A/N:

Hi guys! Sorry to bore you with an author's note right at the beginning, but I just wanted to give a small introduction of sorts. This is my first fan-fiction so I might not be very good at this, but criticisms are always welcome! Just a note that I don't think there will be any actual Assassins from the AC games in this, just imagine it as a new senario with new characters in a new time span. :)

~Cyndapants

Chapter 1

London, 1860

The rain pounded on the hood of her coat as her feet pounded on the cobbled streets. She pushed her way through the early evening crowds of London, trying to out distance her pursuers. A horse nickered and its driver shouted a curse as she vaulted over a wagon. The muffled chimes of Big Ben rang out over the streets, drowning out even the rain. Using the distraction, she pushed through a crowd of women outside a fabric shop, the windows filled with a warm, yellow glow and a variety of coloured fabrics. Running straight towards the wall beside the window, only slowing down to shift her centre of gravity in preparation for the jump, she launched herself at the wall. No one turned a head as she grasped finger-holds that were invisible to any ordinary person watching. She scrambled up the vertical wall with insane speed, the tails of her grey coat swinging as she leapt from one ledge to another.

Only after she reached the roof of the building did she search the streets for her followers. None of the pedestrians she had shoved out of the way as taken so much as a second glance at a grey figure running at a breakneck pace through grey streets and up the side of a grey building. A sense of relief spread through her at the oblivious mass of people below her.

Pulling the cowl of her hood back she untied her braid and let the rain run through her hair, washing away all the thoughts of the deed she had just completed. She retied her hair and pulled the hood back over her face. Light footsteps sounded from behind her, her trained hearing separating the tap of soft-soled shoes over the drumming of the rain. Pretending she had heard nothing, she let the figure approach from behind. Waiting until the last moment, she spun around and with a metallic scrape; she held a cold blade against the man's throat.

"Richard," she said, acknowledging him and retracted the hidden blade back into its sheath inside her sleeve.

"Ruth," he responded in a monotone, as if the blade's cold steel had no effect on him or he had experienced it so many times that it no longer bothered him.

They wore the same outfit. A grey, knee-length coat that split into two tails at the back, to allow easy movement in combat and when running and jumping. They both also had a red sash tied around their waist. Numerous weapons were hidden about their person; the most noticeable was a sword sheath buckled to the man's belt and a bow and quiver on the woman's back. His hood was also up, placing most of his facial features in shadow, leaving guessing his expression from his tone of voice, which didn't give much away. Apart from the woman being only slightly shorter and more slender than the man, they could have been identical.

"I trust it is done?" Richard asked.

"It is," Ruth showed him the smudges of blood on her hands as evidence before wiping them on her coat.

"Good, James will be most pleased."

"Have you been waiting there just to say that?"

Before she could finish and without so much as a goodbye, Richard ran towards the edge of the roof and leapt from building to building, in the direction of the Assassins' hideout in the centre of the city. With a sigh, Ruth sat on her haunches, Sometimes, she thought, being the only female posted in London was a chore in itself. No one would listen to her without orders from a Master Assassin or The Mentor himself. She was the second highest-ranking Assassin in the city, but sometimes even the Novices didn't obey her orders.

With muscles protesting as she stood, she stretched and followed the route Richard had taken and launched herself towards the next closest building.

The majority of London's Assassins lived in a modernised version of the Assassin's Bureau from the times of the Third Crusade. It was call the Gaff, a shortened version of Duck and Dive Gaff, or a 'hide house'. The term originated from the East End of London and the Assassins' had found the language useful when delivering secret messages. The Gaff was located in the centre of London, opposite Waterloo Bridge Station for an easy getaway if it was required. Below the Gaff was a bakery, the bakers unaware of their upstairs residents. At the current point of time, there were four Assassins that lived at the Gaff: Richard, Ruth, James and his Apprentice, William. There were numerous other Assassins located around the city, but they were staying in various inns and safe houses.

