Chapter 20: Revenge

A/N: Here's the new Chapter! Which also means the next four chapters are up on my for early access as well as the chance to vote on the direction of the story!

Panam sees more of what V is capable of.

-x-X-x-

“I’m driving.”

It’s a knee jerk demand that Panam immediately wants to kick herself for making. Sure, part of her thought this was a trap, and being behind the wheel would alleviate a lot of her current concern. But that didn’t make this a good test of V’s character or anything like that. What was she going to learn when he inevitably said no? She wouldn’t let anyone drive her baby but her either. It was-

“Sure, go ahead.”

Panam stutter-steps as V shoots her over the detes to access his vehicle, just like that. Her mouth opens and closes a few times as she just stands there while he moves around to the passenger side. When he looks at her and gives her a grin and a raised brow, however, she flushes and hurries over to the driver’s side.

Now she had to question what THIS meant, goddammit. In what world would anyone be willing to just let some stranger they’d never met take control of their ride like that? He had been sent by Rogue though, so maybe he trusted her because he had the backing of the Queen of the Afterlife or something?

Panam is really, really tempted to ask him point blank why he’s okay with her driving. But she doesn’t want him to change his mind, so she keeps her mouth shut, gets behind the wheel, and gets them on the road. Leaving the city limits from there is relatively quick, and in no time at all they’re making their way to Nash’s hideout, which is apparently located in an old mining tunnel near the abandoned town of Rocky Ridge.

She hasn’t been out that way, but then that makes sense given the rumors of Raffen Shiv in the area. Aldecaldos avoided Wraith turf as much as they could… perhaps too much, frankly. Maybe if the clan was willing to fight a bit harder, then Saul wouldn’t be considering selling them into slavery to the Corpos.

Panam grits her teeth at the thought and punches the gas a bit harder. She’s half-expecting V to speak up at that, even as the speedometer rises and rises, but he remains quiet. To be fair, it’s just them out on the road as far as the eye can see, so there’s no need to worry about going too fast.

Still, she can feel him looking at her out of the corner of her eye. She can all but sense his amusement. Panam blushes, trying not to let it get to her. This was just another gig, no matter how personal it was or how her last partner betrayed her. If V had it out for her, he’d show his true colors soon enough and this time… this time Panam would be ready.

In the end, they make it out to Nash’s hideout without issue. But that’s cold comfort when she sees the state of the place. It’s not just the mining tunnel… it’s the outside too. The Wraiths have built it up into a fucking fortress.

Panam curses under her breath as she parks them out of sight of the fortifications before looking at V with a sour taste in her mouth.

“There’s too many of them. Fucking walls, guards, probably turrets as well. They might even have a Netrunner too. There’s no way we’re getting in there.”

V, to her chagrin, doesn’t look worried. He simply lifts an eyebrow along with the corner of his mouth and chuckles.

“Giving up so easily, Panam?”

She flushes at the casual use of her first name. Her hands tighten around V’s steering wheel, taking some comfort in being in a driver’s seat even if they aren’t still moving.

“What? You got a plan for how to get through that mess, V?”

Her challenging tone is just met with a broader grin, making Panam blush just a little bit. She quickly fights it down but… well, he’s handsome, okay? Not that good looks were in any way enough for her to jump into bed with a guy, but he’s got a nice smile all the same. And… the fact that he had yet to objectify her even once was pretty solid too.

Probably said something rather sad that that automatically put V in the upper echelons of the men she’d interacted with throughout her life, but fuck, that was just the world, really.

“Yep.”

V pops the ‘p’ in his response, even as he pulls out his sidearm and checks it over for a moment. Panam’s impatience quickly gets the better of her as she grits her teeth.

“And are you going to share that plan?”

Looking her way, V smirks.

“You’re the wheels, Panam. I’m the solo. The plan is simple. I’m going to go in and clear out the Wraiths. You’re going to stay here and watch our ride. When the job is done, I’ll call you in so you can pick up your truck and Rogue’s cargo.”

