to bury his fingers in Seb’s hair again, the other man’s hand guiding him so he could get a better grip.

The pleasure was always worth the pain.

But there was a clear difference between enduring and enjoying, Aubrey’s limits often tested in the past by inexperienced or impatient lovers, or his own efforts cut short after an early finish on the receiving end and their wish to not continue further.

And in the heat of the moment it had not bothered him all that much, time after time after time; just happy it had happened in the first place, finding satisfaction in the parts he had enjoyed. A nearly pathetic search for the positive- in what he had later found out had mostly been negative- in an attempt to reassure himself that he was fine, to convince himself it hadn’t hurt half as much as it’d actually done.

‘What’s the matter, Bee? You like it rough, don’t you?’

The other man did not even give him time to adjust and Aubrey quickly buried his face in his pillow on the next slow thrust to muffle his whines. It was true, he supposed- he did not mind being manhandled even a little bit, so why would this be any different?

Seb was not impatient like that.

He gently brushed Aubrey’s hair out of his neck and pressed a kiss on his skin, hands traveling down his sides and holding his hips to prop him up- fingers slowly working their magic as he waited for Aubrey to turn his head so he could leave a kiss on his cheek and Aubrey wondered if Seb knew it had been a while since his last time.

‘Want me to stop?’ he hummed in Aubrey’s ear, running his free hand through his hair and planting another kiss on his temple as he patiently waited for an answer- and when Aubrey quickly shook his head in response he smiled and slowly pulled out his fingers, drawing another loud moan from Aubrey’s lips and Seb gently held his hip as he lined himself up.

One thing would lead to another and before he would know it, it was already too late.

It had just been a simple gig; follow a target into a club, gather the information necessary and get out through the back door without drawing any attention to themselves. Well within their capabilities, a job like any other- but their overconfidence- lately bordering on arrogance more than either of them would willingly admit- had led them down the much more primitive path of violence, leaving them empty-handed, bloodied, and fucking high on adrenaline.

And somehow it had led them there to that flashlight-lit shitty motel room, Aubrey’s back arched into those first few slow and gentle thrusts as his eyes glossed over and a strong hand on the back of his neck held him pinned in place, thumb running in small circles over his cyberware.

But he could not complain.

Of course he did not know how much of it was genuine; of course he did not know how under the influence either of them exactly were, how much of what Seb did was merely to have fun and mess around and how much of it was-

How much of it was real, he supposed.

But it did not matter in that moment, the moans spilling from either of their lips loud enough to be heard from outside- not even the distant music and chatter from the bar could drown it out- echoing between the four walls enclosing them, in sync with the sound of Seb’s hips colliding with Aubrey’s own.

He loosened his grip on Seb’s hair and dropped his arm, searching for his hand instead and shaky fingers attempted to intertwine but failed to get a grip with each bounce of his body. But Seb noticed; and gently pinned Aubrey’s wrist to the mattress, tattooed fingers curling between his own and squeezing softly as he picked up his pace.

‘Harder,’ Aubrey blurted out, eyes fluttering shut and muscles tightening when Seb’s movements briefly faltered as if the request had caught him off guard, ‘please.’ Adjusted well enough by then to be able to take it and desperate for more, with his heart beating rapidly in his chest and breathing shallow in his throat as he felt a second climax steadily building up.

And of course Seb listened to him and wasted no time- teeth digging into Aubrey’s shoulder as he pulled him closer and his thrusts went deeper and more out of control, Aubrey’s eyes closing once more in response and the pleasure overwhelming him to the point no sound left his lips anymore all while Seb moaned loud enough for the both of them combined.

He did not regret it.

Aubrey loved Seb; no matter what others thought of the two of them, no matter what label could be put on what they had- he undeniably loved that man to pieces and no amount of drugs and booze could feign such adoration.

And again he did not know how reciprocated it was; knowing well enough just how much Seb loved Cassidy, knowing well enough he himself had been in merely a fraction of the other man’s life and knowing better than anyone that sex more than often meant absolutely nothing to some people, and this here could easily be very much the same.

‘Mmh- Fuck, Aubrey,’ Seb moaned, grip on Aubrey’s hand and hip tightening and his nails digging deep into flesh, his breath shaky and hot on the back of his neck and lips barely brushing past his skin.

Please don’t stop now, was all Aubrey could think in return- face pressed into the pillow and free hand reaching for Seb’s hair again, fingers fumbling to get a grip as he rocked his hips back into Seb’s thrusts as much as he could and he whined when he felt Seb finish buried deep inside of him-

And relief washed over him for the second time that night, whole body left shivering as a sob of pleasure escaped his throat and he collapsed on the mattress, Seb lowering himself on top of him and pressing his lips against his neck while still slightly moving his hips as he filled Aubrey up.

It was quiet in the room, now.

Aubrey let go of Seb’s hair and hand, a quiet and involuntary whine leaving his lips when Seb slowly pulled out and rolled himself off of him. And for a split second he could not stop himself from panicking- suddenly terrified the other man would get up and leave, leave him all by himself in that motel room, confirming his fears that it had all meant nothing-

He’d been left alone a few too many times in the past.

Perhaps that’s why he still missed them.

Perhaps he was still expecting them to come back.

Aubrey finally moved, carefully turning himself on his side as he cautiously watched Seb stretch and roll over to the arguably cleaner side of the bed. He hesitantly shuffled a little closer, head still spinning from- everything, by then, and as much as he knew it would be a smart move to get up to drink some water he was way too exhausted for that.

‘C’mere,’ Seb suddenly quietly said, his voice somehow even more mechanical than it had been before but it did not take away any of the gentleness to it, hands reaching out to grab Aubrey’s to pull him closer; and he allowed him to do so, shaky exhale leaving his chest as Seb wrapped his arms around him and pressed a soft kiss on his forehead.

He did not regret it.

Of course he didn’t- how could he? Safe and sound in Sebastian’s arms, face buried in his neck with the other man’s arms wrapped tightly around his waist, their legs intertwined. He loved being close to him and whether Seb did too or not did not matter in that very moment, his face buried in Aubrey’s hair and fingertips gently running in circles over his skin.

Aubrey tilted his head and kissed Seb’s cyberjaw, following the curve sloping toward his chin up to his lips and Seb eagerly kissed him back, pulling him as close as physically possible while his tongue found its way back into Aubrey’s mouth.

It felt very real to him, either way. That had to count for something.

‘Good night,’ Seb softly mumbled against his lips, the kiss by then so slow that their heads were merely resting against each other and Aubrey smiled, reaching up to brush some of Seb’s hair out of his face.

‘Good night, darling,’ he whispered back, pressing a last little kiss on the corner of his mouth; but Seb was already fast asleep, head heavy on his pillow and arms still wrapped around Aubrey- perhaps even tighter than before, somehow, but Aubrey could not complain.

He carefully reached over Seb’s shoulder to grab his phone from the nightstand, turning off the flashlight and leaving the both of them wrapped in the darkness of the motel room. The neon lights outside poured in just enough for Aubrey to be able to see the outline of Seb’s arm, steadily rising and falling with each breath he took.

‘Hey- Where are you going?’

Aubrey blinked and turned back to look at Leon, who shoved two of his pillows out of the way and reached out for him, not lowering his arms until Aubrey was back within hand’s reach and he could wrap his arms around his neck to pull him closer.

‘Just wanted to brush my teeth-’ Aubrey quietly explained but his sentence was cut short by Leon’s mouth on his own, sharp fangs teasingly digging into his lower lip and hands burying themselves in his hair.

‘Who cares?’ Leon mumbled, eyes half closed when he pulled back and that goofy little grin on his face Aubrey loved so much, rendering him unable to stop a similar smile from spreading on his face as Leon kissed him again with such force it nearly knocked both of them off the bed.

Everything was different now.

Aubrey often had to remind himself of that fact- it was easy to forget, now that he was back in Night City and on a surface level everything still looked the same, down to the decisions he would take that would lead him to a situation such as the one he’d found himself in at that very moment.

He gently ran his fingers over Seb’s cheek and through his hair, struggling to keep his eyes open as the reality of it all finally started to kick in; and he suddenly realized he had forgotten to call Leon after they had reached the motel, and had not even managed to send him a text before- well, things had escalated.

Surely he will understand, right?

That was going to be interesting to explain the next morning.

#nuclearwriting #it will be fine. btw. leon and cassidy had a bet going on how long it would take for seb and aubrey to fuck nasty #they're very gay and not not in love and most of all just very predictable and honestly have you seen them? i would do the same #anyway HI. i know i jumped ahead in the timeline a little bit but that's fine it's fun :) keeps you on your toes #this one was so fun to write actually i love these two guys so much

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quickhacked · 8 months

Note

9 16 and 33 for lorelei again? ehgehehe...

FALLING [x] characters >> ariza karud (oc), lorelei lacroix (oc), vatha nefiti (oc) context >> date unknown; the party has gathered itself in the city of zarevsk once more following artyom and sascha's departure to the academy, planning to take it easy for a while in their absence total >> 1.3k words warnings >> alcohol, famine mention

The night was cold and clear, Anides and Tanilope both showing their faces in the ink black, star-scattered sky above Zarevsk. A quiet night, at that; the Herald remained mostly empty for the night, the inn at the outskirts of town far from a patrons’ favorite but to Lorelei and her friends it had become home for each and every visit to the south of the Zaghradian Empire.

