Chronos he called himself. But that wasn't his real name.

He was a new recruit and a man shrouded in mystery. When he joined, Winston was initially suspicious of his shadowed past and asked Athena to do some background checks figuring something would turn up, but alas, nothing. Troubling, seeing as they would know nothing about the man if anything serious involving him came up. For all he knew, the man might be secretly involved with Talon. The only thing they knew about him were the skills he possessed, and only the ones he bothered to show. It didn't help that he usually wasn't much of talker either; preferring to stay quiet and only speak when he had something important to say. Winston was skeptical to say the least.

Pharah thought it was all part of his charm. No one knew his story. Or so they thought.

Regardless of how anyone felt, Chronos had proven himself to her on day one.

1900 hours, somewhere in the Mediterranean

"All right now, show us what you can do. Ready? Begin." Jack Morrison, also known as Soldier 76 watched from the sidelines with a clipboard as he observed the new guy. As part of the integration process, Winston had instructed him to evaluate the recruit's skills so they could build a dossier for him. Currently, they were in the training room. Everyone in Overwatch was required to know some level of martial arts in case they ever found themselves without their main weaponry. Jack paired the guy up with McCree, figuring he'd start there as the gunfighter wasn't the best at hand-to-hand.

Cigar in mouth, Jesse eyed the man. He was around his height and weight.

"Listen now, I'll go easy on ya this time cause you're new, but don't expect any favors after that."

Chronos didn't respond and just looked him in the eyes. A slight smile, undetectable, crept across his face.

The gap closed. McCree jabbed with the left. The new operative shifted, twisting his chest so the punch slid off like he was made of ice. McCree reacted, recoiling back his hand and readying the other. He followed up with a cross. This too missed as Chronos tilted his just enough.

Jesse stopped for a second. It was clear his ol' one-two wasn't going to do the trick this time. "You're a slippery son of a bitch aren't ya?"

The man just smiled back at him. All the while, Jack checked off some boxes.

McCree narrowed his eyes. "I'm gonna lay you out."

The gunslinger feinted at his opponent's face. Not even a flinch. McCree blindly threw his followup anyway, hoping it would collide with something. A fatal mistake. The man sidestepped his punch and grabbed him. Chronos easily threw all 180 lbs of the man the floor with a thud, sending his cigar flying out of his mouth and his ego with it. It hadn't lasted more than 10 seconds.

Sprawled out on the floor and defeated, McCree sighed. He looked up at the victor and much to his surprise was met, not with a smirk, but with a hand.

Chronos pulled him up.

"Gotcha, cowboy." The man finally spoke, offering a friendly laugh.

"Now ya see, that's why I use a gun." McCree chuckled.

"Pistols over punches, huh?"

"Damn straight."

"You know, I'm surprised gunslingers like you still exist."

"Oh yeah? They do. You just gotta look in the right places."

"Wish I could say the same for martial artists."

"What do you mean?"

Chronos looked around the room. "It seems, over the years, the art of hand-to-hand combat has gotten watered down." He gestured to the whole room.

McCree was about to question him further, but Soldier 76 came along, clipboard in hand, interested in testing him some more.

Jack checked off a few more boxes on his list. "Wow, that was impressive. You're a natural."

"Thanks. I'd like to think I learned from the best." He replied.

"So, Chronos right, I'll let you choose who you want to face next. Take your pick. Anyone."

He looked around the room. There were currently 2 other pairs sparring right now. Currently, it was Pharah versus Hanzo and D. Va versus Lucio.

His eyes stopped on a fierce woman. She fought like a demon. Definitely a cut above everyone else here, both in spirit and in skill.

"Hey." Chronos pointed at the woman fighting Hanzo. "what's her name?"

"Fareeha." McCree answered. "But, we just call her Pharah."

"I'll face her."

"Actually... I don't think you know her yet. She's a 4th dan black belt. The best hand-to-hand fighter here."

"Fuck the belt, I want to face her."

McCree and Jack looked at each other before turning back to the recruit.

"You said anyone." Chronos reminded them.

McCree put a hand on the man's shoulder. "Are you sure about that hombre? The gal's pretty handy with her fists. Not even Genji can beat her and he specializes in melee, although he's more of a sword guy."

"All the more reason to fight her. Lets call it testing the waters."

"Really? I call it testing your luck." Jack told him.

Chronos laughed. "Look, their fight is over." Before they knew it, he had already started walking over.

"You're not gonna stop him?" McCree inquired.

"It's his funeral." Jack said.

"It'll be yours too if Winston finds out you got the new recruit hurt."

"Eh, I kinda wanna see how this turns out."

Hanzo headed the exit of the training room, a taste of unwelcome defeat in his mouth and having gotten his fill of practice in. It bothered him, as he used to be a prodigy in martial arts when he was younger; now, it seems, he has become too reliant on his bow. He noticed an unfamiliar face pass him on his way. He looked back to see a man in strange clothing heading to replace him as Pharah's sparring partner. He donned scarred black robes along with a red sash around his waist; the few scars on his garments were from blades. He hadn't seen the guy around here before and the clothing definitely wasn't modern. The outfit looked oddly familiar to him - he recalled seeing them in a book on the history of martial arts. A similar outfit to his was donned by the very first martial artists in ancient China.

