Malik's cold, dark eyes surveyed the stranger before him and his grip tightened on the blade in his hand, "How did you come by this place?" The figure's hand twitched and the Dai pressed harder into the tanned neck, "You do not need your hands for speaking."

"No...but I need my throat in one piece." Malik's eyes narrowed slightly at the light voice being slightly muffled by the hooded cloak – it was a woman? He used the blades tip to flick the hood further back from the stranger's face and he grit his teeth in annoyance; he had thought it was a teenage boy! She flinched as the weapon returned to her neck and gave him a slight glare, "Altaïr said this place would be safe for me. Did he lie to me, brother?"

"I did not lie." Both looked to the doorway of the Jerusalem Bureau's main room to glare at the Assassin, "Safety and peace, Malik – though you offer none to our guest." His smirk and smug tone did little to soothe the older man's nerves at finding someone he did not know lurking in his Bureau.

He straightened up at the teasing of his oldest friend and growled back unamused, "Altaïr, my wandering friend, which part of, 'secret location' eludes you, Novice." The last word held a hint of barely suppressed murder. It was early morning and the Dai had an intruder in his Bureau, a young lady to be precise. "Explain." He ordered as he gestured to her.

Altaïr inclined his head slightly, "Perhaps when the lingering danger of her life ending is removed..." The Dai chuffed in annoyance but stepped away from the female and let his arm drop to his side, "Shalini Ha Neza Aduma; A Novice from Assam." She gave Malik a small smile and moved closer to Altaïr, a useful shield should the Dai attack her again, "Al Mualim had another Brotherhood under his wing. They train women also...but it is young, ill equipped and without proper leaders." He pulled down his hood as he spoke and rubbed at the thick stubble along his jaw, his head moving left and right to stretch tense neck muscles from hours of travelling, "They will not join us as a whole but I have convinced one of their Dai's to split. This is the younger sister of said Dai and is here to finish her training."

"And to report if you are worthy of becoming our master...if what you say is true." Malik watched Altaïr scowl at the woman and leave to the main room to wash the desert sand from his body. "He is such a sensitive flower at times." She smiled at the man and bowed her head, "I am sorry for intruding, I thought Altaïr would be here or have informed you of my arrival...It is customary to send word and I will understand if you would have me leave."

Now that she was no longer hidden from view Malik took a moment to look her over. She had long, brunette hair that reached just below her waist in a thick braid, she peeked at him with large, almond shaped eyes, the colour of them reminded him of turquoise gems, nearly distracting him from the scar that curved under the right side of her face, just beneath her eye on her high cheekbone. "I will not have a Novice left to the wolves in the streets of this city – especially a girl." After studying her properly he realised she was younger than he had thought, barely a woman out of her teens. She stood a head shorter than him, and had an air about her...something that could be commanding but lacked...something. "It is Altaïr's fault, as usual, you will not leave the Bureau without my permission and I expect you to not bother any of the informants who pass through here." She nodded and Malik passed her to speak with Altaïr – or cuff him and give him a demeaning lecture for being a pain!

00

Shalini set down a steaming cup in front of her host and stepped away from the counter, "Thank you for allowing me to stay."

"Altaïr is Master of the Order, thank him." He continued his work on the map, sparing a glance at the drink and realised he hadn't taken a break since he and the other Assassin had spoken. The man had been away for a year this time, muttering about a hidden Brotherhood in India before dashing off and leaving Malik with the brunt of the work. Despite the surprise guest the man had been missed and after yelling at him, Malik was quick to hug him and welcome him home.

"Altaïr is master of many things..." She muttered despisingly under her breath before leaning on the counter and speaking again, "All the same, I am thanking you. I do not expect to laze around. I will be more than willing to do chores for you, maybe cook and clean, well sort of, I have experience with Bureau work, or I can...um..." Malik was staring at her in what she could only interpret as annoyance, "I talk too much; Sorry."

"It is more like prattle." Her face fell a little at his honesty and he was inclined to smirk at her expressive face, "Do not look so put out, I gain no joy from making little girls sad."

