Always Was The Better Shot

Chapter 10

As Cassidy walked towards the hangar, having entered Deadlock Gorge a few minutes ago, he heard a shout to his right.

"McCree!"

He spun towards the direction of where the shout came from and spotted Ashe storming over to him. And she did not look happy. She stomped up to him, her hair falling into her face.

"Where have you been?!" she yelled, sweeping back her hair annoyedly. "I-We've been worried about you." Ashe folded her arms and glared at him. "Cuz, y'know, we can't do this heist without you."

"Well, I figured that if we want this heist to go well, we're gonna need a faster bike than what you've got here," Cassidy replied, pulling something out of his pocket.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ashe flared, "My gang's bikes are pretty good, so don't you go..." She trailed off, seeing what lay in Cassidy's open hand.

It was a key. And not just any key, it was her key, the key that Cassidy had given her as a birthday gift all those years ago. Her name, engraved in gold, glinted in the moonlight as Ashe took the key from him, running her thumb over it. She stared at it for a while, before finally looking up at Cassidy.

"I guess this means I get my bike back?"

"Yep," Cassidy chuckled, "I figured since we need fast bikes to pull off the job, I may as well give you back the fastest."

"Gee, thanks so much for giving me back the bike that I already owned," Ashe said, smirking at Cassidy before pocketing the keys.

"Just don't do anything that'll make me take it again," Cassidy rebutted, taking out a cigar and his lighter.

"No promises, farm boy," Ashe wrinkled her nose at the sight of the cigar. "You know they discovered over a hundred years ago that that stuff isn't good for you, right?"

"Yeah, I know," Cassidy replied, cutting off the end of the cigar and putting it in his mouth, "But I know someone who can fix me up."

"I'm gonna go grab somethin' else for you to take a pull on," Ashe said, walking off towards the hangar. "That way, when you die from your smoking habit, your soul doesn't come back to haunt me about how I didn't try an' save you."

"You don't pull on cigars, Ashe!" Cassidy called at her retreating figure, "And I don't need somethin' else!"

It turns out, Ashe's "somethin'" was a cup of coffee, mixed with a shot of whiskey. It also turned out that Cassidy actually did need that "somethin'", especially after hiking through cold and dark canyons.

"Come on, I know a better spot where we can drink this," Ashe said, pulling the two mugs of coffee she was holding out of Cassidy's reach, and walking towards a cliff nearby the main road in the canyon.

"You aren't planning to push me off once we get there, are you?" Cassidy joked, following her and the scent of coffee.

"Not unless you make me," Ashe said, not bothering to look back. "I just need to get some 'me time', after spendin' all day bossin' people 'round."

"First of all, you love bossin' people 'round. Second, 'me time' usually involves people being alone, so I don't see why I'm needed."

Ashe stopped and turned around. "Well, in that case, I guess I don't need this second cup of coffee now, do I? One's plenty enough for me," she said sweetly, slowly tilting one of the cups towards the ground.

"Whoa, no need to be hasty there, I was just yankin' your cord," Cassidy said hurriedly, eyeing the cup of his coffee as Ashe steadied it again.

"It's that type of fool's talk that'll make me push you off the cliff, Jesse McCree," Ashe said, approaching the edge of the cliff and sitting down, setting both cups of coffee beside her. The cliff overlooked a large valley, full of little patches of trees, rivers, and the odd building here and there. With everything illuminated by the moon, and a sky full of stars stretching as far as the eye could see, it was a breathtaking sight. Cassidy sat down next to her and the cups of coffee, letting his legs hang off the cliff.

"Cheers," he said, raising his mug and clinking it against hers after she grabbed her coffee. He blew on it just a little, before taking an experimental sip.

"Hey, this is pretty darn good!" he commented, looking over at Ashe with wide eyes. "Much better than the "coffee" at the Panorama Diner.

"It always did taste like boiled dirt, didn't it?" Ashe chuckled, taking a sip.

"Glad I'm not the only one who thought so," Cassidy laughed.

It was times like this, just the two of them sitting and laughing together, that made it feel like the old days. Back when the Deadlock gang was first coming into the world, when things were simple. Back when Ashe and Cassidy were good friends, despite both of them wanting to be more than that. Back before Cassidy's life changed forever when Gabriel Reyes gave him the choice of joining up with Overwatch or spending life in prison.

Ashe turned and smiled at him, the moonlight lighting her face perfectly. She was beautiful, with her full ruby lips and straight snow-white hair. Her flawless skin and perfect jawline. The way her ruby red eyes glowed when the light caught them just right. Cassidy had always appreciated her good looks when he worked alongside her in the early days. He'd go so far as to say he had a teenage crush on her. But as time went on and they grew closer together, he realized that he wasn't just fond of Ashe, he genuinely loved her. He loved how she never backed down from a fight, even when the odds were against her. He loved how she was tough and fierce, but also warm-hearted and compassionate. He loved how she was always thinking on her feet, always planning, always ready to move. How she could turn the tables in the blink of an eye. How unique her laugh was. How she always lived up to her upbringing by dressing both practically and fashionably. How she was as tough as steel. And on and on and on the list could go. But what Cassidy loved most about her, was how she always had your back. How her friends were her family, and that she wouldn't hesitate to do anything for them.

Ashe's smile faded, and she turned to look out into the valley, setting her jaw.

"What's wrong?" Cassidy asked, setting down his cup.

"Nothing," Ashe said, a steely look in her eyes.

"Ashe, I can see that there's something wrong, we've known each other long enough for that," Cassidy replied, turning to look at her full on. "Come on, tell me."

Ashe let out a forceful sigh, before turning to look at Cassidy, anger in her eyes.

"Fine. You wanna know what's wrong? This." Ashe said, gesturing at the two of them. "We're sitting here like it's the good old days, and it's not. You left me, you left your family, you left everything behind after all we've been through, to join up with some world-savin' organization!" She glared at him for a few more moments, before turning away from him.

"And I never understood why," she said softly. "Why would you leave us, how could you leave us? You know we would have broken you out or paid your bail, so why did you abandon m-us?" They sat in silence under the moon for a few moments, letting the words said float between them. "I thought we meant the world to you," Ashe said.

Cassidy sighed, before shifting closer to Ashe. "You guys did mean the world to me. I would have done anything for you guys in a heartbeat. But when I got caught, and I was given the choice of working for Overwatch or never being able to breathe the free air again, I knew what choice I had to make." He lay a hand on Ashe's shoulder, and while she flinched from the contact, she didn't pull away. "I know you guys would have tried to get me out, but wherever they would have sent me would never have let me go. Bein' part of Overwatch meant I was able to make a change in the world, really be a part of something big, while being free."

Ashe straightened up and brushed Cassidy's arm off her shoulder. She stood up and glared down at him. "What we were doin', still doin', is somethin' big to us. I never took you to be one that sells his services to the highest bidder." She started walking back towards the Deadlock's base, Cassidy getting up to follow her. "Loyalty means everythin' to the gang. It would have been better for you to rot in jail as a loyal Rebel than live a free life as a coward."

"Joining Overwatch and leaving you was the hardest choice I ever had to make. You mean everything to me, Ashe."

Ashe stopped in her path, and they stood in silence for a few heartbeats.

"Clearly I didn't mean enough to you." She walked back to the hangar, leaving Cassidy to stand alone in the moonlight.