Ashe and Cassidy's Reunion: The Aftermath

Part 1: The Heist (Ashe)

When she saw Cole Cassidy emerge from the smoke and dust of the wreckage she'd caused, she was surprised. She shouldn't have been, but she was. He didn't look like he used to, but 20 years will change a person. Ashe certainly didn't look like she used to. Still he was as handsome as ever before, just older with more scars and a missing arm. And he still smoked, which irritated her as she had told him many times before to give up the dirty habit. The last time she'd seen Cole Cassidy, he was just a scruffy teen, and he'd been dragged away in hand cuffs while she hid with the rest of the gang. Since then she'd heard not a word from him. Ashe knew he'd been a part of Blackwatch, a secret branch of Overwatch, but that was only because of the leaks in the news. Not because he'd actually told her. Before that she'd believed he was rotting in a maximum security jail. That had made her mad, but now, after all these years of silence, he had the audacity to turn up at her heist! Now she wasn't just mad. She was furious.

Narrowing her eyes, she spoke slowly and said, "Well, if it ain't Cole Cassidy. It's been awhile. You promised you'd write." Instead of looking guilty, ashamed, or even remotely sorry, Cole slowly smiled at Ashe like they were just old friends meeting up for a chat over slices of apple pie.

"Well, Ashe,"he paused to light the cigar that hung from his all too perfect lips, "I've been kinda busy." Ashe felt her blood boil as he simply brushed off his promise to write to her. Maybe his promise hadn't meant anything to him! But to her it had meant everything. There was only two people in the world, who had cared for her back then: Bob, her parents omnic butler turned gang member, and Cole Cassidy, self-proclaimed juvenile delinquent. Ashe had thought Cassidy actually cared for her. She had opened up to him in way she never had to anyone else. She'd let him see the parts of her no one else had seen. She had let herself be vulnerable with him. But Cole had turned around and stabbed her in the back. He hadn't visited her, or written a single note to her in 20 years. The worst part of it all was that she had written to him for three years, pouring out her soul, before giving up. And he had never even been in prison, so he hadn't received a single letter.

Instead of screaming at Cassidy for being a lying, backstabbing, son-of-a-b***h, Ashe took a deep calming breath, and said icily, "We've been busy ourselves, so it's awful convenient, you showing up today."

Continuing on as if they were just having a pleasant conversation, Cassidy replied, "Yeah, you've never been one to shy away from a good tip." Ashe gave him a warning glare, her red eyes flashing with barely restrained violence.

"Hey, we worked hard for this score. You'd best move on now."she hissed like a cobra about to strike its victim. Cassidy, however, was never one to back down from a fight, and Ashe knew that all to well.

He merely shrugged and said, "All I want is that crate. Everything else is yours." Cole hadn't shown up in 20 years, and now that he did, it was for a crate?!

Ashe was getting even angrier, but her curiosity was also piqued now. If Cassidy had come all this way for a crate then there must be something special about it. "This crate?" She asked. Without waiting for a response, she called out, "Bob!" Immediately B.o.b came over and opened the crate for her. Ashe and B.o.b leaned over to look at the contents. Inside was what appeared to be an assortment of omnic parts. "What the heck was so special about omnic parts?"thought Ashe.

She was confused, but she wasn't about to let Cassidy realize that. Looking up Ashe smirked at Cassidy. "Well, well, now you got my attention. What is it?"she asked knowing that Cole would never tell.

Sure enough he responded simply by saying, "That's none of your business."

Ashe jumped down from the cart she was standing on, so she could look him in the eyes when she replied tartly, "The way I see it now, it's very much our business." Cole's eyes softened for just moment, and he sighed like he was about to do something he'd really rather not.