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quickhacked · 1 year

Text

– Beautiful Crime.

Characters >> Cassidy Shaffer (oc), Sebastian Vidal (other's oc) Total >> 3.1k words Warnings >> Blood mention, injuries, mild violence

The building stood tall and abandoned.

It was a miracle they had not taken it down yet; in the midst of a busy neighborhood in Santo Domingo, a safety hazard more than anything else at that point. No one bothered to do maintenance and sooner rather than later it was bound to start falling apart- but until then it would remain a safe haven for junkies and unfortunate souls without a place to call home alike.

And one man’s home is another man’s vantage point.

Light, careful footsteps; yet the clacking of his heels on the cold floor still echoed through the concrete staircase with each gentle footfall, the emptiness of the building an overwhelming presence in the cool interior air.

He had not been there before. In the district, yes- but never that specific neighborhood, never that specific building. Most of the jobs he took did not take him further south than Heywood, yet now he found himself near the Badlands; which truly was the last place he wanted to end up in.

A curious location; a white picket fence suburban house in a white picket fence suburb- next to a building about to collapse, no less- and Cassidy failed to see the strategic advantage of it all. He strongly doubted it was a home base of any sorts; most likely nothing more than a temporary refuge, or a safehouse, or a rendezvous.

Eliminate their leader.

Not a first. Many gang leaders in Night City had died by Cassidy Shaffer’s hands, no questions asked, no setbacks, and no dire consequences. It never got rid of the threat at hand- a new leader was more than often easily appointed, especially Maelstrom could get it done in less than an afternoon’s work- but the pay was good, and if done well it would at least render them inactive for some days as they tried to reorganize.

Though this was different.

A smaller gang with little public information, and essentially an empty case file in the NCPD database. Not unheard of, though; and if anything, organized better than most if not all the other gangs in town.

Cassidy found his way to one of the top floors of the building and briefly slowed his pace, glancing through a window to take a careful peek down. He was not fond of heights; or buildings on the verge of collapse, for that matter. Yet it was necessary at times, and he rather committed for a job well done than halfass it for a selfish sense of security. The latter really did not bring him any closer to his payment.

It was a decent angle. Not optimal, but he had worked with less in the past; had landed flawless hits from just around a corner on several occasions, so naturally this should not be any issue for him. He let a sharp exhale leave his lips while swinging the sniper rifle off his shoulder, and he kneeled down to reach the mechanism to open the ceiling-high window of the outer wall of the building.

It had not been easy to track them down. He’d had crumbs to work with, snippets of information with most detes expunged leaving just enough to at least limit his options to several districts- and at the end of the day it hadn’t even been of value to him, considering how he had finally gotten on their trail.

A purchase. One black coffee, paid via transfer rather than cash- which is why it had popped up for Cassidy during his deep dive in the Net. Clearly a slip-up, a mistake; thus far his target had been nothing but thorough, and this opportunity had been caused by pure luck more than anything else.

But Cassidy could not complain. His client had given him nothing to work with and he had needed to do everything himself; steps he was willing to take, as long as he would be compensated well for it, of course. But money had not been an issue. It rarely was, considering the kind of people he was contracted by; though much like his target, this was different, still.

A mysterious client. No name, no face- no real voice, even. As if Cassidy had been talking with a computer, those brief five to ten minutes they had spoken together. He did not mind the secrecy, understanding very well that sometimes privacy was of great importance for an assassination; and thus he had not questioned it, and had done the job that had been asked of him without complaining.

None of it mattered either way. Cassidy was rarely one to ask many questions; he had already found early on they usually did not help either way, as Night City was corrupted to its very core. Nowadays, the only questions he asked were for himself; following his own set of rules, carefully established for the sake of his own sanity.

The only question that had mattered to him, was whether or not his client was aligned with any corporation. A simple question, often met with a simple answer; a “yes” would cause him to walk away, and a “no” would give him something to hold against them would it ever turned out they lied.

People tended to not care. Lying was part of his line of work. Yet Cassidy still valued honesty above all else; knowing someone lied to him, something he wouldn’t have known had he never asked, gave him enough reason to turn against them.

It was his way of justifying it to himself, in a way. His rules, which he followed as if his life depended on it; for his own safety. And lying was something he had never appreciated.

Luckily for him, as mysterious as his client was this time, they were not from any corporation. At least- that’s what they had told him.

Cassidy carefully lowered himself on the ground entirely now, setting his rifle on the small tripod he always carried with him and taking off the safety. A gentle breeze blew in from the now opened window, ruffling his hair and gently blowing past his face-

Though to him it felt like tiny knives and needles painfully grazing his skin, sharp jabs triggering his nervous system and locking up his muscles. He clenched his jaw and quickly redirected his focus to the scope of his rifle, trying to ignore the wind as his eyes scanned the backyard of the house.

Sebastian Vidal.