What? That was… Panam just gapes for a long second as V opens the passenger door and steps out of the car. Finally though, she finds her voice.

“What the hell?! You’re just going to take on dozens of Raffen Shiv by yourself?! Do you have a death wish?”

Leaning back in, V gives her a cocky grin that makes the traitorous heat crawl right back to her face.

“Let’s make a deal, Panam. If I don’t contact you within thirty minutes, you can take this car and leave. Might not be a suitable replacement for your ride, but at least you won’t be wheelless anymore.”

That’s… she doesn’t know whether she hates or loves this dude. But she’s learning towards hate at the moment. Still, if he’s that confident, Panam isn’t passing up this opportunity.

“Counteroffer. All of that still holds true, but also you leave Nash alive. I want to kill him myself.”

If V really thinks he can take down an entire fortress of Raffen Shiv, then he should believe he can capture Nash alive, right? Couldn’t hurt to ask, now could it?

And indeed, V doesn’t even have to think about it. His smile grows a fraction of an inch and he nods easily enough.

“Sounds like a plan, Panam. Talk to you soon.”

With that, he’s gone. Panam’s lips purse as she turns her eyes forward again, hands still on the wheel of V’s car. Could still be a trap. In which case, she should just get the fuck out of the car and either hide or walk away entirely. If it is a trap, her access will probably be revoked any second, and she’ll find herself locked inside of the vehicle.

… But then, he already could have done that. And whether it’s that or whether she actually believes he can do it… or whether it’s because she simply finds too much comfort in the driver’s seat of a ride, Panam doesn’t move.

She doesn’t even move when she hears the telltale sign of turrets going off from the fort constructed outside of the mining tunnel. She does flinch a little bit, but otherwise Panam remains right where she is. There’s shouting and shooting, a whole lot of shooting… but Panam stays in her seat, waiting for thirty minutes to elapse before she gets the fuck out of here.

Of course, she’s also ready to drive the fuck away the moment she thinks the Wraiths are sniffing around outside of their fortress. If V has gotten himself killed almost immediately, then they’re sure to investigate the area to see if he had any backup.

… But nobody shows up. Nobody comes out of the fortress, even as the bullets stop flying. Everything gets rather quiet, and Panam can only wait as the minutes tick by. It’s only been ten, so really, she still has a whole lot of time to wait. Feels like an eternity left in fact. She can’t-

Alright, it’s done. Come on in. Nash is ready for you.

What? Panam frowns as V calls for her at around the fourteenth minute mark. There was no way. Had to be a trap. But… she’d come this far despite feeling like this was a trap. She wasn’t… no, she couldn’t back out now.

Climbing out of the car, pulling out her own firearm, Panam grits her teeth as she carefully makes her way towards the Raffen Shiv Hideout. She expects Wraiths to pop out and open fire on her or demand her surrender any moment, but the whole place is eerily quiet. Maybe they’re all deeper in the Mining Tunnel, waiting for her to really get in too deep.

… Except no. As Panam enters the makeshift walls that the Wraiths had built up outside of the tunnel, the place isn’t deserted like she’d expected. Rather, it’s been massacred. There’s blood and bodies everywhere… along with a few barely functional, sparking turrets. Panam curses and immediately ducks behind a cannister before any of the turrets can swing in her direction, but she doesn’t hear the telltale sound of any of them locking onto her as a target, strangely enough.

The turrets are friendly, darling. It’s fine. Here.

Another message from V, making Panam blink as she realizes he must be watching her through the cameras. It’s followed by the sound of the turrets all winding down and shutting off one after another. Carefully lifting herself up out of cover, she sees them all facing downwards… and finally realizes what must have happened.

No wonder V was so confident. He’s a Combat Netrunner, isn’t he? Panam doesn’t have much experience with such types. The closest is her friend Mitch, but he’s a Techie and as he’s told her many times, what he and Netrunners do is world’s apart. For the first time, Panam was beginning to understand what he meant by that.

