Work Text:
Three weeks after everything, V still dreamt in code.
The morning sun blistered in and she saw red for a full minute as her eyes started to adjust to her surroundings. She wondered if cyberspace would ever leave her or if the damage was already done. Phantom pains still exist, and sometimes, she’d feel like she was floating right beside her body. V heard Alt in her head right before she dropped back into her body — well less hearing and more like a downloading of information — that it may take some time for her to adjust back to normalcy. Her engram rewrote itself nicely back into her body, but there were still glitches.
V took it slow as she rose from her position on the bed. Her head pulsed, felt like it might explode with any sharp movements. Been doing the same for the past three days. The day before, the most she could do was shower and force a meal into her stomach. After everything she’d been through, it was going to be a fucking cyber-cold that took her out. V sat up sharper on the edge of her bed, both arms bracing themselves on the edge of the mattress. She closed her eyes, taking in a deep, grounding breath. That’s when she felt the cool metal touch her forehead.
“Look like shit, Princess,” Johnny muttered as V looked up. Gingerly, she took hold of the can of lemonade that was pressed to her forehead.
“Ugh, not now Johnny,” she grumbled as he turned away, making his way to her bathroom. At the end of all of this, she never expected to see Johnny again.
Especially in the fucking flesh.
That night in the oilfields, they weren’t really expecting anything at all, at least V wasn’t. 50 years and no marker wasn’t going to prove to find anything. Still, she thought that Johnny would get some sort of closure, and it seemed like he did. Bared his soul to her, regrets in his life, his selfishness, his treatment of his friends, lovers — of V. This time she believed him when he spoke, believed that when the time came, he would actually save her. Who knew Johnny Silverhand had a heart? She liked this side of him she thought as she watched him pace around, static crackling in the nighttime air.
“Let’s Delta. Nothing to see here after all.” his voice cut into her mind, shaking her from her thoughts. As they stood to leave, however, something triggered her Kiroshi, something buried deep, and bone cold. Nothing could ever answer the question of why Arasaka would have Johnny’s body buried in the oil fields, in a cryochamber no less.
V wasn’t sure if it was her or Johnny when the “Fucking shit,” escaped her lips after the hour of digging, but the sentiment was mutual regardless.
Viktor said there wasn’t much that could be done. What were they going to do, drag Johnny’s frozen corpse all the way into the heart of Arasaka? He couldn’t even make sense of how one could upload Johnny’s engram into a 50-year-old dead body.
“Might as well get a couple eddies out of him. Sell him to some Rockerboy museum and move on.”
But in the end, Johnny always ends up getting what he wants.
She let him take over so he and Rogue could storm Arasaka. No one noticed him jacking his body into the net before he left. In the end, Alt did all the work. V woke up in her body and Johnny shot back into his own — like a couple of ‘neo-modern Prometheuses.’ It was quite a shock for Misty and Viktor to hear a dead man stepping out of his frozen coffin, itching for a smoke. A bigger shock to V when she woke up a day later at Viktor’s to see him, not in her head but part of the living. She never thought she would see him again, now he sleeps on her couch.
At least he’s not in her head anymore. A lock on a door can give her a moment of privacy.
It wasn’t too bad V had to admit. They both suffered losses through all of this. In the end, they really only had each other. There were times, even when he was inside her brain slowly killing her, where she wondered how she could survive without him. In some fucked up way, they were tethered to each other.
Johnny returned from the bathroom, “Here,” he said as he placed a couple of painkillers into her hand. She squeaked out a thank you and popped them in her mouth, washing them down with a swig of lemonade.
“Think you’re going to kick it?” He said as he sat next to her, the bed shifting to his weight. “Don’t tell me I walked through shit for nothin’.”
She shook her head, careful to not agitate it too much. “Alt...said this would happen. Just a side effect of being rewritten back into my body.” She raked her hand through her rose gold hair. It spilled down her shoulders, not the time for well-styled hair. She wasn’t quite in the mood to look put together. “Question is, how did you get off scot-free?” She looked to Johnny, spry as he ever would be.
