All it took was one day for Jenna Lindley's life to be turned upside-down. One day she was a café barista serving small town people coffee, but the next she was on the run with an ex-bartender named Desmond Miles and his two companions, Shaun Hastings and Rebecca Crane. She could still remember the morning they entered her store clearly.
The high pitched sound of a ringing bell filled the store as three figures entered through the door. It was around 6 A.M. and Jenna was on the early shift for a café known by the name Catharine's Coffee House. It was a local delight that served different types of coffee, tea, and baked pastries. Jenna absolutely hated it. Long hours, low pay, and sometimes shitty customers accompanied her every day. However you didn't have to have a college degree to land the job, and considering that Jenna dropped out of high school she didn't exactly have many options.
The three figures made their way to the counter and Rachel gave them each a once over look. They were not the local regulars that she was used to. The first one she looked over was Shaun. He was taller than her, skinny and pale, but he held an air of knowledge around him that made her hesitant to open her mouth and say anything for fear of sounding stupid. Desmond was the next one to get examined. His skin was a few shades darker than Shaun, around the same height roughly, and he wasn't as skinny. His body was more lean than muscular but she couldn't get too good of a look at his face due to his hood being drawn up. Moving on to Rebecca she was surprised by the girl. A laptop case was strapped over her shoulder, headphones covered her ears making her raven hair seemed more ruffled than it should have been, and she was pale like Shaun but not nearly as arrogant looking.
It took a while, but finally Jenna got to courage to open her mouth and ask if they wanted to order anything. Rebecca looked to the boys and they had a silent conversation amongst themselves about who was going to order. Finally Shaun gave in and approached the counter. His British accent gave Jenna a surprise as he placed their order: one black coffee, one hot-chocolate, a caramel delight with double shot espresso, and three cinnamon muffins.
"Your total is 17.38." She told him kindly. Even if she didn't like her job Jenna was still polite to her customers. The Englishman handed her a twenty and she tended him back his change. He quickly shoved a dollar into her tip jar as she moved to produce the order.
While making the order she couldn't help but listen into to the trio talk. It seemed they were on some sort of time frame. Someone named Lucy was coming and from the tones it seemed that Lucy was not a well favored person.
"Desmond you know what you have to do. She cannot –" The British man was saying.
"I know Shaun! Trust me I know better than anyone else what has to be done." Desmond snapped.
"Why don't we all calm down? We have a few hours before we have to really start worrying. Let's just get something to eat and drink while we think this through." The girl of the group said.
"Rebecca is right." Shaun finally breathed out. It seemed he wanted to say more, but Rebecca had logic on her side.
"Order is ready." Jenna called as she placed the drinks and food on the counter. Rebecca retrieved the goods and the trio took the far table to the right. It was away from the windows and sheltered from wandering eyes. Jenna paid no mind to them since other customers started to pour in slowly.
Time rolled on and a 7:34 A.M. all hell broke loose. The trio just got on their way to leave when a hailstorm of bullets tore through the shop. Jenna just barely was able to take cover behind the bar. Desmond overturned a table and took shelter behind it while Shaun pulled Rebecca out of the store through a side door. From the streets outside screams could be heard and Jenna covered her ears to block it out.
When the firing stopped she uncovered her ears and opened her eyes. When had she closed them? She couldn't remember. The bell on the door rang and her blood ran cold as the sound of crunching glass was heard.
"Find them." The voice was feminine, but it was cold and harsh. Jenna was just about to peak her head over the bar when two hands clamped onto her, one over her mouth and the other around her waist.
At first she tried to struggle, but the arms only wrapped tighter around her. Glancing sideways she glared at Desmond, who motioned for her to be silent. Jenna relaxed against his body and did as he requested.
"If they find you they will kill you." His voice was low so they wouldn't be detected. "I can help you. You'll have to come with me and leave this all behind you. The choice is yours to make." Slowly he unwrapped his arms from around her and slinked along the underside of the bar.
