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Talon never discouraged Sombra from pursuing extracurriculars. As long as she did her job, or at least appeared to do her job, there was a whole world of fun she could have with near-unlimited resources. She didn’t quite agree with all of her coworkers’ methods, but it was worth it if it brought her closer to her goals. Of her many hobbies, data hoarding was her favorite. There was something deeply satisfying about collecting and categorizing secrets so deep and dirty that there were people who would kill to get their hands on it. Most of it was to put together the pieces of a bigger picture. The rest was simple leisure.
There’s nothing like a bit of light reading in the morning. Sombra sat on her couch with a mug of coffee. She leaned her elbow on the armrest and crossed her legs, the top leg bounced rhythmically. She didn’t have any assignments for a while. Her entertainment of choice was a certain cowgirl she had teamed up with not too long ago while taking a freelance mission in Deadlock Gorge Arizona. She asked for information on Los Muertos and Sombra asked for information on Cole Cassidy in return. She just rolled her eyes wrongfully assuming it was a joke.
Cassidy was a low-priority hobby target Sombra had limited information on. She knew about Blackwatch and current affairs, but not much before that aside from some police records or whatnot. They’ve crossed paths a few times, but the man is deceptively skilled at redirection and dodging questions. Gaps in her vast collection make her bones itch, but if Ashe wasn’t going to bite Sombra wasn’t going to beg. Sombra shrugged. Her loss.
Sombra’s fingers quickly flew over her projected holograms and pulled up a file. Elizabeth Caledonia Ashe. Sombra stared at her picture for a moment. She was undeniably gorgeous with red eyes, white hair, and a cold glare. Her dangerous aura is just as prevalent in photos as it was in real life. She was the former Ashe family heir and leadership prospect to Arbalest Arms Company. However, after one too many run-ins with the law she got disowned and formed Deadlock Rebels. She stole from her own family’s company. Sombra hummed in amusement and her grin widened.
“She’s got audacity, that's for sure.”
Arbalest Arms had been on her radar for a while. They were one of the United States military’s main sources of arms during the Omnic Crisis, doubtlessly reaping tremendous amounts of profit while suffering minimal blowback due to their somewhat unaffected location in Bellerae, Texas. It’s one of the many pieces of the puzzle Sombra has looked over inside and out for any clues as to why everything happened the way it did. Though Ashe was now unaffiliated, there had to be things she knew that Sombra didn’t.
She snapped her mind to the present. Today wasn’t a bigger-picture kind of day. Again. It was her week off. Sombra decided to throw Ashe a bone and see what she’d bring to her door in return. Screw the cowboy. Ashe is way hotter. In her short interactions with the woman, she was blunt, sharp, and cold. Closed off in a way that had its own allure. Sombra was the type to poke and prod, how would she react to that? She wanted to see what she looked like caught with her guard down. She giggled as she drafted up a quick somewhat cryptic text and awaited Ashe’s response. Show me what you got, cowgirl.
****
Ashe threw back a shot of whiskey at the back table in the dive bar. The place was dimly lit and the smell of cigarette smoke lingered in the air. Not too quiet, not too loud. Sombra sent her a message a few days ago asking to meet up, she said it was important. The possibility that it could be a trap was not lost on Ashe, but she agreed anyway out of curiosity.
She idly tapped her fingernails on the table until something shifted in the corner of her eye and she heard footsteps that belonged to no one. Ashe pretended nothing was amiss as she subtly ripped off one end of a straw wrapper. Suddenly she drew the exposed straw end to her lips and snapped her head to the direction of the footsteps, blowing the rest of the paper casing off the straw. Sombra materialized and shouted indignantly as it hit her in the middle of the forehead.
“Hey! What gives!?”
“Don’t try to sneak up on me next time.” Ashe drawled slowly with her eyebrows raised, not looking at her as she cleaned under her fingernails with a toothpick. “I’ve been on enough missions with you to recognize you. Now cut to the chase. What did you call me here for?”
“Awww so cold, does everything have to be business?”
“You contacted me out of the blue for other reasons? ”
“I’m hurt, really.” She grinned, clearly unaffected. “Maybe I just thought you were interesting.”
Sombra rested her chin against her other hand, tilted her head, and smiled.
“Isn’t being interesting to you something to be avoided”
“Everyone is at least a little interesting to me. It’s inevitable, hermosa.”
Ashe laughed. It was something sharp and a little mean but without the bite it had when she was being intentionally cruel. As if it were out of habit. Sombra would count that as a win. Ashe leaned back in her seat, fiddling with the empty shot glass and looking at Sombra across the table.
“So I reckon this is more like a date? If that’s what you wanted you didn’t need to be so vague.”
The two chatted the rest of the night and agreed to stay in contact.