I don't own Assassin's Creed.

The stone walls under the bridge were too slippery. Altair's fingers reached out for a new ledge to hold on to, but it was too late. He lost his grip on the wall, falling into the rushing water. Panic was something he learned to push back, but in that second, he couldn't control it.

He hit the water hard, the cold liquid engulfing his body. He lashed out, looking for anything to grab, to pull himself out of the water. As a child, he was never taught to swim. Al Mualim thought it to be a useless skill. Altair had never before wished so hard he hadn't followed the man's advice and had followed through with his want to swim. Now, his weapons weighed him down. There was nothing around him to grab and he was slowly running out of air. He stopped panicking and closed his eyes. A silent prayer was spoken in his head, one last thing to hold onto.

He felt his lungs screaming for air, but he couldn't give them any. He felt himself slipping away, and he half wanted to give in. He reached down to untie the heavy weapons that were weighing him down, but his fingers were too numb.

Hands grabbed him and pulled him up. His face came to surface he and took a huge breath of air. But as soon as he reached the surface, he began to sink again. He began to flail again, the hands holding him up began slipping off.

"Stop!" A voice called to him. He dimly remembered it being female. It took a few more tries before he listened. The hands he felt before re-took his arm, the only thing holding him up. He was tired, extremely so, but he could breath.

The voice was calm but quick and stern. "I need you listen. Push your stomach and lower back upwards. You will float. Your main concern is keeping your head out of the water, and I'll get you to a place to climb out of the water."

He did as was expected of him. Surely enough, he rose but not by much, his weapons weighed him down. He felt the hands previously on his arm drop, then grabbed his shoulder. He was being pulled through the water.

When he was sure that he wouldn't sink back into the water, he spoke. "I can't let the guards find me."

There was silence. "Then you'll have to stay calm a little while longer. Close your eyes." The girl's voice was calm now—soothing even—after almost dying. He did close his eyes, against all better judgement, and just let the feel of water pulse around him. It was almost nice. But there was still a chance the girl would turn him in for money, or just leave him to drown.

He felt a small bubble of panic begin to fill him at the thought of drowning again. The horrible feeling of not having air in his lungs, his body screaming for help. He lost his composer and slid under for a second, but the girl pushed him back up immediately.

"Stay calm, we don't want you drowning." Through the water in his ears, he could barely hear. He felt ridiculous being pulled around in the water, but knew better then to say anything. Soon he would be out of the water and back in the Bureau where he could avoid the guards until he dried of. As soon as he hit a safe place to climb out, he would leave. He didn't have time to meet his savoir, he had people to see.

The ledge of a platform brushed his shoulder. He opened his eyes and saw he was under a different bridge, a small wooden dock on his left. Altair grabbed it and yanked himself out of the water as soon as possible, ready to flee up the rickety ladder leaning against the wall. A small sigh made him stop and he turned around. Behind him, still in the water, was a girl—not a woman—tall and thin looking, with long black hair braided over her shoulder. She was eyeing the ledge and from the look she was giving it, it was too high for her to climb up onto.

Feeling a debt to the girl, Altair went over to the water's ledge and dropped to his knees, offering his hand to the girl. She grabbed on to it graciously and he helped her out of the water. As she looked up at him, he saw her eyes were a deep brown flecked with gold, a color he hadn't seen before. Of course, he hadn't been around a woman in so long.

He eyed her, realizing just how young she must be. On a second glimpse he could see a layer of muscle coating her arms, her dress was soaked through. Under his steady and shameless eyes she squirmed. He realised her from his stare, turning back to the ladder. The girl was tall, but not taller then himself.

Another small sigh from the girl made him stop in a second attempt to run. He was about to turn back to her, snap that he owed her nothing, that he had to leave. But as much as his pride demanded her do just that, he couldn't. Because the girl wasn't staring at him, but at her dress, looking like a scolded child. She bent over, wringing her dress out the best she could.

"I'm sorry." Slipped out of his mouth before he could stop himself.

The girl didn't look up. "It's not your fault. Unless drowning was your intention." Without the water in his ears, he could hear her voice properly. It was soft, unafraid, and bold, like a blood red velvet.

He could almost smile. Almost, but didn't. "What's your name?"

"Cleopas, although my friends call me Chloe."

"An unusual name." He said, instead of offering his own.

Chloe looked up at him, a searching look in her eyes. "Did you hit your head when you fell into the water?"

"Do you know who I am?" Altair said instead of answering.

The girl nodded meekly. "We hear whispers of what you've done. The Nobles begin to hide, the people see you running through the streets."

He turned away. "Then know that I can take care of myself."

The young assassin expected a jab at how it didn't look like that when he was in the water, panic rushing over him. He wanted her to snap back. But she didn't, and that's what made him turn around again.

"I'm sorry, I owe you my life. I will come to pay off my debt one day but right now, I have other matters to attend to."

"You won't even let me take you somewhere to clean up?" she asked, eyes wide and so innocent. Over the year, Altair had became an excellent judge of character and this girl looked genuinely open to helping. But even one so young could lie.

"No, I can't."

Reflexively she reached out and grabbed his sleeve. It was still dripping wet, creating a slow rhythm against the dock beneath them. "Please, I won't be able to sleep knowing that the man I saved could die because I didn't handle the situation properly. My parents aren't home, at least stay for a moment, to dry off, eat something."

