Chapter 2: Dissociation

Review Comments:

Overwatch Fan: It seems something was a tad lost in translation. I meant that the reader exists in the Overwatch universe, not that they had been teleported to it. My mistake. Also, I will try to tone down on the "niceness" of Overwatch.

Shy-Guyome: I am sorry! I figured most of the readers would be from the US, and it was short-sighted of me to make it about the US Air Force. I will try to keep the mention of the origin country to a minimum.

Everything was blue.

The image of the winking brunette looking over her shoulder burned into your memory.

Suddenly, your world came back into view. Relieved, you looked down once again at the brunette before observing your surroundings outside of the canopy. The Slipstream had reversed time locally, and now you, Lena, and the jet sat inside the cavernous hanger once more.

Utterly confused, Lena turned around to give you a quizzical look by arching one of her perfectly shaped eyebrows. As she fiddled around with her two piercings on the back of her left ear, her facial expression returned to one of understanding from one of questioning as the situation began to sink in. She quickly flashed that smile of hers towards you.

"Ta-da," yelled out the brunette as if she had just performed a magic trick. Perhaps it was magic.

"Oh, bang up job, Oxton. Now we have to go through pre-flight checks again before continuing the trial run," you jokingly say as you throw your hands up into the air, feigning aggravation. It was difficult to convey sarcasm in your flight helmet due to its slight obstruction of your voice, but you hoped your over exaggerated body language would not be lost on the Brit.

"Well don't blame me, I am just clicking buttons. Still impressive though, yeah?" she asked with an innocent look on her face. Even though you two were merely fooling around with one another, her blameless expression made your heart ache. How could anyone ever be agitated with this woman?

"Well… Your button-clicking ability is clearly unrivaled by any other pilot on the planet, Lena," you say with a grin, that is hidden by your mask, as you place your left hand onto the shoulder that she was looking over.

For a moment, you two locked gazes in silence. Your hand on her shoulder gave you an electrifying sensation that ran from the tips of your fingers on your hand to hairs on that back of your neck. Unbeknownst to you, Lena felt the exact same invigorating sensation. In that brief period, you two were enthralled with one another.

Not wanting to come off too infatuated, you removed your hand and placed two fingers on your comm mic. "This is Slipstream, recall successful," you professionally declare into the comm.

After not receiving a response from your commanding officers, Lena adjusted her comm mic and asked, "Slipstream here, O-Deck do you copy?"

The two of you waited another minute or so before shrugging off the issue as a technical comm error. Perhaps the comms were not suitable to survive the Slipstream's recall capability. Luckily, these trials were meant to identify key errors such as this one.

You silently thought to yourself, 'A comm error during the trial was a mild annoyance, but it could be a death sentence on the battlefield.'

Unfortunately, you had experienced this first hand with Aiden back in the Air Force. Less than one year ago, you and Aiden were involved a single plane, covert mission that targeted an operations base of a large terrorist group in Northern Africa. The mission required the two of you to provide reconnaissance for a ground team infiltrating the facility. Little to the team's knowledge, the terrorist organization had rigged the entire facility with radio jamming devices. Unable to communicate with you and Aiden, the ground team stood no chance against the overwhelming opposition once inside the facility. Although there was nothing you or Aiden could have done to ensure the success of the mission, you both considered it your biggest failure. The names and faces of the fallen still stick with you to this day.

You promised yourself that there would be no reflection today. Forward.

"Whatcha lookin' at?" Lena said with a teasing smile.

While in thought, you had been watching the back of Lena's hand with a thousand-yard stare.

"Wha… nothing. Sorry, just thinking to myself. We better get up the observation deck to report the malfunction," you say as you brush off the situation and open the canopy of the jet for the brunette.

"Race ya!" the girl yelled as she stood up out of the cockpit, taking advantage of your polite act.

Not to be outdone, you quickly grab her by the arm and use her as leverage to pull yourself out before her, knocking her back into your seat.

Her explosion was not worth the cheap head-start.

The tiny brunette erupted out of the cockpit with vengeance, blowing past any staff member or robot in pursuit of her perpetrator. Her adrenaline must have spiked, at least that is the excuse you came up with after she caught you and unleashed her fury. You did not have the pleasure of witnessing it, but Lena's dive into you was like a cheetah's final pounce onto her gazelle prey. She made the analogy all too real when she dug her teeth into the side of your neck, jolting a primal scream from your throat, knocking both of your helmets off in the act.

Oddly enough, nobody seemed fazed by the scene you two made.

Instinctively, you put the Brit in a headlock and placed your free hand on the teeth marks she left behind. She had drawn blood. Nobody makes (Your Name) bleed his own blood.