Jenna watched him go. A thousand questions raced through her mind, but the crunching of glass got closer and closer. She didn't have time to ponder about questions. Quickly she caught up to Desmond and followed him back to the storage room. From there he led her out into a back alleyway. They took off at a running pace to an unmarked van. Red alarms were going off in Jenna's mind, but she pushed them back. Climbing into the back of the van she got curious looks from both Shaun and Rebecca.
"What are you doing you idiot? Why is she here?" The British man hissed through his teeth as Rebecca started the vehicle.
"She couldn't stay there and you know it. They would have killed her. We will drop her off somewhere safe." Desmond assured him.
"Ah, whatever. Idiot." Shaun muttered as he typed away on a laptop.
However they never did get rid of her. Jenna ended up staying with them and learning all about the war that raged between Templars and Assassins. She learned of Desmond's past and what fragments he knew about his future. She was told about Lucy and her betrayal to the group. Desmond explained Abstergo, the Animus, the Bleeding Effect, and everything else that he could think of. Hell, Desmond even trained Jenna on basic hand to hand combat! Her life from that morning on had been altered.
She was no longer the Jenna Lindley that had worked in a café. No, that Jenna had been weak and scared. Too shy to even stand up to some of her more rowdy customers. Now she was the Jenna Lindley that would feed someone their teeth if they so much as looked at her wrong.
This was how it all started. In one day her life had been completely changed and rearranged. Unfortunately for her it was going to happen again.
"Jen, we have a problem!" Rebecca called to her from the other room. Jenna rushed into the room with such haste it was almost inhuman.
"What is the problem?" The woman asked as she leaned over the back of Rebecca's chair to scan the computer screen the tech was looking at. Red signals were flashing, but the codes that sprang up made no sense to her. They did however have an effect on the raven haired woman who was typing furiously on her keyboard.
"They've found us. I don't know how, but they did. We have maybe a few minutes before they arrive. Go get Desmond and Shaun. Hurry!" Rebecca said as she stood up and started disconnecting cables. Jenna did as she was told and ran up the stairs of the abandoned building they were currently using as their safe house.
"We've got Templar movement coming this way. Get your crap together." She told them as she busted through the door. Desmond was instantly on his feet, slinging his pack over his shoulder. Shaun was gathering his things as they two assassins made their way down the stairs.
"How much time?" Desmond asked, voice tense and body ridged.
"Less than five minutes. We won't be outta here by then. Someone has got to distract them. You and me?" Her answers were short and to the point. Often her and Desmond slipped into this 'hunting mode' where they only spoke to each other in clipped responses. Shaun and Rebecca often teased them about it, but the two assassins would never pay them any mind. It was just a form of communication when time was tight.
"Yea. Come on." He threw his pack on top of the other things getting hauled off to the van. Together the two scaled the walls outside and jumped from rooftop to rooftop. They saw the black vans speeding towards them from a few blocks away.
"How are we going to do this?" Jenna asked him as she crouched down beside him.
Three years of training beside Miles had honed her body from flabby nothingness, to lean and powerful. She was a skilled in hand to hand combat just like him, however what she lacked in his strength she made up for with speed. They were the definition of contrasting characters. He was tanned, brown eyed, short brown hair, and tall with a few scars from previous fights. Jenna was shorter, fair skinned, with green intelligent eyes and dirty blonde hair that reached two inches above the small of her back.
"I'll make a distraction, you pick them off as fast as you can." Desmond told her confidently. Living the lives of Altair and Ezio had trained him to be a killing master and a stealthy stalker. They wouldn't even be able to touch him.
Jenna scaled a higher building and waited for Desmond to que her into the fight.
The male jumped from his perch onto the first van. He sent a brick through the windshield into the driver's face. That vehicle spun and crashed into a wall, but not before Miles jumped onto the speeding car behind it. Tires screeched to a halt and people started to pour out of the vehicles, their guns pulled out and aimed at the Assassin. However Desmond was on top of things. His hidden blade was unsheathed and people were starting to drop faster than flies. Those that got too close to the dark alleyways were picked off by Jenna.
