The bottom of Deadlock Gorge was sparse with human life like the rest of Arizona's desert. It had plenty of other life, though, with all manner of flora growing along the flowing and healthy rivers that were the reason for the Gorge's existence. The whole canyon another natural American wonder. Were it not for the gang that inhabited it and soiled its name, it would have more visitors to bask in its natural beauty.

Well, a bloodied and bruised man from California was passed out by the riverbank at the base of one of the great monuments.

Nathan washed up on shore after the river had carried him quite a distance from where he fell. He was drenched head-to-toe, and much of the blood he showered himself in had washed off, but there were still a few stains. A little stream of blood from him flowing away with the river. He laid there since the sun rose, accompanied by nothing but the running river and wind. Some prospective carrion eaters were eying his body.

He must've hit something on the way down, because his Pip-Boy's speaker was playing music from its holotape. At full volume, too, so it echoed somewhat across the gorge.

"Heartaches by the number… Troubles by the score…"

A coyote that saw Nathan wash up on shore decided to try its luck and slowly walked up to the large human, sniffing and pawing at the dirt around him. It went around him and started sniffing his boot before giving the heel an apprehensive nibble. The coyote darted away when Nathan started stirring and groaning, but barely moving an inch from where he was. The coyote stared at the human from a farther distance.

"Everyday you love me less, each day I love you more…"

The coyote trotted up to Nathan, again, but walked around to where his head was. It was slightly more cautious, tapping the ground in front of him, sniffing his wet helmet. It started sniffing his right hand, giving the leather on his gloves a couple licks before biting down on a digit.

The sudden pain made the human lunge and smack the coyote hard across its snout, sending the dog flying a couple yards with a yelp. Rolling across the ground, the coyote scrambled to its feet and ran away from Nathan, who didn't give chase as he lurched forward in pain and exhaustion. Groaning as he clutched his hand and collapsed on his side, again.

"But the day that I stop counting, that's the day my world will end."

His Pip-Boy went on to the next song in the playlist.

He wallowed in pain, barely conscious, and long enough for a pair of figures to come walking along the riverbank and towards him. Once they spotted Nathan, face down, they brought out their guns and cautiously approached him.

"Look, there's the bastard," one of them whispered.

"I see. He better be dead," the other responded.

They slowly walked over to him, both guns focused on the Courier. One of them stepped over and lightly kicked his Pip-Boy.

"Music's coming from that thing on his wrist," he observed. "Sounds like something my grandma would listen to."

"Help me get his helmet off, I wanna get a good look at him," his colleague said as he gripped the sides of the riot helmet. However, he paused when he noticed he stood still and watched with a worried expression. "Get over here, pussy!"

His colleague reluctantly, and with all their hands, got the tight-fitting helmet off the Courier's head. In doing so, Nathan groaned more and opened his eyes, but struggled to keep them open. Both Deadlock members dropped his helmet and backed away, leveling their guns up.

"Holy shit, he's still alive!" the reluctant one exclaimed. "D-d-do we bring him back or…?"

His colleague looked at him. "Ashe said to make sure he's dead," he growled, looking back down at the weak Waster as he cocked his weapon. "We'll bring back his body."

Nathan's vision was blurry as he willed enough strength to look up and see the barrel of a shotgun pointed right at him. The red tint of his helmet gone from his vision.

An object flew in out of view and struck the one holding a gun to his head in the face, sending him reeling to the ground. A figure promptly ran into view and tackled the other one, wielding a blunt object and bashing his face in. The first one grabbed his weapon and tried to shoot at the figure, but he knocked his weapon away. Climbing onto him next and bashing his face in, against his pleas.

Nathan watched, barely able to feel anything as he watched this figure deliver killing blows to the thugs until his eyes closed, again.

He felt dirt and rocks rub against his legs, his arms lifted into the air and held by someone. His breath hitched and he opened his eyes to see he was sitting against a rock, facing the river. His savior, a man clad in blue and with several holsters and belts holding equipment walked in front of him. The man's face was obscured by a shemagh stained with desert sand, and his uniform looked like it was a very dark blue once but showed signs of sun bleaching. He sat Nathan up with firm but gentle arms. Nathan tried to look at his masked face but could barely keep his head up. His savior grabbed both of his arms, bringing his hands to his lap when he set down Nathan's riot helmet on his lap. The figure looked up; face concealed yet… Warming for Nathan to see. He felt his hand patting him on the shoulder.

"Not yet," he heard a voice say as the figure shook his head. "Still gotta do it your way."

Rocks being disturbed grabbed the savior's attention, taking a defensive stance. He took one more glance at Nathan before confidently nodding and running off. The Waster not wanting him to leave, yet, before his eyes shut, again.

Several long, quiet moments passed, Nathan still sitting where he was put and slumping over his helmet. The sound of more dirt shifting lightly further along the trail as Soldier: 76 walked along the river, following the sound of the music. He quickly spotted Nathan, as well as the pair of dead thugs that were by the riverbank.

The Soldier held his rifle against his shoulder, forgoing his leather jacket for the weather, opting for his plain gray shirt and a tactical vest. He still had his trademark mask, but with a bit more scratches.

"Ana, I found Brin," Jack said, releasing a finger from his ear as he crouched down beside Nathan. Holding his rifle up in one hand, he brought a finger to his neck, feeling a heartbeat. He scoffed. "A bit worse for wear, but still alive. Tough bastard."

"Copy that," Ana responded, but a pained groaned was heard in his ear.

"You alright?"

"I'm fine, just get Nathan out of there."

Jack grunted as he looked at Nathan, alive but unconscious. He could still move, he thought, if those corpses a couple yards away were any indication. Jack moved in front of him, looking him in the face when he started shaking his shoulder.

"Hey, Brin. Brin." Jack shook harder the longer Nathan didn't respond. Lightly patting him on the cheek. "Get up. It's me."

Thankfully, Jack found success as Nathan began to stir from his sleep and slowly craned his head up. Squinting at the Soldier in front of him. "Morrison?"

"In the flesh," Morrison replied. "Can I say the same for you? Status report?"

For once, a scoff betrayed Nathan's exhausted expression, the smallest hints of a smile creeping at the corner of his lips. "I fell down a fucking canyon."

"I surmised as much." Jack looked around, nodding. He then reached over and grabbed him by his left arm, starting to hoist him up. "Come on, let's go."

"Where?" Nathan asked, grunting as he got to his legs, clutching his helmet in the other arm.

"Anywhere but here."

"Wait, but-"

"Son, I saw what happened. Or, at least, the aftermath of what happened. Right now, Ana's hurt, we got Marshals, and possibly the Army, on our tail, and only a single hovercycle out of this desert. And Jesse being in the custody of his old girlfriend helps further complicates things, as well. This entire thing went FUBAR, Nathan."

Nathan was on his feet, towering over Jack, still having to balance on the rock face for help. But he narrowed his eyes at the old Soldier.

"If that's the case," he said in between breaths he slowly regained. "You should go back to Amari. I'll take care of this."

Jack sighed and stepped over to him. "Brin-"

"No," the Courier growled, standing upright. "Listen, I'm already tired, as is. Falling down a fucking canyon tends to do that to even the most patient of people, which I'm not."

He looked down at his Pip-Boy, which had been playing music through their entire conversation, and shut it off with a twist of a knob.

"But if you think I'm going to let a bunch of bandits, of all things, fucking walk away unscathed after what they did, then you can go. I got enough guns on me."

