Work Text:
Deadeye finds its targets quick. Four of them at the back of the warehouse. Red, red, red, and-
The last shot doesn't hit. Whirs through smoke and goes into the wall. Cassidy fires another two at the void and misses without missing, retreats because the three bodies on the floor stopped moving. Blown open skulls.
When he runs the black fog catches up to him three streets down, billows past him and takes shape blocking his way. Cassidy aims Peacekeeper at the black eyes in the owl mask, the middle of the forehead. His finger twitches towards the trigger, stills.
"Almost ruined my bounty," he says. "Although I reckon I ruined one of y'all's arms deals, too."
Reaper tilts his head.
"Who is y'all supposed to be?"
"Talon, duh."
A laugh.
"Not up to date, hm?"
"What?"
"You did my job for me," Reaper says and glances over his shoulder as footsteps approach. "Good aim."
Cassidy doesn't get a chance to reply because the wraith dissolves into smoke once again, disappears within an instant. He runs, too, and no one follows him.
#
"So," Cassidy says. "You aren't with Talon anymore, huh?"
Reaper glances over his shoulder. He is crouched at the edge of the rooftop overlooking the bay outside Dorado. Ships passing by the cliffside as the evening goes on, lanterns like stars in the distance.
"You did your research."
"Lil' late, prolly. My informant mentioned it's been like that for a bit."
"They would be correct."
Cassidy trails closer, eyes on the waves, eyes on the mountain in the distance.
"Why'd you do it?"
"Why not?"
"'Cause you were already on Overwatch's main hitlist. Top spot. Now you're gonna be on Talon's, too. Makes no sense to give up that advantage. You got a death wish?"
"Do you?" Reaper asks, amused.
Cassidy touches the brim of his hat with his metal hand.
"Did your research, too."
"Marginally."
"Fair enough."
One of the ships makes it to shore and three others set sail- when the wind changes course, voices carry up to the city, to the rooftops. Reaper barely moves, a shadowy silhouette against the dark blue sky.
"How did you get up here?"
"Determination," Cassidy says and startles at the laugh he receives as a reply. "You asked how, not why. Why's that?"
"If you think I didn't notice you following me through town you're less competent than I gave you credit for."
"Listen-"
"Come to kill me, cowboy?" Reaper asks without turning, one shotgun resting beside him, the other on his leg. Cassidy shrugs.
"That even possible?"
"No."
"Then it's a no from me, pal. Was just curious. Why you're up here."
Reaper hesitates.
"The view's not bad," he says.
Cassidy takes his hand off of Peacekeeper and a few steps closer, plops down at the edge of the roof. The ships go by. With the depth of the ocean below them they are made of paper. He hums an old tune and doesn't speak a word until the last light goes out, until he is alone with the city.
#
La Lechuza, they call him. It's on the list of other bounty hunters who took a job, it's in the intel Cassidy gets. La Lechuza was here. La Lechuza has killed the last of the Vishkar operatives in Talon. La Lechuza killed the people who followed me and let me go.
Cassidy tails a suspect through the crowded streets of Numbani and sees the owl mask out of the corner of his eye, the black cloak on the walkways far above the cars passing by. Cassidy hurries along but the target is already dead when he arrives.
Half a week later there are claw marks in the corpse of a Talon informant, a wisp of smoke around their personal datapad. All information wiped. All names taken.
Cassidy waves at Reaper when they cross paths in Dorado. Sees it returned and laughs all the way to Castillo, lanterns guiding the way.
It goes on.
#
"Hey, wait," Cassidy calls out. "Come back for a sec."
The smoke halts, reverses its movement and reforms into a solid shape back in the room. A corpse in an office, a wraith standing above it.
"Yes?" Reaper asks. "What is it?"
"Why this guy?"
"Because he had a bounty on his head."
"He wasn't Talon."
"And?"
Cassidy shrugs but keeps his eyes on the mask, refuses to frown.
"You've only been takin' jobs sabotagin' Talon or smaller unaffiliated targets. First time I see you go after someone else."
Reaper tilts his head. His voice crackles like static, amused, thoroughly entertained.
"Why do you care?"
"'Cause you're all about revenge," Cassidy answers. "'M tryin' to figure out what your deal is."
Reaper clicks his metal claws onto the desk.
"Whether I'm a threat to you?"
"Nah. You coulda killed me twenty times now. I think you got a list and I'm not on it."
"That's a good guess."
"Thanks," Cassidy says. "I made it myself."