That night, she was sat at the bar, the mellow tone of Callinan’s lyre gently filling the space around her and mixing with the soft murmur of Vatha and Ward’s voices from the corner booth on her right. Berry and Teacup were outside, still; the nightly market along the Lyshi Trail was bustling with life between sunset and midnight and the perfect place to make new friends, eat good food, and buy trinkets from all over the world.

They were taking it easy, for the time being. Artyom and Sascha had gone back to Neryugrad not long ago to continue their fifth year at the Novis Academy, and with that had left their party without an artificer and a warlock. Of course not the only spellcasters- with Vatha’s cryogenic origins and Lorelei’s spellbook and the occasional divine intervention from Ward’s deity they could get far enough in battle- but their absence could not go unnoticed and still often left them in a disadvantageous position.

Lorelei set down her shot glass, the soft clink on the hardwood countertop somehow still loud enough for the bartender to hear. She turned around- a broad-shouldered orc-tiefling, uptilted tusks and downward horns adorned with rings, glimmering beads and gemstones- and without saying a word she poured her another one, setting the glass down in front of her with a wink.

‘Thank you, Ariza,’ Lorelei said, lowering a hand to drag the tip of her index finger along the rim of the glass. ‘Say- drink one with me. No one else here but us lot.’

‘Bold of you to suggest such a thing to your own bartender of all people. I’m on the clock.’ Ariza paused and huffed, slowly turning around to grab another shot glass from a shelf and pour herself a drink too. ‘Are we celebrating somethin’?’

‘Not really- just want you to relax. You look so tense.’

The bartender lightly tilted her head in questioning manner, but said nothing more of it; she had spoken to Lorelei often enough by then to know the woman had keen eyes and attempting to lie or hide something from her more than often did not work out well.

‘Been tough since your last visit, won’t lie,’ she spoke, holding up her glass and waiting for Lorelei to lightly tap her own against it, and they downed their respective drinks at once. ‘Two more rifts opened in town and while they were dealt with swiftly enough, damage was done. People are gettin’ scared. Restless. Wanna take matters in their own hands. An’ you know what happens when the crowd starts arming itself.’

‘City watch busy doin’ crowd control…’

‘Leaves the place vulnerable.’

‘There’s been attacks?’

‘Couple of raids so far. On the farms.’ Ariza paused and licked her lips, as far as her tusks allowed her to. ‘Winter is closing in. Zarevsk won’t make it through without enough supplies.’

‘We’ll look into it.’

Vatha’s voice was suddenly a lot closer than before, slightly startling Lorelei and she quickly straightened her back as the other woman appeared in her peripheral vision and set down their own empty glass on the countertop.

‘Staying here for a while now anyway,’ they continued, glancing at Lorelei before redirecting their attention to Ariza. ‘Might as well try and help out a little. If the city watch is still proving to be that useless.’

‘Would be much appreciated,’ Ariza replied, taking all empty glasses off the counter with one hand. ‘Common folk are already sufferin’ enough as is. Don’t need to see a repeat of last year’s famine.’

Lorelei lowered her gaze and clenched her jaw, memories of the year before flooding back into her mind like a tidal wave hitting the shoreline. Vatha seemed to notice the shift in her mood instantly and reached out to her in response, placing their freezing cold hand over hers; though it did not hurt, and merely felt soothing in the moment.

Famine had not been the only tragedy to strike Zarevsk, back then- a rift had plagued the eastern outskirts of town, but it had been hidden for so long that its influence by then reached far, and deep. The party had been in town at the time, to take care of the rift; and it had left all of them with scars, especially Sascha, considering his- rather personal stakes in the matter.

And now, several months later they still did not know the origins of these rifts, these tears in reality; they did not know what was causing the process to happen, nor had they figured out how to prevent it altogether. All they knew was how to close them- by then better than anyone else on the continent of Darwalyn- and they had sworn to keep doing so, none of them wanting to find out what would happen were the rifts to get out of control.

Lorelei had to admit it was strange to be back there now. She had sworn to never set foot in town again after they had successfully escaped the mansion of Sascha’s biological parents, after they had successfully closed the rift. The memories were far too painful and the events that had occurred behind that gate still haunted her- in dreams and nightmares alike.

Some nights, while falling asleep, she could still taste the saccharine bloodcherry wine they had served inside on her tongue; feel the cool and damp air of the moldy interior of the mansion on her skin and smell the rot and decay that seeped through the walls, the influence of the rift swallowing the place whole right under their noses.

And to think that Lorelei used to be fascinated by necromancy and cosmic energy.

Now it simply frightened her. More than anything else in the world.

Vatha’s gentle touch pulled her out of her thoughts, cold fingertips brushing past her cheek and causing her eyes to flutter shut.

‘We’re turning for the night,’ she quietly said and leaned in to press a gentle kiss on Lorelei’s temple. ‘Are you coming? You look like you can use some rest.’

‘Sure feel like it, yeah.’ Lorelei paused and opened her eyes again, gaze meeting Ariza’s- the bartender simply smiled at her and gave her a nod, a light pat on the pouch filled with coin on her belt telling Lorelei the drinks were on her.

Perhaps it wasn’t so bad, that she was back now. The mansion was all the way on the other side of the city and Zarevsk was home to good folk- they had made many friends there and Lorelei would be lying if she said she hadn’t missed them during the party’s adventures elsewhere.

‘Sleep well, Ariza,’ she finally continued, giving the bartender a nod in return.

‘You as well, Lori- Vatha,’ Ariza replied, eyes flicking between the two of them before she lifted her hand and locked the door of the inn with a simple incantation, magic bursting from her fingertips and leaving a glowing orange trail from her position behind the bar all the way across the room.

Far from Lorelei’s favorite city to be in; but the Herald made it all feel just a little safer, just a little more like home. And while on the road with her friends that was truly all she needed- the promise of a comfortable enough bed at the end of the day, a nice and warm meal, and a friendly face.

And to have something like that was rare, those days.

#asks #twinwitchbolt #writing asks #nuclearwriting #THANK YOU. I LOVE THEM DEARLY #not much happens in this but also. exposition. character analysis. lesbians. etc etc and so on #if you all keep sending me asks about my d&d characters at some point i'll have the whole world fleshed out SHJGFDKGJDFG

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quickhacked · 10 months

Text

– LAST LINE TAG / WIP DAY.

TAGGED BY: @katsigian & @adelaidedrubman, thank you so much!! TAGGING: @reaperkiller, @aartyom, @devilbrakers, @faarkas, @cultistbase, @calenhads, @swordcoasts, @shellibisshe, @dickytwister, @strafethesesinners, @henbased, @ncytiri and YOU! feel free to pick either of the tag games, i decided to mush them together :^) chapter 18 for the broker fic is nearly done and will be posted in a few days, until then have this snippet that should set the tone for what it's gonna be like. don't forget to catch up!!

He had not even gotten the chance to say goodbye.

He knew what dying felt like.

#tag games #nuclearwriting #we're almost at the end now. chapter 19 is the last one :)#surely nothing bad will happen to vitali aha xx :)#rusty with the tagging feel free to kill me for like whatever reason as always <333

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quickhacked · 6 months

Note

it took me Several Tries to send this ask bc i forgor their names again. BUT 3 & 41 for artyom and sascha!!!

COMFORT FOOD [x] characters >> artyom mikhaylov (oc), callinan tain (oc), sascha kovalevsky (oc) context >> date unknown; the party is visiting myvetal in the west of scayrius, initially there to help out an old friend but now working for archmage marius jahal, whose true intentions have yet to reveal themselves total >> 1.2k words warnings >> food, paranoia

‘Artyom? We’re back!’

Lorelei’s warm voice echoed through the large entrance hall of the house the party had been calling home over the last few months. A much fancier place than any of them were used to– most of their visits to other towns ended with them seeking shelter in the nearest inn they could find or setting up camp in a nearby field– but it was a welcomed break from the leaky ceilings and creaky wooden floorboards they had grown used to ever since they had started traveling together.

Sascha took off his overcoat and tossed it over the back of a dining chair, smiling as he watched Berry and Teacup dart back outside to run around in the rain. It had been going for a while now; not out of the ordinary for the time of year, and he knew from his studies the fields surrounding town could easily turn into a marsh until the heavy precipitation period was over.

They were staying in Myvetal, the largest city in the west of Scayrius. With its cobbled roads, narrow alleyways and tall houses it was surprisingly similar to Zarevsk and Neryugrad back at home– save for some cultural aspects and the significant lack of steep hills and raised districts, that was. A densely populated center with shops and taverns scattered about, small marketplaces creating cozy neighborhoods within the central district and even at the edge of town, where their house could be found, it was still busy enough to feel like you were right in the middle of it.

But despite the similarities to his home country, Sascha did not like it there.

Perhaps it was the way people stared at him, whenever he was outside. He was familiar enough with it to not let it get to him on most days, but the feeling of eyes on his back burning holes through the back of his skull haunted him like the presence of his patron, a dark shadow hanging over him and unwillingly keeping him alert for danger that was not even there.

Or perhaps it was the business they had stumbled into by accident, the second they had arrived in town. Receiving jobs from an archmage of all possibilities– Marius Jahal, one of the most important men of town if not the whole country– without clear understanding why they had to do any of what he was asking from them in the first place.

