Assassin's Creed: Apotheosis

By: Shadow Chaser

Disclaimer:

Assassin's Creed belongs to Jade Raymond, Patrice Desilets, Ubisoft Montreal, and Ubisoft. I am only borrowing them for my own amusement and that of my muses and fans. I will return them a bit battered, but otherwise unharmed (mostly).

Story:

Chapter 14 – Escape

"You are whom I am living for Desmond."

"Err," Desmond looked sheepish, "I'm flattered, but I don't really swing that way."

Ezio laughed, "Not the way it was intended and I apologize if you thought it that way. No, since Minerva touched my mind and talked to me in the Sistine Chapel, I have waited a long time for this mysterious Desmond to arrive. Now that you have, I have found the purpose of my long life. The knowledge that I would someday meet you has kept me sane all these long years."

Desmond's lips twitched up in a slight smile. He did not know what to say to that and the thought that he was his ancestor's answer for living so long was oddly touching. "Um...thanks..." he rubbed the back of his head before looking at Ezio again, "Amunet's wrath you said?"

"Yes," his ancestor replied, "Amunet wanted you dead."

"But…why? How…?" Desmond was thoroughly confused now, "She said that I was going to be assigned the Houston mission to stop the Piece of Eden from making it up into space and said that I was going to train, be given smaller missions. Why the hell does she want to kill me? And with Jack the Ripper of all people?"

"She…has her lucid moments, from time to time," Ezio tilted his head slightly, "though they are getting less lucid. She is also devious; the brightest of all of us, capable of so much plotting that only one of us was able to figure her out before she made her move. But we acted too late."

"When you say us, you mean you immortal ones, right?"

"Of course."

"So then why does she want me dead?"

"To get to myself, Arden, Leonius, and Altaїr," the Italian assassin looked at him briefly, "we had all heard about the prophecy regarding you when I encountered Minerva in the bowels of the Sistine Chapel."

"Minerva didn't really say much, just something about finding the temples of those who turned away from war and the like. Also about how the world's going to burn again, time's short, you know the doom and gloom."

His thinly veiled sarcasm drew a laugh from Ezio and once again Desmond was a little more than wigged out at how much his ancestor sounded like the one he had been living through in the Animus.

"She also said guard against the cross and there are many who would stand in your way," Ezio pointed out after controlling his laughter.

"Dr. Patrice, er, Amunet's one of them?"

"She was the only one who had access to Jack's cell, a blood sample scanner that had to be taken from a living, breathing body. And she was the one who specifically requested that Jack be transferred from England to here when she became head of the North American cells."

"Why?"

"That is a question that you can pose to Altaїr when you meet him," Ezio's grip on the wheel tightened slightly; "you would figure after all of these years, he would tell a fellow ally his reasons."

Desmond could feel a slight stirring within him that he recognized as Altaїr's presence and snorted, "Still cantankerous and a stubborn proud mule?"

"As ever," his ancestor gave him a crooked grin, "Altaїr used to be the head of the European Order during Arden's time, though not many people knew that it was Altaїr per se, they only knew him as Andrew. He gave up that title when Amunet drove him underground."

"Underground?"

"Oh yes, there is a resistance," Ezio nodded to himself, "Amunet may claim that the cells have all been wiped out or at least have been driven to Cheyenne Mountain for protection, but Altaїr's been keeping those groups safe and scattered so that both the Assassins and Templars would not seek us out."

"What does this underground do? And Amunet doesn't know about it?"

"We continue with our mission," the assassin shrugged, "stopping the Templars from completing their goal of enslaving the human race with the Pieces of Eden. And Amunet does know about it, but she cannot do anything about it."

"Except sending a sniper team after you back in Denver," Desmond shot back.

"Except for that," Ezio agreed, "which has worried me."

"Worried you?"

"Spies," was the only reply he got and Desmond instantly understood what Ezio was saying. The possibilities of spies both within the Templars and the Assassins were a constant threat, especially with the two groups at each other's throats for such a long time.

"You don't think it was Amunet just sending out people to kill you? I mean you said you didn't have a mission there so you knew that you were a target, right?"

His ancestor just looked at him flatly before shaking his head, "I forget, that perhaps few hundred years down the road, the gene pool may have diluted enough to addle your wits."

"Hey!"