"I am seventeen! Practically a woman!" She huffed indignantly and turned her back to him in a fit of temper. A deep chuckle sounded in her ears and she peeked over her shoulder at him with wide eyes – he was laughing at her! "H-how dare you! I...I...I do not like you."

The Dai nearly grinned at her, he had watched her carefully for the last few hours and something about her was off – stiff and uncomfortable. "You are not as well collected as you appear; who were you imitating? Altaïr? Someone from your own clan?"

"Not him...he is an arrogant fool. If not for his feeling guilty I doubt he would have agreed to bring me ahead of the other scouts – pretending to be his wife was worse than any training I have endured!" She stared forward again and dropped her indignant voice, "If not for the debt I owe him for saving my life I would kill him. And he knows as such!"

"Such hate, little hawk...Not admirable for an assassin – it will blind you." He ignored her outburst, he had no interest in defending Altaïr from an angry child or putting up with the behaviour so he returned to sketching out the map he had been working on the the past week. Despite himself, Malik did speak again, "He argued vehemently on your behalf that I care for you...nearly begged." She made a small growl, "Such protection deserves respect."

He received no answer for a long while and assuming she was sulking like a small child, Malik looked up to ask her to leave him be. The comment died in his throat as he looked up at her profile – she looked sad with her eyes down cast, a frown playing on her lips as she tensed her jaw almost angrily, "I can not respect him...he ruined everything."

"Now you are just being a fool." Malik sighed out in exasperation before a fist slammed down on his desk.

"That bastard deserves nothing!" She snapped, "Because of him I failed my mission! I was shamed in front of the entire fortress and then he gets praised for saving my life? It was his fault in the first place! I am sick of people telling me to respect him like some god!" Shalini turned her back to the Dai once more an took a few deep breaths; she had been trying so hard to be mature, to be a good impression for her Brothers and Sisters and to show everyone she was not a failure. She had failed with her outburst but those long months travelling with the man she harboured such anger for had grated and chafed at her already frayed nerves until she burst. "If I had just said no..."

Usually he would not have stood for anyone raising their voice to him but the way her delicate face twisted with rage and sadness all at once...the unshed tears that clung to her lashes cried out to him more than her voice – he knew that pain, he had lived it, felt it...tasted it. Betrayal. "One man's single selfish act and cost another many, many things...Altaïr has done this to me also." He unconsciously fingered the empty sleeve at his side and watched her slowly glance at him.

"Do you not hate him?"

"It is easy to hate and for a long time I did. Altaïr is a different man from the one who hurt me and I am certain, with every fibre of my being that whatever it is he did to wrong you was not done out of malice." Malik looked back down to his work, "It is harder to forgive...but you will not feel so heavily burdened. Go and rest – calm yourself, pray, cry in the corner or whatever it is you do when you are exhausted."

Shalini bowed her head almost in shame and murmured out a quick, 'Yes, Dai' before doing as commanded.

00

Their next conversation was a little easier, a chess table between them and Malik's determination not to mention Altaïr at all kept things light. He didn't know what Altaïr had done to her but her body language when the man was around was enough to pique his curiosity...though he was content to wait for one of them to spill something. The Master Assassin's body language was just as stiff as the young woman's. "Check mate," he watched her eyes widen at the move and couldn't help smirking, "You are too hasty," He said as he got up to return to his books – it had been a short reprieve and she was easily beaten but he had enjoyed it. Shalini followed and hopped up onto his counter, Malik stared at her; there was a seat only a few feet away, why was she sitting on the counter like a child? "Comfortable?" she nodded at him, her left hand pushing his cup toward him as a silent order to drink it – she didn't make him a drink for the hell of it! Malik took the cup and examined it carefully – she was small and sweet enough but she was still an Assassin. Deciding it was safe enough, he tried it and had the urge to spit it out and tell her it was foul, "You have a talent for making awful beverages. How many women are in your order that they can not teach you how to boil water?" That was the least brutal he could be and her slight frown showed him what she thought of it.

