John flew his shuttle across the New West with it's cloaking activated to not draw attention to himself. Bob had sent him a message letting him know most of the gang would be out of the gorge on a reconnaissance trip. Apparently Ashe wanted to hit a bank outside their normal turf, but they would probably be back by nightfall.

John landed the shuttle a mile outside the canyon and set it to patrol in stealth mode after he got out. He wanted it ready in case Ashe's temper got the better of her and he needed a quick getaway. He then set out on his stealthy trek into the hideout.

Angela had been firmly against him going alone, especially after all he'd been though over the last year or so, but he was able to convince her Ashe wouldn't hurt him, or at least Bob would stop her if necessary. He was happy Bob got in touch with him and sent him updates after he came back to life. He respected the hell out of the silent ex-butler and growing up looked to him as a roll model. Despite John's issues with combat Omnics, Bob was always there to help if you needed it.

He could still remember when Ashe, Bob, and McCree got him out of the foster home when he was a kid. It was weeks before he was able to talk about his family without bursting into tears back then. Bob was there for him though all his time with the Deadlock gang, and taught him how to take care of himself, just like he did for Ashe and McCree. He couldn't remember much of his father, but Bob was there for him like one.

John saw the main entrance to the caves the gang used for their hideout, just as the sun was setting in the sky behind him, and the smaller entrance near that, but he still remembered the secret entrance that only he and Ashe knew about. It was hidden behind a bunch of bushes and was barely big enough for him to squeeze through, but it led almost directly to Ashe's room. He could make out a couple Deadlock members that he didn't recognize offhand in the dim light of the cave as he quietly entered her room and began looking for boxes tucked away that might have some of his old things.

It wasn't until he looked under her bed that he found something. As he pulled the large container out and opened it, he saw a couple things that almost brought a tear to his eye. An old photo of him, Ashe, Bob, and McCree when they first found the cave and began using it as their base, his old vest that was definitely too small for him to wear anymore, and his worn out electric guitar that he learned to play a couple years before Overwatch got their hands on him.

He gingerly grabbed it with his fleshy hand, almost terrified it would break at the slightest touch, before he powered it on and set it to automatically tune itself. After the light on the back turned green, he strummed a familiar chord a few times before he tried to remember an old song he played a lot. He played the riffs as they came back to him, and soon it sounded like quality music before he burst out singing the chorus "Chances throooown!! Nothing's freeeee!! Longing fooooor what used to beeeee!! Still its haaaard, hard to seeeee, fragile liiiiives shattered dreeeeeams!!" before the door burst open and Ashe with her rifle pointed at him came into view.

"Who the hell got into... Longshot?!" she gasped as she recognized the familiar face beneath the scruffy facial hair.

"Hi Ashe." he said with a toothy grin as he set the guitar down before he was rushed by the platinum blonde woman and pulled into a deep hug.

"God I missed you!" she said as she squeezed him tightly.

"Funny, I heard McCree got more flying lead than I did." he chuckled as he saw Bob walk into the room behind him. As soon as she released him from her grasp he rushed the Omnic who pulled him into a bigger hug. "It's damn good to see you guys." he finally said as the second hug broke apart.

"Why are you here?" Ashe asked. "Last I heard you were blown up with Boston."

"Yeah, that sucked. But I have a job for the gang." he explained as he sat on the edge of her bed.

"Well this autta be good." she sighed as she learned against a shelf.

"We're up against Talon, Nullsec, and now some eldritch asshole from god knows where, so I was hoping I could convince you to go out of your way to hit any shipments they might send near here if not even help protect civilians from them."

"You spent too much time with Overwatch just like McCree." she said while shaking her head. "You sound like one of them."

"Unfortunate side-effect of getting kidnapped and forced to work for them for half my life." he joked, only getting an eyeroll from Ashe. "Listen, I need people I can trust helping out. And as far as I'm concerned anything you get off Nullsec or Talon is 'finder's keepers'. Well, unless it's a nuke or some kinda biological weapon. Then I'd have to step in. Really don't want to deal with the shitstorm governments would throw at me if I let something like that slip by..."

"I see you still ramble off on tangents." She said with a smirk. "But I'll make this simple for you... We got no problem hitting their stuff if we know it's coming, but if we do find something juicy like that, someone's paying through the nose to get it."

"Fair enough." he said as he stood up. "I can't imagine too much of that would come through here, but I wanted to at least cover my ass if it did."

"Hmm, and one more thing. When you see him, tell that idjit McCree to bring me back my bike."

"I'll swipe it out from under him and deliver it myself if he won't." John laughed.

"That would be perfect." she said with a twisted smile on her face before turning to leave the room. "Bob, be a dear and help him get his stuff." she said as she walked out, getting a nod from the ever-silent Omnic.

"Is she doing alright?" John asked as soon as she was out of earshot, getting a so-so motion from one of Bob's hands, causing John to sigh. "Keep her safe for me, please Bob? I've lost enough people I care about, losing either of you would be like losing my parents all over again." he said, getting a knowing nod from the Omnic who then pulled him into another hug, which the sniper gladly received.

"I'll send any info I get on the transports to you. You promise me if she gets too over eager, or overdoes it, you'll keep the info to yourself. Hell, even just delete it if you have to. Keep her and yourself safe. Got it?" the Omnic nodded again and made a crossed heart motion to his friend.

"Thank you, Bob. You've always been the only one around here with some common sense." he laughed. "Now let's get my crap loaded on the ship..."