okay, here is the next chapter...the one is a lot longer than the others. We finally see Altair and Malik together, and some flirting, but thats as much as I will give for now...and there is someone you will hate a lot throughout the story, but I know that you already know who I am talking about...

I am probably going to take more time to work with my next chapter, perhaps to add more into the story, so be patient. Also I have to quit spoiling the story, cuz I like to have you anticipate what is to come...mwahahah!

now on with the story!

Malik couldn't believe his eyes, as he was completely mesmerized by the scarred mouth man. The way the taller man kept grinning at him, as if he knows his deepest, darkest secrets; that was sending shivers down his spine. That same look that would remind him of one that the hooded man in his dreams did. Though, this one seemed different; it wasn't the one that the raven haired despised, it was something new to him. Then that smile slowly turned into an annoyed frown, as the taller man started to speak words to him. Malik still looked at him, still puzzled, not able to comprehend what the other was saying.

"Malik…" he was shook out of his thoughts, as Clay had clutched onto his shoulder with concern. "Malik?" he tried again.

Malik blinked a few times, he quickly snapped his head to the paler man, "what?" he finally responded, his face flushed. He turned his attention back to Altair, who looked impatient.

"I said, are you okay?" Altair asked again, slowly this time, narrowing his eyes at the smaller man. Malik blushed slightly, looking away from the others gaze, hoping that he didn't notice. He quickly pulled himself together, taking a deep breath.

"yeah, I am…fine," he forced a smile to the other, "it's just that I ..." he trailed off, not knowing what to say to the other. Altair sighed softly, giving a brief smile to the other.

"if it's about my eyes, then don't worry, I get that a lot with other people," he reassured the other with a smirk, sticking his hands into his pockets of his white sweater. "so don't feel embarrassed, everyone else seems to have that same reaction when they feel inferior to me." Malik huffed, blush increasing due to embarrassment and anger at the other's remark.

"not everyone, ibn La'Ahad," Maria said, smirking at Altair, who in return stuck his tongue out at her. Malik couldn't help but smile at the two.

Clay laughed quietly, wrapping an arm around Malik's shoulders bringing him closer, giving him a slight hug. "well, I guess I should be going now," Altair looked at him with a raised eyebrow, clearly expected him to have done so, shortly after he had introduced Malik to him. Clay sighed, releasing his grip on Malik's shoulders, "just wanted to be sure that my 'dear brother' and new friend became well acquainted with each other, without any bloodshed, of course." Malik furrowed his brows, curious to what he meant by that.

Altair frowned again, "just leave already Clay," he growled. The blonde smirked, nodding his head as he was stepping backwards.

Before the pale man turned to take his leave, he glanced over to Altair, "be nice to Mal, okay bro," he said, now walking away. Altair sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose. Maria gave a slight chuckle, giving a warm smile to him.

"Mal?..." Malik muttered, raising an eyebrow at his departing friend. He turned around shaking his head, "I just met that guy, and he already has a nickname for me."

"well, it certainly suits you….Mal," Altair scoffed, Malik narrowed his eyes at the man, crossing his arms over his chest in annoyance, blushing once again.

Maria softly laughed, wanting to interrupt the two, "I guess I should go too, I have to prepare for my training exercises and…" before she could finish, Altair cut in.

"wait…why don't we hang out for a little while longer, maybe show me around HQ," Altair pleaded, making Maria slightly shake her head in disagreement. "it would be nice to spend some time with a familiar face; afterwards I will have to burden myself to have to face my father, which I am not looking forward to, anyways" he shrugged.

Maria gave him an incredulous look, "just your father? I thought you knew," she said raising her brows at him, shifting on her feet awkwardly.

Altair had confusion in his eyes, and so did Malik, both of them narrowing their gaze at her. Altair took a moment before speaking again, "what are you talking about?"

"your father isn't the only one you should be worried about," she said, concerning her golden eyed friend.

"what?- you mean Clay?" he questioned.

"no, I am talking about…"

"Altair~," a woman shouted, pouncing onto Altair's back, almost making him fall forward. He grunted as the newcomer was wrapping her arms tightly around his neck, choking the life right out of him. Maria went slump, already too late to warn him.

