"Here it is" Guillard muttered, passing a notebook full of rough sketches and numbers of the complex. She sat on the booth seat opposite Sparrow and Olivia and watched as Olivia feverishly tore through the book. Guillard took of her helmet and shook her hair out, attempting to take away it's effects.
"Christ Guillard" Olivia started "did you draw while drunk?"
"Ferme ta bouche, vache Mexicaine" She replied. Asking quietly for a coffee from the waiter, she nodded her greetings to Sparrow, who gave a small smile back.
"Not a very nice answer, Guillard" Olivia shot back, a smirk forming on her face. "I thought we were friends since we last met? A nice little Menage a Trois"
"I don't think that means what you think it does"
"Three amigos?" Sparrow said quietly.
"Wipe that shit-eating grin right now, Sparrow" Olivia pointed without looking up.
"No. He has a nice smile. Especially when it annoys you" Guillard grinned back.
"Aww, thanks. You do too"
Olivia froze on one of the pages of the book, and gently placed it on the table. "Both of you, shut up" Studying it, she brought out her own sketches. Murmuring, for a small moment, the world around her was reduced to her work. Gently pressing one of the metallic implants on the side of her head, she began to hold on an image she had hoped to avoid for the rest of her life. A dark mood began to settle on her mind.
Guillard meanwhile began to play footsie with Sparrow. And when she tightly tapped Olivia's foot to get her to join in Olivia's leg jerked and hit the table.
Olivia swore, Guillard laughed and Sparrow apologised.
"Not fucking funny, Guillard!" Olivia shouted, and Guillard put her hands up in defence.
"Easy, Olivia, I was just playing"
"This is not the fucking time!" Olivia muttered. The notebook was still open, and when Sparrow moved to have a look, she whipped it to another page. Guillard and Sparrow shared a concerned look.
"Mon chatton dear. Are you okay?" Guillard asked.
"No. What's with you today?"
"With me?" Guillard frowned and studied Olivia's face. Gently tuning out the rest of the world, she allowed her senses to take over. She could hear Olivia's heartbeat, thumping like a drum and the dilation of her pupils. Her pores had opened, and the tiniest variation in the change of skin told Guillard that her veins had come closer to the surface. Coming out of her trance, she was concerned.
"Olive, what have you found?"
"Its nothing. I have to do some sketches. Play amongst yourselves children" Olivia replied. With that, opening her sketchbook Olivia began to draw out the first parts of her new design. Sparrow moved to place a hand on Olivia's shoulder, but Guillard's small shake of her head told him not to.
"Let her be," Guillard said. Leaning back, she thanked the waiter for her coffee and took a small sip.
"Merde. This is what they call coffee in the US?" She whispered as the waiter moved away "I thought they owned all the coffee businesses?"
"I wouldn't know" Sparrow shrugged.
"Ah. Neo-Imperialism Mon Amour. Why invade a country when you can legally acquire its resources via proxy. Why do you think the US is still waging the war on drugs?"
"Guillard" Olivia looked up from her work. "Don't talk about that stuff"
Silence descended on the small group, with only Olivia's scratchings on paper and occasional murmur.
"You seem different Guillard" Sparrow said, breaking the silence. "More at ease. More like you used to be when we met"
"Hah! I seem different?" Guillard smiled. "Look at you, little bird. I barely recognised you"
"Oh, thanks" He blushed at the compliment and Guillard gave a small laugh.
"Never mind. It's definitely still you"
Sparrow deflated a little bit, and Guillard pressed on. "And I mean that as the most sincere compliment, dear"
"He's right" Olivia looked up. "You are different"
Guillard's smile froze, and slowly she slouched into her chair.
"Kind of," she said. She flexed her hand, looking at her brown skin. The make up she had been applying when leaving the complex came off rather too easy, and she had packed clothes so as to not wear her usual armour. Hiding her excursions from Evelyn was surprisingly easy. She had packed enough blue make-up so as to cover the areas that had come off with Olivia and Sparrow, and calculated that half of the time, she was in control of the body, and the rest of the time it was an increasingly more emotional Widowmaker. She could watch what Widowmaker did, how she reacted. How she saw the world and had a small amount of influence over her, and understood her views.
