Chapter Five – Sweet n' Sour

Jacob frowns as he opens the side door of the Alhambra, wondering why the window to Roth's office was closed. That window was always left open, particularly for the Assassin. He nearly bumps into Lewis as he walks in, the doorman giving him a blank look before heading outside. Not dwelling on it, Jacob turns and heads to the backstage, where he found Roth throwing his coat on, fixing his tie. The Blighter looks up, smiling as he walks up to greet him.

"Ah! Jacob! I have something special planned for us today!" he exclaims loud and proud, and the Assassin smiles. Roth's excitement was contagious.

"Have you?" he asks, his curiousity evident in his eyes. The thespian motions for the Rook to follow him as he heads to the back door.

"We have some revenge to get!"

"Highway robbery! That's what it is!"

"Move away, or I'll knick you for insulting an officer!"

"Oi! You can't keep us down no more!"

"How much are our lives worth to you?!"

"Move on, or you'll get in trouble!"

"No more exploitation! No more slashed wages!"

Evie runs forward, grabbing the arm of the sergeant that looked as if he were about to have a panic attack. The crowd of people behind them were only getting louder, the policemen worried they would have to resort to drastic measures.

"What has happened?" the Assassin exclaims as she pulls Abberline away from the mess. He shakes his head and nearly curses.

"Your brother!"

Figures, Evie can only think dreadfully. Just after the two had made up…

"What has he done now?" she doesn't really want to know.

The cop looks nervously at the crowd of protesters. "The newspapers are all over Twopenny's murder, and, if that weren't enough, someone has stolen the currency printing plates. Was that also Jacob's doing?"

Evie's eyes widen. She had seen Jacob hang up a picture of Philip Twopenny on the assassination wall, before crossing a red x over it. She knew he was the governor of the Bank of England, but didn't know he was a Templar.

"I doubt it," she answers the officer, watching him sweat anxiously with stress.

"Now, no one trusts the bank, or England's currency. There…" he stammers, "there will be inflation. Riots. Manufacturing will jump to America for the cheap labor. In short…" his voice nearly cracks, "Britain, is done for."

Evie closes her eyes, looking down. She was sure it wouldn't get that drastic, but still. 'Jacob, you've really put your foot in it now…' Why did she always have to go and clean up his mistakes?

Thinking quickly, she goes over what Abberline had explained to her. There was nothing she could do to ease the fray of Twopenny's murder, but…

"What if…" she starts slowly, thinking aloud. "…I smuggled the plates back into the bank?"

Freddy blinks, thinking it over. "Well, it would certainly help… Better yet…" he seems a bit calmer now, "it would call into question the stories on Twopenny's murder…which would restore confidence in the economy…"

Evie smiles, glad to have thought of something. "That's settled, then. Britain lives to see another day."

Abberline holds up a hand before she can take off, giving her a pleading look. "Oh, and if it's not too much trouble, would you mind destroying any counterfeit notes you come across so they don't circulate?"

She can't help but feel a bit bad about burning money, but, she smiles and nods all the same. "Of course."

"Mr. Green?"

The Assassin turns quickly, surprised by the sight of Ned Wynert enter the train car. "Mr. Wynert," he greets back. "What brings you here?"

The American turns and motions for someone to join him, and to Green's surprise, it's a child: a girl of maybe seven or eight.

He looks up at Ned questioningly, before the man explains. "She witnessed what happened at Cockham Merchants. She's got info for you."

"Really?" Henry kneels down in front of the girl. She looks a bit shaken, but quite proud of herself. "What did you see?"

The girl plays with the cuffs of her sleeves. "I saw Mr. Frye gather up some o' the Rooks and take 'em inside the warehouse. He talked to the Blighters there and they listened to 'im, too."

Henry's eyes widen. "Did he threaten them?"

The girl shakes her head. "No, not that I could hear. He waved 'em over and they followed his orders without a fight."

