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He stretched his legs and shook at his achy hands as the warm water hit his bare back. His eyes were closed and his breathing even and relaxed. He yawned, a tired but genuine smile stretching under his short stache.
A shower was doing wonders for the long and tiresome day he'd had. The rockerboy had just enough time to grab the shampoo, to push some out of the tube and into his hand, but not enough to put it into his hair. He didn't have time before gunshots sounded from outside the closed door to his bathroom.
His grin fell, and his eyes widened.
Shit .
Carefully and purposefully Eurodyne stepped out of the shower with the water still running. He grabbed the gun V had insisted on leaving under his sink ‘just in case of a physical emergency, not the mental health kind’, which he was suddenly very grateful for. He took a deep breath and focused on the sounds coming from the other side of the door. There were no more gunshots, but continuous thuds, seemingly from the direction of his entrance?
He swallowed down dread and longed just a little for the time death was no concern, but rather a wish in his life, aka a few weeks ago. He was glad to be a smidgen less depressed and apathetic, but the anxiety building up in his chest was a fucking pain. He took another steady breath as he slowly opened the door. From what he could see, the house was empty, and as he had thought, the noises were coming from downstairs, right by the entrance.
Another gunshot sounded and he paused his slow approach through the upper living room. He hesitated, trying to decide if handling the situation himself with the risk of eating a bullet was worth it, or if an embarrassing holo-call to a certain afterlife-punk and the world's most digital terrorist was necessary. Luckily the decision was made for him, when a voice he hadn’t heard in several decades sounded.
“KERRY, OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!”
His mouth fell open, and he allowed himself less than a moment to freeze up and drop the gun, before he ran downstairs, two steps at a time. He didn't give himself time to think or question jack shit. No why, no how, no what, no nothing. Kerry got downstairs and he opened the fucking door like it was 2008 and Johnny was in the same kinds of trouble as always.
He opened the door to Johnny. Johnny in the flesh. Johnny in an actual body. Johnny in his own actual body .
And then there was V, unconscious in his arms.
The two of them were drenched in blood.
He blinked several times “Johnny, Johnny, what the fuck, what--”
Johnny shook his head “Took you long enough! You gotta call her ripper!” He stepped around Kerry, and dumbfounded, Kerry closed the door behind them.
“Why didn't you ? Look at ‘er--” He shook his head “Who the fuck’s her ripper!”
“Viktor Vektor, and maybe I didn’t call cause’ I DIED in 2023 and NEVER GOT A NEW ASS FUCKING HOLO, KERRY ” Johnny was shaking with what he probably wanted Kerry to think was rage, but clearly was fear and panic finally catching up to him.
Kerry pointed him in the direction of the living room with a harsh finger “GO SIT AND FUCKING CHILL! CHILL!”
Kerry took his hundredth deep breath of the evening and searched his holo for the guy, swallowing down a hysterical laugh. He was still naked, soapy hands and water dripping off him, he hadn't even turned off his shower. But, shit, Johnny was back for real this time.
But at what cost.
He pushed the thought and anxieties back and focused on the task at hand. By some miracle, or realistically the mediocre advertisement done by the guy, Kerry managed to get a hold of the rippers signal. As he waited he watched Johnny gently place V on his couch and by the fourth ring, Johnny was sitting down himself with her legs in his lap. Finally the ripper answered his call, and with a straight forward back and forth, much quicker and easier than the rockerboy had imagined, the guy was on his way.
He turned his focus back to his friends. “What happened to her, should I get something? Or for you, you good?”
Johnny looked fine, but it had always been hard to tell with the guy. He was filthy with blood and dirt, and he was missing his left chrome arm, but other than that he seemed relatively unharmed. He’d walked freely, easily even, despite carrying V. As far as Kerry could tell with the guy wearing some strange, long sleeved, white and silver hospital wear of sorts, he was uninjured.
V however, did not look fine. The girl was white as a ghost, and she was frowning. Her eyebrows tilted upwards, even as she remained unresponsive to everything around her. Her clothes were tattered, full of cuts and holes and rips. She looked like she was sweating, simultaneously as she was shivering as if freezing.
Johnny shook his head, a solemn expression on his face. “I’m fine, practically un-fucking touched, definitely unharmed” He moved his hands, searching through his empty pockets, as if he’d find a pack of cigs in there. He grunted. “I don’t know what’s wrong with her, but it's in her head mostly, the other stuff’s superficial, I think, but the brain…If her ripper doc doesn’t know what to do…”
Kerry walked over to them and laid a hand on his shoulder. “Hey now, the guy agreed to come immediately, no questions asked. He seems like the type to at least want her well.” He raised an eyebrow. “Does he know this stuff, or, uh, is he at least trustworthy? Because this is and has been a crazy situation for the last few weeks.”