"I don't know if "different" is the right world, Mon Amours. This is more like… me. Not the me they made to cover up Widowmaker"
This time it was Olivia and Sparrow who shared the glance.
"How do you mean?" Sparrow asked. Guillard placed her hand on the table and shook her head.
"Ah. I forget" She said quietly. "Meeting in that hell. You two were the only good things in that damn place. Around you two, I could be who I was. Not what they made me be"
"I'm sorry," Sparrow said. Looking down on the table. "I didn't mean to-"
Guillard silenced him with a hand over his. Looking at Olivia, she motioned for her to put in her hand. Tentatively, and reluctantly, she put her hand in on the pile. Smiling, Guillard looked at both of them.
"Don't apologise. Either of you. Those six months, that small time in hell, was only bareable because of you. I almost didn't come out. In a way, I didn't… None of us came out of there fully"
"You did though. You weren't there as long as us. Don't-"
"No, Olive. I didn't" She paused. "Do you know why I was there? Why out of everyone, it was me you met in there. Me being decided for the eight?"
"I always just figured you were unlucky, like us," Sparrow said.
"In a way" Guillard replied. "But things for me were… domestically motivated"
"What?" Olivia raised an eyebrow.
"You see" Guillard began, and eyed her left hand. "I used to be married. He was a politician, charismatic. Wanted to become president of France, and married candidates are more attractive to the middle class, blah blah"
"You're saying he married you for the PR?" Olivia frowned.
"Possibly, Mon Chaton. I loved him. It was a dream come true for me. I was a romance writer, only 20. I was so naive. But I thought he was good. I thought he could be better. He had a bit of a reputation"
Olivia sighed. She had heard this sort of story before, and knew how it ended. "Alright then. So when did he begin to-
"Week into the Honeymoon"
"Oh, shit"
Guillard gave a throaty laugh at Olivia's reply, and waved off the concerned looks.
"It's fine. I'm over the cheating. But back then my little heart was broken. I was so hurt. And angry. And" she gave another small titter. "I wanted to get my own back"
"Fair enough"
"Looking back, I'm surprised I was so cruel. I started to see old friends, old relationships. All the while, I would leak the affairs to the media" She looked pensive. "I… hurt quite a lot of them, looking back. The cruelty of youth. But for me back then, it was worth it to hurt him. I don't like what I did, or who I was. You shouldn't hurt innocent people just to get your own back. After three years of this, I filed for divorce"
"I'm sorry Guillard, but how did this get you into the hole?" Sparrow asked.
"I'm getting to that, little bird. You see, he couldn't afford a wife like me ruining his reputation in public. He also couldn't afford to lose his money for the presidential campaign. He backed "rural traditionalism", so such a shocking personal life would destroy all his support base. So, he decided to do something about it"
"I already don't like this" Sparrow said.
"Oh, it gets worse Mon Poussin. He had contacts from his defence work and knew of a new programme. Personality augmentation"
Sparrow and Olivia stayed silent. Slowly, Olivia began to shake her head.
"No, no. He didn't-"
"He did. He sold me off to Blackwatch, and they changed me. Made me into the good little wife he had always wanted. The other half of my personality, the parts they didn't want for the good little wifey, they put to their own devices. Widowmaker. And that is how it has been for the last few years"
Sparrow and Olivia were stunned. Sparrow placed his other hand over the others, sandwiching them between his.
"Guillard, I'm. I'm so-
"Don't" Guillard smiled. "You two are both so very sweet. Even if you like to hide it, Olivia. It was never your faults. You two were the only good things in that hell. I love you both. But you need to know something"
"What?"
"After you do your raid, I can't go with you"
"Bullshit!" Olivia shouted.
"Shh, mon chaton. Listen. I hold no love for Evelyn, but right now it is important that I keep her alive. Widowmaker cares a good deal for her, and the ones poised to replace her are worse" She shuddered. "Far worse"
"Ashe?" Sparrow asked.
"Yes. Evelyn is ruthless, but she has principles. A vision to make the world better and the desire to do so. Ashe though"
"Self-serving cunt"
"Precisely. Moira has no love for Blackwatch. We get her out, she will provide us with evidence, more than just taking away Blackwatches ability to make chemical weapons."
