The early morning sun glittered playfully off the black paint of a single sleek motorcycle as it roared down the dust covered road below. The two riders moved in total sync with one other, leaning low when taking turns and zipping around the stray cars that moved too slowly along the road for their liking. The rider seated on the back of the bike took a deep breath, leaning his head against the stone hard back of driver in front of him. Ezio sighed into his helmet welcoming the feel of Altair's calm breathing underneath his arms, the gentle rise and fall of the master assassin's chest. Oh how glad the Italian was to be done with their last mission. That mission alone would haunt Ezio for the rest of his life…
When they had been deemed ready to assassinate the slave trader Talal, they had tracked him to a ware house in the poor district of Acre. The warehouse alone was in the most disgusting, filthy, poverty ridden section of the poor district. the building itself was such a dark evil looking place rickety, it looked as if it would collapse in on itself if one sneezed hard enough. Even the sun had seemed to fear touching such a broken down place seeing as the warehouse was cast in a constant black shadow. But what made Ezio the most sick was the contents inside the warehouse. When they had entered the warehouse, the stench of death, disease, decay and mold assaulted them and had almost made the two gag. When they had ventured further inside the warehouse they had come face to face with Talal's 'merchandise'. Seeing the 'merchandise' had nearly drove Ezio to his knees and cause tears to spring up in his hawk like eyes. Inside there had been lines of large dog cages inside were people, humans, all different races and gender and ages. Those that hadn't been in crates had been handcuffed to the walls or locked in separate rooms. Their eyes, dear god, the looks in their eyes would be forever burned in Ezio's mind. They were so haunted, lifeless, hopeless, pleading, and fearful. Never once in his life had he seen such a miserable group. It had taken all his will power not to go and free each and every human being in that warehouse, and also Altair had to forcefully and physically drag him away from the scene to continue on with the mission.
Ezio shuddered as the images flashed behind his eyelids like a film on replay each time he closed his eyes, making him press his head into Altair's stone hard back even more. Thank heavens Desmond had been too low a rank to join them on that mission. The two master assassins couldn't even fathom the mental effect it would have on the already scarred young assassin in training.
"Ezio are you alright?" Altair's concerned voice broke the young brunette out of his dark thoughts. Ezio slightly tightened his hold around Altair's waist for a moment in response.
"Just molto felice (very glad) to be finished with that god forsaken mission." Ezio replied dryly.
"Indeed I am as well." Altair agreed slowly. Ezio just took a moment to listen to his partners breathing through the communicator. How had Altair been able to keep his emotions bottled up like that in that warehouse at the sight of those people? He knew the man could hide just about anything but even that had been a lot for Ezio to handle.
"Altair…" Ezio trailed off. Altair hummed in acknowledgement signaling that he could continue.
"Thank you for calling the police to the warehouse afterwards." Ezio whispered. It was true after Ezio had finished off Talal, having caught him after a brief foot chase, the Italian had returned to find Altair had finished off the group that Talal had sent to ambush them. They gathered the evidence of their presence and left the warehouse with the bloodied feather. Altair had pulled Ezio up short by a pay phone about a block from the warehouse. The Syrian assassin proceeded to call the police with a report of illegal activity in the warehouse. Ezio had been shocked at the course of action from the older. Altair then tugged Ezio up to a roof top across the street from the warehouse where they watched the police break into the warehouse, discover the bodies, along with the captured people. It brought Ezio much happiness and relief to see those poor beings free from the horrible slaver who had kidnapped them.
"Do not trouble yourself with it. I wasn't going to leave them there regardless." Altair replied simply though his voice was thick with an unspoken emotion. The master assassin was just as moved by the sight of those people as Ezio was, if not more.
"At least Desmond didn't have to see that." Ezio hissed. Altair grunted in agreement and gave a humorless laugh. Turning his attention back to the featureless blank landscape around them Ezio attempted to clear his mind and loose himself in the rolling mounds of sand and rock that dotted the horizon far off from the beaten road they drove over. Golden eyes roamed over the landscape as he looked over his companions shoulder and up the road. 5-7 silver coated vans drove up the road towards them. Ezio tracked them briefly with little interest. The vans passed the two assassins on the bike and Ezio's eyebrows crashed together in confusion. In the back of his mind he felt as if her were missing something important or that he had forgotten something as the vans disappeared into the heat waves that danced up like ethereal dancers from the asphalt. Shaking his head Ezio brushed off the feeling and chalked it up with being homesick, tired, and mentally stretched to his limit.
