Actions

Work Header

Fading Away

Chapter 42: The Game

Notes:

Had a bit of a break but will slowly be getting back to posting. Thanks for all the love and comments. Love to see people enjoying this fic still!

Chapter Text


Johnny leaned towards Rogue and lowered his voice. "This gonna go on for much longer?" he asked. 

Alexei, Natalia, and Irena stood together in the centre of the room, all three yelling loudly. Alexei, waving his arms in the air, swiped at the accusatory finger Natalia jabbed in his direction. Irena continued holding the jacket up to her head and occasionally interjected with loud Russian profanities, her neck pooling with blood and her black eyes narrowed. 

"No idea," Rogue replied. She stepped forward with crossed arms and sternly joined in. For a moment, Johnny nearly wished he could speak Russian. 

He waited a beat, then sighed. 

Nah, fuck that. 

His initial smirk at the display in front of him had waned; he was bored. Their shit wasn't his problem. He looked at the back of Rogue's head for a moment before shrugging and heading towards the door. 

The three Soviets all spun to face him. 

"Where the fuck do you think you're going?" Alexei demanded. 

Irena muttered something under her breath, earning her a gentle slap on the arm from Natalia. 

Johnny stared back at them. "Figured I'd just leave you all to figure out... Whatever the hell your problem is." 

"You're the one with the fucking problem!" Alexei hissed, taking a step towards Johnny. Natalia put a hand on his chest, stopping him in his tracks. 

"There's no problem! Calm the hell down," she demanded. 

Alexei shook his head. "What kind of fuckin trouble have you American fucks brought here?" He turned his attention back to Natalia. "And don't even get me started on you." 

"What have I done?" 

"Always with your fuckin' secrets, never asking for help. Svetlana could have -" 

Natalia rolled her eyes and turned away from him. "Ugh." 

Rogue moved towards the door. "We have what we came for. We're leaving." 

Alexei followed. "Like hell you are." 

"So what then? We stay here forever, watching your incompetence?" 

Alexei grinned widely. "Or I could just put a bullet between your eyes." 

"This again?" Rogue laughed. "Heard that threat one too many times to take you seriously." 

He pulled his gun free of its holster and slowly clicked the safety off. "Bet Arasaka would pay well for your corpses." 

She stared at him, levelled and calm, her expression blank for the most part except for the thin frown lines than momentarily betrayed her. It wasn't an expression of surprise, exactly. Perhaps disappointment... Or maybe Johnny was simply reading into things, and she didn't care at all. 

Rogue turned her back to Alekei. "We're leaving." 

"Uh huh." Johhny paused for a second before following her, expecting a bullet to the back. But nothing. Just a heavy, defeated sigh. "Finally." 

 


 

V could feel the eyes on her, a million little spotlights boring into her back. A few dozen mercs flexing their iron, a few dozen mercs waiting to watch her verbally beat the shit outta Arasaka - and, hey, maybe literally, too. But V hoped it wouldn't come to that. Not just because that would severely complicate the matter at hand. Simply put, Takemura just didn't deserve it. She'd always said he wasn't a bad guy. She still believed that. He was just a man beyond saving from the same life she'd been freed from, and that wasn't his fault. 

That didn't mean he wouldn't get his ass handed to him if he stood in her way. 

"Hey, V? V?" 

She looked up at Claire, who stared back. 

"You ready?" Claire asked, sliding an open bottle of beer across the table. It slid to a stop against the side of V's hand, and she nodded silently in acknowledgement, not feeling much for conversation. 

A show of strength helped, but wouldn't be enough. Takemura might not strike then and there, but ultimately Arasaka wasn't afraid of the Afterlife - or of Rogue. And if V couldn't convince them she was untouchable, she'd have to do the next best thing - convince them she wasn't worth the damn trouble. 

Convince them they had bigger problems to take care of. 

It wasn't a perfect plan. It had way too many variables for V to be happy with, and heavily depended on how Takemura would receive her. She knew him well enough, she supposed. Importantly, she knew he was an Arasaka lapdog through and through. He would turn his head to face Militech regardless of what he did with her. Question was, how far would he be willing to negotiate? Did saving his life hold any bearing on his conscience, or did her supposed betrayal render that void? 

Her eyes were glued to the door up to the moment she saw him enter, then she turned away in nonchalance, and placed a cigarette between her lips, legs crossed and expression purposely blank. 

V made sure that she was the first to speak. "Was surprised she answered my call," she said, staring ahead of herself. "Figured Hanako would have a lot going on right now." 

Takemura stood still for a moment. Silence. And then the curt response. "She has been waiting." 

"I know." V paused and finally turned her head, noticing the tell-tale scars of cheap backstreet surgery snaking up the side of his face and under the sleeves of his shirt. 

"Wasn't sure you were alive, to be honest," V added. She gestured in front of her and he took the seat. All good so far... 

His expression was as blank as her own. Surprising. V'd thought he'd be more... Angry? His world was still unraveled. And she could have killed him... 

"I fell five stories onto hard concrete. Without the implants - I would have died." 

"So you're not really back in the fold," she noted. "At least, not officially. Couldn't risk Hanako's position, of course. Or you'd have implants. You'd have a fancy new suit." 

Clearly, he didn't appreciate her line of questioning. "She does what she needs to. As she would have done if only you'd -" 

"You still believe that?" V shook her head. "That she would have helped me? That she cared?" 

She clasped the shard in her pocket, drawing in a deep breath. She wouldn't have his attention for long. She had to cut to the chase. But she wanted him to understand, the way she had. The way she did. 

Confronting Arasaka was like playing a game. One that V had no choice but to win, one move at a time.