The sound of gunfire was strange, to say the least. Not in the sense that it was weird to hear it, rather, the gunfire itself sounded weird.
Normal, conventional firearms had that distinct sound, of a bone-rattling boom that would leave any unprotected ears ringing. Instead, all she could hear was the almost comical rapid 'pew' sounds that were spewing all over the room.
More modern firearms, especially those made within the last twenty years, had steered away from gunpowder based ammunition. With the advent of pulse technology, weapon manufacturers had pivoted to using that.
While by no means dead, gunpowder weapons were at a significant disadvantage when it came to stopping power. This was doubly so in a world where hard light barriers were very much a thing.
"I present to you, my newest iteration of the OWX-14, the high velocity personal pulse defense weapon. Perfect for close quarters combat. I call it the HVK-PPDW-2064-5, one of my more successful iterations, if you would believe."
"Blegh." Lena stuck out her tongue in mock disgust, "The name could use work, big guy."
Seeing the gorilla slump was a sight to behold.
"Noted. I'll keep that in mind, for now, let me demonstrate the HVK-P-"
"Pulse pistol."
"...pulse pistol, then."
The newly dubbed pulse pistol was sleek in its design, from what Lena could see. White, with angular lines going through it. A soft, blue glow that bore a resemblance to the chronal accelerator strapped to her chest.
All on a package that looked miniscule when held in the hands of the several hundred kilo heavy gorilla.
"The pulse pistol has a short effective range, around ten meters. Anything I've tried to increase it only destabilizes the pulse matrix. That, and its rate of fire is only around 600 rpm." The scientist pointed the pistol dowrange, carefully pointing at one of the targets that he had set up.
With a press of the trigger, a slew of blue bullets hit the target. The pulse pistol's blue glow dimmed as Winston lowered the gun. By her estimate, the pistol had shot around twenty bullets. On the target, only three had hit their mark.
"You're not really selling me on this, y'know?" Lena raised an eyebrow in askance, "I know a good ten pistols that are better in every way that matters."
"Oh, I know." Interestingly, the gorilla didn't seem concerned, "This is more of a proof of concept, really. You know how we couldn't really figure out how to not reload guns? Because the microfusion cells we used would just burn up their transfer ports when we shoot too fast?"
Lena nodded. It was the main reason why some people still used gunpowder, after all. While pulse weaponry was powerful, the throughput of energy needed to sustain fire usually heated up whatever power source they used. It was to the point that there was a general consensus as to how powerful a pulse weapon should be, beyond which would be suicide to handle.
"Winston," She started as pieces fell into place, "Are you telling me-"
"That I solved that problem?" The scientist grinned, "Almost certainly."
Lena leaned on one of the walls that separated the range's users. She recognized the tone of voice that Winston used - one that was just itching to explain something or the other. She made herself comfortable as he started to do just that. He didn't seem to notice, starting to animatedly talk.
"Your chronal accelerator is, for lack of better word, eating your chronal runoff. Excess temporal energy, which displaced you in the first place. The generators within the accelerator are providing the necessary energy, as you know, to keep it powered."
Lena nodded. Winston didn't know the whole story, with Archer also providing energy to keep her from disassociating. Still, it was in line from what she knew. That said, this seemed like a thing that the Spirit would want to hear about.
'Archer, you there?'
"I'm listening, don't worry."
"Good. Now, don't panic, but I looked a bit closer at the designs, and I realize that the power connectors aren't built to last."
Her ears tuned out the rest of what Winston was saying. All she heard was that the chronal accelerator was likely breaking down. Like the pulse batteries. That she had a limited time before she got shunted off somewhere.
Distinctly, she could hear shouts. Inside and outside her head. She didn't pay them any attention. She grabbed at her pockets, to find her phone. She needed to call Emily, now. She couldn't find it. Right, she left it charging in Angela's clinic.
She made a mad dash to the exit, not paying anyone any more attention.
Hallways flitted in blue light, as she Blinked forward, covering meters of distance in just a few seconds. In the back of her mind, she realized that she probably shaved even more time from the accelerator's lifespan.
She entered the clinic. The doctor looked up to greet her from her table. Lena ignored her and made a beeline to her phone. She scrolled rapidly through her contacts. There, Emily.
The phone rang once, twice. Eventually, there was a click. Lena opened her mouth, a scream ready to tear itself from her throat. She wanted to tell her fiance so much. Words that she possibly didn't even have time to say.
"Em, I-"
"Sorry, I'm not on my phone right now. Leave me a message after the beep!"
A dull, ringing beep.
Her phone dropped from her hands. She wanted to scream.
She didn't realize she did until she stopped. A hand came down on her shoulder.
"Lena, please, calm down!" A blonde head of hair came down next to her. A worried look on Angela's face. Behind her, she could hear the heavy footfalls that marked the arrival of Winston.
"Oh thank God, Lena, there you are. Are you alright?" The scientist rushed in, and behind him, Lena could see more curious heads poking in.
She didn't pay them any attention. She didn't have any to give, right now.
"Hmph. Have you finally calmed down?" The gruff voice of Archer belied his own worry. Unlike everyone else, she couldn't ignore him, not when he could just as easily poke into her head regardless of what she did.
'You heard him, Archer.' Even in her own thoughts, she could hear the morose tone she felt, 'The accelerator is on a time limit. How long do I have? How long will I lose this time, huh? A month? Years?'
The thought of being gone for that long was terrifying. That she wouldn't even know how long it would be doubly so. She could still remember the acrid feeling of that hill of swords, of metal and death filtering through the air.
For her, a stay there could last a moment. For everyone else, a period that was impossible to even guess.
