Rockgod is back with another new story!
Well, this one isn't ENTIRELY my story, this is one that I wrote in collaboration with fellow Fanfiction writer/gamer GameQ. He wrote the first half of this story and asked me to finish it for him, so I did. I was hoping to have this out yesterday, to tie in with Christmas Eve, where this takes place, but things didn't quite turn out that way. Whatever, here it is, and I hope you enjoy it!
And be sure to tune in at the end of this story for some important announcements regarding what I'm up to!
It was Christmas Eve, the clocks short hand just struck 11 P.M. while the long hand continuously inches forward. All was quiet in the silent night as snowflakes gently fell from the dark sky, everyone was asleep in their warm beds as they dreamt of what they'll get for Christmas.
Well…almost everyone.
In the snowy graveyard all by herself, stood the famous and deadly assassin, Widowmaker, Talon's best sniper, and the most cold hearted of them all. She stood in front of a grave in silence, staring at the tombstone with her arms crossed, but she didn't stand in front of any tombstone, this particular tombstone she was standing near was where her deceased husband rested.
It would have been a surprise to any of her coworkers if they saw her there, since they have known her to be cold and ruthless, to be seeing her pay her respects to her dead husband would ruin her reputation. This is why she made sure no one followed her.
She wore black pants and a dark brown coat, along with a scarf to cover her neck. She didn't wear these warm clothes because of the cold but mostly to cover herself, to hide herself from the public. As she stood there, memories came to her head making her remember the lovely times she had with her husband, how he made her laugh and giggle, and how she fell in love with him.
"Gerard…" She whispered softly.
Suddenly she heard footsteps behind her, it seems to be coming closer to her but she stood still and focused on her husband's tombstone. The footsteps got closer and closer until finally it came to a halt, right next to her.
Widowmaker shifted her eyes to the figure next to her but didn't move her head, the figure was a male, about as tall as her, he wore a coat with brown pants and he too wore a scarf. He had a tanned hat on his head and glasses resting on the bridge of his nose, and in his hand were a letter.
He stood in front of a grave next to that of Amelie's husband's. He took heavy deep breaths in and out before slowly bending over and placing the letter on top of the grave.
"Merry Christmas ya sneaky snake." He mumbled with an Aussie accent, a half grin placed on his face.
After he said that, he stood there in silence, same as Amelie did. The two said nothing for a bit, and Amelie was just about to consider leaving until the man next to her spoke up.
"You lost someone too, eh?" He asked. Amelie did not respond and continued to stare at her husband's grave, staying still with only her chest breathing.
"Were you two close?" He asked again, and received the same response he got the first time. He tilted his head a little at her, wondering what was up with her and why she wouldn't respond.
Widowmaker started to get a little worried about him staring at her so closely, she didn't want to be recognized, and she didn't feel like killing anybody at the moment since she was spending time with her husband, or at least the man who used to be her husband.
"Ahh…I'm sorry Sheila, he must have been a good man." He spoke.
"He was…" She thought to herself.
"I got to say though, out of all the years I visited here, I never seen you until now. And I remember that tombstone being there for awhile, so what made you visit now?" He questioned, even though he knew he probably would get only silence for an answer. Amelie didn't respond but she had his question in mind, that was a good question, why was she there? To mourn over something from the past is silly, so why should she be there? A part of her was thinking to leave already and forget of this grave, but another part of her wishes to stay a little longer, she wonders why she would even think of that.
"Not that I really mind you being here, was just wondering was all." He said, making sure she doesn't get the wrong idea. "Well, this is a bit depressing, everyone in this city right now is probably having a better time than we are at the moment. Here we are just standing out here in the cold in front of two dead blokes while the others are either sleeping or partying like there's no tomorrow." He thought aloud, Amelie listening to him but not looking his way.
The man let out shiver and shook a little as a cold breeze flew past them, but Amelie wasn't affected from the cold. He let out a chuckle before speaking up.