Sizzling, electric laughter. Not mocking. A buzz in the wires, appreciative. Reaper dissolves, a cloud of smoke dispersing. Cassidy chuckles in the empty office, picks the Deadlock crest up off the dead man's jacket. The scorching heat of the desert has him back within a minute.
#
Cassidy strolls into the informant's office and the wraith is already there.
"Small world."
"Seems like it," Reaper says, agreeable, and crosses his arms over his chest. He's leaning against the back wall, the shadows clinging to him as much as he clings to them. Cassidy touches the brim of his hat.
"'M hopin' you're here to get a job, not kill the person who's givin' them out."
"That's gonna be a surprise."
Cassidy laughs and rests his metal palm on the front desk's immaculate surface. Drums his fingers.
"Are you-"
He gets interrupted by the omnic leaving the back room, waving at him the second they catch sight of him.
"Cassidy! Finally. We've been waiting for hours."
"Waitin'?" Cassidy asks and looks between the omnic and Reaper who only shrugs. "What do y'all need me for?"
"I called you here because this job requires two people and I know you don't work with amateurs."
The datapad they slide across the desk shows a few pictures, paragraphs of text. Question marks scattered throughout, especially in the section titled 'background'.
"Why's it require two?" Cassidy asks.
The omnic shifts their antennae around. Not quite irritation. Apprehension.
"The guy is holed up in a bunker. The door won't open unless two separate switches are activated at the same time. On top of the codes, of course."
"Ah."
Cassidy scrolls through some of the details, the location, the reward. Numbers, blending together. Talon, it says in the background section, possibly operating as a mole in Overwatch after the Omnic Crisis.
"You okay with this?" he asks without looking up, clenches his fist until his fingers stop shaking. "Teamin' up to get this guy?"
The shadows to his left shift. Hum.
"Sure."
#
"Heard you were working on the inside in Overwatch, care to-"
Cassidy stops as he feels the muzzle of a gun press to the back of his head. For a second his heart drops low and he curses but when the safety clicks off it's the sound of a pistol. He blinks and a shotgun blast removes the pressure, removes the man standing behind him entirely. Cassidy grabs the bounty's hand as he reaches for his own weapon, fires Peacekeeper through the palm and into the skull. Ten seconds and it's done. Ten seconds and he turns around.
"Sorry 'bout that."
"Huh?" Reaper asks and pushes the corpse to the side with the tip of his boot. "Sorry about what?"
"I'm guessin' you were gonna, uh, ask some friendly questions about the people on your list."
Reaper stares at him for a long moment.
"Happens."
"Happens?"
"Yeah. Nothing we can do about it now."
Halfway up the stairs, halfway back into the sun, Cassidy clears his throat.
"Thanks."
"For what?"
"You coulda waited until he killed me as a distraction, y'know. Get your info in peace. You didn't have to go outta your way to save me."
Reaper looks over his shoulders, back towards the exit. Says nothing, reveals nothing with the voice that isn't masked.
#
"I could use some help with the guys in another old Deadlock hideout."
"Oh?" Reaper asks. "Expecting a set-up?"
Cassidy nods.
"Ton of sightlines but the intel stressed they aren't gonna have any long-distance weapons."
"Sketchy."
"Yeah, thought the same. Could use some back-up, 's all."
"I can scout for you, sure," Reaper says. "If they have snipers they won't see me coming."
Cassidy grins at him, hand on his hat.
"You want half the bounty again or two thirds?"
#
Cassidy takes a sip and when he places the glass down on the counter he is not alone anymore.
"Forgot to have footsteps again?"
"Sorry," Reaper says and trails alongside the bar, running his claws over the side without making sound. "Did you kill everyone in here?"
"Nah. 'M just chillin'."
"In an empty bar?"
"Hey, no judgment."
"Sorry again," Reaper says, absent-minded, and wipes dust off his gloves. Cassidy gives him a thumbs up before resting his head on the counter. A splinter digs into his cheek. He stays where he is.
"'M not day drinkin', by the way. 'S just fancy water."
"Good to know."
"What're you doin' here?"
"I was looking for you," Reaper says. "I need help with a job."
Cassidy nods faintly.
"Another trap?"
"No. It requires talking to people."
"You can talk to people," Cassidy says. "You're pretty good at negotiations."
The metal claws dig into the wooden counter and the tearing is loud, violent. Reaper sneers at no one, at the old paintings on the wall. The colors fade with the years.
"It involves civilians who won't cooperate with anyone... dubious."
"You could take off your mask, y'know."
"Trust me," Reaper snorts. "That would make it worse."
Cassidy nods again.
"Gotcha. Sorry for askin'. I can help out, sure."