Only five minutes into the fighting and something happened that Jenna had never seen before. A woman stepped out of one of the parked vans. In her hand was a large golden looking ball that emitted a soft glow. However the glow got brighter and brighter, almost to the point of blinding, but Jenna didn't dare look away from it. The light condensed and then shot forward with such speed that the girl almost missed it. It struck the ground before Desmond. The pavement exploded and Miles was rocked backwards by the blast.
Everything was silent. Jenna's ears rang, but she tried to block that out as best as she could. Her eyes searched out for her fellow comrade. Had he been killed?
The dust started to settle and she noticed his shadow. He was trying to get to his feet, but it seemed he was unsuccessful. His arm was bleeding and his lip was busted, but other than that it just seemed the wind had been knocked out of him.
"Lucy, you crazy bitch!" Desmond yelled toward the woman when he recovered his breath.
"Nice to see you too, Desmond." The woman, Lucy, purred. She started forward towards him and Jenna had to stop herself from running out and tearing the woman apart. So this was the Lucy that caused the team so much heartache.
"The Apple." Desmond noted as he stared at the golden sphere she was holding.
"Yes. I have it here with me. Vidic thought that I might need it in order to bring you in alive." She said as she stared down at the object in obvious awe. "I never thought that he would allow me to hold such power... I must say that is is quite enjoyable. Although sometimes it can be a pain. It does spazz out from time to time." She admitted as she stood over Desmond.
"That thing will drive you made Lucy. Give it up." Desmond's tone almost seemed to borderline begging, and Jenna wanted to stamp him into the ground. This was not the Desmond she knew!
"To whom? You? Ha!" Lucy laughed at him in mock. "You are weak Miles. All Assassin's are, but soon you'll be where you belong." She turned to address her remaining men. "Seize him."
Two guards started to move toward Desmond, guns ready to fire tranquilizers. Desmond's look of horror caused Jenna to spring into action. She picked up a fallen Templar's gun and fired three rounds. Two hit the first man in the leg and chest, the third bullet found itself lodged into the second man's skull. Lucy whipped around and poised the Apple in her direction, but Desmond was quick and stabbed his blade into the back of her calf. With a scream she released the Apple and fell to the ground.
"Jenna grab it!" Desmond yelled as he scrambled to his feet.
Ducking under whizzing bullets Jenna grabbed the artifact and made a run for it. Desmond was only seconds behind her. They both could hear Lucy screaming for her men to retrieve the stolen Apple, but their gear weighted them down and the two Assassins quickly lost them in a maze of back streets and dark alleyways.
The pair only stopped whenever they could no longer hear the pounding of feet behind them. Jenna leaned herself against the brick wall of the alley while Desmond doubled over to gasp for his breath.
"Looks like you are out of shape." Jenna said between her own deep breaths. Desmond didn't even gratify her with words, instead he gave her the middle finger, which in turn made her chuckle. This was their relationship. Jenna poking him with teasing words and him snapping back irritably.
As soon as they caught their breath they doubled back to the safe house. It was being raided by Templars, but there was no sign of Rebecca or Shaun. Which meant that Desmond and Jenna had succeeded in their job to buy time. Leaving the area they made their way along rooftops scanning for the unmarked van that belonged to Rebecca. As they traveled Jenna glanced down at the golden orb in her hands.
"Desmond. What is this thing?" She asked him as she came to a stop. Desmond turned to give her look before he locked onto the orb in her hand.
"That is the Apple. It is one of the keys we need to unravel the mystery that surrounds the Ones-That-Came-Before." He explained. "I don't know all the details about it, but it is powerful. It can control people's minds as well as reveal information, though I highly doubt that is the extent of its abilities." He let his sentence trail off as he stared at the object. "Those damn things have caused so much pain and suffering for my ancestors."
Jenna let the subject drop as Desmond turned to keep moving. They were about to make another jump when Jenna felt a searing pain rip though her right side. Letting out a pained howl she gripped the Apple with one hand as the other moved to hold her side. Desmond whipped around and managed to pull her out of the way before she was shot again. Blood seeped slowly from her rib cage as Jenna followed Desmond. It was just a graze thankfully. It wouldn't kill her, but if she wasn't careful she would loose a lot of blood and become woozy.
