Note - Thanks for letting me know, Rosco Peeko Trane. You're right. It didn't sound too good, so I fixed it.

~o~

Reflections

Jesse made his way through the crowds of people, determined to get out of the castle as soon as possible before someone eventually figured out that he wasn't supposed to be there. Olivia had already left to wait for him in the truck so that they could discuss their findings.

Then, Jesse glanced up, surprised when he noticed a much older man suddenly in his path.

He was dressed in a red suit, wore a black tie and had a pin to his lapel. Jesse couldn't quite make out the design of it. He had short grey hair and warm eyes.

"Well! If it isn't our American friend!" he greeted, extending his hand for a shake, "It's a pleasure to see you here at this party."

Jesse shook his hand with a smile. "You gotta be Albert. I heard a lot about you."

Albert smiled brightly. The notion seemed to please him. "Really? I certainly hope so, Kumpel. I've heard quite a bit about you." he replied. Off of Jesse's frown, he laughed gently. "Oh! Don't look so worried! You're the American man living in the mountains who dares to do so after all the rumors!"

"Yeah. Well, I'm not a guy who just backs out at the first sign of danger."

"No, you're not, are you?" Albert said, his tone thoughtful now as he eyed Jesse up and down. He put an arm around Jesse's shoulder and guided him to walk alongside him. "What do you think of it? The stories?"

Jesse shrugged his shoulders. "Don't pay much mind to rumors and superstition." he replied. "I believe the bad things are usually the kinds of things we see right in front of us."

"Hmm," Albert regarded him for a moment before nodding in agreement. "You're right. Still! I hope you don't plan to leave so soon! It's a party! We're celebrating the anniversary of the treaty between Omnics and humans."

"Treaty?"

"Yes, I spoke to the Omnic leaders who arrived here at the Old Village." Albert explained, "And the fighting had ceased between us. Everyone knows of it! This day is meant for all of us to enjoy."

Jesse said nothing on that particular statement, but just tipped his hat with a pleasant smile. "I appreciate the hospitality. But I have some traps I need to check on and I gotta be up early for my morning hunt. It was nice meeting you, sir."

"Pleasure speaking with you, Kumpel."

Jesse made his way through the crowds, but felt Albert's eyes on the back of his head. He had a feeling that he'd definitely meet the other man again.

Most likely in bad circumstances. That's how it always went.

Once he was at his truck, he found Olivia sitting there, scanning his radio with her hands hovering over it. There hadn't been anyone else around to see her, but it still seemed risky for her to be seen. Just as he started to speak, she made a face, gave him a funny smile.

"Your taste in music is terrible." she remarked.

"Aww, come on," Jesse pressed walking to the driver's side and taking a seat. "You just haven't heard the good ones, yet. I'll show ya'."

He switched on a new song - "Billy's Got His Beer Goggles On" and began to sing with it, clapping the steering wheel with both hands as they drove down the street. Olivia sat there, staring at him in disbelief before she shook her head, raising her hand and hacking the radio to play something else. "Bangarang", by Skrillex.

Jesse looked like he tasted something foul. "Dubstep? Oh, hell no, not in my truck."

He changed it back to his song of choice, but Olivia looked at him and switched it right back. Jesse raised an eyebrow and switched it again. Olivia just switched it right back. And so they continued to do that for the duration of the trip back to the cabin.

Jesse sat in the truck for a moment, shaking his head with dismay. "No one appreciates good classics, anymore." he muttered, stepping out.

Olivia laughed, waving her hand in the air. "Classics, right. Songs about beer and trucks."

"Hey!" Jesse feigned insult. "That's not all they sing about. There's also women."

"Ooh! You got me!" Olivia drawled, waving two hands in the air.

They entered the cabin and Jesse got to work starting a fire. Olivia watched it for a moment; the dancing flames that cast a warm glow on her face. She smiled and stretched, wiggling her toes and Jesse noticed the sharp nails at the end of them. He had so many questions about her existence.

"So...I read that a Rime spirit is someone who's given up their humanity," he said.

"Yeah." Olivia replied, "I used to be human, sure. But that's behind me now. The girl I used to be is gone."

Jesse thought about what Hilda had told him; maybe in a way, they really were similar. After all, she wasn't the only one who had tried putting the past behind her. Jesse wanted to forget about it, even when Ana had brought it up to him once.

Don't think about it right now.

Olivia grunted, stretched a little before she stood up, turning around. "I'm going to have a plan to deal with Louis," she told him. "I hope you're ready for it."