"Appreciated. You can have more than half of the bounty, I don't-"
"Half it is," Cassidy mumbles. "You got it, man."
#
"Feels like I've been gettin' jobs in Siberia all month," Cassidy laughs through the shivers. "You don't get cold, I'm guessin'?"
Reaper shakes his head.
"I can feel low temperatures but I don't really mind them."
"Heat's bad, though?"
"It's not great. Not lethal either. Mostly makes me tired."
"Aw," Cassidy says and they stroll down the snow-covered walkway of the old industrial complex. "How 'bout rain?"
"Not an issue."
"For you. 'M not a fan of it."
Reaper huffs.
"That's not my problem."
Cassidy laughs out loud, kicks some snow around with his boots, stuffs his hands into his pockets.
"True," he says. "Really do need to stop going to this kinda place, though. 'S not good for my arm."
Their footsteps crunch in the quiet for a moment, a long way down an old factory.
"How'd you lose it?" Reaper asks.
Cassidy rubs his metal elbow.
"An accident, honestly. Got caught in an explosion and had some debris landin' on it. Not much left after that."
"Unfortunate."
"Eh. Saved one of my friends. Good trade, if you ask me. One arm to save someone's whole-ass life."
"That's one way to put it," Reaper says, amused. "As long as it's not a habit."
"I'd run out of arms eventually, I reckon."
"Pretty quickly, I'd say."
"Listen-"
#
Cassidy's shots hit their mark. The seasons pass and his aim doesn't. Bullet after bullet, kill after kill. There's no list (no need). No end to it (because the world moves on). There is meaning.
#
"Hey, y'all got any new jobs?"
"What did you envision? Killing? Killing with added stealth segments?"
"Uh," Cassidy says and rubs his neck with his free hand. "I was wonderin' if you had given any to, uh- if you had any bounties for folks in Talon."
The omnic makes an electronic little sound over the phone, somewhere between curious and gleeful.
"La Lechuza is on his way to Nepal. So you did make a friend, Cassidy? You haven't had friends in years."
"Wow."
"It's just an observation!"
"Mean is what it is," Cassidy grumbles. "Just because I haven't been talkin' to people in a decade don't mean you gotta call me out on it."
"I don't have to! But I will."
"Wow."
#
"You okay?" Reaper asks and crouches down in front of him. "Taking a literal dirt nap?"
Cassidy coughs, rolling onto his back. He grunts when his leg is moved, sits up with some difficulty.
"Think I fucked up my leg a lil'."
"Can you walk?"
"Not sure."
Cassidy takes pause as Reaper holds out his hand, just a second, before accepting it and letting the wraith pull him back to his feet. The metal of the claws is cool but not freezing. Cassidy winces as he attempts to put weight on his injured leg.
"Hey, you mind helpin' me out?" he asks. "I reckon I could make it back to the car by myself but they'll probably send reinforcements. Would be nice not to get ambushed when 'm hobbling along at a snail's pace."
Reaper shrugs.
"Sure. Wouldn't be a very poetic end for an outlaw."
"Right?"
Halfway through the tunnels the reinforcements arrive and Peacekeeper's reload is slow. Talon doesn't ever reach Cassidy, doesn't ever put a scratch on him. Their end arrives on swift wings, a whisper of smoke.
"You're a show-off," Cassidy says as he limps to the car. "But I guess I can't blame you, it does look pretty cool."
"You're one to talk, cowboy."
"I said I'm not blamin' you!"
Reaper's shoulders shake and betray his laughter.
"Are you good to drive?" he asks. "I don't think we're too far away from the nearest city."
"Might be a while to a place with someone I trust to take a look at this. But yeah, I think I got this."
"Good. Let me know if that changes."
"How 'm gonna do that?" Cassidy asks with a guffaw. "You wanna swap numbers or somethin'?"
Reaper shrugs.
"Sure. Why not?"
Cassidy stares for a few seconds but then shrugs, as well.
"Why the hell not?"
#
Another day, another datapad on the desk.
"Someone requested Deadeye to take this one," they tell him. "I guess they think you're the only one who's a match for the guy."
Cassidy only glances down at the screen, eyes snapping back up.
"Who requested it?"
"You know I can't tell you that."
"And y'all know I ain't takin' bounties from Talon folk," he says and frowns at the screen, pushes it away ever so slightly. The omnic watches him and their antennae perk up.
"It's a lot of money," they say and shake their head. "You'd be set for life with this kinda cash. You could buy yourself out of your own bounty. A lot of people would do anything to get this chance."
Cassidy shrugs.
"Why not give it to all those people, then?"
"I told you, they think you're the only one who wouldn't die."
