Overstepped

Faltering

  A few days had passed since Mercy ran some tests involving Addie's powers... But the results were inconclusive. Nothing was physically wrong with Addie, and by all means, their powers should've been functioning normally. The doctor was left just as confused as her patient. Yet, with nothing to go off of, Mercy advised Addie to simply keep an eye on their powers and take note of any changes. Due to these inconclusive results, and no new information, Addie was understandably frustrated. Maybe... Maybe it had something to do with time traveling? Winston seemed to know something about that... So, Addie figured she'd ask him for his opinion, despite him not being a doctor.

  "You wanted to see me, right?" Winston asked, setting a jar of peanut butter aside after cleaning his hands. "Yeah, I have a few questions... If that's okay?" Addie replied, taking a seat across from the latter. "Of course! Curiosity is the driving force for many things! What can I help with?" Winston said with a grin, giving the other his full attention. "So... Say I succeed in killing that ninja, thusly reverting what he'd done that caused me to follow him. What exactly would happen to me?" Hearing this, Winston thought for a moment before replying, "Well... I suppose, like you said, it'd be like you never came here at all! It would probably be instantaneous, and would likely happen no matter how he died, be it from your hand or someone else's. You'd probably be transported back to your timeline...and we'd likely never have met. I doubt you'd retain any memories made here, same for us." Addie took a few moments to process this information, nodding silently. The idea of forgetting those who helped them... "I see," she eventually said, "One more question." "Go right ahead," Winston replied, waiting eagerly. "I wanted to keep this between Dr. Zeigler and I, but... She doesn't have an answer for why it's happening, and I thought maybe you might know something...? Uh--so... So, my powers are kinda...malfunctioning. And I think, maybe... It's because I time traveled?" "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that! However, I... Don't think that's the case. Your body would also be experiencing physical changes, I believe... I'm no doctor, but I do think you'd know if it was the time traveling affecting you. It probably would've happened a lot sooner," Winston answered, somewhat dumbfounded. "Right... Thank you, Winston. Sorry to bother you," Addie said, much quicker this time. "Oh, you didn't bother me at all, please don't worry about that! Anytime you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them!" Winston quickly replied, doing his best to rid the latter's worries. Addie nodded a quick thanks before excusing themself. Winston didn't know what the problem was, either...

