Find your tribe in a Sea of Creativity
~Last time~
“I wish all stories ended like that.” He huffs.
“That isn’t the end. Not yet kid. But, we’re close.” Kaaru chuckles.
~storytime~
The girl sat in Winston’s laboratory, working on her essay as she keeps an eye on him.
It’s been two weeks since he was tasked with making a machine to send the younger versions of her parents home. He’s been stalling all afternoon, asking her risque questions she ignores and trying to get a gage on why he’s doing this. It’s like she doesn’t care for his ideas or his sciences, dismissing them with a scoff.
He eventually gives up on asking her questions and focuses on the machine.
“Don’t put that there.” She says nonchalantly as he reaches to screw a bolt in.
“So she speaks. Why shouldn’t I put it here, agent K-M-S-M?” He says, looking at her.
“It’ll blow up in your face later if you do.” She says, chewing the eraser of her pencil.
He rolls his eyes and puts it in anyway, finishing the machine.
“There, it’s done. Now all we need to do is test it. Any suggestions?” He asks the girl who’s staring down her notepad full of scribbles.
“Try this.” She tosses a hair tie to him.
“I will assume you want this back.” He says, putting it onto one of the pads hooked up to the machine and turns it on.
The hair tie disappears and then reappears on top of the girl’s head a few moments later.
“It works!” He smiles triumphantly.
“Great! Now go get the people.” She says with fake enthusiasm.
“But I will need to have the present versions present. As well as Dr. Zeigler if anything goes wrong.” He says, trying to get her to have more of a conversation with him.
“Then hop to it, Casanova.” She says, scratching something out on her notepad before flipping a few papers to look through it more.
He sighs and does as she tells him, gathering the people who need to be present in the lab for the big event.
Meanwhile the girl says goodbye to her parents and sends them home, sending her dog Toby with them. When she gets back to the lab the present Hanzo is leaning against his Mccree, looking sick and miserable.
“Is everything alright?” She asks them and Mccree just nods.
“Just a little hangover.” He says and she nods, helping them into position with the younger versions.
Winston starts everything up and the pads beneath their feet glow a light blue. Electricity starts to flow through them, their hearts starting to race as they’re stuck in their place. Winston begins to put in the time they need to be sent home, loading the machine up to its maximum capacity, that last bolt he put it rattling and heating up.
The girl watches, making sure not to miss a thing.
The bolt rattles louder and louder, turning red hot before shooting out of its socket, electricity sparking and covering everything, making the men standing on the pads scream in pain.
Winston jumps, frantically trying to turn the machine off but gets shocked as his machine is engulfed in bright blue electricity. He backs away, staring in shock as the machine begins to break apart. The younger versions of Mccree and Hanzo disappear into the electricity, their pained screams fading with them. Mccree is then thrown off his pad into the wall and Hanzo falls into a crumpled ball of pain as the machine explodes.
Winston is thrown back and knocked unconscious. Mercy runs out, calling for backup as the laboratory goes into lock down.
The girl watches, from the corner, panicking as she’s frozen in terror as the fire rages. It slowly calms and from the flames a baby rocks back and forth in the rubble, crying loudly. The girl looks at it and tries to go to it but the laboratory door creaks open forcefully. She gasps and panics, making a portal shakily and jumps through, not making sure she was going to the right place and time.
Kaaru gets up, grunting in pain as her panicked portal closes. She looks around and nothing looks right for the time she was aiming for.
“Son of a bitch.” She huffs and gets up.
She looks around and pulls off her sling, her cast having burnt up in the portal. She dusts herself off and puts her hood up, walking out of the alley she landed in.
After a few minutes she passes another alley and hears crying. She looks down the alley and sees a shiffy man threatening a kid with a switchblade.
“I can’t get a break, can I?” She huffs and runs in, pulling the man off the kid.
~reality~
“Wait wait wait wait. That’s how we met. That was a week and a half ago.” Jesse says
Kaaru chuckles and nods as they stop on the doorstep of Sunshine Acres Children’s Home.
“When you’re my age, 24 hours ago is a long time ago.” She says, leaning down to look him in the eye.
“Wait, why are we here?” He asks, looking at the orphanage. “I have to go home. I have to go to my time. And I can’t take you with me.” She sighs.
“Why not? Why can’t I go with you?” He starts to cry.
“You belong here. In this time. I’m sorry Jesse.” She says, kneeling down. “We’ll meet again, I promise.” She adds and he hugs her tight.
She sighs and hugs back. When he pulls away from the hug he goes to take off the serape but she stops him. “Keep it.” She smiles.
“Really?” He sniffs and Kaaru nods.
“And how’s this, you take up that Mccree name. You’re strong, firm, and brave. You deserve the name Mccree.” She smiles.
“I, Jesse, will do you proud. Promise.” He salutes.
“Now, this orphanage needs you. And you need it. Head on in. Okay? Tell them your mother left you here.” She says and he sighs, nodding.
He heads up the stairs and sees the doors. He stops at the top and looks behind him, his mouth open to say something to Kaaru, but she’s gone and with her, his memories of her and her story, his mind shifting to feel very sad as he imagines a mother he never knew dropping him off here and driving off. He sulks into the orphanage, all he has is his clothes on his back, and his name, Jesse Mccree.
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