"So easy to take offense," Ezio chuckled lightly before sobering up, "no, the real question posed was why after all of this time in hiding Altaїr met with me? The last time we had seen each other was when you were born and your mother named you Desmond. Even then that meeting was brief."

"You mean someone lured him out so Amunet can get rid of the two of you?"

"Amunet knows I am a spy for Altaїr, but she could not touch me all of these years because of my reputation within the greater whole of the Assassin Order," Ezio looked thoughtful, "Sharon was supposed to give you a target to kill, that was her mission, but bless her heart when she realized that I and perhaps Altaїr were supposed to be your targets."

"She did seem agitated and said that she couldn't do this anymore before telling me that I had to find you and warn you…" Desmond trailed off; more puzzle pieces sort of clicking into place. He was definitely missing information, but the pieces did seem to fit in an odd way, "but that means that the sniper team-"

"May not have been sent by Amunet," Ezio finished for him, a frown on his face before suddenly pushing several buttons on the dashboard of his Alfa's radio and a high pitched whine issued from the speakers.

Desmond clapped his ears and gritted his teeth against the horrible screeching sound which suddenly cut out and a feminine voice answered. "Hello?"

"Where is he?"

"Who is this?"

"Where is he, damn you?"

"I have no idea-"

A stream of curses issued from Ezio's mouth and Desmond was hard pressed to keep up with the rapid Italian even with his ancestor inside of him providing all of the necessary translations in his mind. "I don't give a fuck, just put him on!"

"I am not-"

There was a brief squeal from what sounded like a radio being tuned before Desmond felt a shiver of déjà vu down his spine at the lightly Arabic-accented, but precise English that he so recognized from his first time in the Animus. "You better have a good reason-"

"She knows. You were right, there was more than one of them and for the life of me I did not see it until now. Fuck."

"Then it is true?" Altaїr's cool voice betrayed no emotion and Desmond squeezed his eyes shut in the sudden onslaught of memories that he had of this ancestor. He clenched his fists and forced himself to breathed through his nose in a steady pace, trying to stem the tide of memories of actually hearing Altaїr's voice over the radio instead of in the Animus or in his head.

"I've already alerted Arden, she will get them out. We are coming to you."

"We will be ready," there was a click of something being turned off before Desmond opened his eyes again and saw Ezio staring at him in concern.

"Desmond? Are you all right?"

"Uh, yeah…yeah," the memories ebbed and lessened as he slowly unclenched his fists and forced himself to relax. "Sorry…just, actually hearing Altaїr's voice…it's just…"

"Desmond I need you to focus, all right?" Ezio shook his head, "we'll talk about this later, but you need to focus right now."

"Why?" he looked at Ezio, confused.

"Behind you, there is a small catch that leads into the trunk," Ezio gestured with his chin towards the back of the car and Desmond turned to see that indeed there was a small catch and opened it.

"Uh…"

"I hope you've had plenty of practice," his ancestor said as Desmond drew out one of the flare guns and stared at him for a moment before looking out of the rearview window. It was then that he finally noticed that they had been driving on a seemingly deserted highway, no cars in sight in front of them, but behind them, there were several headlights, headlights that had been following them for a while now, he realized. He had not known it consciously, but the assassins memories within him had been swimming uneasily, wary, not because of Ezio's confession, but because of the headlights, he realized.

"Ezio-"

"Duck," Ezio's command reverberated through the small Alfa and Desmond did as he was told just as a spray of bullets pounded against the car, sending small shards of glass and metal everywhere. Desmond slammed into the passenger-side door as Ezio spun his Alfa around before shifting gears and speeding in another direction. The headlights followed them along with the staccato of more bullets being fired at the car.

The chase was on.

[GET THEM OUT NOW]

Lieutenant Arden Allen pursed her lips and shoved the pager she carried into the pockets of her fatigues. Pagers were old, outdated, and so very damn useful in this day and age when everything electronic could be traced. With a pager, the likelihood of the message being traced was far less than if she had received it on her cell phone. It was time. She knew the moment she had arrived that the message would come soon. They all had their missions and with her arrival from their original hideout and before that from Abstergo, it was the final piece.