"How the hell did they find us that quickly?" He hissed as he yanked Jenna into the shadows.
"Don't know." She hissed through her teeth.
"You gonna be ok?" Desmond asked her as he knocked her hand out of the way. After surveying the wound he pushed her hand back to the cut to keep pressure.
"Survey says?" She asked him, trying to lighten the mood with a joke. Desmond frowned at her, but assured her that it would be fine as long as she held pressure. A white van screeched to a halt at the mouth of the alleyway. The backdoor opened and out popped Rebecca's head.
"Found ya!" She cheered as she motioned for them to hurry.
Desmond took off in front and Jenna followed a hair behind him. Well until the damn artifact decided to start acting up. It started to buzz in her hand and she stopped to glance at it, but that turned out a be a bad mistake. The buzzing turned to glowing, and the glowing turned to a glaring light. Jenna tried to drop the orb, but her arm was not listening to her command.
"Jenna!" Desmond yelled, but his voice sounded as if he were underwater. It was muffled and far away.
"Desmond what is going on?!" She cried out. Her arm started to tingle, and the tingle moved from there to her entire body. "Oh my god." She breathed as the light blinded her. "Desmond! Shaun! Rebecca!" She screamed for them, but no reply was given back. Suddenly the orb vanished. "What the hell..." Her voice trailed off as she felt something weird happen. The air around her was slowly taking form of water.
Then it happened.
The air was water. It encased her body and flowed around, pushing against her and suffocating her. Her hair wove with the current and she held her breath as she tried to determine which way was up and which way was down. Her direction was off, her air was running out, and her limbs felt as heavy as lead as gravity decided to kick back in.
What the hell was going on!?
Taking a leap of faith she propelled her body in the direction she thought was up. Her lungs burned and her eyes were stinging. Thankfully her direction proved true and her head broke the surface of the water. Instantly she was taking deep breaths of wonderful air and coughing up mouthfuls of water. The force of the current rocked her body forward and backward and it finally clicked in her mind that she was at sea. It explained why her eyes and injury burned. Damn salt.
Treading the waves and did a 360 turn in the water. Shore was not far off, but she feared with her side in its condition and her the state of her low energy that she wouldn't make it.
Staying here will not help me either. Her wound was turning the water around her a rosy red color. Sharks and other sea life would be drawn to her if she didn't start moving.
Slowly she made her way towards shore. What seemed like a short distance turned out to be the longest stretch she'd ever made. As soon as she touched ground she crawled her way onto the shore. To her shock she was no long wearing her jeans and black hoodie. In its place was a white shirt and brown cut off pants. It vaguely reminded her of something a sailor would wear.
As soon as she was free from the water's grasp she allowed her body to give into fatigue. Her back hit sand with a dull thud. The air was cold and it nipped at her exposed wet skin. Where was she? What was going on? Was Desmond and her crew alright? What of Lucy and the Templars? Tons of questions raced through her mind and all of them caused her head to ache. Her eyes were getting heavy and her body was growing colder. Wherever she was, it was the middle of winter. The snow falling from the darkening sky was a clear indication.
So tired... Desmond, Rebecca, Shaun... god, I hope you all are ok.
Finally Jenna gave up her fight and let the blackness take her as darkness started to fall over the shoreline.
"Is she going to make it?" A woman's voice rang through Jenna's ears. She felt warm and safe, but the fabric beneath her was not her own bed. She forced her body to stay lax, else she would alert whomever was around her that she was now awake. One of the lessons Desmond had taught her was to scope out her surroundings before alerting the world to her presence.
"I didn't see anything that might be fatal. There is a wound running across her side that will scar in time, but other than that and a few bruises, she is in top shape." Another voice said. It was male, maybe around the mid-thirties.
