Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Nancy! Come on, they’re gonna be on us any second, we gotta delta! Nancy! Do you hear me?! We gotta g-”

Growing up, Nancy always believed bad stuff only happened during dark and stormy nights. Like the earth had willed it to happen with her rage. People break up in the rain, crying tears that drenched the desert and fed hungry plants clinging on to life. They get their happily ever afters by riding off into sunsets and leaving everything behind in exchange for a new day. And the best moments of all happen underneath the twinkling stars, the night quiet enough to hear a scorpion scuttle across the sand. But the scorpions wouldn’t have the heart to sting someone and ruin such a beautiful night.

It was one of those nights, with clear skies speckled with stars. Nancy sat on the hood of her rusty old car taking in the view. She’d spent the last twenty two years underneath these stars, and somehow it never got old. Even on a night like this. A night that deserved enough rain to flood the wild west.

“Nancy?” A small, tired voice called from behind the car.

Nancy turned her neck an inch towards the voice, still looking out at the arid plain in front of her. “Go back to camp.” she ordered.

“Only if you do, too.” Panam replied, hopping onto the hood.

Nancy shook her head. “This time I’m for real. I’m done.”

Panam rolled her eyes. “You say that every time.”

“Yeah, but this time I mean it.” Nancy lifted the duffel bag in her hand onto the hood. Panam stared at it, processing.

“Well, then I’ll come with you!” She stood up, but Nancy pushed her backwards.

“You gotta stay.” Nancy said. “They need you, this family will fall apart with you-”

“-Without me?! You’re like the heart and soul of this fucking clan, Nancy!”

Nancy barked out a laugh. “You know that’s not true. Especially not since…” she shook her head dismissively. “I’m a thorn in their side, Panam. Only you, Mitch, and Scorp see it any other way.”

“So you’re just gonna run away.” Panam’s voice was heavy, angry. Nancy was used to it, Panam had had a temper since she could talk.

“I’m not running.” Nancy stood up and headed towards the driver’s side of the car, pulling Panam by the wrist along with her. The distant Night City skyline illuminate the badlands like moonlight. The sparkle of windows and neon lights, the holographic images blasting out into the stratosphere like a beacon guiding Nancy towards the city. It didn’t look like running away to her. It looked like the light at the end of the tunnel. “There’s something there for me, Panam, I know it. Something… more.”

“What, we’re not enough all of a sudden?” Panam tried to keep the rage in her tone, but the cracks in her voice cut through any kind of authority she wanted to maintain.

“You know we’re not. That’s why we went out there to begin with.” Nancy sighed. “It was a mistake, the clan weren’t ready, I know. But I am. I know I am.”

Panam crossed her arms, shaking her head. “Don’t do this, Nancy. Cause I’ll never fucking forgive you for it.”

Nancy opened the car door, tossing her duffel bag onto the passengers seat. “Look out for them, okay? I’ll see you round.”

Nancy got into the car, and Panam stepped in front of the door. “No. You won’t.” Panam slammed the door shut, and turned away, flipping Nancy off as she did so.

Panam always made sure to leave people before they left her. Or, at least, tried to convince herself she did so. Usually, as kids, it would result in her reluctantly walking up to Nancy next day with a soccer ball in hand and asking if Nancy wanted to play as if the words flowing out of her mouth disgusted her. She didn’t exactly do apologies, but she could never seem to hold grudges, either. No matter how much she wanted to.

She’ll call tomorrow. Nancy thought. She always does.

But this wasn’t a stupid fight over soccer, or supplies, or clothes. Nancy was the closest thing Panam had to a sister, and vice versa. And Nancy really was going. It would be a tough thing for Panam to forgive. For the first time in Nancy’s life she doubted she even would.

