Finding Strength (CLOSED)

"Come on, Butcher, put him out of his misery" Katherine said with a laugh before heading off to collect her winnings with Jack. She flashed Michael a thumbs up before disappearing.

Michael nodded, doing the same thing Katherine did to Wolverine, but merely tossing the heart to the side instead of the man's mouth. He chuckled as he left the ring, and put his hoodie back on after Calum handed it to him. "Good shit, man!
One of the most entertaining fights I've seen at the cybernetic figuts. Where'd those two go?". Calum looked around, spotting them eventually. "Not hard to find, they are. 'ey, you two, what's next?" he said as the three walked over towards them.

"Now? Now we have a drink with them" Katherine said with a chuckle as she pointed to the Russians, who were chatting amongst themselves. She made sure that she had everything she needed before making her way over to the Russians. "Anatoli? Priyatno videt' vas snova! YA ne znal, chto ty v Amerike. pochemu ty zdes'?" The man took a moment, thinking for a moment before he burst out laughing. He picked Katherine up, and hugged her tightly.
"Kalinka! Vau, ty vyros. Menya pereveli v mestnoye otdeleniye Bratva." He looked at the men, "Who are your friends, Kalinka" the man asked in a thick Russian accent.

Calum stepped forward first. "Calum. Calum Butcher. Training your friend here, myself." Julian smiled, and said, "...and they saved me from getting assaulted by some thugs. Your friend, not Cal here. Name's Julian Fierro, regular around here,
so you can assume my occupation.". Finally, Michael stepped forward, offering the non-bloody hand in a hand shake. "Michael Butcher. Distantly related to Calum here, and probably one of the few people that won't quickly die against your friend."

Anatoli gladly shook Michael's hand, a sort of a twisted smile on his face.
"And I'm Jack, her boyfriend." Jack said the last part quietly, so nobody else would here.
"Guys, this is my halfbrother, Anatoli Romanov" Katherine said happily. Anatoli didn't seem pleased with Jack's statement, and whispered something to one of his men.
"It is nice to meet you, please, sit, have a drink" Anatoli said with a smile, gesturing to a few empty seats. He pulled a bottle of vodka from his bag. "Nobody leaves until the bottle is empty. It is the rules." There was a slight air of hostility about Anatoli, but Katherine still sat down next to him.

Michael sat with a largr smile on his face, and said, "I'll have you know I come from a long line of alcohol drinking Scots, inheriting their tolerance for stuff as well - specifically Whiskey,
but vodka can work as well.". Julian followed and sat as well, with Calum sitting last. He seemed slightly tensed, and was a bit on guard. He said, "No offense, but I'm personally holding off. I'd rather not be shitfaced today."

"I understand, Calum. You know, you make me think of Rasputin, great man, but you are much smaller." This earned a round of laughter from the Russians, until Katherine scolded them in Russian. She knocked back glasses of vodka, more than Anotoli or his men. Jack sat close to Calum, feeling the general tension at the table.

Calum nodded. "Lets hope my fate doesn't follow his. At least you didn't offer wine.". He glanced at Jack quickly before taking in the rest of the Russians. Michael, not bothering with such, was essentially on par with Katherine, if not above when it came to knocking back glasses. "So,
half-brother, ye said?". His scottish accent had become a bit more prominent, and he continued, "Cause ah don really see it. No fence,
but yer so tiny compared tah th' size o' this lad. Fokin absolute unit, 'e is. Guess ah ahm too, now ah think boot it. Is i' no' by blood, ah take it? No 'fence, bu' jus' gotsa ask ye.". Julian was going slow with his drinks, yet still at a reasonable pace.

"We have same father, my mother was beautiful model, but Kalinka's birth mother was simple prostitute. I am surprised she did not become prostitute" Anatoli said with a laugh. Katherine clenched her fists tightly, enraged by what Anatoli had said. She stood up, and downed the bottle of vodka before throwing it at him.
"BLYAT! You think I should have been a prostitute like my mother?! Fuck you, suka! At least I have real friends, and not some goons that our father pays to hang out with you! And the girls?! How many girls have you knocked up, because I stopped counting somewhere in the twenties."
"I am warning you, Wuulf. Carry on, and you will regret it!"
"No, suka, we're done! You think you're so much better, because you are pure Russian?" She swiped a bottle from the table, growling. "Let's go, guys" Katherine growled before storming out, Jack behind her.

