A deep grunt followed by the sounds of clanking metal could be heard echoing through the halls of Overwatch: Gibralter. Over time, the noise could be mistaken as a tape being looped over and over again. However, that wasn't the case here.

It was late into the evening, and most of the stationed agents have resided into their rooms. One particular Overwatch agent was occupying herself with her usual weightlifting workout. Beaded sweat ran down her face as she concentrated on each bench press rep - strands of her pink hair clung to her forehead. She inhaled as the bar lowered, and exhaled as she forced the bar back up towards the ceiling - scrunching her face with signs of great effort being put into each exertion.

This cycle continued for another 20 minutes, with a few breaks in-between. Arms slightly trembling from exhaustion, Zarya racked up the bar. Carefully, she raised herself upright, and swung her legs over the edge of the bench. Resting her elbows on her knees, she stared at the black, padded ground as she focused on steadying her breathing. She slowly reached for her water bottle, flipped the cap and took a large gulp of ice-cold water, sending a chilling sensation down her parched throat. Getting up, the large Overwatch agent raised her muscular arms over her head and performed a few stretches. Satisfying cracks emitted off her joints, and soon relaxed, releasing a long, content sigh.

She knew she probably should be asleep with the rest of the agents, but for some reason - sleep didn't come to her tonight. After a few failed attempts, she abandoned the idea of sleep for a while, and decided to go weightlifting instead in hopes of tiring herself out.

Unfortunately for her, after almost two hours, Zarya still felt wide awake.

Her subconscious ran with activity that was beyond her, and she was strapped in for the ride. Letting out a frustrated growl, she grabbed her white towel, and wiped the sweat off of her face with one, fluid motion. She proceeded to throwing the towel over her shoulder, and began cleaning up the weight room. She slid off the safety clips, relishing the sound of the clips zipping off. She then went ahead with preforming the task of racking the weights and sanitizing the machines. After a few minutes - she clicked the lights off as she proceeded to her room.

Opening the door, light flooded into the dimly lit chambers. Plain, gray walls decorated each side - with a bed and a small wooden nightstand resided in the left, back corner of the room. Beside her bed, the wall contained many pictures, posters and newspaper clippings of her previous career leading up to the weightlifting and bodybuilding world championships. On the nightstand was a small, simple electric lamp and a black digital clock that currently flashed in red: 2:35 AM.

Her sheets were sprawled across the bed, with some managing to touch the floor. Meanwhile, the duffle bag she carried with her during her travels was open, clothes sprayed out as if the contents exploded out. On the opposed side of the room was a wooden corner desk that was home to a black laptop, and a worn, gray swivel chair. There, a different set of pictures adorned that wall: they consisted of recent pictures with her teammates; they ranged from her and Reinhardt's arm wrestling contest as they were surrounded by other cheering teammates, to a picture of Fareeha bench pressing with Zarya yelling encouragement in the background - a wide grin was captured spread across her face.

A simple body mirror leaned onto the wall next to the desk with a small stack of various dumbbells, and a door that lead to a simple full bathroom. Finally, a wooden drawer holding some of her trophies and medals stood firm against the same wall as the door the weightlifter entered through.

Tossing her small white towel in a random corner of her room to act as a "dirty clothes" pile, the pink-haired Overwatch agent decided on taking a shower before making another attempt to go to sleep. She stepped inside her bathroom and proceeded to preparing herself before entering the shower. Grabbing one of the neatly folded towel from the shelf, she hung it beside her pink bath robe.

Zarya soon found herself in quiet tranquility as the shower pelted her with a steady stream of hot water. The sound quickly became white noise as she relished the moment. A small smile formed upon her lips, feeling her muscles slowly relax. She washed herself up before stepping out of the shower and drying herself off. She slipped into her bath robe that hung on a nearby hook, and open the door.

Steam rolled out of the bathroom as the large Russian woman stepped out - a chill running down her spine as cool air nipped at her bare skin. Quickly, she decided on her nightwear: a dark blue t-shirt with the Overwatch logo embroidered onto the top corner, and a pair of black sweats. She glanced at the clock, reading 3:15AM. The pink-haired Overwatch agent merely shrugged to herself at the time spent in the shower. Usually, Zarya would be in and out of the shower at a quick pace, but if given the opportunity to take a long shower, she'll take it.

Allowing her eyes to scan over the contents in her room, her gaze ended up landing upon the guitar she revived - idly leaned up against her wooden drawer.

The gift she had gotten from that old man in Ilios.

She realized soon after leaving the small town that she had forgotten to ask for his name. Guilt instantly swelled up within her being. She scold herself for it - and concluded that she will get to know his name when she finds herself stationed in the small town once again.

