Chapter 23: The Offer

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!

Back with Panam~

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Panam growls to herself as she works under the hood of her baby. She’s gotten her Warhorse back. Rogue even paid her something for the gig, despite how late the delivery was. But Panam is still angry, and not just because she’s having to go over the Warhorse with a fine tooth comb to make sure Nash didn’t get the chance to do anything particularly nasty to her truck.

No, she’s angry… because it’s not fair. She let herself get fucking hoodwinked, again. She let herself get tricked and taken along for a ride. If Rogue hadn’t sent V, who the fuck did? What the fuck was his game? He’d been more than generous to her and hers. Case in point, Panam had already received messages from the clan… and not just from Scorpion and Mitch either.

Damn it all, she should have told them to keep her name out of things, but that probably wouldn’t have mattered anyways truth be told. Both Scorpion and Mitch knew they’d fucked up and were apologetic in their messages informing her of what went down. When Saul and the rest of the Aldecaldos had shown up at the cleared Wraith Camp, there’d been questions. Pointed questions.

Contrary to popular wisdom, fucking Saul had decided to look the gift horse in the mouth. He’d put his foot down and demanded Scorpion and Mitch spill the detes of this haul before he let any of the others near it. In the end, they’d had to drop her name and explain what had happened and how she’d come through for them.

Not like it was the end of the world, but frankly it was the last thing Panam needed on top of everything else that had happened today. Half of the clan had messaged her to express their thanks and let her know how much they missed her. And Saul himself had shot her a message begrudgingly thanking her and letting her know she would always have a place among the clan.

That was the problem with self-imposed exile. It was exactly that, self-imposed. Panam hadn’t done anything wrong besides have a few extremely loud, extremely angry arguments with Saul, the Clan Leader. But she’d known if she stuck around much longer, she probably would do something she couldn’t take back, something worthy of actual exile.

That hadn’t changed. Nothing had changed. Panam had even tested the waters, responding to Saul’s message asking him if talks with Biotechnica would continue despite the sudden windfall. She hadn’t been too diplomatic about it to be fair, but Saul’s answer had still stuck in her craw something fierce.

It wasn’t ‘enough’ according to the Clan Leader. He had to continue thinking ‘long term’. Fuck. Just more of the same old bullshit. He thought just because Panam could be headstrong and impulsive sometimes that she didn’t see the bigger picture. Meanwhile, Panam knew that it was Saul who was being too short-sighted. He wanted to ‘save’ their clan… at the expense of their freedom. Biotechnica would have them all ‘happily’ living as slaves within a generation, and then there would be no Aldecaldo Clan left. Panam wasn’t going to be a party to that.

So yeah, she was mad. She was mad at V for tricking her. She was mad at Saul for being such an obstinate jackass. She was mad at Scorpion and Mitch for letting the whole damn clan know she was still looking out for them. But most of all… she was mad at herself.

For a second there, she’d actually been kind of interested in V. She found herself liking him in spite of her own hangups. But that was all fucked now, because she’d blown up in the Afterlife and stormed off as she liked to do. Maybe she should have stuck around and demanded more of an explanation… but it was too late for that, wasn’t it? Now V would want nothing more to do with her, and he’d be right to.

Letting out an angry snarl that transforms into a low groan, Panam rubs the back of her hand across her forehead, pulling back out from under the hood of her truck and closing it. Maybe… maybe she should just head back to the clan after all. Maybe Night City wasn’t-

“Hey.”

Panam’s eyes widened and she jolts in surprise. Even as she spins around, she’s glad she wasn’t still under the hood of her Warhorse, because she’d probably have hit her head. Then again… V might have waited for this moment to make sure that didn’t happen.

Standing there just like he had been back when he’d first shown up literal hours ago to solve all her problems, the mercenary grins slightly and lifts his hands to show he means no harm. Panam flushes, realizing belatedly that she should have gone for her gun the moment she heard a voice behind her. Doing so now would just look dumb though…

“V. What do you want?”

Lowering his hands after she refrains from drawing on him, V shrugs.

“To talk. I get that you’re upset with me. I didn’t lie, but I let you believe something that wasn’t true all the same. Sorry for that. But… would you really have accepted my help if you knew I wasn’t sent by Rogue?”

