Hello everyone. Sorry for the long wait for this new chapter. But to let you guys know, I have a tumblr account for news and stuff related to my fanfictions! The url is kirika-hime fanfictions . tumblr . comI'll most likely use it to answer questions (for those of you who wish to stay anonymous and such) and it'll probably become a place where I post my sections/chapter ideas that didn't make the cut. I hope you check it out!

As always, I look forward to everyone's reviews/comments!

Thank you to my forever helpful beta, There She Goes And She Comin.

This is a fan fiction, all themes and character belong to Ubisoft. No copy-write infringement intended.

A Day Away

Lucy thanked Nathan filled her a glass of wine. It was very late at night, or perhaps quite early in the morning, meaning that the bar was empty save for the two assassins and the busboy. The owner was busy in her office, going over the books no doubt. But like this, Lucy and Nathan didn't have to resort to going into the back alley for their talks. Having to speak in French was a continued habit, though now it had evolved into a mix of Italian and French.

"There's another strike coming up." Lucy began quietly.

"Another? Where at?" Nathan asked, a little surprised and concerned at the news.

"Three cells this time. Sasebo, Japan, Dombai in Southern Russia, and Lawrence, Kansas." She sighed, "I think they're really trying to stamp us out."

Nathan nodded and began cleaning some of the glasses the busboy had brought over. "I'm pretty sure that they're still feeling the hurt from their first failure." He said with a low chuckle.

Lucy gave him a small smile before taking a sip for her wine. For the past four months, the Templars had been attempting to wipe out a number of Assassin cells. Lucy didn't doubt the Templars were trying to completely wipe out the Assassin Order now. She tried not to think about what would have happened if she hadn't stumbled across the plans for the first strike. The Order was still recovering from the Daniel Cross incident. The Templar strikes though, if they had been successful, would have been more than likely the final blow to the Order. She glanced back at Nathan, trying to decipher his expression. His jaw clenched slightly, his gaze seemingly fixed on the new glass he was cleaning. Lucy could barely see the calculating thought process in his eyes. She debated if she should say something to break the silence between them.

"You're certain it's those three locations?" Nathan asked quietly. She was taken aback a little by the question. But she slowly nodded, glancing around the bar.

"What's wrong?" she replied nervously, wondering what Nathan could possibly be implying. Lucy watched as he gnawed slightly on his lower lip, debating if he should tell her what was on his mind. "Is something bothering you, Nathan?"

He sighed and set down the glass he was cleaning, he glanced around before leaning towards her. She felt herself become anxious as she mirrored Nathan's actions. "You're absolutely positive that those are the next targets?"

Lucy frowned and nodded, putting the pieces together. "You think they're trying to bait us?"

Nathan nodded. "They're either setting up a series of ambushes or they're trying to find the leak." Lucy felt worry start to mount. "I know not every cell has escaped unscathed, but they have to be expecting something by now. I would be completely shocked if they didn't have something planned by now."

"I've been worried about that. For the past couple of months, it seems like they've been scrambling. But everything feels off."

Nathan nodded in response, "Then we definitely need to start taking more precautions. Have you noticed anything strange?"

Lucy thought back to the past months, trying to recall anything that would have come off as suspicious. But she had little interaction with other people at Abstergo, and those she did have regular interaction with always made her feel unsettled. She shook her head and sighed. "Do you know if we have any others in Templar HQ's?"

"I'm not sure. What are you thinking?" he asked.

"If we haven't, we need to be cross-checking these strikes. It looks like they're trying to find and stop their leaks."

Nathan considered it for a moment before nodding in agreement. "I'll get Rebecca on it, and I'll try to contact the order about any other agents."

Silence fell between them as Lucy finished what was left of her wine, wishing that the manager didn't just announce 'last call'. The pair sighed; Lucy was wishing for another drink while Nathan looked like he had more to say.

"I'll call you a cab." Nathan said quietly, escorting and waiting outside with her after he did so.

"They've brought in someone new." Lucy said suddenly. Nathan glanced over at her, an eyebrow raised in question. "The boss seems to think he's more… qualified for the job than some of the previous interns."

He stood there, contemplating for several long moments before nodding. Soon the cab pulled up and Nathan, ever the gentleman, opened the door for her. "See ya next time, Lucy."

"Next time."

Desmond groaned as he rolled out of the bed. He had stayed up far too late planning his and Lucy's escape. And there were still some final details to consider. Desmond hoped that he could finish the little details tonight so that way there would be very little improvising. Maybe I'll be actually able to sleep tonight.

"Ah! Good! You're up!" Vidic said as he walked into the small room. "Time's wasting, Mr. Miles!"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming." Desmond grumbled as he pulled on a hoodie.

"We're nearly done, you know." Vidic causally stated, sipping his coffee as he and Desmond walked to the Animus.

"And then what? I can finally get a drink?"

Vidic looked annoyed for a brief moment. "You'll see. Maybe they'll let you watch it when it begins. It's not as terrible as you think." The old man chuckled to himself, looking smug. Desmond held back the dread in his gut.

"Look, I'm pretty sure you're not gonna let me leave." Desmond growled, "So why not tell me what's going on? Humor me."

He heard Vidic snort, "I'm not a fool, Mr. Miles. I think you've learned quite a bit already."

