Finding Strength (CLOSED)

Calum shrugged, grabbing another slice, handing it to Michael, then getting it for himself. "Yeah... Sounds good. Im half outta it righ' now, so I'm not much for conversation currently.". Michael laughed at Calum's lack of normal enthusiasm, shaking his head lightly.
"Ah, man, looks like Cal's got us beat,
Kat. Toss me a beer, eh?". He extended an arm, hand out stretched and ready to catch.

Katherine grabbed a beer, and tossed it over to Michael before taking a sip of her own. She enjoyed these moments of just chilling with Michael and Calum, even if Calum was nearly completely baked. She checked a message that came through on her phone, and smiled.
"Ah, sorry. I need to go for a few minutes. Strange has a package for me" Katherine said with a smile before racing off.

"So, Hugo, you think this will work?"
"In theory, it should work."
"Everything works in theory, Hugo. How's work on the other project going?" Strange let out a laugh as he handed Katherine a small box.
"It should be ready soon, but you'll need to come in for that."
"Alright, I'll make arrangements with Calum."

Michael took a good drink, before saying, "What do ya reckon tha's abou', Cal?
Anythin' importan', ya reckon?". Calum shrugged, finishing a third slice and not going for anymore.
"Dunno... Prolly has to do with the one thing..."
"What 'one thing' are ye talkin' abou'?"
"Ya know... The, uh... Uh... The thing!". Michael shook his head, at a complete loss, aa Calum spun his chair around lightly, saying to himself, "...I don' even know what the thing is. But I know it's a thing she's gettin', yessir."

Katherine entered the room, a huge smile on her face, and grabbed a slice of pizza before sitting on the edge of Calum's bed, setting the box beside her.
"Sorry I took a bit long. Strange wanted to talk a bit, and check on how I'm doing. I'm going to have to leave the area for a few hours next weekend."

Calum nodded, saying, "Should be alright... If ye end up doin' well 'nuff this week, ah reckon ah won' need to do much convincin' to allow ye to leave.". He was still spinning the chair around slowly, frankly quite enjoying himself. Michael shook his head a bit, grabbing another slice himself.
"Hes been spinning for a while now.
He's hardly in it - half his words earlier were 'thing'."

"Wow, um, alright then." Katherine looked a bit concerned for Calum, but decided she'd leave him alone for now. Having finished her slice of pizza, she grabbed two more pieces before returning to her seat. "Everything alright, Cal?"

Calum laughed a bit, saying, "Uh-huh... Bruford isn', though...". He laughed a bit harder, forming his hand like a fist bump and extending it to the air. "...guess ya can say he's gone crazy, cause he lost his head. Get it? Lost his head?" He laughed harder, and was looking a bit up as if somebody was standing in front of him. Michael sighed.
"...guess it's really kicking in. Musta been sumfin good, too."

"Or something bad. I've seen things, man." Katherine took a bite of her pizza, watching Calum carefully. She set a gentle hand on his shoulder, and looked into his eyes, a hint of concern on her face. "Cal, what did you take?"

Calum shrugged. "I jus' smoked a joint. Don' you see Bruford?". Michael walked over to Calum's desk, finding a organized pill case with Calum's name on it, behind the computer. He opened it, seeing a few of the later days empty.
"Cal... Did ya happen to take medication?"
"Hnm...? Oh, yeeaaaah! Lunesta or whatev it's called.". Michael sighed, looking towards Katherine.
"If ah 'member correctly, th' kinda stuff hes takin' is used for depression. Guess Cal has some secrets. More importantly, some side effects include hallucinations."

"Ah, fuck. Wait, Lunesta?" Katherine had an extremely worried look on her face, and gently cupped Calum's cheek with her hand. "Calum, exactly how much Lunesta did you take? I need you to be honest." She watched his eyes carefully, trying to gauge his condition.

He waved it off, breaking away a bit. "Ah'm fine, y'see. Jus' the 'mount ah'm always s'posed tah take.". He chuckled a bit like he heard a joke, and added on, "Heh. Bruford jus' got it.". Michael, looking a bit anxious, inspected the case.
"Seems he's not lyin'. He'd be a lot more nervous if he was, an' he's not. Cal's... Mostly...
Smart, Kat."

"Lunesta is a sleeping pill, Michael, that's why I'm worried." Katherine backed a way a bit, and sat back down on the edge of the bed. She wouldn't get involved until she needed to, and she needed to figure it out. Why would Calum be depressed, aside from it being a mental problem?

Calum stood. Hands on hips, he said, "Ah'm fine, ya two. Jus'... Don' worry abou' me. Ah've been fine fer abou' thirty years, an' I 'ought be fine for tha night.". Michael raised an eyebrow, setting the case down.
"Cal, how long have you be-"
"-ye don' need tah know!". He seemed a bit angry at first, but quickly calmed himself. "S-sorrey... No' exac'ly in th' bes' mental state. Jus'... Ah'd rather no' explain it jus' yet.". He sat on his bed, lookin' at the two of them. "Ah... Ah'd rather ya two head on oot.". Michael looked at him, riddled with concern and too many questions going through his head. Michael nodded in defeat, signaling for Katherine to follow him out.