Back in the Air Force, your next move would have been a stern "titty-twister," as your squad referred to them. However, that seemed mildly inappropriate given the gender of your pilot. You settled for a "knuckle sandwich," which had no apparent effect on Lena's already disheveled hair.

"Alright... ALRIGHT ALREADY!" she yelled in the most menacing tone that she could muster. It would have been slightly more threatening if her voice had not cracked.

Accepting her surrender, you let Lena out of your death grip, only to be betrayed by the Brit. She took your moment of weakness to slam an elbow into your stomach, making you double over. By the time you regained control of your breath and looked up, Lena was out-of-sight.

Then it occurred to you.

Neither you nor Lena knew where the hell the observation deck was.

Thinking on your feet, you direct your sight down to your wrist device and ask, "Athena, what is the fastest way to get to the O-Deck?"

Sure enough, Lena had taken a path in the opposite direction of the observation deck. You were only able to track her route during your fit of breathlessness by listening to the brunette giggle all the way out of the hanger. She thought she was so clever.

You reached the elevator to the observation deck not more than ten seconds before Lena, but you made sure to make it seem like you had been waiting for an hour.

"Oh, there you are," you roll your eyes as you give a fake yawn to tease her. It was difficult to hide that you were short of breath from running.

"Beating a lost girl? A real corker you are, (Your Name). Glad to see you're still walking after that pummeling I gave you."

As she passed you into the elevator, she made sure to flip her hair in front of your face.

"Oh, and thank you for styling my hair for me, love," she said with a smirk as she used the keypad to order the elevator to your destination. Despite you winning the race, she had a way of making it not seem like much of a victory.

"It's fine. I know you're not used to coming second," you add with emphasis to highlight your double meaning of her slowness as well as her sexual hair trigger. You obviously had no clue if that was even true, but you seized the opportunity.

As soon as you realized what just came out of your mouth, you froze.

What in the fuck were you thinking?

Your dirty pun humor was unmatched by any pilot, gunner, or engineer back home, but why in the world would you let something like that slip out in mixed company. Especially to your newly assigned female pilot.

Lena turned to you slowly with her eyes wide and mouth agape.

What had you done?

To your surprise, Lena doubled over laughing like a teenage boy would at your stupid humor.

"You wish, love," her words laboring through laughter. She was right, you wished you knew.

Thankfully, the elevator had reached the top floor, and the doors opened to reveal mass hysteria in the observation deck. Officials were bouncing off the ceiling, engineers were pacing the floor, and interns were hiding in the corner.

'Little do they know that they are freaking out over a simple comm issue,' you thought to yourself with certainty.

Commander Morrison was livid. "I thought this issue had been sorted out in non-human trials, Winston. What in the hell happened? You assured me the Slipstream was ready, and now the blood of two recruits on your hands," he screamed with flames in his eyes.

"The UN threw a fit about our new dormitory, just image what will happen now. We should go ahead and begin planning our fire sale, because there is no way our funding is going to be renewed next year," Gabriel said as he inappropriately began to shrug off the situation. His comments earned him a disapproving look from Ana as the Egyptian took her leave from the observation deck.

The gorilla scientist could not even bear to look in the direction of the officials. He had spent years of his life perfecting the technology behind the Slipstream, and now he was no better than a murderer in the eyes of his superiors.

The situation took you and Lena back. "Now that is a mite over-the-top fellas? We are right here," the Brit came to Winston's rescue.

Nobody acknowledged her words.

Winston's raised his head up with vigor, and he said with a stern voice unlike his own, "My team and I have a lot of work and research to do on the situation. We will have a full report for you by this evening. Gentlemen." Now that is how you expected a gorilla scientist to sound.

Winston motioned towards the door to the skywalk that Ana had left through earlier. Sharing a disapproving expression with each other, the two ranking officers beckoned the other officials and took their leave.

"What was that all about? The Slipstream is fine. We are fine, guys," you say as you turn your hands up and raise them slightly by your sides in a questioning manner.

Again, the words fell on deaf ears.

Neither you nor Lena knew it at that moment, but both of your efforts to communicate with the team were futile as you two were unanchored in time. The Slipstream successfully recalled local time into the past, but it was unsuccessful in returning you. No matter how loudly either of you screamed for attention, your words were delivered in audible whispers in the past and future, never the present.

Lena's usual care-free expression began to slowly fade from her face. "Why aren't they acknowledging us, (Your Name)?"

The answer was lost on you. It was as if you two were ghosts.