Desmond's eyes narrowed at the comment and he did his best to look annoyed. He wondered exactly how much the older man knew and how much was speculation. Vidic glanced back at Desmond, as if he was expecting him to say something in response. He probably should have. He could hear Altaïr muttering about wanting to run his blade through Vidic's gut. On that, Desmond could agree but that had to be saved for another day. And Desmond highly doubted he would be the one chosen for the task. He strolled over to the Animus, stifling a yawn as Lucy greeted him quietly. He gave her a small nod in return. He didn't miss the questioning look she sent him.

'She will be fine. She isn't a novice like you afterall.'

Desmond resisted the urge to nod in response to his ancestor's voice. He had to at least try and do his best to ignore it. If he kept giving it attention, it would probably make the Bleeding Effect worse. But it was hard not to when the voice of Altaïr kept giving good advice. Much needed advice; coming up with escape plans was difficult at times. He glanced briefly at Lucy as she typed away on her keyboard, setting up the day's session. Once the two of them escaped this place and arrived at the hideout, he'd make sure to have a proper talk with her about the Bleeding Effect. Desmond let out a quiet sigh as the Animus started up. Only one more day of this and then they could leave. He hoped that his plan would work.

Lucy tried to keep her eyes on the monitors, but her gaze kept trying to fall back on Vidic. She kept hearing the usual sounds she associated with him working, but she wondered what exactly he was working on. She also wondered what all the phone calls were about and who they were from. It could possibly be from the higher-ups, asking for progress reports and such. But she doubted that. Lucy glanced down at the large canvas bag by her feet, doing her best to keep its contents from rattling against each other. Maybe bringing alcohol was a bad idea; she really could use a Midori sour about now.

She sighed as she returned her attention to the monitors. At least today she would bet to see how Altaïr and Maria met. All the stories she had heard had undoubtedly romanticized and she was a little eager to see how the famous couple's first meeting went. Lucy doubted that it was love at first sight, as some retellings seem to make it sound, not after watching Altaïr's memories for the past few days. She highly suspected that it would be distrust at first sight, much like it was for her and Desmond. Well, distrust and wariness on Lucy's half and trust on Desmond's.

She glanced over at Desmond's seemingly sleeping form. She couldn't help but wonder what he had planned. Rebecca had sent her a warning. A message really, if it could be called that. 'Act scared' was all that it said. Lucy frowned slightly as thought back onto it. 'Act scared'? Act scared of what?" was this a part of Desmond's escape plan? What the hell kind of escape plan was he planning? Lucy shook off the thought as she watched Altair approach and blend in with the funeral attendees, carefully paying attention to the memory play out before her. She watched as a disguised Maria Thorpe engaged Altaïr in battle after he had been called out by the priest. It was entertaining to watch Altaïr's reactions discovering Maria than Robert de Sable. The shock was something Lucy already knew would be there, and the frustration in the man's voice was evident. But Lucy wondered what this one moment meant for Altaïr and Maria. Obviously it was a very impressionable first meeting. Altaïr had gone to kill a Templar and Maria had probably prepared to meet her end but hopeful to kill Altaïr. And at the end of this encounter, neither of them had accomplished what they had hoped to. She watched a Maria's eyes widen slightly as Altaïr stated the he wouldn't kill her, and Lucy let a small smile spread across her face.

Before she could give the moment any more thought, a small orange light began blinking. A slight panic began to grip her and she quickly opened the Animus's coding. Quickly she found the coding that was starting cause lag when Desmond tried to do something that required a large amount of effort. Thankfully it was nothing that would put him in any immediate danger, but there was always a possibility that it could lead to more serious problems with the Animus. And serious problems with the Animus always, always put the person inside it in danger. Lucy glanced back at Desmond, lightly gnawing on her bottom lip. As long as she began working on the issue now, it should hopefully keep any problems at bay.

Besides, it's just a little bit of coding gone awry, nothing too hard to fix. Lucy told herself.

"Something wrong, Miss Stillman?" Vidic suddenly asked.

"Just a little coding error, doctor. It'll be fixed without too much issue." She replied coolly.

Fifteen minutes later, Lucy regretted saying that. Soon after she had replied to Vidic, problems had begun pooping up in different areas. Items not loading properly, the translating program started to drop in the middle of sentences, and the lag had gotten worse. At the rate the errors were occurring, she didn't doubt that Desmond was entering a serious danger zone. Any longer and he could begin having involuntary body movements, or even worse- psychosis. She had to pull him out now. Vidic nearly threw a fit, as expected.

"Do you want to find your artifact or not? Because if you don't, I won't bother fixing the damn thing!" Lucy snapped.

She didn't wait for an answer and removed Desmond from the Animus. He was groggy, of course, but what worried her more was the slight fever he seemed to be running.

"How long is this going to take, Miss Stillman? You know we can't afford any delays." Vidic growled.

"We should be ready to go tomorrow morning."

"That's cutting it a little close, isn't it?"

"Considering the Animus nearly overheated a moment ago, I'll risk missing the deadline instead of losing everything." She growled back before turning her attention to Desmond, "You okay?"

He nodded, "Yeah. Just need to rest, drink some water. Probably take a shower, too." She tried not to face-palm as Desmond took a sniff of his underarms.

"Are you sure?" Lucy asked quietly.

He nodded again, "Don't worry I'll be fine. See ya in the morning."

She nodded back and watched as Desmond slowly shuffle his way back to his room. And all she could do was hope that everything went smoothly and that they would actually have a chance to escape.