Everything was in place, but she still had not expected everything to move so quickly. Amunet must have completely lost her mind for that curt of a message to be sent by Ezio. A brief smile touched her lips as she wondered about Desmond's reaction to the news – he must have known by now, otherwise, Ezio would not have done what he had done. She had been happy to see him, even though she rarely smiled at anything anymore. When she had first seen him, slouching against the van's chair, obviously still in a slight daze from his session in the Animus, she had nearly thought him to be Stephen back from the dead or even her old master Altaїr himself.

He had inherited the genes that had been in her line so strongly, yet she saw bits of Stephen within him. She would never admit it, if not for the brotherly teasing she would get from Ezio who had always said that she reminded him of his sister Claudia, but she had felt a maternal affection for Desmond at first sight. Perhaps it was a remnant of her children from ages past, one dead by the Templar's hands, the other, an Assassin worthy of the bloodline of his ancestors.

She had dropped her married last name, Miles, when Stephen had died during that fateful train ride so long ago, and had begun to live under her maiden name, never staying in one place or another, disappearing at times only to reappear when a significant amount past. It was how she was able to get into the Air Force Academy and eventually have Amunet, taking the name of Dr. Alyssa Patrice, assign her to Cheyenne Mountain even though she was just a mere Lieutenant. She knew her duties and played her role well, to the point where she had fooled even Amunet of her loyalties.

Now, though, now was the time to reveal her true colors and make sure that everyone got out safely. She knew the facility like the back of her hand, having been sent on this assignment by her old master Altaїr so long ago. It would be good to see Altaїr again after so many years, good to see her old master who had initially trained her in London before allowing her to accompany Ezio and his then-new apprentice Stephen to America to continue her life-long mission.

However, she knew that there would still be that rift between them. It was something that time could never heal, not with what had happened. She had the chance to observe some of Desmond's recent Animus sessions, but mostly stayed away, if only not to dreg up the painful memories. He was getting close though, close to that time when she had-

Arden shook her head, clearing her thoughts away like wiping a slate clean before focusing on her task. She could reminisce later…

She nodded a greeting to the two guards outside the Animus room and opened the door, noting that Shaun and Rebecca were the only ones in there. That was odd; she had thought Lucy would be in here too. She liked the young woman, even with her shifting…allegiances. She could have imagined herself teasing Desmond about his obvious relationship with her, but felt that if she did that, she would just be a gossipy old grandmother in a young woman's body.

"Where is Ms. Stillman?" she asked, her voice hard and professional. She had never liked the flippant manner that Ezio always carried around him, preferring her master's method of professionalism; though she knew that Ezio sometimes dropped the casual air and could become a lot like Altaїr in respects.

"Lucy's up in a meeting with Dr. Patrice right now," Shaun was staring at his computer, his tone utterly bored and a bit annoyed with being interrupted.

Arden cursed silently. Of all the times to be in a meeting with Amunet of all people.

"Something about Subject Sixteen's files," Rebecca piped up, also staring at her computer, but her hands were flying over the keyboard as she tweaked the Animus.

Arden suppressed the urge to curl her lip in disgust at the Animus lying innocently next to Rebecca's station. She could feel the oily power within her responding to the cursed thing, and knew that the whispers were soon to follow. If only they knew…but it was not her place to tell them, even though she wanted to. It wasn't because of orders or anything, it was because to tell them would mean dooming Desmond, and as much as she relied on her cold, hard, professionalism to get her through until the end of all of this, she did not want to see him hurt.

"Pack your things," she ordered and saw the two of them stare at her, startled.

"Why?" Rebecca was confused, but Shaun looked concerned.

"Wait, you're not…oh fuck, you're serious aren't you?"

"Wait, what? What's going on?"

"Pack your things," she ordered again and nodded once to the blood draining out of Shaun's face. The man immediately started to swear a blue streak before throwing his things together into a bag.

"What the hell is going on?"

"Don't ask any questions just pack Rebecca! Dammit, just pack! Pack the Animus; pack your computer, everything! Pack Lucy's- Oh shit, Lucy!"

"Oh shit Lucy? What's-"

"I will handle it," Arden replied coldly to Shaun's not-quite inquiry. She held out a small scrap of paper to Shaun who took it and read the scribble in there. "That is your rendezvous point. Wait there and someone will find you."

"But these are just-"

She glared at him, silencing him before he nodded in understanding. She was already taking a risk by telling them to pack. Amunet by now already knew that she would be on her way to retrieve Lucy, which would hopefully give Shaun and Rebecca time to escape.

"Bring her with you."