Panam flushes at that. Would she have? She actually didn’t know. She thinks she might have, but maybe that was just the last several hours of experience talking. Without knowing then what she knew now… she probably would have told V to fuck off, yeah.

Crossing her arms over her chest, Panam clenches her jaw, refusing to just let it go though.

“Maybe not. Doesn’t make it right.”

Shaking his head, V hums.

“You’re right. It doesn’t.”

The easy agreement throws Panam off. Especially when he doesn’t try to follow it up with any more excuses. She’s… not sure how to respond to that truth be told. But she doubts he’s here just to apologize to her.

“What do you want, V? How did you even find out I needed help? Why did you decide to help me in the first place?”

Before he can answer her, Panam holds up a hand and continues on.

“And yeah, I know you made a bunch of eddies, don’t even start with that… because let’s be frank, someone of your skill level could have made a boatload more eddies doing a legitimate gig in the same time frame.”

V hesitates but Panam doesn’t mind. She can feel in her bones that his response will dictate the rest of their relationship, no matter how short or long it might be. So she stands there and gives him a moment to put his thoughts together. Even still… when he finally does respond, Panam certainly isn’t expecting it.

“The answer to your first and last questions are the same, Panam. I want you.”

Panam blushes at that, going stock still.

“… I want you on my team. I want your skills as a driver and a sniper.”

O-Oh. She’d thought…

“As for the second question, the answer to that is quite simple. Meet Alt.”

Panam blinks as someone suddenly swims into view next to V. This time she does draw her sidearm, pointing it at the newcomer with wide eyes. That sort of stealth technology was incredible, who the fuck was this bitch?

She wasn’t even wearing a suit of any sort either, unless there was some sort of trick that Panam was missing. The woman has long, blonde flowing locks and is dressed in a white top, a black leather jacket, and a pair of blue jeans. Her hands are cyberware, but other than that she looks relatively free of modifications.

Looking Panam up and down, Alt smirks at the gun, seemingly unafraid.

“That’s not going to do anything, sweetheart.”

Panam scowls, tempted to send a shot down range anyways just to call the bitch’s bluff. She might have been letting V get away with the pet names all day for some ungodly reason, but they were far less endearing from Alt.

“I’m not your sweetheart, bitch. What the fuck is this?”

Was V a Corpo? Was that what this was? All just a cover all along to try and get Panam on the corporate payroll? They were the only ones who had the sort of technology that would allow stealth like what Alt just showed off, she figured. Well if that was the case, they could take their offer and stick it where the sun don’t shine. Panam hadn’t left the clan behind just to trade one potential set of Corpo Overlords for another.

“It’s not what you think, Panam.”

Blinking as she’s pulled out of her thoughts, Panam looks over at V. He’s still got that enigmatic smile on his stupidly handsome face, looking downright amused at her reactions. Ugh, she hated that she didn’t hate him for that.

“Yeah? And what am I thinking right now, V?”

“You think Alt here is some sort of stealth operative. And that has you thinking we might be Corpos because you don’t know anyone else with that kind of technology.”

Well fuck, read her mind why don’t you. Panam clenches her jaw, her eyes flashing.

“And?”

V isn’t the one who answers that. Instead, Alt takes a step forward, causing all of Panam’s focus to immediately return to the beautiful blonde.

“And… you’re wrong.”

“Stop right where you are.”

But Alt takes another step forward, smirking all the while.

“Very wrong.”

“Don’t come any closer, bitch!”

Another step.

“Go ahead. Shoot me. It’ll clear things up.”

What? Did she think she wouldn’t or something? What did ‘it’ll clear things up’ even mean?!

“I said stay where you are!”

Step.

BANG!

Panam fires. How can she do anything else? She’s not about to let this bitch get close enough to do who the fuck knows what to her. Panam knows her own skillset, and hand-to-hand combat is not among them. V is just going to have to deal if she winds up shooting his friend dead. Though part of Panam expects it to fail. Just not in the way that actually happens.

She was honestly expecting the bullet to ping off or something, for there to be some hidden armor that Panam can’t even fully wrap her head around. Instead… the bullet goes right through, burying itself in the garage wall right behind Alt.