She turned the radio up as high as it could go, blasting music into the quiet night. It wouldn’t be quiet for much longer, the opening between the badlands and Rancho Coronado in sight. Nancy couldn’t think about Panam. Or Mitch and Scorp, Saul, the clan, Biotechnica…

Barbara…

Instead she thought of nights in the Afterlife. Of carving her name in Night City like a tornado scar over the great plains. The people would have to make way for her. Rogue Amendiares would have to reserve a seat for her. The city was going to change. Nancy would make sure of it.

Chapter Text

“Ey! ‘ey, you there! ‘Ey, you like braindances? Feast your optics right here, yo! Got the meanest, preemest shit ever scrolled!”

Nancy shuffled up to the shouting man. He was dirty and skinny, and Nancy suspected he slept in the back alley he stood in front of. But Nancy wasn’t exactly one to judge. Sleeping in a car wasn’t much of an improvement.

“Describe meanest and preemest.” Nancy narrowed her eyes.

“Best that Night City has to offer! The most nova-specced, geeked out, turnt up virtu you eeever seen! I’m talkin’, like, transcendental!” 

Nancy shrugged. “I don’t have a wreath.”

The man laughed. “That’s no problem! This virtu’s approaching vintage grade - I doubt you’d be able to run it anyway. You can try on my rig in the back.”

“In the back?” Nancy tapped her fingers against the metal in her back pocket.

“For a price, of course.” The man grinned.

Nancy whipped the knife from her pocket, shoving the man against the small shack-like building behind him. “For a price? What price would that be?”

“Now hold up, yo!” He raised his arms nervously. “Let’s all be chill for a second! For a pretty lady like you? I’ll show you the virtu for free.”

Nancy nodded, her eyes wide. “Yeah, you fucking bet you will.” She turned the man around, pushing him against her body and keeping the knife an inch from his neck, leading him towards the door to the shack. “Open it.”

He obliged, and the second the door was open Nancy shoved her elbow into the man’s temple, knocking him against the door frame. He slumped onto the ground, sleeping soundly.

Nancy grabbed the wreath and virtu resting on the table. “The meanest and preemest, huh?”

Her first day in Night City had made it abundantly clear that people like her do not become people like Rogue. She’d always known NC had a habit of chewing people up and spitting them out, but, perhaps egotistically, Nancy always imagined she was better than that. That she could make it where others couldn’t. But sleeping in her draughty, cold car behind a factory in Arroyo her very first night in the city had left a seed of doubt in her mind. It wasn’t that she couldn’t sleep outside. Being a Nomad, it was kind of a requirement. But usually she’d fall asleep to the sounds of her family surrounding her. Mitch and Scorp snoring and murmuring in their sleep. Panam tossing and turning the way she did every night. The soft sounds of a guitar being played by the campfire.

Since entering Night City, the only thing Nancy could hear was yelling and sirens.

But she was stubborn. Frustratingly so, according to her clan. She wasn’t going to the let initial hurdle of ‘making it in Night City’ get her down. She’d, rather naively, thought a fixer at the Afterlife could get her a gig. They hadn’t even let her in the door. 

Some seedy man lurking outside the club had laughed and offered her some hopeless advice. “Go back to Lizzie’s Bar, kid. You’re better suited as a doll than a merc. Better yet? Go the fuck home.”

Nancy wasn’t one to let people tell her what to do. Especially not the kind of people who hung around outside of clubs, and not inside. And so she did neither, and begun her main ‘career’ as a lowlife pickpocket on the NCART, sticking to the stations around Japantown where the corpos were too drunk or high from a night of partying and joytoys to notice their money shards leaving their pockets. But it only paid just enough for food and a decent-enough knife. Rent money was nowhere near in sight.

Nancy hopped on the B-Line into Watson. It wasn’t exactly a great line for pickpocketing, most of the people who went into Watson didn’t have much to give. But Nancy wasn’t concerned with small amounts of eddies. According to that man in the alleyway, she was now in possession of the best virtu eddies could buy. Only she didn’t have to result to selling it on street corners like he did, she finally had a connection in NC.

