Hi, guys!

I have been working on the surprise that I have planned for you all. It will hopefully be ready until the end of the week.

This is the last Rhythm of Love chapter that I will be posting this week. I'm taking a few days/weeks to work on and finish the surprise.

I can't wait for you all to see it. I know you'll enjoy it.

If you like this story so far, please follow and leave reviews. For more Overwatch and Team Fortress 2 content, follow my account. Thanks!

SIDE NOTE: To leave a review, you DO NOT need to have an account. I have seen a little bit of confusion about this lately among my readers. I felt like I just had to clear that up.

Chapter 3

The rest of the Tank Class trainees and I entered the training gym through the front door. I was immediately impressed at the size of the space before me. The gym looked to be about the size of an airplane hangar. With its high ceilings, it could probably house the giant Omnics at Volskaya Industries. The floor was split up into four different colors; blue, yellow, red, and green. From the back walls of the sections were vertically hung banners. Each banner was the same color as the floor of its corresponding section and had a class logo. Blue was Offense, yellow was Defense, red was Tank, and green was Support. The rest of the Tank trainees and I followed Reinhardt to the third section.

On the way there, I caught glimpses of the Offense and Defense sections. In the Offense area, Soldier: 76 was standing tall, rifle in his arms, while he went over drill commands with the trainees, who had their hands to their heads in stiff salutes.

"At ease, soldiers," he barked.

The Offense trainees relaxed, although they remained completely silent. Soldier: 76 shot a friendly salute to Reinhardt, and Reinhardt saluted back.

As we marched past the Defense section, I caught a glimpse of Torbjörn constructing one of his shiny, red turrets. It was swiveling its eye back and forth along a row of metal training dummies. The Defense trainees were gathered around Torbjörn as he worked, their faces showing unfiltered expressions of awe. Torbjörn was too absorbed in focus to notice us. The empty section next to that of the Defense and Support trainees belonged to us.

My heart pumped with excitement as I stepped onto the training floor. Hanging before me was our banner, red with a white picture of a shield engulfed in a thin circle.

On the left side of the floor were wide, green crates. One of them was opened up halfway. I could see the dark barrels of guns peeking out of it. In front of my group was a steel fence. Behind the fence, there was an area crawling with training dummies. Some were floating back and forth across the expanse while others were standing in one place. I wondered with slight excitement if we would be able to use them today. Finally, against the right wall was a series of different workout machines. I saw treadmills, ellipticals, stepping machines, and chin-up bars.

The other Tank trainees and I were currently gathered on a large, circular wrestling mat. We could all fit on it at once; even Mako.

"Alright, team," began Reinhardt, facing us, "I want you all to gather up in a straight line facing me."

We did as he said, me ending up in between Zarya and Mako. I felt so small compared to the two. It was like standing in between two skyscrapers.

"Now, I'll teach you the orders. The first is simple enough. When I say 'attention,' I want you to stand straight with your eyes directed at mine. I want your heels together, your chests puffed out, and your shoulders back. Your arms can rest. Attention!"

I stumbled my way into the position, puffing out my chest as much as I could. Reinhardt began to walk down the row of trainees, observing each one of us in turn. Every now and then, he would push someone's shoulders back or tell them to put their heels together. When he came to me, he looked me up and down carefully, squinting his eyes.

"Heels together, Song," he said.

I quickly did as he said while he moved on to Mako. Reinhardt made a quick sweep of Mako's flawed position and then he spoke.

"Puff out that chest of yours and take your mask off, Rutledge. I'll store it until training's over."

Mako puffed out his chest with a deep grunt, but didn't touch his mask.

"I said to take off the mask," repeated Reinhardt impatiently.

"No," said Mako.

"What did you just say to me, Rutledge?"

Mako leaned in closer to Reinhardt's face. I could see a large vein pop out on his fat neck.

"I said no, jackass," said Mako in a hushed yet threatening tone.