"Well thank you Doctor for coming. We will keep her here until she wakes." Yet another voice chimed in. This one was male, but it was old and worn.
"Until next time Achilles. Good day Myriam." The 'Doctor' excused himself as he exited the room. However as his footfalls left another entered. The new footfalls were much heavier, indicating a bigger individual.
"Ah, Connor, you're back. Welcome home." Jenna guessed that was Achilles who spoke.
"Johnson has been taken care of." The new male said softly. All Jenna could think was: Damn, Connor had a deep voice.
"Excuse me. I'll be going now. It seems the girl is in good hands with the both of you." Myriam said as she exited. Jenna stopped her eyebrow from twitching in annoyance. She was twenty-three for christ sake! She wasn't a 'girl'!
"Who is this?" Connor asked, his footfalls nearing the bed. Jenna resisted the urge to lash out and attack the man for being too close. Thankfully he made no move to touch her.
"Myriam found her while she was hunting. The girl washed up along the shoreline. Her clothes suggest that she was a shipmate, but she hasn't yet woken. There is a wound across her right side. Perhaps from a musket. We think that maybe her ship was overtaken and during the struggle she somehow wound up overboard. Luckly she didn't drown." Achilles said as his footfalls moved away. "We will asked her when she wakes. Come, lets talk, you can make tea."
The man, Connor, groaned over her at the thought of making tea. It seemed that the man didn't like that specific chore. However he and Achilles left the room not long afterwards. The door closed shut behind them. Jenna opened her eyes but didn't move until she could hear the clattering down below.
Throwing the covers off her frame she let her feet swing off the bed to touch floor. Tenderly she got to her feet and tested her strength. While she was not at 100% she was clearly stronger than she was yesterday. Moving to look out the window she sneered down at the white fluffy substance that covered the ground. Oh it was winter alright. Dead middle of it by the looks. Examining her clothes she was pleased to see that she was wearing a different white shirt with black pants. These were thicker however and kept her bones warmer.
Perhaps I could slip out the window, they would never know I left.
Trying her luck she pulled at the window seal, but it was frozen in place. As hard as she pulled it was not budging. Breaking it was out of the question. It would cut her skin, and there was no doubt in her mind that they men below her would hear the glass shattering. Grunting she decided to sneak around the house a bit. Perhaps she could slip past the men through a door.
Pulling on a pair of shoes from under the bed she laced them up tightly. Moving silently she crept out of the room and down the stairs, carefully testing each board to make sure they wouldn't produce a creak. The sounds of conversation drifted to her ears, making her relax a bit. Stepping off the stairs she made her way towards the door, but what she failed to notice was the man coming up behind her.
When a hand clamped down on her shoulder she reacted without thinking. Instantly she grabbed the hand and twisted it at a painful angle. The man behind her let out a pained yelp and went to his knees. However Jenna kept moving her stance went behind the man and she held his arm with enough force that she could snap it if she chose to. The screeching of chairs met her ears and she let out a string of colorful swear words. Using her captive she forced him to his feet. When the first man came into view she pushed the captive into the new enemy. Making them both become unbalanced. The small white male stumbled and corrected himself against the tall Native American, but the distraction gave Jenna enough time to run past them.
She was halfway to the door when a cane shot out and tripped her feet. Gracelessly she fell to the floor. Her side met ground and a painfully hiss escaped her lips. However she didn't waste a beat before she was back on her feet sprinting to the door. The Native American recovered and was on her within a second. His huge arms wrapped around her torso and lifted her from the ground. With a animal-like snarl Jenna smashed the back of her head into his face. He let out a curse but didn't drop her like she hoped he would. Instead his arms only tightened, forcing the air from her belly, and her side to throb with pain. It was unlike her to give up so easily so she thrashed and wormed in his hold, hoping to break it.
"Let me go!" She hissed as her foot connected with his knee. It buckled and the both of them tumbled to the floor. His hold loosened just enough for her to wiggle out of it. Scrambling away from him she got to her feet and had just enough time to catch the end of the cane that was aimed at her head. Curling her lip back over her teeth she hissed at the old man.