“Just built different, baby.” He said, flopping his back onto the mattress, hands coming up behind his head.
“Yeah, right.” V sighed, setting the drink down and gently floating herself back down on the mattress.
“Bet, you’re just living it up when you walk outside.” She turned her head to look at him, her lips tugging up into a teasing smile. “People falling at the feet of the one and only Johnny Silverhand?”
He let out a huff, staring at the ceiling, “Nah, no one subscribes to the Church of Silverhand anymore, and those who do think I’m some fucking Poser prick,” he kicked his boots off, V would give him hell if he got even one mark on her bedsheets. Not being a cyberghost anymore took some getting used to, but he was learning. “Heard someone walking down the street the other day say ‘that guy should get a refund from his ripper with that fix job.’ Can you friggin’ believe it V? I’m the real deal!”
V smiled and let out a giggle. The idea that one of the greatest former idols to inhabit Night City could walk down the street without a notice tickled her. “Shit, no way?” she asked.
“Yes way”, he grumbled.
“Well,” she sighed, turning to also look towards the ceiling, “Looks like you’re one of the unwashed masses now. Glad to welcome you to the fold.”
The two settled into silence. It felt comfortable, days of being latched to the hip — well brain — could do that, but now there was a considerable weight to it. V couldn’t put it into words, a vibration in the air, something intimate. She thought back to Clouds, with Angel. The air felt as crushing like in that booth; pulsing with energy. The room started to spin and she grimaced. She closed her eyes hoping that it will give her a moment of reprieve.
She brought her left hand to her forehead, just for a moment, she applied pressure hoping that it would take some of the edge off. When done she rested her arm on the mattress, elbow bent so her hand floated in the air, flexing her hand and wrist ever so slightly feeling her joints readjust.
There was another shift on the mattress when flesh met her own. The back of Johnny’s hand met hers. What a weird feeling, she thought. When he was in her mind, they couldn’t exactly touch, but the feeling was there. Touching him then felt like static, a ghost of a touch that made the hair on the back of her neck stick up. Now, it feels like a live wire is under her skin.
“You still in there, pipsqueak?” Johnny asked, nudging his hand on hers.
“I’ll survive,” V managed to make out before she felt another pang shoot through her head, hissing as a response. Johnny’s hand caught hers, lightly squeezing in reassurance.
“If this headache would let up I’d be real fuckin’ preem.” She winced. Her face sorted as the wave washed over her. Her arm fell down to the bed, still entwined with Johnny’s. This is nice. She thought as his thumb lightly grazed her skin. Better than when we were snapping at each other’s throats. She knows he can’t read her thoughts anymore, but the urge to silent talk to him still existed deep down. Somehow, she had a feeling he knew what she was thinking.
“Y’know” Johnny started, “When I have a headache, there usually is one thing that does the trick to cure it.”
“Yeah, and what’s that?” V asked quizzically.
“To get my brains, properly and absolutely, fucked out. Reboots the system.” He smirked.
V’s eyes shot open, and in her shock, she sat up, just a bit too quickly. Her hand still entwined with Johnny’s squeezed hard as a sharp pang hit her temple. “Jesus Christ Johnny!” she laughed bewildered. She didn’t even have to ask what he meant, “You’re joking right?” She looked over at him, a stupid smirk on his face.
Mouth agape, she let go of his hand as she flopped back down once more, rubbing her eyes with her palms. Dirty old pervert, she thought as she groaned.
“I’m sorry, I seem to remember a certain someone thinking that if I’d actually end up saving them they’d ‘rub one out’ in my honor.” He shifted turning on his side to face her.
V groaned deeper, cheeks flushing a bright red. Shit. Thought I kept that one deep in the subconscious.
“That’s not fair, I thought you were about to become just a string of numbers in the net!” She squeezed her eyes shut tighter, hands situated firmly on top of them.