Jesse's smile disappeared when he had a good look at Olivia's back; a long, hideous scar was there, too methodically placed to have been an accident. What had happened? He wanted to ask her about it, but didn't know if that would be a good idea.

"I'm going to go," Olivia told him.

"Wait, hang on," Jesse offered, standing, "You don't have to run out. You can stay here, take my room and I'll crash in my chair."

Olivia debated that for a moment. Then, she smirked at him, raised an eyebrow. "You trust me with that, do you?"

"Since we're gonna be working together on this, I think we have to have a little trust, don't you?"

Olivia's smile disappeared somewhat, but she shrugged her shoulders. "Qué lindo. It's sweet of you to be so generous, but I don't sleep. At all."

Jesse blinked, surprised to hear that. "Oh, is that like...a Rime thing?"

"Don't know." Olivia answered, "It's always been like that. But..." A smile lit her lips and she chuckled. "Don't sweat it. I have planning to do. You do the sleeping."

And without another word, she turned and left the cabin.

Jesse sat alone, sighed and took a cigar from his pocket, placing it into his mouth. He leaned back, lit it and shut his eyes, thinking on the whole situation.

O

Hilda was kneeling in the gardens, smelling the flowers.

She could hear approaching footsteps and lifted her head, looking around before she chuckled. "I've grown to know the sound of your footsteps" she said.

Jesse was approaching her and he smiled, taking a seat beside her. "Yeah, figured you might."

"Hey, I had to ask," Jesse began, "What do you know about Albert?"

"The mayor?" Hilda chuckled, "What isn't there to know about him? He's a hero."

"Come on..." Jesse slouched his shoulders, "I know that's not true. There's got to be more to the stories I'd heard about how he saved the town from the Omnics."

Hilda's smile thinned a little and despite not having eyes, she still managed to look so pensive. "Albert was always a smarter man than he looked - well, before I lost my eyes," she explained, "He talked about Omnic rights only once, but it wasn't well received by the townspeople. They were ruled by fear and xenophobia and they felt that Albert was going to turn his back on them and help the Omnics."

"That's ridiculous." Jesse shook his head.

"It is, but people will often choose a path that benefits themselves."

"Do you believe he's hiding something?"

"There's no doubt in my mind. Why do you believe the Old Village is closed off?"

Jesse frowned now. "Wait, they closed it off? No more tours?"

"No. No more tours. They have their little toy soldiers patrolling it now and I can sometimes hear the searching they're doing."

That was interesting. What if there was something in the Old Village that the mayor was hiding from everyone and he worried over who would find it? Maybe that's exactly why Jesse had been stopped before. They had probably been lying to him.

Hilda plucked a flower in her hand. She sighed, then tilted her head toward him with a smile. She sniffed a little and chuckled. "It's getting colder. There may be snow tonight."

"Yeah, probably." Jesse thought of Olivia, for some reason.

He returned to the cabin and found her inside, working on the holographic screens that lit up the room.

"Louis Giacometti...he's gonna be fun to talk to," Olivia said, with a smirk.

On one of the screens, there was an image of an older man with sunken eyes, white hair and beard. It looked like a mugshot and Jesse leaned forward a little to look.

"He looks like he's seen better days," he quipped.

"The guy's superstitious," Olivia explained, "Even more than the rest. He was put in jail for - wow, look at all this. Looks like Albert's tio is the black sheep of the family. He's done it all, but time's made him paranoid. How much do you want to bet he knows what we want to know?"

"Well, if he's an easily jumpy old guy, we should be careful." Jesse pointed out.

"Don't worry. I know a thing or two about being careful."

Jesse raised his eyebrows skeptically.

O

Louis walked down the hallways, clutching a cup of coffee in hand.

His old hands shook as he held it toward his lips, but paused and glanced over his shoulder, frowning thoughtfully when he heard something shift behind him. His coffee cup in his hand gradually became engulfed in a thin layer of ice. Louis looked down, gave a yelp and dropped it, sending the contents splattering to the floor.

"No! No, she's here!" he cried, fleeing down the hallways.

He turned a corner and Jesse's foot was out, sending him tripping to the floor. He cried out in German, looked down at the blue-nailed feet in front of him before he looked up at Olivia, who grinned and waved down at the frightened man.

"Hey." she hissed, with glee, "Running somewhere?"

"It - It's you!" Louis cried, staggering backwards. "No, no, don't eat me, please!"

