Sleep had almost cast its hold on me, but a form next to me had torn through the thin veil of slumber. My eyes opened and glanced down to the body lying against to me. Defenseless and frail, it was like a completely different façade that dawned her features. Save for the gentle fall and rise of her chest, she was motionless and with a peaceful expression. Her braid, though slightly disheveled, fell over her shoulder, barely reaching down to the bandages around her waist.

Peaceful… Delicate… Frail.

My hand reached out and brushed back one of the loose strands of crimson hair from her face. It was at that point when I realized the subtle shudder of her form. She only wore half of her robes to avoid any constriction around her wound, allowing the cool night air to reach her small form easily. I mumbled under my breath, shifting slightly as I slipped an arm carefully around her body and the other under her legs to pull her up into my hold. I was more than careful to keep from adjusting her too much to avoid any cause of discomfort from her injury as I pulled myself up to my feet and moved down to the level of the Bureau's entrance.

Climbing down into the resting room itself proved to be a challenge as I adjusted her until I was able to carry her down with the use of only one arm. Luck, as it would seem, was on my side as I made it to the floor without once disturbing her sleep. I moved over to the corner of the room and gently lowered her onto the pile of assorted pillows, only leaving her side for a brief second to locate a blanket to cover her from the night air.

Even as I brought the blanket over her form, my eyes stopped at her face. Truly, she was more trouble than I should have to put up with, yet why did I find myself beginning to not care as much?

'I won't give up on you.'

Why would that even matter? Al Mualim has already given me the chance at redemption… I can see it through without the aid of anyone else, without her. I do not need her.

I pulled back, turning away to slip back outside to the roof, but as my foot set onto the rim of the fountain I turned back. My eyes finding her under the speckled moonlight that fell through the latticework overhead.

.:*~*:.

How late is it…? My eyes could feel the warmth of light falling on me, though I did not wish to open them. The dull roar of a crowd was outside… dawn clearly had to not be too long ago. Reluctant as I was, I knew I would need to get up before long, but what was I to do? As far as I knew, I was grounded until I had a full recovery.

I groaned inwardly at the thought, slowly shifting to pull myself up. I winced at the tug of my wound before I carefully sat up. Eyes finally open, I saw that I was lying among several large pillows, though not exactly fluffy, still relatively soft to rest on. I did not recall ever climbing back into the Bureau… much less lying here with a blanket to boot.

My gaze shifted up to the lattice gate overhead. There was no bickering coming from the other room… so surely Altaïr remained outside somewhere. But where?

"She awakes," Malik's voice, calm and even, resounded from the doorway. "Better late than never."

"I didn't sleep in too late, did I…?" She glanced over to the door as Malik moved over to her side with a cup nestled in his only hand.

"Relax," he knelt by her side and offered her the cup that now emitted a small line of steam. "Do not worry about time until you have gotten better. This will elixir will help get you back on your feet."

She looked to the cup in hand, slowly taking it from his hold to see the green liquid inside. She gave a gentle blow before she took the first small sip, tasting the bitter contents and resisted the urge to spit it back out. "Blegh! It tastes terrible!" she begrudgingly swallowed. "Must mean it's working…" Malik chuckled at her reaction before he pulled himself back up to move back to the other room.

"Wait, Malik?" He stopped by the doorframe, turning slightly to look back at her. "Where is Altaïr? Did he go after Talal?"

"If he did, what does it matter?" His face scrunched at the thought of the Assassin. "I will not waste my time worrying over his quest for redemption."

Ann watched him go back into his room disgruntled before letting her gaze fall back to liquid in her cup. I wonder exactly what am I getting myself into… She took another sip, swallowed, and tried her best not to cringe.

Time slipped by in slowly. She was unsure how long before she felt well enough to move a little more extensively without much cause of pain. She moved over to the fountain, looking up through the lattice gate to the outside. The thought of Altaïr being up there crossed her mind, but for someone like him, why would he linger when he could get the job done now without wasting any time.

Moving carefully, she began to climb her way back up to the roof. It proved much easier this time to make her way to the top than the previous night, though the tug in her side still restricted her movements to a degree. Nevertheless, she managed to hoist herself over the ledge with a bit more ease. She had no plans of leaving the premises, just felt the need to be outside in a slightly different environment which was just what she had told Malik before she slipped out. Even as she sat down on one of the upper levels of the structure, she could see off in the distance the extravagance of the city. An occasional guard she could spot, but none were close enough to spot her right away and be of any threat.