Lizzie’s Bar was a Mox-owned establishment in Kabuki that primarily focused on BD production. And even if Nancy had flipped off that guy outside the Afterlife, he had still provided her with that valuable piece of information. If anyone would want the best BD Night City had to offer, it would be these girls.

“Where’s your editors?” Nancy asked the bartender.

“Who’s asking?” The bartender replied.

“Me.”

“And who are you?”

Nancy scowled. “I’m me.”

The woman next to Nancy scoffed, and swivelled around in her stool. “Relax, Mateo. I got this.” she smiled at Nancy, extending her hand. “I hear you’re looking for me.”

Nancy looked down at the woman’s hand. “Are you an editor?”

“I’m Judy.” Judy took Nancy’s hand for her, shaking it despite Nancy leaving it limp. “And yes, I am.”

“I have a virtu.” Nancy told her. “It’s, like, really nova. Thought maybe you’d wanna purchase it.”

Judy turned away. “We scroll our own virtu’s here. Sorry, not interested.”

“Oh, come on!” Nancy smiled, turning on her charm. Unfortunately, her charm was as convincing a coyote telling a mouse he wouldn’t be eaten. “You gotta trust me. This BD is, like, mind-blowing. It’ll knock your socks off.”

Judy narrowed her eyes, curiosity on her face. “What exactly is on it?”

“Only the preemest shit ever!” Nancy grinned a little too wide. “The guy who sold it to me said no one makes ‘em like this anymore.”

“The guy who sold it to you?” Judy rolled her eyes and opened up her hand, letting Nancy place the virtu on her palm. “Come on, follow me.”

Nancy could feel her adrenaline pumping. Soon the eddies would be in flowing out of her pockets. Eddies to buy an apartment. To get her noticed.

Judy led Nancy to a dingy basement underneath Lizzie’s. She had quite the setup beneath the bar, with tech Nancy couldn’t even identify. Of course, the Aldecados’ setup hadn’t exactly been preem, or even good. Endless movement and sandstorms tended to force any runner to carry light.

Judy slotted the virtu into the computer rather than any wreath and studied the screen carefully. “Thought as much.”

“What is it?”

“You’re looking to screw me over, that’s what.” Judy shook her head disapprovingly. “Get out of this club, or the Mox’ll have your head on a spike.”

“Wh-what?” Nancy took a step forward, but Judy pushed her rolling chair back. She tensed up, almost looking afraid. “O-okay. Look, I’ll be real with you. If the virtu was a scam I didn’t know. I- I mean. I kind of suspected it but… I just klepped it off a guy in an alley, okay?! I needed the eddies.”

Judy relaxed a little. “You oughta be staying away from creepy guys in alleys, okay?” she grabbed the monitor, turning it towards Nancy. “This ain’t your run of the mill pirate virtu. If I’d have watched it, it would’ve wiped me out for a day at least.”

“BD’s can do that?”

“They’re dangerous toys in the wrong hands. Whoever that guy was, he had the wrong hands.”

“Right…” Nancy dug her nails into her palm, cursing herself for everyone being stupid enough to get her hopes up. She didn’t expect the virtu to be anything other than some slightly decent porn, but off course even that was too good of a result for Night City street trash.

Judy eyed Nancy, seeing the more-than-disappointed look on her face. “You needed the eddies that desperately?”

Nancy felt the rush of red-hot energy flow from her chest to her feet. She kicked a nearby trash can - hard. In some ways, she and Panam were a little too similar. “Am I stupid? For thinking this would work?”

“This scam? Maybe a little gonk, yeah…”

“No, this. Night City. City of fucking dreams. Unless you’re anything other than a corpo in the rat race.” Nancy scoffed. 

“Preaching to the choir here.” Judy smiled. “I used to dream of running away, getting out of NC for good. Still do, sometimes.”

“Yeah, well it ain’t that great out there, either.” Nancy sighed. “Believe me.”

