Finding Strength (CLOSED)

"I'm holding up the best I can, Cal." Katherine moved up a bit, making room for Calum in case he wanted to sit by her. "I tried everything the Lotus Lounge had to offer, every drink, every drug... none of it worked, big surprise. Couldn't even get laid" Katherine said with a sigh. She carried on cleaning her guns, focusing on cleaning every inch of every gun, trying to distract herself.

Selena finished her breakfast, and set the dish in the sink before turning to Julian.
"We've got the numbers, we've got the skills, and we've got the guns." Selena wrapped her arms around Julian, relaxing slightly. "We've got this, sugar" Selena said with a chuckle.

Calum sat next to her, un-tensed. He put a hand on her shoulder, the lights in it dimming considerably. "Sounds about right..." he sighed, "...but at least you met Samm there. He seems a nice enough guy, but I'd imagine he's too, ah... Freerange, you could say... for your taste.". He repositioned himself a bit, sitting more comfortably and taking his hand off, the lights coming back to life. He looked at her a bit sadly, considering what to say.

Julian lightly wrapped his arms around Selina in return. "True... I see where you're comin' from with that there.". He seemed assured now, and at the scene of the two wrapping their arms around the other, Evan jokingly elbowed Kyle, to which he swatted at with a light grin.

"He actually reminds me of the old me. You know, the sweet innocent girl you met." Katherine set her gun down, looking at it for a good while. "He's leaving soon too." Katherine edged closer to Calum, leaning against him slightly, enjoying the warmth coming from his arms. "Really digging the new cybernetics" Katherine said with a halfhearted chuckle. She didn't know what to do with herself, nothing seemed to make her feel good aside from fighting and killing.

"Hey, come off it you two" Selena said with a laugh. She made her way over to the counter, and poured herself a coffee, pausing for a moment. "Anyone else want a coffee? We've got regular and flavoured." She grabbed a large cookie, and nibbled at it happily. "And chewy ginger cookies."

Calum nodded, seeing what she was saying about Samm. "Yeah. Amazing to have kept his optimism for so long. Guess he just learned not to give a shit anymore.". He chuckled lightly, making his arms a bit of a comfortable warm, both because he wanted to test his control and because Katherine was using their warmth for comfort. "Thanks for the compliment. Ty's the guy who proposed the idea, and he promised me a couple features I knew I couldn't turn down."

Evan perked up a bit. "Chewy ginger cookies? Kyle and I would have one. He loves 'em.". The two traded smiles, with Julian adding in, "I'm good on cookies, but I wouldn't mind a regular coffee myself."

"Well, I think the new upgrades are pretty amazing" Katherine said with a smile, embracing the warmth. She thought a for bit, about everything he had done, and everything he had done for her. She shook her head, as if shaking a thought from her head. "I suppose optimism is good when you're almost a thousand years old." Katherine snuggled up against Calum, just enjoying the fact that he cared. She rested her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes, and smiling.

"Kat goes nuts for them too" Selena said with a chuckle before grabbing two huge cookies for the two Assassins, and made a coffee for Julian. She carried everything over to the table before pulling up a seat, and snuggling up against Julian.

Calum raised his eyebrow lightly at her shaking her head, asking, "You alright there? Somethin' in yer hair now?". He rubbed her back a bit, going slow to let the warmth do its thing. As far as he knew, she was extremely stressed.

Evan and Kyle wordlessly began pecking at their cookies, savoring the taste
Julian smiled warmly, snuggled up in return and taking a drink of his coffee.

"No, not at all. Just a stray thought, one I probably shouldn't have had" Katherine said with a sigh. Draco had also huddled up against Calum, enjoying the warmth. She wasn't exactly stressed, just depressed. She hadn't bothered to take her meds in a while since nothing really worked on her anymore. All she had was a ton of feelings and emotions to deal with, and it was difficult, especially dealing with her feelings for people.


Selena sat there next to Julian, enjoying her coffee and cookie. It definitly seemed like the calm before the storm.
"Where did Samm go?"

Calum nodded. "I know what you mean. Stray thoughts can range from simple to crazy in my experience.". He looked at her, wanting to help the best he could. He knew something was going on inside, yet no clue whatsoever as to how to help about it in the first place. "Anything specific troubling you?" he decided to ask.