Sascha did not trust the man. He trusted Lorelei and Vatha’s judgment, of course; and if they did not question Marius then neither should he, and generally speaking the jobs they’d done so far had gone well and he had no reason to believe they were unknowingly on the wrong side of a conflict.

It was mainly the mage’s interest in Artyom that bothered him. The way he tried to get closer to him, to get a look at his research– his offers to become Artyom’s mentor, to help him with his thesis. None of it sat right with Sascha at all, and while he did not have the best intuition in the world the bad feeling gnawing at him from within was enough to make the hairs on his arms stand up straight every time he thought a little too long about it.

‘Oh, you are all soaked. Weather that bad outside?’

Artyom’s voice dragged Sascha out of his thoughts and he looked up to see his partner stand in the doorway of the kitchen, leaning against the post with a crooked smile on his face. He waved him over and when Sascha got within reach he gently brushed some of the wet strands of hair stuck to his forehead out of his face and pressed a kiss on his temple.

He had stayed home that day. On Sascha’s request; Artyom had been studying the days away in Marius’ tower for the past week and had barely gotten any rest in between, and to take him along to exterminate a whole nest of ghouls holed up in one of the city’s warehouses would have been far from the brightest idea.

‘Everything went well here while we were away?’ Sascha asked, smiling softly as he allowed Artyom to wrap his arms around his waist and kiss the corner of his mouth.

‘I should be the one asking you that,’ was the answer, followed by another kiss on his cheek. ‘But yes, yes– all is well. No visitors, no trouble. I made dinner.’

‘Hmm– it smells lovely.’

‘Come on, of course it does. I made it.’

Artyom’s confidence had to be one of the most charming things about him to Sascha. And he was right, too– Artyom’s cooking was the best of all of them without a single doubt, and possibly the best food Sascha had ever eaten in his whole life.

‘What did you make?’ he asked, taking Artyom’s hand and allowing him to drag him into the kitchen where Callinan was already peering into one of the pans on the fire. He hadn’t even needed to ask; was able to tell from smell alone it was a wolf roast with honey and glazed onions, with baby potatoes and asparagus on the side. A meal that had been his comfort food for many years now– and considering they had known each other since the age of 12, of course Artyom knew about that.

‘You said we were having stew today!’ Callinan dramatically pointed out, the disappointment in their voice obviously fake and they only barely managed to dodge Artyom’s incoming swatting hand with a suppressed smile on their face. ‘I trusted you!’

‘That was your first mistake,’ Artyom playfully replied, managing to land a hit on Callinan’s wrist and effectively stopping them from trying to taste some of the still simmering sauce. ‘No, butcher had fresh meats in so I changed plans. We will have stew tomorrow.’

‘Well alright. Holding you to it.’

‘You are welcome to do so.’

Sascha stopped paying attention halfway through the conversation, leaning back into the furniture as he watched Artyom douse the fire with a single flick of his wrist and Callinan take out plates and utensils to set the table. The quiet moments were always his favorite; no danger lurking around the corner, just him and his friends in the safety and comfort of their own space finally getting the rest they deserved.

And perhaps one day his whole life could be quiet moments such as that. He was still young, of course– but with everything happening in the world, the unexplained rifts they had continued to run into, and Cthulhu’s influence gnawing away at his entire being, the thought of settling down brought him comfort like nothing else could.

His gaze wandered to the window and his eyes locked onto the dark storm clouds hanging above their heads. He could feel something tightening deep within his stomach– as if he was hungry, starving, and despite it being around dinnertime he knew very well that the hunger wasn’t his, and no meal would be able to sate it either.

A flash of lightning startled him, and he suddenly realized he was left alone in the kitchen.

For a second he could’ve sworn he saw the silhouette of a tentacle reaching out of the sky.

#asks #awful-roffle #writing asks #nuclearwriting #THAMK U i've missed my boys. i just think they're neat #i love doing little fics like this for my d&d guys because it forces to me write more about some random city #myvetal's potential... chef's kiss. if you ask me #the whole surroundings turning into a marsh during the rainy period is so good because it just #effectively cuts off the town from most of the outside world. except for the rapid transportation system #which is entirely under marius jahal's control. like that man is so powerful it's terrifying #anyway yes he's a very evil and also very old man but i can assure you this is not the gilf you're wanting him to be so keep that in mind

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quickhacked · 1 year

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Chapter >> 15 [x] Characters >> Cato Wu (oc), Matvey Dobrynin (oc), Mikhail Koshechkin (oc), Vincent Mayer (oc), Vitali Dobrynin (oc), a long list of side characters Total >> 10.7k words Warnings >> Alcohol, blood, brainwashing mention, chess mention :/, death, descriptions of suffocation, descriptions of throwing up, dissociation (sort of), drugs mention, gore, injuries, violence

It was August.

Summer had been relentless in Night City thus far; its citizens plagued by a combination of heatwaves, drought and extreme weather, regular sandstorms sweeping in from the Badlands and covering the streets in a thin layer of sand and dust.

It made sense most people tried to seek shelter from the sweltering heat as much as they could. Anyone who had the ability to move their business to the nightly hours gladly took this opportunity- which meant the already bustling streets came to life even more than usual after midnight and those looking for some peace and quiet were better off leaving town until fall.

As to be expected, most corporations cared very little about the hot temperatures in broad daylight and gladly continued to torture their employees with regular nine to five workdays, if not longer-

Most of the time, then, at least.

That day was an exception for anyone working for Arasaka. A paid day off, for once; followed by a grand event later that night at the corporation’s latest addition to their citywide facilities, with several news channels broadcasting live on location and rich and famous guests flying in from all over the world.

‘Everyone inside?’

‘Affirmative. How are we looking?’

‘Logging into their systems as we speak, jefe. Stand by.’

The entrance hall of the building was large and crowded. The central area bustled with people, who were holding conversations around round standing tables or on benches lined up against various big planters. Many had resorted to the two upper floors of the hall, their balconies overlooking the ground level; and bright neon holograms danced around on the high ceiling, bathing the facility’s interior in a soft, golden glow.

Vitali stood on the side of the hall, leaning with his shoulder against the wall and his head turned toward the large darkened glass window overlooking the facility’s courtyard. He was simply dressed in a black suit that evening; anything else would have drawn too much attention to him in the crowd of bland and boring corpo cunts, which was the exact opposite of what he wanted.

The lower half of his face was hidden behind a mask- a solid layer of armor, matte black with a few golden touches to signal to anyone whose gaze lingered on him for longer than necessary it was merely for aesthetic purposes. He knew very well the accessory could raise significant suspicion but with his face still present in Arasaka’s databases, walking into the lion’s den without some sort of covering would have been the equivalent of waltzing into a high security Militech base through the front door with a huge target taped to the forehead.

‘Clifford Thompson,’ Vincent suddenly said out loud, reading the name from the little name tag affixed to Vitali’s jacket. He reached up to the collar of Vitali’s shirt and fixed it for him, carefully undoing the top button as if not used to Vitali’s sudden, stiff demeanor. ‘Lovely name. Pick it yourself?’

‘Hm- Mikhail helped me with it,’ Vitali softly answered, a hint of a smile on his face behind the mask as he subconsciously brought the glass of champagne- given to him by a waiter who had obviously not looked him in the eye when they’d handed it to him- to his lips; before realizing he was very much unable to take a swig and he lowered it again, hoping nobody had seen it happen.

‘You have always looked like a Cliff to me,’ Mikhail said through their earpieces. ‘But- all jokes aside. Where is our good American friend right now?’

‘Stuffed in a closet.’ Vitali glanced into the direction of the people nearest to the two of them, and he gently pulled Vincent a little closer to him by his waist. ‘Should…not be a problem anymore.’

‘Just for now or permanently?’

A loud POP nearby caused Vitali to flinch lightly and he took a step toward Vincent, who instantly noticed his discomfort and reached up to soothingly run his fingers through Vitali’s hair. Some laughter followed- someone had simply opened yet another bottle of overly expensive alcohol and now demonstratively began pouring it into a new batch of empty glasses, the small crowd around them applauding for seemingly no reason at all.

‘It’s alright, baby,’ Vincent mumbled, standing up on his tiptoes to give Vitali a kiss on his cheekbone. ‘Just rich people doin’ their rich people stuff.’

Of course Vitali had not been invited to this event. Quite the opposite; him showing up there could prove disastrous for the corporation, considering what they were about to unveil alongside their newest facility.

Though he was not even there for any of that. It mattered very little to him- the announcement of the brainwashing program that had been tested on him dressed up as some overglorified renewed Secure Your Soul program was the very least of his worries at that moment, knowing what else was going on behind the scenes.

‘Eyes up, boss.’

Vitali glanced up at the ceiling, eyes slowly trailing the holograms before moving to the balconies. His gaze immediately caught those of two familiar faces on the first floor- Mikhail and Cato, both dressed up in Arasaka combat gear and leaning on the balustrade, the latter smiling and briefly waving at him before redirecting her attention to the rest of the ground floor below.

‘We’re nearing the security station,’ Huxley said over comms. ‘Five minutes until we’re set.’

‘Good. Lauren?’

‘I’m in. Two active runners in the building, dealing with ‘em as we speak. Hux, Shiro- wait for my signal.’

