\+/ Tales From Night City \+/ Chapter 56 - Breaking me

  BugBear reaches down and helps Brian slowly stagger to his feet. Without a thought, she gives him a big hug... burying her face in his chest with her eyes closed, holding him tightly. This causes Brian to hug and hold her even tighter... resting his cheek on top of her head, getting blood all over her while breathing in pain and heavy exhaustion.

  Its clear the pair are more than just relieved to see each other alive... they genuinely embrace the feeling of safety brought about by trust and familiarity. Giving each other sudden comfort... relief in a place surrounded by violence and death. A testament to their strong, growing bond and trust with one another... they share a very genuine, human moment together.

  They hear the sound of the door to the room slide open... they both look over.

  Netty slowly walks in... stepping over a dead merc with concern plastered on his face... filled with adrenaline, clutching tightly onto that DR5 Nova. When he sees Brian, it causes him to breakdown... completely racked with guilt not knowing what happened to the crew in his absence. He can't help but feel the heavy weight of responsibility having not been there... he frantically stumbles over his words as Brian slowly approaches him.

  "B-Brian.. I didn't... I... I was- I don't-"

  "Come here kid." Brian whispers in a deep tone as he yanks Netty in to his chest for a hug.

  "I'm sorry..." Netty's voice cracks... flustered while being held tight. "We-"

  "-Tell me about it later. Zaunya and Audrey... we have to find them." Brian says cutting him off, still gathering himself.

  BugBear searches the body of the headless merc, using her boot to kick him over and check his pockets not finding anything useful. She stands up and responds. "Their trackers have been deaded. Last ping was this same location like yours... bad sign."

  "Then they're not here. We have to get to them... Now." Brian says as they hear the door to the room slide open again causing Netty to quickly turn around, yank back the hammer and aim his DR5 Nova. His wrist is quickly swatted down and grabbed by Brian, causing a loud skin slapping noise as the 2 look at Carter enter through the door. With fresh wounds and blood still running down the side of his head, hes gathered all of his gear they had stashed in the hotel including his signature black leather trench coat with a high collar. He steadily limps in... speaking in his normal, fast talking monotone.

  "Easy kid. One's ya gotta worry about've already been fried." He says with his palm out in front of them before he turns his attention to Brian. He steps past Netty up to Brian and hands him his Blood Red, Crimson Nue with direct eye contact. "Yours if i recall." Brian grabs his Iron and checks the magazine before he tucks it. Carter glances back at Netty, then over to BugBear. "Found em?" He asks looking at Brian.

  "Not yet... Not all of em."

  Carter raises his eyebrows in surprise. "Big crew huh. Takin' applications?" He says stepping past Brian, checking out the spattering of blood and debris in the room.

  Suddenly, they all hear the sound of someone moaning in pain out in the halls of the hotel causing them to look at the hallway outside the room. Brian quickly steps past Netty and Carter out into the hallway as they follow. He sees a badly wounded merc crawling up the hallway away from them streak-dragging blood.

  The merc reaches for a rifle just out in front of him before having his wrist stepped on by Brian's heavy boot, causing him to squeal loudly in pain. Brian then rolls the merc over onto his back and yanks him up with force by his chest.

  A short time has passed, and the group is next seen together in the same room Brian was once being held in. They've sat the barely conscious merc onto the same metal chair Brian once sat in not too long ago. As he sits there covered in wounds, bloody and stunned the group posts up in various spots in the room. After briefly checking the halls a final time, Carter rests a boot up on a stool with his arms crossed, leaned up against a wall. Netty squats down near another wall with BugBear standing next to him with her arms crossed. Brian slowly paces back and forth as you hear the heavy thumps of his boots one after the other. He takes a deep breath while rubbing his eyes with fresh blood running from the knife wound in his hand... he sits down in a chair directly across from the merc.

  "I saw you... you watched them bring us here." Brian mutters in a monotone causing the merc to look up at him.

  The merc gathers himself and spits on the ground near Brian's feet. Brian immediately slaps him in the face hard with his wounded hand, smearing his blood across the goon's face... he continues in the same calmed and flat tone.

  "There were 2 other women brought here with me-"

  "-FFUCK YOU!!!" The merc screams through his bloody teeth causing Brian to slap him again even harder... the violent thud causes the merc to let out a painful grunt... sending blood flying and nearly knocking him out of the metal chair. The brutality makes BugBear instinctually turn away... Carter raises his eyebrows with a chuckle.

