The Gift

QuickShot:

"Ahh," Ms. Justice moans. She squeezes her eyes shut as I wrap her arm and chest in medical dressing.

"Come on," I say, leaning back. "I've seen you take worse hits years ago."

"Speaking of years," Ms. Justice says. She examines herself while I put the dressing back into my med kit. "What happened to you while I was gone? You look..."

"Older," I ask. "Of course, I look older. It has been over ten years since we last seen each other."

"I wasn't going to say older," Ms. Justice yells. "I was going to say 'different'. You look different. From before."

"Again," I say, turning around to look at Ms. Justice. "It has been over ten years since we last seen each other."

As Ms. Justice stares at me, I examine and compare myself to ten years before. For starters, I cut my hair. My long wavy blond hair is now short, cut just before my shoulders. I'm still wearing my old fighter pilot jacket and helmet but one of the lenses to the goggle on my helmet is missing. Also, I've heavily modified my jacket. Now, there are dozens of extra slots for my new trick arrows all over.

"What happened to your old bow," Ms. Justice asks. She turns her head and looks at my compound bow resting on my table. "Where's your previous bow?"

"My previous bow, the long bow, broke about seven years ago. I've used that ever since. It's actually a little better. Can shoot my arrows faster and steadier."

As I talk, I leave Ms. Justice and disappear into my kitchen. I pour some hot milk and some cocoa powder into a cup before returning.

"Here," I say, offering her the cup. Justice smiles as she takes the cup. It looks like she's about to take a sip but then stops, the cup only inches from her pink lips.

"So much had changed," Ms. Justice cries. "It's all so different. Nothing is the same. Everything I cared about is gone."

I watch as the cup starts to shake in Ms. Justice's hands. Tears run down her face and falls into the hot chocolate. I take the cup away and put it down.

The moment I turn back after putting the cup down, Ms. Justice jumps and wraps her arms around me.

"QuickShot," she cries out. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean for any of this to happen! I was just trying to stop him! I didn't know this would happen!"

I sigh as I wrap my arms around the crying Ms. Justice.

"Hey, hey, hey," I say, slowly patting her back. "Easy there. Come on. It's okay. It's okay."

"No, it's not! This whole thing is my fault! I mean, if I hadn't jumped in after Fast-Forward then maybe, maybe, I don't know! Maybe we wouldn't have all left each other."

"What in the world are you talking about?"

"According to JumpStart, the last time any of you saw me, it was when we fought Fast-Forward at the museum when he was trying to steal that clock. Somehow, that leads to all of this! And worst, according to Fast-Forward himself, this is how it's supposed to be. All of us are just gone with the wind."

I let Ms. Justice cry and vent into my shoulder for a few more minutes. Eventually, she pulls back and looks at me.

"I don't know what to do now," she says. "I mean, is there even anything I can do?"

"No," I say. "No, there isn't anything you can do."

I slowly raise Ms. Justice's head, my fingers pushing up her chin. When we're looking into each other, I rub her face, flickering a tear away.

No, there isn't anything you can do," I repeat. "But there is something we can do."

"What," Ms. Justice asks with a shaking voice.

I let go of Ms. Justice's face and go grab my compound bow. With my bow in hand, I then reach down and open a drawer. In the drawer are some pre-made arrows. I grab some of them and load them into the extra slots of my jacket.

"What are you doing," Ms. Justice asks.

"We're going to find Fast-Forward," I answer, turning back. "You said it yourself. The reason all of this happen was because you jumped ten years into the future. So, in order to fix it, we have to send you ten years back. Just after your first jump."

Ms. Justice's eyes go wide at the thought.

"Wait," she says, "Are you serious?"

"Yes," I say, looking at the wheels as I pull back the sting of my bow. "And I think we'll need help."

"Help," Ms. Justice repeats. "No. I've already tried but JumpStart won't leave the OutPost, and I still haven't seen SpeedBlade anywhere. Do you?"

"I have no clue where SpeedBlade is," I say. "He and I haven't exactly kept in touch since we disbanded. However, I do have something that he may answer to."

"Something he may answer to? What? A cell phone?"

"Actually, it's more like a walkie-talkie."

I push a hidden button on my table and a secret component splits open. From the secret component, a little model plane and an OutCast radio come out.

Ms. Justice:

"No way," I say. Despite still not feeling 100%, I make my way over to QuickShot and peek over her shoulder. As a secret component raises up, I see my gift from over a decade ago right there.

"You kept it," I say. "All this time and you still kept it."

QuickShot lets out a small chuckle as she grabs the small wooden plane. I think back to when I made it.

The whole plane is made from wooden popsicle sticks. I first thought about buying the sticks from an art store but after seeing them with ice creams around them, SpeedBlade and JumpStart quickly agreed to help me. Afterward, it was just a matter of gluing everything together.

"Ten years ago," QuickShot starts, looking at the wooden plane. "You made this for me to celebrate the day we all met each other for the very first time. You made this to celebrate the birth of the OutCasts, and I'm sorry. I'm sorry about what I said about not being a 'big fan' of birthdays or anniversaries or even holidays."

"No, no, no," I say, shaking my hands. "It's fine. I mean, not everyone is that big into..."

QuickShot puts up her hand and cuts me off.

"Birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays are important," QuickShot goes on. "They remind us to care about the people around us because one day, they may leave, and who knows how long it will be before you see them again."

I can't be sure because I still have tears in my eyes, but I think QuickShot is slightly crying herself. She wipes her eyes before gently placing the wooden plane down. She then grabs the other things.

The thing, whatever it is, is black and gold. It's small and round, with the letters, O and C, painted on it.

"This is the very last thing JumpStart built before we all left each other," QuickShot says. "He called it the OutCast's long-frequency communicator. I just called them they are. Walkie-talkie."

With that, QuickShot shows me the walkie-talkie. She then pushes a button on the side of it. The walkie-talkie starts to beep, and a small light flashes on the antenna.

"Come on," QuickShot says, shoving the walkie-talkie into one of her pockets. "I have an idea where Fast-Forward may have gone. After all, there's only one place in this whole city where he can fix his time suit. You coming?"

I smile and nod my head. I also bring my shield.

"One final question before we left though."

"What's that?"

"What is this place?"

I look around and see rusted machine parts laying everywhere.

"It's a forgotten airplane hanger," QuickShot answers.

I look back at QuickShot.

"What? Are you really surprised? Come on, you made a wooden airplane. You know I like airplanes."