"Winston, we are right here," Lena said as she approached the gorilla. Her terrified expression was ever-growing. "Winston, we are right here!"

Out of frustration, she used both arms to push Winston. However, her hands phased through her target, making her stumble over herself slightly.

You will never forget the terror that came over her eyes. Yet, you felt nothing.

It was a weird feeling, inexplicably so. It was as if you were impartial to the situation at hand. As if you were watching a scene of a film. As if you were a part of a world other than hers.

She looked at you, horrified expression fastened to her face. Your lack of emotional response did not help to alleviate the pain of her world crashing down upon her.

Fearing the worst, she extended her hand out and approached you with caution. Was she alone?

Her hand gently contacted your cheek, and she let out a sigh of relief before throwing both arms around your neck in a desperate attempt to keep you anchored with her during this crisis.

The gravity of the situation began to dawn on you as you wrapped your arms tightly around her waist, returning her embrace. Was this really happening? Was there really no going back?

The team of engineers, Winston including, continued you shuffle around you in a panic.

Struggling between muffled sobs into your shoulder, she choked out her questions. "Why aren't they acknowledging us, (Your Name)? How did this happen, (Your Name)? Why did this happen?"

As much as you wanted to cry, you did not. You couldn't cry. You had to be strong, for her sanity and yours.

You looked down at her without an answer. Perhaps it was best to let her cry her way to acceptance.

"Can we… can we get out of here?" The Brit was delicate in her question. She wanted to get away from the hysteria, and you wanted out as well.

"Yes… Yes, we can. The tension in this room isn't helping either of us," you answer before you make a move toward the exit without breaking contact with Lena.

Neither of you wanted to let go as you both knew that you only had each other.

Minutes turned into hours.

Hours turned into days.

You two were inseparable the entire time.

When sleep called, you went to the same room. Although both of you would normally be alone during the night, solitude seemed a little more frightening now that you two were alone in this new world of your very own. Neither of you could bear the notion of being alone with your thoughts, so you two spent most of the night hours exchanging stories of the past and making conversation.

"Obviously, Overwatch valued their hotshot pilot more than the 'Young Gunner'. That's why they gave me a room on the floor above yours," she said as she motioned all around to direct your attention to the rest of her room. She must have arrived at Gibraltar earlier than you, because her room was personalized with old posters, trinkets, and pilot paraphernalia. One item that stuck out to you was a rather large Union Jack that donned the ceiling above the mezzanine. It matched the over-sized night shirt she was currently wearing.

"I don't believe that for a second, Lena," you said as you rolled on your side to get a better view of the brunette beauty. You secretly believed the Brit.

She rolled on her side to match your gaze. "What's that? Is that jealousy I hear?" She asked with a grin starting to develop on her lips. She rolled over and crawled toward you slowly, "You're jealous, aren't you, love?"

Her approach was agonizingly slow, but steady. You could feel the tension rise as she drew closer. Her grin had transformed into a knowing smile, as if she knew what was going on in your mind – that being your jealousy and lust.

Doing your best to defend yourself, you calmly began your retreat without breaking eye contact with her. The plan was going well until you reached the edge of the bed; you had nowhere to run. She had you pinned.

Her smile returned as her face drew nearer to yours, and she closed her eyes. Again, her approach was painstakingly slow. You could feel her exhale on the tip of your lips as her breaths became deeper and deeper. You closed your eyes, patiently waiting.

This. Was. It.

Just as your lips were about to collide with hers, the brunette opened her eyes and blurted out along with a cackle of laughter," In… Your… FACE! Get it? Because you're jealous and I am literally in your face."

The Brit was tickled pink by her own word play. Tears began to well up in her eyes from laughter.

You rolled your eyes and shoved her away. "That had to be your lamest joke yet."

"I cannot believe you walked into that one, love," Lena said wiping tears away from her eyes. "Oh, don't throw a paddy," she added as she saw your eyes roll once more. "It was obvious that I was teasing you. What'd you think? I'd just plop one on you after 'one-upping' you?" Another fucking pun about her room being above yours.

"You were very convincing. And quit it with the god damn puns, Oxton," you say rolling back over on your side, away from the brunette.

She returned to her position on the bed. "Back to that again, are we, (Your Last Name)?"

You put one arm behind your head, opening back up to the Brit. "Don't try to shrug it off. You're diabolical, you know that?"

"It's just fun to tease you, love. I can't help it that you make it easy on me," she said as she batted her eyelashes. "Now get up already, you promised to give me a second chance at a race. One time around the dorm."

"It's almost two. I am going to bed. For real this time. You're more than welcomed to stay up if you'd like." you said with a slight twinge of annoyance in your voice. It was obvious that her teasing had gone too far for you.

