Chapter 49: Foot in Mouth

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! I also have an announcement about my at the bottom of the post! Please read it!

Panam and Saul have a talk.

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Even if she had to wait with the Warhorse just in case they needed to beat a hasty retreat, Panam was happy that she'd confided in V and happier still that V had backed her up on rescuing Saul. Hell, V hadn't even really had to think about it. The moment that Panam told him what was going on, he was ready and willing to help her, just like that.

Far cry from her so-called family, Panam couldn't help bitterly thinking to herself. The Aldecaldos were supposed to be a team. They were supposed to have each other's backs. But just from talking to Mitch and Scorpion, Panam had been able to tell that they were going to write Saul off for dead. They weren't even going to try to save him.

Well, luckily for them and luckily for Saul, Panam knew some real powerhouses. V was in a class all of his own, but when supported by the likes of Alt, Sasha, Lucy, and Rebecca, there didn't seem to be a target too large for them to tackle. Especially not among the disparate groups of Wraith Gang Members found all over the Badlands.

The Raffen Shiv might be a serious threat to normal people like the Aldecaldos, but V and his crew were anything but normal. And Panam… Panam was one of them. She was their driver, handpicked by V because of how good she was behind the wheel.

She'd be lying if she said that didn't feel good. Even knowing that she was sharing V with other women didn't change the fact that she could tell she was valued and appreciated, perhaps beyond what her family had ever felt about her skills.

But while you could choose your friends, you couldn't choose your family. That's why, at the end of the day, Panam knew she had to do something to help Saul. No matter their previous disagreements, she couldn't just leave him to rot when there were plenty of ways to help him and a rapidly closing window of time before the Wraiths zeroed him.

It's just… she really thought he would at least be grateful for the assist.

"Panam, a private word, please?"

Instead, Saul just looks tired and weary as he leads her away from the rest for a moment. When the Aldecaldos Leader stops only about a hundred paces away from the others and seems to think that's enough, Panam opens her mouth to tell him that they'll still be able to hear from this distance… but he cuts her off.

"Panam… what were you thinking?"

Her teeth click as her mouth shuts, eyes widening slightly as Saul covers his face with his palm.

"Fuck, sorry. Let me start over. I'm grateful, don't get me wrong. Thanks for the rescue, they weren't feedin' or waterin' me so I'm not sure how much longer I had. But even still… mercenaries?"

Panam's lips thin out. On the one hand, she'd gotten the gratitude she'd expected. On the other hand, it came sandwiched between instinctive chastisement and a questioning of her methods. Fuck, it was like she'd never fucking left.

"How much are they expecting for this gig, Panam? What did you promise them?"

Panam bristles, her hackles rising on behalf of V and the others. Nomads didn't tend to have a very high opinion of mercenaries, especially since the vast majority were City Folk. But at the same time…

"Nothing, Saul. I didn't promise them a thing and they weren't expecting a thing either."

The look he gives her is downright aghast. His eyes are disappointed as he starts to shake his head.

"Panam that's-!"

But this time it's Panam who cuts him off.

"They're my crew Saul. Why do you think V gave Mitch and Scorpion such a good deal in the first place? Because I'm his driver. I'm one of them. And they rescued you because I asked them to. Not for money, not for resources. For me. Because they have my back."

Caught off guard by her words, Saul is quiet for a moment, letting Panam continue on unabated.

"Wish I could say the same for the clan. But I can't, can I? You know they already replaced you with Carol of all fucking people? They weren't even going to try and rescue you. So yeah, you should be fucking grateful Saul, because if it wasn't us, it wouldn't have been anybody."

To be fair, Panam has a gut feeling that if she'd pushed, if she'd gone to the camp directly and poked and prodded a bit, she could have galvanized most of the clan into action. Mitch and Scorpion would have come with her on a rescue mission at the very least, and there were others like Cassidy who would have stepped up too, she's sure of it.

… But in the end, she's kind of glad that V insisted they leave them out of this. Not only did V and the others handle the Wraiths without a single issue or casualty on their side, but also it allowed Panam to score points in this argument with Saul. And maybe that was a little petty of her, but right now she was feeling pretty fucking petty.

Saul looks introspective for a moment at Panam's words, and briefly she wonders if maybe she's finally gotten through to him.

"… Come back to the clan, Panam. Come home with me."

She jolts, caught a little off guard by the sudden offer. It was everything she'd hoped to hear for months now, and yet…

"You'll have to follow orders going forward, of course. But your place is with us. Not these mercs from the city."

Unbelievable. Simply unbelievable. Panam stares at Saul for a long moment, wondering if the Wraiths gave him brain damage during one of the many beatings she can tell he endured. In the end, she just lets out a disbelieving bark of laughter and shakes her head.

"You're a real piece of work, Saul. Fuck off."

Saul grimaces, reaching for her.

"Panam-!"

But she smacks his hand away and snarls, stepping forward and getting in his face.

"No, I'm serious. Fuck. You. You ask me to come back in one breath and then tell me to follow your orders in the next. And what sort of orders will those be, huh? Orders involving letting you run off with too small a group of people so the Raffen Shiv can get their hands on you again? Or maybe orders involving turning the clan into corpo 'assets' for Biotechnica."

His expression had been verging on heartbroken, but at the mention of the Biotechnica Deal, his face hardens up and he scoffs, becoming closed off.

"The clan needs help getting back on its feet, Panam. Biotechnica will-!"

"Will what?! Put collars around all your necks? Leash you and the rest of the clan to this area for decades, until you're not even Nomads anymore? The Aldecaldos don't fucking set down roots! You're asking people to give up their entire way of life for a few eddies, Saul!"