They were slightly ahead of schedule, the two assassins were expected to return to Malik's Bureau around midnight, but if the two of them stayed their course they would be home by noon if not a little later not that you would hear one of them complaining. Ezio was only happy to be returning to familiar territory and to be back with friendly faces. He wanted nothing more than to see Desmond again and to curl up in their bed and sleep for the next fortnight. Suddenly the bike started to decelerate beneath him quickly then came to a full stop snapping Ezio out of his thoughts. Blinking stupidly Ezio noticed they were in the forests near the safe house. Altair dismounted the bike quickly and ran to the edge of the woods where the tree line was yanking his helmet off his head. Ezio scrambled off his bike and followed his example before joining the master assassin at the tree line a frown graced his scarred lips at the sight that lay before them.
At the very edge of the forest, where the trees stopped and the normal grass began and the road began, Altair knelt in front of a section of the line where the trees were snapped and knocked over and broken, the grass was trampled, crushed and there were definite tire tracks in the muck. Ezio's eyes widened in shock at the sight. That hadn't been there when they left before. Uneasily Ezio's eyes darted up into the tree line high above their heads looking for something in particular. There! High above the assassins' heads tied high in a tree limp well hidden by branches but visible if one knew what to look for, was a blood red sash. Ezio felt his head stutter that was the crimson cloth that showed them the direction where the safe house was.
"Something isn't right. Ezio come over here and look for clues while I call Malik and the Bureau." Altair ordered in his stern authoritative voice. Ezio obeyed and as Altair moved from his kneeling position to standing, Ezio took his place on the ground. The tanned assassin removed his earpiece from his leather jacket pocket and put it into his ear and pressed a button on the side turning the earpiece on. Ezio slipped his own out and into his own ear and turned it on as well before returning his attention back to the area. The trees were snapped as if they had been run into or run over. Crouching farther down Ezio scrutinized the moss covered ground. There were several distinct overlapping tire tracks showing that cars had entered and exited the forest through this hole. But the tire tracks were made by cars not bikes like assassins drove. And there was no sign a motorcycle had been through here at all. Ezio bit his cheek to keep himself from panicking quiet yet.
"Rebecca? Shaun? Lucy can anyone hear me?" Altair spoke into the earpiece pressing his finger to it. Ezio listened in as well his heart thudding in his ears.
"Desmond? Desmond is that you?!" Rebecca's worried hasty voice filtered through the earpiece after a brief pop of static. The two master assassins exchanged a brief glance of uncertainty; the raven haired woman never had that tone of voice unless something was horribly wrong. The tone in the woman's voice had both assassins' haunches rising. And besides all that why was she calling for Desmond. Shouldn't the younger already be at the bureau?
"Rebecca this is Altair, what's going on?" Altair demanded his voice not unkind but also hinting that he wasn't in the mood for playing around.
"Shit! Guys it's not Desmond it's the others!" Rebecca's voice sounded farther away this time most likely speaking to Shaun and Lucy in the background. Through the earpiece one could hear a flurry of activity in the Bureau. Lucy and Malik's voices could be heard snapping orders and demanding information. Shaun could be heard responding quickly though even the British man's voice seemed a little on edge.
"Rebecca what is going on?" Altair snapped more firmly the tanned assassin quickly losing patience.
"We-well uhm…. You see… uh…I'm not exactly…" Rebecca's voice came through clearer this time, talking directly to the two assassins listening in on her.
"Oh for the love of god let me do it!" Shaun's voice snapped over the earpiece taking over Rebecca's position of explaining the still unknown situation to them.
"Thanks again by the way you two twats for not telling us-"
"Shaun! What the fuck is going on?!" Altair snarled cutting the red heads rant off short Ezio physically winced at the tone of Altair's voice he had actually curse, this didn't bode well , he only cursed when he was on the edge of snapping and going on a rampage or his patience was all but gone.
"Alright, bloody hell. Okay earlier I got a garbled message from Desmond I couldn't make out exactly what he was saying but he sounded worried and anxious. So I ran a diagnostic, which took forever because our equipment is so out of date. When I finally was able to figure out was wrong it appeared as if someone had blocked all communications in Desmond's area. I got Rebecca to try and by pass it and mask our signal. When communications finally came back online I caught the tail end of someone speaking. Then the next thing I got was the sound of a taser and I think Desmond Screaming." Shaun reported. Ezio felt the blood drain from his face and his heart just about stop. Altair's frown deepened though his eyes widened slightly. Without thinking of anything other than Desmond screaming in pain, Ezio shot up from the ground and took off into the woods determined to get to the safe house and see for himself what happened. Altair must had foresaw this action and tried to snatch a hold of Ezio's hood to stop the Italian but fell short of his goal and Ezio disappeared into the forest through the now very evident trail to the safe house.
