YAY! I finished the next chapter! Don't know when I will get the next one posted, though. Anyways, I also want to thank all of you for the get well wishes. After a good four weeks, I am finally over whatever it was I had.

Oh, the chapter where Desmond is trying to wake Lucy, Mammy was just her grandma. I was going to explain it in the story, but it didn't seem to flow with the chapter. Mammy also lived on a farm and raised chickens to collect their eggs. If they didn't produce any eggs...well, if you have seen Chicken Run, you know what happens.

This chapter is more conversation, but a lot of history and unsolved secrets about William Shakespeare are coming to light.

Without further ado...


This can't be him. No, it's not. He died years ago. I went to his funeral and everything. But he looks so much like him…he looks so much like me!

Lucy's mind went wild as she tried to wrap her mind around what was happening. "Lucas?" Her voice cracked as she spoke that name. She hadn't spoken that name since the funeral.

"Who else would call you Lucy Loo?" Lucas asked. Lucy hadn't been called that since she was in college when she last saw Lucas. She remembered because she always called him George Lucas.

Desmond felt left out because Lucy and Lucas obviously knew each other and apparently, Alice was informed of their relationship. He impatiently glanced at Alice, who now had her other hand covering the inner part of Lucas's elbow. She removed her hand and stuck it out, palm outward, motioning for him to be patient.

"But you were shot…stabbed…killed…how are you…can you just explain?" she pleaded.

Lucas sighed but agreed to her simple request. "Let's go inside first, please. It is hot out here and you are wearing a hoodie. You must be uncomfortable."

All four nodded in unison and walked into the foyer of the mansion. There were three doors to take: one on the right, left, and straight ahead. They took the door on the right which led to a study. Lucas insisted Desmond and Lucy sit on the leather couch closest to the door while he and Alice took the one that was at a 90 degree angle from the other.

"So, where should I began," Lucas huffed as he sat down next to Alice.

Desmond couldn't help but notice how clean Lucas looked as he watched him sit down. Those sapphire eyes only emphasized the fact that this man was attractive. His brown hair was cut very short with it spiked up in a row at the center of his head. He had a nicely trimmed goatee that was connected to his sideburns by a thumb-sized line of facial hair that outlined the edge of his lower jaw. Desmond glanced at Lucas's black buttoned down shirt with the sleeves rolled up, faded dark jeans, and casual black Dr. Martins. Then he glanced at his worn out grey t-shirt, torn up jeans, and plain white shoes. He couldn't help but feel like a bum compared to this guy.

Lucy, still in shock and disbelief, asked, "How about when you were 'killed'?" Desmond eased Lucy onto the couch and sat next to her. He was still confused as to who this nicely dressed Lucas was.

"Right. Everything that you were told happened to me actually happened, but I didn't die. The Templar assassin failed to make sure I was dead before he left my bloody body in that alley."

Alice winced at that image.

"I managed to get to the sidewalk, and some lady called a bus. Once the paramedics arrived, they ended up calling Liam. I went to the hospital, was stablized, and then they took me to the base in Houston. That's were I met Alice." He glanced at her for a second, smiled proudly, and then turned back to Lucy. Lucas and Alice were still holding hands even after they came inside. "The head guy in New York ordered that we play along as if I were dead. The Templars obviously wanted me that way and thought that I was out of the game, so there was no reason to enlighten them of me being undead. Once I recovered, it was new hair, new look, new name, and new home. I've been living here in Europe ever since."

Lucy was starting to understand the situation, but questioned him. "Why didn't you tell me? Do you know what it is like thinking that both of your brothers are dead?" A subtle fury shot from Lucy's eyes to Lucas, and he reacted appropriately. Apologetic pain took over his face as he closed his eyes tightly and forced his eyebrows closer together.

So Lucas is Lucy's brother, Desmond thought to himself. That would explain their similarities.

"Is Liam alive?" Lucy asked full of hope. The fury, however, was still there on her face.

"No. They didn't fake his death. It killed me that I couldn't be there with you at his funeral." Lucas winced at the poor choice of words: killed.

Liam must be the other brother, Desmond assumed.

"I'm so sorry, Lucy. I had to start all over; they made me lose all ties to my former life, including you. But now that Robert, the one who gave me this position here in England, is dead…and what were the chances your mission would bring you right to me? I couldn't turn down Shaun's offer to…"

"Wait, Shaun knew?" Lucy demanded, interupting Lucas.