Alt finally comes to a stop barely within arm’s reach of her, that blasted smirk still on her face as she stands there, unarmed. But then… reaching out, Panam tries to tap the smoking barrel of her gun against the other woman’s arm. It goes right through instead, causing her jaw to drop in disbelief.

“She’s not really here, Panam. Alt is a program currently piggybacking off of your cyberware to feed you visual data allowing you to ‘see’ her. Her true presence is on the Net. She’s the second member of the team I’m putting together. Better than any living, breathing Netrunner around at the moment. You would be the third.”

Panam’s mind is whirling as she looks back to V in disbelief and shock. She might not be much of a techie, but… she wasn’t an idiot.

“She’s an AI?”

When V just nods, Panam swallows HARD. How the fuck… why the fuck… oh god. Artificial Intelligence was bad news. Everyone knew that. There was an entire scum-sucking Corporation dedicated to hunting the blasted things in the form of NetWatch. So then…

“W-Why would you tell me that? Why wouldn’t you just try to pass her off as a Netrunner or s-something?”

V tilts his head to the side, humming as he considers the question for a long moment. Then, he just smiles.

“Because I didn’t want to lie to you anymore, Panam. And because I trust you. Completely and unreservedly.”

Panam’s mouth opens at that, but nothing comes out. Instead, she feels heat rising to her face yet again as another blush manifests itself. D-Damn it all… talking like that with such earnestness. He might be playing her, but if he was, she was letting herself get played because… she believed it.

“I don’t, if it makes you feel any better.”

V shoots Alt a look at that, but the blonde AI doesn’t back down. She’s staring at Panam with an expression on her face that makes Panam tense up and want to shoot her again. Even if it wouldn’t do anything. With a frustrated grunt, Panam holsters her weapon again, knowing it’s not going to help her in this situation. Alt nods approvingly before grinning toothily.

“Cards on the table, since V wants us to be honest with you. You could try to rat us out to NetWatch… but I’d know before you ever managed it, and I would stop you. Decisively.”

Funnily enough, the threat DOES make Panam feel better. It brings her back from wherever the fuck V’s earnestness had sent her to what feels like familiar territory. Nodding once, she eyes the blonde AI bitch with something almost akin to respect… or at least proper wariness.

“Got it.”

“Alt.”

Panam raises a brow at V’s testy tone. Then she watches as Alt just smirks before vanishing once again from view. Back to the Net, she supposed? Though probably still watching them all the same. Well… nothing Panam could do about that. V, meanwhile, lets out an exasperated sigh as he walks closer to her.

“Sorry about her. But like she said, cards on the table. It was thanks to Alt that I heard about your situation. It was also thanks to Alt that we were able to find Nash so quickly off of just one phone call. She’s an integral part of my team and I won’t let anything happen to her. In a similar vein, if you were to join us… the same would apply to you.”

Panam licks her lips at that. A team. It wasn’t like she was unfamiliar with the idea. But…

“My last team-up didn’t go so well.”

V scoffs at that.

“Your last team-up was with the nomad equivalent of Scavs, Panam. With Alt and I, you’d be trading up. Massively.”

There was… no denying that. And frankly, what other options did Panam have? Keep doing low level deliveries for Rogue for the rest of her life? Go back to the Aldecaldos, where their leader was still set on selling all of their souls to Corpo Scum? Swallowing thickly, Panam slowly nods.

“Alright… I’m in.”

The grin V gives her at that is so genuine and pleased that Panam almost wants to kiss him. She tamps down on the urge though, knowing that now was neither the time nor the place for-oh.

Panam’s eyes widen as V closes the last couple of steps between them… and kisses HER instead. Suddenly, she finds herself in his arms, one hand on the small of her back and the other in her hair as his lips press against hers. Her first thought is that he’s a surprisingly good kisser. Her second thought is more along the lines of ‘what the hell?!’.

And yet… part of her is torn. Because while she knows she probably shouldn’t let this continue, she’s been feeling a certain sort of way around V all day long. And as much as she’s never been this kind of girl… she’s never met a guy quite like V before either.

[ ] Deepen the kiss, and be unable to stop herself from going with V's flow - 39%

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