pullmeoutalive | a bird and a cowboy walk into a bar

[ Overwatch's ranks aren't quite what they used to be. With that being the case, there aren't exactly a whole lot of people they can send to check things out when something weird happens. As one of the few black ops guys who stuck around, McCree winds up being that guy a lot.

This latest mission takes him to the Pacific Northwest, which isn't McCree's favorite spot in the world considering he is very much a creature of the desert, but it could be worse. He's been tasked with checking out an old warehouse on the waterfront after some kind of anomaly. He's not too sure on the details, but Winston had spouted a lot of technobabble- dimensional distortion, multimodal reflection sorting, blah blah science- and McCree basically came away from the briefing retaining "go in there and see if you find anything". He could do that, at least.

He lets himself into the place via a second-story window, and eases onto the catwalk that encircles the perimeter of the inside of the warehouse. The place is nearly empty, aside from a few stacks of forgotten crates, and copious amounts of dust and cobwebs. It's edging up on dusk, so it's getting difficult to see, but McCree would rather play it safe than just shining a flashlight around willy-nilly. He slinks around on the catwalk, trying to use the quickly fading daylight to spot any sign of movement below. ]

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[ so, hawke's not a big fan of the fade. she was here, she gets what needed to be done -- alistair needed to go back, not her. her story was over. still, she's not a big fan of the fade and after slaughtering a giant spider, she's kind of... lost? maybe she should've asked them to leave a door open for her or something, this is sort of throwing a kink in her plans.

she isn't really sure what to do after that, ends up wandering around aimlessly for what feels like days, weeks, maybe months? she wonders if she's actually dead, if this is the afterlife. that wouldn't make much sense of what she knows of the fade -- the maker left it so...?

... unless this is where she deserves to be.

that thought is something she tries not to dwell on in her wanderings, somehow not feeling very hungry or thirsty as she goes. she's just... just bored, honestly. she wishes something would happen. anything at all, even if it was another giant spider.

(preferably not another giant spider.)

this is, of course, when she walks right into a tear. that's the best way she can describe it, some sort of green glowing opening in reality in front of her. it takes her a moment to realize that the fade has twisted again and on top of everything else, she's upside down. she stands there for a moment, staring at the tear it front of her, the endless abyss above (below) her and weighs her options -- walk through it or keep wandering?

well, hawke's never been one to think twice so she walks through it. what she doesn't expect is when she's halfway through the tear, she trips on her own boot and stumbles right through into some sort of... warehouse? this is definitely a warehouse. hawke knows warehouses.

she's rolling over onto her back, suit of armor clanging with her as she swears under her breath and rubs at her nose, eyes shut tight as she tries to process what just happened. ]

This is reality. Hawke, you are in... reality. A warehouse. Someone's going to jump out of a corner and set off a trap. That's how this works, now get up.

[ she doesn't get up. ]

[ He catches the slight glint of her armor in the last of the daylight filtering through the windows, and for a moment he just observes. Reinhardt wears armor, so he doesn’t think much of her outfit- though from this distance, he can’t tell that it’s not mechanized and is, in fact, the genuine article. When she doesn’t move, he makes his way carefully down from the catwalk.

With one hand hovering over his gun, he calls, ] You alive?

[ oh, great. there's someone out there who witnessed... whatever this was. what is this? she should probably open her eyes and figure it out. instead she just continues to lie there. ]

Not particularly. Is there something you'd like, ser?

[ hawke does drop her hand then and stares up at the warehouse, trying to drag herself into a sitting position. it's a bit hard and now that she's in... reality? is this reality? she's assuming it's not the fade, her body is starting to ache and she's not entirely sure where her sword is. she looks a bit confused as she starts looking around for it, it's probably around here somewhere. ]

[ He carefully moves a step or two closer, one hand still hovering over his trusty Peacemaker ]

I'd like ta know who you are and where you came from, for starters.

[ oh, she knows how to answer this. ]

My name is Varric Tethras. V-A-R-R-I-C T-E-T-H-R-A-S. I'm from the Deep Roads and have never once left them in my entire life so this is all rather new to me. I hear there's even a sky out there. Am I correct?

[ leave it to hawke to still shit on her bff even when she's trying to figure out what just happened to her. like hell is she going to tell someone she doesn't even know and who most likely has a weapon of sorts, who exactly she is and what exactly just happened to her. she's pushing up from the ground then on her hunt for her sword, glancing over to where mccree is with a raised eyebrow before starting to look around boxes and whatever else there may be nearby. ]

[ Too bad McCree has not idea what the hell she's even talking about, so that bit of wit goes unappreciated. ]

Sure. Sky, ocean. Trees, even.

[ He watches her for a moment more ] Lookin' for somethin'?

Fascinating.

[ super dry. super bored. but well, damn. she appreciates her jokes, at least. she looks up when he asks her about her sword and she gives a small frown before running a hand through her hair, other hand at her hip. ]

... My sword. It should be right here, I just had it and now it's all... It can't still be in the Fade, can it?

[ the last part is mumbled to herself as she looks back towards the empty space she fell out of reality. she doesn't look very happy as she circles the space and tries to think of what to do next, of how to get back. maybe she should ask the guy watching her but, as always with hawke, she doesn't really see the point. she'll just figure it out herself! ]

[ Well okay. He’s willing to just roll with it at this point. Either she’s really disoriented or she’s trying to appear harmless. He’s not going to let his guard down, regardless, but he thinks he can at least approach her.

He snags a flashlight from his belt with his mechanical hand, clicking it on. ]

You seriously have a sword?

[ And now that he gets a better look- that sure is real armor. ] D’you even know where ya are?

[ see, now the questions are just getting a bit annoying. she looks over at where mccree is, frowning up at him before going back to her digging. it. has. to. be. here. ]

Of course I have a sword. What am I, a barbarian?

[ though she does wonder for a moment what that thing in his hand is. a... lantern? it's not fire, is it? ]

Kirkwall? Orlais? Maker, don't tell me I'm in Adamant still. That would just be the cherry on top of this mess.

Yeeeah. I got no idea what any'a those places are. You're in Washington.

a bird and a cowboy walk into a bar

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