With one swift motion, she sunk deeper into the mattress. She felt the weight of him hovering over her, his legs straddling her. A cold metal hand snaked it’s way to cup her cheek, as a much warmer hand ghosted to her hip, right where her tank top hitched up to expose a bit of skin. She sucked in air at the sensation of his hands on her. Each touch, hot and cold, felt like a bite. That was the best way she could describe him. Hot or cold — either way, he burned.
She removed her own hands from her face. They fell just above her head as she settled into the touch. She blinked as her eyes adjusted, spots of light forming. Then she saw the man hovering above her’s, cocky grin still on his face. She’d try to slap it off his face but she knew he’d enjoy that too much.
He leaned down, turning her head just slightly so his lips barely ghosted her ear. “Whatdya say Princess?” he said quietly, heavy.
V let out a grumbled huff, but she was having a hard time keeping it together, his metal hand still cupping her face offering a cool reprieve to the heat in her skull, as well as the flush that appeared on her cheeks. There was also the matter of the other hand, which at this point was slowly inching its way up under her tank top. “God you’re such a menace” she fully intending to roll her eyes at him, but the feeling of lips crashing with hers caused her to stop in her tracks. Woah, when was the last time she was kissed like that?
Intimacy was never really her forte, one failed romance and a few hookups didn’t make her feel particularly skilled in that arena. And Johnny? She thought of him more of a quick fuck, ‘wham bam thank you ma’am’ type. Never would she expect something like this. Some nagging part in the back of her mind screamed that this was a bad idea, but at this moment that part in her mind could fuck right off into oblivion.
“Fuck, Johnny ” she breathed out, deepening the kiss, a mix of nicotine and spearmint filled her senses. He was trying to quit, a side effect of living in the mind of the poor ‘straight-edged’ V, but he had his slip-ups. At least he had the decency to cover it up.
A thumb brushed her nipple sending a jolt of pleasure through her. She adjusted herself underneath him, hips opening up slightly allowing him more access. He was already hard as their hips ground together and V couldn’t help but let out a quiet moan.
She broke the kiss to sit up slightly. Her hands grabbing the hem of her shirt, pulling it over her head, tossing it to the side. After, her hands went to work on his own, yanking it off of him until they were both half-naked in the mid-morning sun.
His hands went back to teasing her breasts, dipping his head to plant kisses on her neck. “You’re real fucking Preem, you know that Valley Girl? Could live in between your tits forever.” He murmured in between placing kisses and love bites on her clavicle and neck.
Her hands circled his face, with a sense of annoyance and a touch of primal need. They nestled within his dark locks, bringing him back up to her face. “Just shut up and kiss me,” she said crushing their lips back together with a fervor.
If a simple hand touch made her feel like touching a live wire, this made her feel like she was struck by fucking lightning. Every atom in her body seemed to buzz with every touch Johnny placed on her skin. As his hand made its way past the waistband of her sleep shorts she felt that feeling in her stomach, like a thread snapping; heat pooling below. She whimpered as his touch lightly grazed her clit on their way further down. It was easy to press into her, one finger then another.
“What do you want Valley Girl?” he asked, eyes meeting her’s as his finger found a slow and steady rhythm sliding inside and out of her. Her breath hitched. God, she hated that nickname. It was that of a different person from a different time, but when he said it, it made her feel golden; especially with him moving inside her.
“I want a lot of things, Johnny. But right now I want you…to fuck me senseless.” She breathed out.
“That can easily be arranged.” His hand left her sex, as he methodically worked on removing his belt and pants. V’s hands went to work on removing her own, a bit too hurried, as her foot caught and she fumbled with her shorts.
“Shit,” she meekly said though he barely noticed. Thank god he couldn’t hear her thoughts anymore. The adrenaline rush washing over her pained head filled her head with a jumble of thoughts. Jesus Christ, is this actually happening? What am I doing? What are WE doing? He’s going to find out I’m a bad fuck. Get your shit together Valeria! Shit, I really need this. God, why did I even continue? I bet his dick is huge. What is GOING ON?! Then, his lips are on her’s again and all the thoughts fade away. She closed her eyes and sank into it. Nothing exists — It’s just her and Johnny.