The entire operation was about as risky as they could make it. Not only Vitali, but Mikhail and Shiro too- all ex-Arasaka surrounded by nothing but Arasaka once more and on top of that considering how involved Vincent, Cato and Huxley had been with the corporation in the past, none of them should have even been there to begin with.

But who else could Vitali have sent? No one understood Arasaka Security better than Shiro and Mikhail, and he knew better than to try and separate Cato from her best friend on a gig. Trusted no one more than Huxley to escort Shiro and he needed Vincent by his side were he to come face to face with his father again.

Because yes, of course- Matvey would be there, too.

‘Vitali? You might want to come take a look at this.’

Some time had passed, after they had let Ravager go. Perhaps a foolish decision- taken by Vitali himself on impulse after he had found the merc in the midst of an intimate moment with Nadya. His own feelings had gotten in the way of his rational thinking; though without severe consequences thus far, considering Ravager had not shown his face anymore since.

‘Building blueprints?’ Vitali adjusted his reading glasses as he leaned forward, to take a closer look at Lauren’s screen. ‘Of what?’

‘The new Arasaka facility in Charter Hill,’ Lauren quietly answered. ‘They’re unveiling the location at the end of next week. Whole event planned around it. But this isn’t from Arasaka- I intercepted this from your father’s mercs.’

Vitali slowly let his gaze wander through the hall again, actively searching for anything out of the ordinary; security on the move, perhaps, or people’s eyes staring in his direction. His heart was rapidly beating in his chest and his breathing had become a little shallow- and the more time went by, the more nervous he became.

The feeling of Vincent’s hand on his cheek pulled him out of his thoughts and he turned to look at his boyfriend, who slowly positioned himself right in front of him and reached for Vitali’s hearing aid; he switched off the communication channel and did the same for his own earpiece, a soft, reassuring smile lingering on his face.

When Vitali had last seen his father, he had lost himself a little bit.

He’d gotten emotional- to the point he could now barely remember what had exactly happened that day. The sight of his old mercenaries, everything Dusty had said to him; his father’s almost mockingly calm demeanor, how he had bluntly told Vitali it had been Nadya’s decision alone to cut ties with him after he had left home-

‘What if we can’t stop him?’ Vitali quietly asked, allowing Vincent to release the clip of his mask and carefully pull it down, just enough to be able to see the lower half of his face. ‘What if we’re too late?’

‘Nothing’s happened yet,’ Vincent hummed in response and leaned in to press a soft kiss on the corner of Vitali’s mouth. ‘We’ll stop him, okay? I’ll make sure of it.’

Another soft touch of Vincent’s hand on his cheek and it nearly moved Vitali to tears. Men had come and gone throughout the years, yet none of them had ever been as gentle with him as Vincent was every single second they spent together.

His gaze slowly moved over Vincent’s features- the suit he wore, similar in fashion as Vitali’s- his buzz cut, with the little scar on the side of his head cutting into his hair- and his bright, hazel green eyes worriedly looking back up at him- and Vitali closed his eyes and turned to kiss Vincent’s fingertips, and for a brief moment it was just the two of them alone in that void, instead of in a large Arasaka hall.

For a brief moment, he felt safe.

‘Ladies and gentlemen- Attention, please!’

Vincent quickly clipped Vitali’s mask back in place, his hand lingering on his face just a little longer before he switched both their comms back on and turned to see who had spoken up. People had moved away from the large window wall overlooking the courtyard and a woman had taken position in front of it; she wore a deep red dress with black accents and the feigned smile on her face was just a little too broad for Vitali’s liking.

Silence washed over the hall and the woman began talking again- an introductory speech in Japanese, and Vitali was only partially listening. His gaze slowly trailed the hall once more; kept a close eye on their surroundings now that things were being set in motion, his jaw tightly clenched underneath his mask.

‘The event- Can you get us in?’

‘I can try.’ Lauren paused, a nervous sigh leaving her lips as she rapidly clicked through more of the intercepted information. ‘It’s all very high profile; might have to take the back door for this.’

And how they had.

They had needed to hijack an escort to enter via the garage- all except Vitali and Vincent dressed as Arasaka Security by the time they’d reached their destination, and they had needed to climb their way up an abandoned elevator shaft to get to ground level without needing to access the main network for the elevator codes.

One way in, no way out. Part of why it was such a risky operation; all the entrances were heavily guarded and even the garage itself would not be a quick escape were they to get caught.

A risk, yet an opportunity at the same time.

Applause rose up from the crowds in the hall and on the balconies and Vitali’s gaze was drawn back to the woman. She had stepped aside now- the creepy smile once again plastered on her face- and a tall, skinny man with an equally as creepy smile had taken her place instead-

Grant Armitage.

Some seemingly random Arasaka exec with “his greasy little fingers stuck right up Yorinobu’s golden ass”, as Vincent had described him a few days prior. Just another guy who had been put in a position he was barely ready for but wanted more than anything in his life- irrelevant in the bigger picture, but not to Vitali.

‘Covert operation,’ Mikhail said, crossing his arms in front of his chest and leaning back against the wall. ‘We cannot take many people and nearest backup will be at least ten minutes away with NCPD road blocks.’

‘You’re right.’ Vitali paused and licked his lips, a dangerous sparkle in his eyes as he looked from Lauren to Mikhail and back.

‘We cannot take many people. And neither can Matvey.’

‘Thank you all so much for being here with us this fine evening,’ Armitage began his speech, chuckling when more applause erupted from the crowd and he raised his hands in an attempt to get people to settle down. ‘Please, please- It truly is an honor to be standing here right now.’

Vitali was barely listening to the man- who rambled on endlessly, thanking all his superiors for this opportunity and talking about Arasaka’s reorganization following the events of the year before- and instead merely stared at him, eyes fixed on his forehead as if he was expecting a red dot to appear right in the center of it-

‘This facility is- It’s a beacon of hope.’

Armitage briefly paused, clasping his hands together in front of his chest as he took a few steps back. ‘A new chapter in the history of Arasaka- in the future of Arasaka, one that opens up many new pathways for us to explore. Because, ladies and gentlemen- what I am about to show you is guaranteed to blow new life into this entire corporation.’

‘Very excited to hear where this is going,’ Cato said. ‘Wonder how they’ll make brainwashing sound like a good thing. “Hey, wanna get your precious memories wiped? Join our new program now!” Fuckin’ weirdos.’

‘They will rebrand it as a medical tool,’ Vitali plainly answered, while Armitage talked about the shortcomings of the Secure Your Soul program and how they had decided to change its purpose, use the technology for something new.

‘Effectively deal with trauma by simply taking it away. Undesirable trait removal can be used by NCPD, Militech- and learning a new skill within seconds can be marketed as anything. If you could become a master at playing the piano by installing a single, Arasaka-run program to your brain, would you not do that?’

‘Hm, can’t say I’m a fan. You?’

‘Absolutely not. But there are people out there who would kill for it.’

Silence fell over their communication line as Armitage continued his speech- a carefully crafted introduction of Arasaka’s APEX program, met with soft gasps and murmuring from the crowd, and Vitali’s chest tightened when the man began listing essentially everything he himself had just said; as if he had read his notes beforehand, as if he had known.

Of course that was not true. He’d had no way of knowing what the man would say- had simply just worked for Arasaka himself long enough to know exactly how they operated and to know exactly what they would use their new technology for.

But everyone on the line stayed quiet. Vitali could feel Vincent’s eyes on him.

Vitali felt a soft tap on his shoulder and blinked a few times, slowly returning to the large hall he was stood in. He had zoned out; and Mikhail was trying to get his attention, only his hands and lips moving as he spoke and no actual sound leaving his mouth.

‘Wonder how long we will have to stand here,’ he said, visibly cringing when the Arasaka exec holding their speech made a horrible joke which was met with what Vitali sincerely hoped was nothing but fake laughter.

‘These kind of people love to hear themselves talk,’ Vitali simply replied, a sharp edge to the movements of his hands. ‘If we’re lucky we will be allowed to leave sometime tomorrow morning.’

‘Think about it!’ Armitage clapped his hands loudly and unexpectedly and Vitali’s heart skipped a beat- he could feel himself starting to become a little light-headed and quickly balled his fist, digging his nails into the palm of his hand in a desperate attempt to stay calm.

‘Just one datashard away from fluently speaking another language- just one datashard away from excelling at any sports, just one datashard away from becoming an engineer, or a surgeon, or a world famous musician!’

‘I don’t like this,’ Mikhail suddenly quietly said, the slightly miserable tone clearly audible to Vitali. ‘Some people have studied years for that. Does that just mean nothing anymore, now?’

‘It is faulty technology, anyway,’ Vitali softly responded. ‘Being good at sports because of a datashard does not suddenly mean your body is ready to handle such intense exercise. You can download any sort of textbook knowledge to your brain but that does not mean you have the feel for a job- you will never have the muscle memory necessary to get tasks to become routine work, and you will never be able to improvise on the spot if a situation calls for it.’

Vitali allowed his gaze to wander through the room, scanning the faces of the people- his co-workers- standing around him. Sometimes he truly wondered how many of them were actually happy to be there and how many of them were pretending, like he himself at that point.

He had been happy there, once. He still was not sure how or why.