Judy raised her eyebrows. “Nomad, huh? I should’ve guessed. You got that fresh-faced look about you. City hasn’t beat you down yet.”

“Certainly feels like it has.” Nancy sighed. “Sleeping in my car, trawling the NCART for spare eddies, hoping to god someone doesn’t shoot me in my sleep. A part of me thinks I should just go back to the camp with my tail between my legs, but…”

“…another part of you thinks that’ll be admitting defeat.” Judy sighed. “Look, maybe I’m gonk now for suggesting this… but I have a spare room. It’s yours, just for a couple weeks. Until you find a job.”

Nancy furrowed her brow. “W-why? Why would you do that for me?”

Judy shrugged. “I get what it’s like tryna survive here on your own. In this city you need every helping hand you can get. But one sign of trouble and you’re out. I mean it.”

“Absolutely.” Nancy nodded, a little too eager. “I promise.”

“Alright.” Judy smiled. “Looks like I got myself a roommate.”

Chapter Text

Not a soul in Night City knew what the fuck a nomad actually was, or stood for. Some of the less favourable folk could barely even grasp the idea of nomads being human. Nancy had heard the conspiracies about werewolves or creatures of the night that dwell in caves and eat the scop grown in the Biotechnica Flats before it could get to the plates of the ‘upstanding citizens’ of NC. But Nancy knew none of it was true. Well, unless you’re a Wraith, in which case it probably was.

Wakako Okada was a fixer wise enough not to go shooting her mouth off about crackpot conspiracies that’ll at best have the locals roll your eyes at you and at worst have you dragged off and zero’d by a corp you probably can’t even name. She looked at Nancy with a hint of skepticism and judgement, but was far too proper to ever comment about the nomad lifestyle to anyone’s face, unless it was in that snarky passive-aggressive way most people older than fifty like to do. Nancy could best describe Wakako as the grandmother you were always a little afraid of as a child. The grandmother that sometimes was secretly just a wolf in a nightgown. But with Wakako, it wasn’t so much of a secret. Even the Tyger Claws respected her. She could ruin half their business in Japantown without so much as getting up off her seat.

Nancy would love to stick her chin up and plant her heels firmly into the ground and proclaim she wasn’t afraid of anything and anyone. But in Night City that kind of attitude would have her flatlined before her first gig even started, and she needed that gig. It was practically a miracle Wakako took on a newcomer like Nancy to begin with, and it was only because none of the experienced mercs were gonk enough to take the job.

“It’s a simple gig, really.” Wakako lied with that snake-like tone that made it clear she didn’t particularly care whether or not you believed her. “In and out.”

‘In and out’ wasn’t a good indicator on how simple a gig would be. You could be in and out of a room full of kittens or lions. Only the latter would have your limbs leave at different times. And Nancy would probably take lions over a Maelstrom den in Northside. But this was Nancy’s first gig. She could take or leave the eddies she made, but the respect? The glowing recommendation from the Wakako Okada? She needed it.

So Nancy locked her knees to stop them from shaking, and swallowed the lump in her throat and said, “Yes, ma’am.”

Wakako glanced at her quickly, and Nancy saw a thin smile spread across her lips briefly. She was damn good at reading people, fifty years in the biz sort of required it. She didn’t care whether Nancy respected her. She cared whether Nancy pretended to. A merc pretending to respect someone was much more valuable. It meant they had no problem sucking up to the right people, and no problem stabbing them in the back immediately after.

“Of course,” Okada continued. “You’ll be accompanied by another one of my… newer mercenaries.”

Nancy narrowed her eyes, glancing around the small, dimly lit box room as if this ‘newer mercenary’ were lurking in the shadows somewhere. “S-sorry? May I ask why?”

Wakako sighed sharply. “It would be a shame to lose you so soon, no? To a Maelstrom bullet, or your own stupidity. Most likely the latter.” Wakako glanced up from her desk to meet Nancy’s eyes. “You both have promise. I intend not to waste it… until you give me reason to. Understand?”