Lucas looked as if he said something that he shouldn't have. "Yes," he admitted. "He has known for a while. I called him once a while back asking how you were. It's not his fault; I told him not to tell you."

Lucy placed her elbows on her knees and rested her face in her hands. Her breathing went uneven as she tried to understand how Shaun could lie to her like that.

"Alice, why don't you show Desmond around?" Lucas suggested to Alice. She nodded, kissed him tenderly on the lips, and then nodded her head at Desmond for him to follow her. After following almost the same goodbye with Lucy that Alice gave Lucas, Desmond stood up and followed Alice out of the room. As he shut the door to give Lucy and Lucas some privacy, he saw Lucas sit next to his sister and wrap his arms around her. Muffled sobs could be heard coming from Lucy while Lucas let a few silent tears trail down his face.

"You want a tour of the place, or do you want to raid the kitchen?" Alice offered. She was obviously trying to get Desmond from eaves dropping on the Lucy and Lucas by distracting him.

Desmond thought about it and replied, "Acutally, I could use something to eat."

Alice flashed a smile that said 'great!' and led him through the door across from the front door of the mansion. Staircases spiraled around both sides of the huge room, but Alice walked towards the door in between them. "This way," she directed. Their feet echoed inside the colossal entry room as they walked on the faded marble floor.

Desmond thought he recognized this entry way, these staircases, from somewhere, but it felt as if a word was on the tip of his tongue that he couldn't say, no matter how hard he tried. He simply rolled his eyes and followed Alice into the kitchen.

A whistle of approval of the kitchen from Desmond followed the loud grumble from his stomach. "So, whatcha got in this place to eat?" He had never seen a kitchen this large before except for those cooking shows. But this had to be at least twice the size of anything in which Emeril has ever cooked.

"Ha! How about what don't we have to eat? Ask, and I bet we have it."

"Captain Crunch?" Desmond asked hopefully.

"You're kidding right?" she asked in disbelief that someone would ask an idiotic question like that. "That's one of the 'musts' on our grocery list! Of course we have it!" Alice grabbed two bowls, two spoons, some milk, and a huge red box with that lovable pirate on it. "So, did you get any of that in there?" she asked seriously as she pointed towards the direction of the study.

After slurping a spoon full of sweety goodness, Desmond replied, "I think. They are brotherand sister, and Liam was their brother. Lucas and Liam are Assassins, and both had a hit on their lives by the Templars. Lucas survived, and now he is here with you and some other Assassins." These were all statements, but they ended up sounding like questions to Alice.

"Yes, yes, and yes," Alice answered. "Actually, Lucas is Lucy's twin brother. Liam was the oldest. While Lucas was finisheing his recovery, Liam was killed."

"Oh, that really explains why they look a lot alike. I mean eyes that blue are rare," Desmond asserted and lost his train of thought as he thought about Lucy's eyes. Her Snuggie eyes. He smiled at that thought…

Alice deeply inhaled and exhaled and said, "Yep." She was obviously thinking the same thing about Lucas.

That night…

Lucas and Lucy spent most of the day talking in the study while Alice and Desmond kept themselves occupied by playing pool with two Assassins named Michael and King in the game room upstairs. The two siblings talked mostly about Lucas not being dead, what they had been doing for the past few years, and how they needed to act normal around each other for their mission's sake. To be honest, it wasn't that hard for them; they were ecstatic to finally see each other again.

Later, Lucy, Lucas, Desmond, and Alice all sat at the dining room table, which was a heavy, polished maple table, together over some Chinese takeout someone else in the house had ordered. While they were eating, they discussed certain plans of action and the fact that Lucas's new name was Evan Weber. He instructed Lucy and Desmond to start calling him by that name so his real name wouldn't slip in public or worse, in front of a Templar.

"So, what exactly are you two doing on this side of the globe anyway? Shaun was afraid to go into detail over the phone," Lucas, or Evan, explained. "The Templars have their roots deeply planted in the CIA and FBI, so they are constantly wire tapping the phone lines."

Lucy looked at Desmond to encourage him to explain.

"Oh, uh, there is a 'you know what' buried in Shakespeare's grave. Well, there is a piece of paper giving the location of a 'you know what' buried with him. We are after that paper."

"But Lucy explained that you have a map of all the locations? Why this one in particular?" Alice questioned.

