Ryder's POV

I woke up to a monotone beeping sound. Reluctantly, I rolled over in my new bed, facing Sam on the other side of the room. He was already facing me, beginning to sit up. 

"When I convinced you to get that Pacman Alarm, I did not realise it was going to have such an annoying noise," Sam groaned. 

"I think there's different sound options. We'll try a different one tomorrow," I said, slapping it off. I noticed that Sam wore tartan pyjama pants to bed. There was a matching shirt to it, which lay on his char, but he went to bed shirtless nonetheless. 

"That's good to hear. How was your first night here?"

"It was great, I've never had a double bed before, and I love it," I said. 

"Glad to hear it," he said, before we both disappeared into the bathrooms. I came out a couple of minutes later in a thin white shirt and black leggings. 

"Ready to go?" Sam asked. 

"Yeah," 

We went to the canteen, and got protein shakes. 

"We should take the jog slow today, because your body probably isn't used to running straight after downing a shake," Sam chuckled. 

"Yeah, that's smart, I am not looking forward to projectile vomiting," I joked. 

"Me neither. I mean if you did, it's not a huge deal, but for your sake, I hope you don't," he said. 

I smiled. He was such a sweetheart. 

We started our slow jog shortly after. Sam kept the pace slow. "We can pick up the speed once you've done it a few times," he said. 

I hummed in response. After about 15 minutes, we were nearly half way. As we ran, Sam pulled his shirt off. "It's too hot," he commented. 

"Shoulda worn shorts," I panted. 

Sam let out a throaty laugh. "Notes to self: Change Pacman Sound, Remember to wear shorts next time," I laughed too. 

Once we finished our full lap of the grounds, we stopped to catch our breath. "You shouldn't be panting, you do this all the time," I pointed out. 

"If it were easy, everyone would do it," he grinned. 

(a/n if you know the reference, i love you )

"I need food," I said. 

"Me too, come on," we went into the canteen and grabbed breakfast, before plonking beside Sierra. 

"Morning kids. Judging by your state, I'll assume you joined Samuel on his daily sprint," Sierra said. 

I hummed and dug into my food. "Mornin'"

"Did you sleep well?" Gray asked. 

"Yeah, thanks," I replied. 

"I've got something to show you after breakfast," Gray added. 

I tilted my head. "Do I need to bring anything?" 

"No, just yourself," he said. He didn't elaborate, so I didn't ask anymore questions. 

Once I finished eating, me and Sam followed Gray to the Gym. Sam was going there anyway, since he would work out his legs at this time of the day. Sam left us on the ground floor, so it was just me and Gray. He led me through a series of sports halls and gyms, till we reached a room that nobody was using, with a series of cages in it. On the floors of the cages were baseballs. 

On the ground outside the cages, was two hard cases. Gray kneeled on the floor and flipped open the two cases. One held a matte black wooden baseball bat. The other held a plain, metal one. 

"They're beautiful," I commented. 

"Aren't they?" He took out the wooden one, and handed it to me, handle first. I took it from him. "Get a feel for it. Do you know the common baseball stance?"

I raised it into position. "I don't play, but I've seen it online,"

"Yeah, that's right, you got it. Bring that elbow out a little bit- Yes, that's right, perfect," he said, before looking to the cages. "You seen those before?" I shook my head. "It's a batting cage. That machine down the end bowls automatically. You feed balls into it, and then do batting practise. I figured it would help you turn that into a weapon. Aim practise, and all that stuff." He stands and opens the cage. "Nobody's used this thing in years. Wanna give it a shot?" I nodded. Gray collected about 10 balls and fed them into the machine. "Ready?

"Yeah," I said, getting into stance. 

"To start with, just focus on getting the ball to hit the bat, no need to use force." he advised. 

I did as he said and positioned the bat so that it would hit the ball as it came towards me. After all the balls had been bowled, I had pretty much aced adjusting my position to make contact between the ball and the bat. 

"Okay, well done. This time, you should attempt to put a gentle swing into it. So bring yourself up into the stance we did a minute ago, and then bring it down gently." he collected another 10 balls and I practised this. 

Each time I hit, the ball would travel a little further in front of me, as I began to put in more power. "I honestly thought I would struggle more,"

Gray shrugged, "You must be a natural." he fed some more baseballs into the machine. "Okay, you can put more power into it. Keep your eyes on the ball, no missing, okay?" 

I gave him a nod, and like he said, I didn't miss. They started to hit the back of the net harder and harder the more force I put in. 

"Okay, that's enough for now, come on," Gray led me back out the cage. "Heard of Captain America?"

"Yup," 

"What is his signature belonging?"

"Shield," I stated. 

"Why do think nobody has been able to damage that shield?"

"Because it's made of vibranium?" Gray raised his eyebrows at my answer. 

"I wasn't expecting that you'd know the metal name, but I'm not surprised. Mined only in Wakanda. Black Panther's suit is made of it. Special because of it's ability to absorb, store and release large amounts of kinetic energy. Do you know what that is?"

"Motion, impact, vibration," I said. 

"You weren't kidding about liking Physics huh?" he chuckled. "Yes, you're correct." he bent and picked up the metal bat, admiring it before handing it to me. 

(a/n there is no grip on it, I just couldn't find a pic of a plain metal one hahahahha, also I know that pic is a drawing)

I expected it to be heavy, but it wasn't really. "Is it hollow?" I asked. 

"Nope, it feels light though, doesn't it? It gets heavier over a long time as it absorbs kinetic energy, and then releases it together," Gray explained. 

"Wait so this is vibranium?" I asked. 

He nodded. "It's rare, so look after it. Black Panther gifted some of the metal to us when we provided him with a warning on an incoming attack. He couldn't contact us, but he knew we had eyes and ears everywhere, so he left out notes and stuff and we picked it up some time later."

"Wow, this is so cool," I said, wrapping my fingers around the grip. "How does it release the energy it absorbs?"

"Have you seen that famous clip of Thor's hammer hitting Cap's shield?" 

I nodded "It's lets out this ripple in the air and wipes out everything nearby except the people holding it,"

"Exactly. I assume that you would use it like a gravity spike, and strike it onto the ground or something. Very useful in a big fight,"

"Yeah, for sure," I began to hand it back to him, but he shook his head. 

"It's yours."

My eyes widened. "This is a very rare metal to world, I can't take this," I said.

"If you insist that you don't want it, then I will reconsider, but come on, if you learn to use this weapon right, you could be unbeatable. You learn to aim, and a baseball to the head would knock somebody out. I could potentially make baseballs that explode on second impact, giving you the first to hit it. You could be more effective than an avenger if we train you properly," Gray said. 

"I guess you're right,"

"You were naturally drawn to that baseball bat in Rick's office. You could have chosen any other weapon, but you chose this," he said, pointing to the bat. "I melted down the vibranium yesterday and made this for you. I understand if you decline, but I really think you have potential, and I don't say that to many people,"

"Okay, I'll keep it," I said. 

Gray smiled. "Great. Don't let it out of your sight, okay? Now give it a shot," 

We re-entered the cage and Gray put in 20 baseballs this time. I began to get a feel for the weight of this bat and found out what stance was more comfortable for me. 

Once we finished the 20 Gray spoke. "Practise everyday, and soon you'll be able to direct your hits. I'm going to go back to the labs now. You may keep them both," he said, referring to the two bats.

"Thanks Gray, I'm really enjoying this," I said. 

"I'm glad you are, see you at lunch," He said, before leaving.