Julian sheepishly followed the two, not bothering to look at the Russians out of slight fear. Calum, scowling, said, "Knowing what kind of man you are and what you think, I'm disgusted. I see what she says now - you're hardly a man.". He spat on the table, and stormed off with Katherine. Michael stood, sighing. "Ahm sorry bout tha'. Hopefully, ye don' think what ye think about him bout all Butchers. Differen' line o' Butcher, he is. I'm headin' out, then.". He reluctantly walked off, finding the others. Calum, slightly furious, said "I don't see how you're related to that... Filth. You definetly got the better half of yer parents.". He pointed a finger at Michael, and said, "and you! You better not have taken longer to give those men your contact information. I don' want ye to be wif tha' filth! Fokin wee scrotes dey were." His accent had crept up into his speech as he talked, seemingly with his anger.

Katherine couldn't help but smile at Calum's accent, she always did love the Scots, and the Irish.
"Most of who I am, my adoptive father made me. Huge man, but a real teddy bear" Katherine said sadly as she purchased the guns she had seen earlier. She took a huge sip from the bottle of vodka she had stolen from Anatoli. "As far as I'm concerned, my adoptive parents are my real parents. I just always thought it would be nice to have a big brother." Jack wrapped his arm around Katherine, and gave her a warm smile.
"Hey, who wants to get some taco bell on the way home?"
"That'd be... nice."

Calum smiled, and said "Sounds good. You guys want to sit in the back o' the van? We can prolly rig up the motorcycle to the roof or just have it secured in there. Plus, I kinda made it a cozy place. Couple o couches and a bit o' carpet, basically. I wanted to be able to live in it if anything rose up.". Julian nodded, and so did Michael. Julian spoke up, and said, "Taco Bell sounds nice. Plus, from what I've seen, it is comfy back there. Reckon we can all fit."

"Yeah, that'd be great" Katherine said happily. "Well, I'll go get the bike on the roof, and tie it up. See you guys now." Katherine headed outside and took off her mask while Jack stayed behind.
"I didn't know she had a brother. I mean, I knew she was adopted, but I was stolen, so I never really cared."

Calum nodded. "Aye. Not knowing what ye lost is better than knowin' what ye've lost.". He looked off in the direction she left, and said, "Ah'm off tah follow. Feel free tah come on.". Calum walked off, Julian and Michael following in tow, eventually reaching outside. He opened the back of the van - as he described, quite comfy looking and dimly lit, giving a bit of a calming aura to it. He ushered Michael in, and said, "Go on in Julian. Ah believe there's room there, an' ah don' wan' ye to be uncomfy as erryone else is." Julian nodded, giving thanks, and taking a seat beside Michael, leaving a couch opposite.

Katherine looked inside the van, admiring its interior while she finished her cigarette as Jack stood beside her, his hand on her arse.
"It was nice to get out. I'm sorry about that asshole. Oh, fuck off Anatoli." She looked at Anatoli, and the gun he was holding, and reached for her own.
"I warned you, Kalinka..."
Anatoli quickly took aim at Jack, and pulled the trigger before racing off in his car as Jack fell to the floor. Katherine managed to get in a few shots at Anatoli before she fell to her knees.
"JACK! JACK! OH MY GOD" Katherine cried as she cradled him in her arms. "Come on, puddin... stay with me." She looked up at her only friends, her eyes red, and tears streaming from her eyes.
"Kitten..."
"We need to get him to a hospital!"

Michael and Julian quickly ushered Katherine and Jack into the back as Calum immediately began to drive off to the nearest hospital. "Jaysus fokin Christ!" he yelled, swerving between lanes and cars, "Meep tha pressure on 'is 'oles - no' too much, or ye'd hurt 'im, bu' no too lil' or 'ell star' bleedin'!". Michael did as suit, and Calum, still yelling and swerving around traffic, continued, "Ah fokin knew ah shoulda put da wee med-kit in 'ere! 'Do eet tahmorrow' ah tol maesel', well it's fokin tahmorrow ya bawbag!". He seemed to primarily be ranting to himself most the tine, yet still maneuvering well in traffic.