Morrison stared at him; his expression concealed behind his mask. He was aware that he knew much more about the situation than Nathan, that it wasn't just Jesse they had in their custody, but the Deadlock Gang were still an obstacle in their way. They had to tell him, sooner or later, but they knew right now wasn't the best time if he was going to go knock on Ashe's door, again. Jack had to admit, he liked Nathan's vitriol. Always seemed to be constant about him, for better or worse. Like him.

"Ana," Jack called, finger to his ear. "What's Deadlock's status?"

"They're still at their base, but they seem to be getting ready to move. Lot of vehicle activity," Ana told him, before sighing. "And Jack… I know what you're going to say."

"Brin? You good?"

Nathan gave himself a quick once over. "Nothing's broken, yet," he said, before striding off to the two corpses to loot them. One of them even having a bandolier full of shells for his pump-action.

Morrison picked up Nathan's helmet and studied it for a second. "So, Ana? Can you provide Overwatch? We need some eyes in the sky."

Ana sighed. "The drone has enough of a charge to last the entire day. Fine, I can see what I can do."

Nathan walked back over to Morrison, moving just fine, loading several shells into the shotgun before pumping it. Donning a new bandolier of shotgun shells. Jack handed him his helmet, Nathan taking it and swiftly putting it on. The Waster gave him a nod.

"We're going," Jack said, turning around to where he came from with the rifle in his hands.

"Copy that," Ana said, before sighing once again. "Brin, please be careful. I don't know a lot of people that fall down canyons and just get back up, again."

"I do," Nathan stated, but he could barely call his a baptism. Ana didn't question further.

Suddenly, they all heard a bark over the radio, making Jack and Nathan pause. The Waster questioned. "Was that a dog?"

Jack spoke up. "It's a stray we found in the hideout we're using. Don't worry, he's friendly." He looked over his shoulder to gauge Nathan's reaction. He didn't look that interested despite being the one to enquire. "Warmed up to Ana pretty quickly."

"Should've thrown the mutt out," Nathan detested. "Got enough to deal with."

Jack, and Ana, really wanted to tell him by that point. But the Courier was too focused on something else, right now.


Ashe did not get much sleep, and any she did muster was barely adequate for the life she led. It was always inadequate, but she knew that night was very different. Not wanting to dawdle on it any further as she walked out into the Arizona sun, dressed in her typical gear, and wearing a fresh set of makeup to hide her fatigue. Hide how she was constantly rerunning last night in her mind. Right now, she had business to attend to.

A cup of coffee entered her view, taking it and tiredly thanking B.O.B. before sipping.

Unfortunately, her reprieve would be disturbed when one of her men ran up to her.

"Ashe, I just got off the horn with John," the man began, visibly worried. "He said he spotted what looked like Feds skulking around the edge of the Gorge."

She looked at him with a subdued anger.

"How many?"

"A lot. But I don't think they know where we are, yet."

Being in the business for this long, Ashe knew something about the Feds showing up in force around these parts was unusual, even after raiding an Army train. It had to be that crate they had nabbed from it, especially since both Talon and Overwatch seemed interested in it. She took a hearty gulp from her coffee before emptying the rest into a nearby scrub.

"Make sure everyone gets ready to move by the hour," she ordered, about to head inside to the tunnel. "Tell Talon we'll be at the meetup point by noon. Oh, and make sure our guests are ready, too."

He nodded before running off. She went to the tunnel, beckoning B.O.B. to come with. They went at a leisurely pace, passing Deadlock members as they were running about to get ready for the day. All of them now aware that the Law had a scent on them, for once. Before she would get her guns, she made a quick detour to the lounge where she had interrogated the party the night before. However, McCree was sitting at the bar, with an armed guard watching him. With nothing but his hat, poncho, and a glass of whisky that hadn't been touched, yet. He didn't so much as give Ashe a nod when she walked in. He did with B.O.B., though.

"I'm going to pretend that was for me, too," Ashe said, taking the stool next to him.

Jesse wasn't going to humor her as he finally took that shot of whisky that had been sitting there.

"Too early for this," he muttered, the alcohol easing some of the pain from last night.

"What was that, Jesse?" Ashe asked, grabbing a shot glass of her own and pouring herself whatever he had.

He shot a glare towards her, making the guard assigned to him take an aggressive stance while Ashe indulged herself with the shot.

"Why are you doing this, Ashe?" McCree questioned,

Ashe looked at him, before scoffing and shaking her head. "What?"

"What's with the games? Why're you graciously letting me whittle down your stock of liquor?" he asked, gesturing to the cabinet he practically had free reign to. "Gonna try and soften me up for an interrogation?"

"Nah, already too late for that."

"Then, what're you doing?"

Ashe hung silent for a little.

"Giving you a choice." She said.

"Another one?"

"The last one."

Ashe shot another glare at McCree, regarding him for several moments before looking back at the shot glass she emptied. It was his turn to scoff, swiveling on the stool to face her. The guard flinched, but Ashe shot him a glare.

"Lemme guess… Give me the choice of joining the old gang, again?" he asked, drawling out his voice obnoxiously.

Ashe shook her head again, a smile creeping on her. "As lovely that would be to relive the old days, no. I'm a businesswoman, Jesse, I have to have realistic prospects." She looked at him, that smile gone. "So, I'm giving you the choice of walking away. Again."

McCree kept looking at her, his eyes scrutinizing all the details in her face. Seeing she still took delicate care of applying makeup, her skin as pale as it was when they were kids. Physically, she hadn't aged much. Mentally…

"You gonna give me what I came for?" he asked, leaning against the bar.

"Can't."

"Hmm… You gonna spare my friend B.O.B. sent down the canyon?"

Ashe blinked, staring at the wall before regarding McCree.

"What makes you think he's still alive?"

McCree shrugged. "Known him long enough to come to that conclusion."

"He fell down the Gorge."

"As I said, long enough."

Ashe looked at him incredulously.

"Did you not see what the bastard just did?" She hissed, growing wide awake.

"Yeah. Rough around the edges, isn't he? Tough sonofoabitch, though. Californian." He smiled, throwing in that random detail. "Which is why he would be pretty good company in a place like this."

"So, what? He's really is a part of your family?"

McCree's smile flickered, which brought some satisfaction to Ashe until he shrugged again, taking the whisky bottle from her.

"You'd probably have to ask him about that." He poured another shot for himself. "Although, we've been stuck with each other long enough. Longer than he wanted. He'd vouch for that." He threw back his head and drank. "So, you gonna keep him alive, or what?"

Ashe and McCree stared at each other, having made their respective propositions. McCree's face was calm and composed, and although he was certainly upset with how things had turned out, he wasn't interested showing it Ashe, on the other hand, sneered at him, and the red of her eyes were notably icy. B.O.B. looked at both of them, switching his beady littles eyes between them.

McCree's façade did crack a little when he looked up and saw through the doorway three people, bound and gagged, get escorted by a group of armed men. Followed by what looked like a mechanical dog with a muzzle on its snout being escorted by four men.

"Ashe, who were those people?" he questioned, noticeably uneasy for once.

"Sorry, Jesse," she said, disregarding his question as she threw a pair of cuffs to the guard. "Cuff him. We're bringing him along."

A rifle butt to his cheek prevented Jesse from protesting further, groaning as he felt his hands brought to his back. Restrained, he soon marched along the same path that Veronica, Boone, Parmley, and Rex walked. Soon, he was brought to a van with the backdoors open, seeing them sans the dog, bound and gagged. Jesse was shoved inside, getting to his feet and sitting next to the one with the red beret. They all regarded him with confused and worried looks, as did Jesse. He helped lighten the situation by flashing a smile towards all of them.