"Over here." Samm called from the other room. "Watching Michael test his strength. He's punched a lot of trees already.". Julian chuckled lightly at the thought of somebody running around literally fighting a forest, taking a sip of coffee.

"Feelings, I suppose. I'd rather not say just yet" Katherine said with a sigh. She sat back up, and picked up a gun and began cleaning it. "You'll probably find out eventually, depending on how everything goes the next few days."

"Ah, ok. I reckon if him and Katherine fight again it'll be pretty cool to watch" Selena said with a chuckle before taking another sip of her coffee. "I'm going to train for a bit later. I want to be ready for the fight."

Calum nodded. "Fair enough. I won't pretend I fully understand what that means." He laughed a bit, standing. "Imma head on outside with Mikey, see how his 'test run' is going. Likely gonna test my stuff too.". He gave her a thumbs up with a slight smile on his face, then leaving the room, and joining Michael.

Julian nodded. "I just would hope it doesn't go the same way as before. We had to get her off him because the Mirakuru took over her thought process I think, and she started choking him. He was out for a bit. She should be better off now." He finished off his coffee, saying, "I'll just be sitting around, probably with Evan and Kyle here," he gestured to them, both nodding, "and likely watching those two test their upgrades."

It was taking Katherine quite a while to clean all her guns, since she had a lot of them and she insisted on doing a good job. She started playing music from the Vietnam war on her phone to help pass the time.

Selena, after doing the dishes, headed to the living room, and started doing some pretty intense yoga before contorting herself in impossible ways.

Outside, Michael was seemingly trying to punch through an entire tree, to which Calum said, "What are ye goin' to do when your hand is in the tree, with yer arm? Stop tryin' tah. I also don' wanna explain all the holes in trees now."

Inside, Julian sat where he was before, wincing a bit at the contortions. "Sheesh, I know it's possible and you're flexible, but that just looks right painful in my opinion.". Evan and Kyle were still in the kitchen, idly eating their cookies.

Katherine decided to head outside for a quick smoke, and was watching the Butchers push their limits. She couldn't help but laugh at their banter.
"You making some holes for squirrels, Mikey?" Katherine approached the two, chuckling a bit. She looked at Michael, the tree, then to Calum. "If he does get stuck, I think the two of us will be able to get him out."

"It's only painful the first few times, or when you do it wrong." Selena had twisted herself into a somewhat odd position that made it look like she could fit in a large shoebox. She untwisted herself, and stretched, arching her back slightly. "Comes in useful when you have to get into small places or slip away."

Calum nodded, laughing. "I reckon so. Wanted tah test sumfin my self, by the way.". Michael stepped back from the tree, and Calum continued, "No, no, ahm no' usin' the tree. I don't wanna light this whole place up. I'll jus' be usin' the snow.". Michael chuckled a bit.
"What if ye accidentally hit a tree?".
"Ah won'... Prolly.". At that, Calum seemed to focus, his right hand glowing brighter and brighter. Eventually, the flame from earlier appeared, yet he let it grow. Once it was large enough, he shoved his hand in the direction of the ground in front of him, launching what could only be described as a fireball. Calum maniacally laughed, saying, "Shit, yes! It works, Mikey!". At that, Michael stopped what he was doing, giving a high five.

Julian nodded, seeing the usefulness. "Sounds good. I'd imagine it will be coming in handy soon, since you're in that 'infiltration squad' Cal was talkin 'bout."

Katherine stood there for a moment, completely frozen.
"Holy Shit!" That's all that managed to come out of her mouth at that moment. She almost couldn't believe it. "That's amazing!" She paused for a moment, looking a bit concerned, perhaps a bit scared even. "Cal, it's not connected to your emotions, is it" she asked, a hint of concern in her voice.

"I suppose so" Selena said with a chuckle. She grabbed a small black backpack, and set it on the mantel. "I started with the one, the rest I was given by Abstergo."

Calum thought for a bit, and said, "...only in the way that I need to focus. If I'm not collected and calm, I can't focus it. Ty made sure that I don't get angry and burn a place down, or get sad or depressed and have no control over my stuff.". His hand and arm started dimming down, cooling off. The other arm was sparking back to life - it seemed all of his energy was being poured into the right hand when he launched it. "Why do ya ask?"