  "Where are they." Brian says in the same calm tone with an emotionless gaze glaring at him.

  The merc says nothing... staring at Brian with murder in his eyes. Brian stands up over the merc with a brief silence... the look they exchange clearly says everything that the both of them need to know.

  Brian turns back and looks at Carter. "Shake the place." He says causing Carter to promptly head for the doorway.

  He then steps over to BugBear and places the palm of his hand on her back, leans in and whispers something into her ear.

  She looks at him with hesitation and discomfort... seeing a different man she knows and understands, but doesn't fully recognize as she nods in agreement at the unheard directions. Brian takes a last look at the now confused merc before exiting the room with Carter... BugBear slowly approaches him with her arms crossed.

  As Brian and carter clear rooms, they find no one... anyone with their legs still underneath them no doubt used them. Each room housed remnants of different stories. Dried blood, scattered equipment and shredded clothing littered most of them. As Brian enters one of the many dark rooms throughout the halls he hears the sounds of someone struggling to breathe and spitting up pooled blood causing him to look over with iron drawn.

  He sees a young woman he doesn't recognize... she's been badly beaten and tortured... laying in her shredded clothing near a corner of the room nearby chain restraints. He lowers his iron as he slowly steps toward the woman... she coughs up blood and struggles to breathe as he gets down on his knees and gently cradles her in his arms.

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  "Hey... h-hey... shh... it's ok.. shh.. shh... its ok" He whispers in a soft tone. She coughs up more blood as her eyes open wide to Brian cradling her... she reaches for him as she struggles to speak through pooled blood running out of her mouth. The various cuts and bruises have done their job of ruining a beautiful face, owned by the petite and frail young woman. His adrenaline fueled, racing mind can't help but recognize the feint resemblance she has to Marilyn in the darkness... this triggers him to see her face on the young lady in an intense, onset moment of post traumatic stress. The sudden feeling of Marilyn... once again in his arms... breaks him... he starts to mutter in a deep, soft tone... holding the unknown young lady extremely tight. "No... no no no don't do this to me baby... don't do this to me please no... don't do this to me... please..." The unfamiliarity in her voice abruptly snaps him out of his episode as he struggles to refocus and catch his breath.

  "They... th-they took them... all.. th-they... they k-... killed.. all... all of us." She forces out of her mouth filled with blood... gasping for air with distress on her face. Brian stares deep into her eyes as pain and emotion overwhelm her. She grips Brian by the collar of his jacket... holding him tight and spitting up more blood. The memory of Graves' death causes him to grab and hold onto her even tighter.

  "K-... Kill them... K-Kill... k-..kill them all huh... D-.. Don't...Don't let them... Don't let them do this... again" She struggles to say filled with emotion as she begins to convulse. Her gasps for air become sporadic before her grip on Brian's jacket slowly loosens and she quietly fades away in his arms.

  Brian lays the young lady down gently. As her head turns to the side... a single tear trails out of her lifeless eyes down her bloody cheek...

  Brian gently closes them... placing her hands across her chest... sitting in the long, dead silence of the moment with her.

  The ever present white noise of the environment rests somberly alongside the pair shrouded in darkness... just.... another soul... quietly claimed within the darkness of Night City.

  "Yo, found nothin downstai-" Carter says as he quickly thumps in and sees Brian cradling the now lifeless young lady. "Shit." He mutters... a look of disbelief on his face.

  Brian glances back over his shoulder at him before looking back down at the woman. "Didn't know her."

  "Oh fuck.." Carter says in exhale with a sigh of relief

  "We have to find them." Brian says in a serious tone Carter's never heard while he stares down at the young woman.

  "Holy shit..." Netty whispers to himself under his breath with shock on his face... looking on at BugBear connected directly into the restrained merc's neuro socket. The merc screams in immense pain as his body twitches uncontrollably and his intense flailing breaks his restraints. His eyes roll into the back of his head as he nearly falls out of the chair... the bones in his fingers break from the cyberware in the palms of his hands gripping the chair with augmented force, completely locked from the pain. BugBear quickly grabs him by the throat and pins him to the chair... gritting her teeth with her eyes glowing red. As she increases the intensity of the hack, Netty looks on both intimidated and aroused as he begins to see the variety of her true nature; What shes capable of, and what shes willing to do. In the netrunning world... getting this hands on can be quite the rare sight. He says nothing and continues to look on in slight discomfort... and a desire to see what happens next.

