Finding Strength (CLOSED)

Katherine headed to her house first to pick up a spare blanket before heading off to a camping store to buy a decent folding mattress and some packs of food.

Katherine returned about two hours later, carrying all her stuff with her, and headed straight to the storage room before sorting all her stuff out.

Calum had been tidying the general area up, making sure everything looked nice even if it would be short-lived when everybody returned. He silently reflected on his conversation with Michael, yet didn't further it. Michael had, however, went to the door of the storage room and knocked on it. "Heyo, Kat, welcome back. Errything go a'ight for ya?"

Katherine opened the door, smiling. She was playing some music videos off youtube from her laptop.

"Hey, Mikey. Yeah, I'm good. Just sorting all of this out" Katherine said with a sigh as she gestured to the mess of blankets and pillows. "What's up?"

Michael shrugged. "Nothin' much.
Jus' wanted tah check on ya 'ere.". He looked over her shoulder, lightly smiling. "Ya need any help 'ere? Looks like ya got a lot on yer plate righ' now."

"I'm managing, somewhat... It's going faster with the music, I'll admit." Katherine looked over to the desks surrounding her bed, and shook her head. "Actually, would you mind helping me out a bit quickly? I just need you to lift that desk there quickly while I slot two underneath. You're tall enough to get it that high." She rubbed her forehead as she remembered hitting it that morning.

Michael nodded, heading inside her room. He raised the desk she was talking about up high enough, and said, "'ight... I reckon tha's high 'nuff.
What else did ya ge', other than sum blankets an' all tha'?". He raised an eyebrow, slightly curious and also trying to make small talk.

"Food, and a lot of it" Katherine said with a laugh before lifting a desk, and sliding it under the right of the other. "Got a call from Strange earlier. He said he's almost finished with his research, and he might have something for me be Friday." Katherine picked up another desk, and slid it under the left of the one Michael was holding up for her. "Thanks, Mikey."

Michael sat the desk down, saying, "Nearly a week, eh? Lets hope ye don' break ou' by then.". He laughed, hitting her on the back with the palm of his hand. He was glad he got close to her, laughing a bit harder when he realised this same, small woman nearly choked him to death before.

"Why would I break out, it's nice here. Only reason I'd lose my shit is if someone came looking for trouble, or if someone went after you." Katherine sorted out her blankets and pillows, and locked her food in a steel cupboard. She turned to Michael, smiling. "So, anything interesting happen while I was out? Coffee Shop Lady try to kill you?"

Michael shook his head. "Sadly nah.
Had a chat wif Cal about how old we are compared tah erryone else 'ere. Ah dunno, jus' freakin' out on my half, but he seemed cool 'bout. Ah told 'im, 'Ya realise others our age are either married er have kids, yea?' and he said sumfin like 'we aren' other people' or sumfin. Hes been cleanin' 'round, ah reckon he's in 'is room now."

"Well, yeah, you guys aren't like others... you're better. You're living your life for yourself, not for them, so do what you want. Think of it this way, they're trapped in relationships where if something goes bad, and they split, it's a mountain of paperwork. Those that are having babies, they'll have to clean literal shit off the entire baby, which does happen. When they grow up, it's like living with a small demon." Katherine let out a sigh of relief (happy she didn't have to worry about marriage or children) before laughing a bit. She wasn't going to go down that road herself for quite a while, she just wanted to enjoy her freedom. "Unless you want all that stuff..."

Michael nodded, seeing what she was saying. "Yeah... It's just... When ye've been livin' yer whole life doin' what ah do - and I'm talkin' abou' my Templar, uh, duties, ya kinda think anytin else is better. I enjoyed the life, yea, let me live nice an' comfy, but... Ah've been runnin' it alone.
An' now ah'm on tha complete opposite side o' tha conflict, an' erryone 'ere is prolly gonna hate me. If ah had tah guess, I'd reckon ah'm damn infamous. Ryan blankin' out an' all those stuck up pricks on tha floor above us yellin' oughta give a clue."