"Adha?" he managed to breathe out, quickly recognizing her squeaky voice. He grasped her arms and flung her off of him. She fell on her feet, almost stumbling backwards.

"what's wrong, Alty….I thought that you would be happy to see me," she pouted, taking a step closer to him, as he was rubbing his now sore neck. Malik was puzzled for a moment, staring at the woman that was flirting with his partner. He was trying hard to make his mind lucid; who is she? Is she his girlfriend? Are they even together? He didn't know for sure, until now.

"what…what are you doing here?" he asked, not even believing that the she-devil was actually here.

She laughed, "I was given orders to be transferred, again; I was sent to provide medical treatment at this dump, and give aid to these wannabe assassin's" Maria grimaced at that, Adha took notice, ignoring her.

Adha attempted to wrap her arms around Altair's neck again, calmly to bring him closer. Altair brushed her off, forcing her to keep her distance. "Adha, stop this already, we aren't a couple anymore," he snapped.

"oh…still playing along with this 'let's break up' game of yours, I see," she sneered, Altair just rolled his eyes at her. He bit his lower lip, holding back a sigh.

"Adha, I am not playing with you, there is no pretense in my words, every word I said to you, I meant it," he growled under his breath. Adha furrowed her eyes, as he continued, "so whatever it is that we are now, doesn't matter; We. Broke. Up!"

"NO. WE. DID. NOT!" she yelled loudly, panting harshly, tiny locks of her wavy black hair was falling over her face. Altair was shocked at her sudden outburst, looking around to see how silent the mess hall became. He quickly glanced over to Malik with the same facial expression as him, shifting on his feet, feeling slightly awkward now. Altair glared back at her, having half a mind to punch her in the face; it wouldn't be the first time he had to get physical with women, on missions perhaps, but this is different, instead he had to try to cool her down.

"Adha, calm down" he whispered, noticing the crowd of people around them talking amongst themselves again, ignoring them finally.

"No!...I want to know why you keep pushing me away," she demanded, raising her girly voice slightly, "just because I had to leave to another country, doesn't mean that you could call quits on our relationship," the scarred mouth man stayed silent, looking anywhere but at her. She finally blurted out a thought, "oh…I see now…the only reason you dumped me is because you found someone else, isn't that right?" Adha questions, putting her hands on her hips, Altair glowered at her, mouth open to say something, but Adha cut him off, "so where is your new girlfriend, huh? do I know her?" she looks over to Maria, "is it this bitch!" she gestures with her head at her; Maria widen her eyes at the younger lady, who started to smirk at her.

"Adha, enough!" Altair stepped in front of her, wanting to draw attention away from Maria, "it isn't about a girl, alright" he snarled. Adha blinked her eyes a few times, taking in those words slowly.

She started to glance at Malik, who was keeping his eyes on her as well; she started eyeing him up and down with a scowl, then looking back to Altair again, "so…it's a guy!" she yells almost loudly, attracting attention once again. "that is so disgusting!" Malik narrowed his gaze at her, gritting his teeth, trying really hard to hold back a sudden outburst of his own.

"I've had enough of your bullshit; this has nothing to do with anyone, Adha, get that through your damn head!" he said quietly, trying to avoid any more attention in the cafeteria. Adha wanted to speak up again, but Maria thought it was the right time to intervene.

She stuck her hand in between the two, "hey, Altair…maybe I will just go, alright," she said, as she was sliding through them to take her leave at the entrance of the mess hall. "so…I'll just see you later, okay." She gave him a warm smile, then went out the doors, leaving the three alone. Altair frowned, watching how Adha was waving her hand off to Maria tauntingly, as she had left. He literally face palmed himself, feeling embarrassed of the rude behavior his ex-girlfriend had performed in front of his friends and everyone in the mess hall. He sighed deeply, hoping this was all just a nightmare he was having and will wake up, eventually. Malik stood next to him, seeing how frustrated Altair was getting. He was actually feeling sorry for the guy, even though he thought that Altair would be the last person in the world to ask for sympathy.

Malik gripped onto the taller man's shoulder, Altair peaked through his hand to see his concerned partner, "Altair, if you want to be alone, I could.."