"Howdy," he said, as if greeting a neighbor. "What're y'all in for?"

Ashe rolled her eyes as she ordered one of the armed men to get inside the back with them, before shutting the doors. Going back inside to get her guns and the rest of this show on the road.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the old town and on the road leading towards their base of operations, two guards were standing watch, keeping their eyes cast outwards from home. Mostly. They spent much of their chatting, getting painfully bored of the silence out there. Much like their boss, they hadn't got much sleep but were still restless for the day ahead. Although, they found themselves going back to talking about the night before.

"… All I'm saying is… I'm gonna miss some of those bastards," the guard on the right expressed with a deep sigh. "Been with this gang for so long. Then… They're just gone."

"Yeah, me too," left guard agreed, nodding his head thoughtfully, some pleasant memories of those passed in his head. "Danielle… Shit, she didn't need to go out like that. Gonna miss her attitude."

They hung in silence, before the left guard spoke, again. "Hey, you think Ashe is gonna be fine?"

"She pulled through for the gang before through worse. She knows what to do. Probably after this deal with Talon, we'll move camp. Arizona's big enough."

"Yeah but… She seemed pretty shook after we dealt with that… Man. And you saw him get sent down the Gorge. We all did. The fact that she sent someone down there to make sure he's dead seems a bit much."

"Sure, but either way, he's out of the picture. That sonofabitch. Good-fucking-riddance."

Before they could continue their conversation, they saw something glint in the sun on the road ahead of them, seeing someone walking towards them. At first, they thought it was one of their own as they saw the dark-grey metal of his helmet. Then, the figure walked closer.

"What the… Who the hell is that…?" The right guard squinted, shielding his eyes. They slowly widened in recognition, feeling a chill run through his stomach. But before they could raise their guns, a .45-70 Gov't round for each of them made their chests explode. The big game cartridge making short work of the men.

Nathan replaced the two cartridges he spent as he walked up to them, stopping short to look at their bodies in the morning light. His radio sparked to life, snapping him back to where he was.

"You sure don't want me on the ground, son?" Jack asked, providing Overwatch from one of the tall rocks. "I prefer to rush head on, too."

"Not yet," Nathan answered, stepping over the bodies. "Better to have one of us on the ground."

Jack was unsure about letting the man walk into the gang's hideout by himself, again, but decided to not get in the way this time. They didn't have much of plan, nor the time to concoct a proper one, so they went with the simplest solution. Besides, he knew that tone of voice the second he heard it; Nathan was focused. Jack worried slightly, only because it reminded him of himself in his younger days. In the earlier days of Overwatch. He cursed Ana being right, again, but he spared Nathan the thought because of more pressing matters.

The rest of the gang heard the shots, nearly everyone standing outside of the tunnel still and looking to the sky. The captives inside the van heard it, too, their heads swiveling about in the limited view of the outside they had from their van. The Wasters wondered who that could've been, wondering if Ana and Jack were back to rescue them. McCree smirked a little, somewhat certain that Nathan risen from his second fall, again. They would all be half-right.

"What the hell was that?!" Elizabeth Caledonia Ashe stormed out with B.O.B. and her rifle in tow. The lack of sleep thoroughly disappearing from her eyes. Suddenly, the canyon echoed.

"Ashe! Elizabeth Caledonia Ashe!" The words howled through the Gorge, the natural acoustics letting it be heard all around. "ASHE! I'm back, goddammit! Where are you?!"

"Oh, shit!" the leader of Deadlocks cursed under her breath before barking orders. "Some of you, distract that bastard! We're getting out of here, now!" She ran to her hovercycle while the ones she ordered ran in the direction of the yelling. Not even 24 hours since they first dealt with him.

The Courier waded through a part of the town that he hadn't devastated, yet. The sun shined on him, the metal of his helmet and rifle glinting, and no duster to protect his body from the elements. The sleeves of his shirt rolled up to reveal his muscly, scarred forearms as he tightly gripped his rifle. Three bandoliers for his three long guns flaunting themselves on his form. The Pip-Boy still in working order. His weathered jeans and boots now dry.

The door to an old house swung wide open to his left, but he quickly hip-fired his Brush Gun, not needing to aim the rifle at such a distance as two men fell out of the doorway. A figure in the window of the house was also quickly shot down, the glass shattering as he almost emptied the lever-action into it.

More men came running from up the road and Nathan effortlessly transitioned to his pistol to fire at the crowd. Making the group scramble for cover as he killed two of them in the first few shots. They returned fire at him, but he stood tall as he strode towards them, emptying his handgun.

"Where's Ashe?!" he questioned, holstering his Brush Gun and sidearm, charging at them as he summoned the shotgun.

He quickly closed the distance under a hail of gunfire, firing shotgun blasts with deadly efficiency. All the while demanding where their boss was. "Ashe!"

Back at the van, all the captives were still helpless as they could see more men running through the back window and hear the engines of various vehicles start to roar to life. McCree usually uses these moments of chaos to make a move, but he didn't want to chance endangering the lives of the strangers he was sharing the van with. Whoever they were. He looked at the one across from him, a woman in some kind of doctor's coat, but noticed the lack of fear on her face. Instead, she seemed determined on something as she kept adjusting herself in her seat. Veronica paused when she noticed McCree staring at her.

"Hey, what are you doing?" the guard asked, making Veronica look at him.

She started to worry, almost about to fumble, but Jesse had her back. "She's gagged, you dolt. She can't answer you," he told him.

"Shut your piehole!"

"Lookin' at ya', you should do the same."

Before the guard could lash out further, the back of the van opened with Ashe standing there, a sawn-off double-barreled in one hand. She addressed their captives with a deep glare, especially McCree, before speaking to the guard. "We're moving out, now. Keep a good watch on these four."

"Yes, ma'am."

She gave one more glance at all of them before closing the door. McCree looked at Veronica and nodded, Veronica expressing gratitude with a nod of her own. Glancing at the guard, she went back to work picking her handcuff lock with the bobby pin she snuck into one of her coat pockets.

Ashe got on her red chopper as she heard the gunfire persist on the other side of town, pock marked by the screams of her men and the bellow of her name. It grew louder. She twisted her key and her engines roared to life, veering her hovercycle as she took point in her hastily organized caravan. Jack had just gotten to a suitable spot for overwatch when he saw the caravan start to move.

"Brin, they're starting to move!" he exclaimed before lifting up his rifle and firing at the column. Hesitant to use his Helix Rockets unless he wanted to blow up something he didn't intend to.

The Courier was too busy killing to register what Morrison said as he tackled a gang member, helpless to do much before the barrel of the pump-action went off and created a crater in his face. Nathan wiped more blood off his helmet as he heard the caravan's engines. He became wide-eyed as he narrowly dodged the front of a red chopper, rolling to the side of the road. Quickly getting, he fired his shotgun indiscriminately into the column as they drove past him. In the van, Veronica's lockpicking attempt was interrupted as a shotgun blast hit the side of the van next to her, making everyone inside reel from it. She looked at the holes made by the buckshot before taking a deep breath and resuming her lockpicking, trying to steady her nerves.

The Courier had emptied his shotgun and watched as the caravan sped away and disappeared from view. His hands tightly clutching the shotgun and feeling the warmth of all the rounds he just put through it. His anger tempering.

