The next morning, Chris woke up early around 4 am. He was always an early riser and found himself restless not knowing what to do. He wasn't really sure if he was allowed to go roaming around the base but he figured whats the worst that can happen. He exited his room and started walking around looking for any kind of..well..anything that he could possibly do at this time.
In the distance he heard some metal clanging together. His curiosity got the better of him when he turned the corner and entered the room he saw an older looking man lifting weights and stopped dead in his tracks. He wanted to get out before he was noticed but the door slammed shut behind him startling the gentleman working out. The man turned around and saw Chris standing there like a deer in the headlights not knowing what to do.
"Hello there!" The man bursted out in and started to walk over towards Chris. Chris didn't know anyone in the base outside of the 3 that brought him there and Angela. The thought crept in his mind before the towering man was standing in front of him.
"Hello sir, I didn't mean to interrupt your workout. I just didn't have anything to do and I heard the noise and wanted to know what was going on and I realized I'm not even sure if I'm allowed to be walking around and-"
"Woa woa woa, slow down boy." The man said. "You aren't on house arrest or anything." He started a hearty laugh and stuck his hand out. "My name is Reinhardt Wilhelm." Chris met his massive hand shaking with a firm grip.
"Chris" He replied in a low tone. Reinhardt looked at him and stated, "Formal introductions involve last names too." Chris kind of shook his head in realization of something that should automatic for him, especially if he planned on staying as part of Overwatch.
"Jaeger. Chris Jaeger is my name."
Reinhardt eyes got wide as a big grin on his face showed. "Jaeger? Ha, a German man like myself. This is glorious." Chris grew a smirk on his face. "Not much of my immediate family is German, just the last name i guess."
None the less Reinhardt was happy to have the company. "So you are the one Gabriel brought in yesterday. I heard about what happened, and sorry for your loss."
Chris didn't seemed phased by what he had heard, but simply replied "Thank you, but the only thing I want to do now his be a part of the cause." Reinhardt sat down on a nearby bench saying, "Honoring the fallen by answering the call, that is very commendable for a man your age. I know you are going to do fine. But i think we might have to work on your build a little bit." Reinhardt jokingly squeezed his arms.
"Tell you what come down here every morning at 3 am and I'll whip you up into shape." Reinhardt smacked the boys back almost knocking Chris off the bench.
"Thank you sir." Chris left the weight room with a little more pep in his step after talking to the German tank.
Later that morning, Chris found the shooting range and the armory and was awestruck. Machine guns, sniper rifles, every kind of hand gun you could imagine with assault rifles with every kind of variant. "You ever shot a gun before?" Chris turned around to see the cowboy leaned up against the door frame puffing his cigar.
"No sir" Chris answered as he turned back to the guns.
"Save the sirs for Morrison, that man eats, breathes, and shits chain of command." McCree said as he pulled a gun similar to his peacekeeper off of a stand. "Here try this." McCree set the target at a reasonable 20 meters away. "All you do is point and shoot, really no magic to it."
Chris nodded and took aim and fired 6 times, missing all 6 with a remarkable inaccuracy.
"Hahaha..Boy you couldn't hit water if you fell out of a boat." McCree could hardly contain his laughter. "Here's what to do square your shoulders to your target, fix your posture to compensate for the recoil and breathe slowly as you fire. Take your time realigning your shot you don't have to empty your shots as fast as you can. Better to make your shots count than to use more to compensate."
Chris tried following the cowboys directions and shot 2 more times. One at least hit the target in the shoulder area and the other hit the stomach area. Chris turned to McCree with a bright smile with an accomplishing feeling.
"Better, unfortunately with those wounds, your opponent would still be able to return fire and likely kill you. The quickest way to end it," McCree said as he twirled his peacekeeper out of it's holster firing one shot it seemed like without even looking, "is a clean headshot." Chris turned and looked at the target with a mark right between where the eyes would be. "Keep practicing and you will be able to hit those kind of shots with ease." McCree turned and walked out of the range with just a puff of his cigar trailing behind.
Chris didn't feel comfortable shooting by himself so he put the revolver down back on its rack and decided to go eat something. Upon entering the mess hall, Jack was sitting with Angela and another woman he had not met yet. He tried to just fly under the radar when Angela smiled and waved at him.
Jack and the other woman turned to see Chris, Jack seemed annoyed and turned back around trying to ignore him while the other woman waved him over. Reluctantly, he walked over to Angela and gave a little bit of an awkward smile before Angela broke the silence. "How are your bruises? Are they getting any better?" Chris nodded and met the other woman's eyes which were more welcoming than Morrison's, but that wasn't saying much.
"I'm captain Amari, pleased to meet you Chris." Chris extended his hand and shook the captains before Jack ended any conversation before it started. "Well now that everyone is introduced run along kid we have matters to discuss." Jack didn't even look his way.
Chris dropped his head and went to find a meal before heading back to his room.
On his way back he saw Genji sitting outside meditating. He went outside to see if he could borrow some of the ninjas time.
"Ah Chris, Reyes told me to find you as soon as I can." Genji said without even turning around or opening his eyes.
"How did you-"
"You are a flatfooted walker."
Chris looked down at his feet like it was suppose to give some kind of answer but was still left puzzled.
Genji rose and turned to the youngster, "Gabriel asked me to gauge your combat skills while he was away."
"My combat skills?" Chris asked even more puzzled.
"*sigh*, I figured as much. Much to McCrees disbelief, a gun can not always get you out of a situation. Being prepared for hand to hand combat is an ace in the hole if you will." Chris realized where Genji was going with this train of thought.
"Do you have any experience fighting?" Chris just shook his head.
"Then we have a long road ahead of us." Genji noted.
As they were walking to the gym, Chris couldn't help but ask.
"Does Mr. Morrison not want me here? He has always given me the cold shoulder whenever I see him. Everyone else is welcoming except for him."
"The commander is under a great deal of stress due to recent events and actions by Talon." Genji replied. "I'm sure he doesn't mean it directly towards you, he has been that way for a while now."
"Talon?" Chris asked.
"A terrorist organization that are well funded and..difficult to predict. Their motives seem to not align with anyone's that we know of as of now. They are a tough bunch to figure to say the least."
"I see." Chris just seemed to answer questions with more questions but didn't really pay any mind to it now.
Genji and Chris arrived to where there was an empty studio with staffs, swords, and all kinds of blunt objects. Genji tossed a staff at Chris and stated, "try to hit me."
"You dont have anything to fight back with though." Chris replied.
"Just try" Genji said. Chris took a baseball swing in which Genji swiftly avoided by simply leaning back. Chris started swinging wildly desperate to even come close to touching him, Genji effortlessly dodging the strikes by mere centimeters. Chris looking like he was finally about to strike the swift ninja was in a full leap swinging the staff over head until Genji caught the staff with one hand and in one swift motion disarmed Chris knocked him off his feet and had the staff inches from his face.
"Control is very key. Being aware of how your opponents move must second nature, for it will be easy to spot an opening where you can easily take advantage and gain the upper hand." Genji then extended his hand to help Chris up. "You have a long way to go, but I have no doubt you will succeed with your newfound determination."
At the end of the day Chris had learned so much, but there was a long journey ahead of him. He knew this wasn't going to be an easy path, but it was one that was going to be very rewarding in the end. Chris turned in for the night. setting his alarm for 2:30 and when the time came, it was time to put in the work.