November 29, 1924, Philadelphia, PA
Kate had watched Sal and Vera spar. She'd seen Sal and Dutch on numerous occasions. And she'd even seen a surprisingly even match between Sal and James. But this morning was the first time she'd caught Sal and Max squaring off.
Kate hadn't been expecting them to be fighting when she walked down to the basement to tell Sal she couldn't train. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs just as Max smoothly sidestepped one of Sal's heavy punches, his face as calm and impassive as ever. Sal, on the other hand, looked a little frustrated. And tired.
And that was when Kate registered that both men were shirtless. Sal was built like a bear, all thick muscle and dark chest hair. Max was quite a bit smaller than Sal, of course, but there was no question of his strength. He was just as Kate had imagined, lean and wiry. Kate watched the muscles in his back contract and shift as he landed a series of quick punches to Sal's kidney. Sal pulled away with a grimace, and they circled. And just as Max started to turn to face her again, just as she caught a glimpse of his broad chest and a set of thin scars angled across his shoulder, Dutch interrupted her observation with a loud whisper.
"You're drooling, Katie."
Her eyes snapped to Dutch, to the smirk on his face. And she rolled her eyes.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she said, finally stepping the rest of the way into the basement.
"Oh, c'mon, Katie. I know you better than that," Dutch chuckled, reaching out and ruffling her hair. "I'm supposed to be the one getting distracted by pretty faces."
She swatted his hand away. "Knock it off, Dutch."
He shook his head. "What happened to you staying away from bellbottoms and flyboys?"
"Max isn't a flyboy," she scoffed.
"Oh," Dutch raised his eyebrows. "So it's Max you were ogling."
Kate's eyes went wide. "That's not—I didn't—" She snapped her mouth shut and turned away from Dutch. But the only other thing to look at was Max and Sal, who were still sparring and completely oblivious to Dutch's teasing and Kate's embarrassment. She leaned against the wall and tried to watch Sal and Max without really watching them. But she could already tell it was too late, her cheeks were burning. And sure enough, Dutch noticed.
"Wait, Katie…are you actually blushing?"
She shot him a withering glance and didn't answer. His grin quickly faded, and he settled against the wall next to her.
"Damn," he muttered. "Sorry." Then after a moment said softly, "I haven't seen you goofy about a guy in a long time."
"I'm not goofy about anyone," she retorted.
"Right," Dutch drawled, nudging her lightly with his elbow. "Now that I think about, I'm surprised I didn't notice earlier. I mean, you don't let anyone call you Katherine."
"He only calls me Katherine because I call him Max," she shook her head.
"And why do you call him Max?"
"Because he hates it," she shrugged. That was why it started anyway. She wasn't actually sure why neither of them had stopped.
"Of course," Dutch nodded, a smug grin teasing at the corner of his mouth. "So how do you explain the fact that every time Vera talks to Maksim, you look like you're trying to kill her with your eyes? Or the fact that you grin like a loon whenever he walks into the room?"
"I do not grin like a loon," she turned to him, blushing all over again.
"You do, too," he laughed. "And the other day, when he was trying to—"
But Dutch was interrupted by Vera, who blustered into the basement.
"You spoiled little bitch," she snarled, jabbing a finger into Kate's chest. Kate's eyebrows shot up and she straightened, backing against the wall.
"Excuse me?" Kate blurted.
At the same moment, Dutch reached for Vera's shoulder. "What the hell, Vera?"
"You stay out of this," she spat at him, shoving his arm away from her. Vera turned back to Kate and leaned in close, close enough that Kate could smell her perfume. "First you steal Sal from me, then you make up some nonsense to convince Charles he's your daddy, and now Etienne won't stop blathering about your potential."
Kate clenched her jaw. She wanted to respond. She wanted to throw Vera's arrogance and selfishness back at her, but Charles had told her to try and keep her cool.
"I've worked my tail off to get where I am, and you just waltz in here with your sob story," Vera's voice canted up in register as she mocked, "Oh, poor me. My mom lied to me. I don't know who my daddy is. A Templar shot my friend—"
"Don't you dare," Kate hissed, clenching her fists. She drew the line at Peter.
"Or what?" Vera shouted. "What are you going to do? You can't fight. You can't even run rooftops without breaking your ribs. It's no wonder you got your friend killed."
Kate was vaguely aware that Sal and Max had stopped sparring. She might have seen Dutch, again, try to pull Vera away from her. But the only thing that truly registered in her mind was a satisfying crunch as her fist connected solidly with Vera's nose.
In the next moment, Dutch's arms were around Kate, his body between her and Vera's, and Sal was grabbing Vera by the waist, dragging her away in the other direction. Kate calmly peered around Dutch to see Vera, blood streaming down her face, kicking and spitting curses as she tried to twist out of Sal's grasp. And Sal just picked her up off the ground and carried her up the stairs.
Kate looked up at Dutch, and he backed away, holding her at arm's length.
"You okay?" He asked. Kate nodded. And he studied her face for a moment then let out a low chuckle.
"Bet that felt good," he said, dropping his hands from her shoulders.
"You have no idea," she breathed, shaking out her hand.
And then she looked over at Max, who had put on a shirt and was watching her and Dutch. He shook his head slightly, and she looked down as a wave of guilt washed over her. But before she had a chance to give those feelings any real thought, it was Max's hand on her shoulder.
She looked up at him and found, not the disappointment she was expecting, but one of his rare, slight smiles.
"Charles will be less than pleased, I'm sure. But for what it's worth, you should have done that weeks ago."
It was not ten seconds later that Charles marched into the basement. Max immediately dropped his hand and stepped back.
"Would you like to tell me why Vera is in the kitchen with a bloody nose right now?"