"GODDAMMIT!" Nathan howled into the town, now properly populated by ghosts. Rapidly kicking a dead body, letting out more screams of frustration, getting more blood on his boot. "Morrison!" He barked as he brought a hand to his helmet. "They fuckin' got away! The fuck are we gonna do, now?"

"Calm down, son," he heard Jack coolly reply. "We'll catch up with them. I've got something here."

"What? A bike?"

"That's with Ana. Didn't come here riding in on it or else they would've heard me."

"Then, how the hell are we going to catch up with them?"

Nathan's frustration simmered more until he heard a clopping noise come down the road, along with what sounded like the whirring of servos. Morrison then strode in front of the Waster on a mechanical creature that had four hooved legs, a broad body, and a long face. It had a silver-sheen coating and its eyes were just two glowing lights. Jack sat on it using a leather saddle that seemed to be built into the creature, having both hands on leather that were hooked into the sides of its face.

"Is that a robot… Horse?" The Waster barely recognized what it was.

"Yup." The American soldier patted the mechanical horse on the side of its neck, curiously garnering a response from it. "Figured they would have one of these since a whole bunch of them went missing near Phoenix."

Where it came from was the least of Nathan's concerns. "We're going to ride that, aren't we?"

"You got any better ideas? Get on. We're gonna lose them."

Morrison extended his hand down to him, Nathan taking it and awkwardly scaling the tall machine to sit behind the driver. Warily looking down at where he was sitting.

"You've ever ridden a horse, before? Real or otherwise?" Morrison asked.

"They're extinct. So, no."

"Then, hold on tight."

"Wait a minute, but-"

"Hya!" The Indiana man rapped the reins and the horse started galloping along the road, its metal hooves digging into the concrete with every step. Nathan's weight almost became the death of him as he nearly fell backwards if he hadn't grabbed onto to a part of the saddle. The ground passing by them quickly, the wind rushing. The horse quickly gaining speed as its feet galloped faster, probably faster than what ordinary horses could achieve. It didn't take long until they were now bobbing and weaving across the old American road and through Deadlock Gorge as fast as a hovercycle. Nathan thankful he wore a helmet as the wind whipped around him.

He looked ahead to see Morrison leaning against the wind, his hair and clothes whipping about, his rifle bouncing on his back. He lifted a finger to one ear. "Ana, what's the status on the caravan?"

"Northwest, going along the same road as you. There's a lot of cliff edges, Jack."

"I've noticed."

Nathan clutched to anything for dear life as he went at speeds he was not accustomed to. At least Australia was mostly flat.

"Brin, look!"

Nathan cast his gaze up and saw on the road far ahead of them was the Deadlock caravan, getting closer with every passing second. Almost all the worries about riding the horse disappeared as he retrieved the Brush Gun. Holding the rifle in one hand while holding on with the other.

"What's the plan, son?" Jack asked, looking back.

"Just get us close. I'll try to whittle them down as we get closer," Nathan said, cranking the lever and taking aim.

"Watch where you're shooting! We don't wanna hit the hostages."

"McCree'll be fine!"

"It ain't just McCree we need to worry about."

Nathan glanced at him but shook that thought away as he leveled his sights towards the caravan.

Meanwhile, at the head of the caravan, Ashe kept her eyes trained on the road as she drove her chopper through the Gorge. Guiding the rest of her crew through a road she's traveled many times. But a glint in one of her rearview mirrors made her blink and look to see something shiny behind them on the highway, and it was galloping. Turning her head back to see one of their mechanical horses commandeered by two men, one of them the Courier.

'Jesus Christ!' She panicked, dumbstruck that they had caught up. She saw a flash of light from him and watched as one of the hovercycles at the rear wobbled before tipping over and tumbling across the road, it's rider limp as he was thrown about. Then, the caravan knew they weren't out of this, yet.

"Good kill," Jack complimented, holding the reins steadfast and hitching the back of his boots into the mechanical horse, processing the commands and going faster.

The Courier didn't say much as he picked targets and fired, quickly racking the lever. Not as easy shooting on horseback as those old Western holotapes made it seem as his sight picture kept bouncing.

The gang retaliated, multiple gunshot originating from the numerous bikes and trucks in the caravan, both riders ducking as bullets whizzed by them. Some rounds even pinged off the horse's body. Nathan thought back to Australia, and what he did there. Of course, one big difference was they were doing the chasing, not the ones being chased. That, and the horse.

"Morrison! Get me up close to the nearest truck," the Waster asked of him. "I'm going to hop on."

"You sure about that?" The rider asked. "I see hostiles on it."

"Gotta stop them, regardless."

Jack nodded, rapping the reins and yelling "Hyah", again. The horse mustering more speed from its mechanical legs.

The last truck in the caravan got closer and closer, and they could see several men standing in the back of it, firing upon them. Nathan fired back, making up for the lack of volume with precision as he had dropped several occupants. A hovercycle came from in front of the truck and decelerated to ride side-by-side with the horse, an omnic rider firing a handgun at them. Nathan hunched and hissed as he summoned his shotgun one handed and blasted the omnic's head into a million pieces, the hovercycle careening into the side of a mountain. With that taken care of and the help Nathan's covering fire, the horse was able to catch up with the last truck. The passenger was about to jump on, but an occupant that hid himself jumped out of the bed and tackled Nathan. They both went off the horse, but Morrison was quick to grab the stock of one of his long guns, still magnetically linked to the holster. At the speed they were going, the embroiled men were nearly gliding off the road. Even with enhanced strength, the gang member was a clingy bastard and Nathan struck him harder with every passing second. He soon glanced to his left, seeing the powerful hind legs of the horse running across the road, and without a second thought, spun the man around towards them. The man's head practically exploded as the horse stomped down on him, not losing a step in its gallop. Nathan finally pushed the body off him and got back onto the horse with Jack's help. Finally, Nathan jumped onto the back of the rear truck and begin engaging whoever was left.

Not even a second on the truck, Nathan kicked a man off that was surprised to see him come aboard, sending him screaming and falling off. Another man jumped on his back, but the Waster overpowered him and grabbed his arms before throwing him down. He was just as quick getting the Brush Gun and firing a .45-70 round point blank, staining more blood on him. Looking around and seeing the truck bed had been cleared, he ran up to the front of the truck to look at the rest of the caravan up ahead. He leveled his rifle but lost his balance as the truck suddenly veered to the right, then to the left, then the right, again. The truck driver trying to knock him off and almost succeeding, but almost crashing into rock.

Back in the van, the occupants were silent as they could hear gunshots at the rear of the caravan, but they were all biding their time. Veronica trying her best to pick her handcuffs as inconspicuously as she could, pausing to make sure she didn't seem too suspicious or her tinkering could be heard. Ironic that an ex-Brotherhood Scribe was having such trouble with a tiny mechanical lock, but she was more experienced with digital security. That's why it came as a huge relief when she felt the lock on her handcuffs click and clatter to her seat.

"The hell was that?" Their guard said as he heard the noise, immediately looking at Veronica. He got up and pointed his shotgun at her. "Get up! I wanna see your hands."

Veronica normally would've responded with a snappy comeback if it wasn't for her gag. She opted to narrow her eyes at him and pretend she was still restrained.

"You know what I meant!" The guard reiterated, jutting the weapon. "Get up! Now!"

As her silence only persisted, a spurred boot rocketed up and kicked the gun out of his hand, making it go off and ventilate the roof. Before he could react, the guard was charged by all three male captives, practically leaping to their feet. Slamming him into the walls and delivering a few hardy kicks, their guard was out but they heard a voice come from the back. "Hey, what's going on back there?"

