Origins (Overwatch Ashe x Male Reader)

026

The business was great.

With even more Heists under our belt, we manage to hit the headlines on the holos. It was hard not to feel super satisfied at what we accomplished in such a short time but when it came to celebrating there was no point in not doing exactly that.

Over the last couple of months, we executed nearly a dozen flawless, if not nearly flawless, heists of Arbalest shipments. Thanks to Frankie's hacking skills, they'd even taken on a few other corporate shipments, so it wasn't entirely obvious that their focus was on Arbalest. But those had been peanuts, really, chosen because they were easy. Arbalest still made up the meat and potatoes of their operation, and their plates were growing more and more full with each job.

There was a point and time when I wondered how long they figured out if there were a pattern, but I suppose they are none the wiser.

That... well and some things have been a lot more official.

"The Vultures," Cole suggested, perched on a pile of crates across the barn.

"No," Ashe shakes her head.

The crates were their latest score, an entire lot of the same Pantoptica field glasses we used during their first act of thievery. We snatched them a few days ago from a transport truck whose driver had foolishly left them unguarded while he ate breakfast at a greasy-spoon diner, one of our easiest heists yet.

Ashe didn't love having us sit around the barn, but we had a buyer lined up. All we had to do was deliver them later this afternoon.

Cassidy stared into space, deep in thought. "The Copper Coyotes."

"Definitely not."

Ashe held out a hand. "Screwdriver. Flathead this time."

Already at the workbench, I walk over towards her to hand her one. Placing it in her hand, she grabs me along with it before looking at me with a wink. "Thanks, love."

Ashe leans in closer to the bike, blowing the dust away from the engine she is working on.

Despite the mess it used to be, the chopper was shaping up nicely.

"Why are you so dead set on a name for us, anyhow? It's not like we'll be using it for long."

Cole made an exasperated noise. "Because 'mysterious, unknown gang' is so dull. Wouldn't you rather be known as something exciting, even if only for a while?"

"You sound as cheesy as the newspapers. What was it they wrote the other day? 'Watch out, Bellerae, there's a new gang in town. Precise, efficient, they swoop down like an owl at midnight, plucking their prizes and disappearing before anyone can stop them.' "

"That's it," said Cole. "The Shadow Bats!"

Ashe couldn't help but laugh. "Wait, are we owls or bats?"

"Who cares? So long as we're something, led by the brilliant but mysterious Calamity."

Still clutching the screwdriver, Ashe shot Cole an inquisitive look. "Brilliant but mysterious, huh?"

"Entirely true, or should we ask the rug rat next to you?" he asks

I furrow my brow at him. "Is this the new nickname I got for dating the boss?"

"Can't make fun of the boss, so we need to send all the frustration to someone. Like a middle-man."

I roll my eyes. "I'd say there is a fair share of brilliant in this person," I rest my hand on her shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "Though not so much mysterious, maybe just..."

She looks at me with an arched brow. "Waiting to hear it."

I puff my cheeks trying to think of the word. "Needlessly cryptic."

"Same thing really," Cole chuckles. "And if Bellerae knew the true face Calamity kept hidden behind her mask, they'd be even more eager to put it on the Wanted posters. Too bad that would ruin the whole operation."

"Yeah," said Ashe. "Too bad. Though you never know—maybe they'd prefer to put the angelic face of Cole Cassidy on those Wanted posters. 'He looked so young and innocent' "—Ashe affected a falsetto tone—" 'who knows what drove him to a life of crime?' "

Cole laughed loudly. It was a sound we'd have gotten used to. Frankie, on the other hand, had a chuckle that tended to turn into a snort, while Julian sometimes couldn't stop his laughter from sounding like a cackle. The halls of Lead Rose had sounded very different lately.

"Can't imagine my ugly mug ever making it onto a poster," he said finally, once he'd gotten his breath back.

"Oh, please—"

"Oh, please, what?"

"What's the saying, humble cheesecake?" I cross my arms.

"Could do with some cheesecake, actually."

Ashe tightened a screw. "You know very well what we mean."

"No, I don't." Cole stood lifted himself making his way towards the two of us, "I really don't."

Ashe gave him a sceptical look and rolled her eyes. "Cole Cassidy, are you trying to get me to say you're handsome when you should be finishing rebuilding that carburettor?"

He transfers his smirk to me. "Come on, need someone to say it."

"Definitely up there with most of the men I met in my life." Ashe looks at me with a furrowed brow. "Don't give me that look, at the very least I got the man's back even after being referred to as the rug rat."

"Lab rat fits more." Ashe shakes her head.

"Kind of does."

She shakes her head. "You should probably ask Julian or Frankie. They might give you an honest answer. Or B.O.B.," Ashe continued. "Hey, B.O.B., do you think Cole is handsome?"

The omnic put out a hand, palm down, and rocked it back and forth— the universal gesture of "meh."

"Well, whatever you look like now, it's gonna get a lot worse if you don't finish preparing those crates for the handoff."

"They're not ready yet?" Julian, with Frankie behind him, appeared in the barn doorway. "C'mon, it's almost time to go, McCree."

"Yeah," said Frankie. "And time, as they like to say, is money." Cole opened his mouth to say something—undoubtedly snarky—but Ashe cut him off.

"You heard 'em, Cassidy." All fun aside, it was time to get down to business. "Get moving!"