"If you're thinking like that, then you weren't listening to Winston. Admittedly, his delivery could've been better." For a brief moment, she thought she could see the transparent form of Archer standing in front of her.
In that moment, he looked every bit as the Heroic Spirit that he said he was.
"I've taken the liberty of Analyzing your accelerator. What Winston said is true - it's not meant to last. Suck it up and listen, Oxton." He growled out the last part before she could go back into her haze of depression. Beside her, both Angela and Winston were trying to coax her to talk.
She didn't pay them any attention, and for that, she felt the slightest amount of guilt. She knew they meant well. She trusted them. She was also busy gripping onto the hope that Archer was throwing her way.
"Your 'Recall' ability, do you remember it? Modifying your own, personal timestream should be difficult. You're essentially climbing a damn waterfall, the normal flow of time. And yet, you did it without any problems whatsoever. Even the greatest magi wouldn't be able to do that without some extensive preparation."
She felt herself being guided into a bed, Angela taking the time to take a look into her eyes with a flashlight. She watched as she conversed with Winston, and saw the doctor's face morph into shock at what the gorilla told her.
"It's exactly because you've had practice. You haven't noticed, have you? Clearly, you don't. I didn't tell you because I never thought of Analyzing your accelerator before, I'll take the blame for that one. Oxton, let me make this clear once again: your chronal accelerator is degrading. In fact, it should have broken within the first day of coming back here. And it did. It broke. But then it wasn't. Do you see where I'm going with this?"
'I…I think so?' Her haze was beginning to dissipate from Archer's words. If he were to be believed, then the only rational thought would be that she-
"Yes. Every time the accelerator failed, you Recalled it to a point in time that it didn't. Without affecting its spatial position, mind you. You've been doing it unconsciously ever since you got back, even when you sleep. It's why Recalling yourself wasn't such a difficult thing to achieve."
'So, I'm fine? I won't disappear like that again?'
"So long as you don't get that thing destroyed, and even then, you might just be able to Recall back to when it wasn't. Now, would you please listen to Ziegler and Winston? They've been telling you the exact same thing I've been this entire time."
"-ena?" Angela was the one that was talking, this time. Winston looked cowed behind her, and by the doctor's narrowed eyes, she was more than a bit incensed.
"They're asking if you're alright now, now that Winston has explained things, by the way."
'Thank you.'
"Y'know, maybe you should've led with that, big guy." Lena gave the two a watery smile. She could still feel the chattering of her teeth at the thought of leaving again. Of going back to that desolate wasteland of swords.
"Indeed, he should have." Angela gave Winston another glare, before turning to Lena, a much more relieved look on her features, "I'm glad you're okay, Lena. You had me positively worried there."
"I know doc, I know. Sorry." The cadet bit her lip, the guilt of worrying people she viewed as friends eating away at her.
"Never be sorry about that, Lena." Angela went to her desk, grabbing a stack of papers, "In fact, I'm sorry. Clearly, the trauma regarding your ordeal wasn't as done as I had thought. As your doctor, it falls to me when such an oversight is made." The doctor gave her a slip, and Lena had to narrow her eyes at the small text.
"Therapy?"
"Yes. Mandatory therapy with me, at least once a week." Angela stared at her, daring at her to protest, "We can schedule a day and time, but you will attend, yes?"
"Um, yes ma'am?"
"Was that a question or an answer?"
"Yes, ma'am!" Lena almost saluted. The doctor could've gone for any military officer position with the frostiness in her tone.
"Wunderbar!" And then it was gone, replaced by the friendly Angela they all knew. By the shiver that she saw Winston give, she was thankful that it was only for a moment, "For now, I'm keeping you here for observation and rest. Frankly, you look like you need it."
"I'll take you up on that, thanks." Lena gave a more confident smile, one that Angela returned.
"Um." With a lull in the conversation, Winston came walking up, him hands nervously fiddling with his glasses, "Look Lena, I'm sorry for bringing it up, I know I kind of - kind of fucked up there." Both females in the room stared at the gorilla for his profanity. It wasn't everyday that he'd curse like that, and even on bad days he rarely did so.
It was decidedly human of him, one that showcased just how much guilt he himself felt.
"Save it Winston." She gave a chuckle at the socially awkward gorilla, "I know you didn't mean anything about it. Just...give me a heads up before you drop another bombshell like that, alright?"
"...Alright." He paused for a moment, before looking away, "If you want someone else to be your best man, I'll-"
"Nope, you're not getting out of that." She stopped him before Winston could finish. Winston gave a small, hesitant smile.
"Well, I had to try, didn't I?" It was a small bit of levity that nonetheless made Lena laugh harder than she probably needed to. The events that had transpired had taken its toll, and the small joke that would normally only get a snort became the funniest thing she'd heard all day.
And then the adrenaline left her system. She felt tired. She could feel the weight of her arms, dragging themselves down to her sides. She could barely lift one up to cover a yawn. Angela looked at her with a knowing smile.
"Alright, you rest up for now, you hear me?" She nodded absentmindedly as she felt her eyelids try to close.
Her head was on the pillow before she knew it. As she drifted off to sleep, she heard the man in her head talk one last time.
"Hopefully, Morrison doesn't grill your ass for missing training on your first day back."
'I'll…leave that to future me…'
A/N: We're approaching canon Overwatch, or at least, what we know as of the time of writing this. The previous chapters were more of an AU, just because we've never really been told what occurred between Lena joining Overwatch, the Slipstream incident, and Uprising, apart from some minor tidbits here and there.
If you like what I do and want to support me, check out my P-atreon at P-atreon•com(slash)Almistyor.
And a special thanks to: Oliver vazquez, brutalcrab and Tassimo.