The Gaff was 3 floors high, excluding the bakery, with at least three entrances and exits. The ground floor entrance via a door next to the bakery, a skylight in the loft that led to the roof and any of the windows could be opened wide enough for someone to get in or out of. A large meeting and dining hall occupied the entire bottom floor with bedrooms and other rooms above it. Unlike the assassins of old, they had to cook and clean the house themselves, as James had felt servants were unnecessary for such a small Gaff, even though London was the largest city in the world with consequentially the largest group of Assassins. The Gaff could hold 10 people comfortably with rooms for that many, but up to 40 could stay there if the time demanded it.

Ruth sat in the meeting hall, on the side of the long table take occupied the room with James, London's Master Assassin, sitting opposite her. His Apprentice, William, hovered behind him, leaning against the wall in shadow.

"Congratulations on completing your mission, Ruth", James said. The tone of his voice made it seem like he was speaking sarcastically, but Ruth knew that he had been hardened from years of working as an Assassin. He had once been like any other wide-eyed Novice, Richard had told her, but as with all the Assassins, years of having to show little or no emotion regarding his work had turned him into almost a living statue.

"Thank you", Ruth replied, although she had spend years trying to make her voice seem more masculine, it had a slightly higher pitch than James', something that annoyed her to no end as people were more likely to take her seriously if they thought she was a man at a glance.

"I have a new mission for you, one that I believe suits you".

"But I only returned from my previous mission yesterday", she protested, then sighed, "what's the mission?"

"William, can you wait outside please, this mission is for Ruth's ears only".

With the disappointment evident in his walk, William went outside the room and shut the door.

James raised his voice a little louder, "when I said for Ruth's ears only, I meant it! Go upstairs!" A sigh sounded and heavy footsteps could be heard making their way up the stairs.

James sighed and shook his head and his curly brown hair bobbed as if disagreeing with him. "He's a good boy and learns well, but I worry that he'll get himself in trouble if he doesn't listen to instructions".

"I'm sure he'll do fine, you just have to stop worrying about him. He's almost a fully qualified Assassin now".

"Yes, well, I didn't ask to speak to you in order to discuss William".

"My mission".

"Yes. I received a letter from the Mentor, apparently he thinks that London has too many assassins watching over it".

"It is the largest city in the world", Ruth said under her breath, appalled that he would think of sending one of them away. "I thought he was busy in Russia", she said louder.

James gave her a strange look, "he still has to make sure that the rest of the Order is running smoothly, and we seem to have caught his attention. He wants someone to keep an eye on things in America, it seems as if the Templars are planning something. He made it my responsibility to choose two people to migrate over there, to bridge the gap between the groups of Assassins in different countries and even out the numbers. In turn they will send one of their member over here".

Ruth knew who they were sending over the Atlantic, after all why else would James ask to speak to her? "It's me isn't it?"

"Yes, but its not for the reason you expect, you are easily the best Assassin in London and the Mentor specifically asked for you".

"He did?" Ruth smiled slightly as his compliment, although she doubted that she was a better Assassin than James.

Instead of answering her question directly, James said "He's been watching you for a while, you know".

Curiosity welled up inside her but knowing that James wouldn't answer her, she asked instead "Who will be accompanying me then?"

James paused before looking down and sighing, "I want William to accompany you. As you said earlier, he has almost finished his apprenticeship and I feel he will benefit from learning what is expected as a fully fledged Assassin".

William was like a son to James and she knew that it mustn't have been an easy decision to let him travel to America, possibly when they may never see each other again. "I understand", she said, "when will we be leaving?"

"After William has finished his training, about a month. I will have to talk to him about it now".

"Understood". She stood up and turned to leave the room, turning back she said, "shall I tell William you want to speak with him?"

"Yes. Please do".

Ruth went out of the room and quietly shut the door behind her, resounding a barely audible click before silently creeping up the stairs.