9 A soft breakdown, Name of the girl?

She stood there, her fist shaking, shifting a bit David sat onto the shower chair and just raised his hands to hold Rebecca's clenched fist.

Her hands shook, before slowly her arms, then her shoulder as tears began to spill out of her eyes as she began to cry.

Hiccuping slightly as David pulled her forward, hugging her to his chest as he simply sat there beneath the hot water while holding her as she cried.

Her fists balled up against his chest, only slowly relaxing as she continued to cry into him, after a few minutes of this she began to calm down.

Her breathing steadied out slowly as her body fell more against him, lifting her up to have her sit onto his leg, making sure his junk didn't touch her as he continued to hug her.

Eventually, she leaned into him completely, relaxing into him.

After a few minutes of silence, she said quietly. ''If you tell anyone I cried over that, I'll ice you.''

David chuckled before asking, adding a hint of confusion to his voice. ''Crying? I just saw the water running down your face as we shared a shower after murdering some gonks to celebrate our first kiss.''

She laughed softly, whispering into his chest as she continued to lean into him. ''...Preem...''

After a few more minutes of that, she slowly pushed herself away from him, sitting back onto his knee as she stared at him. ''What do we do with her?''

David sighed, raising a hand as he scratched the back of his head in thought. ''Albert can't take her... We can't take her in either, not with how the crew operates... Wait... I might have someone, let me get him on the Holo.''

David leaned his head back, Rebecca watching him as his eyes started to glow.

The soft tone played, before it connected, hearing an older voice over the line.

<David? It's good to hear from you Son... I heard about what happened to Gloria, she was a blessed woman, a real angel in this bleak world... I'm sorry to hear about it...>

<Hello, Father, I'm sorry I didn't contact you earlier, but I need some help.>

There was a soft chuckle over the holo. <Of course David... What can I do for you, you need some money, a job maybe? I got some dock workers looking for some extra helpers.> P

<No no, I need you to take in a stray... She's a record case Padre.>

<Hmm... A stray? Of course... I may not be a 'Father' anymore, but I refuse to see a child suffer... How bad was it?> P

<I don't know, but she's still got some fight in her.>

<Fights good, means she hasn't given up yet... Alright, can you get her to the Coyote Cojo? You know the one.> P

<Mama Welles place? Yeah, I can get her there>

<Good, I'll be here for another few hours, on business so stop by when you can. It's been a while since I've been able to see you as well, it'll be good to see you.> P

The call ended, Rebecca looking hopeful up to him as he nodded. ''Got someone to take her in, he'll house and feed her, let her calm down, and then let her decide what she wants to do. Teach her a few tricks as well to survive in this place.''

Rebecca released a sigh as she nodded. ''Can I... Can I come with you to drop her off? I just want to put a face to the person taking her.''

''Of course, you know Padre?''

Rebecca's eyes widened a bit, looking at him. ''You know THE fixer of Haywood?!''

He chuckled, nodding. ''Mom used to attend his church when he was still a Father.''

Rebecca whispered, staring off into space. ''Who don't you know?''

David chuckled with a shrug before he stood up, lifting her off his leg as he did so and setting her onto her feet. ''Come on, clothes should be done, let's Delta.''

Rebecca nodded as they got into their clothes, thanking the world that combo washers and dryers existed.

As he got all his clothes on and everything secured to his body he made his way back into the diner to see the girl nursing a slice of chocolate cake.

When she saw David, she jumped from the stool and ran forward, tackling him and hugging his waist tightly.

David chuckled as he ruffled her hair. The girl spoke up before he could say something. ''Valarie.''

David's brows went up. ''Huh?''

''My name is Valarie.''

David chuckled as he nodded. ''Alright, you got any parents I can take you back to?''

She shook her head before she spoke up. ''They were the ones who gave me up.''

Rebecca cursed beneath her breath as she stormed into the basement.

