Widowmaker had a job to do tonight. There was a… problem, that plagued a Talon base in Egypt, and she had been called to take care of it. This vigilante of sorts called herself the Shrike, as Widow's informants had told her. If she recalled correctly, that was supposed to be a predatory songbird… well, this vigilante wouldn't be singing anymore after tonight.
Widowmaker loaded her gun, inspecting it for any flaws. She tied her hair up in a ponytail that swung behind her, and then put on her visor to see what lay in the dark. The two snipers had this in common, preferring the cover of night to hide their activities. Widow smirked, No one can hide from my sight, not even in the dark. You've met your match, little bird.
She swung through the streets of Cairo elegantly, the cool night air with hints of a warm breeze passing and bits of sand that kicked up from where she landed. All came across her unfeeling skin, and she was unfazed.
It was said that the Shrike liked to come from the North, where the winds would favor her, and she could scope in on her targets under the cover of the ruins that surrounded the Talon base. They say that she lived in the ruins somewhere, like an old god protecting its long forgotten monuments. This is where Widow would be looking tonight.
There were many places to hide in these ruins. Widowmaker would have to be careful. She slipped between the columns, looking around every corner, silent as a spider stalking its prey. She whipped around at small noises, feeling her heartbeat start to increase, for once. Though Widow was confident in her abilities, she knew the cost of two snipers facing off, and only one of them would make it out alive in this game.
Then, she saw it. A faint blue glow in the distance, so soft it could be mistaken for moonlight, caught her eye. Crouching, Amelie scoped in, seeing a faint blue outline of a masked woman. Her form was partially hidden, and she moved low along the ground with a sniper rifle held close. Widow smirked, A la vie, a la mort, Cherie. The form was a bit too hidden, but standing up would give her the shot…
And as she stood, the moonlight glinted off her visor. Before Widow could recover from her fatal mistake, the masked woman whipped around, the crosshairs of her mask mimicking the ones in Widows gun. But instead of moving to shoot, the woman flicked her wrist in a flash, and Widow felt herself tumbling to the floor, her sniper rifle clanking to the ground with a loud thud. Amelie was unable to move, but her vision was not impaired, still able to see the night sky. She could not help but think of a spider's poison, able to petrify its prey before killing it. Her stomach knotted with a sense of dread as eh heard the footsteps shuffle closer.
This is it. She thought. She was done. She hadn't made a mistake until now… not even when-
Her thoughts were interrupted as the woman in the mask peered around the corner, looking at Widow's prone body. Do it! She wanted to shout. Kill me! You've won! But her lips would not move and only her breath escaped.
The figure leaned down. Her faceless form stopped for a moment at Widows face, the visor was still there, but slightly askew. The woman removed it, and froze. Then, chillingly, started to laugh.
The woman stood up, clutching her chest with laughter, leaning on the column next to her for support. It was infuriating. She was already beaten, why would this woman not just kill her? Her mocking laughter was enough to kill her from shame.
After an eternity of mockery, the woman stopped. Then slowly reached up to her own face, leaning in close. As her face was revealed, Widow saw who she thought she'd never see again. Widow's heart caught in her chest, you're supposed to be dead! She wanted to say.
"Amelie LaCroix. Good to see you're still alive and well." Ana Amari said, tossing the mask to the side. "I hoped to never see you again. You look much worse than before. But, here we are." Ana pulled down her hood to reveal snow-white hair. Widow couldn't help but note that she'd aged well, except for a conspicuous eyepatch that covered up what she could only assume was the eye she ruined.
"I see that that sleep dart affects you a bit more, hm? What do you like to say? That your heart never beats-"Ana said in a mock French accent, "So perhaps it doesn't quite go through your system as quickly as others. A shame for you, but good for me. I don't think you'll be getting up for a while, and I have a lot to say." She sat cross-legged on the ground next to her, leaning against a column and slinging her sniper rifle around so that it sat in her lap. Widow gritted her teeth as much as she could, this is not how this was supposed to go. A ghost telling her off before she was inevitably killed. But to her surprise, Ana's tone was soft, with only a hint of melancholy.