"Just 'cause my aim's good doesn't mean I can kill a ghost," he huffs and his stomach turns before he ever receives the reply.
"I assume they're betting on you getting the drop on him."
Cassidy falters for a second too long.
"I hardly know the guy."
"Then take the job," the Omnic says, casual, typing away at something else to hide deep in their databanks. "You know how it works. If you haven't brought the bounty in in a few weeks I'll make it public. Strike while the iron is hot, right?"
Cassidy looks down on the screen, the owl mask, the nine figures. Wanted dead, it says, underlined. Then: 'genetically engineered, military background, special forces. Burning recommended'. The mask. The numbers.
"Sure," he says and the metal of his fingers aches. "You're right. I'll do it."
#
"What's up?" Reaper asks as he reforms from the shadows. "You said it was urgent."
Cassidy waves, throws him a datapad.
"Howdy. What's up? Not much. Just got hired to kill you."
"Not to critique your MO but usually you shouldn't inform your target."
Cassidy shrugs.
"Not if you wanna go through with it, no."
Reaper looks up, tosses the device back over. He walks closer. Sits down next to Cassidy on the low brick wall at the edge of a barren field. It's late enough for the village behind them to rest.
"Passing on a lot of money, cowboy," Reaper says. "Could have bought your way out of this business."
Cassidy shrugs a second time, an ache in the back of his neck.
"So I've been told. Lately I haven't gotten a lot of people tryin' to kill me anyway, though. Might've given up. Been shootin' whoever tried for too long, I reckon."
A pause.
"Your bounty has been increased, actually."
"Huh?"
"Should be at ninety. You can go check."
Cassidy does, scrolls through the entries until he reaches a familiar face. The sun reflects on the small screen. Cole Cassidy. Ninety million dollars.
"Well now," he says. "Exclusive contract, too. Whatchu gonna do with the money?"
Reaper laughs out loud.
"Nothing."
"So same braincell, then. Job's gonna go to someone else sooner if we don't take it."
"Mhmm."
"Why, though?" Cassidy asks. "Nothing to gain from lettin' me live. I was with Overwatch."
Reaper cocks his head.
"I was with Talon."
"Sure, yeah, but-"
"What did you just say?" Reaper asks. "Same braincell?"
A few of the birds scrounging for scraps in the empty field startle as Cassidy laughs out loud, a guffaw in the silence. The flutter of wings, the scraping in the dirt.
"I used to have a bunch of people I liked workin' with. Lot of 'em are dead. Not sure about some of the others. Been nice to have backup again, 's all. Sounds kinda pathetic now that I say it out loud."
"It might surprise you," Reaper says and sounds like he is grinning behind the mask. "But I don't have a lot of friends left, either."
Cassidy only laughs louder.
"Too edgy for 'em?"
"Guilty."
The world quiets down again, the birds land, the breeze picks up. Reaper clicks his tongue.
"I made the mistake of surviving something they didn't," he says. "And not coming back right."
Cassidy raises his eyebrows, searches the mask for a sign of anything. White bone. Black eyes. Keeping down the smoke.
"As a ghost?"
Reaper laughs.
"Yeah," he says. "As a ghost."
#
Cassidy has three numbers on speed dial.
- An omnic informant hiding at the edge of the world. Business. Safety measure. They know enough to scare him but not enough to lose his trust. Lynx, they say their name is, eventually. They smile at him and end up a friend.
- Fareeha Amari. Family. His sister. Cassidy's thumb hovers over the call button once every day. Once every year he almost presses it. Regrets. Bites down tears and vows to do better. Eventually, he will.
- A new number, filed under an owl emoji. A question mark. Three quarters of his calls going forward.
#
"Hey," Cassidy says and stares up at the ceiling, lying spread eagle on the motel bed. "You wanna like, team up and hunt bounties?"
His head spins when he looks up and he drops back down with a groan, the haze too heavy to think through. The taste of cheap whiskey sticks to his gums, burns like the spots on the backs of his eyelids. Reaper pauses with his hand on the door, turns back around.
"I'm not sure you're sober enough to make business decisions."
"Haven't gotten drunk in years," Cassidy slurs. "Thanks for dragging me out of that bar fight."
"No problem."
"Woulda won, though."
"Probably," Reaper says. "Mostly because you were fighting the actual bar."
"Huh. Explains a lot, actually."
Cassidy's head pulses and he has to close his eyes, slumps until his body sinks into the covers, the soft blankets, half a dream.
"We've been working together for a while," Reaper says. "What exactly did you envision?"
"We've been helpin' each other out for a while. Not really the same."