Katherine was, understandably quite upset, but she still kept pressure on Jack's wound.
"Holy shit! Oh my God!" Jack seemed to be fading, fast. "Jesus Christ. Calum, get in the emergency lane and floor it!" Katherine felt around in one of her pockets, and pulled out a tampon. "I'd hoped I'd never have to do this" Katherine said as she put it in Jack's wound, slowing the bleeding.

"It"s wha' they were 'riginally made for, so fok it!" he said as he promptly swerved into the emergency lane, going as fast as possible. After a bit, he yelled, "'ospitald just ahead! Get 'im ready tah be moved now!". He proceeded to pull up just outside of the emergency unit, and hopped out without bothering to turn off the car. He flung the van doors open, and said, "C'mon, let's get 'im inside."

Katherine scooped Jack up gently before racing inside, and setting him on a girney before the doctors wheeled him off.
She stood there simply staring off into the distance, completely shocked, and covered in blood. She wiped her face with the sleeves of her hoodie, still watching where they had wheeled Jack off to.

Calum walked up behind her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "He ought be in good care. He's tough, too, so tha' helps. Wanna take a seat? Erryone else 'as.". He pointed a thumb back at Julian and Michael, Julian with his head in his hands and running his fingers through his hair, and Michael intersecting his fingers, thinking.

"I can't sit now" Katherine said with a sigh. She began pacing up and down, trembling, eagerly awaiting news from the surgeon, hoping that Jack would be ok.

"I'm sorry, miss, we did all we could..." The moment she heard those words, Katherine raced off crying. "His things will be out soon" the doctor said before nodding at Michael, and heading off. It looked like Katherine had no intention of ever stopping, even as she ran through traffic, getting hit by the odd car before standing up, and continuing her running. She ducked into a dodgy bar, the Abbot and Costello, and chased everyone out before attempting to drown her sorrows.

Calum had been close on her tails until she ran through traffic. He could see a bar in the distance with people running out of it despite a lack of fire or gunshots, and put two and two together. He waited for lighter traffic before running across, yet eventually he got to the bar. He saw her as he entered, seeing her practically drowning herself. He wiped a tear out of his eye before sitting next to her, and said, "I... I'm sorry. I could have got there faster, I-I could have put that med-kit in earlier, I-I..." he stammered a bit more before just receeding into a hollow sigh and putting his head in his hands, eventually lifting his head with a teary face. "...I was workin' on a Batsuit to surprise him with. It's basically finished now, complete with coms with my own personal Alfred, who's really jus' my tech guy. I was gonna have a lil' fight with 'im, the way mine and yours first fight was.". He put his head back down in his hands, slightly shaking.

Katherine wrapped an arm around Calum, and slid him a drink. Her eyes were red, and the tears were streaming down her face.
"He would've loved that" Katherine said, her voice shaking. She held a hand over the collar Jack had given her, and wiped her eyes. "There's nothing either of us could do. Anatoli uses black talon bullets, nobody could fix that." She tossed her empty bottle across the room, watching it shatter against the wall. "I'm gonna kill him for this. But now... I just want to drink." Katherine made her way behind the counter, and pulled a photo off the wall. "This was his place... lil' bedroom upstairs and all."

The doctor approached Michael, and told him to go with her before heading off to a secluded area.

Calum raised an eyebrow as he took a heavy swig of the drink. "Really, now? I'm going to have to keep a note on those bullets... And I never knew he grew up here. Must of been weird, doing that."

Michael stood, following the doctor to the area. Slightly confused, he said, "What is it?
Do ah know you, or sumfin?"

"Oh no, he grew up in Whitechapel, London. This is where he used to live before he moved in with me. Owns the bar and everything." Katherine grabbed a few bottles, and set them on the counter, along with the photo. It was a photo of her and Jack in front of a tent, with two hyenas sitting beside them. She downed a bottle of tequila, and tossed it aside, feeling the burn, but not much else.