"I'm not made for this weather, that's for sure. Listen sheila, I don't wanna bother you or anything, but if you want you can come with me to my campervan. I know that sounds wrong but trust me I ain't going to do nothin' stupid. I'm a little too old for that either way. I got some hot chocolate in there, with a warming A/C to warm ya up. I'm gonna get going now, before I can't feel my hands anymore." He finished before walking away, finally leaving the Widowmaker alone.
As he walked away, for some reasons, Amelie was contemplating the invitation. She was thinking to just stay here, but then again a cup of hot chocolate does sound good. She's pretty confident she can survive his ramblings, and if he was going to try and do something, she can finish him off right there in his van. Plus she doesn't have anything else to do, Reaper or in other words Reyes, called off any Blackwatch activities for Christmas Eve and Christmas, so that leaves her free to do anything for 2 days. She decides to take the offer, and followed the snow footprints left behind by the Aussie man.
She exited the graveyard as she followed the trails until she found the man near his campervan, he was about to open the back door until he turned around and saw her coming towards him. By the look of his face, Amelie could tell he was surprised to see her walking to him, but that surprised look quickly changed to a smile. Once she reached him, he opened the back door and offered her to head inside first, she took the offer and went inside, and she was surprised of what she saw. To be honest, she was expecting to be greeted by a messy and smelly small room, but it was all tidied up and smelled of hot chocolate, and though it was a bit cramped it actually looked quite cozy.
"Go ahead and sit next to that little table over there, I'll serve you what I promised." He spoke kindly, Amelie obliged and sat where he asked her to. After she took her seat, she observed more of the van, there was a mini stove where the man was preparing the hot chocolate, a mini sink to wash, a ladder leading up to what she assumed to be the man's bed, and a window next to the table. She watched through the window as it continued to snow outside, the snow seems to be falling more now.
"So, where are you from Sheila? Got any family members to celebrate Christmas with?" He asked while stirring the hot chocolate, assuming that he'd get nothing for reply, but surprisingly he did receive a reply.
"No." She said with a French accent.
"So she speaks." He exclaimed a little. "But you got family? Anything at all?" She shook her head in reply, but she used to have family, her husband being a part of it. Of course, she didn't want to say that to him.
"Ah, sorry I keep asking questions, just trying to get to know the Sheila I'm with." He apologized. The man served Amelie her cup of hot chocolate then sat on the other side of the table with his cup. "Oh I'm sorry, I just realized I never said my name. The name's Mundy, Rick Mundy." He spoke, while extending his hand to greet her with a handshake, which she took. After that she decided to take a sip of her hot chocolate, but grimaced in pain as her tongue was getting all burnt up, but Mundy took a whole gulp like it was nothing.
He chuckled at that. "I drink hot coffee all the time. At this point my tongue doesn't know what hot is anymore." He says before letting out another chuckle. Amelie couldn't help but let a little smile form on one side of her lips, then deciding to ask him some questions.
"I don't believe you are from around here?" Amelie asked.
"Huh? Oh nah, not really. I've been moving around a lot." He responded.
"From your accent I believe you come from Australia?"
"You got that right sheila, Australia is my homeland." He stated proudly.
"If you are from Australia, why travel all the way to France?"
"Well I wasn't at the graveyard for no reason you know, was just dropping by to say 'good day mate' to an old friend." He claimed. Amelie nodded her head understanding him. She looked around the van for a moment and then spotted something that caught her interest, Mundy looked to where she was looking and saw his old sniper rifle.
"She's a beaut isn't she? Me and her go way back." Mundy said with a smile.
"Yes it is, but I'm surprised to see a sniper rifle this old. That rifle compared to the others today, it's ancient, more like a relic."
He laughed at that. "Heh. Well this 'relic' can still shoot with no fall-off sheila. Wanna see it up close?"
Amelie nodded and Mundy obliged, grabbing the sniper rifle from its shelf and resting it on his lap.
"A single shot, bolt action rifle made with a wooden stock and this massive telescope, along with this laser sight attached." He went over the details of his rifle, using his hands to point out each of the attachments, Amelie listening to him with interest.
"Spot on accuracy, and like I said no fall-off. It even has a charge meter, from 0 to 100%, and when you fire a bullet when it's fully charged its fire power increases 3 times!" Mundy said with excitement. Amelie hummed in response. "Yeah, not a lot of blokes were able to survive a fully charged shot." He said suddenly.
