Look Me in the Eyes (and tell me that it's me) [Zhongchili]

Chapter 35 - The Harbinger's Request

The phone clicks silent and Ajax gets to his feet.

He's leaving.

And no one is going to stop him.

History isn't going to own him any more.

The Fatui isn't going to own him any more.

He returns to his suite, steps in the shower, cleanses Volkov's blood from his hands, emerges a man born anew.

He dresses, then he's leaving again, heading back towards Pierro's office. Through the front door, up the elevator, into the waiting room. Capitano is there, sitting on a little plastic chair far too small for his frame, his knees squished up almost to chest height.

That's the build of a warrior. It's a pity they didn't get a chance to face off against each other. But Ajax is leaving, and sacrifices must be made.

He yanks open the door to the corridor, ignoring Capitano's protest of, "Excuse me, I was waiting," and barges into Pierro's office, shoulder first.

Pierro is there, half hidden behind a karst of paperwork, and Pulcinella is not, which is good.

"Tartaglia, an unexpected surprise," says Pierro, not looking up from behind a mountain of documents he's signing. "To what do I owe the pleasure? And, more importantly, what makes you think this particular issue is important enough to justify stealing the appointment of your colleague?"

"I need to leave." Ajax forces himself to say it before he can back out. "I need to go."

"Forms to request holiday leave are located on the ground floor—"

"No, not holiday. I need to leave. The Fatui. Completely."

"Oh?" Pierro's words coil in the air like a snake poised to strike, his pen lingering over the page.

"Yes," Ajax replies. He can't let Pierro intimidate him. He needs to go home. For his family. For Zhongli. For himself. "I'm formally requesting discharge."

Pierro chuckles low in his throat. "Ah, most amusing. But that is not the way we do things around here, Tartaglia."

A myriad of scenarios flash through Ajax's mind. Admittedly, he didn't check the fine print regarding the Fatui's dismissal policies with the most discerning eye. He'd been so determined when he joined that this would be the right path, that he'd stick with the Fatui until the end. Now that he's announced his intentions, does some abysmal fate await him? A jail cell? Or maybe he will be escorted out the back and lined up against a wall to face down the waiting barrels of a dozen men.

No, they don't do that any more, that's only in the movies...isn't it?

Setting down his pen, Pierro folds his arms and leans forward to stare at Ajax from across the desk. "If you want something, be honest. Pay rise requests go to the finance office in the north-west building, additional benefit requests should be submitted to HR in the south for their review. There's no need for all these outlandish threats now, you'll find us far more reasonable than you might expect."

"I'm serious. I want to be dismissed."

"And for what reason might you wish to be dismissed?"

"My family, sir. I need to be... They need me out of here." He almost says he needs to go home, but he doesn't, because he's not sure that he can. He's not told them that he's leaving and, after his last performance in front of Father, he's not sure if he's wanted there. But they do need him out of this place. They deserve better than Nikolai gave them, and they deserve more than he can give them here as a slave to the Fatui's whims.