Mako had no time to react as Reinhardt snatched the mask off of his face with one quick movement. Mako's cheeks were stubbly and covered in scars. He had a blind eye and looked to be in his forties. He quickly looked down at his toes and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Eyes forward, Rutledge!" yelled Reinhardt, "From now on, you do whatever I tell you, when I tell you! Understand?"

Mako nodded reluctantly, struggling to look at Reinhardt's angry face.

"I said eyes forward!"

Once Mako obeyed, the whole room was silent. Reinhardt stomped over to one of the gun crates and put down Mako's mask. As he leaned against the green box, I watched his back heave with heavy breaths. I didn't take my eyes off of him, not after what had happened.

After Reinhardt's breathing had slowed, he looked back up at us. The crimson was fading from his cheeks and he looked much more calm.

"Most of you did well," he muttered, "Not all, but most. Let's move on to the next one."

He came back over to his previous position.

"We'll be skipping parade rest, for we won't need it. The next position is called 'at ease.' I suppose you already got a peek of it when we passed Offense, but if you didn't, here it is. When I say 'at ease,' you can relax. However, I want you to keep your right foot in place and absolutely no talking. At ease!"

We took our new position. I was careful to keep my right foot exactly where it was. Instead of walking down the line, Reinhardt only looked at us.

"I'd say you all have that one," he said, " The next position is rest. You stay in the same place, but you can chat. The last commands we'll be going over are 'fall out' and 'fall in.' When I say 'fall out,' you can move from your positions and leave the line However, I want you to stay near me. For now, you can just walk around the training area. You can also talk. When I say 'fall in,' come back in line and stand at attention. Fall out and stand around the mat."

Reinhardt stepped into the middle of the mat and I fell out. I gathered around the circle with Zarya and Mako still by my side.

"Now, we'll take a bit of a test. I'm going to partner you all up and have you test your skills on the mat. Just a friendly fist fight, nothing more."

A friendly fist fight? I didn't know something like that even existed. I just hoped beyond hope that I wouldn't be partnered with Zarya.

"We'll have you all fight for a full minute. Let's get you partnered up. The first pair will be Zaryanova and Winston. Winston, join Zaryanova on her side of the mat."

Winston bounded across the mat and shook Zarya's hand with a smile.

"The next pair will be Rutledge and Song. I see you're already together."

My heart sank in my chest. I peeked over at Mako, who was sporting a wide smirk. We both knew the results of the battle before it even started.

"What about me, Mr. Lindholm?" asked Orisa, stepping forward.

"You'll go up against me," he answered, "By the way, please call me Reinhardt."

"Sounds good, Reinhardt."

"I'll go extra hard on you," he said with a friendly wink, "Rutledge and Song, come to attention on the mat. You're up first."

I faced Mako and puffed my chest, but tried not to make eye contact. Reinhardt knelt down on the mat in between us.

"On the count of three, you'll both get out of attention and fight. 1...2...

At three, Reinhardt slapped the mat and backed up.

The look on Mako's face was one of pure anger. His eyes were slits and his puffy lips were dripping with drool.

Although I was terrified, I knew that there was no turning back from this. I swung my fist at his saggy cheeks, trying to catch him off-guard, but the collision of my fist only angered him more. Before I knew it, Mako was backing up. He drew his left foot back and forth on the mat in king motions. Grunting, Mako ran at me and punched me in the nose. I spun back on my heels and landed on the mat.

All I could feel was the throbbing feeling on my nose. I could hardly feel my cheek against the cold mat. The immense power of Mako's fist blurred my vision, but I could still se a drop of blood land on the mat inches from my face. I struggled to roll over but I couldn't stand up.

When I looked up, Mako was standing over me with a bloody fist and a triumphant grin on his face.

"That's what you get for messing with Jamie," he grunted.

Reinhardt ran over to us and shoved Mako to the wall as fast as a speeding bullet.

"Back in line, Rutledge! Now!"

Reinhardt released him and came over to me. Mako walked back into the line with a short laugh.