"It's been a long time, Amelie. I remember when you were a little girl. You and Fareeha… It's a shame that you two never quite got along. I tried to be good to you both, you know. Your mother was an amazing woman. What happened to her… I wouldn't wish that on any child." Widowmaker felt a twinge at her heart, not much, but the memory of her mother was not a pleasant one. Thinking about how Fareeha had to go through what she went through…
Ana stopped and gripped the rifle in her hands, giving Widowmaker a side glance. "Look at me, the ramblings of an old woman. I haven't really had anyone to talk to, to be fair. I couldn't let anyone know that I was alive. You know how that feels, don't you? Not being able to tell people that you were still out there, still alive, being able to relieve their grief if you could only tell them: 'I'm still here'." Her hands made a helpless motion, and then fell back into her lap.
You don't know what I went through. Widow wanted to say. It wasn't her choice to be taken by Talon. It wasn't her choice to find out how the one she loved didn't actually love her. She knew that her former friends would have been better never knowing about her existence at all. Then Gerard would still be alive. But she could say nothing. The feeling in her fingertips was starting to return, but nothing else.
"I know you've been sent to take care of me. It wasn't easy getting them to notice me. There are so many radical groups here in Cairo that to make such a big problem that they'd send their best to deal with it, that was a challenge." Ana turned and looked her in the eyes, the rest of her face cast in shadow. "Good to see that you finally came."
For the first time in a long time, Widowmaker felt real fear. She had taken everything from this woman: Her friends, her family, her job, even her life. She knew that Ana was not a forgiving person, and right now she was facing the one woman that had completely destroyed her. She saw Ana pick herself up off the ground, and she wanted to scream from her glare, to look away from the dark figure standing before her, like the grim reaper come to collect her soul. But she could do nothing. Only her limbs started to get a tingling sensation, but she could not move or speak.
Without a word, Ana took the rifle in her hands, looking over Widowmaker's lifeless body, bringing it up to her good eye and aiming the scope at her. Widow could swear that she could see her eye through the scope, like she had so long ago. But this was not the same situation. Ana held the scope there, the clearest shot she had ever had, looking into the eyes of the woman who had ruined everything.
She's savoring the moment, wanting me to be afraid. I can't let her have that. With as much courage as she could muster, Amelie looked right back. Then, she noticed the old woman's hands start to shake. After a moment, Ana threw the rifle to the ground, holding her head in her hands and falling to her knees. She started to shake violently, sobs wracking her body. Widowmaker was shocked, looking at the discarded rifle on the ground.
"I would be dead already… You would have killed me… again. And you wouldn't even think about it, would you? You would never even give me a second thought. You'd go on and keep doing what Talon asked you too, like an obedient dog, wouldn't you Amelie?" Ana looked up, tears streaming down one side of her face. "I loved you like my own daughter, and this is what you've become." The malice in her voice was gone, replaced only with sadness. "What have they done to you?"
With that, Widow let out an involuntary laugh. It escaped from her throat, and she realized she could finally speak, and tilted her head up towards her would-be killer. "They told me the truth."
Ana looked at her, shocked, some realization dawning on her face. After a beat of silence, she reached out tentatively while still on her hands and knees, barely reaching Amelie's faced as she wiped a tear off it with her gloved hand, one that had escaped without her knowing. Widowmaker cursed herself in her head, how she had slipped and let her emotions show. But that didn't matter now.
"You cannot save me old woman. I do not want to be saved." With all her strength, Widowmaker propped herself up, and Ana withdrew her hand and stood, watching over her as she struggled to reach for her own sniper rifle. Widow clutched her sniper rifle and pulled it close, its metal surface mimicking that of her own skin. Without another word, the Shrike picked up her mask off the ground and strapped it back on, giving Widowmaker one last blank look, before turning to disappear into the night.