McCree stepped to Veronica, who almost took a defensive stance when he did. "Mind grabbing the keys and setting me loose? Don't think we've got much time."

Veronica stared at him for a moment but looked out of the back window when she saw several hovercycles fly to the caravan's rear, no doubt coming to stop their would-be saviors. She stepped over to the guard and snagged the keys off his belt, then unlocking the handcuff's that were around this stranger in the red poncho.

"Thank you kindly, ma'am. Here." McCree smiled at her, reaching up to her head and untying the gag around her.

"Ugh, thanks," Veronica said, licking her dry lips. "So… what now, cowboy?"

More noise came from the front of the van, and they both looked at each other before McCree gained a cocky grin.

"Commandeer a vessel of our own," he told her, making her frown as he kicked the van doors open.

Before she could question further, the man jumped and climbed to the van's roof. For the next few seconds they could hear him stomping on the roof and making dents with the metal fingers of his left hand. When he reached the front of the van, they heard another door open, a man yelling in confusion and pain, and felt the van shake as they watched someone roll across the road behind them a second later. A window on the wall separating the front and back opened, the Cowboy now at the wheel and driving the van. They only knew him for just a few minutes, but they were impressed.

Veronica got the others free and they all walked up to the window.

"That was… Pretty damn cool," Veronica said, looking at the Cowboy. "What's your name?"

"People 'round these parts call me McCree. Jesse McCree," Jesse introduced himself to the Wasters. "Now, who're all of you?"

"I'm Veronica. That's Boone, and that's Parmley."

"Well, Veronica, what can I do for y'all?"

"Right now? Get our dog back, for starters. Then, get the hell out of here."

"Hmm, well I can help you with that first thing, right now. Still need to get something of my own before we can extract ourselves."

"Need some help?"

McCree looked back to see Veronica with a grin equally as cocky as his. He appreciated that.

"Sure." He nodded, looking back to the road. "Any idea where your dog is? It's the mechanical one, right?"

"Yup." She nodded. "I think I saw him get brought to one of the vehicles in front."

"Buckle up, then." McCree shifted the van into high gear and slammed onto the gas.

The Wasters almost fell on their feet from the sudden shift in speed, McCree uttering a quick apology before they continued driving further. Getting closer to the lead truck.

Back at the rear truck, the driver kept moving as erratically as he could to throw Nathan off balance. Help for Nathan soon came when Morrison rode up to the passenger side window of the truck and started firing at the driver with his sidearm, little bolts of energy lighting up the cabinet. The driver ducked and made a hard right to crush Jack between the truck and the rock. The old soldier pulled the reins on the horse, quickly skidding to a stop before the truck slammed into nothing but rock. The driver was dazed from his stunt and could barely register anything for a few moments before he could hear thumping against the cabin's roof. Nathan landed on the hood and the driver could only scream as two shotgun blasts perforated the windshield. The truck started to gain speed and become wobbly, but Morrison quickly rode up to the front. Nathan jumped, grunting as his stomach hit the top of the horse's metal rear. The truck careened off the side of a cliff face.

"You alright, Brin?" Jack asked.

"Just… Get me… Closer," Nathan said in-between breaths, orienting himself to sit up on the horse.

Suddenly, a duo on a hovercycle came from the front and began firing on them, one of them grazing Jack and making him grimace. He held fast as Nathan retaliated with the shotgun, sending both enemies crashing to the asphalt.

"Morrison?" Nathan asked.

"Fine!" The old Super Soldier waved off, having dealt with worse.

That would soon change as Jack would hear Ana's voice come to his ear, but only his. "Jack, I just spotted McCree busting out of the back of the van and hijacking it. I also saw Veronica in the back."

His eyes widened under the mask. "Where are they?" He whispered.

"A couple cars ahead of you. They're in the van. Please, make sure they're safe, but watch Nathan."

"Wilco."

Thankfully, Nathan was too busy shooting to notice Jack was silently talking to himself. He whittled down the Deadlock's numbers as they got closer to the truck in the middle. Nathan hopped on with little resistance, though, he wondered why there didn't seem to be anyone occupying the truck bed. When he stepped closer to a huge piece of tarp covering something, he was almost knocked off his feet as the tarp was thrown off, revealing underneath the large omnic with the tiny hat. The Courier's heart skipped a bit, and his hands clenched.

"You!" He roared as he lunged at the large robot, evading a heavy-handed swing and rapidly firing the shotgun at point blank range. Not even caring for ricochets by this point.

"Ah, hell," Jack said as he pulled out his sidearm and started firing at B.O.B., the plasma bolts harmlessly pinging off the omnic's body. B.O.B. eventually notices, and threw a random cache at the horse, making Morrison speed up and miss being hit. However, he incidentally spotted the van Ana was telling him about. He slapped the reins, again, and slowly inched closer to the van. He got to the back of the van until he was close enough and Veronica spotted him.

"Jack!" She exclaimed, elated to see he was still alive.

"Hey! You need some help?" He asked, panting a little.

"Yeah! We're trying to get Rex in the truck ahead of us. Is there anything you can do?"

"Hop on!"

"Wait, what?!"

"Come on, kid, trust me!"

Sometimes she wished Nathan was there instead of her. However, she steeled herself and – giving herself some space to run – jumped and grabbed Jack's hand. With his enhanced strength, he lifted her up and got her to sit behind him.

"Hold on!" He exclaimed, slapping the reins and quickly overtaking the van. Veronica holding on to dear life, internally lamenting how humans shouldn't be going this fast. Also, the fact that Jack was suddenly riding a robot horse, but the ex-Scribe knew to keep her thoughts on the subject to herself for now.

They gained speed and eventually rode up to the driver side window of the van, making McCree look and do a double-take.

"Well, look who decided to ride in!" Jesse said with the widest grin he's worn in ages. "I feel like we should trade places!"

"When you learn how to canter a horse without falling, we'll trade," Jack replied, his head straight.

Veronica looked at them both. "Wait, you two know each other?"

"'Course we do!" McCree boasted. "Speaking of people we know; Hey, Jack! Have you seen- Woah!"

Both Jack and Jesse veered away from each other as a crate of munition hit the space between them, Veronica looking back to see B.O.B. fighting someone. She couldn't see who, as the body of the truck hauling the bed obscured her view. She thought they must be someone that was able to handle themselves if they were fighting that metal oaf for so long.

"We need something to take that big bastard down!" Jack exclaimed, his eyes affixed on the cache of weapons and the trailer full of their gear ahead of him on the lead truck. "Hyah!"

The horse ran faster, finally catching up to the rear of the lead truck. With Jack's help, Veronica clambered up one side of the truck's bed, right before the driver veered into them and nearly knocked them off. Veronica climbed in, and Jack was about to provide more support until a stray crate landed in front of his horse and they both tumbled to the concrete. The Soldier curled himself into a ball and rolled for ages until he skidded to a stop, everyone else passing him. He groaned but managed to get up, looking to see that metal horse was unfortunately out of commission. A buzzing in his ear made him lift a finger up.

"Jack, are you all right?!" He heard Ana worriedly calling.

"Fine…" He lied as he sat up, feeling bruised all over. "Gonna need a pickup, now…"

"Ugh."

Meanwhile, Veronica was in the truck bed trying to find Rex. The sound of bike engines and gunshots made her duck as gang members rode up to the truck she was on. Luckily, where she ducked down, she saw Rex being kept in a cage with a muzzle over his snout.