‘This technology is the first step toward allowing human beings to use the full capacity of their brains,’ Armitage continued, his voice steadily climbing in volume and exuberance, like an orchestra working towards its crescendo. ‘Imagine what we could do- what we could achieve- when we no longer have to worry about our shortcomings, and possible failures!’

Vitali was starting to feel sick.

He often wondered how it would be to leave. It would not be easy, he knew that much; his loyalty pledge still had a good amount of years to it and attempting to leave any time before that would probably cost him his head- and most likely quite literally so.

The hall seemed to spin before his eyes and he accidentally bit his tongue, the familiar taste of iron spilling into his mouth. The gravity of the situation had suddenly kicked in- what he had thought to be the least of his worries now screaming for attention right in front of him- and he could not help but think about all the people that would be turned into braindead, fully compliant soldiers by corporations once the program would be released to the public-

The Arasaka exec finally finished talking.

‘Last speech I am ever listening to,’ Mikhail said, rubbing the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes.

‘Me too.’ Vitali paused, checking his watch and clenching his jaw. ‘About fucking time it ended. I have to meet Jenkins before leaving the office- something about the European Space Agency. Don’t wait up, yes? I’ll see you tomorrow.’

And with that, Armitage’s speech ended.

Another round of applause, louder now, and it lasted longer- Vitali’s head was thrumming and heavy and the noise around him swallowed him whole, ripping him away from reality as he exhaled sharply and sank into the wall.

Vincent said something to him, but he could barely hear his voice; his vision was blurry, dark spots dancing in front of his eyes as every muscle in his torso tightened and yelled at him to sit down, to sink to the floor and curl up into a little ball and disappear, wash away into the sea of people surrounding him and drown in all the noise-

He is going to kill Armitage.

Vitali managed to suck in a deep breath and he straightened his back, regaining his composure within mere seconds. A sudden clarity washed over him- his fear of what his father was planning to do instantly shutting down the building panic attack.

He could not afford to lose focus now; he had things to do.

‘I’m okay,’ he managed to say, only now realizing Vincent was still trying to get his attention, and he quickly placed his glass on a nearby table. ‘Sorry- I got a little overwhelmed for a second.’

Technically not a lie. Realization after realization kicking in for him to the point he had been sure for a second he was going to pass out- but he knew very well if anything like that were to happen, none of them would make it out of the facility alive.

Whatever Arasaka was planning to do with their new program, was a problem for later. Hanako was still alive; hiding, for the time being, recovering from the very same technology Vitali and Rogue had been under the influence of- the very same technology presented by Grant Armitage that evening.

She could put a stop to it, easily. Cancel the program, kick Yorinobu out; the lesser of two evils, if you asked Vitali, but considering the limited amount of options to his disposal and the fact he was simply just a man against one of the world’s largest megacorporations- Hanako really wasn’t that bad.

Vitali inhaled sharply and instinctively reached to the wall to grab his cane; only to remember he had not taken it with him that night. Both that and the large, exoskeleton-like leg brace would have- you guessed it- drawn too much attention to him.

So instead he took Vincent’s arm, making brief eye-contact and hoping that the soft, grateful smile behind his mask was visible in his eyes.

Now that Armitage’s speech was over, people had turned back to their conversations and were moving through the hall again, laughter and chatter and the clinking of glasses filling Vitali’s ears. The man himself was in conversation with a few other corpos; he had walked away from the window a little bit, and lingered on the side of the hall close to one of the doors leading into the rest of the facility.

Vitali kept a close eye on the target as he allowed Vincent to guide him away from the wall and into the sea of people, trusting his boyfriend to find them a different strategic position in the hall. The noises around him made it difficult for him to make out anything of importance- but it did not matter all that much. It’s exactly why he hadn’t gone alone.

‘Nothing on cams yet,’ Lauren said. ‘Shiro?’

‘All clear. Their netrunners were operating from a subnet, it seems; I am decrypting it now, you will have access in a few.’

A relief, to finally have someone older and much, much wiser than Vitali on the team. Shiro’s expertise, everlasting patience and calm demeanor even in the most stressful of situations never failed to make him feel at ease, even if only a little bit due to the rest of the circumstances they found themselves in.

‘Vitali? I see him.’

Mikhail’s voice had changed tone from earlier, in a way Vitali could not quite place. His chest tightened immediately and he instinctively glanced up at the balcony, his heart once more beating rapidly in his chest-

As if he had known exactly where Matvey stood.

Dressed in a similar suit as Vitali and Vincent, simply to blend in with the rest of the crowd; he leaned on the balustrade and his eyes were fixed directly on Armitage, his fingers rhythmically tapping on the metal of the railing. Vitali was able to imagine the sound of his ring clinking against it.

He is going to kill Armitage.

And he is going to frame me for it.

He was still not sure how his father was planning on getting it done.

It did not matter all that much, either- killing Armitage couldn’t be difficult and frankly the only reason Vitali cared any of it was because of the consequences for him were he to be framed for the murder.

Perhaps Matvey had purposely dropped his own security measures to make sure Lauren would stumble upon the plan exchanges; perhaps he had purposely lured Vitali there. Perhaps his plan would not have worked if Vitali had simply decided to stay away.

But of course he had not been able to let this opportunity pass by. And he knew very well that Matvey was aware of that.

‘He’s leaving,’ Vincent quietly said, leaning in a little closer to be able to talk directly into Vitali’s ear. Vitali turned- Armitage had said his goodbyes and had made his way toward one of the doors, and he scanned a keycard to open it before vanishing through.

Vitali glanced up at the balcony again; Matvey was no longer there.

He slowly began moving back toward the door Armitage had left the hall through, holding on tightly to Vincent’s arm. He made sure to walk resolutely, but not too eager; radiating confidence without raising suspicion, to keep any unwanted, curious glances into their direction away.

His heart was racing in his chest again, palms of his hands a little sweaty and a cold shiver running up and down his spine. Far from the first dangerous gig he had been on in his time, but not at any point had he ever been more nervous than he was right then and there, chasing after his father and the man he was going to kill.

Vitali to blame- and then what? The Council would put him through the meat grinder for starting a war with Arasaka of all corporations.

The two of them passed a security guard in conversation with some guests on their way there and Vincent snatched their dangling keycard off their belt without batting an eye. Handed it to Vitali, briefly glanced around as they ascended the steps- and with a swipe, a beep and a click the door opened a second time and granted them access to the rest of the facility’s interior.

‘See you on cams, jefe. Turn left, staircase. He’s still in there.’

This was it.

Vitali knew they wouldn’t have a lot of time, well aware his father was not going to simply stand around and wait for him to show up. A frightening thought, as he and Vincent began ascending the stairs; but he did not let it get to him, using the moment to finally take off his mask and suit’s jacket and toss them aside before he rolled up the sleeves of his shirt.

‘Where’s Matvey?’ Vincent asked, following Vitali’s lead- and mimicking his actions, taking off his jacket and exposing his forearms, readying himself for whatever situation they were venturing into.

‘Unsure, can’t see him yet. Possibly still making his way to some stairs- or an elevator. Heads up, Armitage just arrived on the fifth floor.’

Vitali instinctively increased his pace and reached into the back of his pants to take out his gun; had spared himself a lecture on gun safety by putting it there when he’d been out of Mikhail’s line of sight earlier that evening.

Three, four, five-

Deep breaths, stay calm. Through another door, enter the fifth floor; an empty hallway at first glance, signature matte black walls with red details covering the surface, hardwood floorboards below his feet.

‘Turn right.’

Their footfalls, no matter how light and careful, echoed through the hallway, bouncing between the walls and effectively announcing their presence to anyone possibly nearby; but Vitali cared very little about that now. Anyone who would show would be dealt with, any security footage would be wiped before Arasaka could get their hands on it- and even if they would find out someone had been there, there’d be no way they could tie it back to him as long as Matvey would remain unseen as well and as long as Armitage wouldn’t die.

‘Matvey is on the fourth right now, making his way up. Think there’s some mercs dressed as security- Mish, Cato?’

‘On it. Shiro, do you have eyes on us?’

‘Affirmative. Security measures have been taken care of, I am unlocking doors for you now.’

‘Still ahead of ‘im,’ Vincent said, quickly jogging up to Vitali to catch up. ‘How do you wanna play this, boss?’

They turned a corner and before Vitali could answer, he noticed movement- instantly grabbed Vincent’s arm and dragged him back, pressing his own back against the wall and catching his boyfriend the second he tripped over his own feet and fell forward. He was met with a puzzled look- and in return simply placed his gun against his lips, signaling for Vincent to stay quiet.

‘Three guards, Vito,’ Lauren said. ‘Looks like regular security to me. V- Can you hack ‘em from there?’

Vitali kept his eyes on Vincent, unblinking as he watched him take in Lauren’s words and slowly nod to himself before carefully peeking into the hallway. Another glance at Vitali- a quick get ready signed and mouthed at him- and his irises lit up bright green as he unleashed a quickhack on the guards.

Contagion, probably. Signature move.

Of course Vitali was right.

The silence was broken by a yelp in pain from one of the guards, followed by audible confusion from the others; a few seconds passed before they themselves did the exact same, Vincent’s quickhack rapidly burning through their skulls.

Vitali handled quickly; pushed his gun in Vincent’s hands and yanked a small combat knife from his belt instead while slipping past him into the hallway and charging at his enemies to close the distance as fast as he could-

Blink.