Nancy had no choice but to understand, and so she got in her dinky Galena and headed across the bridge into Watson, making her way to the outskirts of Northside. Once more or less parked, Nancy readied herself for introductions with this new ‘partner’, pulling out her phone and scrolling through her contacts. Before she could get to ‘R’, the phone chirped, and a text popped onto the screen.

ROBIN: heyyy choom! seems as if we’re working together :D would you mind picking me up from the Eisenhower St NCART? unfortunately i do not have a car…

Nancy rolled her eyes. Any idea of this new partner being any kind of help quickly vanished.

NANCY: the station is ages away is there seriously not one closer

ROBIN: write to mayor rhyne and ask for better public transit??

NANCY: call a delamain

ROBIN: you know me well enough by now to know that’s not affordable

Nancy muttered a ‘Jesus Christ’ under her breath and dragged herself back into her car, across Watson, and into the parking lot of the NCART station. A lanky, blonde-ish girl bounded up to her with a stupid grin on her face, tripping over the curb a few feet away from the car and stumbling to stop her fall. Nancy might not have been able to tell Wakako what she really thought of this situation, but Robin had no power over her.

“You don’t look like a merc.” Nancy stated. “I don’t want to work with someone inexperienced.”

Robin got into the passenger seat without hesitation. “Inexperienced? Coming from the girl who’s never done a gig in her life? Okada talked to us both, gonk.”

“Fine.” Nancy huffed. “You don’t look like someone who could be a merc. You’re too…” she gestured to Robin’s general demeanour. Sort of an excited puppy dog mixed with an anxious, antsy cat.

Robin looked Nancy up and down. “Probably not wise to piss off the one person who isn’t going to try and zero you in the next hour.”

Nancy was stubborn. Stubborn enough to rather brave the scav den alone than with anyone else. But it wasn’t like she had a choice, and so Nancy bit her tongue and drove herself and Robin into the depths of Northside.

Robin’s eyes darted across the landscape as she worried her lip between her teeth. It was clear she’d never made it north of Little China before.“Shouldn’t we be doing this in the dark? Thieves in the night… silent and stealthy.”

“This is Northside.” Nancy replied. “More populated when the sun’s gone down. Trust me.”

“Oh?” Robin raised her eyebrows, curiosity all over her face. “A local, are we? Your eyes don’t exactly have that classic Maelstrom glow but maybe you’re made of metal underneath that skin.”

Nancy scoffed. “No, just… I do my research. I’m- I’m not from around here.”

Robin grinned, once again eyeing Nancy up and down, as if her general demeanour and clothing could give away any kind of new information. It didn’t seem to yield any results. “So, where are you from?”

Nancy hummed. Telling anyone in NC that she came from a Nomad clan never exactly resulted in a casual, happy reaction. It was either fear or anger. But Nancy figured it would be good if Robin feared her. And maybe equally good if Robin was angry (and hopefully took it out on any threats that weren’t Nancy).

“Badlands. Aldecados. Formerly.” Nancy responded, making sure to keep her eyes fixed on the road to avoid whatever expression Robin’s face would make.

There was a beat of silence, and Nancy had the nerve to glance to her right. Robin’s face was… still curious, and almost in awe. “Nova! I’ve always wanted to cruise across the continent, city to city, meeting all kinds of people. No rules, no taxes, no corps or badges puppeteering your life. Was it fun?”

“For a time.” Nancy sighed. “But even Nomads aren’t immune to control. Half the clans these days either sell out to Biotechnica or join Snake Nation. I wanted to get away.”

“But Night City? I mean… this place is a corpo’s paradise? Is it not just jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire?”

“Maybe, but at least I have some semblance of independence, instead of going anywhere the clan wanted me to.”

Robin laughed. “And now you go wherever Okada wants you to. Which includes picking me up from the NCART station aaallll the way across town.”