The sun now rested high in the sky, signaling mid day. Boredom was quickly settling in and those pesky thoughts of her own predicament where only left on repeat. Above anything else, she hoped that she was at least doing the right thing while being in this world. How much of an impact am I really having on the timeline itself for being here? Or was it just like in the movies where I had to be here in the first place to make sure history set itself on the right course? Or I am just thinking too highly of myself right now…? I couldn't be here completely by accident or mistake, could I? Either way… am I stuck here? Am I ever going to see the chance of going home again…?

She sighed, lowering her head until her eyes fell to her feet. "And here I thought life couldn't be more complicated."

Movement. She jerked her head back up, looking behind her certain that she heard something not far from her. Her eyes scanned the roof and she pulled herself up to her feet. She dared not move into the Bureau knowing fully well that that was a breach of the Creed itself if someone had spotted her. Though she could not find anything amiss, much less any indication of someone there, she knew all too well than to let her guard down at all.

She looked around the area from where she stood, but it was not until she turned to the building next to her did she catch a glimpse of something black disappear around the corner of its roof. Immediately, she rushed behind one of the walls of the next story of the building in hopes of concealing herself. Slowly and as quickly as she could, she put distance between herself at the entrance of the Bureau until she could come around the other side of the roof. She peeked around her post, looking toward the building she caught the first sign of someone else, but her gaze met nothing. Did they notice me here? Or was it someone else already preoccupied and just didn't bother with me?

For a while, she was unsure where to move. She was in no condition to pursue, especially with her lack of weaponry on her person, but she was still unclear if she was even being watched at all to even consider retreating. The only shift in stance she made was when she retracted back, turning away from the building where she saw the figure, and froze when she saw the very black form standing before her.

A hood over his face, even a mask that concealed his entire face save for the dark eyes that stared her down from the shade of his hood proved to be more intimidating than any of the other Assassins she had met! A black cape with a crimson hue on the underside was fastened over one shoulder, covering his right arm and half of his torso and a red sash that tied around his waist over his dark attire was the only thing that stood out the most of anything else about him aside from his dangerous stare. A sword, several daggers, even a crossbow with several arrows strapped to his back, this man was just as heavily armed as any guard, if not more so, but his hands remained empty.

Neither of them moved. Ann was almost too scared to even breathe until she remembered that she still had two daggers tucked away in each of her boots. But what good would those even do against a man that could so easily overpower her?

"A-Are you just going to stand there and stare all day…?" she fought to find her own voice, much less the confidence to hold a front against him. Still he made no sound, not even the slightest hint of motion.

"What do you want…!?" she was beginning to grow impatient. "If you have no business here, then leave!"

He started to move toward her. "S-Stay back!" She immediately moved to snag one of her daggers, but just as she was able to pull one free in her own defense, his hand had knocked her wrist away, forcing her to drop the weapon. "No! Sto—!" Her cry cut short as his other hand grabbed the space between her neck and shoulder and her vision blacked out. The last thing she remembered was her body dropping, collapsing into the hold of her attacker.

.:*~*:.

"Malik." Altaïr moved into the room, his eyes scanning the entire area around them.

"Ah, he returns."

"Where is she?" Altaïr didn't give Malik the chance to say anything else upon his arrival.

"She stepped outside not long ago," he answered indifferently as he pulled one of the books from the shelves behind him. "What of Talal?"

"She is not outside," Atlaïr did not even acknowledge Malik's last question, catching his attention. "Did she say where she was going—why did you even let her go?!"

Malik's hand set on the cover the book once he had dropped it on the counter. "It is not my responsibility to watch her, but yours. What of Talal?"

His jaw clenched. "He lives. I have not made the move to strike yet."

"Then you are wasting both yours and my time."

"Do you know where she is!?"

Malik remained unaffected by his outburst. "Her belongings are still here and she knew not to leave the Bureau. As far as I know, she's nearby. As to where, don't expect me to know."

Altaïr did not spend another second in the room as he quickly turned on his heel and rushed out of the Bureau. As soon as his feet met the grounding of the roof, he looked around each structure, scaffold, and street around them. No sign of her at all. He moved toward the back of the building, looking both high to the stories of the roofs and low down to the streets, but there was nothing to be taken notice anywhere. He cursed under his breath and was ready to jump over to the next building to continue his search until the glint of something metal caught his eye. Looking over to his side, he moved over to the item the lied carelessly by the edge of the roof.