"Her?" Rebecca sounded even more confused.

"Where can I find her?" Shaun asked, nodding once, the biting sarcastic humor hidden behind his mask of professionalism. Leonius chose well, she thought with approval. Shaun Hastings had the makings of a very good Assassin, even though he was not born into the gifts some carried. He was also one of the few Assassins outside of those of them who were immortal who knew that they were immortal.

"Infirmary most likely," Arden replied before turning on her heel and headed out. Just as she reached the door she heard Shaun call out her name and paused, but did not look back. She never looked back, not after the way she and Altaїr had parted on the docks of Portsmouth.

"Arden, um, good luck," was all the man said and she nodded once before letting the door close behind her.

She glanced at the two guards stationed outside who immediately straightened before silently giving her the signal she had been expecting. A firm nod was all that was needed before she continued on her way. The loyalties on the base were convoluted, but she knew that she had a trusted few who were completely loyal to her and her alone. They were once Amunet's, but she had gained their respect and trust and thus whittled away some of her power. The two guards would see Shaun, Rebecca, and little Tabitha to safety.

Her next stop was to the armory and the guards gave her a casual salute to which she returned. They had seen her here enough that grabbing several different kinds of weapons and loading up on grenades was not an unusual occurrence. The benefit of being a trainer on base was that she was allowed live fire and blanks at any opportunity.

"Live fire today with grenades?"

"Better to make them dance a bit," she replied.

"Unlike yesterday…"

"Now the recruits had a taste of real live fire, blanks won't exactly feel the same anymore. Some target practice before I give them grenade practice," she shrugged before leaving the armory with her weaponry.

She headed up to the surface of the base and headed towards a jeep that was parked with the others. There were two trainees standing by the jeep, seemingly joking with each other, one of them twirling the keys around her fingers as she approached them.

"Ma'am!" they saluted her as she dumped her small ammunitions pile into the car and covered it unobtrusively with a tarp.

"Spread the word," she said, catching the keys one of them tossed at her and pocketing it. She knew that they had been sent up here by the guards at the doors to the Animus room. They were only mere Assassin trainees, but they had been loyal to her since she had watched them grow up in one of the compounds near the base.

"It is time?" one of them asked and she only merely looked at him before he wilted a bit under her gaze. "Sorry ma'am."

"Ma'am, we can assist you with Dr. Patrice-"

"That will not be necessary," she did not want to draw any more innocents into this. Everyone needed to survive this – she would not allow the bloods of those that she commanded the loyalty of to be on her hands. Never again…

"Yes ma'am," the two trainees could see that she was dead set on her answer before they saluted her again and scattered to warn the others. She knew that Dr. Patrice had her own loyal forces, those that believed her ramblings and ravings, but she hoped that it would not come to blows, after all for the good of the Order, if so much Assassin blood was shed, then they were truly doomed.

But there was no other choice, it had to be done and Dr. Patrice had to be eliminated. When Altaїr had given her this mission, he had said it was because she was the best of them. Ezio had been her support, but with Desmond's arrival, his priority was to protect him, the future, and it was just as well, because she worked better alone. Stephen had been a good support, but when he had been alive, even he had commented that she worked better alone.

The only regret was that Lucy would be there. She had to rescue the girl, she was the other half of the puzzle that made Desmond Miles who he was, Minerva's Chosen. Ezio saw it, but Altaїr did not and she knew that her master would not understand it. Ezio understood and it was for that matter that she was grateful for his support. Before he had left with Desmond for Denver, he had said that whatever happened, Lucy must be saved, even at the cost of not completing her mission.

She had not understood until the day she had met Lucy Stillman. She was to Desmond what Stephen was to her and what Maria was to her master, Altaїr. And she knew instantly that Ezio was right. However, it seemed that Desmond had not realized it yet, had not realized the depth of the woman's shifting allegiances and the torment that ate at her. She knew that Lucy knew of the truth of this whole business – being a senior Templar and all. Arden knew that Lucy had claimed to be an Assassin, and she had grown up in one of the enclaves, trained as one, but once she had entered her college studies, she had been sucked into the Animus project and switched her loyalties to the Templars after Dr. Vidic had saved her – or so the story went. In Arden's opinion, it had more to do with her bloodline than anything else, but she would not tell anyone that, not even Altaїr or Ezio.

