Panam Palmer x Young Male V Story (Cyberpunk 2077 Commission) (Opening Scene)

Panam Palmer looked down the scope of her modified sniper rifle. Through her sights, she honed in on a lanky, chromed-out Raffen Shiv member patrolling the perimeter of their outpost. Panam took a breath and squeezed the trigger. A moment later the Raffen’s head exploded into a bloody pulp as Panam released her breath and reloaded. The surrounding Raffen began shouting and cursing upon seeing one of their own get sniped, and they began returning fire with their assault rifles and submachine guns, firing blindly in her general direction.

She took another shot, dropping another Raffen. Their shots were getting closer and closer now that they had correctly identified the wreckage of an old van in the sand dunes that she had chosen as her hiding spot.

Just as she huffed and began reloading, the nomad woman stopped as she heard commotion and more shouting from the Raffen off in the distance. Looking down her scope again, she saw a fast-moving figure dashing from one Raffen to the next, slicing through them one by one with a katana.

Watching V go to work on the Raffen never ceased to amaze her. She watched through her scope as the street kid merc evaded their bullets as they shot at him wildly, not a single one of their shots connecting thanks to the agility and speed of his cybernetic implants. By the time any of the marauders had a shot on him, he was already within range and it was too late for them. When the shooting finally ceased, V had a veritable collection of dismembered and decapitated Raffen Shiv corpses around him. Part of her would’ve almost felt sorry for them, if not for the fact that they had done much worse to many of the victims of their raids.

A moment later, she heard a chime on the holo and Panam answered it. She heard V’s voice on the other hand. “Hey Panam…uh, I’m pretty much finished over here and the coast is clear. Cmon over.”

Panam grinned. “I can see that, hot shot. Nice work.” She began packing up her sniper rifle into her Thornton. “On my way.”

After loading her gun and equipment, Panam drove into the desecrated Raffin camp and got out of her truck. V had cleaned off his blade and sheathed it into his scabbard, wiping a sweat from his brow. Panam appraised him, yet again amazed at his feat of professional brutality, especially considering his age and appearance.

At only seventeen - soon to be eighteen - Panam stood taller than he did. And with his shaved head and youthful face, he looked very much like a boy. Technically he still was one, and she’d only ever been able to see him as such in the years she’d known him. Still, boy or not, he made use of his chrome like nobody she’d ever seen, and had proven to be perhaps the one of the youngest and most proficient mercs in Night City. Seeing him in action firsthand was proof enough of that.

“I don’t think we need to worry about these Raffen attacking the Aldecaldo camp anymore,” V said rather smugly.

Panam laughed, rubbing the back of her neck. “No, I don’t suppose we do, kiddo.”

V rolled his eyes. “Panam…stop calling me that.”

She pursed her lips at him, crossing her arms. “Whatever do you mean, kiddo?”

He shook his head with a drawn-out sigh, accepting the futility of arguing with her. It wasn’t as if she was going to stop calling him the dorky little pet name she’d called him since he was a boy. It was like a habit for her.

Even if he was not going to be a “kiddo” for much longer. Hell, he was already doing a man’s work, and had been for a while. The brutal, unforgiving realities of Night City forced people to grow up quickly, and V was no exception. He killed people on a daily basis, and he seemed remarkably unfazed by it. A little too unfazed by it. It made her worry for him, the toll that this kind of brutal work would take on his psyche.

“You ok, V?” Panam asked him with concern.

“Hmm?” V asked nonchalantly, in the middle of cleaning sand out of one of his pistols. “Ya, I’m good.”

“You sure? Because that was quite something. You tore through these guys like butter.”

V cocked his head at her. “They’re Raffen, aren’t they? They kill and rape innocent people all the time, you said so yourself.”

“Ya, of course,” Panam said. “And this band was probing our camp for weeks. Fuck ‘em. It’s not about them. Just want to make sure you are doing ok, you know?”

V shrugged in a way that he always used to when he was a boy, whenever he didn’t want to talk about something. “I’m good, really. It’s not my first rodeo.”

He stared off into the distance, and Panam knew he had something more he wanted to say, but couldn’t. This had been the case for some time, ever since she and the Aldecaldos had recently returned to Night City and she had reunited with her young friend from years back. She knew V had lost Jackie Welles - his best friend who had been like a big brother to him - in a job gone wrong. She hadn’t known Jackie very well - he had been more V’s friend than her’s - but she knew that that loss had to weigh heavy on V, even if he did a good job of hiding it at times.

Still, she wouldn’t press him until he was ready to reveal more. Hell, in many ways she had trouble opening up on shit that was eating at her more than he did, so she couldn’t exactly blame him for holding things in.

“Sure,” Panam said. She took a deep breath, running her fingers through her dark dreads. “So…want to head back to camp?”

V nodded. “Yep, let’s.” He stood up, carrying his katana and pistol with him. Panam had to pinch herself and remind herself that this young man was the same kid who used to follow her around underfoot like a lost puppy, the last time the Aldecaldos had set up shop in Night City all those years ago. The kid had actually pickpocketed her when she was about his age, nearly eight years ago. Scrawny ten year old who swiped her stuff and fled into an alleyway. It had taken her hours  to find him and get her stuff back, but she couldn’t seem to get rid of the little runt thereafter. Nor did she want to, considering how adorable he had been.

Looking at him now, she could see how much he’d grown up. He’d put on more than a bit of muscle definition in his line of work, and a lot of it was natural, not just chrome. Honestly, he was turning into a man who would turn quite a few heads, if he hadn’t started to already. It made her wonder where else he had grown…

Panam suddenly felt flushed, using her hand to fan herself as her mind started to wander down a path that it shouldn’t. This was V, one of her oldest friends outside of the Aldecaldos, for crying out loud. How could she think such things about him, especially considering how much younger than her he was?!

“Uh…Panam? You good?” V asked.

“Ya, ya…just the heat. Never get used to the damn Badlands,” she lied.

“It’s actually not that hot right now…”

“Oh shut up and get in the truck!” she snapped. Realizing what a bitch she sounded like to mask her own impure thoughts, she quickly added, “kiddo.” She stuck her tongue out at him.

He grinned at her. “You’re so weird.”

She laughed and walked him back to the truck. As she did, she felt his eyes on her. Subtly looking over her shoulder, she saw where his eyes were: fixed entirely on her ass.

This had not been the first time she’d caught V doing this. It had been quite obvious that V had had a crush on her when he was a boy, but she had chalked it up to boyish infatuation at the time. Completely harmless. Now however, this made Panam develop a whirlwind of emotions in the pit of her stomach, and not in a bad way.

She didn’t even want to admonish him as he admired her rear. In fact, all she wanted to do at that moment was sway her hips and push her bum out at him even more for his viewing benefit. What the fuck was wrong with her?!

Panam knew she had to get her growing feelings for the barely-legal companion of hers under control, and fast. Especially since she knew she would be seeing more of him soon.