  Addie wanted to keep this problem to herself, just as she always did, but this issue...could affect work. They wanted so badly to get to the bottom of it--before it got worse. But there were only so many doctors to ask within Overwatch, before Cassidy caught wind of it... So for now, Addie occupied the practice range alone, seeing how their powers were currently holding up. So far, it seemed fine... Their white dust seemed to be fluctuating, as her black dust seemed to be experiencing 'start up lag'... But after a moment, it seemed normal. Testing their hydrokinesis next, Addie noticed that it was... Mostly normal. "Good... I need that if I'm gonna be defending myself at all," they thought, sighing after. Maybe this issue would only be temporary, after all... Just then, someone else entered the practice range, and Addie drew her attention to them. "Oh, uh... Brigitte, right?" "Oh, hey Addie! Didn't think I'd see you here on a day off!" Brigitte replied after giving a wave. "I could say the same to you, except that you're on call... Aren't you?" Addie asked, trying to remember the schedule. "That's right, but I wanted to keep my skills sharp while I'm not doing anything," the latter replied with a nod, "Hey, since you're here... Did you wanna train together? We don't have to fight or anything, I was thinking we could do some cardio or something." "Cardio? Uh... Like, moving around, right... I guess that would be good for me," Addie replied after a moment of considering. They didn't want to, but maybe keeping in shape while not working would help to improve their powers... "Great! What's your favorite kind of cardiovascular exercise?" Brigitte asked, seeming excited to get to training. "The only cardio I'm familiar with is walking, to be honest... And I don't actually think that counts," Addie answered, followed by a somewhat embarrassed chuckle. "Dancing counts too! That's fun! But I think it'd be more practical to set up a training course and see who can complete it first," Brigitte explained, after considering some other options. "I didn't know we could do that, that's pretty cool," Addie replied, unfamiliar with any sort of training course. "Yeah, it's right through here, actually! Follow!" Brigitte exclaimed, leading the other further into the practice range. Just as she said, there was a room full of obstacles and training bots, currently occupied by Tracer. The Brit zipped and dashed around the course with precision, eliminating anything in her path. Waiting nearby was Genji, who appeared to have just finished the course himself. "Oh, looks like we've got company! I didn't know you guys were here!" Brigitte said, waving to Genji. "Yo! When did you two get here? Lena and I were just challenging each-other," Genji greeted, tossing a water bottle in the air and catching it. "We were...gonna do the same, actually," Addie replied, her eyes glued to Tracer. She displayed a significant amount of skill... It would be hard to compete, even with supernatural powers. "Really? You've never seemed too competitive, even when we spar. Speaking of which, we should do that sometime, you always give me a good challenge," Genji stated, slightly emphasizing how he was craving a good spar with Addie. "It doesn't have to be too competitive," Brigitte began, "It's more like... Seeing where our skills contrast, and who's stronger at what!" "She's right," Addie agreed, "And we can spar later, Genji... Looks like we're up." "Ha! I beat your score and time, Genji! What'cha think of that?!" Tracer exclaimed, teasing the latter. "Hm... I'll just be sure to beat you next time, then," Genji replied, tossing the water bottle over. Tracer caught it easily, shaking her head. "Are you two gonna have a go at it, too? Hope it's okay if we watch!" She said after taking a sip, seeming interested. "Yeah, that's fine! You wanna go first, Addie?" Brigitte asked, gesturing. "Uh... Ladies first, I insist," Addie said quickly, making some sort of a bowing gesture...which Brigitte thought was funny. "Aww, whoever said chivalry is dead was clearly wrong," The Swede replied in a teasing tone, beginning to set the parameters of the course. Brigitte set up a lower-level course than what Tracer and Genji had just done, mostly to not overwhelm Addie when it was her turn, but also to just focus on her own movement. The Swede began to run through the course, using her flail and shield to knock back any training bots in her way, as well as protecting herself from their projectiles. Clearly, this course was too easy for how skilled Brigitte was--she didn't falter even once. This left Addie... Feeling anxious. "That was... Really good," They said, putting on a brave face. "Aw, thank you! I went ahead and reset it for you, have at it when you're ready!" Brigitte replied, taking a few moments to cool down. Addie inhaled and exhaled deeply, mentally preparing to make a fool of herself, before putting their hair into a ponytail and standing at the entrance of the course. After a moment, they pressed a button at the start, which launched them in, and then she began. Addie relied mainly what she saw Tracer and Brigitte do, in terms of where they were in the course. So far, it was going fine--and they even managed to find a way around some bigger training bots without engaging with them by using their hydrokinesis to form a rope and grappling above them. The problem only arrived when Addie was at the near-end of the course, blocked by a tank bot. Addie would have to break its shield if they wanted to pass, so she began charging up a hydrobullet. Unexpectedly, they couldn't...stop charging it, and began to strain to stop it. They'd unintentionally put all of her energy into the hydrobullet and realized there was no going back from it, no matter how big the damage was about to be. It was worse holding it at this point... Bang! The shockwave could be felt from where Brigitte, Tracer and Genji were standing--and they were understandably shaken. Genji reacted quickly, however, hopping into the course to retrieve Addie. The young adult was blacked out from unintentionally overexerting herself... Luckily, Brigitte was a medic, so she began to assess any injuries. There were none, fortunately, and Addie came to a few moments later. "Performance anxiety?" Genji joked, trying to keep Addie calm. Initially, Addie looked... Lost. A second later, they shot up, beginning to speak quickly. "Easy, love! Everything is fine, you won't be in any trouble!" Tracer soothed, smiling softly--though she was clearly worried. "Y-yeah, the course repairs itself! My father helped develop part of it, so you don't need to worry... But we're definitely worried about you. What happened?" Brigitte said next, doing nothing to mask her concern. "I... Don't know. I usually have perfect control over those, a-and it's never overcharged like that before..." Addie replied, practically choking back tears. They were scared, now... Why did this happen? "Maybe... You've been working too hard lately?" Genji suggested, shrugging a little "Doing what...? I'm barely pulling my weight around here! Not only that, but I'm no closer to accomplishing my goal--the whole reason I'm here!" Addie yelled, glaring in Genji's general direction. The three others recoiled at the sudden shift in tone from Addie, but they could feel her stress from where they were. After a few moments in silence, Addie stood up again. "I'm sorry," they said quietly, "I'm...going to...take a break in my room." With that, they left. "...D'you think Mercy knows anything about this?" Tracer asked, looking concerned. "We... Should probably let her know regardless. I'd hate for them to get hurt again," Brigitte replied slowly, matching Tracer's expression. Genji remained silent, though he had plenty on his mind... Addie's powers faltering, followed by an outburst like that... He had an inkling on what was wrong.