"Oh, my," said Reinhardt, crouching next to me, "Your nose seems to be broken. Come with me, Fräulein. I'll bring you to Mercy. Stand up."

I struggled around on the mat but, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't manage to get to my feet.

"I'll help you. Hold on to my neck."

I did what he said. He scooped me up and stood with little to no effort and carried me off the mat. Despite his cold armor pressing against my body, his touch felt warm. I had always looked up to Reinhardt as a kid. He was a true hero in every sense of the word.

The area where Support trained was exactly the same as the section for Tank. The only differences were that the red floor and banner with the were replaced with green. The Support trainees stood in a similar circle to ours. Zenyatta and Satya brawled in the middle of the circle at an equal pace to one another. Ana and Mercy stood outside of the circle, quietly observing the fight over the trainees' shoulders.

"Angela! Ana!" bellowed Reinhardt.

The two medics spun around and saw me. The students also heard and paused the fight. They all stared at me in shock, and I suddenly felt self-conscious and weak.

Mercy rushed to our side, Ana trailing behind.

"Put her down gently," ordered Mercy, "I'll assemble my staff."

As Mercy rushed over to one of the green crates, Reinhardt knelt, gently coaxing me out of his arms and onto the floor.

Reinhardt whispered reassuring things to me, but they all seemed like bullshit in my condition. That was when Lúcio ran over and put my worry to rest.

"Hana! Oh my god. What happened?"

"It is none of your concern, Lúcio," said Ana, harshly, "Go join your fellow trainees in the circle."

I realized that Lúcio was now holding my hand in his. It was warm and so were my cheeks.

"Is she gonna be okay?" he asked.

"She'll be fine. We're taking care of it. Now go back or I'll make you. I don't think you want that, do you?"

Lúcio looked to me, then Ana, then back. He gave my hand one last squeeze and ran away. Even after he had left, I still felt the warmth of his hand in mine and got butterflies in my stomach.

"I'm assembling it now," said Mercy from what seemed like a million miles away.

"Quick," said Ana.

"And...it's ready."

Mercy drifted back to us with her staff in the air. When Mercy sat beside me, I prayed for the whole ordeal to all be over.

"Alright, Hana," said Mercy, "I promise this won't hurt, but it will tickle just a bit.

"I'm ready," I croaked with shallow breaths.

Mercy aimed her staff straight at my heart and flicked a hardly visible switch on the side.

A yellow glow emanated from my entire torso, cocooning my body in a cold, tingly feeling. The throbbing on my face slowed down until it came to a complete stop. The glow left my body and I felt completely fine again. I brought my hand up to my nose to check for blood and was bewildered to find none at all.

"Thank you," I muttered.

Mercy put a thin hand on my shoulder.

"My pleasure, Hana," she said.

"Woohoo!" shouted Lúcio."

I blushed again while he clapped for Mercy. There was something about him that I just couldn't get out of my head. He was so sweet and so unlike other guys that I had met. It was just something about him...

"Hana," said Ana, breaking me out of my daze, "Would you like to train with support? That is, until you get your mech."

I looked to Reinhardt, who was still kneeling by my side. He gave me a slight nod and I thought I saw a smile tugging at the edge of his mouth.

"That sounds fine," I said, "Sure. So...I'm still a Tank trainee, right?"

"Yes. You'll just train with us until you're mech arrives."

"That sounds good," I said, "Is that okay with you, Mr. Wilhelm."

"Of course. I want you to feel comfortable and safe where you are, Hana," he said, "By the way, didn't I already tell you to call me Reinhardt."

"Sorry, Reinhardt."

"No problem," he replied with a grin, "I should get back to the others before Rutledge causes any more trouble. Thanks, Angela."

Reinhardt marched out of the room with a grin still shining on his face. Mercy held a hand out to me.

"Let me help you," she suggested.

"I'm okay," I said with a wave of my own.

I only struggled a little bit to get up and, once I did, I was stable.

"I'm glad you were able to stand," said Mercy, "The Caduceus Staff has a dizzying effect on most people."