"You are a fussy old man...and there are…one, two…Nadia…Sonia…" she went on muttering for a bit, counting each off on her fingers and looking as if she had to really think about it, "Eight."

"That is not many"

She countered quickly after scoffing, "How many have you got?"

"I concede." Malik smirked at her small victory, "I would imagine you women would all be huddled together."

"We are not a gaggle of friends like in a village. My sister is the Dai in the fortress, she has the most important job as she over sees training, missions and rations…supplies too, I think. She has the best tactical mind I have ever seen…unfortunately it is not shared in our family line." she pouted a little as she continued, "Then there is Nadia, she is an informant and useless in a fight but if you want to know something she is the one to ask. Sonia…She is scary. She is more vicious and violent than any of the men!" she paused to shiver at a memory of the woman, "And then there are three other Novices – which I have nothing to do with…I bet those little vipers would poison their own mothers given half the chance! We are all different levels of skill and so are in with different instructors. We get thrown in with the boys and have no concessions; in fact we are pushed harder." She watched as Malik let a mildly surprised look pass over his face, it was obvious he was having trouble with the idea of women as assassins and doing his best not to look too cynical. "Do you have any siblings?" she asked out of the blue, "I do not get to see my sister often but we are still close."

Malik wanted to scold her for babbling again like a small girl but he was seeing this as her true self. Not the angry or the pretending Shalini he had met the day before. He drank more of his tea, forgetting that it was awful and made a face, that was too deep a question for him. He had a sibling, he had had Kadar and he had lost him. it still hurt to remember, to watch novices trip over and think of the younger man, it hurt more than any phantom pain he had ever had in his arm, "I…I had a younger brother and he died the same day I lost my arm." The girl turned her gaze on him as he answered, where he expected to see some form of pity he only saw a look that said she was sorry for his loss and for that, he was thankful. "His name was Kadar."

"...Your betrayal?" He nodded, knowing that she meant Altaïr but not wanting to lose face as she had done before.

"One forgiven...Now." He stared at her with disapproval, "Get off my counter. What are you? Some sort of fat kitten?"

"Fat?" she said shrilly. Her mouth dropped open and her eyes widened at the unintentional insult, "I am not fat! It is these travel clothes and I did not expect this place to be dryer than Assam…You are mean and I dislike you very much." She hopped down from the counter with a pout and an undignified 'humph' which caused the man to laugh at her. Thoroughly scandalised Shalini walked away to inspect the chess table at the end of the room.

Malik reigned in his amusement long enough to observe her sit on a pillow and toy with the pieces on the table. "I did not say you were fat. I was merely stating that cats sit on counters and usually a content cat is fat…I think of you to be about as threatening as a newborn kitten…that is also the runt, oh and meows a lot."

"I...am going to go wash and change...Maybe when I am done the fork in your tongue will have healed."

"Doubtful, little hawk, very doubtful." He enjoyed teasing her, she wasn't as sensitive as some of the people who came through his Bureau and he had missed having more permanent company these past years. "Your clothing arrived this morning." He called after her as he remembered the bundle Altaïr had brought in a few hours ago and dumped in a corner."

00

Altaïr watched Shalini as she flitted from stall to stall, she had no idea which ones she was looking for but she seemed determined to try and get everything on the list Malik had given them. It was a good chance for her to explore her new surroundings and let Malik get on with more important work than getting food. The Dai had nearly had a fit when he saw Shalini's outfit and seemed distracted to the point he sent the two away to do the shopping. It was earning her a few looks too but this was how the female Assassins dressed in her Clan. She wore an outfit similar to his own, boots, hooded robes, arm braces and a large belt that held her weapons by her side – though he had confiscated them. Instead of trousers though, she wore shorts that clung to her like a second skin and came down to mid thigh, her arms were bare instead of the usual long sleeved tops that the Brotherhood wore and the bottom hem of the hood was attached to gold lace that criss-crossed down to her chest to reveal what little cleavage she had. It was red instead of white and trimmed or decorated in gold – it was not discreet.