"No...you are staying with me Al-Sayr," he snapped. Malik blinked at the others threatening, yet husky words, making him blush slightly. Altair turned his glare back at Adha, who was waiting impatiently, "listen, Adha I..."

"no, you listen to me," she cut him off, "you and I need to talk about your issues," Altair made a face at her, but she didn't seem to notice. "we finally have a chance to be together, so maybe we can try to make things work between us," she said softly, Altair rolled his eyes at her, "maybe we can talk about it over lunch, and maybe I can show you around HQ, if you want," she said smiling at him, placing her hands on his chest. He sighed, pushing her gently, she was frowning yet again.

"actually…" he started, wrapping an arm around Malik shoulder, pulling him closer to him. Malik was blushing again, confused to what Altair was doing right now. "I had asked Al-Sayr to be my guide, and he says that he would be more than happy to." he patted the shoulder of the smaller man, making a big grin. "right, Mal?"

"I..I did?...ah!" he gasped out as the grip on his shoulder tighten uncomfortably, Altair stared into his eyes, giving that same threatening look from before. Malik quickly bit his lower lip, fighting the pain, "ye..yeah, I did, thanks for reminding, Altair," he said, giving a pained smile, looking up at the taller man who still had that wide grin on his face. Adha was oblivious to what just happened, but nonetheless, she bought it.

Altair began shoving Malik towards the door way, leaving the crazy bitch behind; "are you sure?" she called after him.

He gave a short glance in her direction, "yeah, I'm sure; I'll see later, okay," before she could answer back they were gone. She stood still, huffed an irritated breath, and moving to the other direction.

Altair dragged Malik by the arm, going down the hallway, not slowing down for a second. They passed through a group of people; bumping into them roughly, they started hissing out curses at the pair. Malik feeling annoyed, almost tripped over, not able to keep up with the scarred mouth man. "Altair…wait," he tugged his arm free, earning another glare from the other as they halt. "we lost her already, I'm pretty sure she wouldn't follow us; especially after you just lied to her," he pointed out; Altair relaxed his shoulders, sighing exaggeratedly, as if he just escaped death. He leaned on the wall, pulling up his hoodie, covering his face once again. The smaller man continued to stare at him, until he spoke up again, "are you alright, Altair?" he said, his voice full of concern.

"yeah, I'm fine," he said quickly, "I am sorry about earlier, I didn't mean to hurt you." He gestures to the smaller man's right shoulder; Malik grasped his shoulder softly, massaging it carefully.

"it's alright, Altair, you didn't do much damage to my shoulder."

Altair kept his gaze on Malik, leaning his head against the wall, "you…do you want me to take a look," he asked, starting to smirk.

Malik had a blush across his face, "no…no, it's fine, really," he assured the taller man.

"are you sure, I could kiss it better for you?" he said softly.

"WHAT?" Malik's blush increased.

"I was only kidding, Mal" he grinned, laughing at his reaction.

"you are so funny…" Malik said sarcastically, "and you are not to address me as that silly nickname; you and I are partners now, so let's respect each other as such," he scolded, Altair just rolled his eyes. Malik decided to change the subject, "so…will you be alright, knowing that 'she' is here?" gesturing with his head to the cafeteria they had left.

Altair sighed again, "yeah, I'll be just fine, it's just…I just can't stand Adha; it's just that she is 'so' fucking annoying…probably one of the reasons I dumped her in the first place!" he exclaimed.

"one of the reasons? There is more to this chick?" Malik asked, chuckling at the complaints that his partner was making.

"don't get me started.." Altair laughed, pushing himself off the wall, they both started walking, reaching a corner of the hallway; they turned at the corner, seeing a rectangular spacious area, first floor having office desks aligned in each row; stairs connecting to the second floor, more offices occupying there as well; there was at least three or four floors above the second that might be occupied as well. There was also a big fountain in the center of the first floor, with colorful flowers sprouting in every direction; bringing out some colors in this dull area, besides that, there were gray flags pinned to the walls, with red symbols of the assassin's logo. There were more people wearing office attire, talking with others that were wearing their hoodies, belts with equipment across their torsos, and arm bracers, each with a hidden blade. Altair was awestruck by this facility, his eyes widen, mouth gapped opened; it was surprising how big this place was, probably bigger than a mall. "all of this…is underground?" he asked as looked at Malik with a surprised face.

