Yay! Cinderella AU for Assassin's Creed….I have no life.

Please read and review, I hope you enjoy it :)

The young woman ran through the streets, desperately clutching onto the small boy as she glanced behind her every few seconds.

BANG!

She screamed in pain as she fell to the ground, a bullet piercing her upper, left leg.

"Now, now, now…." Crooned the Templar, "….I didn't want it to come to this Mrs Frye, but I tried asking nicely."

Cecily Frye glared up at the man, "You thought I would just hand him over?! To a murderer?!" She spat at his feet, still attempting to shield her son from the man's gaze. "Don't worry…" she whispered to her son, "…remember our motto. Have courage and be kind."

Ignoring the whispered conversation, the Templar scowled at her. "That was very rude…." Without even flinching, he shot her twice in the head.

The child in her arms began to sob and scream as he was dragged out of his mother's arms. "MUMMY! MUMMY!"

"Shut up!" growled the Templar, shaking the child as he continued to cry, "Shut up!"

The boy refused to settle down causing the Templar to slap him across the face….silencing him immediately as the child stared at the man in shock.

"Better…" sighed the man, "….now, what's your name little boy?"

"J-jacob….Jacob Frye."

The Templar smiled, "Not any more child…" he lifted the, now struggling, child into his arms, "….we'll give you a brand new name! Won't that be nice?"

"No! Put me down! No! MUMMY! MUMMY HELP!"

His screams were ignored as the man carried him away into the night…leaving the body of Cecily Frye behind him.

That was 14 years ago, and the now 20 year-old Jacob (renamed Vex due to him being vexing), was now nothing more than a glorified servant for the Templar Grandmaster, Crawford Starrick and his two followers…Lucy Thorne and Maxwell Roth.

He still remembered the day he arrived at the house….he still remembered what he used to be called. However, the memory of his mother faded each day…and he couldn't remember his Father. He vaguely remembered a sister, but not her name or even how she looked.

At this time of the morning, Jacob was currently cleaning out the fireplace. The dusty thing was mostly a decorative piece of furniture, but every so often, a fire was lit….and Jacob hated it when it was.

"I thought breakfast would have been ready by now…"

Jacob span around to see Lucy glaring at him from the doorway. Flushing slightly, he nodded. "It is! I was just cleaning the fireplace…."

Lucy glared at him, before shaking her head in disgust, "In the future, call us when the work is done brat!"

"Y-yeah. Of course."

Quickly finishing up, Jacob then went to set up breakfast. As he was setting the table, Lucy grabbed his face, digging her nails in, as she turned his cheek to her. "What's this on your face?"

Jacob frowned, gently wrenching his face out of the woman's grasp. "Pardon?"

Maxwell was then next to grab him, "The poor dear's got ash all over his face…."

From his seat at the head of the table, Starrick frowned. "Clean yourself up Vex…you'll get ash in our breakfast."

Jacob nodded silently as the three sat down, giving him the chance to grab a plate for himself.

"Ah. Ah. Ah…." Scolded Starrick, "….not this morning I don't think. There's far too much that needs doing."

"I know…." Agreed Jacob, "….but I'll need the energy and-"

"No. You can eat when all the work is done….if you fix your attitude."

"B-but I didn't eat last night!"

"Vex! That is enough!" yelled Starrick, slamming his fist on the table, "Get to work, or you can forget about food for the rest of the day. It might do you some good…."

Jacob recoiled at the venom in the man's voice, quickly speeding away from the mocking laughter of Maxwell and Lucy, towards the kitchen. In anger, he threw his plate to the ground and swore, tears streaming down his face.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" he cursed, pacing the kitchen floor and running his hands through his hair in stress. Upon hearing the three individuals laughing up above, Jacob decided that he couldn't take it anymore.

Grabbing his hand-me-down coat and flat cap, he ran out into the back yard. Leaping over the fence, Jacob ran through the woods until he was in an unknown area. Taking a deep breath, he screamed into the air, sending birds flying from the trees.

His eyes still focused on the skies, Jacob couldn't help but watch a rook fly above him, causing him to smile softly….he wished he could be free.

With a determined grin, Jacob clambered up a nearby tree, balancing on some thick branches as he leapt from branch to branch. Branches scraped past his face and the wind threatened to blow his cap right off his head, forcing Jacob to grab a hold of it.

