Chapter 10

Out of Time

Lena knew she deserved it completely. She shouldn't have asked for a way to cheat to begin with. Especially a magical way. Well, it looked pretty scientific at first glance, but the fact that she was floating, ghost-like, out of time, and had been for what seemed to be quite a while didn't sound very scientific to her.

It was all very cold and horrible. She wanted to shiver all the time. She kept being tossed about by – probably – Time itself, and she didn't know what she would give to be back to normal, and not feel continuously seasick. She hoped the others were having a better luck than her because right now she didn't even know where – or when – she was.

Determined to wait it out, since there really wasn't much that could do, she sat down. Or at least she was pretty sure she did, wherever there was ground to sat on. This whole mess was going to give her a headache, she could already feel.

A week ago

Lena had received the text from a very old friend during her track and field training and only had the chance to reply after the coach had dismissed everyone, calling them slugs as often as five times during his short end-of-training speech. Lena felt particularly aimed at. She'd a few rough weeks, between her pleasant dates with Emily, and the not so pleasant times she'd been used as bate by Sombra since Hana was at the end of her rope and wouldn't do it anymore.

Lena sat down in the stands, shivering. The early spring night air was still a bit too cold, even for her boiling body. She quickly put on her sweater and fetched her phone in her pocket. Emily came to sit down beside her, downing very quickly the rest of her water bottle. Lena couldn't help but smile when she saw the text she'd received.

"Do you think the coach's right?"

Lena looked up from her phone to her girlfriend.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"About us not qualifying for nationals?"

Lena shrugged. In truth that thought terrified her. She really wanted to run for nationals, but her times had been less than stellar recently, and she felt her objective sleeping through her fingers almost physically.

"We'll have to wait to find out."

Emily put on her own jacket and asked:

"Want to drop by my place? We can order pizza."

Lena looked back at her phone. He would probably be too engrossed in work to notice that she had replied.

"Sure, why not?"

They rolled in Hana's bed, so Sombra could pin the younger girl under her. They had established quite quickly that Sombra's cot wouldn't be a very good place for a make-out session, so they usually headed back to Hana's dorm room when Sombra declared they'd worked enough. And since their investigation on the Witch hadn't moved at all in the last few weeks, they did end up in Hana's room quite often.

Sombra took just enough time to make sure she wasn't crushing the shorter girl before she crashed their lips once again. One of Hana's hand came to rest behind her head, as usual, caressing her long hair, then the very short one of her undercut. Sombra didn't really pay attention to the other hand because the way Hana's hand caressed her head sent shivers down her back. She had a hand cupping Hana's cheek, so she could support most of her weight on her arm, and the other holding delicately her waist, her thumb playing with the soft white skin under her shirt.

Sombra thought they could stay like that for quite a while and was pretty much ready for it. She smirked in the kiss when she felt Hana's hand sliding past her shirt. The fact that most of her body was covered with scars hadn't been a problem for the younger girl, who liked to trace them with her fingers. Hana suddenly moved her hand to Sombra's back, and before the Latina could stop her her fingers brushed something cold on her back. Hana frowned and they quickly separated. Sombra sat up and climbed off her girlfriend in a single motion, leaving Hana afraid she'd touched something she shouldn't have.

Sombra closed her eyes and began to take deep breathes, leaving Hana to believe the thing she'd touched had actually hurt Sombra.

"I'm so sorry I didn't know... Are you okay?"

After a final breath, Sombra nodded.

"It's alright... just..."

Sombra sighed. She didn't think she'd have to explain it to anyone anymore.

"It doesn't hurt just... brings back memories."

Hana nodded, and carefully she moved closer to Sombra until she could take her in her arms.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it."

Sombra was not the kind of person to cry, or break, that Hana had learned as much from the months they'd spent together. But she'd never seen her so close to do so. It tore her soul in half just to see Sombra vulnerable when she looked like an unbreakable wall most of the time.

Finally, the Latina placed a hand on Hana's arm.

"Sorry I ruined the mood."

Hana smiled.

"It's alright. Do you want to watch a movie?"

Sombra shrugged.

"Sure, why not?"

When Lena emerged from Emily's dorm room, it was almost midnight. She skipped down the stairs at lightning speed, ready to call one of her friends to pick her up. She knew for a fact Sombra would still be awake. She pushed the building door open and took her phone out of her pocket. Cold air swept her hair in front of her eyes. It was only early spring, but the air was becoming warmer quickly.