"Rex!" She shouted in glee. The robotic K9's ears perking when he saw her. Digging into a box next to her, Veronica found a hammer and used it to beat the lock that was on his cage until it broke. Getting him out of the cage and getting the muzzle off in time as a pair of men got onto the flatbed to get her. Rex immediately bolted at one of the men, sinking his teeth into the man's arms while his partner tried his best to wrestle the dog off him.

While the K9 was busy, a third hopped on and saw Veronica. He lunged at her, but she sends a jab straight into his face, then follows through with a pair of uppercuts, before finishing with a strong right hook, sending him flying over the side of the truck. However, she saw more men riding up to her truck and about to climb on. Scrambling to find a weapon to help make things a bit easier. She stumbles over another piece of tarp, incidentally, ripping it off to find their T-51b Power Armor facedown and strapped in by elastic cables. She made a devilish grin as she began taking the cables off. By the time the rest of the men had gotten on, they were met with the sight of the T-51b Power towering over them and whirring to life.

"Who's up?" Veronica cockily said, pounding her fists together.

Nathan was thrown against the back of the truck cabin. As he looked up, he could see B.O.B.'s fist being jutted towards him. He narrowly ducked large energy blasts, simultaneously unholstering his sidearm and dumping a mag into the slot for one of the wrist-cannons. B.O.B.'s other hand grabbed him by the torso but Nathan quickly jabbed his knife into the slit where the base of his thumb was, making the digit spark and spasm before he tilted it, and popped it off. B.O.B. reeled from that and threw him, again. Nathan slammed face first into a crate with tarp over it, but he lost the dazed sensation when he spotted All-American – stowed among the rest of the Deadlock Gang's loot. He wasted no time grabbing it, switching the safety off, and charging a round, before dumping a mag onto B.O.B.'s face. The large omnic used his large hands to shield his face, grappled at the Waster who swiftly rolled under his feet. Dropping the carbine for a minute, Nathan summoned the pump-action and shot out the back of B.O.B.'s knee, the omnic falling flat on his face. Nathan jumped atop of him, firing several shotgun shells at an exposed part at the socket of his arm, severing it from the rest of his body. Running the shotgun dry, he repeated the same with the Brush Gun and the other arm, making sure to use one of his customs loads. With most of the limbs disabled, the Courier descended upon B.O.B. and jabbed his knife into the nook of his neck.

"Rrraaaaggghhhh!" The enraged Waster screamed as he used a great deal of his strength to rip off the omnic's head, creating a geyser of oil and sparks gush out of his neck.

The Courier rotated the head, looking straight into B.O.B.'s eyes. The omnic's eyes were spinning, and they blinked a couple of times before landing on Nathan. They visibly shrunk when they focused. The Courier growled and threw his head towards the front end of the caravan.

B.O.B.'s eyes spun and spun as he flew through the air until, thankfully, stopping and landing on the leather seat in front of Ashe.

"B.O.B.!?" She screamed, quickly becoming distraught to see what happened to her loyal companion. B.O.B. blinking his eyes and looking at Ashe with a gleeful expression relieved her, somewhat, but rage still burned.

Now, barely concerned with getting to the meeting spot, Ashe spun her hovercycle around and drove to the middle truck. McCree spotting her but unable to stop her as she sped by. "Oh, boy…" He recognized that look of hers.

Ashe eventually spotted Nathan standing in the bed of the truck and opened fire. Nathan ducked behind cover and began reloading his guns, not realizing he had made all of them run dry in his bout of rage.

"Everything was just fine before you two showed up!" Ashe yelled at Nathan, emptying her rifle, spinning it, then loading it as quickly. "Overwatch came back to ruin the day, as usual. Your family as destructive as the Deadlock Gang!"

The Courier hissed as he popped out from cover to shoot her, but she quickly sped out of the way and spun her cycle around. She appeared on the other side of the truck, away from where he was facing. The Texan fired at him, forcing him into cover until she stopped.

"Aaaaggggghhh!" Ashe had enough, pulling out her double-barreled shotgun and taking out both of the grav-wheels on her side of the truck.

The truck tipped, knocking Nathan off balance, before skidding across the road and tumbling across the road into a heap of metal and loot. Ashe sped ahead a good distance on the road, before stopping and veering bike around to watch the truck crash and burn. The truck tumbled and tumbled before it finally stopped just a couple dozen yards ahead of where she was. Debris and shrapnel flew around and close to her as she watched the wreck heave one more cycle before falling flat on its side. The truck barely a truck. Through the smoke, she saw something coming out of it, shouldering and leveling her rifle at the silhouette. Eventually, a dislodged grav-wheel rolled by into view, and she let her finger off the trigger. She wasn't sure if he was dead, like last time, but she wasn't going to stick around to find out.

Unfortunately, as she veered her bike to continue on the road, she saw the tunnel they were going to take was blocked, a large metal gate that was erected before they got there. Ashe and several of her surviving men looked at it, before a noise from behind made them look back at the wrecked Ashe.

Something was thrown from behind the truck, and when it cleared the smoke, Ashe realized it was a satchel of grenades.

"Oh, shiii-!" She screamed as the Courier rose from cover and popped one of the grenades with a shot from his Brush Gun, causing an explosion and making this side of the canyon rumble. The large cloud from the explosion rushed at everything, and he was consumed in it along everyone else.

Nathan, as usual, waited for the dust to settle while he took stood there. His clothes, already stained in all manner of bodily fluids and vehicular grime, now covered in new layer of dust from the old road. The sleeves of his shirt fluttering as the shockwave and its effect subsided for the gorge's wind, peaceful by comparison. He glanced up to see the desolate road that had been created. When only silence reigned in the gorge and the fog was starting to clear, he took a step forward.

A dozen Deadlock members were strewn all over the old road. Many of them missing limbs, others mangled beyond recognition. It was deathly quiet. Aside from some pained groans and the scraping of dirt, Nathan closing in on the source. As he kept walking, he eventually came across the leader of the Deadlock Gang, Elizabeth Caledonia "Calamity" Ashe, wallowing in pain as she crawled over to her double-barreled shotgun. She was covered in soot, had tears in her clothing, and was missing her hat, but was overall unscathed. The pain she felt in her gut subsided as it was replaced by the feeling of the Courier's boot on her right hand, the man bending down to pick up her double-barreled shotgun. The pain only persisted when his other hand grabbed a handful of her hair and yanked her up, making her yelp in pain. Hopeless to do anything as she clawed at him. She came face to face with the Devil of Overwatch, again.

Then, all the pain she felt up to that point washed away as she looked into the red eyes of the man's helmet, who only silently loomed over her. The Courier, however, felt nothing as he looked deep into her red eyes, savoring her expression. He especially savored the look on her face when he broke eye-contact and looked at her double-barreled. Ashe was about to speak up, but he quickly wrapped his hand around her throat and strangled any words she tried to utter. Only gurgling pleas leaving her lips. She could only close her eyes and shake as the Courier swiftly swung the barrel towards her temple and squeezed the trigger.

Ashe waited and waited, trembling in his grip as she expected her world to cut to black and nothingness. When nothing came and she still felt the sensation of life within her, she slowly opened her eyes to see the Courier swinging the shotgun open and inspecting the chambers. Both the shells were spent; It was harmless, now. However, Ashe's temporary salvation was gone when he locked the barrels into battery and flipped it, holding it by the barrels. Wielding it as a makeshift club that he raised high above his head over Ashe. Her eyes widened, again.

