I sat there in the elevator, as it slowly descended towards the garage. I rested my forehead on my one knee that was arched up, the other rested on the ground. Jackie glanced over to me every so often. He knew the mission was long and exhausting. I wondered how long it would take just to get home? I knew the distance and time, but it seemed as if time became shallow and slow. Thankfully maintenance changed the bulb, otherwise this wouldn't of been the best if the elevator broke down.

"Listen, chica. I have got this thing. Mind if I borrow your wheels?" I raised an eyebrow at Jackie's request. I didn't know if I should lend him the Quadra Turbo-r . Though I knew he wouldn't destroy it. He was civilised enough to take care of something valuable to me.

"Huhhh..." I trailed off trying to decide if this was the best idea or not.

"I have a date with Misty, but... heh, I can't take the Metro! How's that gonna look for me?" Jackie replied with a sheepish laugh.

"Won't leave you hangin' Jack. I'll do it this once because I know you're trying to impress Misty. Don't get use to it though." I sighed. Jackie's eyes lit up immediately when I agreed with him.

"Aah, savin' my ass, Ronin, thank you. How about I drive you home?" Jackie praised my choices. I gave him a half smile and a simple nod. He could tell I was burnt out.

"She's all yours. I'm beat as it is." I replied to Jackie.

Jackie crossed his arms and leaned against the wall of the elevator.

"Oh, almost forgot. Maybe you should give Breanne's boss Wakoko a call. Tell her the job's finished and you found her alive." Jackie piped up. I exhaled a deep sigh, I dialled up Wakoko. She was apart of the corpo's in a way, but she was also a fixer. She'd keep all the gang wars and the gangs of Night city in line. 

I waited a couple of minutes for her to pick up. She was a very calm, collective, confident, and wise women. 

"Ahem, Ronin. How did it go? Our client is alive and well?" She questioned with a croaky voice.

"'Course Breanne is alive and well. The other two were long gone, managed to save one. That's what we agreed on, isn't it?" I questioned, explaining to her very shallow details on the rundown of this mission.

"Splendid, your pay awaits you- ready to grab when your ready, or even right away. But I guess home is the only place you'd wish be now. The NCPD have surrounded Watson. The district is closed, only if you move to the cordon, you must be fast if you don't want to be on the wrong side of the city when lock down happens." Wakoko warned me. The elevator finally reached the main floor.

"Thanks for the heads up, I'll swing by later." I replied. 

The call was cut short, "Word's out the NCPD's  gonna put Watson on lockdown. If I'm going to sleep in my own bed tonight, we better put it in fifth gear." I exhaled a deep sigh and jogged over to the passengers side.

"Leave it to me, chica. I'm drivin'." Jackie replied, as he quickly rounded the front of the sports car and into the drivers side.

Jackie started up the vehicle and manoeuvred it out of the lot.

My attention slowly shifted to the night sky of the city. Neon signs flickered, while decent rap music played on the radio. I took the time to have a smoke. I fished through my jacket pockets and dragged out a pack of cigarettes. I flipped the lid, revealing it to be my last cigarette...

I rolled down the window and lit the cigarette. Citizens continued on with their day, it seemed somewhat normal. I took a deep drag of the cigarette and exhaled the smoke. The ember gave off a vibrant flicker. 

"Can't stop diggin' Night city." Jackie broke the silence between us.

"City like any other, just bigger." I replied, flicking the ash off the end of the cigarette in the Pepsi can. Jackie made a right-hand turn onto another road when he saw traffic was up ahead.

"Nah, chica. Not just any other city. Morgan Blackhand, Andrew Weyland, Adam Smasher. Legends are born here...Man I'm stravin', lets grab a tight-bite to eat. Whaddaya say?" Jackie questioned.

I furrowed my brows before answering, "Jackie, they're locking down Watson, 'member? And if you don't want to miss your date with Misty, I suggest we continue." I reminded Jackie of our situation knowing that Jackie sometimes trails off to what his stomach is telling him.

"Ah shit you're right...Is it just me or?" Jackie's gaze shifted instantly over to his side mirror. I watched Jackie's expression turn from calm to concerned. 

"Ah, I fuck'n knew it! Van on our ass, tailin' us." Jackie warned me. My stomach twisted, I trusted my gut that Jackie wasn't paranoid in this situation. I turned my head over my shoulder and noticed the beige colour van.

