I woke up early the next morning with Rarity in my arms again. She was still sound asleep cuddled against my chest. I smiled down at her fondly. After a very enjoyable day yesterday, I was a little reluctant to get up. I kissed the top of head gently. I began to climb out of bed before I heard her stir.

"Mmm." She hummed. "No. Stay here." I laughed quietly.

"I have to go now sweetheart." I said.

"No," she whined, "stay for ten more minutes." I laughed and let her snuggle against me sleepily. I wrapped my arms around her and laid there for another five minutes.

"Rarity," I said, "I need to get up." She opened her eyes and looked up at me tiredly.

"I'm going to miss you darling." She said.

"I'll miss you too." I said back to her. I kissed her. "However," I added, "I can't miss you if I'm here." She giggled. I kissed her again and climbed out of bed. I got dressed in my hooded robe and armor. I sheathed my sword and dagger and attached my knife belt. I turned back to Rarity who was now standing up.

"I'll make you some breakfast darling." She said trotting past me. I smiled and slipped on my boots. I thought about immediately going downstairs but then looked out the window at Celestia's sunshine. I walked over to the window and stared out to the streets of Ponyville.

In the window, I saw my reflection. I almost jumped at the sight. Yesterday, I had gone to Twilight to ask if she could change my appearance. I now had paler skin, short blond hair, and light blue eyes. The spell even went to the extent of making me a bit shorter and getting rid of the scar on my face. I smiled. Rarity hates this appearance. Roman was a bit surprised as well. I looked out the window.

It was the first time I was leaving Ponyville since I was exiled from the Black Hand. Now, I was going to be at my most vulnerable and go right into the lion's den. I sighed. I was going to miss this place. Who knows how long I'll be gone. The longest I'd ever been gone from Canterlot was a whole year. And that wasn't even planned. Hell, I could be captured, even killed.

"Darling!" I heard Rarity call from downstairs. "Are you coming or what?" I smiled. I shouldn't think like that. I have her now.

"Coming!" I said taking one more look at the view before going downstairs. I went into the kitchen to see Rarity busying herself with the pots and pans. I walked up behind her and put my hand on her very soft mane and bent down to kiss the top of her head. "Thanks for this." I said.

"It's no trouble darling." She said nuzzling my cheek. "I'll just whip us up something really quick and you can be on your way." I smiled and sat at the table.

"I'm almost reluctant to leave today." I said earnestly.

"I know I'm reluctant to see you go." She replied sadly. I chuckled.

"I'll be back as soon as I can." I said. She didn't respond. I looked at her apologetically. "Rarity," I said. She turned to me and smiled sadly. I stood up and walked over to her. I kneeled next to her and let her bury her face in my neck. I wrapped my arms around her.

"I think I just realized how much I'm going to miss you." She said. I laughed.

"I'll be back," I said, "I promise."

"I love you." She said. "I hope you know that."

"Of course I do." I said letting her go. "And I love you." I kissed her.

We ate breakfast together in silence. Afterward, we departed together. We walked to my house in each other's company. Enjoying each other's presence. Occasionally, she would bump my thigh with her flank and smile slyly. I smiled back at her.

Roman and Dirge were waiting at the carriage. Roman smiled at me.

"It's about time you got here." He said jokingly. I smiled.

"Wouldn't miss it for anything." I said. Dirge laughed.

"Good to see you're back in the game." He said.

"Good to be back." I said. It was true. I missed my work as an Assassin.

"Well you two," Roman said clapping us both on the shoulders, "I wish you both good luck. You have your tasks. May God watch over you both."

"And may God watch over you Roman." I said. I looked at Rarity and smiled sadly. I walked over to her and kneeled down. "I love you." I whispered and kissed the top of her head.

"I love you too darling." She said kissing my cheek. "Be safe." I looked at her softly and nodded. I knew otherwise. I wasn't safe in Canterlot.

I stood back up and turned to the two men that were standing patiently.

"I'm ready." I said.

"Then let's go." Dirge said. I nodded as he stepped into the carriage. I looked at Rarity one more time and touched her cheek affectionately. Smiling, I walked to the carriage. I looked at Roman. He smiled at me.

"Good luck my boy." He said. I nodded and stepped into the carriage. I sat across from Dirge as the door closed. I looked out the window at Rarity and smiled. She smiled back at me and as the carriage pulled away. I could've sworn that tears were in her eyes.

The outpost was just as I had left it. I hated it already. Dirge sighed.

"He should be here somewhere." He muttered.

"Who?" I asked.

"Our contact." He replied. "Roman said he'd be here."

"A name would definitely help here Dirge." I said impatiently.

"The Doctor will do just fine my friend." A very familiar voice said. I turned to see a man about my current height with short brown hair that was a bit shaggy dressed in a brown suit and trench-coat. I looked into his brown eyes and saw it.

"Doctor!" I exclaimed. "It's really you?"

"Yes," he said, "though, obviously I was in a far different form when we last saw each other. I see you've changed as well. I must say, blond doesn't suit you well." I laughed.

"It's what I'm stuck with until the spell is broken." I said.

"Magic, shmagic." The Doctor said chuckling. "At any rate, I suppose that you two need someplace to stay for now. Follow me if you will." He began to walk and Dirge and I followed.

