Author's Note: Wow. I seriously have not submitted something for this in a long time. I am so sorry about that. My fault. Feels like forever. A funny thing happened: this thing called being grounded was actually helpful in making this chapter what it is now. As of the date of submission, I have done so much re-writing for this chapter, that I feel like I've written it three times over. To be honest, there were actually some doubts in my mind on where to take this chapter, but in the end I decided to stop acting like an old woman and just wrote it the way I thought made the most sense. I loved writing a couple of these scenes, and others I ground my teeth the entire time because those stupid plot bunnies were luring me with the promises of candy corn and Monster. So yeah. Enough of this chatter. Please, don't forget to review! And I love criticism of any sort, so don't hesitate to tell me how ya feel!

Faustina moved through the crowd with all the grace and poise of the Assassins she'd been ordered to take out. Her orders were to detain the Stark girl, and take down as many Assassins as possible in the process. She had shed her usual outfit of black pants and white t-shirt in favor of the more formal outfit of a teal blouse and black pencil skirt that Cesare had bought for her. The formal clothes allowed her to blend in with the party-goers around her, and the light brown wig that covered her short blonde waves made her incognito to the entire room, save for one person. Even in the dim lighting, she caught glimpses of a black tuxedo and a green and blue striped tie through the crowd every so often.

Raven was having a blast. She couldn't believe that her friends had manged to turn the drab foyer of her house into a bass-thumping rave. There were so many people there, which she suspected had something to do with the Auditore boys being so popular. She was chatting with Ezio, the mastermind of the party, who had to almost yell to make himself heard over the music, making her laugh by pretending to get drunk off the non-alcoholic punch. He staggered into her, his face red from stifling the laughter that threatened to bubble up when he was trying to be "serious". Raven laughed as they almost knocked over the food table.

Cesare had ordered Cahin to accompany Faustina as her "date", and the dark-humored Templar seemed to be playing the part well as he practically glided up to her, his dark hair shining in the strobe lights. He slid an arm around her waist, pulling her close.

"There are three of them in here," Cahin whispered in her ear, smiling to keep up the charade. "One is with the target, and the other two are the crowd." Faustina could hear the smile in his voice, and although she would've sliced his face for getting that close to her any other time, she giggled like the normal teenager she appeared to be and turned to kiss him on the cheek. "Grazie, fratello. Where is the target now?"

Faustina took Cahin's lightly calloused hand so he could lead her to where Raven was. He guided her through the thrashing bodies until they were a short distance away from the refreshment table. Cahin squeezed her hand and nodded in the direction of the punch bowl, where Raven could be seen chatting animatedly with the one and only Ezio Auditore, working the crowd and being the ladies' man as always. Faustina was excited, now that she knew bringing the girl back to Cesare might actually pose a challenge and not be a complete waste of her time. She longed to be the one to kill him, to be the one to tell Cesare about the look on Ezio's face when she sliced right through his-

Cahin was squeezing her hand, more urgently this time. She looked sideways at him and he tilted his head, motioning for her to look behind them. She quickly looked over her shoulder just in time to see none other than Cesare Borgia himself, walking through the Stark's foyer. She turned back to face their target, ignoring her "boss" for the moment. Faustina was disgusted that Cesare had actually shown up, as if he didn't believe that she and Cahin could actually accomplish the task that he had set for the two Templar agents.

Cahin was looking sideways at her, waiting for her to make the first move. This was her mission, after all. She smiled at him and led him into the dancing crowd, away from Cesare. She pulled him close and mimicked the movements of the surrounding teens, giving Faustina a chance to tell him,

"I'll distract Ezio. You get the girl out of here, and we'll meet up with Cesare outside. How's that sound?"

Cahin grinned at her briefly and danced (if that's what teenagers actually do) with her, leaning closer and said, "And what of the other three Assassini? Am I supposed to take them all on by myself?" he didn't show it, but Faustina could tell he was feeling a bit apprehensive. She winked at him and gyrated her hips to the beat of the too-loud music, saying, " Relax, fratello. We're not the only snakes in the pit tonight. Fiora is here, and Il Lupo is waiting outside just in case. Remember, Cesare wants this girl alive."

Faustina broke away from Cahin, and they both walked away in opposite directions through the crowd. She made her way over to where Ezio and Raven were standing, reaching into the pocket of her skirt for her knife. She walked around the table until she was positioned behind the assassin, so she could have the first move and take it whenever she liked. Faustina felt the blood pumping through her veins, the anticipation of it all causing a slight adrenaline rush. There was a small bench behind her, and she sat on it to look less suspicious. She watched Ezio surreptitiously; chatting with Raven and pouring punch for the sweaty people that meant nothing to Faustina except as hiding spots. She was waiting for the right moment...

Desmond felt that something was wrong as soon as he and Alex showed up at the party. He stepped off his Kawasaki, eyes scanning everything around them. Alex instantly noticed that Desmond was acting strangely. "What's the matter? You got a stomach ache?" he grinned uncertainly, puzzled. He had no idea what the symptoms of a stomach ache actually were, but he assumed that's what it would look like. There was only silence from Desmond as he pulled off his helmet and he flipped on his Eagle vision; the world was suddenly gray and white with spots of bright colors. Whitish-blues that signified hiding spots, bright blue streaks that showed where his allies were, masses of greyish blobs that showed where the "civilians" were, and-

"Exactly as I thought," Desmond said as his vision switched back to normal. He opened the small trunk on the back of his bike and stowed his helmet. He pulled his knife out of its special slot in the leather seat and offered it to Alex, who was still sitting on his Yamaha. Alex's icy blue eyes narrowed at the knife, but he curled Desmond's fingers back around the handle. "You keep it. Mine's bigger," Desmond looked confused, but grinned and put the knife in his pocket. "How many are there and where are they?" He continued simply in a low voice.