"I'm not the most fun person to travel with."
"Neither am I. I listen to the same three songs on a loop and cry every time. It ain't that deep but fuck, sometimes it is."
Reaper laughs, barely audible, unmistakably fond.
"Okay."
Cassidy lifts his head and immediately slams it back down as the nausea returns.
"Really?"
"Sure," Reaper says. "Can't hurt to try."
#
"So you don't drive at all? You just teleport around?"
"Why would I drive?"
Cassidy nods, opens the driver side door.
"Fair enough. Well, I can't turn into smoke because I ain't a ghost."
"I got that covered," Reaper says, ducking his head and dropping into the passenger seat. "Balanced team composition."
"Only one ghost allowed."
"Exactly. I wouldn't make a good cowboy, either."
"That's what friends are for," Cassidy says. "To meet the government issued one cowboy per bounty huntin' squad requirement."
The streets they pass are warming up in the sun. Mostly empty. A big dog chases a paper bag down the sidewalk, always one step behind. It wags its tail, anyway, barks away the silence.
"Never had a pet," Cassidy says. "Look at him go, though."
"What about that hamster?"
"What?"
Reaper shrugs.
"Overwatch has a giant hamster. Piloting a robot shaped like a wrecking ball."
Cassidy squints at him.
"Not sure if I wish you were jokin'."
"I'm sure," Reaper says. "I absolutely wish I was."
"You got someone on the inside who told you?"
"It was on the news."
Cassidy grips the wheel a little tighter, relaxes as he sighs and feels ancient. It creeps back into his bones, the exhaustion, a slow decay.
"Haven't been payin' attention that much lately, to be honest."
"It is easier to ignore that time is passing if you stay isolated," Reaper says and it's a punch to the gut. "But the world isn't standing still."
Cassidy makes a disgruntled little noise of approval.
"That ain't wrong."
Reaper shrugs.
"It's also not very helpful. You're doing the best you can."
"Am I?" Cassidy asks and clears his throat. The mask doesn't move no matter how much he stares at it, no matter how much he searches.
"Some days are better, some days are worse," Reaper says. "You're doing good."
The road goes on. Cassidy exhales, blinks into the sun.
"Yeah. Just gotta keep goin', huh? Nothin' else to do."
#
The endless orchards pass by the car window.
"This? As the spot you'd get murdered in? No offense but that's an awful choice. Y'all actually dead people got no taste."
"Like your cornfields were any better," Reaper says and rests his head against the side of the seat.
Cassidy shrugs.
"At least I didn't get murdered by a scarecrow."
"Keep driving and we'll see what you get murdered by, cowboy."
"'M not gonna get murdered by anythin'. I'll just roll out of the way."
"Mhm. Like the water tower that I had to drag you away from."
A pause.
"Listen-"
"I'm listening."
"Hngh," Cassidy says and keeps his hands on the wheel, no matter how numb they are. Reaper laughs.
"Thought so."
"I think I see a corn silo comin' up, too. Sucks to be me. Guess I'll get crushed."
"To be fair, there's nothing but corn silos out here, anyway. Not much of a surprise."
"Foreshadowing. 'S tryin' to warn me."
"Of course."
Cassidy gestures out the window.
"It's your turn now."
"Can't wait."
Two minutes pass.
"Hey, look. Another silo. Welcome to corn hell."
"That's okay," Reaper says and hums two notes of the quiet song the radio is playing. "There's worse ways to die."
#
"This isn't what you were talkin' about, right?" Cassidy asks. His boots rest on the dashboard and his head against the closed car window. It's cold outside and a few weak rays of sunlight flicker across his face, blind him. His serape keeps him warm.
"Hm?"
Reaper lies stretched out across the backseat. More smoke than usual, especially as he turns on his side.
"You said you ain't great to travel with. This isn't what you meant, right?"
"It's part of it."
"Dude," Cassidy says and frowns into the rear view mirror. "You're ill. Havin' chronic pain isn't a character flaw."
Reaper coughs.
"But crying about cowboy songs is."
"They're emotional! Ain't my fault they're sad."
They fall silent for a moment and Cassidy rolls down one of the windows, lets the sharp breeze pour in and winces as Reaper does, shaking through a spike among the waves.
"You've seen me get panic attacks," Cassidy says. "Like that time in Nepal when I almost fucked up the job by freakin' out in the middle of the negotiation. Your illness ain't any more of an inconvenience than that. Just happens sometimes."
Reaper hums, a pleased and pleasant noise no matter the electric edge.
"Appreciated."
"Just lemme know if I can help."