Nancy couldn’t help but chuckle. “Yeah, she’s got me in her pocket. For now. But once I get enough eddies, get a spot in the Afterlife, hell, maybe even become a fixer. Then no one can control me.”

A flash of doubt appeared on Robin’s face, but it disappeared quickly. “I get it. We’re not too different, actually. I left my home for the idea of independence, too.” Robin sighed. “I’m from Dogtown. No further questions.”

It took Nancy by surprise. So much surprise she slammed on the brakes a little too hard as she pulled up beside the scav den. Of all the people she’d met, both on the road and in Night City, she’d never met anyone from Dogtown. She never thought she would at all. From what she knew it was practically a fortress - a city within a city. No one comes in, and no one comes out. 

“A lot of further questions.” Nancy said. As tempted as she was to ask them, she had a job to do. “But we’re here.”

Robin stared ahead at the den, looking more nervous than ever. “Oh! Preem… uh… okay. What now?”

Nancy stepped out of the car, and watched as Robin, who was quite twitchy and frantic, got out too. “You can’t be that scared, right? Isn’t Dogtown crawling with those Barghest guys?”

Robin shrugged. “They don’t bother you unless you bother them. When you grow up there you get really good at not bothering them. I’ve seen what happens when you do enough times.” Robin cocked a handgun Nancy hadn’t noticed she was carrying. She drew her attention back to the plots of abandoned factories surrounding them. “Creepy fucking place.”

“Can’t argue with that.”

“And full of people who’ll turn me into a borg just for the fun of it.” Robin pointed to a Maelstrom-tagged van parked in front of the den. “Do we wait for them to leave?” 

Nancy shook her head. “Nah, this place is crawling with them, their drugs and weapons supply comes from here. It’s the closest thing to a place of work Maelstrom has. I don’t think we’ll ever catch a time when there isn’t at least a couple.”

“At least if they’re out of it, then it shouldn’t be too hard to sneak by?” Robin asked hopefully.

“Maelstrom is fond of Black Lace, and that shit tends to do the exact opposite than have them ‘out of it’.” Nancy replied. “Increases adrenaline, decreases pain. Increases the likelihood they’ll decapitate us just for looking at them wrong.”

Robin laughed. The loud, stilted laugh of someone who really didn’t want to be laughing, but had nothing else left to do.

The laugh was interrupted by a phone call. Okada ready to brief the girls on the finer details of the gig. Fixers tended to get their mercs to the right location before telling them what they were actually there for. It made the merc less likely to back out after hearing what it was.

“Nancy, Robin,” Okada greeted the two through the phone. “This gig comes to us after a Militech employee ‘misplaced’ a convoy containing valuable tech. Internal Affairs feel it’s in their best interest not only to keep this tech out of the hands of Maelstrom, but their… conflict of interest… out of the public eye, too. Hence why we were called rather than any of their own men. Please return the tech to us in safe condition… and discreetly. Good luck to you.”

Robin and Nancy stared at each other for a good few seconds before one had the balls to speak up. “This is the kind of gig she gives newcomers?” Robin asked. “I’d hate think what she gives her more experienced mercs.”

“Because no experienced merc is gonk enough to take this gig for this amount of eddies. Maelstrom and Militech? Whether we succeed or fail this gig, we’re going to be pissing off at least one dangerous group of people.” Nancy replied.

“And we’re getting paid how much?”

“Not enough.” Nancy sighed. “But it’s about reputation, right? We do this, and we do this well. And then we’ll be sipping cocktails in the Afterlife with, like, Rogue, and Dexter DeShaun. Living the dream.”

“Your dream.” Robin scoffed. “Mine’s just to get out of this dump. I’m just tryna make the eddies to do so.”

The doorway into the abandoned factory made a horrifying screech and Nancy gently nudged it open. Admittedly, more nervous than she’d ever let on to Robin. But this was it. This was the beginning of the rest of her life. And Robin’s. “Alright… choom. After you.”