Olivia scoffed, rolling her eyes before she put her hands at her hips. "Ugh, gross. Why does everyone thing I want to eat them? If I was eating anyone, it wouldn't be you, panocha."

Jesse knelt down to him, put a heavy hand on his shoulder and Louis jumped with a small whimper. "Look, we know about your rap sheet," he explained, "We know you helped your nephew extort money from Omnic shelters. We know that you helped him cover it up. But we want to know what's going on in that Old Village. We need to know the truth about the 'treaty' because Albert's not quite telling the whole truth."

Louis glanced at Olivia, unable to take his eyes away. "She... She's real..." he breathed.

"Yeah, yeah, we get it," Jesse rolled his eyes, annoyed, "Focus, old man. We need the truth."

Louis stammered slightly when Olivia knelt down behind him, removing a machine pistol from behind her and tapping it against his head. She chuckled and he spoke now, frantic.

"What? Huh? What?" he said, "What are you talking about? No, no, no, no, no. I only know what my ridiculous nephew wanted to do, I didn't help him with anything."

"Ohh, you didn't?" Olivia continued, in a low drawl, "I find that hard to believe, Louis. Especially since those hunters are old buddies of yours."

Louis laughed nervously now. "Y-Yes, they are, but I never sent them to kill you."

Olivia sucked her teeth, producing a series of screens in front of him; several of them involved security footage of his dealings with Leonhard and the hunters.

"Oh! You mean, that's not you in the footage?" she queried.

"Yes, it's me," Louis said, "But it isn't what it looks like. You have to understand what you are and what threat you pose to my nephew and this town. I told them to keep you away, that's all."

"I pose a threat?" Olivia smiled fiendishly and leaned forward, her face inches from his. "Are you sure about that? You sure it's not that pendejo of a nephew who threatens you? No? Take a good look, Louis Giacometti; really think about what he might be hiding in the Old Village."

Louis stared at her, unresponsive and afraid. Jesse frowned and looked at Olivia. "Hey, I don't think he actually knows anything."

Olivia murmured thoughtfully before chuckling. She leaned back a bit, studying the man with amusement. "You don't know at all, do you? Hm, sad, really. Your own family can't even trust you with information." She sighed dramatically, waving a dismissing hand in the air. "If you can't trust family, then who can you trust?"

The room began to grow colder and Jesse looked around, then to Louis, who began to shiver and hold himself tightly. A layer of ice began to cake itself on the windows. Yet, Olivia still stood calmly with that same cocky smile, but the look in her eyes was different.

"No one hunts me down and gets away with it, mi amigo," Olivia said, her tone dropping a colder register.

"Hey, hey, listen," Jesse assured her, raising two hands, "He's just an old guy. Half the town probably doesn't believe him away. He's not worth it."

"No, this rat who cowers in his house knows what happened to me and why I woke up like this!" Olivia showed her teeth.

"What?" Jesse blinked in confusion. "What the hell are you talking about? Look, just - "

He could see his breath now as he spoke and looked down at Louis, who shuddered uncontrollably; the older man rubbed his arms, whimpering with fright and cold. It began to chill Jesse and he shivered. Olivia shut her eyes once, took a breath before the cold dissipated.

She leaned down to Louis and smiled. "I'm not going to kill you, panocha. But I know you know something. I'll pry it from your head one way or another."

Olivia tapped his head with one long finger and he winced once before grunting, licking his lips. "My nephew did speak to the Omnics and they halted the battle at the gates of the Old Village." Louis explained, hesitantly. "I was with him while we waited in the castle. He told me he had a plan and that it was insane, but it would ensure our family's future."

"So what did he do after that?" Jesse asked.

Louis sighed, shaking his head. "I don't know. I stayed out of sight for a while." he admitted. "People outside were crying, I..." He took a shuddering breath. "I heard children screaming for their parents. I didn't go out yet. I was counting the minutes down. I smelled...the burning metal..."

"And?" Olivia was impatient.

"And he came back, saying he knew what to do. He didn't share much with me after that but..." Louis hesitated again, "Things got better for us. Our scientists began to work on technology we'd never even dreamed of. We prospered."

Olivia grinned coldly now. "Yeah, you did. Until I found out what you were doing. How you got to where you were thanks to the Omnics."

"What?" Louis looked stunned. "What do you mean?"