Metal crashing from the road ahead made Nathan stop, looking up from his would-be victim. He looked down at Ashe one more time before smacking her once with the shotgun and violently throwing her to the side. He threw the shotgun away and retrieved his Brush Gun.

The Courier stood his ground, the breath from his mask blowing dust away. Looking ahead into the cloud as his grip became taut around his rifle. He couldn't see but sensed they still weren't alone. Something in the back of his mind telling him to get ready, as if instinct was taking over again. Still enough adrenaline in his system to keep him going through this gorge. His teeth gritting when he heard a heavy footstep come towards them. Another step followed, and then another, and they became increasingly louder as the silhouette of a hulking figure became visible through the dust. Nathan cranked the lever and leveled the sight at the figure, but relented from squeezing the trigger when he noticed the shape of the silhouette wasn't nearly as large or bulky as B.O.B. The outline struck something in his brain, wondering why until the figure had cleared itself from the dust.

The cloud cleared when it got out, and Nathan's snarl became agape in his mask.

"Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" McCree suddenly ran in from the smoke, getting in-between the large figure and Nathan. "I know you have a penchant for shooting first, ask questions later," he panted. "But try to refrain this time."

McCree regained his breath, standing up and gesturing to the Power Armor. "Brin, this is-"

Nathan stood there in disbelief for a second, not realizing he was lowering his rifle.

"T-51b…" he recognized, his words barely more than a whisper.

Jesse didn't hear him and looked between Nathan and the hulking metal figure. "What did you say, Brin?"

The T-51b's head glanced to McCree when he said that. Nathan immediately noticed.

"Brin? Then that means…" he heard the armor speak in a woman's voice when it looked back at him. She regarded him for a few moments. "…Nathan."

Before the Courier could even question how she knew his name or who she was, the set of Power Armor opened up from the back. Jesse stepped aside while Nathan stood there and watched as a petite and lithe form climb out, wearing what looked like a doctor's coat. The Power Armor closed up and its user walked out in front of it and into the sunlight. They were a couple yards apart and Nathan squinted a little to get a better look at her face. It did not take long for him to recognize who she was. It did not take her long, either.

Nathan stepped back as if he saw a ghost. "Veronica?" he questioned aloud.

"Nathan!" Veronica almost exclaimed, her breathing hitching.

Meanwhile, behind them at the turn of the road, Jack and Ana slowly walked over to where they were all in view. The latter holding the former's arm of her shoulders as he clutched the side of his chest. They watched the scene unfold before them. Cooper joining them.

Nathan held the rifle almost lazily by the grip, practically dangling at his side as he looked at his friend. Her face was dirty and had some bruises, and her hair was longer than he remembered. He forgot that she would be wearing a Follower's coat by now.

Veronica saw he still wore that old helmet and riot armor, covered in blood and guts of Deadlock. Still tall as hell and still the meanest looking son of a bitch of their group. That didn't deter her in the slightest as she took a step forward, and then another, and another, until she practically burst into a full sprint and quickly closed the short distance between them. Burying her face into his armored chest and wrapping his arms around her. Ana watched and smiled.

Nathan dropped his rifle, making it clatter to the floor as his arms hung in the air. Still reeling from seeing her here. He cast a glance to McCree who was as, if not more, surprised than him. Never seeing the Courier wrapped up in such an intimate moment. Nathan looked back down at Veronica, seeing and feeling that she was very much real. When this finally registered in his mind, the tension in his arms loosed and they slowly found a place upon her shoulders. Reaffirming that she was real. Very real.

He croaked out. "How…?"

"Ugh, take that stupid thing off!" Veronica exclaimed as she quickly reached up and wrapped her hands around his helmet. Nathan bowed his head and she slipped it off with ease, letting her see his face for the first time in years. She immediately noticed how much older he looked, wrinkles and scars that she didn't remember. If not for those, the look in his eyes made her think he aged decades in a few years. He would've said the same as he took a closer look at her face with his own eyes. Some blood staining her cheek from his armor. She didn't seem to give a damn, though.

"Nice beard," she complimented after several moments of silence, noting the biggest difference she saw since their last meeting.

"Uh… Thanks," he responded, his voice still faltering and barely audible.

Her smile grew bigger. She jumped up and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, burying her face into his chest once more as she hugged even tighter. Feeling her eyes well up.

Nathan's breathing calmed and he knew that she was most definitely real. A million thoughts surging through his mind until he just shook them all away and finally wrapped his arms around her. Holding her in an even tighter embrace as he buried his face into her hair. Forgetting where he even, only embracing the closest thing to home he's seen in what felt like years.

Ana's smile grew wider, looking at Jack as they shared a moment of their own. Jesse still surprised and enamored by seeing Nathan in such a tender moment. Nathan saw more figures approach from the cloud. Seeing two men and a dog come out from behind the T-51b. He became even more shocked with what he saw. Recognizing them almost instantly.

His grip loosened on Veronica, who stepped aside to see what he was looking at. "Boone? Rex? … Ranger Parmley?" He said.

Not even a second after he muttered their names, the mechanical bolted to the tall Waster yipping and yelping. Cooper ran in too, surprising Nathan, again, as he came from behind and joined Rex. Veronica sidestepped them as they collided into Nathan's legs, jumping up and wagging their tails at ludicrous rates. Nathan immediately crouched down and started petting them. Both dogs unable to contain their excitement and assaulting his face with licks. Becoming difficult to even lay a hand on them as they twirled, jumped, and rolled everywhere. A big smile quickly grew on his face, with genuine laughter escaping from it.

"Hey! Hi! I haven't seen you boys for so long!" he exclaimed, grabbing each of them into a hug.

Boone and Parmley approached them, and Nathan stood up to address the two men. He didn't need to say anything but smirk as he clasped a hand with Boone's and brought him close for a hug, not as long but as intimate as his hug with Veronica. Next, he held out his hand to the Ranger who took it after he snapped out of what he was watching.

"Ranger Parmley," Nathan reaffirmed, examining his face. "You're a long way from Charlie, y'know that?"

"When I tell them what we went through and why, I think they'll understand," Parmley smiled graciously at the man the Rangers have counted on many times, the moment feeling surreal for many reasons.

When Nathan let go and stepped back, he looked at his fellow Wasters that appeared out of nowhere for him. Still jittery with an almost indescribable feeling. Seeing people from home, right here, in front of him.

McCree, Amari, and Morrison had walked up behind them. Nathan looking over his shoulder and stepping aside.

"I should probably introduce to some new friends I got," he observed, Ana noting his use of the word "friends".

"Actually, we kind of got acquainted with Jack and Ana before all of this," Veronica replied, gesturing to the two seniors.

"Wait, really?"

"Yeah. Unsurprisingly, it's a long story."

"Guess I'll have to listen, then."

Nathan smiled, again, relieved that he wouldn't be the only Waster stuck in this world.

Suddenly, the pitch of the gorge's air changed and quickly wiped the smiles off everyone's faces when several large floating ships appeared from the gorge. Hovering over the ruined road and everyone on it. While he wasn't intimately familiar, the markings on the aircraft were similar to the markings on old US Military aircraft. More aircraft appeared and hovered over strategic parts of the road, and before they knew it, doors on both sides slid open and soldiers in exo-skeleton armor jumped 50-ft to the ground without a scratch and ran towards them with weapons drawn. Jack reached for his rifle, Jesse unholstered his revolver, and Nathan pulled Veronica behind him as he picked up his Brush Gun. Everyone else took an aggressive stance and waited for there to be a fight once more, but their expressions shifted to confusion when the soldiers ran past them and towards to where most of the Deadlock wreckage was on the other end of the road.