"Angela might do a flip" Sparrow smiled.
"Film it for me?" Guillard smiled. The smile wavered as she said her next piece. "And then. We will have to think about justice"
Olivia frowned. "For who?"
"Isn't it obvious, Mon Chatton" The smile was sad, and Guillard shrugged as she said it. "Widowmaker, myself. I've seen what she's done, I know what she is. She's a half of me… but she's the half I want dead"
Olivia frowned. "That doesn't sound very… healthy"
"No" Guilard looked away. She talked slowly "But you see, I think I prefer myself like this" She looked up to see Sparrow and Olivia's shocked faces. "I prefer having all my ugliness balled up into someone else. I like being able to control it. While I'm like this I feel sublime. I don't think I have ever been happier"
"That's-" Sparrow started. "That's-
"Wrong" Olivia finished. "They stripped away your feelings. Made you into-
"This?" Guillard finished. "Oui. And what is wrong with that?"
"It's not you"
"Why can't it be?" Guillard was no longer smiling. Her face was a mask. Olivia rolled her eyes and changed tactics.
"How do you expect them to punish Widowmaker and not harm you?" she spat out, and Guillard raised an eyebrow. "It's impossible"
"Not completely" Guillard replied. "If they can split my personality, then why not kill one half of it? Death by Superego, I guess you could call it"
"And what if there Isn't a way to leave you alone but end her?" Sparrow asked. Guillard went still, and took a sip from her coffee, and smacked her lips.
"You know, It really isn't that bad now. Acquired taste I suppose"
"Guillard?"
"The coffee here isn't really that bad. Wonder how the prisons are stocked?"
"Don't mess us about"
"The answer is, is that I will try my best to integrate the two into one person. And accept whatever the courts give me"
"What!" Olivia shouted. "You're just going to take whatever donkey shit sentence they give you for something you didn't do?"
"Whether or not I did it or not is a rather complex question"
"Oh, stop that Bullshit! Let me tell you what justice in this country is. It's a game won by the richest who can bribe judges and juries so as to get a slap on the wrist while kids who smoke pot get twenty years! The only way you can get acquitted is with a million dollars or a hand job!"
"Well, I don't have a million dollars" Guillard said with a small titter.
"Why are you laughing? I'm telling you the truth"
"I know. But tell me, which hand do you use?"
The slap could be heard across the restaurant, and caused nearby customers to turn to look. Olivia had stood up from her both and hit the woman she was sat across from, who had rolled with the smack and was facing away from the other two. Despite having rolled, a red mark had started to form on Guillards cheek, and she bit her lip and scrunched her eyes to stop the tears.
Sparrow reached across to look at the mark, but was waved off by Guillard, who sighed and turned back to Olivia.
"Mon Chatton?"
"Listen to me you bitch! This isn't a joke-
"But it is" Guillard replied back, and laughed again. "It's all a stupid fucking joke! Why shouldn't I act like it?" She stopped, and stared down at her feet. Feeling all the fight leave her. "I'm sorry" she said finally. "I shouldn't have said that. I should have been more sensitive"
"Christ Guillard. I'm not angry about what you said. Any other place and I'll have laughed. The problem is that you don't seem to care!"
"But you do" Guillard replied. "Else you wouldn't be so angry"
Olivia glared a final time, and finally settled back down to her seat. Slowly, she returned to her sketches.
"Look" she said. She presented the sketch to Guillard and thumbled in her pockets for a small device she had brought to the table. "The main control centre for the complex, have you seen that before?"
Guillard frowned at the sketch; a crude drawing of a motherboard casing, then looked back up to Olivia. "No"
"Then you need to find it" Olivia replied brusquely. She placed a small data stick on the table. "And you need to stick that into a port"
Guillard nodded.
"That little motherboard will give me full access to the databanks of the complex, as well as all door access and control over the defences"
"That won't work" Guillard said. "The complex doesn't allow any single device so much access"
"You're wrong. Trust me on this."
"If this goes wrong Olivia, you're dead." Guillard shook her head. "Think of something else"
"It will work!" Olivia hissed.
