Thinking about post-game star ending. Where V is still very much dying and the Family is doing everything they can- hitting up their connections, doing extra jobs wherever they roam to gain intel on how to cure V’s condition. Judy is afraid. She promised herself to not get attached to another person after Evelyn died and yet she fell for a charming, dying Solo. Panam is furious. At herself, for feeling useless at every dead end to save her best friend. At Johnny, Rogue, Arasaka, Saul... the list goes on. Sometimes she’s even angry at V, for being stupid and tangling herself up in the mess she’s seeping deep in. To which she eventually, succumbs to.
Judy is lost. Panam is distraught. The family is mourning. V is dead. Judy barely makes eye contact with Panam. She works with Carol during the day, eats alone, then retires to her tent. Panam forces herself to get swallowed by her work. Got no time to be sad if I bury myself in work, she thinks. But one night, Judy can’t sleep and neither can Panam. She is sitting on top of the Basilisk alone, shot-gunning beer bottles and chucking them when empty. Judy cautiously approaches her and sits beside Panam, in the spot V sat the night they left Night City. Panam doesn’t say anything at first, and neither does Judy. They just look at the horizon in front of them, at the sleeping deadlands and the wistful starry sky. Judy grabs a bottle, chugs it, and throws it forward. Panam’s slightly surprised but smirks.
“You know, V once got so drunk that she thought “shooting bottles” meant throwing them at the gunman- instead of the gunman shooting the bottles. Cassidy was so bruised the next day.”
Judy lets out a little chuckle.
“Yeah, I believe that. We once spent an entire day drunk texting each other from opposite ends of the couch. The same couch. That damn gonk. Well, gonks, because I guess I was apart of that.”
Panam and Judy continue this back and forth until sunrise. They’re lying on their backs next to each other, making grand gestures as they describe historic moments. Judy snorts when she laughs. Panam’s laugh comes from deep within her belly. As if on cue, the laughter dies down and Judy starts speaking, softly.
“I miss her a lot.”
“I miss her a lot too.”
“I’m sure she’s laughing along with us, you know.”
“That or getting majorly pissed. Which is still a plus in my books.”
They both smile and turn to face each other. They manage to make their eyes meet, for the first time.
