Ashe watched Widowmaker closely following their conversation. She noticed her sudden interest in Sketching and counting personal in the complex. Her conversation with Widowmaker had confirmed her suspicions. Had Widowmaker been as she had been made to be, she would not have bothered with harming Ashe. She had fully expected that if Widowmaker had been in full capacity of her emotions, she should have been apathetic at best to gaining a higher position. Ashe had read the original files, the Two-of-Eight programme had been designed to create the perfect assassin within a civilian guise. What Widowmaker was not supposed to possess, was sadism.
When used properly, a good sadist was not just advantageous, but unbelievably valuable for some occupations. It was not in any way advantageous for an assassin. Assassinations required clean kills done with the detached coolness of swatting a fly. Sadists brought too much attention to themselves. Ashe could understand how so much bleeding between the two personalities had happened. It seemed Widowmaker had taken on some loyalty to Evelyn. She was not supposed to take on loyalty to any one person. Only be loyal to the people high in the chain of command; and as head of the Hole, Ashe certainly qualified. No questions asked, no backchat, no attitude. It was clear from the beginning how Widowmaker was. What Ashe needed to clarify was if she was loyal. A sadist would jump at a position that gives them power over others. But loyalty could bind said person down, so Ashe made it a personal choice to avoid sadists for those with loyalty but acknowledged that a loyal sadist was always useful.
Ashe had no doubts now, Widowmaker would be a problem to overcome, and would take that into account for her plans. She doubted that Widowmaker wasn't telling Evelyn to kill her, and that worked directly into Ashe's favour. The members supporting Evelyn were far more likely to abandon Evelyn for an underserved killing, and Ashe had been ingratiating herself among them for a while, sharing their distaste for the new slave system in Blackwatch, on the surface at least. She had also been generous to those below her rank and generosity was very useful for getting supporters.
If Widowmaker had supported Ashe as a leader, she would have garnered a powerful ally. If Widowmaker did not support Ashe, then it appeared very little had changed. Widowmaker would tell Evelyn to kill her, Evelyn would delay until she had no chance but to try, at which point Ashe had already drilled her supporters on what to do. When Evelyn tried to kill her, not only would Ashe get her own supporters, but she would establish herself as a better, fairer leader then Evelyn, and get plenty of Evelyns supporters. If she could have gotten McRee out, she would also have gotten a swathe of supporters in the helot class.
It was risky, but Ashe liked the risk. All she had to do was wait. Widowmaker had gone out again, which meant that Ashe would have access to Evelyn. She figured she would mention how much Widowmaker hated her, and see if Evelyn would do the obvious.