Sure, Mitch could have hacked a turret or two, but he couldn’t have done it from a distance, and he would have needed his tools and some time with the thing offline. Based on the timeline, V had been able to use Quickhacking to turn the turrets against the Wraiths in mere moments, and probably done some additional damage to their personal cyberware at the same time.

He’d slaughtered the Raffen Shiv with their own defenses, turning their fortress into a charnel house. A shiver runs down Panam’s spine at that, even as she carefully makes her way forward. The Nomad isn’t sure whether it’s a good or bad sign that V isn’t trying to rush her. She moves cautiously and slowly, keeping her head on a swivel, and even though she knows he’s watching her, he doesn’t send another message telling her to get a move on.

The Mining Tunnel is much the same as the outside. Any Wraiths she lays eyes on are already dead. Any turrets have been shut off now, though it looks like they took a few bullets from their former owners before said owners were put down by their own turrets.

The whole place is unsettlingly quiet, until finally Panam gets all the way to the back.

“H-Hey… c’mon man… we can work out a deal. You don’t gotta do this. Take whatever you want, I can give you eddies on top.”

Nash Bane. Panam’s jaw clenches at his weak, afraid voice. Just an hour ago, she’d heard him all confident and cocksure of himself. He’d been at the height of his power trip, demanding sexual favors from her in return for her ride back. Now… now he sounded defeated. He sounded terrified.

Rounding the final corner and seeing Nash on the ground, defenseless and unarmed with V standing over him and a gun pointed at his head, Panam feels a rush of vindictive satisfaction. Especially since off to the side is her truck, her Thorton Mackinaw ‘Warhorse’. Not to mention, among the crates that fill the dimly lit cavern, she can make out the distinctive make of the product that Rogue had entrusted them with and Nash had stolen.

It'd all barely happened a handful of days ago, and Nash hadn’t had the time to do anything with any of it yet. Thank fucking God.

A wave of relief rushes over Panam, even as she stomps forward. At the sound of her steps, Nash turns his head hopefully… only for his eyes to widen at the sight of her.

“Panam, I-!”

BANG!

She doesn’t waste time. Doesn’t mince words either. Sure, she wanted to do the deed herself… but she didn’t feel a need to drag it out. That’s why, before he can get more than two words out, Panam has stomped forward, brought her gun up to his forehead, and pulled the trigger.

Nash’s brains splatter all over the floor and V nods approvingly, even as Panam stands there for a moment, awash in a sense of… grim satisfaction.

Some liked to say that revenge wasn’t worth it. That an eye for an eye would make the whole world go blind, or some stupid sanctimonious shit like that. Needless to say, Panam didn’t subscribe to that ideal. Nash had wronged her plain and simple. It wasn’t just about getting her ride back… it was about removing a threat from the board going forward.

Of course, now she was left all alone with V… the single most dangerous mercenary that Panam had ever interacted with. Funny, she hadn’t recognized him as such at first. But while she was sure there were probably more dangerous men and women in Night City, they weren’t here right now. V was. And he was deadly beyond her wildest reckoning.

“Well then, that’s that hm? Your truck is right over there, and I’m sure you know better than me what product belongs to Rogue. I’ll help you load it up so you can get out of here, and then I’ll start cataloging my own cut.”

Right. His ‘cut’. Literally everything else in the place. Admittedly, given this was literally fifteen minutes of work for the solo, Panam now realized that V was going to make out like a bandit here. Even if he only took everything his vehicle could carry, he’d probably make a huge profit. But if he knew people and called them in instead, he could make even more money.

Part of Panam wants to just take what’s hers and get. That would be the smart thing to do, at least. But another part of her is tempted to stick around, offer to help him out, and see exactly what he intends to do.

[X] Offer her help so she can stick around and see what he does next - 92%

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