  Brian and Carter re-enter the room and are taken aback by the screaming merc and relentless brutality of BugBear's methods. Brian looks over at Netty with a 'what the fuck?' expression on his face. Netty returns the look with a 'I have no fuckin' idea' expression on his face.

  "Haha, holy shit..." Carter says under his breath with a smirk... raising his eyebrows impressed. He casually walks back over to his spot in the room.

  "Bear..?" Brian says walking up to her. She ignores him as the sound of the merc's screams of agonizing pain fill the room.

  "BEAR!" Brian shouts over the merc's screaming as he places a hand on BugBear's shoulder causing her to glance back at him with her red eyes. She takes a final look at the merc and reluctantly unplugs from his neurosocket, relieving the pressure as he lets out a scared, painful whimper.

  She stands over him with her fists clenched.

  "Piece of shit.." She mutters under her breath as she steps away and Brian gets in between them. As the merc tries to re-gather himself, Brian grabs him by the throat further straining his ability to breathe.

  "WHERE! ARE THEY..." Brian says forcefully with gritted teeth, pulling the merc in close.

  "C-c..crss street" The merc gurgles

  "What? What did ya SAY!?" Brian says with angst, grabbing the mercs shirt and releasing some of the pressure on his neck.

  "C-cr...Cross... the street" The merc says in exhale.

  Brian instantly lets go of him and takes a step back, causing the merc to nearly fall out of his chair and vomit all over himself. Smoke rising from the various ports in his cooking skin.

  Brian looks over at BugBear... she immediately storms out of the room completely pissed off with fire in her eyes.

  As Brian starts to quickly follow behind her, he stops and takes a glance at Netty directly in the eyes with a stern expression.

  "Kid."

  Netty looks over at him.

  "Zero em." Brian says in a dead tone, looking the merc up and down before leaving the room behind BugBear. Carter with uncertainty on his face glances at Brian, then at Netty before he quickly follows Brian out of the room... leaving Netty alone with the dying merc.

  Netty's heart drops at the given order. Although hes flatlined his fair share of gonks, pulling the trigger with iron in hand is a completely different story. Something hes never done before, and something his father made sure he knew all too well what the differences are. Netty gulps and takes a deep breath while clutching on tightly, and looking down at that DR5 Nova... then at the subdued merc. The bloodied merc, still completely stunned, raises his head and gets a look at Netty's uncertain face.

  Netty steps in front of the merc and slowly raises the DR5 Nova up to his face with his hand shaking.

  "N-NO NO! PLEASE! P-PLEASE!!" The merc screams causing Netty to flinch... he lowers the iron slightly.

  A look of fear and uncertainty washes over him as he listens to the dying Merc unexpectedly begging... pleading for his life with heavy emotion... his voice desperate.

  "P-PLEASE choom! I- I've got kids! I got a family out there y'know! Waiting for me to come home! They... they told me to... th-they've... they've been trying to call me! PLEASE! J-Just let me go! I'll leave NC for good yeah!? Y-You'll never see me again! I swear choom! PLEASE! T-THIS AIN'T HUMAN MAN! PLEASE!"

  With the DR5 Nova halfway raised... Netty's hand shakes uncontrollably. With his eyes wide open he breaks out into a sweat and begins to panic... nearly hyperventilating.

  Before he can gather himself fully, he hears the sound of heavy footsteps approaching from behind and the safety of a gun clicking off. Before he can even turn around, multiple booming gunshots are unloaded into the merc causing Netty to flinch and fall down out of the way, covering his head.

  Netty looks up to see Carter standing over the now dead merc full of bullet holes and slowly rising smoke. After a brief pause, he speaks.

  "First ones always the hardest." Carter says... his back turned to Netty.

  "It ain't the first one ya gotta worry about-" He continues with a offered hand... helping Netty up to his feet, still flustered and gathering himself.

  "-Its how easy the rest happen after that." He says looking Netty in the eyes. Netty returns the look trying to calm himself.

  "Worry about that... before it starts." He concludes... giving the dead merc a final look before exiting the room.

  Netty stares at the dead merc leaking blood out of his head and chest with disbelief... fading to black.