The Assassin looks up at Wynert with a sense of concern. "You think they may have been Rooks in disguise?"

The older man frowns. "It's possible, but highly unlikely."

Henry looks back at the girl. "What else did you see?"

She frowns. "After they blew up the warehouse an' boat, Mr. Frye joined some strange man in a carraige and they drove off."

"Tell him what he looks like," Ned says to the child. Her brows furrow slightly.

"It was hard to see, but he had black hair an' wore a black suit."

Green sits back, taking in this description. He looks up at Ned and they share a frown. "It could be anyone," he tries. "We don't have enough information to confirm that it was him."

Ned shrugs. "I don't know. If it is Roth, we should probably look into it, right?"

Henry stands to his feet, thanking the child before addressing Ned. "I'll start to see if I can figure out what's going on. I highly recommend that we keep this to ourselves."

"You mean don't tell Evie," Wynert raises a brow. "I'll have some of my spies poke around."

Green nods. "As will I."

Jacob knew Roth was crazy; that he had learned quickly. What he didn't fathom, was how crazy he actually was.

Because he was bloody insane.

The Assassin holds up a hand to his face, pinching the skin between his eyes. "So…we're robbing a bakery?"

Roth grins at the tone Jacob was making. "Despite what you may think, my dear, this is a matter of upmost importance."

Jacob drops his hand and looks over at the man, smirking as he tried to contain his amusement. "What I think, is you just needed an excuse to have me over."

The man laughs, putting a hand on his chest. "I've been caught!" he jokes, before nodding towards the bakery and the factory behind it. "On a more serious note- the bastard had this coming. He stole my money and canceled my order. I can't properly cater my guests without desserts, now can I?"

Jacob only grins, shaking his head at the oddity of the situation. "Dessert is the best part of any occasion," he agrees, watching Roth grin back. "I'm in."

Roth beams. "Perfect! Let's get down to business!"

He points to the front doors of the bakery. "That is only his shop. I want to destroy the place completely. Not entirely blow it up, but cause quite the disaster." Jacob smirks as Roth points to the factory. "Then we're going to the factory and storage and taking everything, finding my money, and then…"

"…we blow it up?" Jacob can't stop himself from chuckling now, and Roth laughs in turn.

"Something a little more exciting this time, my dear. You will not be disappointed."

The Rook turns his attention back to the factory. "Alright then… Lead on."

Roth is ecstatic to hear the eagerness in his Assassin's voice. Pleasing Jacob was easy when he enjoyed the same chaos as he did.

The two climb over the roof of the building they stood on, Roth whistling for a nearby group of Blighters to make their move. The group runs to the shop, smashing the windows to get in and knocking over the displays of pies and cakes as they did. Roth ironically grabs the door and holds it open for Jacob, who laughs and compliments him as being quite the gentlemen.

They enter the shop and Jacob pulls out his cane sword, swiping at a nearby glass jar full of handmade candies, letting the jar shatter and scatter glass and sweets across the tile floor. Roth grins and leads the Assassin through the back, towards the factory. The Blighters could be heard tearing up the shop, and more came to join them as they smashed the door to the factory down. They enter and look around, Jacob in slight awe. Machines that seemed fresh and shiny new that frosted and baked, decorated and packaged, filled the factory across the one floor. It was also a bit disturbing; all these machines replacing people as of late…

"Where to start?" he asks to his left, where Roth steps up beside him. The man gestures towards the back of the factory.

"I want to know what he did with my money, first."

"It is really good of you to help," Abberline says as he leads Evie through the crowd of people towards the exchange, where the counterfeit money was being spent. "As much as I appreciated Jacob stopping the robbery, I didn't expect this to come out of it."

"Robbery?" Evie asks, wondering what the whole story was.

The officer turns to give her a slightly puzzled look. "You don't know?"

She shakes her head. "Not the whole story, no. I knew Jacob took out Twopenny but I didn't know what happened around it."