"Not much anyone can do," Reaper says and rests his head. "It'll pass. It always does."
#
"You should sleep."
Cassidy huffs, his chin resting on top of his folded hands. The words on the page in front of him swim in the dim light, swirl and form new ones he doesn't recognize. It's a blur. The ache in his eyes isn't, the exhaustion worming into his brain.
"Would if I could," he says. "Sometimes it just doesn't happen."
Reaper moves around the room, a familiar shadow, a comforting presence.
"Is there something that usually helps you?"
"Nah, 's all good. Been ages since it happened, anyway. Was the worst when I just left Deadlock. Kind of not great after Blackwatch, either."
"Try to stay hydrated at least."
Cassidy laughs when Reaper places a glass of water on the table.
"You remind me of my dad sometimes, y'know."
"My condolences," Reaper says and opens one of the windows. Cold air, the chill of the hours before dawn. Cassidy runs his fingers over the letters, the page he knows by heart.
"Was more of a compliment, honestly."
"I know," Reaper says. "Mine was more of a terrible joke."
Cassidy chuckles into the crook of his elbow, closes his eyes for a second. Stars across the back of his eyelids. Vertigo. Numbness from his jaw to his fingertips. His laugh turns soundless when the weight of a blanket settles across his shoulders. The words he hears blur together, too.
"Haven't figured out anythin'," Cassidy mumbles, a world away. "'M just makin' things up as I go."
#
"You stayin' in contact with your friends?" Cassidy asks somewhere along the edge of the city. Reaper looks over his shoulder.
"Hm?"
"You said you didn't have many left. Implyin' there are some."
"Perceptive. Yeah, there are. It's not safe to meet right now, that's all."
"Oh," Cassidy says and rubs his neck. "They're from Talon?"
"Mhmm. They are."
Silence doesn't follow them for long. Reaper glances back another time.
"Why'd you ask?"
Cassidy sighs.
"Been thinkin' about contactin' some folks again."
"And?"
"Guess 'm a bit of a coward," he says and a bit of the weight lifts off his heart. "Haven't talked to them in years. Genji and Fareeha've been doin' great without me, dunno if I still got a place in their lives."
Reaper laughs.
"Only one way to find out."
"That's true," Cassidy says and breathes the anxiety into the skylines. "That's very true."
#
The phone is picked up.
"Who is this?"
"Aw," Cassidy says. "I know it's been ages but I woulda thought you'd remember me, Captain."
Ana's laugh is full of joy.
"There is only one person I know who is trying that much to sound like a cowboy."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"You should."
Cassidy leans his head against the dirty glass of the old phone booth, sits among old soda cans. The phone cord rests on his shoulder until he brushes it away, stares out into the night. The sky isn't clear enough for stars.
"Just wanted to call and say hi," he says. "Let y'all at the Watchpoint know I ain't dead. Ask what's goin' on over there."
"The usual. I'm surrounded by stubborn fools."
"No offense, ma'am, but I've never met a person more stubborn than you."
Ana tsks.
"Where are your manners, cowboy?"
"Went down the drain. Life of an outlaw, y'know. I'll start wearing shoes at home if I'm not careful."
"Scandalous," Ana says and pauses for a long while, the amusement only vestigial. "You do have a home out there?"
Cassidy shrugs for himself.
"Eh. Not really. Been on the road."
"Well, if you ever feel like coming back there's a place for you here."
"I'll think about it."
Another silence that weighs heavy on him and the phone cord wrapped around his fingers, cutting off part of the circulation until he releases its grip.
"There's somethin' I should tell you about," he says, finally.
"Oh?"
"Been workin' with someone occasionally."
Ana's worry reaches him before she speaks.
"What did you get yourself into?"
"You heard about folks leavin' Talon, right? Well, uh, yeah."
She doesn't reply for a long time. Cassidy kicks a can by accident, startles at the noise.
"You're working with-" Ana starts and the snicker that follows catches him off guard. "You're working with Reaper."
"Yeah, uh. Yeah. Why's that so funny? Shouldn't you be, you know, a lil' more concerned?"
Ana keeps laughing.
"Oh, you can hold your own in a fight. I didn't teach you how to shoot for nothing, cowboy."
"Really feel there's somethin' you're not tellin' me," he says, flat, his heart beating shallow.
"Because it's not my job to tell you," she replies. "But it's good to hear you aren't alone."
Cassidy stares at the phone but the melancholy of the abandoned street catches up with him, envelops him again. A small illuminated shelter in the middle of nowhere. He clears his throat.
"Well, tell Fareeha 'm gonna try to come visit asap. And Genji. And the rest of y'all. I reckon it's about time."