Olivia showed her teeth, laughing softly. "Oh! He didn't tell you, did he? Why he disappeared that night when I was there at the Old Village. Why I woke up like the Rime? No. He only gave me a false lead and put a knife in my back and let me take the blame for everything falling apart in your town."

Louis blinked once, studied Olivia with shock on his face. "I know you," he whispered, after studying her for a long time. He grinned now. "I know you." He nodded rapidly now, frightened and frantic. "I knew I knew you. I knew I knew you."

Jesse looked at Olivia now. "What's he talking about?" he demanded. "Hey, what'd he mean?"

Olivia ignored him, continuing to smile at Louis. In his delirious eyes, he saw her as a human; augmented, glowing bands on her head, bright violet eyes.

Louis' smile faded and he looked unsettled now. "But you can't be her," he whispered, shakily, "He took your pulse, you were dead. There's no coming back from that. This is the real world. You don't come back."

Olivia sucked her teeth, pointing her gun at his head now. "Sorry, pendejo. Don't think you're walking away like I am."

Jesse took her wrist, stopping her. "Wait!" he insisted, "Don't - "

She squeezed the trigger, spraying Jesse's face with blood and silencing Louis' frantic chants. When she saw Jesse's haunted look, she shrugged and frowned, rolling her eyes with disappointment.

"What?" Olivia asked.

O

"You owe me an explanation. Now."

Olivia sighed, vanishing in a swirl of ice once they stepped outside. When she reappeared, she was hanging her legs off of the roof of the house while Jesse paced around, glaring up at her.

"Wow, someone's mood just took a dive, huh?" she joked, "Considering we got a lot of info we needed, I thought you'd be in a better mood."

"Yeah?" Jesse snapped. "Well, that isn't exactly comforting right now. You just shot that guy! You're hiding more from me and I ain't gonna keep on running this job until you explain everything."

Olivia sighed, rolling her eyes. She noticed Jesse's determined look and slouched her shoulders, crossing her legs before her eyes darkened as the memories slowly returned.

"I came here after doing my research about a guy who knew things," she explained, "Things about the Omnic Crisis that could tie him in with people. People who knew more than anyone else. These people I've been trying to track for a long time."

Jesse frowned. He waited for her to continued.

"Anyway..." Olivia continued, waving one hand, "I have this...friend. He happened to hear about this place - the Old Village. I found some security footage of guys snooping around, documents of dealings with Omnics. But you know, nothing special." She smiled fiendishly now. "So, I didn't really see a point to this place. It wasn't until old Albert saw me that he gave me a 'friendly warning'."

"Friendly warning? How?" Jesse asked, features smoothing out.

"He was going to 'educate me about what happens to people who snoop around town'." Olivia laughed, shaking her head. "So I thought 'wow, guess there's something here after all if he's going through all that trouble'. So..."

"You couldn't resist."

"Hah. Never could." Olivia replied, with a wink. She was silent now for a moment, her eyes darkening and her smile disappearing. "So I went to that Old Village and...I ended up stabbed in the back. When I woke up, I was in the forest and I looked like this."

Jesse pondered this for the longest time in silence; he never had faith in magic of any kind. He had no idea what kept Olivia alive and how she'd been saved - Who had saved her, anyway? If she'd died in that Old Village, someone had to have brought her to the forest, right?

Nothing made sense, even after the explanation. But he did know one thing:

Albert was responsible for her death. And he was hiding secrets about the Omnics and that had her killed when she'd gotten too close.

"Listen, vaquero..." Olivia vanished in a swirl of ice, then reappeared on the ground beside Jesse. "I'm not the bad guy, here, whatever you think. The only one who hasn't lied to you is me. But..." She shrugged her shoulders. "How could I have known to trust you?"

Jesse sighed, nodding. "Suppose that's a fair assessment."

Olivia made a short laugh and looked away briefly, shutting her eyes. "You have monsters, McCree. Some of them look might look like me..." She reached back, unlatching a few clasps on her armor that protected her upper spine with a pneumatic hiss. "Then you got monsters like Albert who would sooner stab you in the back to save his own ass."

She turned, revealing her bare skin and the long, terrible white mark where she had clearly been stabbed. Jesse's eyes widened slightly and he could feel the cold wafting from her body now.

Olivia fitted her armor back on, smirking up at him now as she turned. "So what are you going to do about it?"

"Albert's going to get what he deserves."

Olivia grinned now, laughing. "That's more like it!"

O

Note - Part of this chapter was inspired by the song "Starlight" by Marina and the Diamonds.