"You don't have to tell me twice" Katherine said with a sigh before following Michael out of the room, taking her box, and a box of pizza. She set her things down on the table in the storage room, and let out a heavy sigh. "Goddamnit..." She threw her hoodie at the wall, and let out a sigh.

Michael followed her in, sitting wherever he could with a resigned look on his face. "Man... Wish I could hel-" he froze, as if he just noticed something. "...Kat. If you just got back to HQ after not using the Animus for nearly a week and were.heavily interested in your ancestor's memories,
what would be one of the first things you did?"

"I'd get in the animus, or drink. But that, what he's doing... He could die" Katherine said with a sigh as she ran her fingers through her hair. "One of my friends killed himself like that..." Katherine picked up another slice of pizza, and just looked at it for a while before finally taking a bite. She was just worried about him, and she didn't want to lose him.

"I'm pretty sure Calum is havin' overexposure to the Animus. Ah've hardly seen him out his room, an' those timed were when he cleaned an' got a drink er food.". He ran his hands through his hair, concerned. "Whoever he's livin' as - prolly Damian, maybe no' - is prolly goin' through wha' he is. Ah've suffered from extreme overexposure before, an' I literally was Damian Butcher for abou' an hour at a time. 'ad 'is personality an' mannerisms. Wors' thing was, mah only forewarnin' was a killer headache a couple minute 'fore hand."

"Then we need to keep him away from it" Katherine said with a sigh. She turned to Michael, trying to understand everything. "From what I know about Damian, he was quite a happy guy, even had a good wife." Katherine opened a draw, and pulled a bottle of whiskey out, along with two glasses. She poured a glass for Michael, and another for herself, taking a sip of hers slowly.

Michael took a reasonable sized drink, and said, "Yeah. He was. First, he was jus' bi-polar, some bouts of being sad, but he fell into a period of depression after his wife got killed some,
ah... Near ten years in their marriage. If I 'member correctly, he was fourty three at the time it happened. They both held up well until then, but aging caught up with him soon after. It was sometime in his fifties he started acting happier again.". He shook his head, slightly disgusted. "I lived tha memory of 'er death.
Hit 'em deep. I couldn' bear much af'er that, but knowin' Cal... He's prolly trudgin' on, scrapin' for any info."

"I get it, Mikey... It's rough, losing someone, and I don't think you ever really get over it. He needs to see that he isn't Damian. It's almost three hundred years later, and he has his own life to live. He needs to live his own life, not a dead man's." Katherine downed her whiskey, setting the empty glass at her side. "If this is where the Assassin life leads, then I'm fucking off somewhere and continuing with merc work because that is not the kind of life I want" Katherine said sadly, with just a hint of anger, as she pointed to Calum's room.

Michael shook his head. "Cal believes there's some sort of secret to unfol' with Damian's life. Spot o' a piece o' Eden or sumfin. Lad's dedicated to findin' it 'fore my ol' pals can. After all,
the Templars have all the stuff he's got.". He downed the rest of his drink himself, adding on. "Time's differen' in an animus anyway.
Ya can live abou' twen'y years in abou' a full twenty four hours straight. Give 'im time, an he'll be outta it."

"Alright, fine." Katherine shook her head, realising how she had behaved. "Sorry, I need to head outside for a while, clear my head and all that... You can stay here if you want, or do whatever you want, I suppose." Katherine left her room, and headed outside.

"Ugh, unbelievable..." Katherine began racing down the street, enjoying the cold wind against her face. She slipped into an alleyway, and scaled the side of the building, heading straight for the roof. Once on the roof, she sat on the edge, looking out over the city.

Evan had been patrolling around when he caught sighr of Katherine running around. He smiled, following her, but not able to keep up the pace. Eventually, he scaled the building she went up, the first thing he saw being her back. "Hey, thought I saw ya!". He smiled, walking over to her. "You alright, Kat? Didn't think you'd be out here."

"Yeah, I'm alright, Evan, at least I think I am. It's just... nevermind." Katherine just stared at the horizon, focusing on nothing in particular before hanging her head. "I'm just wondering if I made the right choice, about Calum. I mean, I'm only doing all of this because of him. Seeing how he really is, knowing what he does, how many secrets he has... it's just frustrating. He knows almost everything about me, yet I didn't even know he had a second name until last night." She pulled her knees up to her chest, and rested her head on her knees. "I'm not alright" Katherine said with a sigh, wiping a few tears away.

Evan sat next to her, wrapping an arm around her. "Hey, it's alright...". He got up next to her, trying to be something to cry on. "...Cal keeps a lot of secrets. He has a very hard time opening up to, well... Anybody.
His mom died before he was ten, and his father died sometime near his early teen years. For nearly twenty years, hes been raised to trust nobody, to work in the shadows, and keep absolutely nobody close.". He smiled at her a bit, saying, "After all, it took me three years to find out his middle name. Kevin about the same time as well, likely."