The van switched lanes and caught in front of us. Jackie gripped the steering wheel tightly.

"I don't like this, Ronin. Not one tiny bit." Jackie admitted.

My hand immediately shifted over to my pistol. Jackie handed me a new clip. I reloaded my gun, then at the exact direct timing the back doors of the van opened. I immediately ducked when bullets started to impact the windsheild.

"Scavs! The harvesting Motherfuckers who kidnapped those girls!" Jackie hollered in anger. My blood boiled when bullets deflected and impacted the vehicle.

"And I just had it waxed!" I yelled in anger.

I leaned out the window, when we started to go down hill. Jackie slowed down the speed as I propped myself onto the edge of the door. I tightly held onto the bar at the top of the Quadra.

I started to open fire, "Fuck'n drive Jackie!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. The van made a sharp turn, Jackie identically matched their method of escaping. They tried to shake us off of their tail. I kept the fire going, I took out two in the back.

"Shoot, Ronin! Just shoot!" Jackie yelled as another vehicle hit the breaks nearly colliding into us. We received an angry honk from the driver. Jackie made a sharp turn, the rubber screamed in the process.

"Can't! Keep her steady, Jackie!" I warned him, making sure I we wouldn't end up dead.

I kept the shooting at the third man at the back of the van. Immediately I hit him, he slumped down onto the pavement. Jackie quickly went around the body on the road.

Suddenly the van made a left hand turn into a different lane. That lane led up ahead and connected with the main road of the roundabout.

"Hold tight, Ronin!" Jackie warned. I gripped onto the vehicle. Feeling gravity pull me as Jackie put the petal to the metal. The vehicle hopped the curb and nearly hit one man.

The Quadra caught up to the van, neck and neck.

"Haha! Got you asshole!" Jackie joked. A smirk tugged from the corner of my lip.

"Ronin! Aim for the driver!" Jackie added. Suddenly the passenger side door slid open revealing a man with a massive gun. He opened fire, I felt a sharp pain graze my arm.

"AHHH!" I yelled in pain, still managing to hold on. I aimed for the driver and took a couple of shots. The driver's head bounced onto the steering wheel. The van went flying into the doors of a cheap Hotel. A massive, thunderous, explosion flared up the side of the building.

"Fuck..." Jackie mumbled. I slowly slumped myself back into my seat. The leather squeaked in the response. My eyes searched for my cigarette, as I couldn't stop thinking about the pain of my arm. I held a gentle grip against the wound, attempting to make a blood clot to the opening of the wound. A frustrated growl escaped my lips when my cigarette was nowhere to be seen.

"Fuck'n Scavengers." I grumbled under my breath.

"Scratched your baby up pretty bad, Ronin, sorry." Jackie replied with guilty voice. He exhaled a disappointed sigh as I examined the damage. Holes in the windshield, holes in the seats. Holes and scratches on the doors and possibly the hood. Cracks in the windshield. I thought he would take care of it. But I guess it wasn't his fault, we were attacked.

"Agh, it's okay. Lets just focus on getting home." I said with a calm voice, masking my anger.

Relief washed over me when my gaze shifted over to the bridge that was up ahead. The bridge blinked a red light over the advertisement bar. Upahead I spotted a bunch of Police Cars blocking the road.

"Shit I guess they're blocking all of the stops..." Jackie mumbled.

A female NCPD Officer rounded the front of the vehicle when we came to a halt.

"Watson's on lockdown 'till further notice. This is just necessary security measure." The women greeted us at the drivers window. I happen to notice the massive robots that had guns to obliterate the entire half of the City.

"Officer, Ma'am! Are we lucky we ran into you!" Jackie said with a encouraging voice.

"Really...What's it that makes me so special?" She questioned with a sour and emotionless tone. It seemed like she sorta caught Jackie's bullshit.

"Ah...A heart o' gold! Somebodies gotta have a heart o' gold can understand how much I need to get back to my girl." Jackie tried to smoothly talk his way through, though it seemed like he was having some troubles.

"Your girl?" The Officer questioned, her gaze shifted over to me and back to Jackie. 

"Uh-huh, she's gonna be worried sick if I don't return. I mean I'm trying to be a stand up guy, she's giving me a chance, waiting." Jackie cooperated with the Officer better then I expected.

"Hm, that's a shame..." The Officer sighed with guilt, following her code by keepin' us back even longer.

