Chapter Text
“How’s your week been?”
“Boring, Silco still doesn’t trust me enough to go out on missions so he’s been occupying me with paperwork and watching over The Last Drop. It's already been weeks.”
You take hold of Lila’s mask as she tidies up her room at the Garden’s. You usually take rounds to visit your best friend once you’ve finished everything Silco has asked you to do.
“He’ll come around soon, you’re the best sniper in Zaun plus he has to have his guard up.”
“I know I know I just hate feeling useless, maybe I can quit and work here”. You giggle while putting her mask on while leaning against the entrance. Lila made your outfit anyways, you’d fit in.
“You’ve got a pretty face, but I don’t think you’d handle multiple clients a day. Y’know my next client is coming in soon you should probably take that off. I’m almost done cleaning anyway.”
You sigh, raising your hand to pull the mask off but your movements halt once you feel a hand on your waist and a warm solid body pressed against your backside.
“Couldn't even wait for me to get inside huh.” You hear a deep silky voice speak your ear.
Turning around with a gasp you make eye contact with Sevika, Zaun’s notorious scary lady. Upon looking down at you her smirk turns into a scowl, realizing she’d mistaken you for Lila. Ever since getting hired by Silco she’s been the most unwelcoming, claiming that having a sniper is useless if you’re unskilled with hand-to-hand combat.
“Guess you can stand me after all,” you wink at her as you rub your hand down her broad chest teasing her into annoyance.
“Get off me,” she rips Lila's mask off your face and pushes past you through the beaded curtains.
“Drama queen”, you roll your eyes quickly leaving as you catch Sevika throwing Lila onto the bed in the corner of your eye.
After the work day almost comes to an end you make your way up to the bar. Thieram greets you with your usual fruity cocktail.
“Silco asked for you a bit ago, said it’s urgent”.
Your eyes widen, he never requests you, just gives you a list of things to do in the morning and you hand them over at the end of the day. What is there to request? More paperwork? You thank Thieram, down your drink, then trek up the stairs leading to his office.
Knocking then pushing the door open you spot Sevika sitting on one of the couches, legs spread with a cigarillo between her downturned lips, blowing smoke through her nostrils, glaring at you as you enter the room.
“How nice of you to join us,” Silco greets snapping your eyes to his desk. “I finally have a mission for you. A low level wannabe chembaron and his assistant are doing dirty work, producing fake shimmer in the abandoned factory near the bridge. As this is bad for business I need you to take his team out. This cannot draw attention to us, so you’ll accompany Sevika and do whatever it takes to get the job done. Silently.”
Fucking finally.
“Still not sure why we need this sniper who won’t even get 10 feet within the action. I’m just there to clean it up if she doesn’t succeed.”
“She’s highly skilled and a good asset to the team Sevika. Fighting and ending the day bloody does us more harm than good. Dismissed.” Excusing us with a wave of his hand.
It's true, snipers are a common sport in Zaun and you’ve grown up mastering the artsmanship. Gaining attention from the shooting range is what landed you the job. Since coming here you learned Silcos henchmen were seeking a sniper for some time, and you’ve proven yourself in the sport despite what Sevika says.
“Don’t fuck this up,” Sevika shoulder checks you on the way out making you stumble as you turn with a sigh to follow her.
After checking over your sniper in your room above the Last Drop, you sling it over your shoulder ready to meet Sevika at the front. Upon seeing you walk over she starts walking in the direction of the factory not bothering to wait as you hurry your steps just to catch up with her.
Shit.
Your heart's thumping as you wipe your palms on the ends of your dress as you and Sevika walk side to side in silence.
“Having second thoughts?” She smirks seeing you slightly in distress.
“No.” Yes. Sure you were skilled but that was with dummies and animals, not humans.
Manufacturing fake shimmer is dangerous, you remind yourself climbing the ladder to a nearby rooftop, taking this team out is for the betterment of Zaun. You can do this. Focus.
“You should be fine here. I’ll be closer to their meeting point watching just in case something goes wrong.”
“It won’t”. You shoot her a glare as you lower to your knees and bending over to shift your weight, muscles coiling with precise control. The cold steel of the rifle presses against your shoulder as you slide into position. Feeling eyes on you, you turn your head to see Sevika’s gaze locked on your hips. Interesting.
Snapping her eyes to meet yours, she quietly turns and heads back down the ladder.
Well that was odd.
Shaking your head and stopping your thoughts from wandering off, your gaze shifts to the scope aimed at the factory. Through a window you spot 3 men and the infamous pink glow of shimmer. Your breath slows, the world narrows to the scopes frame, fingers ghosting over the trigger – just you, the targets, and the promise of the shot. You take one last deep breath in.
Pull the trigger.
A body drops to the floor and the other 2 men scramble to duck. Luckily, the roof was a high enough advantage where you could see them crouched down.
Pull the trigger. Reload. Repeat.
Two more bodies hit the floor. Releasing the breath you’ve been holding, you keep your eyes on the scope making sure no one was left alive in the factory. After waiting a couple of minutes, you see Sevika and 2 other henchmen enter the factory beginning to grab the barrels of fake shimmer to get rid of them. You take this as a sign your job was done.
Meeting them near the back of the entrance cheery as you push the doors open.
“Well aren’t ya gonna congratulate me?”
“This is your job, this is what's expected of you, praise doesn’t exist here.”
She’s right. This is what Silco hired you for, and in return you get a roof over your head and a salary more than any other job in Zaun. You shouldn’t expect anything more.