"What?" Amelie said with confusion, Mundy realized what he said and quickly acted to fix it.
"No I meant animals, when I go hunting with this sniper rifle." Mundy said rather quickly, but sounding a little nervous.
Amelie looked at him puzzlingly. That hint of nervousness in his voice sounded like he was trying to conceal something from her. Something that he didn't want her or, really, anyone else to know about.
Not unlike herself, in fact.
"You're a killer, aren't you?" Amelie bluntly asked him.
Mundy immediately turned around in surprise at her. "What? No! No way! I-"
"You sound like someone trying to hide something. I know, because I am the same way."
Mundy was shocked. Did she just admit that she kills people?
"Yes, I kill people. That man that I was standing over back at the graveyard, he was my husband," she said.
"Damn," Mundy said. "OK, I lied. I am a killer. I'm a mercenary, to be truthful. So if yer wonderin' why I ain't scared about having an assassin in my van, it's because I am one myself."
Widowmaker starred at him quizzically. But before she could say anything, Mundy said, "Don't worry, I ain't kickin' ya out. I ain't afraid o' you, either. If I wanted to kill ya, I would have done it by now."
Widowmaker scoffed at this. She doubted anyone would have a chance against her.
She had only just met this man, but she admired his honesty. And also his bravery, given that he never kicked her out of his van even after she told the truth about herself.
"Hey, look. I understand if yer need to leave, or at least want to because of who I am-"
"No," she said bluntly. "It is alright. In fact, I am getting a little tired. May I stay for a little while?"
Mundy was taken aback by this. It was a little weird for him to let a woman stay in his van, let alone a self-proclaimed killer. But then again, Mundy had shared bunks with his fellow RED Team mercenaries, also self-proclaimed killers.
"Sure, Sheila. I ain't got no other company comin' any time soon. Wanna take the bunk?" He asked, pointing at it, which was just right about the driver's cab.
Widowmaker was surprised. "Are you sure? I could just sit on your couch."
"Not necessary, I think you need that bunk more than I do. I'll even sleep in my driver's seat, just to give ya some time to your thoughts."
"Oh, alright. Merci, Monsieur." And with that Widow climbed into the bunk and Mundy retired to his cab, closing the door behind him.
Mundy sat back in his driver's chair, reclining it back a bit so he could rest better.
As he watched outside, he saw the snow continue to fall. He figured that by morning, it will have covered his van, but he didn't mind. He remembered to stock up on tools needed to clear it all out of the way.
As Mundy prepared to go to sleep for the night, he drifted off into his thoughts, mostly about the strange female killer that was now sleeping in his bunk, and it reminded him of a girl that he used to know…
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And that concludes this story.
I feel like this one doesn't have some of my strongest writing. I mostly did it as a favor to GameQ, who let this sit on his hard drive for about a year. Still, I think it's OK. He wrote the first half and I finished it for him.
OK, announcements.
First off, I'm putting my other story, "Meet the New Life, Not the Same as the Old Life" on hold. I did a readthrough of it just the other day and I don't really like it. I feel I wrote myself into a corner and I thought what I wrote wasn't very good. I'm going to put it on hold while I decide what I'm going to do with it.
Second, I started a new Teen Titans fanfiction called IFG. It's still a work in progress, but I will be updating that one, so go read it if you're a Teen Titans fan.
Finally, for those of you wondering why there's been such a slowdown of fanfictions on my end, it's because I got a new full-time job at Intel about a month ago, and that's been taking up most of my time. I am going to try to find a way to squeeze writing fanfictions into my schedule better so that I have a new story and/or chapter once a week before I need to go back to work, but no promises.
If anyone here wishes to speak to me, I would be more than happy to talk, answer any questions you might have, or even play some games with you! I am very active on Steam, which is how I prefer to be contacted. My username there is simply Rockgod and my profile picture there is the same as it is here. Just send me a friend request, then contact me through Steam Chat. I will be more than willing to talk with you, provided I'm not at work at the time.
That's all for now! See you all later!