Where she was from the assassins were not a secret, they walked through the streets and were treated as local law enforcement. Here in Jerusalem she was luckily being mistaken for some sort of exotic dancer…if he hadn't of taken her weapons the guards would have seen her right away. "Shalini."

"Yes, Altaïr?" she asked coldly as she spun on her heel to face him and continue walking backwards with her hands clasped behind her back, "Is it about my clothing again? It is all I own, I do not see what is wrong with it…Just look away from me – you do it well."

"You look like a woman for sale – Shalini! Come back!" he hissed as he caught up to the woman who was suddenly walking away from him quickly. He grabbed her wrist to stop her going any further, "I was not calling you a whore – but what you are wearing is very suggestive in this country. I will buy you something more suitable whilst we are here."

She shook her head unhappily and frowned at him, "I do not want you to buy me clothing or anything!" She hissed back and tore her arm from his grip, "…can we just get this list filled?" He agreed quickly to her request and asked her to read to him what was needed. "Alright…let us see…" she pulled the list from her pouch and stared at the neat script spread across it – Malik had beautiful handwriting! It was then she realised something, "I…I can not read this…it is in Arabic. Do not look at me like I am a leper, Altaïr! I can speak your language but I can not read it…argh, why am I in this country again?" Her exclamation earned a few stares as she had been a little louder than their quiet words back and forth.

"Give the list to me." Altaïr snatched the list grudgingly and they got to work on collecting everything that had been asked for. Of course she made him carry everything as punishment for something he was not sure he had even done but it suited them both as it made them look like a dancing girl ordering her carer around. By the time they were nearly done they were ready to murder one another; the Assassin had been mostly quiet but he was beginning to seethe at the back handed comments slipping from the girl's mouth. Each unprovoked attack biting at his control and finally, in a lonely alley, he shoved her against a wall with a tight grip on her upper arms, "What would you have me do, Shalini? Every pardon I have tried to earn is met with your cold disapproval and I grow tired of it!" He snapped in frustration, amber eyes flashing as he glared down at he shorter frame waiting for her to open her venomous little mouth.

Shalini yelped as she hit the wall and stared wide eyed up at the other. She knew she'd been pushing her luck but hadn't had enough to shut her mouth...she was being spiteful because she had been in pain for may hours now. A dull throbbing in her lower stomach that had built into a near stabbing sensation that had her wanting to cry and curl up – but not in front of this man. "L-let me go..." She nearly whimpered.

Altaïr's brows knitted together as he moved his head back to examine her without too much anger clouding his vision, his bruising grip loosening on her arms. Altaïr was patient as he watched her fidget, brow creased, her tanned cheeks had turned pink as he eyes screwed shut and her mouth open and shut like a fish out of water until all that came out was pained groan as she tried to say something; She was in pain. He glanced down at her stomach and looked away swiftly, "It still hurts?" His hand drifted down to the spot he had eyed critically and she nearly buckled at the light pressure he caused. The man caught her swiftly, letting her dig her nails into his forearms as she bit back a cry, "It is alright, Shalini...Do you have anything for the pain?" She shook her head no and stammered that she had run out of her medicine. He sighed and gathered her and the shopping to himself before heading for home.

Upon returning to the bureau he pushed her over onto the pillows and she willing fell into them as he left the supplies nearby. "Are you done with the reports yet?" Altaïr asked as he stepped into Malik's room, his voice was tight as he watched the other man look up curiously.

"I have, for once I may get an early night; the informants have all reported in and gone home." A thump from the other room made him pause that line of thought, "What is wrong with her and why is she beating up defenceless cushions?"

"…She is in pain, Malik. And the stubborn child insisted that I not bother you with it." He told the other as he stalked back to the other room, Shalini was huddled into a tight ball on the rugs and cushions; was it really that bad? Sitting beside her Altaïr shook her shoulder gently, "This is not normal."