''Alright Valarie, I'm going to take you to a friend of mine, he's going to look after you, and I'll come to visit you when I can, and I'm sure if you ask him you can come to visit Albert whenever.''

''You're... Not going to take me with you?'' Valarie asked, tugging at David's heartstrings.

''I can't kid, I'm in no position to look after a kid, but as I said, I'll come to visit, and you can trust Padre, he's a good person, used to be a priest.''

Valarie watched up to David, sensing his sincerity as she nodded, Rebecca returning with an armload of weapons and bags of money. ''Thanks, Albert, catch you later Choom, I called some cleaning services to clean up the mess.''

''Thank you, Rebecca... Free burgers for life.''

''YOU REALLY MEAN THAT?!'' Rebecca hollered in happiness as she dashed out of the store, unloading her haul into David's trunk, causing him to chuckle as he nodded to Albert as he left the store.

As they all got into the car, Valarie sat into Rebecca's lap, it only surprising David a 'Little' as he watched her put the seat belt on.

Leaving his off as he began to drive, passing the cleaning vehicle on his way as they made their way back into night city, it took an hour at a normal pace to get back into night city and to their destination.

Stopping outside the bar, he parked as he got out.

Going over to the passenger side he helped Valarie out as Rebecca stood, stretching as she let out a moan of relaxation. ''Man I fucking love long car rides, Davvy! Take me on a longer one next time! I'll even pay for gas and snacks!'' Rebecca said as she walked with them into the bar.

''Sure, maybe after the next Gig, alright?'' David said as he entered, holding Valarie's hand as he spotted Padre across the bar, getting a nod from him as he spoke to his guests and his bodyguard.

The guests left as he walked over, Padre slowly moving to the side of the booth so he could greet them.

He remained sitting as they got there, Padre smiling to Valarie as he introduced himself. ''Hello beautiful, my name is Sebastian Ibarra, but most just call me Padre. It means Father.''

Valarie looked up to David who just smiled down at her, she turned back to Padre and shook his hand.

Rebecca and David stayed around a bit to help them break the ice, but eventually, they had to go.

Valarie hugged David tightly as if she wouldn't see him again and he just ruffled her hair. ''Stay out of trouble V.''

''...V?''

''Short for Valarie, every badass needs a code name.'' He chuckled down at her.

V grinned ear to ear at the name, nodding as she looked up to David. ''What's your code name?''

David leaned down to whisper to her. ''Don't tell anyone... But they call me 'Davvy' because it means Davey Jones since I drag all the bad people down into the sea.''

That wasn't true, AT ALL. But he always liked the story, the real story behind it at least.

V, now with a secret close to her heart grinned, nodding as David stood back up, leaving the bar with Rebecca.

As they traveled, David noticed 30k get deposited into his account, his eyes bulging a bit as he turned to look at Rebecca. ''Becca, that's too much a bonus.''

''That wasn't the bonus.''

She pulled him down, leaning back against his car as she kissed him once more. This time it didn't have the fire from earlier at the range, it was softer and slower, it escalating into a full french kiss as she let David play with her tongue, his hands on her waist as he lifted her a bit, pressing her into the car.

After a few moments, she broke the kiss, grinning up at him. ''That, was the bonus.''

They got into the car. ''Still, 30k? Rebecca that is too much.''

''It's also my food fund, don't need it anymore after all,'' Rebecca said as she snuggled into the comfortable passenger seat.

''You can't just eat burgers for the rest of your life, you got to eat other food too, good nutritional food.''

She laughed at that. ''Yeah, because I can find that in Night City.''

''I can cook?'' David said as he began to drive.

Rebecca turned to look at him, watching him a moment before she asked, blunt enough that David almost thought she was serious. ''Marry me, right now.''

David laughed about it, but Rebecca continued to watch him. Only turning away when she realized he didn't consider her serious.

David can drive like a demon out of hell, and fight like one. Adding cooking to the list? If he could customize his own guns, he'd be too good to be true.