Hey guys, this is my first Assassin's Creed fanfic so go easy on me.

Well, you'll see in a minute that this is an AU and three people are directly related that aren't in the game and most of the characters are probably OoC but whatever, I'll try to keep your minds off of that. Be prepared for a lot of moving back and forth across one timeline, don't worry the switches won't be mid-chapter, and I'll let you know when they happen anyway. I'm very excited that I'm doing this though, three pairings in one story, yeah.

For reference, character ages;

Altair: 19

Desmond: 6

Ezio: 3

Malik: 20

Disclaimer: Assassin's Creed does not belong to me.

"Get Ezio out of here!"

"But you need my help Altair!"

"Desmond, go."

"But Alt-"

"Now!" the older man roared, taking the time to kick the six year old carrying their brother in the butt.

Desmond made a face before sprinting down the stairs and outside the front door. He understood why as soon as he backed up and looked, the smoke coming off their house was unmistakable. The broken windows however were questionable. Ezio squirmed, the three year old nuzzling into his brother's shoulder. "You're lucky, little one," Desmond muttered. "You stayed asleep."

He sat on the sidewalk outside their house and waited. He was not afraid, whatever Altair was up too, he knew his big brother would make it out alive. He had to, Desmond knew no one stronger. His eyes were wide however, when an entire window shattered, his brother among the glass. Followed by three others, Altair was back on his feet in a instant, a weapon in hand.

Altair nearly screamed when he realized his brother hadn't understood his entire meaning. "Desmond, I told you to run!"

"You told me to leave the house."

"Des, go, please. Just run."

The boy stared into his brother's eyes. He didn't bother to mention he had nowhere to run before he did. Just ran. Ran as hard as he could, not really looking until he ran into someone. He stared up in fear at the man before him. Words couldn't describe the relief that flooded him. "Malik!" he said. "Altair he- and the house is- and I was supposed to- and- and-"

Malik knelt before the tiny boy. "Alright Des, breathe. What happened?"

"I woke up to Altair screaming for me to put on my jacket and Ezio's jacket and leave. And then when I went out into the hallway I saw mommy dead at the end and offered to help him fight but he just told me to leave and the house was on fire and he got pushed out a window and now he's fighting these three strange men and he told me to run."

Malik groaned. "That idiot."

"Can you please go help him Malik?" Desmond was close to crying. "I don't want to lose him like mommy and daddy."

He couldn't deny the look in the little boy's eyes, despite his extreme distaste for his older brother. "Alright," he said. "You know where my house is, the back door is unlocked, hide there until I come back."

Desmond almost hugged the older man, but he realized he was still carrying the dead weight of his younger brother. "Thank you. A thousand times, thank you!" he said before running off toward Malik's house.

Malik sighed, running his hand through his hair. "And to think I came out for milk."

He began running for the boys' shared household and heard the shouting before he could see them. He scaled the nearest building and readied a weapon while examining the scene. There were four men, not three, but the last of them just stood and watched. Malik aimed for him before diving. "There's another!" one of the men shouted.

Malik was almost surprised no one had pulled a gun yet. They probably didn't want the noise, but it wasn't like none of them used silencers, unless they were concerned about a spark. Now that he thought of it, he smelled gasoline. He fought off the man at Altair's back and Altair finally had enough concentration to get rid of the two men in front of him.

"Malik," he said, once the men were either dead or severely brain damaged. "Thought you hated me."

"I did," he replied. "But grudges are not in my nature. Besides," he said, hiding his blade once again. "You little brother is incredibly convincing."

"Are they alright? Where are they?"

Malik smiled at the concern clearly written on his face. "They're at my house, they're fine."

Altair let out a sigh of relief. "Everything was practically drown in gasoline. The only things that might be salvageable are what I had locked in those few fireproof boxes around the house."

Malik nodded. "We can come find those things in the morning. Right now we should go talk to your brothers. Desmond looked like he was on the verge of a panic attack."

Altair snorted. "He's far to young for that."

"Maybe, maybe not."

Altair and Malik scaled the building again and ran, diving and rolling right into Malik's back yard. "Altair!" Desmond shouted.

"Awtair!" said the now not sleepy Ezio.

The two little kids came running toward their older brother, who knelt to hug them. They held onto each other tightly for a long moment. Malik sighed. Okay, the jerk couldn't be that bad if he still cared about those two little kid. "You guys can stay the night here if you want," he said.

"Thank you," Altair said.

"Whatever."

Malik began to walk back into the house before be felt a tug on is pants. He looked down to see Ezio's large eyes staring up and him, reaching for him. "Alright," Malik said, scooping up the tiny boy with his one arm.

"Tank ou," Ezio said, falling asleep again.

"Altair," Desmond said. "Mom died, right?"

Altair nodded. "She did. I didn't even noticed they'd broken in until I heard her scream, I wasn't fast enough. I'm sorry."

Desmond looked thoughtful. "What's going to happen to us then. You can't take care of us on your own yet."

Altair sighed. "You have so little faith in me. Don't worry about Des," he said. "I'll keep us together, I promise."

Desmond hugged him again. "I love you Altair."