"Look at 'im. No model citizen, maybe, but he's a good kid." I piped up. The Officer gave me a simple nod, ignoring the bullet holes in the vehicle and everything. Maybe she thought that we were caught in a cross fire. The rain started to pick up and drizzled down the side of the windows.

"Let 'em through. But they're the last." The Officer ordered. The vehicles immediately drove safely to the side, enough for us to get through.

"You two stay safe, now don't keep your girl waiting any longer." The Officer explained, allowing us to proceed. 

"You have a good evening, now, Officer, Ma'am..." Jackie awkwardly praised the Cop.

Jackie proceeded down the empty bridge. A smirk tugged at the corner of my lip.

"What's so funny?" Jackie questioned with a smile.

"She took a liken' to ya." I answered.

"The devotion I demonstrated to her grabbed her by the gut." Jackie lied. 

I chuckled, "Riight." I trailed off with a devilish grin.

"I'm loyal, stable in my own affections..."

"Mmhhhmm." I bugged Jackie.

"And Unassuming I get it." Jackie replied, taking another turn.

I spotted a ton of movement upahead. "Get out of the car, now!" A man screamed, enough for Jackie and I to here. Two people had their hands behind their heads, and one women with pink and blue hair over her eye, dropped her gun. She had mask over half of her face.

"Check it out, shit's goin' down..." Jackie whispered.

"Get on the ground now!" The man screamed at the women. Then he took her gun and shot two of the men that were associated with the women.

"Now its your turn." He yelled.

"Jackie! Gun it, now!" I yelled

Jackie obeyed my call and switched the gear into fifth. I shot at the dude. He ducked and lunged towards the mail canister.

"Hey! Hop in!" I yelled to the women. She gave me a simple nod as a 'thank you.' She hopped into the passenger side in the back. 

A massive flying convoy floated over to the scene as sirens went off. Jackie made a sharp turn, losing them in the process.

"This doesn't look like your average bust..." I mumbled to Jackie.

"'Cause it ain't your average badges, this is the NCDP - apex predators of the City. Mtac rolls in when things fly outta hand. This is just a middy snack for 'em." Jackie explained.

"Welp thankfully the show's over. Bastards didn't deserve any of that comin'." Jackie added, gripping the steering wheel with a vicious grip.

I turned my head over my shoulder and looked at the women. Her eyes glowed a particular way and it was mysterious. The dim light of her eyes shown a scar that was across her eye.

Something about this women was alluring and mysterious, a story was hidden behind her unreadable expression.

"Hey, what's your name and what did they want with you?" I questioned, her gaze shifted from the window and over to me.

She was silent at first then answered, "I'm Ross..." She said quietly, lending out a hand. I gladly shook it.

"Nice to meet you, Ross. Where do you live? We can drop you off wherever you like."

"River-heights. Apartment complex 2-2-7. Thomas's probably worried..." She mumbled the last part. Then something clicked in my mind. Thomas...Where have I heard that name...

Oh!

Thomas the Bounty Hunter that covered me at the Red Dirt, when the crossfire was getting out of hand.

"Your with Thomas? Thomas Cage?" I questioned.

"Indeed I am." She answered, wiping the thick beads of sweat off from her forehead.

"Oh by the way, I'm Ronin, Ronin Silverjynx-"

"I know who you are, Ronin. I saw you briefly at the concert, sorry about the blood..." She started to mumble. I furrowed my brows. What did she mean blood? My curiosity was telling me something...

"Blood? You didn't cause the shoot out, Ross."

"It was an assassination." She said quietly.

"Where were you at the time? In the crowd or long gone, when the people started getting popped off." Jackie interrogated her.

"It doesn't matter, the man in the blue suit would of killed Johnny or even you, Ronin. It all would depend if they took you as hostage then executed you after they got what they wanted." Ross answered with a deep sigh.

I swallowed thickly before answering, "You were the Sniper that took him out?" I questioned.

"Indeed I am." She answered. My stomach twisted at the memory, it wouldn't get out of my head. 

"Alright, lets just get you two home, before anything else happens on the streets." Jackie suggested. This was something impossible to flee from. I may never get rid of it in my mind, but soon enough I'll have to learn to live with it, for my sake. Ross was a wildcard, I was somewhat paranoid that she sat behind my seat. She could end me in one shot, one slice, even use the seat-belt I wore to choke me out. But I went with that gut feeling, if she was truely with Thomas then I can trust her.