Chapter 4- Tracer (1175)

I hit the ground with a thump. My entire body tingled with a dull ache. Blood pounded in my ears and my stomach churned. What happened?

I slowly got up from the face down position I had landed in and looked around. I wobbled when I got to my feet and fell down to one knee. Odd. The only other time that I had felt this way was when I... Oh no.

In a panicked flurry of motion, I checked that my chronal accelerator was in position and working. It seemed to be working in full condition. My energy core was almost full. If it was working, then why did I feel as if I had just put it on?

The nausea was starting to clear. That was good. Now I could figure out what happened to me.

I shakily got back up to a standing position and looked around. I was in a smallish field with a playground and a little stack of stones on the edge of a calm, empty lake that was obviously for aesthetic purposes. A line of scraggly, leafless trees did nothing to shield the brisk winter's wind from wicking away any existing heat from my legs. Dead bushes and grass only highlighted the fact that it was December. I looked up at the storm grey sky. Empty streets bordered little suburban houses.

Okay, then. That was a drastic change of scenery.

Just then, I heard a vrosh from out behind me. I turned around quickly, unsheathing my pulse pistols from my arms. It was just a white car with a black bra. I put my pulse pistols back. Now that's a old style if I've ever seen one. It was also driving on the ground. It didn't hover, and had four actual tiers touching the ground. Weird. That person must have been a antique collector. Although, that kind of fuel is harder to come by. Why would they be just driving their old timey car for the sake of driving it?

Another car that was touching the ground came right after it. Then another. Then another. The whole streat soon filled with the back and forth movements of a busy street with cars that touched the ground.

Wait, what?

I must be having one of those weird glimpses of the past dream. Okay, that made sense. My chronal accelerator was working, that's a fact. I knew it was because I used to be able to run my hand through my abdomen, which would have taken on a bluish color. Neither of those were happening. I wasn't disassociated. This must be one of those weird dreams.

At least that's what I told myself. I strained my brain to remember when I had fallen asleep. I couldn't. I didn't feel asleep. What was going on?

As if on cue, I remembered flashes of a fight with a purple haired Talon agent, of the world stopping in its tracks. I was definitely not asleep, and something was definitely wrong

"Okay, Lena, you're okay,"I muttered to myself. "This is no problem! You can handle this." I took deep breaths to steady myself.

No problem.

Yet.

Okay. First things first: I needed to find a date somewhere. There were no signs telling the year at first glance. I guess I'll need to ask around, then. I looked around for any pedestrians. There was a dog walker across the street. This is my chance! I quickly blinked across the busy street, onto the sidewalk.

"Excuse me!" I called out, blinking towards the dog walker. As I got closer, It became apparent that they were a middle aged woman with black, curly hair and was dressed in a black coat. She was walking a small, golden dog.

"Sorry to bother you, ma'am. I just need to ask a quick question," I said when I had reached an acceptable speaking distance. The women looked at me like I had fell from the moon. I guess that my blinking probably looked a little weird to her. Especially if my suspicions were correct.

"How did you do that, and who are you?" she questioned after a few seconds. Yep.

"Oh, well," I started to explain. "The short answers are I can do that because of this here device on my body, and my name is Lena Oxton. You can call me Tracer, though. I reckon I should have introduced myself earlier."

The golden dog started sniffing my legs. I bent down to pet it.

"Oh, he's so cute!" I told the owner without looking at her.

"So… you said you had a question?"

"Ah! Yes! What's today's date?" I sprung back up and into the conversation.

"Uh," she said, checking her blocky phone, "January twelfth."

"I mean the year," I corrected myself.

She looked at me like I was crazy.

"2018," she replied.

The numbers took a little bit to settle in. 2018. Oh. Okay, then.

I was right. I was in the past.

"Are you alright?" she asked me.

"No," I whispered, shaking my head, "No, I am not alright. I am definitely no alright." My breathing was speeding up. Deep breaths, Lena, deep breaths. You're Tracer. You can get through this.

I was barely aware that I was crying as I slowly sank down to a fetal position.

"What's wrong?" The woman asked, breaking me out of my stuper.

"I'm just a little lost," my voice cracked from on the ground. Lost. I lost them. I lost Winston. I lost Emily. I lost everyone.

"Is there any way that I can help?" She followed up, putting her hands on my shoulder.

"N-no," I drew in a shaky breath, "I, I don't think so." There's nothing I can do. My chronal accelerator was still working. I was still anchored to the timeline. I was trapped.

"Hey, there. You'll be alright. I got you," she spoke softly, pulling me back up and stringing one of my arms over her shoulder.

I didn't want to go back up. I was lost. I was hopeless.

She took off my tear filled goggles. "I'm going to bring you to my home," she soothed, rubbing my back.

"O-okay," I replied. I was in a daze as the woman escorted me to her home. I know I cried on the woman's shoulder. I think she also told me her name. Laura. I think I remember telling me about her kids. Maybe.

She set me down on a wooden chair when we got to the house. It was a decent sized house, with a floor above and a basement. It was much larger than my flat at home.

Home.

"I need to go pick up my kids from school. Stay here until I get back," she told me after getting me a cup of water and placed my goggles on the dining table. With that, she left.

The house was silent. Too silent. I forced myself to take deep breaths.

In, out. In, out.

You're Tracer. You're the Cavalry. Be strong.

In, out. In, out.

A/N: Yay! Chapter four's done! The plot's getting real and I'm very excited. In ch 5 we're going to switch gears, just FYI.

-Coollizzylou