She huffed in annoyance, "It has been normal for months, Altaïr…a knife in the stomach does not go down well!" Her shoulder jerked away from his hand as she whimpered again.

At her snappish reply the Assassin drew back a little. He knew she didn't like to appear weak in front of others but this was ridiculous if she was in real agony. "This is because of that? "

"Shut up! I do not want to talk about it and you know that!" she ground out after shoving his hand away as it tried to return, "This is your fault!"

"Than suffer alone!" He growled back before getting up and vanishing through the latticed roof. If he stayed he would upset her and the subject was too close to his heart to leave him unaffected. If she wanted to huddle into a ball and die than he would let her – he had tried to help her before because of his guilt. Altaïr used to enjoy his time with her, he enjoyed helping her train and talking with her but he could not help someone who hated him this much. He was only protecting her because her older sister had written him a letter oozing with hidden guilt trips that he had had no choice but to help her integrate into the country.

Malik sighed as he watched Altaïr vault, it was wrong of him to just runaway from the girl but he understood it was to keep from saying something unbearable – which left him to pick up the pieces, again! "What can I do? What is it that ails you?" His dark eyes studied her carefully as she twisted painfully onto her back, her hand clutching her lower stomach – was she injured? The Dai knelt beside the Novice and removed her thick belt before moving the silky material up so that he could see her tanned skin, "You should not be climbing or even training with this injury, you stupid Novice!" A jagged scar stretched from the middle of her stomach, below her belly button, to her left hip; the skin was red and angry whilst the badly stitched edges of the injury were still raw pink. "Who saw to this?" If this was the extent of the medical care of her Brotherhood than Malik was disgusted!

"It...it opened...w-when I was travelling here and I..." She pressed her head into the pillows and panted slightly, she had barely felt it when she had her healing herbs but now it was burning, "I tried to...mend it."

"You should have told Altaïr! Or me!" He growled angrily as he pressed on her stomach – it was likely an infection. "You detest him so much you would risk death rather than ask for help?" Shalini shook her head and grimaced: She had honestly thought it was fine! Malik tsked after staring for another moment – was this what Altaïr had caused? Perhaps it was an accident...or Altaïr had not caused the wound but was responsible in another way...

"M-malik?" His eyes snapped down to her face and he was pulled out of his thoughts, he would help her first and find the cause later. The Novice watched the other grab medical supplies, drop them by her side and get to work. He cut the crude stitches apart and began pressing the area again as Shalini bit into a pillow and tried to muffle a pained scream, body jerking enough for Malik to swear in frustration. He needed someone to help, it was hard enough with one arm without the poor girl writhing in pain.

00

It seemed to take forever to clean and stitch Shalini together again, her body had shook with the effort to keep still for him and he appreciated her feeble attempts – She did what she could to make it easier for him. "Drink this, it will ease the pain for now and hopefully any infection you may have..." She drank from the cup and cringed at the taste, "That is what I thought about your tea earlier." He gave a wry smile as he covered the wound in a healing salve.

Rolling her eyes she replied with false exasperation, "You do not like my tea, you do not like my clothes…is there no pleasing you, Malik?"

"I did not say I did not like your clothes." He defended, "I just said you could not go out in them – I like them very much and maybe if you were older, had a more generous figure and were not so foolish I would find them very pleasing…currently there is not much to look at and so they are simply passable."

"I am going to cut off your other arm and beat you with the soggy end..." She muttered sleepily as the drugs quickly took hold, Malik's deep chuckle in her ears as she drifted.

000

So I decided to redo this story. The other seemed too childish and I thought I'll just revamp it instead of abandoning it, I'll leave the other up because people commented and faved it but that version will not be continued.

Tell me what you think, do you like the changes? Are you annoyed? Are you new to this story? Reviews make me write more...no, seriously – it boosts my inspiration and drive. Criticize if you want but do not whine about my grammar or run ons or whatever because this is how I write! I will not change!

Thank you~