"I will," Ana replies. "Stay out of trouble, Cole."
"Gonna try my best, Captain."
Cassidy stays where he is until the line goes dead, until the money runs out, until the error message loops for the tenth time. Stares at the spiderweb high above him. When he returns to the world some of the clouds have cleared.
#
It's Dorado again. A year, not to the day.
Cassidy sits on the edge of the roof with his legs dangling over the side. Three boats sailing on the calm waves, countless lights behind them where the city celebrates.
"Came here a few times when I was younger," he says. "Always liked the place."
Reaper shifts somewhere to the right, his temple leaned against one of the railings.
"By yourself?"
"Not always. Was in good company."
Nothing shatters or breaks. The ships move on, swaying, floating, weightless in the deep blue sea. The wraith laughs. A somber, quiet sound.
"So you do know who I am."
"Well," Cassidy says. "I reckon I knew who you were, at least."
Reaper nods to himself. He's not far.
"When did you figure it out?"
"Couple weeks after we took out that guy at the gas station," Cassidy explains, metal arm over his knees as he draws them closer to his chest. "The one with the weird specific bounty. Took me a few days to realize that someone transferred some of that to my account. Made me check the exact amounts of the other payments. Weird how there was always more than I shoulda gotten. About two thirds of your share more."
Another laugh. Even less happy.
"That's not proof of anything."
"No, but the code you sent it under is. That was the one y'all used for the sting operation where I got arrested."
"Good memory," Reaper says and the warmth is there, if faint. Cassidy glances over at him, the mask- then the people below celebrating life.
"You wanted me to know."
"I suppose I'm selfish."
Cassidy shakes his head, clenches his fists, rests his open palms on the stone. Placative.
"Nothin' selfish about that," he says and falters, clears his throat, hurts to the core. "Just- the way you talk 'bout yourself and what happened made it sound like you were done with Reyes."
Reaper sighs and it sounds like the wind moving through the leaves, a rustle of wings. He wrapped himself up in his coat. The warm evening is almost on the verge of cooling down.
"I'm... not not Reyes," he says.
Cassidy smiles at him, receives no answer.
"I figured. If you were some evil spirit possessing him you wouldn't have- you wouldn't give a shit about me."
This silence is short.
"Good reasoning, too."
"What is this," Cassidy laughs with the confidence he lacks, "my annual performance review?"
"I'm not your boss anymore."
A blink of pain.
"Yeah, no, probably not."
"You don't work for me anymore," Reaper adds. "That's what I mean. Not that we don't work together."
Cassidy smiles wider until it feels right.
"Accidental bounty hunting pals."
"Rolls off the tongue."
He scoots a little closer and Reaper turns his head towards him, finally. Huffs, as happy as it is defeated. When he reaches up and removes the mask there is no shock, no swell of the music. A familiar face. Cassidy follows the lines of the scars through fully black eyes, smoke, bone.
"I reckon Moira's got something to do with this," he says and is tired, so tired.
Reaper laughs and the fog pours out of his mouth until he coughs, until the bones find their place again.
"Yeah. Always thought my condition was so fascinating."
Cassidy swallows the pain.
"That bounty I took-"
"Yeah?"
"It said to try burning you."
"Yours just said 'will die if you shoot him'," Reaper says, amused and there's life in his eyes still, a spark, a warmth that hasn't died down.
"You think it was her who put out the request?"
"No," Reaper says. "She doesn't want me dead. Quite the opposite. I'm sure she'd much prefer continuing the treatment. She might have been involved in your bounty, though."
Cassidy grins.
"Kind of a stupid play. Thinkin' I was just gonna take the money and not tell you shit."
"Foiled by communication once again," Reaper says and tries for a smile. A violent thought, sudden and overwhelming. Cassidy bites down on his tongue and tastes metal.
"Are you scared of me, boss? Of what I was gonna say?"
Reaper doesn't look away fast enough.
"C'mon, gimme some credit," Cassidy says. "You still look like you."
"Vaguely."
"We've been hanging out for ages. It don't matter if you're not entirely the same person, I'm already friends with who you are now. No need to worry, y'know?"
Cassidy reaches out tentatively but his resolve falters. Reaper watches him. Laughs, eventually, and shuffles closer, pushes his shoulder against Cassidy's outstretched hand.
"I'm not gonna disappear, kid."
"You better not," Cassidy says and leans against Reaper's side. He breathes, once, and rests his forehead against the collar of the black coat.
"I'm here for you if you want me to be."
"That's a yeehaw from me," Cassidy says. "I say yeehaw to that."
