Always Was The Better Shot

Chapter 4

Cassidy winked at Ashe. "You'll know when the fun starts." He grabbed a flashbang from his belt, flicked the pin out using his thumb, and flung it over his shoulder.

He heard a brief "What the f-" from behind him before...

BANG!

Amidst the shouts of "Shit, I can't see!" and "Where are they?!" Ashe and Cassidy bolted out from behind their fortification and started dashing for their bikes. The gangsters all started instinctively firing, for all the good that did them. They couldn't tell left from right, up from down, let alone where the two gunslingers were. Cassidy and Ashe continued running across the stretch of ground between them and their means of escape, dodging stray bullets and blinded gang members alike. About halfway there, Cassidy heard a small grunt of pain and then someone stumbling. He whipped around to find Ashe laying on the ground a few feet behind him.

Damn!

He ran back towards her, sliding onto the ground beside her. "Ashe, did they get you?" he asked, worriedly rolling her onto her back. "I'm fine McCree, get your paws offa me," Ashe grumbled, shoving him away and getting back onto her feet, "I just tripped over a stupid rock, nothing to get all riled up about." Other than being covered in dust, with an odd scrape or two here and there, she looked fine.

"It's probably 'cause of those heeled boots you're wearing," Cassidy remarked, continuing their journey to their bikes. "Who wears heels to a robbery?

"I can be both practical and fashionable, you insolent farm boy," Ashe smirked at him while keeping pace, "Gotta remember where I come from now, don't I?"

"Whatever makes you happy. Hurry it up, they're already coming out of it!" The effects of the flashbang were indeed wearing off of the Diamondbacks. With the sight and vision returning, the gang members started to get their bearings on where the two sharpshooters were. The bullets flying around them were no longer random and poorly aimed, they were becoming more focused and closer to them than was comfortable for Cassidy. He snatched his revolver from his holster and started firing at the closest Diamondbacks, the ones between him and his destination. He could hear Ashe doing the same on his right, as well as the occasional cries of pain or the sounds of bullets ricocheting off of the canyon walls. He managed to shoot a gang member who was trying to intercept the pair of them, putting some copper between his eyes and making him drop like a tree. They were only ten yards away from their bikes now. Freedom was so close.

"Don't let them get away you idiots! Stop them!" screamed Marco, unloading the magazine of his rifle as quickly as he could at the backs of the fleeing outlaws. Most of the bullets, by sheer misfortune aided by Marco's extremely poor aim, buried themselves in Ashe's bike. It sputtered and coughed, smoke belching out of the engine before it bid farewell to life and promptly blew up.

"AW NOT AGAIN!" Ashe screamed, still running towards it, "I PAID GOOD MONEY FOR THAT BIKE!"

"Leave it Ashe, come on!" Cassidy shouted at her, grabbing her arm and pulling her away from the direction of her ruined bike. He quickened his pace and nearly slammed into his own bike, which was parked a few yards from hers. "Hop on!"

"But-"

"No time Ashe, we've gotta go!" He jumped onto the seat of his bike, and a moment later he felt her slide in beside him, wrapping her arms around his chest. Turning the keys brought the machine to life, and a quick twist of the handlebars sent them shooting out of the canyon, leaving Marco and his gang behind. They could still hear his screams and curses a mile down the road. The canyons around them soon fell away as they made their way West, replaced by hills silhouette against a pink sky, littered with cacti and other tough vegetation.

"We'll be at Deadlock Gorge by nightfall," Cassidy estimated, squinting his eyes at the setting sun.

"Deadlock Gorge? You're takin' me back?" Ashe's voice said from behind him, laced with disbelief.

"You've got no way back by yourself, and it won't be doing my conscience any good, knowing that I made you walk dozens of miles back to your hideout," replied Cassidy, "I'll drop you off at the entrance." They rode in silence as the light slowly dimmed, the sun slowly dipping below the horizon and the stars taking the place of the blue sky.

"Thanks."

"Pardon?"

"...I said, 'Thanks' McCree. For... helping me get out of there."

Cassidy chuckled softly. "We worked together to get out of that mess. But I'll still take your gratitude while I can."