Twenty-nine years old. Most likely ex-corpo, or at least corpo-aligned in the past. And that was all Cassidy had been able to gather.

Curious, but it did not matter. His target sat alone in the backyard, and none of the information about him Cassidy had and had not been able to get his hands on was of importance in any of it. Two minutes later and the man would be dead, and Cassidy would get his payment and he would move on to the next unfortunate soul he would have to put in his sights.

He readjusted his grip on the rifle as he relaxed, steadying his breathing while taking a moment to study his target. He was clearly not expecting any danger, judging by the way he sat all by himself on that chair- add a beer and clothing other than a suit and he could’ve been just anyone, blending in perfectly with the rest of the neighborhood.

Cassidy could not help but take a bit longer than usual, his eyes slowly moving over the man’s features. The picture he’d had to work with was clearly outdated, he realized now; a significantly stronger build, and silvery gray hair rather than a deep brown, leaving Cassidy wondering whether it was dyed or natural.

He was able to see the man’s eyes from his vantage point- a curious shade of pale, icy blue, yet as remarkable as they were, somehow not the most defining feature of his target’s appearance.

No, that would be his cyberjaw.

Cassidy had seen them before, though this model was different from the ones he was used to. Strong plating covering the sides of his jaw, sloping down toward his chin and seemingly ending there. Medical cyberware rather than decorative, Cassidy could only assume- and he did not want to think about what could have caused the gang leader to end up with such a jaw in the first place.

Not as if it mattered anyway. He had wasted enough time already.

Cassidy watched momentarily as the man redirected his attention to the knife in his hand, swiftly rolling it between his fingers. For some reason, Cassidy’s attention was once more drawn toward his eyes-

It was funny, how clearly he could see them from up there. Almost made him wonder what they would look like from up close.

He rolled back his shoulders and sharply exhaled, finger slowly curling around the trigger as he slightly adjusted his angle, taking the direction of the wind into account. Rapid calculations in his head, supported by two- no, three- raised fingers on his empty left hand- and the moment he locked on target he steadily grabbed the rifle, inhaling, and exhaling-

BANG!

He missed.

A soft scoff of disbelief rolled off Cassidy’s lips before he could stop himself, blood running cold as the- only partially suppressed- gunshot echoed through the building. He frowned, mind instantly going over his calculations again- had he made a mistake?

He watched as Sebastian froze, knife balancing on his middle finger as he slowly turned to glance at the wall behind him, Cassidy’s bullet drilled deep into the yellow-painted exterior of the house. He turned back, lips slightly moving as if mumbling to himself and he lightly tilted his head as his eyes trailed the building Cassidy was in, as if he was calculating the angle-

Crap.

Cassidy scrambled to reload, a flare of panic suddenly rushing through his system. It had been a clear shot- he had never missed a clear shot before. Nothing wrong with his calculations, nothing wrong with the angle, or his composure-

‘Doesn’t matter,’ he sharply said out loud, to nobody in particular. ‘Pull yourself together.’

Another bullet ready. Quick recalculations- Sebastian’s head lined up in his sights. The man was still counting, head slowly tilting up further and further while Cassidy’s finger curled around the trigger again, and their eyes met-

Sebastian’s head came to a stop.

And he smiled.

BANG!

Cassidy blinked, the air violently slammed out of his lungs the second he realized his second bullet had missed its target even more than the first. Sebastian cocked an eyebrow and glanced behind him again, the smile lingering on his face while his gaze landed on the second hole in the wall- and Cassidy felt blood rush to his ears, embarrassment overtaking him.

‘Come on, hurry-!’

‘They’re upstairs!’

No time for a third shot.

Cassidy jumped up, swinging the rifle over his shoulder again and holding the tripod tightly in his hand as he rushed back to the staircase. His heart was racing in his chest and his ears were burning, shame tightening his chest as he descended as fast as he could without tripping over his own feet.

How could he miss? Twice, even? Luck had brought him there, after several weeks of searching- and there he was, messing up fantastically, and he knew that one way or another he was going to have to pay the price.

Only one way out of the building; the same way he had entered, the same way Sebastian’s people had entered, too. Cassidy knew they would have almost caught up with him at that point, yet it did very little to him; he would make it out alive, as he always did, perhaps with some scrapes and bruises but if anything he deserved that, now.

He turned the corner and ran face first into someone- hit them with the tripod without hesitation and shoved them into the wall, disarming them before they could pull the trigger. A second person appeared, but Cassidy was fast; leapt down several steps and dropped himself on top of them, using the momentum to immediately push himself back up on his feet and continue his way down.

Oh, how he wanted to just disappear. A setback- a first- and it was most likely going to take him weeks to get another opportunity like that. He rammed himself into yet another gang member, forcefully shoving them into the wall, then activated his monowire and whipped it into the direction of two others- they both managed to dodge in time, but the maneuver gave him enough time to push himself past them down the last set of stairs.