He knelt down and picked up a dagger. A dagger he recognized as one for an Assassin, one surely that was given to her. There was no blood, no sign of assault anywhere, but there was a reason why this dagger was lying here in the first place. His grip tightened at the realization of what happened.

The second the dagger was sheathed into his belt, he dart off the roof, leaping to the next one and the one after that. His feet carried him as fast as he could across the district without fail. Any guard that dared to get in his way was met with his hidden blade launching straight into their jugular without a second's notice. He did not care if his strikes were in a low or high profile. Nothing and no one was going to delay him from his target anymore.

He reached the Barbican of the city with ease as he approached the very warehouse Talal kept those he kidnapped to sell into human slavery. The closer he got to his target the more anger he could feel rising within him as he ran straight into the open door of the building. The second the door slammed shut behind him only confirmed his own thoughts as to what was going on here. Cages and crates lined the walls around him as he proceeded inside and even though the hall was barely lit, he could see the men and women curled away in tight caged corners in utter despair.

"You should not have come here, Assassin."

Altaïr turned, looking for the source of the voice, his frustration being tested. "What now, slaver?"

"Do not call me that!" the voice snapped. "I only wish to help them. As I myself was helped."

"You do no kindness imprisoning them like this." Even at a glance, Altaïr's eyes fell to bars in the floor, keeping a man trapped in the dark basement below as he reached out begging for help.

"Imprisoning them? I keep them safe. Preparing them for the journey that lies ahead."

"What journey?" Altaïr snapped, turning to what lied up above him where he could see the silhouettes of guards peeking through windows to watch him. "It is a life of servitude."

"You know nothing!" the voice of Talal laughed. "It was folly to even bring you here! To think that you might see and understand!"

"I understand well enough!" Altaïr spat back. "Show yourself!"

"Ah, so you want to see the man that called you here…" A door at the very end of the hall drew open, catching Altaïr's attention. He rushed through the opening without a moment's hesitation, coming out into the middle of a large spacious room.

"You did not call me here! I came on my own," he called back.

"Did you?" Talal chuckled. "Who unbarred the door? Cleared the path? Did you once raise your blade against a single man of mine, huh? No. All this, I did for you. Step into the light then, and I will grant you one final favor."

Altaïr moved, falling into the few streams of light Talal's men had created when they pulled the shutters back to let the sun through. Several soldiers stood on the upper level of the room, looming over him with their weapons drawn and ready to strike. The second he even spotted them, they jumped down to floor, surrounding him. Though they did not move to attack, he did not concern himself with them as Altaïr turned his gaze to the last man to reveal himself from above.

"Now I stand before you," Talal announced, stepping to the very edge of the landing. "What is it you desire?"

"Where is she?" Altaïr curtly spoke.

"She?"

"Do not play with me! I know you took her to throw in with the rest of your livestock!"

"Surely I have helped many women… but I know now of who you refer to."

"The only one with red hair, surely you cannot mistake one like her!"

"Alas, there is none here with such a trait."

"I'm sure you'll say otherwise when defending your life," Altaïr growled, swinging his sword free from his side, ready to fight. "Come down here! Let us settle this with honor!"

"Why must this always come to violence?" Talal let his arms fall to his side as he shook his head.

"You will tell me where she is!"

"It seems I cannot help you. And I cannot allow my work to be threatened. You leave me no choice. You must die." Cue initiated. The soldiers surrounding Altaïr began to move, but the instant one of them lunged for the Assassin, he countered, gliding the man's blade away before he shoved his sword straight through the soldier's torso. Another charged, but was met by a quick death as Altaïr swung his blade free from his first victim and slashed it straight across the next one's chest, blood spraying freely from his body.

One by one, each man met a quick and devastating end, neither of whom were able to get anywhere close to Altaïr. His eyes were boiling over with rage when the very last soldier moved to attack but was left to find himself with Altaïr's sword plunged straight through his throat and then yanked to the side, tearing out his artery and jugular. Talal obviously became panicked from the display and immediately sprinted, climbing frantically up the nearest ladder to vacate the building.

Altaïr was not too far behind. Climbing one of the ladders within the warehouse straight to the landing Talal and a few of his other men resided on, he dashed like a white blur. Any guard that dared to oppose him found his blade in their throats before being shoved off their platform to plummet to the floor below, crushing their skulls against the ground. As Altaïr even breached the rooftop Talal had ran from, he spotted the very coward on top of one of the nearby buildings. He turned, nearly stumbling in his sporadic haste as the Assassin bolted after him. The second he even made it to the next building, Altaïr pulled free a dagger from his belt, throwing it straight at his target until the weapon found itself embedded in the man's shoulder, startling and knocking him down to the roof.