"You have the TARDIS here?" Dirge asked. "Won't it be noticed?"

"Dirge," he said sighing, "you know what you humans do when you see something out of the ordinary?" We stared at him blankly. "Walk right past it so let's move on." Dirge and I looked at each other slightly confused. It was like he was a completely different person.

"So Doctor," I said, "you can change your form at will right?"

"That is correct." He confirmed. "Time Lords can do so to blend in with the species. I do like this form a lot better though. I got pockets to hold my sonic screwdriver." He pulled out the said object from inside his trench-coat that looked like a pen with no tip. He put it back in his pocket and pulled out a key. We walked up to the blue police box that was the TARDIS. He put the key in the lock and unlocked the door. "Step inside my friends." He said opening the door.

I stepped inside the TARDIS for the second time. This time on my own free will. Everything seemed bigger than I remembered. The door closed and the Doctor took a deep breath.

"It's just a bit better when you're not a prisoner, eh Leo?" He joked. I laughed. Dirge looked at me quizzically.

"Long story." I said.

"So," the Doctor said clapping his hands together, "my job is to guide you two on your missions and provide a speedy getaway. I assume you know what your missions are." I nodded. Did he really think that we would come to the one place we would be most vulnerable without knowing what we were doing? "Excellent!" He exclaimed. "I do have your expertly forged identification passes. Leo, this will get you into the event that Rin will be at." He handed me a small card with my current picture on it. How he got it was a mystery.

Besides that, why do we have to have ID cards now?

"Tom." I read aloud my alias. I shrugged. I sure as hell didn't look like a Tom.

"And Dirge, this will get you into the file room unnoticed." The Doctor said handing Dirge a card.

"Alan." He read aloud.

"Why do we need these?" I asked.

"Ever since you three left, they made it a policy to have an identification card at all times. Silly humans," he added, "they made these things so easy to copy."

"All right," I said wanting him to just shut up, "I got it."

"There you have it." The Doctor said. "Now Leo, I'm going to tell you how you should go about this. You'll be in a place with many people present."

"Go in, stab the bastard, get out." I said which was my plan. The Doctor sighed a bit annoyed.

"Is that all you silly humans think about? Stabbing people? Don't you ever plan things out? No wonder there's so much violence." The Doctor said. I raised an eyebrow. "Now, I can supply you with a poison that you can slip into his drink whenever he isn't looking. Rin is quite a sociable man, so it won't be too hard. All you have to do is go in disguised as a waiter and serve him the said poison drink. Now, isn't that a better plan than simply stabbing him and blowing your cover?"

I had to admit, it was a way better plan than I had. I nodded.

"That should be easy enough." I said.

"Excellent!" The Doctor exclaimed. "Now Dirge, you..." I zoned out as he explained Dirge's objective. I thought about Rarity and how she must be doing. I also thought about Song and how I was going to sway her to join us. She probably still had feelings for me. "Are we all in agreement?" The Doctor asked snapping back out of my thoughts.

"Of course." I said. "We begin tomorrow night, yes?"

"That's correct." He said. "You have plenty of time to look around. Leo, I would still keep a low profile." I nodded and stood. I really wanted to explore. "Dirge, you might want to make sure that he doesn't get into trouble." I laughed.

"I think that he would be the one a bit more likely to get into trouble." I said.

"Says public enemy number one." Dirge muttered. I glared at him as he chuckled.

"Brilliant!" The Doctor exclaimed. "You two go out and explore and I'll stay here and prepare for rapid transport." I nodded as Dirge stood up.

"We'll be back soon." I said.

"Of course," he said, "take your time!" Dirge and I left the TARDIS closing the blue door behind us.

"So what now?" He asked.

"We look around." I suggested. "I want to see how much this place has changed."

"I see it all around us." Dirge said as we began walking down the street. "The people," he added, "they all look as if they are afraid something."

"Or someone," I suggested. He nodded.

"You think the Council did something to frighten them into obedience?" Dirge asked.

"I wouldn't put it past them." I said. "They did lose three trusted operatives." Dirge laughed solemnly at that.

"True." He said.

"Do you think that you'll be seen?" I asked. Dirge thought for a moment.

"Remember what the Doctor said about humans seeing something out of the ordinary?" He asked. I nodded. "Same concept." I shrugged understanding.

We walked through the streets, observing, waiting as Assassin's are trained to do. We watched as the normally proud and strong members of the Black Hand turned cowards walked through the streets alongside us seemingly too scared to detect us.

I looked about in depressed shock. How could someone do this to such a proud organization? Blaze seemed to be ruling with an iron fist. I thought about how I could possibly appeal to Song.

"I wonder where Jack is." Dirge said.

"You knew?" I asked.

"I knew about Lance, not about his sexual preferences." Dirge said. "At least until he got into a big argument with Roman about coming here. Can't say I blame him really."

Dirge had a point, it wouldn't be right for Jack to risk it like we were. It would be pointless if he ended up dead or worse. I didn't want to think about that though. What mattered was the mission. Nothing else.

A/N: Weel, good news is I'm not dead. I will still be uploading chapters just not very frequently. Bad news is that I'm still gonna be really busy with band and school and other stuff. But thank you guys for sticking around and being patient. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I promise that there is more to come. It's good to be back.