As she unlocked her phone, she found that her old friend had replied, and said he was basically ready to see her anytime. With a smile, just as a joke, she texted back "Even now?", and he instantly replied with an address, of a coffee shop open twenty-four/seven and close to the campus. He had always been a thoughtful and organized guy.

She trotted to the place in question and found the windows still shining with bright yellow light, the only one in a mile radius. She instantly noticed her friend seating by the window, his nose buried in a mountain of papers. She smiled fondly, suddenly hit by how much she had missed him. She opened eagerly the door and smiled to the tired waiter by the counter. She stopped right next to the table her friend was occupying, and the sound of her boots hitting loudly the floor, then stopping completely, hadn't been enough to tear him away from his papers.

"Any time, Big guy? Really?"

At the sound of her voice he looked up, and a bright smile illuminated his face.

"Lena!"

He stood up, and suddenly, with the full measure of his size, he towered over Lena. He was tall, taller than most people, and had large, rounded shoulders, meaning he always took a lot of space. But Lena didn't mind. She was so small and thin compared to him that it was almost ridiculous. He passed a hand through his messy dark hair and pushed his squared glasses up the bridge of his nose. He extended his arms, and she jumped to hug him, unafraid to be crushed by the bear hug she received.

"Winston! I missed you!"

"Me too!"

As they separated, he sat back down in his chair, which looked too small and fragile for him, and Lena pulled the chair across from his. He quickly cleaned the table, piling the papers in one corner of his side of the table, and suddenly remembered he had ordered a coffee, which had stayed untouched since the waiter had brought it to him. He lightly pushed the cup toward Lena.

"Here, if you want it, I don't need coffee anymore."

Lena frowned. Winston had always been a weird guy, always making up weird things. But it was the thing she liked the most about him. She took the coffee gratefully and took a sip. It was lukewarm at best.

"No more coffee, really?"

"Yes! I've invented a pill which can give you energy for an entire week without sleeping, and with no side effects!" he replied excitedly.

She quirked an eyebrow, and he added:

"Well... No side effects that I could record yet..."

She smiled, and he leaned a bit closer to her.

"So, how are you? I heard you just started dating someone."

Lena blushed lightly, but couldn't be more proud when she replied:

"Yeah... Her name's Emily. We had a few mishaps at first, but we're better now. I just left her place, actually."

If Winston's skin hadn't been so dark, she swore he would have been crimson.

"Oh... I'm sorry if I interrupted you..."

"What? No, I was leaving when I saw your text, don't worry. Plus, I always have time for you, Big Guy!"

She patted his massive arm and he smiled sheepishly.

"Actually I should probably go to sleep right now. I have a big competition soon, and I just can't get back into the rhythm, you know?"

She sighed.

"Do you reckon I could use one of your pills, just for this week?"

With a smart smile, he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"I think I have better."

Lena came home the next morning, both exhausted from sleep deprivation and excited. She instantly went to cooking, trying her best to remember the precautions Winston had given her before dropping her home. Everyone seemed to still be asleep. She assumed Sombra wasn't even there, or her empty mug would have been in the sink, waiting to be cleaned up. She prepared herself a cup of strong tea, and placed a few cookies on the plate, waiting for everyone to wake up to show them her cool new powers. She sat on the couch and waited for the water to brew.

Most of everything she'd done since she'd passed the threshold had taken her less than a minute to complete.

"It's awesome" she couldn't help but whisper.

"What is?"

She almost jumped out of her skin when Gabriel appeared beside her, seating on the couch.

"Oh, you know, calm and quiet..."

She smiled, though the ghost stayed unconvinced. She wondered what Gabe would think of her new powers. Would he marvel and try to understand how they worked, or would he be wary, and try to convince her that it wasn't a good thing? It would take quite a bit of convincing for her to stop believing that this wasn't the best thing that had ever happened to her.

She tried to move carefully, to move at normal speed as much as she could. She took a biscuit slowly to her mouth, then bit it, and chew so slowly Gabe knew instantly something was off.

"What did you do?"

"Nothing? Why would I have done anything?"

"Because you look suspicious. For the last time, leave the fairy people alone!"

She almost threw her cookie at the ghost, outraged.

"Come on! It happened once! Once! And they weren't even real fairies, they were just annoying little elves!"

The kettle began to whistle, and both Gabe and Lena stared at it for a few seconds, before Gabe turned to the Brit.

"Aren't you going to do something about it?"

"Hum... yeah! Of course!"