"yes," he said simply, looking through Altair's hood, almost seeing his shocked expression. "otherwise, how else are we to hide headquarters, when there are Templars lurking around in the city." He smiled at the other, "we can't be too careful…"

"so….what do you do here in this place?" he asked another question, gesturing with his thumb.

"this 'place' is an office, where assassins have to bring information that they collected from their current operations, in order to proceed any further; not only that, but this is where we can gather some resources for our assigned missions that are necessary." He explained.

"fascinating," Altair said, making a false interest.

"very…" Malik agreed, "but it is important to know that you aren't allowed to start your mission without being authorized."

"authorized? I need to have permission? By who?" Altair asked, raising his eyebrows under his hood.

"brother!" Malik turned to the familiar voice, his little brother running up to them. Walking behind him was a pale thin man, with medium short blonde hair, wearing casual dark blue shirt, green cargo pants, simple sandals, and a red beret hat. Malik smiled to the both of them, seeing how happy Kadar was, his grin wide, blue eyes glistening. That could only mean one thing….

"Kadar…I am guessing that you did well in your training," he asked the younger, more of a statement than a question.

Kadar stood a few feet from his brother, making him anticipate the answer, "well, since you asked….I did amazing!" he raised both arms in the air in triumph, showing off the color stripes of blue on his sleeves of his hoodie, a rank higher above a novice in training. Malik chuckled at his brothers little victory, congratulating him by patting his shoulder. The younger brother continued, "they did say I needed more work on my hand-to-hand combat skills, but I did so well with my parkour and my aiming skills in shooting exercises, they passed me like that," he gestures by snapping his fingers. "that means I can be able to go on real missions, just like you, Malik."

"that is great, Kadar," Malik chuckles, hugging his brother for a short moment, moving back and resting his hands on the boys shoulders, "I am very proud of you, brother." Altair couldn't help but smile briefly at their brotherly moment; he was feeling some slight discontent within himself, actually feeling jealous…in a way. Malik turned his attention to the blonde behind his brother. "Leonardo, why are you with my brother, I thought you would be working?" he asked softly.

"oh, yes…your brother had asked me a couple of days ago to see him perform his tests, so I skipped work today, just for him." the blonde responded, shrugging his shoulders.

Malik looked at his brother then back to him, "thank you, Leo, for being there for him; especially when I am too busy to go see my brother myself," Leonardo smiled at him, nodding his head to the other. Malik brought their attention to Altair, "Kadar, Leo, this is Altair, my assigned partner," he gestures with his hand to the taller man. Leo gave a warm smile to the other, as for Kadar, his jaw dropped, eyes wide open; Malik took quick notice of his brother, seeing him raise a shaky hand, trying to point to Altair as if he was going to accuse him of something.

The man Kadar was looking at was exactly how his brother had described the man in his dreams, and to be seeing him in person was truly shocking, same complexion, same height, wearing a hood, and the most obvious one of all, the scar on the right corner of his mouth, "your….your that guy-Mmm!" he was cut off when Malik clasped his hand over Kadar's mouth, silencing the boy; Altair quickly frowned at the two brothers, so did Leo.

Malik narrowed his eyes at the younger brother, "if you can't say anything nice, brother, then don't say anything at all," he gave a warning in his tone. Nobody knows about his dreams, or what causes them to happen; the only people that do know are the ones that tried to help him in therapy, but using it as an only resort, and his brother, Kadar. So it would become very awkward for him to confront the one person that he dreams about almost frequently, so he decided to keep it that way.

Kadar removed his brothers hand, gasping in some air, "uh…what I was trying to say is…before my brother interrupted me…that you look familiar, have we met?" he said carefully, trying not to upset his brother further.

Altair stared at the boy, completely puzzled of the odd behavior the brothers were having, "no, don't think so," he shrugged, "but maybe you have seen my two cousins around, we do have some similarities." The boy frowned, feeling like an idiot for bothering to ask; now he feels more uncomfortable knowing that there are two others just like him walking around. This was getting creepier by the second.

"Altair…" Malik started, getting the other's attention, "as I was saying before, Leonardo Da Vinci here will be the one to keep you and your cousins advised, instructing you of when to begin a new mission that is available at the time."