He ran a hand through his wet hair and reminded himself he was naked again. He looked around, searching for anything to cover up with.
“He knows about me and he definitely cares about her. It's just that nobody's been treated for… this” Johnny rubbed at his forehead with his remaining hand. “Fuck I feel like my heads about to explode. It's like I'm getting more of my memories back, I'm even remembering things different. God I finally have a fucking brain again, but now she's probably missing chunks of hers”
Kerry bit his lip and sighed as he threw on a loose robe he'd left on the floor. “Well… ” He started as he closed it and tied its belt around his waist. “The alternative was you staying in her head and eventually killing the both of you, this has to be at least a little less awful somehow, right? She said you guys didn't think you could change anything. Maybe there's more options on the table now”
“Maybe” Johnny rubbed his eyes.
Kerry walked back to the couch and gently checked her pulse. Despite looking worse for wear, her pulse seemed steady and her chest was rising and falling. It almost looked like she was sleeping. Or rather, sleeping with a bad flu, maybe.
“Wanna go change to something less…sterile? Maybe grab her some clothes on the way too? I should have some oversized stuff that'll fit you upstairs, think something clean and comfortable would do you both wonders.”
Johnny looked down at himself and seemed to acknowledge what he was wearing for the first time. He cringed and nodded. “Yeah, sure” He hesitated “Are you gonna--”
“I'll stay here and look around, see if I've got some health boosters anywhere. I can take a look at her, maybe make us some coffee too”
“Oh… that sounds good.” He looked at his hand, felt at his chest and ran a hand through his hair. It had to be hitting him that he was alive, Kerry thought. Johnny looked at V and back at Kerry, with obvious relief in his eyes, seemingly trusting that the two of them would be safe at his place. His shoulders sank down and he seemed to relax just a little. “Thanks, Ker, really…”
Kerry could count on fewer fingers than on one hand how many times he'd seen Johnny openly show vulnerability or gratitude, least of all both in one. “Course.” he shrugged, pretending for his chooms sake it wasn't incredibly fucking touching.
Kerry allowed only a slight smile to form before he turned around and started digging through his messy piles of various items and trash. “And, uh, turn off my shower on the way, would ya? One of these days the two of you need to visit without breaking in”
Johnny grunted
“Wait, bring me clothes too!”
Another grunt and soon enough the sound of footsteps going up the stairs sounded, whilst a little while later the sound of water running stopped.
By the luck of his own messy nature Kerry quickly managed to find a good quality maxdoc on the ground, the injectable kind. He plopped himself on the couch on Johnny's prior spot next to V and leaned over her.
After lifting up her singlet slightly, he carefully pressed the booster against her stomach and administered it, hoping it would help with the various cuts and bruises. The fact that she'd been wearing a damn samurai singlet and skinny jeans doing who the fuck knows what was concerning enough. He didn't want to think about what kind of injuries the idiot could have gotten instead of what seemed to be mostly surface stuff.
Professional mercenary my ass, he thought.
His hands were still a bit soapy and so when the booster had been depleted, he got up and washed his hands in the kitchen sink.
By the time he'd made three cups of coffee, (optimistically hoping either she'd wake up or the ripper would get to the villa before it grew cold) Johnny was walking down the stairs dressed in a white sleeveless shirt and some pajama pants, holding a pile of clothes in his hand.
He held them up. "Whaddya want”
“Throw me that gray hoodie, she can have my band shirt, it'll be easier for the fixer to work with.” He frowned “And give me the blue shorts, think the sweatpants will be more comfortable for her, lots of bruises on her legs”
Johnny hummed in agreement and threw him the items of clothing he chose, before walking over to her to carefully start removing the tattered fabric that remained of her jeans. It took a bit of time, but eventually her old outfit was on the ground and she looked a bit better in the new Ill-fitting clothes.
Kerry felt a bit better too after changing. It was nice not to worry about the possibility of hearing any kind of terrible news regarding V’s condition with his dick out and about.
“So” Kerry raised an eyebrow as he handed Johnny one of the coffee cups. He kept another to himself and took a long sip before speaking. “Wanna tell me what happened”
Johnny took a sip of his coffee. “It's a long story”
“Right...” Kerry looked at him expectantly.
When he didn't elaborate, Kerry shook his head. “You don't have to tell me everything, just give me the gist of it at least”
Johnny rolled his eyes. “Fine”
He sat himself down on the floor, next to where V’s head rested on the couch. He waited for Kerry to sit back on the couch as well before he spoke. He held up his hand and counted with his fingers as if reciting points from a list.