Kate barely opened her mouth to respond when Dutch started to answer.
"Vera came down here—"
But Charles held up a hand. "I want to hear it from Kate. I don't think you count as an unbiased observer." He glanced at Max and added, "Either of you."
Dutch snapped his mouth shut, and Max nodded, folding his hands behind his back.
"I'm sorry, Charles," Kate replied quietly. "I let my temper get the better of me."
"I'm glad you realize that," Charles said, though there was no sign of "glad" in his voice. In fact, he sounded like he was trying to not yell. "But that still doesn't answer my question."
"I punched her, sir."
Charles narrowed his eyes at her but turned to Max and Dutch. "If you two don't mind, I'd like to talk to Kate alone." Both men nodded and disappeared up the stairs. And Kate looked down at the ground, folding her hands behind her back the way Max always did.
"You do realize, Kate, that you and Vera are sisters in the same Order? And that energy spent fighting with each other takes away from our real work?"
"Yes, sir."
"And didn't I tell you to not let her get to you?"
"You did, sir."
"So what did she say?"
"It doesn't matter, sir. I shouldn't have hit her."
"Christ, Kate," Charles sighed. "Can you knock it off with the 'sir'? This is hard enough as it is."
Kate blinked up at him. "What?"
"I'm not blind, Kate. I know what's been going on with you and her. And I could tell by the look Sal gave me, and by Dutch's reaction just now, that Vera started this." He shook his head. "Look, I'll deal with Vera. But maybe it's a good idea if you head for the Homestead sooner rather than later. Especially since it sounds like Duffy's backed off for the moment."
Kate nodded slowly. She understood Charles's logic. And while Max's idea that her family might have been at the Homestead at some point had sparked a bit of excitement about the trip, she couldn't help but feel like she was being sent away. It wasn't much of a punishment, since the plan was to go there all along, but it felt like a punishment. The look on Charles's face didn't help the tug of emotions in her chest. His eyes were full of regret.
But the look faded quickly, and he turned his head towards the stairwell.
"Dutch, why don't you come in here. And bring Maksim. I assume he's standing next to you?"
Kate watched Dutch and Max walk into the room, both looking a little sheepish. The look on Max's face actually reminded Kate quite a bit of the night Nana had caught him in their bushes.
"You both heard all of that, yes?" Charles asked, folding his arms across his chest. Both men nodded. And Charles continued, "Good. Dutch, you know Lavezzi's boys pretty well now, right? I want to you go find them. Have them get eyes on Broad Street Station as soon as possible. Kate, send your grandmother a telegram and let her know the price of lobster has gone up. She'll know what it means." Charles smiled at her before turning to Max. "And Maksim, please let Etienne know that he needs to be at the Bureau by 10:30. I'll be escorting the three of you to the train station myself. The Colonial Express leaves for Boston at midnight."
All three nodded, and Max and Dutch turned back towards the stairs.
"Oh, and Maksim," Charles added. "When you get to the Homestead, would you please teach Dutch how to eavesdrop without getting detected?"
"Hey," Dutch complained. "You knew he was there, too."
"That was a lucky guess," Charles grinned. "But I heard you."
When Dutch rolled his eyes and headed up the stairs, Max said, "Don't worry. Ms. Barrowman caught me in her bushes once."
Charles arched his eyebrows and looked to Kate. She nodded in confirmation, and he let out a bark of laughter.
Kate managed to avoid Vera the rest of the day and said her goodbyes to Sal, James, and Etienne. She and Max packed their meager belongings together in his duffel bag again. And she ignored the look Dutch gave her when he realized they had packed together.
They walked to the train station in pairs. Kate and Dutch walked arm in arm, Dutch's duffel bag slung over his shoulder. And Max and Charles followed a few feet behind, deep in conversation about the Homestead.
When they arrived at the train station, Dutch and Max both stepped to the side, busying themselves at the newsstand in a thinly veiled effort to give Kate and Charles a moment to talk alone.
"I guess this is so long," Kate said.
She looked up at him, taking a moment to study his face. She wanted to memorize as many details as she could about that man she never thought she'd know. The more time she spent with him, the easier it was for her to see the resemblance. Her whole life, she'd been told she looked exactly like her mother. But she didn't. She had her father's chin and his hazel eyes. She definitely had her mother's crooked teeth and cupid's bow lips, but there was something in the lines around her smile that was all Charles.
"Listen, I have something for you," Charles said, holding his hand out. "It's…well, I know that necklace you wear used to be your mother's, and I thought I might give you something of mine, too. So that…you have both of us with you."
Kate stared at the ring in the palm of his hand for a moment before carefully picking it up. At first glance, it was just a simple silver band, but as she turned it over in her hand, she saw the familiar triangular symbol of the Assassins etched into it. It was Charles's ring, the one he usually wore on his right hand.
She looked up at him, eyes wide. "I don't know what to say."
"Say you'll keep it safe for me." He rested one hand on her shoulder, a gesture he had done many times before.
But Kate responded by looping her arms around his waist and hugging him tightly. He returned the embrace with a small chuckle.
He stepped back and looked down at her. "One last thing before you go. Call it…fatherly advice, if you will. This life...some believe being alone is the only way to do what we do. But it's not. Our friends, our family, they matter. Without them, it's easy to forget who we are and what we work for." Then he nodded in the direction of Max and Dutch. "Those two care about you quite a bit, and they both are trying to take care to you. Make sure you let them."
Kate glanced over at the two waiting patiently for her by the newsstand.
"I will," she said, smiling.
He pulled her into another quick hug. "I have to admit, I'm hesitant to let you go when you've only just found me."
Kate let out a soft laugh. "Does it count if I wasn't looking for you?"
He grinned. "Sometimes we find the best things when we're not looking."