This is, unfortunately, an argument they've had a million times at this point. So even though Panam knows she's right and might have hoped Saul's latest brush with death could have changed his mind… she's also not surprised when he just gets more and more defensive and closed off.

"Yeah? And what the fuck do you call what you're doing? You're the one who joined a mercenary crew, Panam. You're a hypocrite, going native faster than I can blink while telling me that we're not supposed to set down roots!"

Panam flinches at that, because admittedly that one stings. Its new ammunition for Saul, completely untested until now, but… it lands all the same. And it hurts. Is that what she's doing? Is she leaving her Nomad lifestyle behind?

Her eyes flicker over to the others, all watching them from a distance. Panam knows for a fact that they've heard every word she and Saul have said to each other and that's only confirmed when she meets V's eyes and he gives her an encouraging smile and nod, one that tells her he's with her every step of the way and no matter what she decides.

And funnily enough, that simply act is all it takes to cinch it. All of Saul's words, all of his sanctimonious assholery… it all pales in comparison to that simple silent assurance that V will have her back to the end of the line.

Straightening up, Panam squares her shoulders and flashes Saul a smile that doesn't reach her eyes.

"Fuck you, Saul. You can take your offer and stick it up your ass. I'm right where I belong. And if you think selling out the clan to a bunch of suits is the same as finding myself a new family who actually appreciates me for who and what I am… then I pity you. I really do."

She doesn't bother waiting for him to respond, turning on her heel and heading back over to where V and the others are all grouped up and waiting for them. But she knows she's 'won' that little exchange all the same when Saul doesn't call after her or try to stop her.

In fact, her words seem to hit him so hard that he only catches up after she's already worked things out with V. Turning back to Saul as he walks up, Panam plants her hands on her hips, overriding anything else he might have said.

"We're done here. The Wraith are all dead, and I've put in a message to Mitch and Scorpion with coordinates so they know they can come pick you up. Or you can try to steal one of these cars and make your way back on your own, I guess."

Saul grimaces and looks around.

"… What about the salvage?"

Panam smirks, crossing her arms over her chest and all but looking down her nose at him.

"Its yours and the clan's to take if you can get it all out of here before more Wraith come by to check on the place."

Saul's eyes snap over to her, widening in shock. Feeling quite pleased with his reaction, Panam just shrugs a shoulder.

"We don't need any of this junk. Not the cars or trucks either. If you can carry it, its all yours. You can thank V for that."

Panam jerks her thumb over in V's direction, the mercenary standing back but looking quite comfortable in the moment. Probably because he knew she wasn't going anywhere. Or at least, that's what Panam hoped had him so comfortable. She hoped that for a moment, he'd been worried about her leaving him…

Saul, meanwhile, looks over at V and lets out a slow breath before walking over and holding out his hand. V takes it and shakes it after a quick glance at Panam has her nodding her head surreptitiously.

"Thank you, V."

As the respectful handshake ends, V tilts his head to the side and raises a single brow.

"Hm? For what, exactly?"

Panam grins at that, all of them knowing full well that Saul had a whole fucking lot to be thankful for at this point. The Aldecaldos Leader, to his credit, appears more willing to take his lumps with the incredibly competent mercenary than he is with her though, because he chuckles and ducks his head.

"Everything. Selling to Mitch and Scorpion at the price you did, coming and rescuing my dumb ass for free, leaving us with all of this salvage."

V grunts.

"Couldn't have hauled it all away anyways. Don't have the manpower."

Heh, and wasn't that a fucking lie. Panam knew better because she knew Alt and Sasha's true nature and the fact that they could have probably taken over every Wraith Vehicle in the area and piled them high with the resources in the building behind them. Hell, even Lucy as a flesh and blood Netrunner could probably have helped with that.

Saul doesn't know just how many of their crew are Netrunner though, nor how many are dangerous AI fragments, but he still seems to detect the lie in V's words as he stares at him for a long moment. However, he doesn't call V out on it.

"… And for watching over our Panam for us. Appreciate that most of all, really."

Oh, this bastard. He did NOT get to call her 'our Panam' like he hadn't just-!

"Not doing it for you. And she's not your Panam anymore, Saul. She's mine."

Both Panam and Saul stiffen up at that, though for very different reasons. Panam's face is hot as she stares at V with wide eyes. The claim of ownership is… not out of character for him, but it still hits her like a damn train. Hell, it hits her so hard that she doesn't realize until it's too late that Saul is looking over in her direction, waiting for her to explode.

When she doesn't, something like understanding seems to dawn in the Aldecaldos Leader's eyes and he slowly nods.

"… I see."

Panam's face is incandescent even as she tries but fails to fight down her blush. Fuck them both for making her this embarrassed! Fortunately, they all pack up and leave before the rest of the Aldecaldos can show up. Leaving Saul behind by himself might have sat poorly with Panam, but reassurances from Alt that there were no Wraith close enough to cause trouble before the others got there made it all the easier to get the fuck out of dodge before they arrived.

Of course, once they're all in her Warhorse and heading back to Night City, Panam doesn't hesitate to look over at V in the front passenger's seat and snarl.

"You. Me. Tonight."

She doesn't care that Lucy and Rebecca are in the backseat, or that Alt and Sasha are always listening in. She's going to fucking ride V raw tonight, no matter what.

V just gives her an easy grin and a nod.

"Sure. Just the two of us?"

Panam blushes profusely at that question and the… implications. Realizing that V is seriously asking and not just teasing, she falls quiet in contemplation…

-x-X-x-

The Vote:

[ ] Panam wants it to be just the two of them - 27%[ ] She's willing to let Alt join them - 15%[X] She's willing to let Alt AND Rebecca join them - 58%

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