Epilogue: Normality

3 days later.

Tracer had barely phased back into the present when Winston appeared at the door. He couldn't help but smile. Finally, my mistake can be put right. Let's not wait until she phases in later. He popped the hatch of the chamber she was in open and strode inside gleefully.

He looked at the expression on her face. As a result of the dissociation she still couldn't speak- more accurately, she could speak, but nobody could hear her which appeared as more of a mouthing action- but the look she gave him said 'This had better be some bloody good news.'

He had concealed the accelerator behind his back as he came in, so as to surprise her. As he got within a few feet of her, he revealed it. For now at least, he had powered down the device into its low-energy mode: the very mode he mistook for it having failed a few days ago. He passed it to her. As she reached out to grab it, her eyes widened in shock. For almost four months, she had been unable to interact with any object, asuuming of course she was actually in the present. As her fingers reached the device, her body begun to return to normal.

The flickering, opaque blue ghost she had been solidified back into her, as she returned fully to the present. She clutched the device briefly, before releasing it and diving at Winston, hugging him as tightly as she could, sobbing with joy. He felt a tear come to his eye, as he returned the hug, being careful not to accidentally crush her. That wouldn't be particularly good.

It had finally worked.

"I knew you wouldn't give up", she uttered, still sobbing somewhat as she came to terms with being normal again.

"Give up? What do you think I am, a human?" He chuckled as he replied.

She jabbed him in the chest, jokingly. "Ow!"

"Still a soft spot there huh, big guy?"

"Not quite." He laughed as he squeezed her slightly, lifting her into the air, squealing.

"Also, there's a few things you'll need to understand before we can turn you loose. I've written an instruction manual that should... Let me guess, you'd rather the short version?" He asked, noticing Tracer's cocked head and somewhat sarcastic glare.

"Uh huh."

"First things first: Don't lose or destroy the accelerator. Without it..." He tailed off, noting that she had gone slightly pale. Ah. I forgot about the impact this whole thing musta had on her mind. Oops.

"You okay?" She nodded. "I'm fine, Winston. Just... don't remind me of what could happen. I'd rather die than go through that again."

Winstone nodded, continuing.

"Second: You can control the speed at which your local time field operates. Fancy wording aside, this means you can time travel in a way. To an onlooker, you'll appear to teleport. The only problem is that when you do, the accelerator's light will leave a blue trace. Rather sitting, given your callsign." He noted the glare she was giving him, for that comment especially. "Alright, I take that back. Sorry." She smiled at him as though to say 'Apology Accepted, big guy. I'll get you later.'

"Third: keep an eye on the dial inside that watch", gesturing at the watch he had given her with dials regarding the accelerator built in, "If the dial is empty then you won't be able to use any of the abilities it grants you. It'll just keep you in the present. Don't worry about it running out of juice: it's got an emergency reserve built in that'll last decades,if you manage it right." She giggled at this last comment. Thought you'd respond like that: being responsible with anything isn't your style. Like your flying. He smiled slightly, remembering some of the... less sanctioned aeeobatics he'd seen her once pull over the airbase commander's house.

"That's about it. If you damage it, get back here as soon as you can and I'll put it right. Any questions?"

"Nope. Well, one actually."

"Go on?"

"When will they let me loose in battle?"

He smiled. "I knew you'd ask that. Morrison wants you on evaluation as soon as you're ready. From there, once we're happy the accelerator works under those conditions, you'll be allowed to operate as part of the Strike Team."

She couldn't suppress a smile. "Thank God for that! I was terrified they would put me on a desk job."

He smiled as the pair of them walked to the Combat Evaluation Centre.

If she fights anything like she used to fly, then it wouldn't surprise me if Morrison lets her loose in the field by next week. His smile grew somewhat.

God help the bad guys.

AUTHOR ENDNOTE

Well, that's it. Apologies to those who think this is quite short, but I couldn't really extend it much further. Hence why I started months after the Slipstream rather than, say, a week after.

I might write another Winston-related story sometime. Probably based around the events of the Horizon Incident, where the simians killed all of the scientists: including Dr Harold Winston, whom Winston named himself after.

Hope you enjoyed it.

B.