  Addie spent a long while locked in her room, processing what had just occurred. Frankly, they were feeling many emotions... But they could all currently be summed up under the word 'despair'. After what felt like an eternity of silence, there was a knock on Addie's door, followed by a voice, belonging to Angelo. "Addie? Are you okay? ...Dr. Zeigler wanted to talk with you." Mustering their strength, Addie got up and practically dragged herself to the door, opening it as if it was heavy. "You...look unwell," Angelo said slowly, "I...heard something happened in the practice range." "Yeah. I... Feel badly about the damage I caused," Addie answered equally as slow, as if thinking carefully on what she was saying. "You don't have to worry, I've broken some things in there, too. When I was first learning how to use the Valkyrie Wings, I fell...a lot," Angelo explained, chuckling a bit. This earned a small laugh from Addie as well, they found comfort in this shared experience. Angelo spoke more about his early days of using Valkyrie Tech, and without even realizing it, Addie ended up following him to a very worried-looking Mercy. "I'll, um... Let you two chat. I made some dinner, if you wanna share with me, after!" Angelo explained, awkwardly taking his leave. Addie watched him for a moment, turning to face the doctor after. "You needn't explain yourself. I heard it all from Genji, Tracer and Brigitte. You're not in any trouble," Mercy explained slowly and clearly, "I just wanted to talk with you about something that jumped into my head." "And... That would be?" Addie asked, taking a seat on a nearby stool. "We still have no idea what that ninja took from you. It would help us a lot, to help you, if we knew. Not only that, but I have reason to suspect that because you're holding it within you... The stress is physically manifesting itself, through your powers." As Mercy spoke, Addie only stared ahead at her. She wanted so badly to just...not hear her. They didn't want to speak of it for numerous reasons, and she technically didn't have to. But thinking about it again... It began to hurt. "Dr. Zeigler," Addie began quietly, "Please... I know you're a professional, but I don't think this is the case." The young adult said this more to convince herself. Mercy now made a face, realizing what Addie unintentionally communicated to her. "You... Need to speak to someone about this. Angelo wants to be a therapist, why don't you speak with him? It would help you both." Addie now had a look of betrayal on their face, figuring the doctor didn't hear a word she'd said... "I...would really rather not... Besides, Angelo is my friend, I don't want to dump my issues on him." Mercy sighed as quietly as possible, debating a response for a few moments. "Based on my tests, I can make an educated guess that what's happening to you is psychological. It's in everyone's best interest that you discuss this with someone you can trust, okay? I don't want you to hurt anyone or yourself. Ease up on the use of you hydrokinesis until this is sorted. You're dismissed." Hearing this, Addie stood up and left the doctor's office. There had to be another way. There was no point in spilling their guts, when Addie was sure this would come to an end soon. Still, the doctor was right about one thing: Addie would have to resort back to basics--their black and white dust.

  For the rest of the night, Addie caught up with their comrades she left behind in the practice range, as well as ate dinner with Angelo. Understandably, her friends were rather worried about this development with Addie's powers, but Addie said she was fine, and it likely had something to do with time traveling. This was a lie, but the others knew no better. Addie did feel bad for disregarding the doctor's advice, but they were certain that the cause had to be something other than psychological... Mercy probably wouldn't look further into it, so who could Addie turn to now? Who else was certified in this field, and knowledgeable enough to provide an answer? More importantly, how would Addie even find someone like this? The most important question, however, is just how far they would go to get this answer...