Interests piqued, he stopped walking to watch from the sidelines next to McCree and Jack. Perhaps this was worthwhile.

As Chronos walked up to the woman her features became more apparent. She was of the slim and fit type. Her skin smooth, a soft copper color. Her short, styled hair gave him the impression she was Egyptian - it was practical for combat yet beautiful at the same time.

Practical but beautiful.

A rare combination he thought, one he fancied. She wore black sweatpants and a white tee - a stark contrast to his own clothes which were not of this time, something he and his garments had in common. Just another reminder to get an outfit change. Someone like him really needed to blend in more, regardless of whether he wanted to or not - which he did.

"Hey, mind if I get a round in with ya?"

Pharah turned to look at the strange man behind her.

"I don't think I know you."

He got a good look at her contours. She was even more beautiful up close. Almost, god-like. Trying to remain on task, he reminded himself that he was a man of discipline, not desires; or at the very least he wasn't a slave to them. At the moment he was more interested in fighting her, but he wasn't sure how long things would remain that way.

Women. The eternal weakness of men.

"Yeah, I'm the new guy around here. I saw you fighting him." He pointed over his shoulder. "You were pretty good."

"Thank you. If you think I'm good you should see who taught me."

"So? What do you say?"

"I think your a little in over your head."

"Is that so?" He feigned arrogance.

"Yes. You're a rookie."

"You won't hit me."

His remark caught her attention. Just what he wanted.

"Try me. First to 3."

"Deal."

Chronos looked around taking note of the crowd. Lucio and had stopped fighting and stood on the sidelines with the others to watch. The rest of the Overwatch crew except Ana and Winston had walked in too. They had an audience. He hated audiences.

Both participants took a step back from each other and positioned themselves.

Pharah examined him. He was about her height. Only slightly taller. A bit heavier too, but weight wasn't always an asset in combat. "Are you ready?"

"Ready."

She took the initiative. With some momentum, she landed a kick on him that would knock even Reinhardt down. He flew back and was on his ass in less than a second.

Jack checked off some boxes.

"I knew this was a waste of time." Hanzo commented from the sidelines. "I'm going to get some rest. Goodnight." The bowman left the training hall, not to be seen 'til next morning.

"Pharah. One." The egyptian remarked.

"You still have two to go." Chronos picked himself up and got repositioned.

"Okay." What a foolish man she thought. "Are you ready?"

"Rea-."

In one quick motion, she had sweeped out his front leg from under him and he hit the ground once more.

"That's all I need to know." Jack checked off the last box and walked out. With him, the rest of the Overwatch crew went, shaking their heads as to why this man was so stubborn as to take her on. Chronos looked around. They were now the only ones left.

"Pharah. Two"

"One more to go."

"You're persistent."

"It helps."

Repositioned again, he entered his fighting stance.

This time he was the one who asked. "Are you ready?"

"Re-"

For her, there was no time to react. He was already next to her. In one deft, incredibly coordinated movement he had grabbed her and thrown her down with enough force that it knocked the wind out of her.

"One for the rookie." He joked.

Pharah groaned. "What was that?" A little puzzled, she looked up at him. Where's the newbie she was just destroying?

"The art of deception."

"Yeah. You had me fooled. Why didn't you just come out like that from the beginning?"

"I didn't want to show you up in front of your friends, if that sort of thing matters to you."

She grabbed his hand and he hoisted her up. "How considerate." Pharah laughed. The gesture didn't go unnoticed.

"Are we still playing?"

"Of course. A little more serious this time though, right?"

"Right."

"Are you ready?"

"Ready."

Pharah immediately made the first move so he couldn't. She threw a flurry of punches at the man. To her, they were fast but to him, he had all the time in the world to react. He weaved in between her fists with ease. In his eyes they took a long time to reach him, almost like watching an action movie in slow motion; it was almost as if he was gaining time. The serenity of the whole thing never seemed to get old. He was not invincible though. The body can only respond so fast.

Pharah couldn't believe it. She was throwing everything she had at the man yet not a single blow had been landed. How could he react so fast and with such consistency?

Instead of retaliating, he seized her fists, one after the other before letting them go, catching her by surprise.

Pharah eyed him curiously. "Impossible! If you're reacting that fast there's no way you're human. You're not an omnic are you?"

He grabbed one of her hands again and held it up to his chest. Sure enough he wasn't.

"You're something else. How are you doing it?"

"My mentor taught me; the mind is a powerful thing."

"Can you explain?"

"It's... a little complicated."

"Maybe you could tell me your story while your at it."

"Are you sure? It's gonna take a while."

"Oh I'm willing to listen."

They never finished the sparring match that day.

Not sure if I'll make this into a full story. Maybe I will.