Even Arden did not know the depth of her loyalty, but if Altaїr had said that she was not to be killed, then she would do everything she could to save her. The irony of saving a Templar was not lost on her, but out of respect for her master's wife Maria, she buried the thought. Maria had proved her loyalty to the Assassins and she hoped that perhaps in time, Lucy would do the same even if it seemed like she had done it already.

She arrived at Dr. Patrice's office and knocked on the door. The two guards standing outside looked unperturbed and seemingly unaware, giving her a glimmer of hope that perhaps Amunet did not know of the betrayal going on underneath her nose.

"Come," her muffled voice spoke through it.

Arden opened the door and stepped in, schooling her face in a passive expression, ever the soldier, ever the cold assassin she had been. She had been given a nickname during her days in Victoria-era London, Frost, which had suited her nicely for the manner she killed her targets. She did not linger over the finesse of Ezio, such frivolity was only a distraction, but rather, she considered herself economical and precise. Altaїr had insisted she study cadavers to make sure she knew the killing points and she had developed her ability to pinpoint the exact target area on any of a person, small, fat, short, tall, to kill with lethal efficiency.

She remembered when she had shown this skill to Altaїr and it was the first time she had seen him smile in approval. It was only until later, much later, that she realized she had surprised her master with her skill.

"Lieutenant, you have the most impeccable timing," Amunet sat in back of her wooden oak desk, half of a smile on her face. "I was just discussing with the others the merits of Subject Sixteen's recordings."

Arden managed to keep her impassive façade up as she saw that all of the Assassin leaders had been present, Leonius included. In front of them sat Lucy who was holding a manila folder open with the notes and several disks of recordings. Behind Amunet was the frozen projection of both Adam and Eve from Desmond's discovery of the glitches in the Animus while exploring Ezio's memories. With their images frozen, it was very clear where Desmond's DNA came from, written all over Adam's face.

Eve however, was another story and Arden inwardly smiled. How like Assassins and Templars to show the subtleties of their respective Orders the two lines they had descended from.

"Ma'am, Ms. Crane has asked that Ms. Stillman be present in the Animus room," she managed to keep her voice steady. She realized that she had not thought up of any excuse to get Lucy away from Amunet – which was her own folly. Stephen was much better at improvisation and it was her own fault that she had depended upon him too much for his abilities. She had long worked alone since his death and she could not even remember a simple excuse.

"Can it not wait? We are in the middle of a briefing," Amunet stared at her.

"I believe not, ma'am," she dared not look at Leonius, but hoped that her distant ancestor would be able to pick up on the hints she was trying to drop. "Ms. Stillman has a better working knowledge and Ms. Crane said it would help her with the upgrades."

"Why do these upgrades now?"

"I do not know ma'am. Perhaps with Mr. Miles' return from Denver-"

"Mr. Miles will not return from Denver," Amunet suddenly said and Arden froze just as Lucy swiveled her head around to stare at her.

"P-Pardon?"

"Oh do drop the act," the woman suddenly stood up before pointing at her, "I give you gentlemen and ladies, the traitor to whom we have been discussing for the past half hour."

"Ma'am?"

"Oh yes, it was you who released the man from confinement to kill Mr. Miles yesterday. Then you and that idiotic Italian assassin who thinks he was god's gift to the Earth killed him to prevent him from saying anything. And it was Ezio who volunteered to take Desmond to Denver, so no one would be able to say a thing if he returned without him. Oh yes, I know who you are…traitor."

Perhaps she had not fooled Amunet for all those years as she thought she had. Arden glanced at Leonius who had a stony look on his face while the other Assassin leaders were staring at her, shocked. Only a handful of people knew that Dr. Patrice was Amunet and that included her and Leonius. Lucy, the other leaders, they did not know, but she knew that they knew of the existence of the immortality the Piece of Eden afforded. She saw Leonius blink once at her and squared her shoulders. She knew what she had to do.

"I am no traitor, Amunet," she let a frigid grin flit across her lips at the gasps of shock from the others, "if there is a traitor here, it is you, Templar."

Author's Notes:

More questions are raised, yes I know, and they will be answered in due time – especially regarding Lucy. I've also begun to drop more hints regarding another Piece of Eden's existence so I hope that you eagle-eyed readers are paying attention! See you next chapter and thank you to all of you who have put me on favorites, alerts, and have reviewed!