“V was dying, so we went to Arasaka tower. She killed Adam Smasher, then we both got stuck in Cyberspace for a bit. Figured out my body had been stored somewhere in New Mexico” He shrugged nonchalantly “So I got moved from Cyberspace to my body, and V to hers, but she never woke up. Arasaka and some other assholes went after us because we broke in and stole me , their ‘property’, and also I might have ruined Mikoshi. You were the closest place I could get to.” Other adjectives like ‘the safest’ weren't said, but could definitely be heard.
“Sorry, wait, just the two of you did all that?”
Johnny drummed his fingers on the plaid pattern of his pants and rolled his eyes once more. “We got some help from beyond the blackwall and a… a netrunner friend of V who owed us a favor.”
“Huh” Kerry eyebrows were raised. “Right, maybe I do want some details after all“
“Knew you'd say that and I'm not up for it. Why don't you ask V?” The smile on his face was entirely sarcastic
“You're being a dickhead, I will get to ask her faster than you think, just you see” Kerry said matter of factly whilst looking at her. He then rubbed at the back of his neck “I am a bit worried about my security now, though”
“S’probably fine…”
“Uhuh” He was still looking down at V as he gnawed at his bottom lip. “I should try to jack in. I don't want to make anything worse, but I think a quick diagnostic check is needed.”
Johnny stared him down “Vektor’s on the way, and we were just past the blackwall. If you catch a virus off of her…”
The other man ignored his warning and started opening the port on his left wrist. “My softwares not cheap, Johnny, and it's just to confirm that she is in there. If not we need to put her body on ice, should've the second you two came through the door, really.” He wiggled his cable loose and elongated it before gently prying at her port. “But, you said she was sent to her body.” He dragged out his cable, closing the distance between it and her port with a satisfying clicking noise. “I might be worrying over nothing.”
There were several loud knocks coming from his door with his cable only getting milliseconds of time connected to her.
There was a quick flash of white light and her diagnostics were suddenly on display. It looked like a jumble of numbers and words, none he had time to even attempt to decipher.
Then there was a presence, and another quickly after. One was a red light, huge and bright as hell, before she disappeared and a woman stood before him, her hair purple and her posture relaxed, just as everything flashed white once more.
He heard Johnny let out a releaved sigh distantly and Kerry's eyes came back to focus on the sight of his friend pulling his jack out of her, disconnecting their connection promptly.
“You are worrying over nothing, now go get the ripper!”
Whatever he'd seen he was clueless about, and so Kerry rolled his eyes, but obliged and got up.
It was also the closest Johnny got so saying he worried for his and her safety. Nobody could say Kerry couldnt leave his stubbornness on the side on some occasions.
As he walked he closed his eyes and tried to remember her silhouette and the colors and.. Her mouth had been moving, curved slightly upright. He couldn't remember more but she was calm and potentially a friend? Was she the netrunner, would Johnny even know? But the big presence, the red bright light…
Was it all just visions from beyond the blackwall? Just lost AIs and fragments of broken vessels?
He opened the door, and for the second time that day, a guest walked straight past him and into his house. This particular guest was in blue scrubs and was holding a large duffle bag over his shoulder. His expression was harsh, Kerry could tell, despite the dark sunglasses blocking most of his eyes and brows.
“Where is she!”
Kerry pointed with his thumb over his shoulder behind him. “Couch”
The guy barely registered the couch before he lifted his glasses in surprise, his eyes damn near bulging out of his skull. “What the fuck!?" He walked closer to the man “Silverhand?”
The man in question rolled his eyes “Yeah, yeah, I'm out of her head, now check if anything of hers is left in there”
Kerry gave him a stern look “ Johnny ”
He seemed unaffected by the scolding, unsurprisingly, but he shut his mouth.
The ripper doc tipped his glasses back on and threw the duffle bag on the ground near Johnny. He immediately got to work, completely ignoring the other two men in the room.
As he grabbed various tools and equipment out of his duffle bag, Kerry turned away from the scene, deciding to walk back up to the kitchen instead. Johnny didn't seem capable of looking away.
Kerry figured he'd heat up some more coffee, if only to give himself something to do with his hands. He managed to put on the water cooker, get a new cup ready, put three tea-spoons of instant coffee powder in it, and reach for the sugar. He thought more about how the purple hairs woman's mouth had been moving, she'd been mouthing something. ‘Alright’... He didn’t have the time to actually add the sugar before Johnny called for him from the living room. He shook his head and left the unfinished coffee behind and walked back in, only to see a whole lot more stuff on his couch than a few seconds ago
“You guys need me for something…is she..?” ‘alright’ he wanted to ask.
Johnny's arms were crossed tightly around his chest as he paced back and forth behind the couch, whilst the ripper doc seemed calm and focused where he sat kneeled in front of it by V.
