Broken Warrior

Purpose

Rurik/Ryker

But I did show up at 7 pm the next evening, this time clothed properly and mostly not drunk, though I had my own work out clothing with me. I continued to show up, because the training fascinated me. And once I got the rust worked out, the job itself did as well. It was like what they had tried to turn me into a weapon for, but with an actual purpose. I fought, I had more fighting and violence than I could nearly handle, but only bad people. Supernaturals who had refused to play nice, who were harming people and putting others at risk.

Back in the offices, I didn't let Tim lose sight of the simple fact that he hated me. I fought him over everything, even when I really didn't care. I'd push the line because the moment I stopped, his anger would start to fade and he'd start to try and get to know me.

The rest of the team was close, though they had quickly given up on including me in anything but work related talk. I hadn't had friends in over a hundred years. And those had frozen to death one night when I had been somewhere else. Anyone else who had befriended me after that, whether it be alms workers, priests, gangsters or Knights, they had all wanted something from me. Death or dishonesty, whatever their poison, that was what I was good for.

I would stay alone, thank you very much.

Tim wanted me to wear the same work out clothing as everyone else. I refused, despite being pummelled and yelled at every time I walked into the room wearing something other than the subdued grey and black uniform the rest of them wore. After a year of that fight, Tim had finally given up and told me to wear whatever I wanted. Told everyone to wear whatever they wanted. The next day I showed up in the company provided workout gear.

I thought he was going to kill me that time.

But his anger, this punishments and pain were all deserved and earned. I could deal with that, control the fact that if I was going to face it, it would be on my terms. It came either way regardless, life didn't leave you unpunished, but at least this way I decided when it happened.

Uniforms were another sticking point, another argument that lasted until Mr. Alesky got involved and ordered me to wear what everyone else was. I got up and walked out, flipping the bird to him in the process.

But I couldn't stay away.

Knight Corp had grown on me, despite my attempts to distance myself from everyone and everything on a personal level. The next day I showed up, in uniform as ordered, half surprised when Tim didn't throw me out of the building himself.

It took them three years to figure out that I wasn't just avoiding living in one of their secured buildings, that I actually didn't have a place to stay. That I had never even looked at the bank account they had set up for me and started throwing my paycheque into. I didn't sleep on the streets, with the sun and the heat, that would have been awful.

But it is incredibly easy to spend a night with someone else if they like what you're offering. And there was a little bit of fun in it all too.

Tim followed me from work one day, the fucking prick. We had worked late so the sun was nearly up, the bars were closed and I was wandering around, half debating going in to the seedy motel I usually crashed at when he grew tired of tailing me and asked me where the hell I lived and if I was lost.

He had been asking me to fill out the address portion of my personnel file for years by that point. And as things got more and more heated with outside forces and the other Orders, there were strong suggestions for everyone to look into moving into more secure housing.

I debated fucking him off again, but I told him the truth, smirking as he lost his temper with me, what I had bargained for. What I hadn't expected was him dragging me back to Knight Corp and half throwing me into an apartment within an hour. The place was furnished and despite my dislike of being tied down to the company I was still certain I was going to leave, I settled there.