Suddenly, as he moved to leap onto another branch, a hooded figure appeared on the branch in front of him. Jacob desperately tried to stop….in mid-air….which didn't go so well.

With a shocked cry, Jacob tumbled to the ground and landed on his back, forcing all the air out of his lungs. Wheezing to himself, Jacob squeezed his eyes shut only opening them when he heard a worried voice above him.

"Sir? Sir, are you alright?!"

Jacob waved his hand in the universal 'I'm fine' signal, opening his eyes to see a young lady, around his age, standing above him. She had dark brown hair, which was neatly braided and freckles dotted her cheeks.

She didn't seem convinced by his signal. "Are you sure you're alright?"

Weakly, Jacob managed to sit up. "I'm fine…." He wheezed, "…except for the heart attack I've just had."

"I beg your pardon?"

Slowly getting to his feet, Jacob pointed to the trees. "Up there, when you just appeared in front of me! You scared the crap out of me!"

The young lady giggled at this, "I-I'm sorry….It's very rare that we see anyone outside of our order in the trees. You have good balance…well, until just then."

Blushing slightly at the praise, Jacob shrugged. "I have to clean the drainpipes where I live…without a ladder. Trust me, you need good balance for that…wait, what order?"

She frowned and opened her mouth…but stopped when she looked at his chest. With an incredible speed, she grabbed the pendant around his neck, staring at it before jumping back….her eyes now scanning Jacob's face. "What's your name?"

"M-my name? J-Vex. My name is Vex."

"Oh…." She looked disappointed at this, so Jacob felt inclined to apologise. She shook her head, "…You don't have to apologise. I simply got my hopes up."

There was silence for a few moments, before the lady spoke up again. "You shouldn't really be out here alone….this is private property, and someone may get the wrong idea."

Jacob grinned, "I'm not alone, I'm with you Miss….I never got your name?"

"I didn't give it…" She sighed at the pout on his face, "Evi-Eveline. They call me Eveline, well my Father does."

The pair chuckled at this. Jacob especially so. "So…where do you live? You and this order?"

Eveline winced slightly at this, "Ummmm…the village. Our order's nothing special…we're just learning our parent's trade."

"You're apprentices!" cried out Jacob in glee.

"O-of a sort."

"That sounds amazing…" he paused, a frown on his face, "…d-do they treat you well?"

Eveline chuckled, "Better than some of us deserve really…" The statement seemed to be aimed at someone, but Jacob couldn't see anyone else there. She raised an eyebrow, "And you?"

There was silence for a few moments, before Jacob shrugged. "They treat me as well as they can."

"…I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault."

"I doubt it's yours either…."

Jacob flushed, "It's not so bad….others have it worse I bet. I have a roof over my head, food…most of the time. I just need to…" he paused, a familiar voice echoing through his head, "….have courage and be kind."

Eve took a step back in shock, her eyes wide. "P-pardon?!"

"We must have courage and be kind...right?"

"Y-yes, of course….that's exactly what I think."

The pair smiled at each other, until suddenly, there was a rustling from up above and a call from further in the woods. Jacob frowned, "You said this is private property….they won't arrest me will they?"

Eveline shook her head, "I won't let them do anything to you."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

Jacob smiled gratefully, holding out his hand. "Thank you Miss Eveline."

Suddenly, from their right appeared an older gentleman, with an impressive moustache, dressed in casual clothing. "Aaah, I've found one of you Miss Fr-"

"-Eveline!" interrupted Eveline, "Just Eveline….I'll join you shortly."

Jacob flushed when the other gentleman began to scan him from head to toe…however, his thoughts soon turned away from the handsome man, when several young men jumped down from the trees.

"Come on….Eveline." chuckled a young man with an Italian accent, "We don't want to be late." Jacob caught him giving the others a sly glance, but chose to ignore it.

Eveline waved her hand impatiently, not taking her eyes off Jacob. "Yes, yes! I'm on my way." She began to walk away, but stopped and turned back. "I hope I'll see you again…Vex?"

Jacob nodded eagerly, his eyes darting between the first gentleman and Eveline. "Yeah! I hope I'll see you again!"

Eveline grinned, before joining the rest of her group. Within seconds, they disappeared into the trees….well except the older gentleman. Grinning softly to himself, Jacob watched as the man ran in the opposite direction, only pausing to glance back at Jacob.

When he was out of sight, Jacob sighed and turned back in the direction of the house…he had work to do.