"Four inside and one out here. And he's close by." Desmond motioned at the Stark's house, and Alex got off the bike, switching to thermal vision, and turned in the direction Des had indicated. He saw a world of faded purples with myriad shades of reds and yellows. He hated warm days; they always interfered with being able to see things properly- but then he finally saw what Desmond was talking about. A bright streak of orange and red, lurking in a huge oak tree that was partially leaning against the house. "There you are," the virus murmured to no one in particular. "So," Alex said, flipping back to normal vision so Desmond was properly colored, "Do we take him out now, or later?" Desmond grinned at him.

"You go inside. I'll take care of him. Tell Altaïr-" Desmond was cut off when he noticed someone climbing out the window nearest to the oak tree, and pouncing on the Templar, making them both fall out of the tree, and they could be seen struggling in one of the Stark's flower beds. Alex recovered first. "I think he already knows. Let's get inside and take care of the rest." He took off running toward the house, his arm shifting into a mass of red and black tendrils for a moment until they hardened and turned into a long wicked-looking blade, not stopping until he ran through the open door.

Desmond was frozen for a moment, but then quickly ran after the virus, smiling to himself as he thought, He wasn't kidding. As he got closer to the house, he heard screaming and had to fight the stampede of people that were running as fast as they could out the door and towards their cars. When he finally made it inside, Desmond could tell there was a fight going on. There were still a few people hiding in the coat room that were too scared to leave, and there was broken glass all over the floor. A woman with long brown hair and a ripped teal blouse came at him out of nowhere, brandishing a knife at his midsection. Des easily sidestepped her and shoved her in the side, so that she was caught off-balance and fell into the staircase, her knife slashing at the carpet instead of Desmond.

He ran up the stairs past where the woman had fallen and was surprised that she didn't try to cut him, but quickly looked back and saw that she had hit her head on a stair and was lying motionless, her brown wig lying next to her revealing her natural blonde hair.

Desmond made it to the top of the staircase and wasn't surprised to see Ezio holding his own against a man dressed in a tuxedo, the man's nose bleeding down his chin and onto his tie. He hurried over to help his cousin, folding his hands together and swinging them hard into the back of the man's head, distracting the stranger long enough for Ezio to grab him by the shoulders and give him a quick headbutt. The man slumped to the ground, holding his head and swearing profusely in Italian. Desmond looked at his cousin, and saw that Ezio looked visibly shaken, but he wasn't letting whatever had happened affect him now.

Desmond heard a gunshot followed by a shrill scream from the other side of the house. The cousins took one look at each other and wordlessly ran to search for the source of the noise, leaving the man on the ground. They tore through the house at top speed. He saw Rebecca fighting a girl that he knew was Fiora Cavazza, but he barely had time to wish her luck in even in his mind, they were running so fast.

Altaïr joined them as they ran, sporting several bruises and a nasty cut on his face, but they didn't seem to be bothering him much. Desmond could hear crashing noises just before they reached the kitchen, and the three of them burst through the swinging door to find Alex facing a triumphant Cesare Borgia, who had a gun to Raven's head and was trying to pull her out the back door. There was a man lying on the floor at Cesare's feet, the hole in his forehead oozing blood and eyes glazed and staring at a spot near the kitchen table. Cesare tore his haughty gaze from the dead man to look at the three cousins, his ebony hair hitting Raven's face. Raven stared at the dead man with wet eyes. "Dad," she muttered. Cesare looked at the girl he was holding with something like disgust. "Quiet, girl, or you'll join him." A smirk settled over his face as he looked up at the three Auditore boys."Well, if it isn't the Assassini, come to save the day!" He redoubled his efforts to drag Raven out the door. Raven looked like she was trying to be brave, but Desmond could tell that she'd been crying, her eyes and nose red and puffy-looking.

Alex stepped through the doorway, his eyes flicking from Desmond to Raven, before resting on Cesare, carefully analyzing the situation. "Let her go, Borgia. It's not her you want, anyway." Alex's arm was shifting back into his regular arm, but there were still tendrils running along his arms and shoulders, ready to shift back at a moment's notice.

Cesare stopped and said with a raised voice, "Come any closer, virus, and she dies, ora!" He pushed the gun more firmly against Raven's head, the barrel leaving a dent at her temple. Ezio suddenly brought his arm up to waist height and flicked his wrist like he was spinning a Frisbee. Blood splashed the immaculate tile floor and Cesare grunted and bent slightly to pull the knife out of his side, and shoved Raven out the back door without warning, into the arms of the blonde-haired woman Desmond had fought with earlier. She smirked and put the barrel of a tranquilizer gun on Raven's neck, and with a soft thunk, Raven slumped forward, motionless.

Cesare turned toward the Assassins, focusing mostly on Alex. "You don't know how wrong you are, Mercer," he smirked, and ran out the door, scooping Raven off the ground as he went.

Ora-Now

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