Altair raised an eyebrow from under his hood, focusing more on the name than the fact that the blonde man was their adviser, "Da Vinci?"

"yes….I do get that same reaction from other people; sometimes they think that I am just being modest with myself, since I have a part time job as an art teacher," he explained with a nervous smile, "so a lot of people don't really believe that my last name is Da Vinci." Altair didn't show any emotion, he just nodded his head at the artist, letting the other know that he was able to comprehend that.

"Altair!" hearing his name from a distant voice, he turned around looking down the hallway he had just exited, seeing his two cousins walking up to him, with Yusuf tagging along behind them.

"Ezio….and Desmond? So, you've finally decided to join up with us, huh? I would have thought that you ditched us for that 'hottie' of a partner of yours" he accused, glancing at the American. Desmond frowned, pouting at his cousin's assumptions, rolling his eyes at the other, ignoring what he just said. Meanwhile, Ezio spots a familiar blonde, who was staring at him as well; he made a nervous smile at the artist, and the artist in return gave a faint smile back. Altair took quick notice of his cousin's behavior with Leonardo, afterwards continuing on with the topic, "speaking of which, where is she? I thought she would be sticking around with you?" Altair inclined his head side to side, looking around the three newcomers, "and where is Clay?" he growled.

"uh…well, Lucy had some business to discuss with Clay, so I was left with Ezio and Yusuf when they left," Desmond responded, rubbing the back of his head with his hand. "but don't worry, we'll be seeing him tomorrow before we start our missions," he added.

"oh joy" Altair said bitterly, digging his hands into his pockets once again.

Malik gave him a disapproving look, getting slightly irritated with his partner's attitude towards Clay. He bites his lower lip, holding back a harsh remark to say to the taller man, "well, now that the cousins are back together, why don't I show you to your private room." He gestures with his hand in a direction; Altair follows, and the other two assassins followed after them, leaving Yusuf, Leo, and Kadar to carry on with their business.

Malik had leaded the three down a staircase, going further down underground. They had discussed over a few subjects about the base, learning of new areas they could visit later. Ezio had mentioned finding a pool near a fitness center when he went around exploring HQ; Altair instantly felt shivers down his spine, feeling uneasy on that topic. Malik saw how quiet Altair had gotten suddenly, but thought it be better not to ask. They finally stop in a center of two hallways, one going left and the other right, the raven haired man chose the left side, having the three follow suit. These hallways were different though, these ones are with colors this time; colors of the walls a dark red, the tile floor in a shade of black mixed with blue. They had passed a few numbered doors, finally reaching the end of the hallway, stopping in front of a white door with a carved number 17 on it. Malik took out a silver key, putting it into the lock, opening the door with ease. They looked inside the dark room to see made beds, that haven't been touched in a while, with nightstands next to each bed. There was a large white rug with the assassin's logo on it underneath the beds, sort of like the flags upstairs did. There was a kitchen across from the beds, and a bathroom in the right side of the room, and finally a medium flat screen television was on the wall above one of the beds.

"well, here we are…" Malik says, looking at the three, tossing the key to Ezio. "this room used to belong to me and two other master assassins, but due to a mishap in our mission they were KIA, and the room has now been vacant for years," he explained, "so….enjoy."

"why hasn't anyone occupied this room yet?" Altair asked, suddenly interested.

"these rooms are only reserved for master assassins, yet some of them refuse to live under the base; considering their higher rank, they believe they deserve better than this kind of room." The three gave Malik an incredulous look and he sighs, "look, compared with the other rooms, this is the best you will get."

"huh, I guess coming here was a mistake then," Altair stated coldly, Malik had grimaced at that. Desmond and Ezio had already settle themselves onto their chosen beds, Altair was standing around the room, taking in every little detail, as if inspecting the place. "hmm….I guess this will do….I just don't get it, how could people work under these condition, I mean underground," he says, meaning for it to be a rhetorical question.

"oh trust me, you'll get used to it," Malik assures them. "now let me be sure to clarify the rules of the creed to you three."

"is this necessary?" Ezio whined.

