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The sun was sinking behind the horizon, it's last rays painting the clear sky many hyes of red. Red as the dirt the white hovercar kicked behind as it entered the ranch grounds. Red as the letters that spelt Dreadlock Ranch on the black sign above the entrance.
Ashe got out first from the passenger seat, still wearing her range attire; muddy brown boots, dark pants, a white buttoned shirt, her old Dreadlock gang vest and her favourite black hat.
Amélie followed from the driver's seat, wearing fitting jeans and a white tank top, accompanied by deep blue boots.
“Wanna bet if Jessie cooked today?” Ashe asked as they headed for the car trunk.
“Mmm… Oui. I say he did.” Amélie said.
She picked up her gym bag. Filled with only her ballet shoes and workout clothes, it weighed less than a kilo. Amélie put its straps on her shoulder in a smooth motion, barely feeling the bag hitting her back.
“And why'd you think that?” Ashe leaned deep into the trunk, fishing out a long brown case with gold engravings.
“Hanzo was supposed to arrive today.” Amélie waited for Ashe to close the trunk and they walked together towards the front gate. “No way he got just takeout for him. He almost certainly cooked.”
“Alright, yeah. I take back-” Ashe stopped at the gate. “Why is the gate unlocked?”
She pushed on the warm metal and it swung back, opening.
“Jessie probably forgot to lock when Hanzo arrived.” Amélie guessed.
“How many times do I have to tell him, we need the door closed if we want the alarms to work.”
Ashe picked up her pace and moved towards the house. Amélie followed behind, shaking her head. The ranch was built in the middle of nowhere, no one would ever come all this way to rob them. And this was far from the first time that McCree had ignored Ashe’s wishes.
“Jesse McCree! Where are you, you fool?” Ashe reached the door and disappeared inside, searching for the gunslinger.
Amélie sighed and followed. Jessie had better turn up quickly or he would never hear the end of it. Ever since Bob’s sacrifice, Ashe had become way more protective of the people around her. The alarms around the ranch, her determination to always pick up Amélie from her ballet classes, the way she kept tabs on McCree whenever he was away… Ashe would never admit it, but she cared for the man. Her constant yelling was her way of hiding that affection.
Two throughout searches of the ranch and 20 minutes later, McCree was nowhere to be found. Hanzo's suitcase was in the guestroom, but he was gonna too. There were no signs of struggle but that didn't stop Ashe, and Amélie, from worrying. Ashe was freaking out and was quiet for once, sitting silently on a sofa. She was tying and untying her fingers, her whole posture tense as she was thinking of what might have happened to her friends.
“Eli...” Amélie joined on the sofa and hugged her shoulders. “I'm sure they're fine. They both know how to take care of themselves.”
“Both their weapons are here. I don't-” Ashe cut herself off. “The cameras!” She jumped up and bolted to the door. “Come on!”
They ran to the control room Ashe had installed a few weeks ago. She messed up opening the correct files for a bit, then retreated quietly to let Amélie, the more tech-savvy of the two, take over. With a few clicks, Amélie found the proper files and began playing them at 4 times the speed, in the big monitor in front of them.
It didn't take long for Hanzo to arrive on the screen. McCree welcomed him inside and after eating what was probably McCree's first cooked meal in a month, they spent some time on the balcony. Then to the garden, the living room, the bedroom and back to the balcony as the sun was setting.
The speed that they were watching almost made them miss it, but Ashe noticed something unusual.
“Wait! Go back.”
“Where?”
“At the moment they enter the balcony. Play it at normal speed.”
Amélie went back a few seconds before the men got out on the balcony and pressed play.
The camera was on the right side of the wall, giving Ashe and Amélie some vision of what happened before the men walked through the door.
McCree was walking ahead but as they reached the balcony, he stopped and let Hanzo pass. He took something out of his jacket pocket and followed.
They talked for a bit, McCree covering whatever he was holding by clasping his hands together and leaning at the railing.
Ashe and Amélie couldn’t hear them since the cameras didn’t have microphones. After a few minutes of talking, McCree pointed at the horizon, taking Hanzo’s attention away from him.
While he was looking away, McCree kneeled at his side, left arm resting on his knee, right one extended towards Hanzo, holding a small box.
Amélie gasped and moved closer to the screen. A smile escaped Ashe, then she quickly hid it and frowned.
McCree got Hanzo’s attention back, and the man turned his back to the camera. McCree said something and opened the box. The camera was zoomed out to cover the whole balcony, so his expression wasn’t that clear, but Amélie knew how he felt. She had felt the same when she had grown tired of waiting on Gérard to propose and did it herself.
She remembered her fear of a dreadful “no” even though in hindsight, his answer was clear. She remembered the cold sweat just before she kneeled. How his face looked like that of a stranger in the moments it took him to realize what was happening. How his face brightened, his joy washing away all the ridiculous doubts she had. How he had immediately lifted her on the air and kissed her…
Hanzo’s reaction was similar. He almost threw McCree down as he hugged and kissed him.
Amélie looked away, compelled to respect their privacy even though it was only a recording. Ashe had no such reservations. After watching them for a bit, she leaned over Amélie and set the recording speed to double, following the recently betrothed with still concerned eyes.
The men stayed at the balcony for a bit, talking. After a few minutes, they left the house, did a few circles of the garden then left the ranch through the front entrance.
And at that point, Ashe saw that McCree had simply forgotten to lock, engaged as he was in his conversation with Hanzo.
“Mystery solved,” Amélie said with a grin, turning to look at Ashe.
“It wasn't even a mystery, the fool was just glued on Hanzo.” Ashe failed to hide another smile, so she gave up the act. “Good for him. Hanzo's a good man,” she said grinning.
“Oh, yes, they make a good pair.”
“Mmm… Play it back, hon? I think they left the ring box here.”
“And you want to know where?”
“Yeah, it looked kinda weird. I wanna see it up close.”
“It's a wedding ring box, I doubt they forgot it,” Amélie said as she rewinded the video. “I don't think they would leave- No, nevermind, they just left it at the table.”
Ashe was already at the door.
“Come on, before they come back,” she waved at Amélie to follow her.
“Aren't we overstepping a bit here?” Amélie asked as she hesitantly followed.
“Nope. We're just making sure that they won't lose it,” Ashe replied in a matter-of-fact tone, grabbing her hand and pulling her along.
“A-ha, sure.”
Ashe quickly led them through the building and out to the balcony. The sun had set by now and Amélie stayed behind to switch the lights on, as Ashe, in her worry to make sure the wedding ring was safe, had gone ahead looking for the box in the darkness.
As such, Amélie was very confused when she heard Ashe laughing.
“Eli? What happened?” Amélie got out to the balcony.
Ashe had fallen in an armchair, wheezing and struggling to pull herself together. Ahead of her was the coffee table with the box left on top. Only it wasn't exactly a box. It was a miniature cowboy hat that opened at the top.
“Is that…”
“The box he had the ring in! Pfff- Hahahahaa!” Ashe recovered just enough to speak for a second, then lost it again.
Amélie was at a loss of words, caught up between trying to be respectful and bursting into laughter.
Ashe picked up the hat and raised it at eye height, tears in her eyes.
“Ha- hahaaa- Hanzo Shimada, would ya be ma pardner?'” Ashe mimicked McCree in her most stereotypical Northern accent before bursting in laughter again.
Amélie cracked as well and soon, they were in tears.