"How can you know"
"Because I designed the damn thing!"
Guillard was watching her, and knew that there was more to be said about the device. But she nodded anyway. She knew she could find out about it in the complex and; if necessary, confront Olivia at a later date.
"Fine" she pocketed the device and looked at the quiet Sparrow. She could hear his heart, and see the small places of tension in his face. She could tell he was angry at Olivia for slapping her, and was glad. She smiled at him.
"What do you think of this plan, dear?" She asked.
Sparrow shrugged. "I trust her on this. If it works as she says, we can finally get what we need" He gave a look to Olivia. "And if it doesn't work like you want it do, maybe you should try giving it a slap"
"Don't start that up again" Guillard sighed as Olivia wilted. She felt the small data stick in her pocket. "I'll do as you say, Olivia. But keep your head down, the people there know you and want you to be brought back. Same to you Sparrow"
Taking another sip of her cold coffee, she slumped onto the table. "What time is it?"
"About twelve" replied Sparrow. Guillard considered the pros and cons of staying, and sighed.
"Evelyn is going to get suspicious if I spend another night away from the complex. I think she suspects Guillard is showing through. Ashe has been noticing as well" She picked up her helmet and stood, putting in a small tip. Olivia and Ibrahim stood as well, and they followed her out.
"When do you think you can get back to us?" asked Sparrow.
"Give me four days at least, seven at the most. If I am not back before then, assume the worst"
"That you're dead?"
"No. That the other woman is alive" She zipped up her jacket, and took her motorbike off the racks. Then after a moments hesitation, she turned to both of them. She motioned them to come closer, and when they were she wrapped an arm around each of their necks. And moving them close, she kissed them both passionately and fully. First Olivia, then Sparrow. When she let them go she gave a small laugh.
"Just in case I don't come back" With that she put on her helmet and revved her bike, grinning at the savage sound and bite. With a burst of dust she was off back to the complex.
As she neared it, her mouth became a thin line on a grim face, blue crept back into the skin and became cold and clammy as a corpse. She had been out for too long, and not killed anything for her struggles. That annoying voice was back, and was telling her that she had been out hunting, but was coming back empty handed. She accepted that.
Her pocket pistol was still undischarged, which meant she had not killed anything. The chance that she could miss was so low as to not be worth considering. Guillard had been catching up on the wildlife of the desert, and had considered finding a bobcat. However, for whatever reason she had no such desire to kill it once she had found one. Instead, she stared for the vultures and other carrion birds that existed on the plains.
She found a carrion spot. A hawk was gorging itself on a dead snake by the road, and flew up in panic as Guillard pulled up.
As it began to circle, Guillard studied the animal, beautiful in its own way. Its massive brown wings appeared almost golden as the midday sun filtered through, and its movements in the sky were astonishingly graceful. The smallest tilt of its wings could turn it through the air at speed. Guillard considered killing it, but its movements were erratic, and she felt that she wouldn't enjoy it.
She waited, stock still beside the road, and watched the skies. Eventually the Hawk resumed her feast on the snake. It was a large meal, the Rattler had been in the prime of its life, well over a meter long; closer to two, and thick. She doubted anything besides time or disease could have killed it.
The vultures had plenty of choice when it came to carrion with Blackwatch around, so she was not surprised that the snake was only being pecked by the solitary hawk.
A shadow crossed over the corpse, and Widowmaker smiled. The larger bird immediately struck at the smaller predator, and the Hawk took off with caws of protest. With a merely perfunctory look at Guillard it nestled down to its meal. Guillard slowly moved her hand to her pocket, and moved aside the small memory stick to get at her one shot pistol. The vulture was not a widely popular hunting target, and was unperturbed by the movement. It died instantly with a bullet through the head, an expert shot that few could accomplish and Guillard nodded as she watched it collapse onto the snake.
Picking up the vulture, she spread its wings to check its span, its size and the cleanliness of the shot. It was big, but that was no surprise. All vultures had big diets with the Blackwatch complex so close, and this had survived to its prime just like the snake. Placing the corpse across the motorbike, she began to consider what should be done with it, when she hit upon it.
Perhaps Ashe would like it in her bed?
With that happy thought, Guillard took off to the complex.