Now he had him. Jumping to the very rooftop and coming on him fast, Altaïr's hidden blade slide perfectly through Talal's ribcage, slicing straight into the man's lung. But his job was not finished there as he snatched Talal by the collar of his clothes, jerking him up to his level. "Be straight with me," he growled. "You've nowhere to run now. What did you do with her!?"

"I-I know of no woman you refer to!" Talal stammered as blood trickled down from his mouth, weakly gripping at his wrists to pry away from him.

"You took her to sell into slavery just like the others," he fought to keep himself calm. "Now tell me where you put her!"

"The way you fight for her, she does not seem the type like the men and women I took into my arms," Talal spoke softly.

"What do you mean?"

"Beggars, whores, addicts, lepers. Do they strike you as proper slaves? Unfit for even the most menial tasks? No. I took them not to sell, but to save! And yet you'd kill us all, for no other reason than it was asked of you." He coughed, the fight for air growing weaker by the second.

"No," Altaïr's brow knitted together, fighting the confusion and doubt this man's words were beginning to stir in him. "You profit from the war, from lives lost and broken."

"Yes…," Talal breathed. "You would think that, as ignorant as you are. War defined me. They say it's what your kind do best. Do you see the irony in all this?" He spotted the doubt in his eyes as much as Altaïr fought to hide it. "No, not yet it seems… But you will…"

The life drained from his body and Talal fell limp in Altaïr's grasp. His hands constricted around the fabric of his clothes before he brought Talal's body down to the ground. Reaching to one of his pouches, he pulled the feather free and swiped it against the running stream of blood from Talal before he pulled back. His eyes turned back to the warehouse but even from what he could see there, Ann was no where to be found. But he couldn't give up. No! He needed to find her before anything else happened.

With the bells ringing loudly throughout the city, he sprinted back to the warehouse. This was a promise to himself. He was not going to return to the Bureau until he found her.

.:*~*:.

Darkness… All I can see is darkness. But my surroundings I could still feel. From the warm coating from the sun's powerful rays to the form of the man who took me and the shuffling of the fabric of his clothes, but I could not move no matter how much I willed my body to. For a while, I was truly unconscious, but now I knew I was paralyzed, too weak to bring myself to move! My body felt heavy and the strain to even so much as try to flex my fingers was mentally agonizing! What has he done to me!? What is he planning!?

He stopped in his steps, this much I was certain of. We were still outside… I could make out the echo and rumblings of the crowd in the city. He kept still for several moments before he stirred and I could finally feel one of my fingers flex.

It was like he knew I was coming to when he lowered me to the rough, hot, flat ground. I expected something to happen… anything! A blade slicing through my throat or even straight into my abdomen, but nothing came. I could hear him move and his footsteps carried away, disappearing in the distance. Was he just leaving me here…?

My body was still heavy, but I could finally feel some use of the muscles in my arms and upper body, though minimal at best. For a moment, I was able to peek my eyes open, catching a glimpse of the sky above me. How long I was going to be lying there completely helpless, I had no clue… and it frightened me. Especially when I heard footsteps land on the ground close by, running straight toward me.

"Ann!"

That voice… That's the first time he's used my name.

"Ann, wake up!" Someone pulled me up, holding me in their arms and jostling me slightly. I managed to open my eyes again, the light of the sun nearly blinding me before my vision could regain its focus. A figure loomed over me, though it was too dark for me to make anything out at first, the white hood was a dead giveaway and I could feel my mouth curl into a small smile of relief.

"Where have you been…?" My voice was weaker than I thought, but I managed to pull words from my throat.

"I could ask the same of you." Though he refused to show it, relief could finally settle in.

"Your guess would be as good as mine…"

"Can you move?"

"Barely."

"Are you in pain?"

"No…"

Though surprised by that last answer, they both fell silent as Altaïr picked her up off the ground, holding her securely in his hold. She was safe now and there was no one else that was going to get in his way of making sure she made it back safely. He turned to make his way back toward the Bureau, taking his time crossing the roofs.

Any sign of the man who kidnapped her even being there at all had diminished before even Altaïr or anyone else could take notice.