"Damn it!" Altair growled taking off into the woods after his counterpart. He understood Ezio's sudden feel of worry towards their ward but now was not the time to rushing head long into things without thinking! The safe house was compromised and there could still be danger there.
"What else?" Altair barked into the earpiece urging Shaun to continue on with his report as they ran.
"R-right. After the scream something must have happened to Desmond's earpiece because now my screen shows that it has been disconnected." Shaun continued. Altair grit his teeth. More likely than not they had destroyed the earpiece so the assassins couldn't trace the device.
"Shaun alerted me to the disturbance and I went out into the city to try and get to the safe house. But the Templars and the police had and still do have the entire city on lockdown. There are blockades at all the entrances and exits of the city. They also have guards stationed on the roves of most of the buildings. I couldn't get out of the city regardless which way I went." Malik popped into the conversation suddenly his voice tight and short.
Ezio knew he wasn't thinking running headlong into the forest towards the safe house. But he didn't care, he didn't care if there were Templars or police there, he could fight them. He didn't care what he would find. He just needed to see if Desmond was there or see the damage done with his own eyes. Behind him he could hear Altair following behind him easily catching up with the Italian. The two assassins flew through the dense underbrush, sliding under trees that had fallen over and lay propped up on other stumps or flying over trees that lay on their sides fully. What used to take a few short minutes by bike now took what seemed to be ages on foot.
"Ezio I know how this must sound, but whatever we see at the safe house you can't let it overwhelm you." Altair warned sternly. Ezio swallowed not trusting his voice to speak as images of a bloodied Desmond flashed through his mind. Finally after a while of running, they finally burst through the forest and into the clearing where the safe house lay. Ezio ground to a halt taking in the sight before him. Altair slid to a stop beside him and Ezio felt his breath catch in his throat. Outside the small house there was clear evidence of several large vehicles being parked in the front lawn. Desmond's new bike lay on its side by the side of the house. Altair prowled forward his handgun appearing in his hand as he moved towards the front porch. Ezio followed at his side his gun drawn as well.
The front door was busted in desperately hanging on to its hinges, moving slightly in a stray breeze that wafted through the house. In the thresh hold lay a body of a man dressed in full SWAT uniform. Altair knelt next to the body and yanked off the man's glove and looked at his hand, sure enough there was the silver ring with the blood red cross etched into the metal. Growling the Syrian threw down the hand and looked the body over. A single bullet wound lay between his eyes. Desmond doing no doubt a swell of pride ran through the two assassins. Altair glanced over his shoulder at Ezio silently asking him if he was ready. Ezio steeled his expression and nodded gripping his hand gun tighter. With a not Altair raised his gun and entered the house. Ezio followed half a second behind him.
The house was eerily silent now; nothing seemed to move in the house even the air seemed stagnant it faintly reminded the two of the warehouse. Ezio switched over to Eagle vision looking for the distinct crimson of an enemy but nothing showed up, and his senses weren't telling him of danger.
"Clear." Ezio called out to Altair moving out of their defensive crouches they looked around taking in the living room and kitchen area and the staircase. Five bodies lay on the ground in the kitchen, throwing knives embedded in throats, and foreheads. Bullet holes riddled the doorframe of the kitchen and the banister. On the stairs was two bodies one collapse on the stair's itself and one leaning against the wall, with a smear of red against the wall as if the body had slid. Following the trail of the bodies the two assassins made their way upstairs and into the bedroom were the sliding glass door had once been. But now the glass door was now shattered pits and pieces lying in piles on the floor. Altair gingerly stepped over the debris and stepped onto the balcony that overlooked the backyard. 15 or 20 bodies lay piles on the ground many of them stabbed to death by a blade. Desmond's handy work without a doubt…
"He's not here they've taken him." Altair surmised quietly to both themselves and to Shaun and the other listening in to the two assassins. Rebecca made a sad sound in the background. Malik swore darkly in Arabic and Shaun just muttered something. Lucy sounded like she was crying. Ezio felt a pain in his chest how the hell had all of this gone so wrong. Jerusalem was only a ten minute ride by road from the safe house. The Bureau was only a single call away. Why had everything gone so wrong? How could Desmond been taken from right underneath them? Ezio put his gun away and shook his head a feeling of helplessness overwhelmed him, he hadn't had that feeling since his family had been attacked years ago.
"Oh dear…" Shaun whispered over the earpiece. Ezio and Altair made their way back downstairs and into the backyard. Ezio walked into the throng of bodies lying around on the ground off to the side lay an agonizingly familiar black sling back pack. The Italian picked up the bag hesitantly and unzipped it. Inside was all of Desmond's weapons. His hidden blade lay on top of the contents, the blade still red with the blood of his victims.