"I don't suggest doing that again, old man." She warned him, letting go of his care roughly, before turning around to grab the door. The white man grabbed her arm but she finished him with an elbow to the face. "Pathetic." She muttered as he collapsed to the ground in a heap.
As she was opening the door a heavy weight slammed into her from behind. Damn that Native American! The wind was pushed from her lungs as she collided with the door. This time the Native wasn't taking chances. Instead of trying to hold her he pined her to the floor with his own body. Jenna thrashed around for a good while, but finally the pain from her side and lack of good oxygen got the better of her. Laying face down on the floor with the Native on top of her she struggled to get good air.
"Who are you?" The old man asked her. His voice was not hostile, but Jenna knew that appearances could be deceiving. So she just glared up at him in a defiant way.
"I don't have to answer to you." Jenna spat out, however this seemed to be the wrong answer because the man above her squeezed even tighter.
"Because of my skin color?" The old man inquired.
"What?" Jenna wheezed out. "What the hell does your skin color have to do with me answering to you. You attacked me you crazy old coot!" She yelled out with as much force as she could muster. He response made the old man raise an eyebrow.
"We attacked you? You nearly broke our friend's arm. Hell, you knocked him unconscious." To prove his point the old man nudged the limp form beside him.
"He grabbed me from behind. It startled me. What the hell was a suppose to think?" She countered him, her green eyes not leaving his gaze. "I woke up in a strange room, I look out the window and I don't even recognize the area, I made my way down the stairs and that guy grabs me from behind... how would you react in my place?" She tried to reason with him. The old man seemed to think the over.
"Connor, let her up." Achilles instructed him. The Native above her slowly got to his feet dragging her with him. However as soon as she was steady he let her go. His head was downcast, almost as if he were ashamed by attacking her. "Who are you girl?" Achilles asked again.
"Jenna Lindley. Where am I?" Jenna eyed the two men wearily.
"Your in the Davenport Homestead. Close to Rockport, Massachusetts." Achilles informed her.
"Homestead?" Jenna asked, her voice raising a few octaves.
"Yes. You seemed surprised. Was your ship not sailing for the colonies?" He inquired. Jenna didn't respond.
"What is the year?" She turned to eye Connor, for once getting a good look at him. It was then she saw it. The Creed symbol on his uniform. "That symbol." Her voice was low as she stared at the curved A.
"You know this symbol?" Connor asked, his fingers tracing over the metal almost in a fond manner.
"You're an Assassin." She breathed out, stepping away from him to get a better look. "Not exactly what I expected, but I can see it." She said, giving him an approving nod.
"Nothing is true..." Achilles started but trailed off.
"Everything is permitted." Jenna ended it for him with a smile. "Oh thank the lord I've been found by you instead of those Templar bastards." Jenna was obviously relieved. Her tense shoulders sagged some and her smile slowly carved its way onto her face.
"Where are you from, Jenna." Achilles inquired, motioning for her to enter the kitchen area.
Her and Achilles entered the room as Connor tended to the man on the floor. Once he was placed on the couch in the living room Connor joined them. Now both men waited silently for her to speak. Jenna twitched in place as she wondered if she should tell them or not about how she came to be in their time. Deciding that she couldn't successfully lie to them she took a deep breath.
"Before I begin you must both agree to keep an open mind to what I'm about to tell you. I think we all know about the First Civilization and their technologies." Her statement made both men sit a little straighter.
"Well I started like this..." And then she began, from her time as a bar maid, to training with Desmond, to the accident with the Apple. Everything she could recall and more. The men both had questions, and Jenna knew that this was going to be a long day.
Author's Notes: So I've been on an Assassins's Creed kick for a few weeks now. Finally decided to get around making a fanfiction over it. I haven't played all the games so some stuff in this fiction might be wrong, but that is the beauty of fanfiction. If you want to see something special happen in this story then leave it in a review and I'll see what I can do to kinda tie it in.
As always I love any type of review. Constructive criticism and plot ideas/twists are my favorite.