He breaks the kiss once again, sitting on his knees, looking up at her. Strong hands gripped her hips, dragging her further down. “You’re absolutely Preem, you know that V? Gotta admit, I wondered what it would look like back when we shared a brain to fuck you.”
“Well, I’m glad your wildest dreams are coming true, but if you don’t actually do anything about it, you’re going to wish you were still dreaming.”
“That a threat?” he teased as his hands hook underneath her thighs, giving just the right amount of leverage.
He takes it slow, not a term that is usually associated with Johnny Silverhand. Somehow, something about this is worse, a swarming of emotions flowing through that she pushed deep down. It’s easy to be a simple fuck. It’s harder when the man above her thrusts in and out of her at a tortuously slow pace, and his hand once again finds its place on her cheek, thumb tracing her mouth as her breath finds the rhythm, syncopated beats. Harder, when the parasite that lived in her brain for three weeks, now has a flesh and blood body that she can touch.
Harder, when somehow, throughout everything, she ended up catching feelings.
She tried to push those feelings off, focusing on the sensations in her body, wrapping her legs around him — a signal for him to push in deeper. Closing her eyes, she bit her lip and focused on that string in the pit of her stomach winding and tightening up again.
“Fuck V,” He groaned, bending closer to her, foreheads almost touching. Her hands nestled their way back into his hair, “You gonna let me see those pretty greens, or are you gonna keep those eyes shut this whole time?” His hand moving down slightly to the base of her neck, tilting her head up just so.
His forehead touched her’s as he picked up speed, thrust becoming less methodical, each one pushing her closer to the edge. “V,” he said in a way she couldn’t resist, toes curling inwards. She fluttered her eyes open to see his own locked with hers. “Don’t take your eyes off me,” he growled out. V couldn’t say anything in agreement. Instead, she whimpered out a moan as she lightly nodded her head.
Johnny’s metal hand gently repositioned her leg, opening her up wider, allowing his other hand to reach down, thumb circling around her clit. V bucked up to his touch, breath coming out ragged as waves of pleasure built up within her. Fuck, she was close she thought, she didn’t know how much longer she could last, “Johnny,” she moaned out as one final thrust sent her over. Just like that, the thread snapped. Eyes on him she came, hands digging deeper into his hair pulling him close. She tried to keep her composure, but his eyes on her made her feel unhinged. She pulled him in for a kiss while the orgasm rocked through her, gasping and moaning into his mouth.
It didn’t take quite long after for him to follow suit, thrusting wildly as he came inside her. He pulled her close, nesting his face in the crook of her neck as they rode out the aftershocks.
“Holy shit,” she breathed out, trying to come back down to earth. Maybe he was right, a good fucking was exactly what the doctor ordered.
Johnny gently separated from her, collapsing on his back next to her. V sent her hand out looking for his, intertwining the two, and laying them on her chest and they both found an even rise and fall of their breathing.
“Feeling any better Princess?” he said. Once again they were both staring at the ceiling. Even after such an intimate moment, they couldn't find a way to look at each other.
V took stock of herself. Her lips felt bruised and she knew she would be sore tomorrow, but for now, her headache had miraculously started to subside. “Preem and Peachy” a twinge of surprise was found in her response. “Thanks for the treatment, Dr. Silverhand. Best Doc in Night City.”
“Damn right I am,” he huffed. V couldn’t help but chuckle.
For a while they laid there, the silence was comfortable. V embraced the blissful feeling and once again the sensation of his thumb making small circles on her hand, but she could not let her thoughts settle.
Tomorrow, when her headache fully subsided and she could stand on two feet firmly again, they would have to deal with the real world. There was a message from a ghost on her phone asking to take care of The Afterlife. She promised to get a tarot reading from Misty and a coffee with Mama Welles. She couldn’t put it off any longer — and Kerry. Shit, he doesn’t even know that Johnny is alive again. None of the members of Samurai know. How are they going to break it to them?
She pushed those thoughts back in her mind. Those are problems for another day, another V. For now, she’s content. The world fades away, and it’s just her and Johnny.
Like it should be.