#
Things will be okay because Cassidy presses the button. Cassidy presses the button because things will be okay.
#
"Who's that?" the bounty says and spits out blood. "Death has a henchman now? Couldn't take me down yourself?"
Reaper shrugs.
"That's my son and I'm very proud of him."
They go for the throat but the first of six bullets hits their kneecap and they drop before the other five are needed. Hit the ground with a grunt and reach for a knife. It flies through smoke, gets stuck in the wall.
"Fuck you," they snarl. "Fuck you both. You don't know who I'm working for. You don't know what they'll do to you."
Cassidy kicks their second knife to the opposite corner.
"I reckon they've done their worst already."
"You-"
"Yeah, yeah," Cassidy says. "Y'all gonna kill us. Heard that before."
They lunge for his ankles but he steps to the side in time, twirls Peacekeeper around and hits the easy shot. The back of their head snaps open as their lifeless body drops to the floor. Cassidy grimaces.
"Never a fan of that part."
"Good," Reaper says. "You shouldn't be."
They take the external hard drive. Leave the scene. Cassidy goes ahead through the rows of closed freezers, grits his teeth when the smell gets to him. The meat hooks are freshly polished. He only turns around when he steps out into clean air, sunnier skies. Reaper follows behind, through the main hallway, out onto the dusty street. He stays quiet until they get to the car, lets Cassidy take them down the long road through the desert. He doesn't wear the mask, his expression distant, eyes on the horizon line.
"Boss?" Cassidy asks. "You okay?"
Reaper hums.
"Tired."
"That all?"
A short pause.
"No," Reaper admits. "Not really."
The fields dry out in the heat that lingers even as the sun begins to descend. The car speeds past a no man's land, a desert in all but the name. Cassidy shifts, his hands on the wheel.
"You wanna talk about it?"
Reaper hesitates for a moment, a negligible stretch of the road.
"Are you happy?" he asks.
Cassidy drives on. Half a minute later, half a minute of a maelstrom in his head, he glances over.
"Gonna pull over for a sec if that's alright with you."
"Go ahead."
The car slows to a stop at the side of the road. A lone tree, branches low and gnarled. The shade it provides paints a pattern across the front window. Cassidy folds his hands on the wheel, metal fingers clicking.
"Are you?" he asks.
Reaper laughs.
"Deflecting, hm?"
"'S a strange question outta nowhere, that's all."
"I said I'm proud of you," Reaper says and drums his fingers on the lower part of the half-open window. "But I realized I never asked if you were happy with where you are now."
He doesn't avoid eye contact, watches Cassidy as he fumbles for an answer.
"I'm gettin' there," he says. "Used to feel like I was rotten to the core, like I had too much shit in my past to ever make up for. But, yeah, I'm gettin' there now. Bein' proud of who I am, too."
Reaper nods, slowly.
"You never got the chance at a normal life but I worry sometimes I made it worse for you."
It makes Cassidy laugh, despite it all.
"By keepin' me from bein' imprisoned for life?"
"No," Reaper says. "I worry I taught you how to kill too well."
There's no one passing them by, no sign of life outside the car windows. The tree stays unmoving in the weak breeze. Cassidy shakes his head.
"Was Deadlock who forced me to learn that."
"You know what I mean."
"Not exactly, no."
The scars across Reaper's whole face move as he grimaces, the smoke flowing with them.
"I don't regret the work we did as Blackwatch but-"
"I don't either, y'know?" Cassidy says as the silence drags on, the loss for words. "You didn't- you didn't ask me to kill anyone I wouldn't've wanted dead myself. I left because I didn't wanna watch you die, not because I thought you were a monster, boss."
"It's just-"
"You're right," Cassidy continues and his voice is soft. "I didn't get a chance to be like any of those normal folk we were tryin' to protect. But that ain't your fault or mine. I got pretty far considerin' where I started and what I had. And let's be real, most of it I owe to you."
Reaper snorts.
"Don't sell yourself short."
"You might've been the only dad I ever had, but you're also the best one I coulda asked for."
Cassidy's heart lightens as he speaks, soars as he is done. He beams before he means to. Laughs, breathless, because the road outside is unfamiliar.
"Good," Reaper says and grins. "Because you're my son and I love you."
The seat belt creaks as Cassidy leans his head against Reaper's shoulder for just a moment, a connection.
"Car's too small for a hug."
"Why do you want to hug the car?"
"Oh my god," Cassidy says, twists his body and hugs Reaper, anyway, with the force of the last of his grief. "Can't believe I even missed your stupid jokes, boss."