"Boo, what a bore. Suit yourself, love," she said bouncing off the bed, chipper as ever. She made her way down the spiral stairs and exited the dorm into the night.

Even though you had been shut down, you instantly regretted shrugging Lena off as you felt her weight leave the bed. Her familiar smell began to fade as the minutes past. It had been a while since you fell asleep was now just you and the silence again, and any company was better than silence.

Hopefully she would come back soon.

Lena's POV

It had been yonks since I had been alone with my thoughts – well only a few days – but it was still frightening. The entire situation had not settled in yet, and I spent most of my time with (Your Name) in order to distract myself from the whole thing. But I couldn't distract myself out here.

I made my way through the catwalks to a scenic view on a ledge hanging over the ocean. Although most of Gibraltar's beauty was hidden by the shade of night, I could still appreciate the little amount of beauty the moonlight revealed.

Oh, but the silence. That was the worst part of being alone in this new world that I shared with (Your Name). I have prided myself my entire life on being the most social and outgoing person in the room, but now my talents were going to waste. Don't get me wrong, (Your Name) was great company and we had gotten a lot closer over the past week or so, but not being able to talk to the majority lot of people that I saw was agonizing. So, like any sane person, I made conversation with myself.

"Oh, what a bee-yootiful night it is. Ain't it?" I said directed to nobody in particular.

Then a light came on in a building one story above me. It was the middle of the bloody night, who in my world could be up at this hour? Being the inquisitive person I am, I took it upon myself to investigate the perp that was ruining my alone time.

It took me nearly half an hour to find my way up to the damn room, but I made it. This was some kind of laboratory from the looks of it.

'I bet it's some overworked gaffer that cannot sleep. No wait… I bet it's some super-secret research project that cannot be revealed during normal hours.'

It was Winston, still hard at work on the Slipstream mystery. He looked like he had not slept since the event. My heart ached for the bloke. Sure, it was his fault that me and (Your Name) were lost forever, and sure, it was because of him that I probably would never see London again. Still, I did not want all of this to haunt the poor guy. I am a friendly ghost.

"Don't be too hard on yourself, big guy," I said fully knowing he would not be able to answer.

To my surprise, Winston's eyes started to dart back and forth. Surely, he hadn't heard me, it must have been the wind. (Your Name) and I spent hours in the mess hall trying to get the attention of anyone and everyone. No way he could hear me now.

The gorilla continued to look around; perplexed he asked, "Hello? Is anybody there?"

As if on que, I felt a weird sensation in my hand. I looked down at it and noticed that they were becoming slightly more transparent.

Of course, I panicked. I thought I was becoming a literal ghost.

Winston must have heard the commotion I was making as he looked in my direction with eyes as wide as the full moon illuminating Gibraltar. He could see me.

"Lena! Lena, what on Earth has happened to you? Where have you been? Where is (Your Name)?"

Before I could answer him, I felt myself fade back into my own little world again. My person was fully opaque once more.

"Lena? Lena?! Are you still here?"

"I'm right over here, big guy!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. There was a glimmer of hope for me. Oh, and for (Your Name).

I began to slowly phase back into his view, and then it hit him. "Of course, it all makes sense now. The logs indicated that the Slipstream successfully made the time-jump, but it seems that you have been desynchronized with our timeline. That's the only explanation for this."

"I concur," I said in my best professional voice, trying to make it seem like I had a clue of what he was talking about.

I couldn't hold it in any longer. "Please Winston, help me out of here. Please tell me there is something you can do." I said breaking down.

"I… I think so," the gorilla said with a hint of hope in his voice. "But you must go get (Your Name) at once and bring him here with you. You both need to be around a laboratory setting at all times, in case your molecules synchronize with our time again as they are now. I'll need to find some way to anchor you to the present."

On that note, I went into a full sprint towards the dorm to find (Your Name). How do I get out of this bloody laboratory building again?

As I passed out through the door that I thought would lead me to the dorm, I heard the big guy yell out to me, "Don't worry Lena, the worst is over. I am going to bring you back."

With a second-wind, the gorilla scientist went back to work. For the first time in over a week, he was hopeful.

Notes:

Yes, I am aware that all the science behind this chapter does not line up. However, this is a fiction. Let's use our imaginations.

I am thinking of stealing another page from "Keep Calm and Tracer On" and using some chapters to fit in short one-shots of the reader and Lena that do not necessarily fit in with the story. Of course, the shorts will have to wait until the relationship between the reader and Lena develops more.

What do you guys think?