Freddy takes in a deep breath, pulling Evie over to the side where they can talk privately. "Twopenny was robbing the Bank of England. I don't know how Jacob was able to find out, or who the contact is that gave him that information, but he came to me looking for how he could get in the bank to stop the robbery."

Evie's eyes widen. "His contact?" Freddy nods.

"Yes, and whoever it was also helped him blow up the entirety of Cockham Merchants. The whole lot burned to the ground."

So he was behind the Cockham Merchants disaster. She should have known. She saw the aftermath of the scene when she took a stroll over there. The place was burnt to the ground and there was still police borders all around it. "What else?" she prods, wanting to know more.

The bearded man takes his hat off and rubs his hand through his hair. "I helped Jacob get into the bank, but not to kill Twopenny. He took off before I could even question what had happened. Why on Earth would he do that?"

It dawned on Evie that Freddy didn't have a full understanding about the Assassins and Templars. He knew she and Jacob were a part of some kind of secret order, but never questioned them about it. She supposed she owed some sort of explanation.

"Mr. Abberline," she says, "Twopenny was…a part of the group of people like Crawford Starrick that are trying to control London and take over the world. There are people like them across the world and my brother, Henry Green, and myself, are part of a group of people trying to take them down."

The police officer closes his eyes, taking this in. "I knew you were a part of some kind of…cult, but is it that serious?" He looks at her questioningly. "How long has this been going on?"

She gives him a weak smile. "For longer than you can imagine, Mr. Abberline. Our organizations have gone all the way back to ancient Egypt and have lasted through the centuries."

The cop looks dumbfounded. "So it isn't all Jacob's fault, then," he seems to think out loud. "He would have killed Twopenny no matter what?"

…and that takes Evie a moment to process. Yes, it wasn't exactly Jacob's fault the plates were stolen. He just did his mission and left.

She was glad Abberline said it, otherwise she wouldn't have thought so open-minded about it. She had to come to terms with making mistakes, although…

"Yes and no," her voice lowers. "He could have gone about it in a more reasonable manner. His recklessness is a problem we've been dealing with since we were children. There was no reason for him to blow up an entire warehouse or cause a scene."

The cop scoffs, looking away at the crowd of people. "I'm still more than curious with whom it was that tipped off that information to him. I was struggling myself with simply rumors, and then he shows up telling me about the robbery and…"

Evie frowns again, swallowing the lump in her throat. "I've…been trying to figure that out as well. This isn't the first time he's received information from someone about things like this."

The officer frowns. "I just hope it's settled soon. The mess they caused at Cockham was absolutely insane."

The female nods, holding up her hands. "I promise you I will try to have a word with him about it. Now, I should go and find those counterfeiters before they take off."

The detective nods. "Yes of course. I have the utmost faith in you, Ms. Frye."

"How nice of him to leave it here, instead of taking it all to, I don't know, anywhere else?" Jacob jokes as Roth opens the safe and holds out a roll of money.

"It appears I'm not the first one to be deceived here," he replies, stepping aside for Jacob to see the contents of the safe. The Assassin's jaw dropped.

"Why does he leave it all here?!" but he sounds more than happy with it, and Roth takes a moment to appreciate the childlike joy on the gang leader's face.

"Well, it's ours now, darling," he jumps up, waving over a few Blighters to gather the money out. He asks one of them if the carraige was packed yet and they responded that, yes it was.

"Perfect! Now," the thespian smiles, patting Jacob on the back to urge him to follow. "We're going to tear this place apart!"

'The counterfeiters…'

She watches the group of three walk out of the exchange, listening to their conversation as she stalked them.

"Heard about the rioting at the bank?" the first Blighter asks. The second one scoffs.

"They can riot all they like. We won't be giving back those plates."

The first one shrugs. "What difference does it make? It's not like he has any real cash on him."

The second one frowns. "Since we've got the printing plates, it's all real cash."

Evie rolls her eyes. They gave themselves away far too carelessly.