She stood up, placing carefully the plate on the table beside her, and took a first step toward the kitchen. This was when she knew something wrong was going on. She didn't just walk quickly to the kitchen, she teleported to it as if she'd been by the couch one second, and in front of the stone the next. It all felt wobbly and fuzzy, as if she were about to faint. She fell sick suddenly. Her stomach had been turned upside down. Her brain hurt furiously for a few seconds, and started turning. She had to hold herself on the counter to not fall head first on the floor.

On the couch, Gabe stared at her, stunned. He had never seen anyone teleporting like this, and worst, he didn't know if it really was what had happened, or if his own brain was becoming fry after being only an ethereal for so long.

"You... I... What did you do?"

"Nothing, I swear! I'm fine. I'll just make my tea and go to my room!"

And she did, only it only took her twenty seconds instead of five minutes, and Gabriel felt even more confused than before.

The door had barely closed behind her that she instantly called Winston. He picked up at the last second, probably so focused on one work or another that he hadn't even noticed it was ringing.

"Ah Lena, how are you?"

"I don't know? Am I suppose to teleport?"

"Teleport, ah! Hum... Not that I know of."

"So it's not normal?"

"It is a side effect I hadn't thought about, but maybe it is normal."

"Well, I don't like it!"

"Don't worry. It is probably just temporary. After all your body needs to adjust. We'll look more into it when you'll come for tests, alright?"

"Okay, alright, see you then."

"Bye Lena!"

He hung up, probably back to work, while she sat down on her bed, her cup of tea still in hand. She began to sip it and didn't put it down until it was empty. Then she laid down on her bed, and did not intend to move until she felt better.

Unfortunately, her rest was quickly broken Angela knocking repeatedly on her door.

"Lena, get up! You're going to be late for classes!"

Lena rolled over and grunted unhappily.

"Do I have to go?"

"Come on, you'll never get anywhere if you skip classes."

She rolled over again, her head in the pillow to muffle her answer to the blond:

"Yes, mom."

Lena's day was strange, to say the least. No matter how much she tried to slow down and do things at a human level of speed, she always managed to mess it up. Going from classes to classes only took a handful of seconds, not that she would complain, but she left a strange glow behind her as she moved. She imagined it had to be the blur of her movements, but even then she wasn't sure. She finally gave up by midday, after gulping down her sandwich in record time. She would go and see Winston tonight and ask him to fix this, take it off completely if he could.

But by the middle of the afternoon, she wasn't even sure she would make it to Winston's. She began teleporting more and more, leaving people stunned in her wake as she had to refrain from emptying the content of her stomach on multiple occasions. She felt just about ready to faint by the time her teacher dismissed her last class of the day. She thought she must have look sickly pale. She really needed to get to Winston. She sent him a text before standing up. Her head began to spin once again, and she felt sweat rolling down her spine. She had to get out of here, now. Unfortunately, her body responded to quickly to her thought, and she teleported all the way to the door. This time, there wasn't any way to cut it. She let herself slip against the wall and sat there, scrutinized by the curious gazes of other students, until she felt once again able to walk. She wasn't sure whether it would take a lot of time or no time at all to get to her friend.

Sombra had barely put a foot inside her house that already her father was assaulting her, about how Lena could suddenly teleport and move very quickly, almost ghost-like. This, of course, instantly picked the Latina's interest. She quickly called Hana, who complained that she had classes to attend to from time to time, which Sombra dismissed with a "Do they teach you how to kill a vampire, I don't think so."

She quickly came to pick up the shorter girl in front of the campus. Hana looked annoyed, with her arms crossed and her frown, but Sombra couldn't help but find it cute.

"Climb in, conejita. We have Lena to save, again."

Hana huffed.

"Like you can't save her on your own."

"If it is what I think it is, you're going to want to be there, believe me."

Hana glanced at Sombra. She'd never heard her girlfriend use such a tone. It was strange, at best. It almost sounded like Sombra didn't want her to be there, but needed her to be there.

They drove silently, and relentlessly, Sombra barely minding the signs and red lights. When they stopped in front of an old warehouse, out of which light came out, Hana knew something was off. They had never fought any kind of monsters in warehouses or any above ground buildings. Werewolves they killed in the forest. Vampires, underground. The witch they had hunted possibly everywhere but hadn't found anything yet. What kind of a monster would hide in a warehouse?

She felt her heart sank when Sombra looked at her and placed her gun in her hands. It was the first time Sombra gave her her main weapon deliberately before a fight.

"Keep it for me. Don't give it to me unless you feel like I need it. Got it?"

"Are you sure?"

Sombra smiled, genuinely, sadly.

"I trust you."

Hana only nodded, and Sombra placed a kiss on her cheek before climbing off the car.