"Given all the testimonials and all that jazz, they'd be pretty stupid to think you're not on this side. I put a video together of all my body cam footage of you fighting against the Templars at Ember's place, as well as the Bratva the night before last." Katherine made her way over to Michael, and gave him a good warm hug. "You're not what they think you are, Michael, we all know that."

Michael nodded, hugging her a bit tight and letting some tears flow. "Kat... I killed so many people. I can' hardly forgive mysel' righ' now for doin' it, after ah got disillusioned from th' Order.
So many of friends of these people... It'll be hard tah forgive me."

"Yes, you did, and yes, some of them will probably hate your guts because of it... You were following orders, you were doing what you thought was right at the time." Katherine looked up at him a bit, still hugging him. Being who she was, she was so tempted to wipe away his tears. "When they get to know the real you, if they ever see this side of you, they'll understand."

Michael wiped the tears away, sniffling a bit. "I- yeah... Yer prolly righ'. Jus' gotta prove masel'. Both tah me an' them.". He smiled, hugging her closely. "I do hope they see this side too."

"And I didn't even have to go all Rafiki on you" Katherine said with a chuckle. "Now, let's head over to Calum. I stopped and got pizza, and beer. I think we could all use a bit of a distraction." She finally backed away a bit, smiling, happy that she got a chance to talk to Michael.

Michael nodded, smiling. He walked over to Calum's door, lightly knocking on it. "Yeah, yeah, door's open...". Michael opened the door, peaking his head in.
"What's with the 'tude?"
"Ah, man, did I- man, sorry. I'm too used to recruits asking if they can use the course. They assume I own it for some reason. Come on in.". Michael laughed a bit, opening the door all the way, showing Calum with his back turned to the door, doing something on his computer.

"It's probably because your name is quite literally written above it" Katherine said with a laugh as she entered the room, carrying a few boxes of pizza, and a six pack of beer. "There's no saying no. You need a break, and he needs to chill."

Calum laughed, as Calum spun around in the chair smiling. "True, true... Ya got a poin' there.". He closed whatever was on his screen, looking over to Michael. "I reckon ya were worryin' aboot bein' accepted? Don' be, Mikey. They take mah word. An' my word is tha' yer a great guy."

"They best believe he is. You told me the Assassins welcome everyone, regardless of their background or past actions." Katherine set the beers and pizza on the table, away from the papers and the computer, before taking a seat on the edge of Calum's bed. "They'll learn to like you, Mikey, I did."

Michael took a seat. "Yeah... Supposed to. When someone kills half yer pals... Not many o' em live by that motto suddenly. Ryan sure as 'ell does.". He smiled a bit fondly, before grabbing a slice and beginning to eat it. Michael briefly got up, doing the same before sitting down again.

"Yeah, but people are people, for better or worse." Katherine grabbed a slice of pizza, deciding to stand near the box so she wouldn't have to go up and down for food. "So, what time should we be up and ready for training tomorrow? I swear to God, if some drill sergeant type of guy starts screaming, he won't be able to walk for a week."

Calum laughed. "Nah, nah. I take over Mondays to Wednesdays. Thursday's are whatever Ryan feels like doin'. Friday's are both of us.". Michael raised an eyebrow, scarfing down his pizza.
"Wait, I thought today was Saturday.
Isn't tomorrow sunday, and still not trainin' day, yea?". Calum shrugged.
"I just started getting high before ya two came in, I dunno."

"You two are so lucky, things still work on the both of you. Eh, maybe one day." Katherine took another bite of her pizza, enjoying the flavour. "I honestly have no idea what day of the week it is." She checked her phone, looking at the day of the week, realising that the two were right. "You were right, it is Saturday. Alright, serious chill time is in order." Katherine opened a bottle of beer, and grabbed another slice of pizza, leaning against the wall as she took a bite of her pizza. "If I had known, I would have bought more beer. I think I have some whiskey lying around..."