Without any second thought, she walked up to the instrument, picked it up by it's wooden neck, and took it with her as she sat on the edge of her bed - one leg crossed and tucked under the other, which was planted onto the ground to keep her steady. For a few moments, Zarya simply sat there, eyeing every feature of the guitar for what seems like the billionth time. No matter how many times she's looked at it, the detail never cease to amaze her.

Her fingers began strumming each string, tuning the instrument by ear. She knew that it won't be perfectly tuned, but she could recall each pitch well enough to get her by. Once it was to her liking, she then proceeded to play.

Just like her experience back at the small instrument store, the Russian Overwatch agent played to her heart's content - finding satisfaction with each strum and change of cord with the swift motion of her fingers. The pink-haired agent allowed her eyes to fall shut, losing herself into the music - smiling with great joy at the calming sensation it brought to her whole being.

A soft knock echoed from the door, followed by a questioning, "Zarya?"

Flinching, the one in question instantly stopped playing, and looked up at the digital clock. 4:30AM. How had she lost track of time? She could have sworn that it was only a few minutes that she was playing! Her eyes flickered down to the guitar.

Another set of knocks. "Ich entschuldige mich…" Came the voice once again, pausing before continuing, "I heard some music coming from your room. I-"

They were unable to finish their sentence when the door was promptly opened. Zarya's eyes locked onto a pair of deep blue eyes.

It was Angela Ziegler.

The Swiss doctor wore a crisp, clean, medical lab coat over a black collared shirt; with the rest of her outfit consisting of gray dress pants and a pair of black flats. Cocking her head slightly, Zarya rose a questioning eyebrow, prompting the Overwatch medic to explain herself.

Understanding the gesture, the blond cleared her throat before responding, "I was just coming back from my office to head towards my quarters, and I couldn't help but overhear the music playing from your chambers."

The bodybuilder averted her eyes, suddenly finding the minuscule cracks within the walls more interesting. "Well…" She subconsciously pulled her arm back to rub her neck, before continuing, "It's just some music that I got while I was stationed at Ilios… I guess I was playing it a bit too loud." A nervous chuckle escaped her lips, laced with an apologetic tone.

'At least it wasn't a complete lie.'

Now, if confronted by any other person, they would have been convinced. However, this was Angela Ziegler, and she can immediately tell when something was off. When you dedicate your life into a field that involves constant face-to-face interactions, you can pick up a thing or two when it came to body language. Eyes narrowed in suspicion, but the Overwatch medic decided against further interrogation, and allowed it to slide. At least, for now.

"Alright… I best be going," There was brief pause as the medic look down the hallway, before making eye contact with the Russian. A smile forming on her lips, "and I do hope you share more of this music with me sometime. I am very intrigued."

"Will do." Zarya secretly hoped she wouldn't remember.

Satisfied that the conversation was now over, Angela turned on her heels to head down the hallway. Zarya watched as Swiss doctor disappeared into her own room a few doors down, a distinct click resonating through the hallway as the door closed.

The bodybuilder then went ahead and closed the door behind her, throwing herself onto her bed face-first with a grunt - head buried deep into her pillow. She allowed herself to remain in that position for a few moments, before turning her head. She stared straight at the guitar as it was propped up against her nightstand.

'That… was a close call.'

The Russian bodybuilder didn't want any of her teammates to know about her guitar quite yet. For some reason, a part of her felt a bit embarrassed about her ability to play. Other than Lúcio's DJ'ing abilities, she wasn't aware of any other agents that played an instrument of any kind. Plus, she wanted to relish the time she had of not being swarmed by other Overwatch agents every time they heard her play. She knew it was only a matter of time before someone found out. Until then, she decided on played the stringed instrument only when she was within the sanctuary of her room.

Lying on her bed, she could feel her eyelids suddenly becoming heavy. Fatigue had finally caught up to the pink-haired agent, and allowed herself to drift in to sleep.


A/N: Sorry for the long wait! I've been busy lately with shtuff haha.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I won't make any promises on when the next one will be up, I don't want to raise any false hope.

"Ich entschuldige mich…" = "My apologies..." (German)

To those who kindly sent in a review:
Shadowjonathan: Ahaha, wrong genre indeed - though that would be interesting idea! I'm glad you like!(:

Whitesaber: Awh thanks! A cup of coffee as you read is always a good!

theredtapir: Thank you! I hope to find a writing style I'm comfortable with as I continue to write. Maybe condense it a tad, but keeping that descriptive nature to it.

Till next time!(: