"You aim like you have six shots to get it right."

Jesse turned around and looked at Reyes. His chest lifted and fell quickly, worn slightly from the excerises he'd been doing for the last hour and a half. Over and over, he'd been ordered to jump, run, roll, any every other form of movement, all while shooting at targets that sprang up at random throughout the fake townscape. Most of them, he managed to hit. Of course, not all. The gun in his hand wasn't his peace maker. It was a revolver with false energy shots. The weapon was made with the same weight and kick as his but without the live rounds. It was easy to practice with, or so he thought.

"What do you mean? I do have six shots." Jesse snapped, his voice not breathless but showing signs of his efforts.

"When you shoot, you should be able to take out the target in the first shot. Because you're using a revolver, you have limited shots before you have to reload. That can put you at a disadvantage if you let it. If you hit your mark in the first attempt, that saves you from having to reload as often." He explained his tone very matter of fact.

"Says the man that uses shot guns."

Reyes walked up and snatched the gun from his hand. He checked it before walking into the training field. Snapping his fingers, he signaled for the simulation to begin. Rolling his eyes, Jesse took a few steps back. He'd only ever seen this man use his massive combat shotguns to do anything. They had a wide spray and made it pretty damn easy to hit what he was aiming at. This should be good.

When the buzzer went off, targets started to spring up. The were in the vague shapes of humans and bots alike, popping out from windows and from around corners. When a target was hit at the center, a clanging noise sounded. One after another, clangs rang through the air. Reyes ran down the fake road. His boots slammed onto the hood of a car as he jumped on it and used the momentum to jump and roll onto a low porch top. His arms were everywhere. It was like has shooting with six arms instead of two. When he reloaded it, it was incredibly fast, faster than Jesse could do it with all his years using a revolver.

By the time it was over, the younger male was left standing with his mouth hanging open. Every single target was a dead center hit, not one missed. A board across the room displayed number of targets hit, whether they were clips or dead shots, number of civilians accidentally hit, etc. His score was perfect. The young cowboy couldn't believe it. The guy just used shotguns! Why the hell wasn't he a sniper or something? Wouldn't he be so much more effective if he were? Shaking himself back into reality, he closed his mouth. Reyes rechecked the weapon as he approached and held it out, grip first. Hesitantly, he took it and stared down. Yup, he knew when he'd been shown up. He was man enough to admit that he'd been wrong and kept his mouth shut about it.

"A weapon is nothing without the person using it. Because a master of them all and you'll never be at a disadvantage." He said and clapped a hand on the other's shoulder. "Keep practicing."

The leader headed off towards the showers, leaving him alone in the fake town. Jesse looked up at his scores again, blown away. Really, it wasn't like he knew much about Gabriel Reyes. He'd been a soldier once, that was about it. What kind of soldier, for how long, etc. Those thoughts crossed his mind, making him curious. Perhaps he'd ask the old man about it. He'd learned that some people didn't like talking about their military service but since he was basically still doing that, it might not hurt to ask him and see what he said. Until then, he'd be working his ass off on his am. That show was impressive and it lit a fire in him to be just as good, no, to be better. He wanted to out aim the hell out of that guy. What cowboy got shown up by a shot gunner?

He'd have dead eye aim in no time. That was a promise.

After practicing a little bit longer, Jesse decided to call it a day. He wanted to get showered up and make it to the dining hall for dinner and he was running out of time. Locking the weapon away, he headed for the locker room. As he approached, his steps slowed. There was something going on inside. Carefully, he moved towards the opening, leaning against the wall there. There were voices inside, one sounded very angry. At first, he could not place who it was but after a moment, he realized it was Commander Morrison. He wasn't yelling but it was damn close. Something had him worked all the way up. Then he heard Reyes. He sounded much calmer but still...off. He sounded like there was something behind his words, an anger that was much darker than the other mans's. Sure, he probably shouldn't have been listening in but he was concerned. If the started hearing the sounds of a physical fight, he'd have to jump in and stop them, right?

"What the hell is the excuse then, Gabe. Tell me?" Morrison snapped, his words echoing slightly in the open space.

"I don't have to explain my personal life to you. You're not in charge of that. As much as you want to control everything here, Commander." His reply was sarcastic and dark.

"God damnit, this is serious!"

"Did she go to you and file a complaint?"

"No, she didn't but we both know she wouldn't. What the hell has gotten into you? You would never hurt..."

"I didn't hurt anyone."

Jesse narrowed his eyes. What were they talking about? Or rather, who?

"I saw the footage. Angela didn't want any part of it and you forced her. Were you drunk?"

"She didn't tell me no, she didn't tell me to stop."

"Jesus...do you want to come watch it because that's not what I saw."

There was a silence. He leaned slightly around the wall to look in. He couldn't see them so they must have been further in the room. What were they talking about? He never should have listened in because now it was driving him nuts. What had Reyes done to Angela that had the commander in such an uproar? Whatever it was, there was a recording of it. Maybe it was something dangerous. Some kind of new technique or research thing. The whole place knew now that they'd been fighting over that. Research could be a powerful and dangerous thing if it was used wrong. Maybe that was what all this was about.

"If you ever put your hands on her like that again and I see it or find out about it, I won't show up wanting to talk about it, Reyes. I'll make sure you never do it again. She won't have a chance to deny anything." Morrison said, his voice sharp as steel.

Hearing heavy foot steps, Jesse quickly moved. He ducked in behind the weapons rack and waited. A few seconds later, the commander came out. He left the lockers and went straight out of the training area, the door slamming behind him. He didn't hear Reyes coming so he calmed himself and strolled into the room. Going to his own locker, he spotted his boss at his. He was pulling some things out. He looked mostly normal but there was a strain to his jaw that gave away the fight that had just been had. Some things just couldn't be hidden.

"What's gotten into the commander? He stormed outta here like he lost a bad game a'cards." Jesse said casually and glanced over again.

"Mission issues." He said simply, clearly offering up nothing more.

"Gotcha." Sometimes it was best not to push.