When Hana entered the warehouse, right behind Sombra, she was surprised to find that it wasn't abandoned. It had been rearranged to house a lab. Papers clouded the tables, sometimes covering entirely some expensive looking piece of machinery. Sombra walked passed everything with determination, and Hana followed, her heart beating faster with each step. There was something awfully wrong about the situation, she knew, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

When they finally arrived at the end of the warehouse, they instantly found Lena, laid down on what looked like an operating table. She looked pale, sweaty and tired. Behind her, by one of the many computers, stood a large man wearing a lab coat. As silently as a cat, Sombra walked up to him, sword in hand. When she'd unshed her sword, Hana didn't know. The next second the blade was against the large man's throat, and he gulped down, holding his hands up quickly.

"Take everything, I don't want any trouble..."

As the deep voice of the man echoed around the warehouse, Lena opened her eyes, shocked to see Sombra holding up a blade to Winston.

"Sombra? What are you doing?"

Sombra turned to Lena, glaring at her.

"Gabe told me you were zipping around and teleporting this morning. Is it true?"

Hana shuttered when she heard the pain in Sombra's voice. She felt her hand wrap around Sombra's gun.

"Yeah, but don't worry! Winston's going to fix it!" Lena quickly replied.

Sombra took in a deep breath which seemed to be caught in her lungs. She looked over at Hana, and the shorter girl was hit by the sorrow in the Latina's purple eyes.

"This, Hana, is what we call a creation. A human being modified by another one. And it's a hunter's duty to kill both."

A long cold shiver ran down Hana's spine. Lena suddenly jerked upright and tried to stand up.

"No, don't worry! Winston is going to fix it!"

She had barely placed a step on the ground toward her friends that she vanished completely, only to reappear on Winston's left side, sweaty and even paler than before. She held herself on the table, close to collapsing on the ground. Sombra pointed her sword at her.

"This can't be fixed. You won't become human again. It's impossible."

Winston gulped down and rose a hand before he declared:

"I may be able to create something which may fix her, but..."

He stopped talking when the blade was once again pointed towards him. Sombra clenched her teeth, raising the sword just a bit higher.

"Fixing her won't make her human again."

Before she could move, however, a gunshot rang through the building. The bullet passed through the blade, making a clear circle in the middle of it. Sombra turned around, surprised. She had almost forgotten Hana was there, and that she had her weapon. With calm and sure hands she lowered the gun.

"You need a break. You are not making any sense. Obviously he didn't mean to turn her into a creation because he didn't know what it was!"

She leaned to the side, asking Winston:

"You didn't know what a creation was, right?"

He nodded vigorously.

"See? So we are walking out of this building, and leaving him to work so he can save Lena? Understood?"

Sombra's gaze found Hana's, and the shorter girl's heart broke. Sombra sheathed her sword and walked away without even sparing a glance to Lena and Winston.

"Fix her for all I care."

Hana followed Sombra outside once she'd made sure Lena was safely back on the table. Winston assured her he could fix her, though it would take some time.

When Hana stepped out of the warehouse she was half expecting to find the car gone. But it was still there, with Sombra laying down in the trunk. Hana came to sit beside her.

"I get there are things you don't want to tell me, but maybe you should. You went so overboard I thought I would have to shoot you."

"It was the reason I gave you the gun in the first place," Sombra replied in a monotone voice.

Hana, at first stunned, pursed her lips before she decided to lie down beside her girlfriend. She thought they would stay like this for a few minutes, maybe until Sombra finally decided to do something. But instead the Latina quickly crawled to hug her, and Hana held her back.

"We'll go home, and I'll tell you everything, promise."

Hana passed her hand along Sombra's back, carefully, stopping right before the device there. Somehow, as the pieces began to add up, she thought she already knew what Sombra was about to tell her.

Lena didn't come home for a full week, spending it at Winston's when she wasn't teleporting around the room, or disappearing for hours on end. When Winston finally managed to stabilize her, it was thanks to a special harness, which he called a chrono-accelerator. It held her in place, or rather in time, but also allowed her to use her newfound powers, without wanting to vomit every time, which Lena was grateful for. Of course, Angela and Fareeha were happy to see her. Sombra, however, didn't even spare a glance, and went to her room, falling on her cot and hugging her teddy bear.

A/N: Hi guys! Sorry I didn't post earlier but Internet is down at my place, I had to wait until lunch break at school to have the time to post. This weekend's Blizzcon's announcements were amazing! Between, BlizzardWorld, Reinhardt's short and the announcement of Moira... I mean, you know I'm going to use her in a story at one point or another! But anyway, I'll see you guys tomorrow!