The man they were escorting hops into his carraige, motioning for the driver to take off. Evie quickly finds the nearest carraige and follows them slowly, her second vision and hearing allowing her to pry on their conversation.

The driver gives the man sitting next to him an odd stare. "Have you seen the papers today?"

The counterfeiter waves him away. "You mean about Twopenny's murder? Yes, a terrible shame, but…it worked out for us, didn't it?"

The driver frowns. "You're not worried that the police will be asking after you? Someone might've seen you going into the bank."

The counterfeiter laughs it off. "My good man, you're not worried, are you? Let your conscience be at ease. I am not responsible for Twopenny's death. I merely took advantage of a… fortuitous situation. If Scotland Yard comes nosing around, I was at that bank on business, and you know nothing else about it. I'll see you're given double your salary for your trouble."

The driver mutters under his breath: "Paid in your counterfeit bills, no doubt."

The man gives him a narrowed look. "I didn't quite catch that?"

The driver immediantly clears his throat. "Nothing at all, sir."

They arrive at an old apartment complex and Evie watches as he leaves the carraige. "Keep your eyes open! Anyone can be trying to get in," he orders around, yelling at everyone he walks by.

Evie creeps around the building, spotting a Blighter guarding the front door, leaning against the frame. He was a large brute, but not a problem for her. She whistles at him from around the corner, and he looks up, looking around. She whistles again and he turns his attention to the corner, frowning. A third whistle was all it took to get him to start slowly walking over. A fourth whistle had him walking a bit faster, right around the corner into her hidden blade. A few passerby's called out in shock and fright and took off running. Ignoring them, she lays the Blighter down and makes her way to the door. There was two of them inside not facing her. That worked fine. She ran up and killed them both instantly.

Someone coming down the stairs yelled out as he caught sight of her. "Hey! We have an intruder!" he calls out, and she throws a knife right at his head. He collapses just as two Blighters upstairs come running down, two in from outside in the back. She close lines the two running towards her from the stairs, slashing at the first one with her hidden blade, before turning to get the other one. The other two running up behind her get to meet her kukri, just as she turns around and slashes it at them.

She lets out the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding in, taking a moment to calm down before she put her weapon away. She trudges up the steps and finds not only the counterfeit money but the plates as well. She burns the money and takes the plates, her destination the Bank of England.

Whose idea was it to drive a bus through the factory? Jacob had no idea, but it was funny either way. One of the Blighters smashed open a tank of chocolate, so now that was all over the floor (and it was great to watch them slip on it at times). They were currently at work trying to bust open a whip cream dispenser, but not with their guns. They wanted to break it open. Someone finds an axe and swings it, causing a small explosion of white cream.

It was the weirdest mission Jacob had ever gone on. It had a meaning, though. He would be pissed if someone cheated him out of an order. He'd probably break into their factory and destroy everything inside, too.

It's hilarious to watch Roth give orders while covered in whipped cream. He looked so serious yet ridiculous at the same time. He himself was trying to brush off the whip cream from his clothes but failed by smearing it instead.

By the time they left the factory, it looked as if a tornado had run through the place.

Abberline wants to hug Evie in relief but restrains himself from doing so. "Well," he says instead as she runs up to greet him outside the bank, "the London papers are running a story about how it was all a hoax. No more riots! Faith in the bank restored!" He smiles as she does. "Finally I might get a quiet night on patrol. Ms. Frye, I can't thank you enough."

"Glad we've averted catastrophe, Sergeant, although," she pauses, frowning, "it's Jacob who should be thanking me."

The policeman frowns at her, before looking away towards the bank. "I…" he starts, "understand you and your brother are indeed working for the greater good, however…" he turns and looks back at her. "If it isn't too much to ask, if you could find out who his contact is, I would ever be so grateful…"

Evie gives the cop a worried look. "You're really worried about it, aren't you?"