Unexpectedly to Kerry, Johnny was quiet as the ripper doc turned his focus onto Kerry.
“She might be fine… you jack into her?”
Kerry's eyebrows rose “Yeah, uh, barely?” he absentmindedly scratched at his wrist. “Didn't get to do anything before you got here, just uh, saw some stuff.”
“But, you got the cable connected, and you feel fine…” an eyebrow was raised behind the glasses.
“Yes?” He tilted his head “Or, well,” he hesitated “I think so, I don’t feel any different at least?”
“Right.” He was unsure how to interpret the docs expression with the glasses blocking his eyes, but he seemed…hopeful?
The doc got up from the floor and waved an arm to his earlier spot. ”Get over here, would you?”
Without question Kerry sat himself down in the slightly warm spot on the floor. He owed that crazy chick not only his own life, but Johnny's as well. If he could do anything that would help save hers, he was more than willing.
“So, what do you need me to do?”
“You? Nothing” The guy started pulling at his own port, dragging out a wire that was much lighter and slightly larger than Kerry's own by the looks of it.
“It's about what I need to do, really...” He continued, he dragged out the cable a bit more before he seemed satisfied and looked up at the other man “...Which would be to jack into you for a few minutes.”
The guys seemed like he was waiting for a response so Kerry pursed his lips and raised his eyebrows slightly as if reacting questioningly to what he said. It was an awful fucking shame that he wasn't half bad looking.
“Why is that?”
“Because I need to see what info your fancy cyberware managed to pick up on that I can't get through to.”
Kerry turned and smiled triumphantly at Johnny “Hah! Told ya!”
Johnny groaned, and as Kerry turned back to the doc, he was surprised to see the man smiling just slightly, one of his lips perked up at the corner. It wasn’t a bad look on him.
“Chooms grumpy cause he's scared, you just do whatever you have to to get V back on her feet”
“Shut the fuck up, Kerry”
“ She'll be alright” That's what she'd been saying! “... and I'm good. Look, I even got the doc checking” He tone was a joking one towards the end, and he smiled slightly at Johnny and finally let his shoulders relax just a bit.
The ripper in question shook his head slightly as he took a hold of Kerry's neck and jaw, gently, but firmly. He inspected the outlet on his temple.
“Hey, random question, but didn't you used to be in the ring, ripper?”
The guy let out an amused huff. “Oh, I like you." He smirked, eyes still focused on the outlet “Call me Vik”
“Right,” Kerry raised an eyebrow. V had a lot of strange friends didn't she. He allowed himself to use the opportunity to inspect Vik’s face. “I'm Kerry”
“I might've known that, rockerboy” He looked back to V and then to him. “Now, I'm pretty sure you picked up on some info that my hardwares too cheap to do manually. Usually I have my machines and all for retrieving data. Problem is, you can get her data, but you don't have the equipment to actually analyze it considering you're not, well, a ripper. I can't get her data, but I can analyze it… ”
“So, I'm standing in for your machines today?”
“Basically. I just need to get in your head for a second, see what you picked up on that I couldn't connect to, and analyze it for you.”
“You do whatever you gotta do. V trusts you, so I'll trust you too…Plus, Johnny still has his iron on him” ‘It might get a bit weird in there’, he felt he should say, but didn't. He'd find out.
“That's right” Johnny was closer now, but still using the couch as an emotional shield of sorts. “You fuck around in his head and I'll shoot yours”
Vik scoffed “Yeah, yeah, of all people to say that… And as if I've nothing better to do than sell rockerboy gossip to tabloids”
He grabbed his jack and slid his other arm from Kerry's jaw to his temple. “You're gonna feel a bit funny, but it's not gonna hurt.” He hovered the jack right by Kerry's port. “Tell me if you need me to stop, alright?”
“I will." He winked ”Now get inside me”
From a distance he heard a scoff and a grunt.
Kerry closed his eyes briefly and crossed his arms. He wasn’t an expert on any of this stuff like Vik, and he hadn't been there when whatever happened, like Johnny. But he knew it . He knew V would be alright, she just needed a helping hand to wake up again. It was like a stubborn presence somewhere, everywhere, was telling him she was just processing. Speaking to something? Someone? Was it the purple hair or the red light telling him, and how crazy was he for trying to logic that one out? He’d touched something when he connected with V. He didn’t know what, but he was ready to prove that she was and would be alright at least.
Vik huffed out a warm breath on his cheek. “You ready?”
Kerry opened his eyes, met his own gaze in the reflection of Viks shades. He nodded.
The ripper connected to his port and the world darkened.
“Alright, lights out for a minute”
The world turned red. V would be back.