"I'm not easily dizzied."

"Come to the circle, Hana," said Ana, signaling me, "We're currently doing a series of fist fights to test pain tolerance. I'll partner you up with Lúcio."

I headed over to the circle while trying to hide my excitement at the thought of Lúcio being my partner. I stood next to him, nervous for a reason I just couldn't pinpoint. Maybe it was because I was about to fight again. But Lúcio seemed gentle; much better than Mako. He gave me a little punch on the arm.

"Man, I was worried about you," he said, "What even happened?"

I tried to keep my voice down just in case I was being heard from behind the barrier.

"It was that asshole, Mako," I said.

"Oh. You mean Roadhog?"

"Is that his battle name?"

"Yep," replied Lúcio.

"I guess that explains the tattoo!" I said, remembering the giant pig on Roadhog's stomach.

"Yeah," he said, "That thing's so ugly too."

"The tattoo or the guy himself?"

Lúcio laughed like my stupid little joke was a knee-slapper. I could tell that he was sincerely cracking up. He had a nice laugh, too. Loud, but nice. When he was done, he wiped a tear from his eye.

"I don't like colored tattoos. I prefer plain black. See?"

Lúcio rolled up his left sleeve to reveal a black tattoo of a frog. Other designs swirled around the frog, making the muscles in his arm stand out. He had a lot of muscle for his size.

"Cool," I said, trying not to stare.

I decided to change the subject.

"You know," I began, "Roadhog actually said something really weird after he'd gotten me down. It stuck with me."

"What did he say?"

"He said, 'That's what you get for messing with Jamie,'" I quoted.

"Jamie...Oh! He must mean Junkrat. Jamison Fawkes."

"Why would he defend someone like that?"

"Those two are inseparable," Lúcio said.

"Aren't they, like, eighty years apart or something?" I asked.

"Ha. Something like that."

"This round's winner is Satya," announced Ana.

She was holding up Satya's hand in the middle of the circle while Zenyatta clapped respectfully. I applauded for her. Satya and Zenyatta got back into their places in the circle.

"Our next competitors will be Lúcio and Hana," said Ana, "Step into the circle and stand opposite from each other."

We did what she said. Facing Lúcio was much different than facing Roadhog. While Roadhog had furrowed his eyebrows and growled, Lúcio gave me a mischievous smile with perfectly white teeth.

"Alright, trainees," said Ana, "When I count down from three, I want you to fight. But don't go too hard. Go forty percent maximum."

"Got it, coach," said Lúcio.

I gave Ana a thumbs up.

"Three...two...one!"

Lúcio and I shuffled forward, both being as cautious as the other. Once we were arms length apart, Lúcio threw a surprise attack at my cheek. I blocked it quickly with my forearm and backed up. My heart was pounding with excitement.

"Think you can keep up with me?" I said.

A wide smile appeared on Lúcio's face.

"Just getting started!"

I charged at him as fast as I could and swung at his cheek. He saw it coming and grabbed ahold of my arm. He painfully twisted it behind my back and I felt tears at the corners of my eyes. He pushed me to the floor and held me down with his knee. My arm was throbbing and my eyes watered like crazy.

I was about to tap out when I remembered what this was all for. If I were going to be a member of Overwatch, I needed to have a high pain tolerance. I needed to endure the pain long enough to come up with an escape plan. But what could I do? Lúcio had me down. There was no getting up from this. Unless...

"Ready to quit, girl?" he taunted.

"I play to win!"

I started to flop back and forth on my stomach like a fish out of water. When I got my head to the perfect height, I knocked it against my opponent's face. In Lúcio's surprise, he loosened his grip on my arm and I escaped.

"Damn, Hana!"

I punched him in the face, trying not to hurt him too badly. He stumbled back and off of the mat.

"The winner is Hana!" said Ana.

She came into the circle and held up my hand just like she had done with Satya. I looked down at Lúcio. He had a bloody nose, but his never-fading smile still showed.