Freddy sighs. "I am," he admits. "Whoever it is, is getting the information before we are, and that usually means its someone from their side."

The Assassin raises both brows. "You think Jacob's working with someone that also works with Starrick?"

Abberline nods, grimly. "I would hate to think it, but…" he closes his eyes, taking a deep breath. "I've been in this for many years now, Ms. Frye. I know what it's like when a person is working on both sides to betray the other. If your brother is being played…"

He doesn't even have to finish. Evie closes her eyes and nods, looking down. "I understand what you're implying," she answers slowly. "I've had the same thoughts, and I have my suspicions." She meets his gaze. "If I find anything out, I will talk with you."

He smiles, but its shaky and uncertain. "Thank you, Ms. Frye. Your brother is a good man. I would hate to see anything happen to him."

The two are laughing like children as they enter the Alhambra. It was the first time in years either of them had felt the joy and need to laugh as they were, stumbling in the side doors covered in chocolates and creams. Roth waltzes over to a cupboard to grab some glasses and drinks, while Jacob stops himself from sitting on the sofa with as sticky as he was.

The older of the two turns and places two mugs on the table, while Jacob looks around. The place was a bit messier than usual, he noticed. A large stack of wooden boxes and crates were all pushed against the wall, broken and smashed. A window nearby was shattered.

Before he can ask, Roth catches his attention by clapping him on the shoulder, throwing a mug into his hands. The Assassin immediantly forgets his question and grins instead as the Blighter clinks their glasses together. "A toast, to another successful outing!"

The Rook laughs and drinks to that, before turning to watch through the broken window as red gang members unloaded the carraige full of sweets. "I'd say so," he agrees. "I have to admit, that was the most interesting heist I've ever gone on."

Roth laughs again. "But the most entertaining, was it not?"

Jacob looks back at him with a smile. "Indeed it was, although," he points to the other's appearance. "You look quite ridiculous."

The man grins and raises a brow. "You're looking quite dashing yourself, darling," he comments back, and Jacob grabs the hat from his head, turning it around in his hands. A tuff of white cream stuck to the side of it like a bow.

Wiping it off, he grins. "This is why I don't wear expensive clothing," he looks up at Roth, feeling his face heat up for reasons he couldn't understand. He felt a bit bad… Maxwell did make this outfit for him.

There was a sly glint in Roth's eyes that the Rook had a hard time deciphering. It was the kind of look that said trouble, but teasing. "My dear," he starts, and suddenly the Assassin felt as if the other was standing too close, nearly shoulder to shoulder. "I wouldn't care if you tore the clothes to shreds;" he lifts a hand and wipes his thumb across the Assassin's nose, wiping off a spot of whip cream, watching the younger's eyes widen. "You would still look enticing nonetheless." He licks the cream off his thumb and an explosion of heat blossomed across Jacob's face.

Turning, flustered, he puts his hat quickly back on, hoping it's hiding the red in his cheeks. His tongue felt heavy and words seemed to become lodged in his throat. Whatever it was about Roth, whatever these feelings were, was throwing his head through a spiraling loop and tying him up to the point he was becoming tangled. He clears his throat just as Roth starts talking again, pulling away to pick something off the round table – a small stack of papers.

"I have plans for us for tomorrow," he starts, going through the first few pages in his hands. "Come see me in the morning. You will be very pleased."

Jacob swallows the lump in his throat, nodding as he takes a gulp of his drink – god knows he needs it – watching as the man turns and walks back to him. "What do you have planned?" he has a feeling Roth isn't going to answer.

He doesn't, just grins some more. "Can't ruin the surprise for you, darling. Besides, I need the night to get some information, first. I will have everything fully ready for you when you arrive."

Jacob shrugs, feeling a bit cooler, although the man's words and actions left a burn on him he was sure would scar. "I suppose I should be getting back to the train anyway…" he finishes his drink, putting the glass down on the table.

Roth chuckles. "Care to stay for a bath?"