But one of them shot after him- and the bullet grazed his shoulder.

An intense jolt of pain caused him to double over, the sensation burning through his muscles and the few real bones he still had left in his arm. He stumbled out of their line of fire, vision blurred by involuntary tears as he relied on mostly muscle memory to find his way back to the entrance of the building.

He had to get out.

The sunlight blinded him and he gasped for air, a strong taste of blood in his mouth- he had bit his tongue by accident. His arm felt heavy and he could barely move it anymore, despite the injury being minimal; he assumed it was nothing more than a superficial cut in his skin.

But it surely did not feel like it.

Cassidy grunted and clipped the tripod on his belt, then pushed his gloved hand on the wound in an attempt to relieve the pain. He nearly started walking in the wrong direction- passing by the safehouse of his target was probably not the brightest idea- but turned just in time, and hurriedly began making his way out of the neighborhood.

It was not easy for him to blend in, being as tall as he was and considering the clothing he wore- a suit, with a long, black coat over it, as if he had walked straight out of a Militech office; but his Militech days were already long behind him.

A head taller than most people on the streets and fairly easy to spot due to his soft coral pink hair, but still, with the remaining adrenaline in his system he managed to stay ahead of the gang members, and he crossed through some backyards to get them off his trail entirely. Hopped into a bus that was about to leave the stop and quickly pushed his way through the crowded interior to seek refuge in the far back corner.

Great job, Cassidy.

He clenched his jaw and blinked a few times, heartbeat refusing to settle down as the noises in the bus washed over him like a tidal wave. It’d been a mistake to get in; but it was already far too late to step out again, and at the end of the day it was better than walking home.

Cassidy dropped his head against the pole he was leaning against, the metal cold against his hot, sweaty skin. An uncomfortable sensation, but it was something he could focus on, at least. It drowned out the noises around him, and finally lifted the heavy weight on his chest.

He was exhausted, now. A common occurrence, after a job; though usually it would be after a success, rather than a failure. He would go home, take a nice, warm shower or even a bath, then go to sleep and hope his nightmares would let him rest for once.

Another sharp exhale as his mind wandered back to the shots he had taken. Missing, twice- but how? Had he truly been that distracted? But distracted by what?

The bus driver suddenly hit the brakes, causing Cassidy to lose his balance and bump into a woman to his left. The sudden physical contact shook him awake again, heavy thrumming of his heartbeat filling his upper arm, and he let out a strangled cough to keep in a pained whimper.

‘Sorry,’ he quietly mumbled, and quickly retreated into his corner.

It was not all that big of a deal. His client, whoever it was, had told him to take his time; no rush, as long as he could get the job done. And Cassidy could- he knew he could, this was a job like any other. But missing a clear shot, not once, but twice-

‘You have a location to work with, now,’ he muttered to himself, resting his forehead against the pole again and closing his eyes. ‘Deep dive into the Net to recover footage, track them down from there. Not a big deal, we’ve done this before.’

Only partially true. He had done it before, yes- though it had been part of his plan, and not after a failed assassination attempt. It had been different. And it felt wrong to compare the two together. It made him feel bad.

‘Not done it before, then,’ he said after a short pause. ‘But… That’s fine. First time for everything.’

Yeah, that was better.

Cassidy inhaled deeply and straightened his back, slowly regaining control of himself as reality washed over him again. No one had heard him talk; and even if they had, no one had cared. It was Night City, after all- some guy on the bus talking to himself was not an uncommon sight.

His nervous system had calmed down again; mostly, at least. His arm still burned painfully, and some of it had moved to his shoulder, neck and jaw. He was well aware his body’s reaction was anything but normal- yet he also knew there was very little he could do about it, his low pain tolerance and high sensitivity to physical contact the result of an accident in his past, a result he had yet to grow accustomed to.

Mostly he just tended to avoid physical contact with others. An easy solution; it was not as if there was anyone there for him.

Another hit of the brakes, but Cassidy was able to catch himself this time and flawlessly managed to keep his balance. His mind briefly wandered back to the job- but he pushed it out of his head, knowing it was no use to dwell on his mistakes for too long.

Yes, a setback- but not the end of the world. Sebastian was aware of Cassidy’s existence now, which could lead to more bumps in the road- but if anything, that would only make it more interesting.

It had been a while since Cassidy had had an actual challenge.

Perhaps this could be fun.

#nuclearwriting #fic:two sides of the same coin #rbs much appreciated :) <3 #and yeas i know i tag my other fic in a different format but it's. fine. normal about it #it's because that one is part of a huge overarching storyline so it's just a chapter and this is. a fic. SEE IT WORKS it's fine #ANYWAY HIII little side project while i'm also still working on the broker chapter but i needed some variation #and i wanted to share more about cassidy so. here you go :] with a special surprise also #TWO OF THEM!!!!

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