Silence.

A sharp, sudden exhale left Vitali’s chest and he nearly choked on his own shallow breaths, stumbling back while trying to catch himself and regain his balance. The knife was still in his hand, like before- though drenched in blood now, like the front of his shirt, like his forearms, like the floor and the armor and clothes of the dead Arasaka security guards at his feet.

‘Good job,’ Lauren casually said over comms, her voice causing him to jump. ‘Think that was all. Hurry- Matvey’s closing in on Armitage. Get to the offices.’

Vitali was barely paying attention to her, his eyes still focused on the carnage around him. His stomach was doing somersaults in his body- he tried to take a step back and nearly fell again, the floor below his feet slippery because of the amount of-

Surely three small stab wounds couldn’t do that. How many times had he-?

‘Hey.’

Vincent’s voice was soft. Gentle, still, despite-

What happened?

Vitali winced when Vincent took his hand and tugged on it, carefully guiding him away from the bodies. His foot almost got caught behind someone’s arm and he nearly fell a second time; but Vincent caught him with ease and gave him a reassuring kiss on his cheek.

When he pulled back, Vitali was no longer holding the knife.

His head felt heavy, his confusion like a thick cloud weighing down on him as he watched Vincent wipe the knife on his pants and stick it in his own belt afterwards. Another glance over his shoulder; his gaze lingered on the bodies again causing his head to spin, and he quickly redirected his attention to the hallway in front of them.

Nearly there. It’s nearly over.

‘Got a situation over here,’ Cato suddenly said, her voice sharp in Vitali’s earpiece. ‘Don’t think we’ll make it there in time. V, you got this?’

‘All good,’ Vincent replied, glancing at Vitali as he spoke- it was easy to tell he was becoming nervous, his shoulders tense and his thumb repeatedly moving over the side of his index finger. ‘Be careful.’

‘“Careful” is my middle name, et cetera, and so on. Hey, Shiro- little help?’

‘I have locked the squad in for now. They’re going around the other way- buys you approximately three more minutes before they get to your position. Turn left at the end of the hallway, get to weapon storage.’

Vitali only half listened to the chatter on comms, a heavy thrumming filling his head as they moved through the facility as quickly as they could. The further he walked, the longer the hallway seemed to become- as if it was growing in size along with him, actively stopping him from getting there in time, actively stopping him from preventing Armitage’s death-

‘FUCK!’

Loud static overtook the line and Vincent and Vitali winced at the same time, stopping in the midst of their tracks and reaching for their ear- but as sudden as the noise had started it ended again and several seconds of dead silence followed.

Vitali’s gaze found Vincent’s and a rush of panic made the hairs on his arms stand up straight, a heavy weight pressing down on his chest as he realized what was happening. Cato called out Lauren’s name, her voice barely audible over the line- but Vitali could hear the panic spilling from her lips.

‘Lauren? Baby-? Talk to me!’

They couldn’t stop now.

He took some hesitant steps forward, hand still lingering in the air near his ear and eyes still fixed on Vincent who followed suit. Every second they spent waiting would be a second wasted and despite his heart nearly beating out of his chest from fear, he couldn’t stand around any longer.

‘Lauren! Please say something-’

‘Lauren? Your signal has dropped. What’s going on?’

‘Talk to me, baby, please-!’

‘I’m here, I’m here-! I’m okay.’

A wave of relief washed over Vitali, his eyes fluttering shut as he momentarily slowed his pace. Not dead- but something was definitely still wrong.

Her voice sounded distant. Distorted.

‘Someone’s in the systems,’ Lauren continued, ‘trying to block me out- can’t reach the main servers anymore- there’s- I’ve lost visual- no way that I-’

Silence.

‘Another runner is active,’ Shiro suddenly said, an unexpected questioning undertone to his voice. ‘A source outside the facility- Matvey’s, perhaps? I cannot reconnect with Lauren but she seems to be attempting to distract them.’

‘Can’t catch a fuckin’ break, can we?’ Vincent mumbled and the both of them began running now, closing the distance between themselves and the offices in the other section of the building. Nothing else they could do for Lauren- but Vitali just hoped she was alright.

He did not know where exactly they had to be- but it wasn’t necessary to search anyway. The light was on in only one of the rooms- Armitage’s very own office no less- and the slightly ajar door already told him enough. He reached out to Vincent and took the gun from him, then shouldered his way inside the office-

‘Vitali! Right on time.’

Vitali raised the gun and held it steady in his hand, a deep exhale leaving his chest as he slowly moved aside to allow Vincent access to the office as well. His eyes rapidly moved over the scenario playing out in front of him- Armitage to his right, standing behind his desk with his hands up, his face pale and his mouth half open as if he had been mid-speaking- and he kept his weapon solidly aimed at Matvey, stood right in front of him with his own gun pointed at Armitage’s head.

‘Put the gun down,’ Vitali said, still trying to catch his breath and his gaze briefly moving over the second exit of the room- a door behind Armitage, slightly ajar- before redirecting his attention to his father. ‘I won’t say it again.’

A brief silence washed over the room and Vitali’s attention was drawn back to his communication line; he had not switched channels nor had he turned it off, yet it was surprisingly quiet as if Cato and Mikhail were too preoccupied with fighting Matvey’s mercenaries and as if Shiro and Huxley had been completely cut off, like Lauren before them.

Matvey tilted his head to the side, a hint of a smile lingering on his lips. He appeared entirely unbothered by Vitali’s gun; as if he knew his son would be unable to pull the trigger either way and he turned back to his target without saying a single word.

'Why are you doing this?’ Vitali blurted out, steadying his aim with his other hand and straightening his back, a futile attempt at intimidation as the quiver of his lower lip already gave him away. ‘If anything this will simply prove to the Council I am no longer with Arasaka-’

'Is that so?’

Bingo.

One thing Vitali had learned from previous encounters is that Matvey loved to talk; and with that secondary exit nearly within reach for Armitage and how Vitali could tell from the corner of his eye that the man was trying to make his escape, it was exactly what they needed.

‘As far as they’re concerned, you still have ties to Arasaka,’ Matvey continued, eyes slowly moving between Vitali and Armitage. ‘As far as they're concerned, you are the Broker- out for their blood.’

Vitali’s initial relief when his father’s monologuing had started was washed away instantly by another wave of anxiety, his teeth clacking together and jaw involuntarily clenching the more his father spoke.

‘You see, Vitali- you would not be the first power-hungry corpo whose jealousy leads them down a path of in-fighting with murder as grand finale.’ Matvey paused, the corner of his mouth slightly twitching as he gestured with the gun in his hand. ‘Your precious “Council” will either fall for the narrative I am serving them on a plate, or they will simply believe you have gone mad and are trying to start a war with Arasaka.’

Somehow, his father knew exactly which buttons to press; knew exactly what to say to throw Vitali off, to make him lose focus- and his heart skipped a beat as he finally realized Matvey had already been several steps ahead of him long before they had stumbled upon his plans to attack the new Arasaka facility.

If he had simply stayed away, none of this would have happened.

‘Either way, they will not be on your side.’ Matvey briefly paused, eyes moving over Vincent- who had not moved since the second he had positioned himself next to Vitali- and then back to Vitali. ‘Not to mention Arasaka is still looking for you. They know you're on the Council; they will want to get rid of everyone on it. And I win.'

I win.

Matvey’s plans to deal with the system of fixers and mercenaries in Night City- getting his revenge on Vitali for supposedly taking everything away from him- and getting his revenge on Arasaka for firing him in the first place- all neatly coming together right in the middle.

The leaked plans, an open invitation for Vitali to walk right into the trap.

And he had taken the bait without hesitation.

'That's all this is to you?’ Vitali quietly asked, slowly lowering his gun. ‘A game?'

'I suppose it is.’ Another small smile appeared on Matvey’s face- pure triumph dripping from his expression, already shamelessly celebrating his victory.

‘And you have made for a lousy opponent.'

Checkmate.

Vitali couldn’t do it.

‘Vitali?’

He stopped in the midst of his tracks, the flashlight of his phone illuminating the dark hallway- and Matvey stood on the other side, already dressed in his working attire, reading glasses on his nose.

‘Party lasted a little longer than I had thought,’ Vitali instantly blurted out, well aware it was nearly five in the morning- well aware he had school in only a few hours, and well aware he had not even been allowed to go in the first place.

Of course he couldn’t do it- from the moment he had realized what options he had left, he had known he would not be able to kill his father, if it were to come down to that.

He stood frozen to the ground as Matvey walked over to him, trying to think of anything else to say; something that would hopefully soften the blow, a half-assed insincere apology as always, feeling more guilty about having been caught than having disobeyed his parents in the first place-

But his father merely reached out for him and plucked what appeared to be a half smoked cigarette out of his hair.

‘Drink some water, then go to bed,’ he said. ‘I will leave a note for your mother saying that you threw up and will be staying home. Just- try to help her out a little today, yes? For me.’

Vitali let his arm fall limp past his body, gun slightly swaying as he glanced from Armitage back to his father. His heart had settled down, every previous worry he’d had slowly washed away until he was left with nothing but emptiness in his chest; and a soft scoff left his lips before he spoke again-

'Good thing I've never liked chess anyway.'

Everything happened very quickly.