Jacob nearly chokes. Yes, he was a mess, but still… The way the Blighter said it sounded far more…suggestive then he could handle. It was almost as if he was inviting him to—

"No…thank you," he forces himself to spit out, while trying to keep a smirk on his face to not let himself be seen so shaken. "I'll jump in the Thames."

Roth laughs but doesn't push it. "Do as you wish, my dear… Just know my doors are always open."

The sincerity in his voice was too much.

Jacob couldn't get out of there fast enough.

She hears the thud of his boots as he lands on top of the train, listening to him walk towards the back of the car to swing himself down in and inside from the roof. He dusts himself off and looks up as she walks up to him.

"Evie?" he greets hesitantly. She looks irritated, which means their short lived moment of companionship was over.

She crosses her arms as she studies him carefully. His hair was wet and his clothes were damp, as if he had been swimming in the river or rained on. Since it hasn't rained all day, she suspected the former. "The mess you caused," she starts slowly. "At the bank."

His mouth forms an o, before he shrugs and throws his hat on top of the safe in front of him. "Where'd you learn of this?"

Her glare is as menacing as a wall of daggers. "Sergeant Abberline. Apparently, during the fray of your actions, someone stole the currency printing plates."

Jacob shrugs again, as if it weren't a big deal…at least…to him it wasn't. "And?" he asks. "I suppose that's my fault?"

She rolls her eyes and looks up, silently praying for her father's guidance. "Jacob, you must be more careful. You shouldn't have caused such a scene."

He snaps, turning to glare back at her. "You seriously cannot be blaming me for someone else's actions. Maybe I should have warned Freddy, it wasn't fair to him, but I needed to stop the robbery and take him down. What else could I have done?!"

Her eyes narrow. "You blew up a warehouse!"

He throws his arms up, turning away from her. "That warehouse was filled with the weapons they were going to use at the bank. I stopped them."

"You could have done it another way!" her voice rises, taking a step forward as he turns to scowl at her. "People could have gotten hurt!"

"You really think I'm that stupid to not check if there was any innocent people in there?!" he yells back. "Goddammit, Evie, I'm not senseless!"

"You're reckless! You act in haste and never repent on your actions, nor think about the consequences of them!" She was getting louder, her voice threatening to crack. "Father was right about you!"

…and it always goes back to their father.

His eyes darken, as he throws his hat on the ground. "Oh, this again! What, Evie?! What was he so right about?!" Before she can even think of an answer, he continues. "Was it that I could never be an Assassin? Or was it that I would never rise to your level?" he sounds choked, every word laced with anger and sadness. "Or that you should have disowned me like he did?!"

His words sting her in the way a scorpion's tail would.

"Jacob," a third voice interrupts their argument, and the twins turn to see Henry slowly enter the train car, holding up something for the younger of the two. "There's a package here for you."

Jacob takes that as his excuse to leave. He reaches down and snatches his hat from the floor, before grabbing the heavy package from the Indian's arms and storming into the next train car, the door slamming behind him.

It's silent for a minute, as Evie catches her breath and Henry turns to face her.

"I, in all my years of life," he starts quietly, "have never seen any two people argue the way you do."

She closes her eyes.

She blew it, again.

Wash before you wear the new outfit, dear.

That's what the note attached to said outfit said, and Jacob flushes, grinning. Of course Roth would send him new clothes. This outfit seemed to be just as fine material but the style was a little more freeform. A little more Jacob Frye. The suit was a deep green leather, with a brown shawl over the shoulders. A brown plate on the side of the left shoulder bared the Assassin's symbol, while the jacket itself was long down to his boots. New boots, brown, and a new shirt and vest to match. He really liked the outfit, and, it even came with another hat.

Notes:

Jacob's Master Assassin outfit, but green. I like their outfits green. It just makes them look like Rook leaders. Next two chapters are going to be long and filled with a lot of action. Expect an update within the next two weeks.

- Anonymoux