"I'm just checking. We all saw how horribly it can go if abilities are connected to emotions" Katherine said with a sigh. She took a pull of her cigarette, and ran her fingers through her hair. She looked back at the cabin, then to the Butchers before killing her cigarette. "I'll see you guys later." Katherine headed inside rather quickly, immediately finding Selena.

"Selena, we need to talk... actually, I think I need your help."
"Um, sure, Kat."
"Not here. Bring your gear, we're heading out, and I figured we could get in some training."

The two women headed out deep in the woods, Selena dressed in warm clothes, Katherine just wearing her regular clothes and a black hoodie.

Calum and Michael looked at each other, both Butchers quite confused. "What do ye reckon tha's about?"
"Ah, nothin', prolly. But she gave me an' idea - 'ow bout we have a friendly lil' spar, eh?". Calum hardly had to think of an answer.
"Hell yes. I don' use my fire, and you don' use yer... Don' punch a hole in me.". Michael chuckled, taking a combat stance far different than the one Calum just took.

Julian sat there, admittedly quite confused. He wasn't too worried about what Katherine wanted to talk about, but couldn't help but think about what it was in the first place.

"You sure about this, Katherine? I left Abstergo because they forced me to hurt you."
"And now I'm asking you to." Selena pulled her personal whip from her bag, and held it hesitantly.
"Can I at least ask why" Selena asked, a slight crack in her voice.
"After Jack... I never want to feel anything... I never want to love again." Katherine took off her hoodie, shirt, and bra before kneeling down in the snow.
"And if the others find out?"
"Then I'll tell them the truth." Selena closed her eyes, and gripped her whip tightly before lashing at Katherine. Tears streamed steadily from Katherine's eyes, not because of the physical pain, but from the hurt inside. Selena let the tears roll freely, hating that she was hurting her friend. They both dared not make a noise, hoping that nobody would hear and come looking for them.

"So, who do you reckon would win? You, Bane, or Kat?" Calum asked, lunging at Michael.
"Kat long-term, cos of that healing factor o' 'ers. I could do some damage ah reckon,
and maybe Bane but ah dunno. Ah know Mirakuru is real, but ah dunno bout venom...". Michael dodged the strike, catching Calum's arm and flipping him over.
"Fair 'nuff. Speakin' of 'em, what do ye think they're doin' in the forest?", he questioned as he hit Michael squarely on the chest, making him stumble back a bit.
"Girl stuff. Make overs. Callin' boys.
Ahm jokin' - jus' somefin like us prolly.". Michael launched a punch at Calum himself, Calum dodging and powerfully kicking Michael over from his side, sending him onto the ground.
"True, true. Can' hurt.". He offered a hand to Michael, Michael taking it to get back up.

"Kat, can we stop now? My arm's getting tired." Katherine looked at Selena over her shoulder before hanging her head.
"Change arms, and stop holding back, I'm still feeling. Change it up if you have to." Selena looked down at Katherine before grabbing a different whip, one of the ones from Abstergo. As soon as it met her flesh, Katherine let out pained grunt. "G-Good, but I know you can do better." The girls were out there for quite a while, at least half an hour, gradually working their way through the different whips.

Calum and Michael were still sparring, only outside so long themselves due to Calum warming both of them up occasionally. Samm watched their entire session, heavily intrigued by their styles of fighting and how heavily it differed. Evan, Kyle, and Julian, merely sat around, idly chatting about whatever came to mind.

After a while, the two girls finally finished up, Katherine pulled on her shirt, and they headed back to the cabin, neither one talking.
As soon as they reached the cabin, Selena made herself a hot chocolate while Katherine headed straight to her room. Katherine shut her bedroom door, opened a window, and took off her shirt before lying face down on the bed. Selena took her hot chocolate to her room, sat on the edge of the bed, and drank her hot chocolate quietly.

Calum and Michael had stopped sparring, Calum heading inside. He knocked on Katherine's door, saying "Hey, Kat. You alright in there? Just wanted to check on you, making sure that you aren't getting the jitters."

"I'm fine, Calum." There was a slight crack in her voice which was already muffled from the pillow. She draped her arms over the body pillow she was resting her head on, trying to get a bit comfortable. The cold wind coming through the window soothed her wounds slightly. "Why would I have the jitters?"