Matvey’s gun was still pointed in Armitage’s direction, though the second he redirected his attention to his target the triumphant smile vanished from his face causing Vitali to turn his head as well- right in time to see the door open and someone walk up to the target from behind and slit his throat with a knife.

‘Shit-!’ Vincent yelled and Vitali winced when blood splattered on the desk and on his shirt and face, and he took a defensive step back as he instantly raised his weapon again in the direction of the newcomer.

Armitage tried to gasp for air, visibly tried to speak- but the only sound leaving his throat was that of blood bubbling up in his windpipe and desperate gags and whimpers as he fell forward, head hitting the edge of his desk on his way to the floor.

Silence.

'Junior and Senior in the same room together- what a pleasant surprise!’

Ravager stepped into the light of the office, a wide shark-like grin on his face as he twirled the bloodied knife between his cybernetic fingers. Vitali took another step back, ignoring his father’s cursing in Russian and ignoring the quiet noises that were still leaving Armitage’s throat from behind the desk, backing away until his shoulder found Vincent’s and he positioned himself in front of him.

‘Wow.’ The cyborg paused and slightly tilted his head, his eyes moving between Matvey and Vitali a few times and he clicked his tongue. ‘You really are a child of your father, huh.’

‘What the fuck-!’ Vincent interrupted the moment, slightly pushing Vitali aside as he wildly gestured at Ravager, disbelief and pure shock spilling from his expression as he pulled out Vitali’s knife and steadied it in his hand.

‘What?’ the man yelled back with equal force. ‘He’s dead, right? Isn’t that why we’re all gathered here tonight?’

‘Not like this!’ Matvey sneered, in sync with Vitali’s exasperated, ‘No!’ They both turned their heads to look at each other- and for a split second, Vitali swore he could see wild panic in his father’s eyes.

A sudden, short alarm blared through the room, followed by an announcement in Japanese, then repeated in English- though Vitali was not paying attention to either versions, his attention still on the situation playing out in front of him- and the deafening silence on comms.

‘You two have your fuckin’ issues, you know that?’ Ravager scoffed and kicked against Armitage’s body. ‘The man is dead. You are welcome.’

Vitali’s brain was struggling to keep up. He had accepted defeat- had accepted what was going to happen and had accepted the consequences, and now none of it seemed to matter anymore and none of it made sense to him.

‘Now…’

Ravager slowly walked around the desk, grin spreading again as he pointed the tip of his knife at Matvey. ‘Where is my reward? My eddies? All of them, for that matter- you’re a bit behind on payment, Dobrynin.’

‘I assumed you were dead,’ Matvey coldly replied, still holding his gun but for some reason making no effort to get Ravager to stop walking.

‘So you did, huh.’

Ravager briefly glanced in Vitali’s direction- and he once more regretted not killing the man when he’d had the chance. He should’ve dealt with him after Dupoint had been killed, should’ve gotten rid of him before anything else could go wrong-

But he had been unable to do so, for some reason. Perhaps he had wanted to prove to his friends that he was not like his father.

Well, surprise, old man- I am as alive as I’ve ever been!’ Ravager gestured at Vitali, and a snicker left his throat. ‘Managed to leave his office in more shambles than you’ve managed to do, thus far. Maybe it’s time to pass the torch to someone else, don’t you think?’

‘Sir, there is security on the way. Get ready!’

Shiro’s voice had the same distortion as Lauren’s had had earlier and Vitali clenched his jaw tightly, instinctively taking a step back as his gaze was drawn toward the two exits of the room- and right as he looked, the door behind Ravager swung open and several guards barged in.

Vitali sank through his knees and ducked out of the way, finding cover behind the open door next to him to dodge incoming gunfire. Vincent followed his lead and vanished into the hallway- but Vitali lingered in the doorway, attention for some reason still on his father-

He was kneeling behind a desk. Ravager was fighting the guards by himself.

Matvey turned his head, and their gazes found each other in the middle-

Vitali was yanked out of the room by Vincent by his arm and he nearly lost his balance as he rose to his feet, stumbling after the other man as they darted into a different hallway together than before to try and shake off more incoming guards. A disorienting move, for some reason; Vitali was dizzy and could barely see straight anymore, vision fading and thick and heavy clouds rolling in from the back of his mind-

Blink.

‘What if it can be activated, Vitya? I don’t want to end up in their control again.’

Vitali sat on Viktor’s surgery chair, legs pulled up to his chest and chin placed miserably on his knees. Viktor wheeled himself through the shop on his chair back toward him and shook his head, reaching out and giving him a reassuring pat on his arm.

‘The effects will wear off soon enough,’ he said. ‘As long as you try to keep your stress levels low and don’t think about any of the memories too much, you should be just fine.’

Vitali scoffed. ‘Easier said than done.’

‘I know, kid. Keep the topic in the back of your mind for now. No need to bring any of it up- no need to think about Arasaka, either. We will work through all that once you feel like you’re in control of your own head again, alright?’

Coming there was a mistake.

A shaky exhale left Vitali’s lips as he took another sudden step forward, only just able to catch himself before he would fall face first on the ground. He did not recognize the room he was in- simply another office with the same dull walls and desks as the rest of the building, but whether it was on the sixth floor or the fourth or perhaps the thirtieth and how much time had passed in the meantime-

He had no idea.

‘V? Where are you?’ he shakily asked, though realized the second the words left his lips he only heard static on the line- had lost connection with everyone else and he did not even know why, or how, or when it had happened.

Of course going back would cause everything to resurface- memories from his time working there, memories from his time in their captivity, memories that Viktor had warned him for- and now Vitali found himself slipping again, the dissociative states he had thought to no longer have to deal with forcing their way back into his system and taking away his agency.

He indecisively wandered into the hallway, trying to piece together where he was- where everyone else was- and he was pushed out of the way by people running by in a wild panic, yelling at each other at the top of their lungs as some sought shelter in one of the rooms while others continued through the hallway to get to a staircase or an elevator.

Still one of the lower floors, then. Perhaps. Perhaps not-?

Vitali moved along with the crowd, his hands empty- he had probably lost his gun somewhere- and Armitage’s blood still on his shirt and face, though it could very well simply be his own to anyone paying attention to him. He noticed a squad of Arasaka Security emerging from around the corner, and instantly vanished into another office again to hide.

An empty one, much to his relief.

Vitali closed the door behind him and a shaky sigh left his lips, hand restlessly running through his hair as he walked over to the windows on the other side of the office. It was still a significant way down to the roads below; climbing out and attempting to use the windowsills to navigate down would most likely not go well for him and he quickly pushed the idea out of his head.

Just get back to the garage, steal a car, and leave.

He would find his way back to the others later. He simply just had to get out.

‘There you are!’

Vitali turned around but before he could do anything his vision faded from a hard impact against his cheek and he fell, weightless for a split second before his body painfully hit the ground and his head collided with the wooden floorboards. He rolled on his side, setting his hand down on the floor to try and push himself up; though was kicked in his stomach and when he opened his eyes, Ravager sat down on top of him and tried to get a hold of his wrists.

‘You know, I was gonna let you walk,’ he said, fighting off Vitali’s struggling with ease and pinning his hands above his head as he leaned down, his rancid breath mixed with the strong smell of blood and liquor making him gag. ‘Was simply gonna leave you alone, but then I thought- why? Why the fuck would I?’

Another grin spread on Ravager’s face and he grabbed Vitali’s jaw with his free hand, forcing him to look him in the eyes. ‘You kept me in that fucking room for so long- d’you have any idea how boring it was in there?’

Vitali’s heart was nearly beating out of his chest and he tried once more to free his hands, but Ravager had him pinned to the ground with no way out. He spat in the man’s face and kicked his leg up, but missed his target- but it still caused Ravager to curse and briefly loosen his grip, giving Vitali the opportunity to push the man off himself.

He tried scrambling to his feet, but was pushed down again before he could do anything. Another rush of adrenaline surged through his system and he activated the mantis blade on his left arm, turning on his back and swinging it up in a desperate attempt to land a hit on Ravager- yet before he could even get close, the man reached out to him and grabbed the blade with his cybernetic hand and he-

There were different types of cybernetic enhancements to a person’s body.

Many residents of Night City settled for decorative cyberware- lines and shapes in all colors and sizes to enhance their appearance more than anything else, to show off status or wealth, or simply in the same sense as how one would get a tattoo or a piercing.

Though other cyberware was a lot more invasive. Think of prosthetics, of enhancements to the bones, to organs- medical cyberware, meant to keep someone alive, to relieve pain- or combat cyberware, set deep within one’s arms or legs.

Vitali’s mantis blades were a special model.

One of a kind, in fact, done by Viktor Vektor himself, seemingly invisible until activated- and a lot less invasive than most other models, the placement of the blade a lot more superficial to the point it had not been necessary to change anything about the anatomy of his arm.

A pleasant outcome. Vitali had always feared the consequences of having mantis blades installed- perhaps needing to have his forearms replaced with prosthetics from the start or, in case of installation within the anatomy of his own arms, the possibility of his hands going numb and then needing replacements anyway further down the line.

Yet at the same time it meant that the blades’ connection to his body was less secure than it was for others with different models. It meant that, with his nervous system still intact, he could still feel any and every sensation in his forearms. It meant that the slightest tug on the base of the cyberware could feel the same as a forceful tug on his arm.