Altair paused, thinking over everything that could go wrong. And there was a lot to think about. But he found himself saying fine and climbing up the ladder, with Chloe in tow.

They moved through the streets silently. Surprisingly, it was an area Altair knew well, one close to the place he should have been right now, reporting his status. A few people complained about the trail of water they left behind them, but most just kept their distance.

"I should tell the Rafiq about my absence. Then he'll be able to find another to take my place."

She nodded. "Of course, lead the way."

They turned down another street, one very familiar to Altair. He picked up his pace and pointed at a bench next to the ladder that would lead him up to his destination.

"You trust your people?"

She nodded. "With my life."

"Then wait there, I'll be only a second…" he trailed off as a group of guards came into view, looking straight at him.

Chloe followed his line of vision. "Come, we can go to my house."

Altair remained routed, torn between the want to run up the ladder, leave her behind, follow her, and protect her.

He nodded. "Run, they'll follow."

Chloe took off down the street, her pace quick, her breathing easy. Altair heard the heavy clunk of the guards' boots running after them. They continued for a few minutes, staying well ahead of the group. "Almost there." She said, her breathing still relatively normal.

Altair watch her with wonder. What else didn't he know about the girl? She could swim in a city swimming was looked down on, she could run perfectly when it was looked down upon by others.

She unexpectedly skidded to a stop, and Altair almost ran into her. Two men had blocked their path. Altair cursed and grabbed her shoulder, turning her in the new direction before taking off in front of her. They couldn't run forever, they had to hide among the people. Alone, Altair was fine, but with a girl?

He glanced back at her. She was tiring. "You trust me?"

She looked up at him. "I invited you to my house."

"Then come, play along."

It was a terrible plan, but the only he had. He made a quick right into a back path, then another right. They turned twice more before they came to a bench. Altair sprinted over to it and sat down, indicating that Chloe should follow. She went to sit next to him, but at the last second, his reached out, grabbing her and pulling her onto his lap, kissing her.

Her body was rigid with surprise, her arms tucked between their bodies. His grip loosened, become gentle on her sides as he silently urged her to relax. His lips were surprisingly gentle, easy to get lost in. It was almost soothing to be sitting here with him. Her lips met his demands, moving with them in perfect sync. The rushing feet of guards was nearly forgotten in the background.

Chloe closed her eyes, trusting Altair to be the one to keep a look out. And he was. His eyes were mostly closed, looking around only through his eyelashes. But this girl… how nice it was to have someone to sit with, if only for a moment. Concentrating was becoming hard, and he forced himself to focus on the stomp of boots getting closer. If they didn't run past, he'd have to fight. With the number of guards they'd attracted, fighting would prove difficult. Especially with Chloe there, and easy target to use against him.

Here they came, rushing past, not even looking back at the faux couple sharing a romantic moment on the bench. A few of the guards in the back were slowing down, their breathing heavy. Even they went past with a second glimpse.

Chloe went to pull back but Altair chased her lips, wanting to hold on to something sweet for just a second longer. She didn't complain. She felt safe even if most of the guards were out looking for the man under her.

A couple minutes later, Altair slowly pulled back, looking around. There weren't any guards around, the area totally silent.

Chloe stood up, looking around as well. "We should go to my house."

Altair nodded, still looking around. If asked, he wouldn't really be able to tell her why he had done what he'd did. He prayed she wouldn't.

Instead she just started back down the little path they had taken. "What would happen if they saw your weapons?" she asked quietly.

"They'd attack. But I made sure the weapons were hidden between the wall and myself, and you and myself."

She looked up at him. "That was smart."

The walk was long and silent—but suprisingly not awkward. They had run pretty fast, not realizing just how far they had gone.

After a while, Chloe pointed to a house in the distance. It was bigger then the average house, but not as grand as the nobles'. "That one is my house. My parents went to Jerusalem, they won't be back for a while."

"You don't mind being home alone?"

She shook her head. "I'm used to it."

As they approached it, Altair became more cautious. He did trust her at this point, but old habits were hard to get rid of.

She pulled a key out of her dress pocket and opened the door. Inside it was roomy, with very little furniture. What furniture there was, it was well made, the colors rich in reds, oranges and yellows.

"Can you cook?" Chloe said as she wondered into another room.

Altair nodded. "A bit." In the room was a series of wooden counters, cupboards and a wood stove in the corner. Chloe went over to light it.

"I can get you a change of clothes if you want, we can put yours by the fire to dry."

"Thank you." Altair said. He began to unbuckle all his weapons, buckles and straps as she left the room. He left his robes on, the hidden blade on his arm.

There were vegetables on the counter, knives on a rack. He grabbed one and began cutting, making a salad. If he was going to stay for the night, he was not going to sit about being useless.

AN- This is my first Game FanFic, tell me what you thought. ^^ I suck at write kissing scenes, sorry, it sounded better in my head. Just to let you know, this story will be about 4 chapters long, probably 3, I have an idea in mind. You'll get to know Chloe-Cleopas-better, and she'll teach him how to swim. Because honestly, I played the game the other day, and drowned about thirty times-sucky game play on my part, yes- so I'm going to have him learn.

Seriously though, please review, I'm trying my best to write this story and so far... it all seems like it's not taking shape the way I wanted.

I be lovin' you loooong time. ;]