Lucy sat up in her chair and pushed the sleeves of Desmond's hoodie up her arms before she opened her box of lo mein. "According to that map, the closest Piece of Eden to Stratford is south of London. If this 'note' in fact gives the location of another Piece here in Stratford, that means there are possibly more Pieces than we thought!" In went a fork full of noodles and cabbage into Lucy's mouth after she spoke. The four started off using chop sticks, but after 5 minutes of figuring out they were too anxious to use them, they all said "fuck it" in unison and switched to forks.

Desmond thought about Lucy's last statement for a moment and realized the odds couldn't be any more against them right now. After he swallowed a bite of his dinner, he asked, "So, Luc--I mean Evan, what would be the best way to unearth the Bard? It kinda blows that it's a tourist site."

Evan took a swig of his glass of water and retorted with a grin, "That isn't his actual burial site."

The other three at the table all stared at Evan like he had lobsters crawling out of his ears. "What?" they asked in unison. None of them were blinking as their eyes were fixated on Evan.

Evan smiled again as he chomped down on one of those small corn on the cob things and replied, "Another Assassin cover up. I'm sure you are aware that Shakespeare was assassinated. Do you really think that the Assassins would let the world, which the Templars happen to be a part of, know where one of the greatest Assassin spies was buried? It's not just some phrase that are secrets die and are buried with us…."

Alice blinked her eyes slowly as she moistened them from being dry. "OK…so then where is he buried?"Doubt filled her face as she questioned the blue eyed hunk.

He paused as he waited for Lucy and Desmond to blink before answering Alice's question. "Somewhere within a few miles from here. Why do you think we are here in this mansion?" Evan finally asked as he spread his arms wide to emphasize his question. "I'm sorry I never told you this Alice, but this is the house that the Assassin's purchased for Shakespeare to live in while he had a hit on his life. It's perfectly secluded from the city, and there are secret passages that you would drive you insane if you got lost in them."

"Little good it did him," Desmond snorted. If Shakespeare was assassinated under the protection of the Assassin Order, that didn't make their odds look any better. At least he finally found out why the place looked so familiar. He had been here a few times in a few of Shakespeare's memories.

Evan rolled his eyes and explained, "He was poisoned before he moved in for the fourth time. Whatever it was that the Templars gave him, it was months before he started showing symptoms of his illness."

"So, does that mean it will be easy to access his grave, his coffin?" Lucy asked hopefully.

"Sure does. If I would have known this was why you came here, I would have already unearthed the guy before you got here and presented him as a 'welcoming gift' to you when you arrived this morning," Evan said honestly even though there was humor in his voice. Alice shifted her eyes as she tried to ignore the morbid context there.

Lucy rolled her eyes and smiled so big her cheeks were warm from the tension and strain her facial muscles were exerting. "Great, we should start tomorrow."

"Agreed," Evan said.

"I think I can enjoy my fortune cookie now!" Lucy exclaimed as she reached for the small plastic bag. She opened the bag, cracked the cookie and read the small rectangular paper that once resided in the delicious wafer. The group watched her as her face illuminated with a deep, blood red color. She threw the paper down, forced her heavy wooden chair backwards across the marble floor, and stormed out of the dining room.

The remaining three eyed Lucy in confusion as she left then eyed the small paper that pissed Lucy off. Desmond grabbed it and read it aloud: "Meet your opponent half way. You need the exercise." He chuckled with the others as they all anxiously opened their cookies.

"Flattery will go far tonight," Evan read. He eyed Alice through is peripheral vision and smiled.

"Don't even think about it. I have already been flirted with today by a drunk Rupert and am in no mood for whatever it is you have to say," Alice ranted. She noticed Evan looked a little hurt by her statement and added as she winked at him, "We can just skip the flattery."

Desmond rolled his eyes as he opened his cookie. "Take a minute to let it ride, then take a minute to let it breeze." Desmond glared at his fortune with hatred. "I don't understand. What the hell do you mean?" he demanded of the paper.

Alice giggled either from Desmond's response or the game of footsy she was playing with Evan. "You're fortune lies in another cookie," she said with a wide grin. After two seconds, she realized what she had just said. "What the fuck?" she whispered angrily in her delayed reaction.

So, there is chapter 9! Let me know what you thought about it. Are there things I need to work on, are there any factual errors, are the characters going OOC on me? Please let me know. It has been a while since I have worked on this story or played the game, so I hope it hasn't affected me negatively.

Oh, and sorry for the name change for Lucas. But we don't want him getting killed because a random Templar overheard his actual name now do we?

Thanks for reading/reviewing!

~whyduyacare