"yes" Malik quickly answered, having a serious tone, "first rule: always be discreet, even when you are out in public acting as a civilian, you can never be too careful; second rule: do not harm the innocent, unless they are in any way in league with the Templars, continue to stay your blade," Malik explained over the two of the three tenets, Desmond was the one to roll his eyes at the smaller man, Altair and Ezio sitting slump on their beds, waiting to get the third part over with. "and third rule: never compromise the brotherhood, and you are in no way, to disobey the order…..break any of these tenets and there will be trouble, is that clear?"

"yes MOM, we get it…" Desmond snapped at the raven haired man, "this isn't the first time we had to get lectured about the tenets of the creed; we are already familiar with the first and third rule, and don't even worry about the second rule."

"oh, is that right?" Malik started, willing to challenge the younger, "I have read over some of your records of your previous residences around Italy…" he paused for a moment, "and I have to say, what you pulled off is very despicable," he narrowed his eyes at the younger, and in return he earned a glare. Ezio snickered; having many flashbacks of times he had brought a group of girls back at their headquarters and having a wild party; he and his cousins had gotten a lot of shit from their superiors for that. Desmond lowered his head in embarrassment, Malik feeling triumphed, turned around to leave the room, but stopped to glance at the three one more time, "rest, prepare or in your case Mr. Miles, go cry in a corner…" Desmond instantly glared at the darker man again, but Malik took his eyes off the younger to see the other two, "you will have to get up early tomorrow; Lucy, Yusuf and I will greet you in the morning, and begin our assigned objectives." Malik glanced over to Altair, "sleep well, Altair" the hooded man smiled at the other, and with that, Malik closed the door shut behind him. Desmond fell back on his bed in relief, and Ezio sat on his bed, starting to unpack his clothes from his backpack and luggage.

Altair sat on the edge of his bed, looking at his Italian cousin with mischievous eyes, "so Ezio…who was that blonde you were smiling at a while ago?"

"che?" the Italian stopped what he was doing for a moment.

"Oh…a blonde you say, is she hot?" Desmond asked with much interest in his eyes, starting to sit on the edge of his bed.

"you mean Leonardo," the Italian answered.

"eh…never mind!" the American retreated back to lay down on his bed.

He hesitated for a moment, "okay, let me explain…" Ezio started off, Altair listening closely to his cousin, "Leonardo and I, we used to be a couple; it didn't last long though, not even a year we got together, we had eventually broke up.."

Altair sighed, bothering to ask, "why?"

"I rather not say, cugino" Ezio said calmly to him, almost feeling weary of the subject; he continued to unpack. Altair was feeling a bit guilty for bringing this subject up, so he decided to drop it.

Desmond quickly sat on his bed, to stare at Altair, turning the tables on the man "and what about you, Altair…" the American started. The hooded man gave a glare to his cousin, "you seemed to be quite comfortable with Malik's company, but the thing is, you don't like anyone's company; I am surprised that he hasn't pissed you off yet…I guess that would explain much"

"where are you getting at, Miles?" Altair said rather harshly.

"I saw how you kept looking at Malik, it's obvious that you like the guy," he said smugly, "I also know that women aren't the only ones that you have interest in, Altair; so this wouldn't exactly be the first time you would 'involve' yourself with another man,"

Altair sat up straight, clenching his hands tightly, "hey, it is nothing like that; Malik and I are just partners, this is strictly business, nothing more," he stated sternly, Desmond shook his head, though had a skeptical smile on his face. Altair was shifting in his bed, finding a position to lie down, "besides, he probably doesn't feel that way about me, nor do I know if he is straight or not….though, I do find him rather…cute."

"cute?...and what is that supposed to mean, ibn La'Ahad?" Desmond pressed onto another questions. Altair shifted his body again, facing the wall, his back to the American now. "Altair!" Desmond shouted to the hooded man, the other flipped him the bird in response; pulling out his earphones placing them into his ears, playing his music on full blast, ignoring the American. Desmond threw his hands in the air in irritation, he got off his bed to unpack his things, leaving the Arabic alone. Altair tuned out with his music, letting his thoughts drown out completely; he would usually do this to forget all the things that seemed to be bothering him, and it worked most of the time. He was feeling exhausted from today; his eyes were becoming heavy, his vision becoming dark as he drifts off into sleep.