"Love you too, little brother."

Altair stood back up and walked inside the house behind Desmond and Malik. "Man," Altair groaned, after his brothers were comfortable in Malik's bed. "I'm not going to sleep now, it's nearly morning."

Malik shrugged, sitting at the kitchen table. "Then stay awake, you can go to bed early tomorrow night."

Altair sighed, sitting at the table as well. "What were you doing out so late?"

"Picking up milk for my breakfast."

"At three thirty in the morning?"

"I couldn't sleep, today's our birthday."

Altair cringed. "I'm sorry, Malik."

"You've apologized before."

"Really," he insisted. "I-"

"I know, Altair. I accepted it a while ago. You've learned much since then, it's evident now especially since I've seen you with your brothers. Desmond really trusts you."

"Too much, even while he knows what I do. Even when I couldn't save mom. Even when I was forced to kill his dad. He looks at me like that; like I'm indestructible and don't do anything wrong."

"He looks just like you at that age."

"And he even told me once recently he wants to join the Brotherhood when he's old enough, and if he does Ezio will. It's a never-ending cycle."

"So you think the Brotherhood's a bad thing?"

"Only for people like Desmond. He's seen a lot for a little kid, a little tweaking in the wrong direction and all he'll ever be is bitter and angry toward everyone. He's too sweet a kid for me to want to chance that."

"Like how you used to be? What's broken can be fixed, it's the nature of humanity."

"He looks like me, that's enough. He doesn't have to act the same way I always did."

"Now you just sound like you're trying to be his father."

"Someone has to be, and I killed him, so why not me."

"You killed him because he was a traitor so taking his place is stupid. Making a new place and giving it the same title, now there's a good idea."

Altair smiled. "I miss talking to you Malik."

"Kadar does too."

"Now we're going in circles."

"Sorry, couldn't resist."

There was silence for a long moment. "I want to go see if the fire's finally out."

"You ought to call someone t-"

"No," he said. "I want to go alone. Do you have a bag and a flashlight I could borrow?"

"Sure."

.o.o.o.o.o.

Everything was still warm. The smell of gasoline was gone, replaced with the noxious mix of charred wood and something melted that was hard to describe. There were four safes in the house, three upstairs; two in Desmond and Ezio's room, one in his own room, and one hidden in the kitchen downstairs. It wasn't hard to figure out what was where, the entire top floor had collapsed aright on top of everything downstairs.

He found the two safes from his brothers' room first, retrieving the spare clothes he kept for all of them and the various weapons he'd stashed away. In the one from his room he'd kept all their important documents along with their bank books and things of that nature. In the one hidden in the kitchen he'd kept extra money and two photo albums.

Looking around a little more, very little was salvageable. In their shared bedroom, Ezio's bed was better off then everything else. The blankets and sheets charred beyond further use but there was something hidden beneath the covers. He pulled them back and found Ezio's teddy bear, a red ribbon tied around a neck; a gift from their mother for his last birthday. A little messy with ashes but he smiled, picking it up.

Searching further he nearly threw up when he found the remains of a skeleton lying in his path. He tried to ignore it while he continued to search around. It seemed pointless however, he was surprised he found what he did, let alone anything else.

Once he managed to fit everything into the large bag he'd borrowed from Malik, he decided to carry the bear, and ran on his way back to his friend's house. He was halfway there when he remembered he'd promised to pick up milk. Grumbling to himself, he walked into the store feeling absolutely ridiculous with ashes covering him up to his knees and elbows, along with some scattered on his face and shirt. People gave him strange looks, like this was so out of the ordinary. Which it was, who stopped for milk after whatever they assumed he'd done? Further confusing, he was holding a teddy bear.

Walking inside the house he shouted, "Malik! You're an asshole!"

"Yeah and both your little brothers are awake and they just heard you curse at me."

"Shut up!"

"Awtair!"

Ezio ran down the stairs and launched himself into his brother's arms. "Malik told us where you were. Is our house okay?"

Altair bit his cheek. "Sorry, but no," he said. "There isn't much left of it. I did find this though." He handed the bear to his brother.

Ezio's eyes lit up. "Tank ou! Ish mommy otay?" Altair tried not to look at him, but Ezio was smart for being so young. "Oh," he said. "Is she still awive?" Altair closed his eyes and bit his lip. The tiny boy began to cry, clutching his teddy bear.

"I'm sorry," Altair said, kissing the boy's forehead. "I'm so sorry."

Malik came down with Desmond in tow. "What did you find?" asked Malik.

"Everything I already saved."

After he calmed Ezio down again, he spread their things out on the table. "You're incredibly thorough when preparing."

Altair nodded. "Have to be, with our way of life."

"But hiding spare clothes? You act like you were expecting your house to burn down."

"Ready for anything," he replied. "What are you prepared for?"

"I have two changes of clothes, a gun, and a couple hundred dollars hidden somewhere I think."

"Do those clothes still fit you?"

Malik shrugged. "Probably."

Altair chuckled. "I'll find us a new house soon, if you'll let us stay here a few more days."

"Sure," Malik replied. "I don't mind your little brothers at all."