And it meant that when Ravager grabbed the blade with his high-powered cybernetic prosthetic and violently pulled it toward him, he effectively ripped it off Vitali’s body, the bolts and plating in his arm yanked loose from the force and his skin and flesh breaking and tearing as the base of his cyberware came loose and left a gaping hole in his arm.

Vitali’s breath got caught in his throat, wide eyes fixed on his arm as dark red red blood rapidly began to well up from the open wound and spilled over his skin and shirt and dripped onto the floor. All the muscles in his upper body tensed up at once and he lost consciousness- though only for a split second and suddenly he was turned on his stomach and screaming his lungs out while clutching his arm to his body as the pain spread like a wildfire through his shoulder and neck and torso.

‘Come here, you little piece of shit-!’ Ravager yelled, grabbing Vitali’s collar as he dragged him up and tossed him against the wall. He straddled his lap again, hands wrapping tightly around Vitali’s neck- and Vitali’s cries of pain stopped as he tried to suck in a last, shallow breath and his vision began to fade.

He knew what dying felt like.

It had happened before. He had been shot- bleeding from the chest, staring up at the cloudy sky, raindrops gently falling on his cold skin- the sky crying with him, a lamenting “I’m sorry” in his final moments, and he’d had to watch Vincent cry and beg for him to tell him what to do, how to save him.

Had tried to grab his hands, had tried to speak- but oh, Vitali had not even been able to tell Vincent that he loved him before the light in his eyes had temporarily gone out.

He struggled in Ravager’s grip, tears rolling down his cheeks as his bloodied hands tried to unhook the man’s fingers from his throat. He could feel himself slipping again- eyes wandering off to the window on his left, finding the pitch black sky- but it took long, way longer than last time; a vicious “fuck you” in his final moments, the pain gnawing away on his bones and tearing through flesh and muscle and nerve and ripping him apart from the inside out-

BANG!

‘Okay, hold on. To summarize- you were caught coming home from a party in the early morning hours? While drunk AND stoned? And you’re trying to tell me your father let you walk away from that alive?’

Vitali scoffed and kicked Mikhail against his arm, tapping his cigarette on the edge of the ashtray as he slightly shifted position on the windowsill. Mikhail snickered and took a sip of his beer, stretching his own leg out over Vitali’s lap and he redirected his attention to the rainy scenery of the city outside.

‘Mother turned me into a housemaid for the day, but at least I didn’t have to go to school,’ Vitali mumbled, his gaze wandering back to the window as well. ‘Look- I’m just glad they didn’t ground me again.’

‘Good thing your father found you, then. And not Nadya.’

‘Yeah. Yeah, I suppose.’

Silence.

Vitali sat frozen on the floor, face covered in blood- partially his own, but mostly Ravager’s, whatever human aspect had been left of his face now blown into tiny little bits and sticking to Vitali’s skin and hair, the corpse heavy on his chest and the remnants of its head resting on his shoulder.

He sucked in a shaky breath, struggling to push Ravager’s dead body off of him as his arms refused to cooperate. The man’s head rolled to the side, the gaping exit wound the bullet had left in his forehead right in front of Vitali’s face and a quiet whimper left his lips as he tried to crawl away from the body.

He was shaking all over- barely able to keep his hands still, his arm now mostly numb and bloodied to the point he wasn’t able to tell anymore how badly he was bleeding. Unable to drag his gaze away from the dead body limp against the wall, still feeling the man’s hands wrapped around his neck, still able to smell his rotten breath, still able to perfectly recall the memory of Ravager holding Nadya and kissing her-

Vitali finally looked up.

His father stood in the doorway. Gun in his hand, pointed at Vitali’s head.

The alarms in the building had stopped. Dead silence washed over the room- except for Vitali’s quiet, strangled sobs as he once more clutched his arm to his chest and tried to get back up on his feet.

His heart was beating wildly in his chest and he turned his head away, breathing becoming unstable as the pain once more overtook him. He tried to speak- the taste of blood strong on his tongue and he gagged and coughed and whatever fluids had been in his mouth and throat splattered down onto the floor and over the hand he was leaning on.

‘Please,’ he quietly cried, turning his head to look up at Matvey again- he had lowered his gun and still stood at the entrance of the office, unmoving-

Vitali’s vision was too blurred by tears for him to tell what exactly he was looking at.

He tried to speak again- could barely hear himself anymore over the loud buzzing and humming in his ears and head and his vision faded again until he could see nothing but pitch black darkness, swallowing him whole yet not nearly enough to cause him to lose consciousness again.

Please.

He was scared.

Of course he was; he had been from the very beginning.

From the moment he had realized someone was watching his every move, from the moment he had realized someone was targeting him and his mercenaries- Vitali had been terrified, and he had never felt as alone as in that very moment, sitting on his knees in a pool of his own blood and vomit, covered in the remnants of Ravager’s head and clutching a bleeding arm to his chest.

His gaze met Matvey’s again-

And for a second, he saw him hesitate.

Something changed.

In that split second, every year they had spent apart, every minute of it- and every single thing that had happened since the Broker had started attacking him- none of it mattered anymore. And Vitali found himself back in the dark hallway of his old home, staring right at his father at nearly five in the morning after coming home from a party while Matvey was already getting ready for work.

Something was different.

But then he simply turned away, readying himself to leave.

‘Wait-!’ Vitali cried out before he could stop himself. But Matvey listened- yet only lowered his head and shook it ever so slightly, mumbling something incoherently in Russian while lifting his gun and checking his ammo-

‘Dad-!’

He froze.

And suddenly, how many bullets he still had left did not matter half as much to him as it had before.

Matvey frowned, a heavy weight pressing down on his chest as he turned his head again. Vitali had still not moved; seemingly unable to do so, severely injured, crying- and now calling out for him.

Curious, how it made him feel; he could only barely keep his breathing stable as his gaze once more trailed the room, eyes moving from Vitali to the body of Ravager and then quickly moving back, as if for some reason he was unable to look at the corpse for too long.

But looking at Vitali was not easy, either.

It had gone fine for so long- what was different, now? Vitali would live; he had his mercenaries with him in the building, they would find him and bring him home. And besides, with Armitage and Ravager dead there was still a chance for Matvey’s plan to succeed.

It did not matter much anymore, though.

And neither did any of it feel like a victory.

Vitali sobbed again, a noise that caused Matvey’s chest to tighten as he watched him sink back down against the wall and pull his legs closer to his chest- making himself as small as he could as if he was trying to disappear. He tried to speak; but choked on his own sobs and none of the words attempting to leave his lips came out coherently.

And Matvey found himself hesitating again; wondered if he should- if he could-

‘Get up, мое солнышко,’ he simply said; had meant it as mockery, kicking Vitali while he was already down- though for some reason his voice came out a lot softer than he had meant for, and for some reason the sharp and stinging hatred burning inside him was nowhere to be found, a wildfire extinguished by simply the sight of son.

‘You’re falling behind.’

And with that, Matvey walked away.

Another sob left Vitali’s lips and he closed his eyes. He was exhausted, no longer able to feel half his body and his heart finally slowing down though for all the wrong reasons. Mistake, after mistake, after mistake-

And in the end it had all been for nothing.

What had he ever been so hopeful for?

‘VITO-!’

Someone sat down next to him, cradled his face- Vitali did not even have to open his eyes, he recognized Vincent by touch alone and a relieved sigh left his chest as he pushed himself away from the wall and into his boyfriend’s arms.

‘Jesus, you’re- I thought you- What happened-? Oh. Oh, fuck.’

Vitali finally opened his eyes and grabbed Vincent’s shoulders, using him as support to get himself back up on his feet. Vincent said nothing as he allowed Vitali to do so, his face pale and his wide eyes fixed on Vitali’s forearm-

He had a dark bruise on the side of his face. Vitali reached out a shaky hand and gently ran his fingers over it.

I’m sorry.

He could not speak, but the words sat comfortably on the tip of his tongue as any and every time before. And he knew that Vincent knew; his boyfriend could read it from his expression, perhaps, or see it in his eyes- but either way he simply shook his head and kissed Vitali’s fingertips, deep red blood staining his lips.

‘Come on,’ Vincent quietly said, averting his gaze- briefly glancing in Ravager’s direction, before lowering his eyes to the floor- and he carefully wrapped his arm around Vitali’s waist to support him as they walked.

‘Let’s get you out of here.’

‘The NCPD has released new details on the situation at the opening event of Arasaka’s latest facility and the announcement of their new APEX program. The body of ex-Maelstrom gang member Edward Keizer has been recovered from the premises, which has led MaxTac to believe he is responsible for the death of Grant Armitage according to MaxTac’s spokesman Officer Reid Bennett. Arasaka has yet to release a statement addressing the situation, but it is rumored they will delay the public release of their new technology to later this year.’

#nuclearwriting #rbs much appreciated :) <3 #ok so. listen. you're not allowed to kill me because you guys enabled me to put in the Very Mean Thing #you may hit me with hammers Once. and that's it. :]#ANYWAY. THE LONG AWAITED LAST CHAPTER OF PART 3 #very happy with this one tee and hee and now we're almost there >:^) four more chapters and it is DONE #things are happening. things are changing. perhaps everything wasn't as straightforward as initially planned after all #excited to see what you guys think of this one ehhehehee #ch:the broker

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