Ashe and McCree's Reunion: The Aftermath

Part 4: At the Deadlock HQ/McCree

McCree hadn't meant to go back to Deadlock Headquarters. He'd meant to speed off, and try and get a least a few hundred miles between him and Ashe. But that was before he saw the picture. The picture taped to Ashe's bike. The one that showed him and her, and Bob all sitting at a poker table. They looked happy then. Carefree even. McCree had almost forgotten those long, slow days. Just as he had almost forgotten that picture.

Seeing it again had reminded him just how much fun he'd had. Just how much he'd loved running around with Ashe and Bob. It had also surprised him. He'd had to shake his head and rub his eyes just to make sure he was seeing things right. Because if he was, that meant Ashe hadn't forgotten about the old days. It meant that she missed them, and perhaps she didn't hate him quite as much as he'd originally thought.

So he'd turned the bike around and headed back to the Deadlock Headquarters. He'd hidden the bike a little ways away, and then snook into the building. Getting past the security had been easier than he thought it would be. But then again he had been trained by Gabriel Reyes, former super-soldier in the US Army and leader of the not-so-virtuous branch of Overwatch called Blackwatch.

After making his way through the building, McCree had found Ashe's room. Luckily she wasn't in it when he arrived or he probably would've been shot as soon as he opened the door. Next McCree had taken her emergency one-shot pistol out of her dresser; honestly he was surprised she hadn't found a better place to hide it after all these years. And finally, he'd made himself at home in her tall, cushy, red desk chair while he formulated a plan to make Ashe reveal her true feelings. Jesse had been feeling rather proud of himself until the moment that Ashe had slapped him.

Now he was clutching a cheek that stung like Hell. "Jesus Christ, woman."he muttered, "Did ya have to slap me so damn hard?"

Ashe glared at him like she wanted to shove a pistol down his throat. Then she hissed, "After everything you've done to me, you deserve a Hell of a lot worse than that, McCree."

Jesse glared back at her, and asked in a voice tinged with annoyance, "And what exactly did I do to you?"

"You broke your promise to write. You joined some stupid secret agency, and you abandoned m—the gang!"she spat.

As she snarled at him, rage lit her eyes, but there was something else there too. Something no one would notice if they didn't know Ashe like he did: hurt. And for a split-second it seemed as if she were about to say he abandoned her, but then she said he abandoned the gang.

Jesse raised his hands in defense. "You're right. I promised I'd write, and I never did. I did join a secret agency, and I never came back to the gang. But you haven't heard my side of things, now have you?"he said choosing his words with care. Ashe's pretty pink lips puckered in distaste at his confession.

"I don't really care what you have to say. Maybe I woulda listened 20 years ago, but that was a long time ago. I'm done with you, Jesse."she turned as if leave him. He wasn't going to let her get away that easily though. Not after all the trouble he had gone to to get there.

"Well, maybe I ain't done with you."he quipped. Before Ashe could take another step, McCree had gotten to his feet and swept her into his arms.

"Get offa me, you idiot!"screeched Ashe pummeling his chest. He just laughed and tightened his grip around her, as he pulled her back into the desk chair with him.

Once she was firmly situated on his lap, Jesse grinned at her furious face and whispered, "Now hear me out, darling."

"You're gonna pay for this, McCree!"she snapped still trying to break out I his grasp.

"Darling, I'd stop struggling if I were you. You may have been able to escape me years ago, but that was before I got this handy mechanical arm."he said giving her a sympathetic smile. Ashe bared her teeth like she wanted to bite him, but finally stopped squirming. "Much better,"Jesse said with a wink. "Shall I begin?"he asked. Without waiting for a reply he began his long explanation. "It all started with a bank robbery gone wrong. You know that part of the story though, don't ya, darling? Anyways you know I got dragged off in cuffs. I got my one phone call, and called you. You said you'd break me out, and I said not to waste your time on me. You said if I didn't let you break me out, the least I could do was write, and I promised you I would. And I swear I was gonna, but then a week later a strange man shows up in the jail, and that's when everything changed.

"He told me his name was Gabriel Reyes, and that he'd seen me shoot from security footage of our robberies. He said he thought I would make a good addition to his team. He gave me choice:join him or he would make sure I spent the rest my life rotting in some maximum security jail without any chance of parol. He was big and scary-looking, Ashe, and I believed him.

"I know now that he wasn't lying neither. I chose to join him, as I'm sure you woulda done if you'd been in my position. When I left jail, I found out that I wasn't just joining a 'team'. Gabriel Reyes was the leader of the secret Overwatch agency known as Blackwatch. Reyes told me on no uncertain terms no one could know what I was doing. He told me I couldn't contact anyone. Not even by letter.

"If I went against him there'd be Hell to pay. And you know what? I tried anyways. I wrote letters to you, and tried to sneak them out, but I always got caught. Every time Reyes gave me Hell. He almost sent me back to prison the last time I tried. If hadn't been for Jack's intervention I would've been locked away this very moment. After that I stopped trying to write, and by the time the Overwatch Headquarters exploded, I figured you musta hated my guts so much that you wouldn't want to see my face.

"Besides I figured you musta moved on anyways. Found someone else who treated you right an' all that mushy stuff. So I decided to stay away. You didn't wanna see me, and God knows I didn't wanna see you gallivanting around with some new man." Jesse paused and swallowed hard before continuing. "I wasn't gonna come back, but then I found out you were planning to rob a train. A train that contained something I needed, and it seemed like fate was pulling us back together. I didn't think much of it though. I figured I'd just swoop in, get what I needed, and go. But that was before I took your bike. Before I saw the picture of us." Jesse paused again as if preparing to say something difficult, "Since you kept it all these years, I thought perhaps you might still care about me. I needed to know, Ashe. So, I tricked you into playing Russian roulette. And, well, I think the results speak for themselves."