Their attention was then shifted to one of the ships that hovered closer to the ground. As it got near ground level, a door opened up on its side and ramp extended until it hit the road in front of them. After, three soldiers walked out but only two of them were visibly armed while the other was flanked by them. The soldier in the middle – the only one without a facial covering – was a dark-skinned woman with white, braided hair that was tied up into a ponytail. She had dark blues eyes and walked confidently towards them. The Wasters, obviously, had no idea who she was, but Jesse, Ana, and Jack recognized her the second she stepped off the ship. The ex-Strike-Commander shook off Amari and limped over to the front, pushing Nathan aside.

The woman stopped just a few feet in front of them, regarding everyone with a calculating and calm expression. Her face rock steady as she examined all their faces, examining how they regarded her. Then, her eyes stopped on Nathan, who was nearly as stoic in his expression. She only took a second longer to appraise him before speaking.

"You must be 'The Devil of Overwatch'," she observed, politely but firmly. "You certainly match the description: tall, muscular build, strange device on your arm, but no mask. Either way, you've caught a lot of people's attention."

The Courier didn't respond other than a grunt, but the air around her made him think she might be a Colonel. Speaking from personal experience.

"What do you want?" Jack regarded her with a growl beneath that mask, standing between her and them.

"Relax, Jack," she said, using his first name. "I just want to talk for a bit. You look like you've been through enough so all you have to do now is listen."

The old Soldier barely reacted to her using his first name, uttering a small chuff that could've been taken as part of a chuckle. His eyes glanced to a small insignia that was decaled into her armor: a silver-shaded oak leaf.

"Lieutenant Colonel Sojourn, huh?" Jack said with another low chuckle. Nathan was only a bit off. "That was quick."

"Well, after the world's best protectors became illegal, someone else had to pick up the slack." She shrugged half-heartedly. "Can't say I've gained any sleep since, then. Although, you look like shit, Morrison," she smirked, looking up from him. "You too, Ana. And you too, Jesse."

Her old friends all laughed in their own ways.

"So, what is it, Sojourn? Why're you here?" Jack was quick to shed the friendly chatter.

"Officially, to retrieve U.S. Army property and to arrest those responsible. Unofficially, to establish contact with the New Overwatch, if possible," she explained, becoming equally curt. "Had intel you were operating within the area. To keep it short, things have been bad. Really bad. And it's enough of a problem that we are deciding to reach out to you for help."

"Who's this 'we'? The U.S. Army? The U.S. Government?"

"The United Nations, actually. As I've said, a lot of the things you've guys been doing has been attracting a lot of attention. It's fitting that we act upon that now then later."

"The world was very clear they didn't want Overwatch just a few years ago. Left us in the dust as our base was literally in pieces. All those people dead, lives lost, and for what? A piece of paper that classified us as criminals."

Sojourn sighed and slowly placed her hands on his shoulders.

"I know, Jack, I know… But unlike you, I wasn't hiding behind my grave when it all went down," she stated earnestly, looking at his mask. "I was there for all of it. From the Zürich base's ruins to when they signed the Petras Act. We all know how bad those times were. But now? It's even worse. Everyone is stretched thin, and the U.N. is tearing its hair out every day trying to deal with one crisis after another. Country after country refusing to cooperate with anyone else, everyone after each other's throats, omnics and human tensions the highest they've been since the Crisis. And besides…"

She stepped back, no longer addressing just Jack.

"Do you really think the U.N. haven't noticed? That they couldn't have done anything about any of your operations? Or do you think the entirety of the New Overwatch is really just as lucky as you, Jack?"

Morrison crossed his arms, not eliciting much of a response to what she was implying. Didn't mean he denied it making sense, though.

Knowing she didn't have much time left, Sojourn produced a holopad and held it up to Morrison, who regarded it like he did everything else he had no interest in.

"Look this over, and you can decide if you want Overwatch involved in world, again," Sojourn offered.

"That's not up to me, anymore," Jack said.

"Then give it to someone that can do something with this. Come on. Anyone?"

She looked up expectantly at everyone, most of them unsure of what to even do. Then, being the closest to her besides Morrison, Nathan reached over and grabbed the holopad from her hand. Inspecting it curiously.

"I'll pass it on," he stated flatly, already treating the task like a job.

"Thank you, Mr…?"

"I'm just a Courier."

His request garnered a quizzical expression from Sojourn.

"Right, well," she bent down and picked up his helmet, handing it to the Courier. "If that's that, I wish all of you a safe trip home. And no matter your decision, I'll keep in touch. For old time's sake."

"Wait!" McCree called out just as she was about to turn around to her ship, pointing to the egg-crate. "You ain't gonna take-!"

"You'll need her! We'll just write her down as M.I.A. for now." She gave a wink to him before walking back to her ship.

And like that, the rest of the US Military detachment began pulling out of the gorge, taking what they needed and leaving the rest for the Federal Marshalls to deal with. Nathan watched as he saw surviving Deadlock members be escorted onto hovering ships with their hands cuffed. He turned around to see McCree next to Ashe, holding his metal hand to her. She slapped it away, standing up and carrying B.O.B.'s head under her arm while she held up her other arm and walked towards the soldiers. Her makeup running down her cheeks. She didn't dare look at Nathan when she walked by.

It was only after a few more moments until they were all left alone in the gorge, the US Military's ships growing distant in the sky. Nathan just standing there in the Arizona sun as the gorge became awfully quiet again. As McCree walked past towards the crate, he and Nathan looked at each other before nodding, understanding the nature of his moment with Ashe.

"So… what just happened?" Veronica asked Nathan, looking to him for an answer.

"I don't know," Nathan responded, before just laughing.

Unfortunately, his laughing was cut short as his head began to feel light, and his vision clouding. He must've been falling, as he could hear Veronica yelling his name and hovering over him as he lost consciousness.


AN: Hey, guys! PoeticPillock, here, and… Well, this took a while to get here. Sorry, about that. Several life complications got in the way of me getting this out into a state that I was actually satisfied with. But it's here now, and I hope you enjoyed. Big thanks to all of you that waited patiently and read through all of my bullshit.

Also, I might create a forum later that I will use as my own personal bulletin board, so people can get updates about the next chapter and what not. And aren't just ghosted every time I take a hiatus. So, yeah, have that to look forward to.

Again, thanks for reading!

Responses…

HALO343: Sí, soy consciente de que Soldier: 76 es gay. Y aunque ciertamente no tengo prejuicios contra miembros de la comunidad LGBT, ficticios o de otro tipo, dudo que incorpore su sexualidad en su historia ya que no hay mucho que decir. Tal vez un comentario pasajero, pero ciertamente nada sustancial. Básicamente, trata su sexualidad como trato a los demás: está ahí.

Guest: No, I do not have any plans merging the lore of the New California mod into my New Vegas lore. I've actually received Private Messages about this, before, and I have several reasons for why. The biggest reason being that I am not a fan of how they handle the protagonist. The reason I was able to create the backstory for my Courier, Nathan Brin, the way it is, is because Obsidian took careful care into considering how the player wants to choose and create the backstory for their individual Couriers. The devs of New California do away with this and railroad the player character to such an obnoxious degree (in my opinion), that it would be impossible for me to merge the lore of New California and not have it conflict/contradict the lore I had built for my Courier. The same goes for the upcoming Frontier mod, as it takes place in the same fan-trilogy of New California.