"This explains why the earpiece is disconnected." Altair announced. Ezio raised an eyebrow before coming over. On the ground where Altair was pointing was the crushed remains of the earpiece obviously crushed by a stone. Ezio's heart sank even more.
"Desmond…" Ezio mumbled. Altair placed a hand on his shoulder reassuringly. They would find out what happened. They had to… Ezio clutched the backpack in his hand and zipped it back up before throwing it over his back where it settled on his own. The weight haunting him and telling him that the backpacks owner was gone.
"Come on let's get back to the Bureau." Altair placed a gloved hand on the small of Ezio back making the other move back towards the house to leave. Ezio entered the house and headed back to the front. Altair moved to follow but something made him stop in the kitchen. There was a barely audible beeping in the room. He knew it wasn't Ezio's computer because that was back in the Italian's back pack and the Italian wasn't even in the room. Instantly on guard Altair moved around the room looking for the source of the noise. He ruled out that it was coming from outside and from the other rooms. It was coming from the kitchen table. Tilting he head he listened again. The beeping seemed to become slightly louder as if more urgent. Stooping over the master assassin peeked under the table and looked on the underside of the hardwood. His eyes widened in fear and his heart leapt into his throat. There on the underside of the table was a bomb! And there was 30 seconds left on the countdown. Altair took off, his body moving faster than it had before. Ezio was standing in the living room. Altair zipped around the couch and snagged a hold of the front of Ezio's hoodie dragging him out the front door.
"Aspetta! Altair che diavolo?! (Wait! Altair what the hell?!)" Ezio barley managed to shout out as he tried vainly to keep up with the master assassin's panicked movements. Why was Altair panicking? The tanned assassin never panicked. They were out on the front yard Altair threw Ezio behind a tree and covered him with his own body. The moment Ezio was aware of Altair's body against his an ear piercing boom and an explosion of light and the force from an explosion wracked the area. Ezio gave a surprised shout. And Altair tightened his hold on Ezio slightly as dust and debris flew past their tree pieces of the house embedding itself in nearby trees and the ground.
"What the hell happened novice?! Altair?! Damn it answer me!" Malik shouted over the earpiece.
"We're okay." Altair coughed moving off Ezio when the danger had past. Ezio waved off some dust still lingering in the air near him and came out from around the tree but his golden eyes widened in horror and Altair only seethed in anger. The house was leveled there was nothing left of the house but a pile of burnt and charged debris a tendril of smoke curled from the sight and into the air mingling with the air above.
"The Templars must have known we were going to be here." Ezio deduced. Altair nodded curtly.
"They wanted to get rid of the evidence, which they succeeded in doing but that also lets us know something else…." Altair said darkly.
"What?" Ezio asked looking at his partner.
"Think about it Ezio, don't you think it's too much of a coincidence that we are sent on a mission to the city farthest from here and while we are gone on a mission Desmond is attack and now missing and also that someone tried to take out the evidence…" Altair trailed off hinting at something and finally it clicked in Ezio's head.
"You think there is a mole!" Ezio gaped.
"I know there is a mole. Though I don't know who…" Altair nodded firmly.
Assassins Creed: lovers in arms
I must say I am horribly sorry for the long stent of absence. I have been finished some things out with the kid that pushed me down the stairs and also getting some bills taken care of. But otherwise I am sorry.
Now onto the story. Yes I am going to be a little cruel to the assassins but all will work out do not worry.
Reviews:
Eclectic tastes: I have to agree with you Desmond is going to have a very hard time coming back from these recent turn of events and its going to haunt him for a good long while. But the boys will do their best to help their ward. I'm not going to throw Lucy under the bus quiet yet…. If I do
Nuquod: no the Bureau isn't safe any longer. And the safe house is gone for sure now. The Templars are slowly trying to weaken the assassins and taking out the safe house is a smart move n my opinion.
Shadoz: oh you are a new face. Thank you for the review it is very much appreciated. I hope this chapter helped satisfy you.
Altairluvr120: ah! Another new face. Nice to meet you. I'm glad my cliff hangers keep you reading.
LaXnoche24: I am sorry I made you cry… to your question about the story please go back a chapter or two and read my author inputs at the bottom I kind of explained the relationship the trio is going to have. But if it isn't to your liking please feel free to give me your opinion. I would enjoy to hear it.
FayeFox: nice to meet you I don't think I have heard you before. I'm glad the story excites you.
Dessoestma: yes Vidic is cruel. And thank you for your support.