Chapter Thirty-Six

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that UbiSoft has created.

A/N: Hey, thanks everyone for your reviews, they were awesome. And yes, I ended last chapter with a cliff-hanger, I know, I'm evil. Also, I may move the update day and time due to summer. If you think I should, say so in your review, should you review. Any suggestions would be nice, I do take into consideration that there are some of you who go to church on Sunday and can't stay up every Saturday night for an update. And because this chapter is late, you're getting two chapters this weekend.

My heart froze as my breath caught in my throat.

"What are you doing here?"

I blinked once, twice, before standing up, glaring over at the assassin. "Why should I tell you?"

His eyes darkened under the hood as he reached for a knife. "You will tell me now or so help me-"

"Enough!" We both jumped, having heard Malik shout at the both of us. "Stay your blade, she is an innocent!"

Ibraheem turned his head to the Dai, fingers curled around the hilt of a throwing blade. "Her? An innocent? She's a whore from the gardens!"

I wanted to screech at him but Malik's dark eyes drifted my way before I could even inhale to do so. "Go in the back," he said, voice stern but it held no bite. "Go." Exhaling a breath I didn't realize I was holding, I went past the doorway into the back rooms of the bureau, not really sure where I should go. I knew of the toilet area that was in one of the rooms, small really, like a closet, but the other three were closed off. One had to be storage, I knew Kalil had a storage area in his bureau as well, one, I guessed, was Malik's private bedroom, but the other? Was it another bedroom? A far door down the hallway reassured me that there was an exit, as there was light shining through the bottom of the door.

I didn't have time to ponder about the other rooms because I could hear both sets of voices, both of them harsh as they barked at each other. As I turned my head, wondering if I should be near the door to listen in, I saw the kitten dart past, going to a room to curl up by the closed door. My heart went to the frightened animal, wanting to keep the tom safe. Opening the door, the cat brushed past the wood, disappearing from sight. Looking back at the doorway I had come from, I noticed a dark shadow cover it, startling me as well.

A cloth was moved in front of the doorway, perhaps to block out the rest of the conversation, but it also meant I wasn't allowed back into the bureau. That was fine by me. As long as that masked man was there, I wouldn't be anywhere near him. Nodding to no one, I followed the kitten before turning and shutting the door, the voices now a low muffled noise. A strong scent filled my nose as I turned, looking for the feline as I saw a large bed, fit for two people. I was in Malik's bedroom…

I wanted to giggle, to snoop through his things but biting my lower lip, I drove these thoughts away. The bed was plain, having a thick looking blanket over what looked like an old mattress, one I was sure was made of hay but after touching it, I realized I was wrong. This was soft, like, pillows soft. Down maybe? Looking around the room, I could see a small alter against a wall, an incense burner on it, an etched knife, and parchment. I smiled at the burner; the man likes smelly good smells. The knife could be for protection, or perhaps it was merely decoration, or did it have significant value to the Dai? The parchment was all in Arabic and I knew that it would be a waste of my time trying to read it.

Along another wall was a bookcase, the top two holding books and scrolls, the shelf in the middle bearing clothes, robes, and a small stone box while the lower two shelves were boxes only. The stone box had some sort of inscription on it, one I didn't know so I thought it best to leave the box alone. It wasn't mine so I had no right to touch this. Drawing away from the shelf, I could see that the feline had jumped onto the bed and was currently doing the Velcro thing, pulling up at the mattress to make it comfortable then he began to spin. "Oh no." Picking up the kitten, I held him close, burying my nose in his fur. "I don't know if you sleep with Malik but at least let me make the bed."

The tom mewled as I let him jump to the ground. Hey, if he wanted down, who was I to stop him? Grabbing the blanket on the bed, I felt the softness of it, how smooth it felt. Frowning, I stared at the stitches wondering how in the world someone got tight stitches that resembled machine stitch. True, there were looms out that but I didn't think that they could be able to get such a close stitch that there would be mistaken for machine. Shaking my head from the thoughts, I pulled the blanket from the bed, seeing that there were pillows underneath, suggesting that he either held onto them in his sleep or he needed support. I got dirty images in my head that made me giggle and blush furiously.

Taking these pillows as well, I set them on the ground, shooing the kitten away from them, just to make sure he didn't fur them up, I grabbed the blanket again, shaking it out before I threw it over the bed, going around it to make sure that it covered the whole bed completely before going back, setting pillows at the head of the bed. Alright, so I was lazy and didn't make it in a pretty way, at least the bed was made. It was then that the kitten decided to claw his way up my leg, my hip and travel along my spine to rest on my shoulder, the whole time digging those sharp, pointy little claws of his in my skin. "That hurt. What am I, your personal scratching post?" I was pretty sure I was bleeding somewhere. "You better not give me fleas, cat."

The kitten mewled, rubbing his head along my jaw. Alright, I admit it, the cat's adorable, but it was so touchy feely. It was weirding me out entirely. I've never known such a demanding cat before. Still, I had to admit, he was beginning to grow on me. "I don't think Malik ever owned a cat in the game before," I muttered, my hand reaching up to pet the furred beast. "I hardly know the man personally. Everything I know about him is from the game and my geeky research." Picking the cat off my shoulder, I sat on Malik's bed, the kitten now resting on my legs. "You're perhaps the only one I can truthfully talk to, kitty. This feels so real, your fur, the heat of the camp's fire, water, food, even pain. But I don't get it, this is supposed to be nothing but bits of data encoded into a computer disk." The cat rolled over, moving to one of Malik's pillows. "I'm worried though. If I can see and touch everything here, where does that lead Desmond?"

"It's supposed to be his memory so wouldn't I be altering that somehow? Would he see me in the Animus or will I be deemed unimportant and passed off as another NPC?" I frowned, interlacing my fingers as I set my elbows on my knees. "But then, what if I'm not inside of a video game, what if all of this is real? How do I get home?"

Desmond Miles would be captured by Abstergo in 2012 and would be forced into the Animus to view the memories of Altair, but I'm in Altair's life now. I travel with him, I watch him fight, breath, move, hell, I've seen the man bathe! But would Desmond see me? I suddenly felt very vulnerable now and felt as if I should watch my every move just in case. I've already slipped by saying Ezio's name aloud; I can't afford to make any more mistakes. No, I have to keep things the way they are, I can't let my stupidity cause something catastrophic. Think, Elizabeth, think. Should I continue to travel with Altair, to return to Acre, Damascus, and Jerusalem with him? Or do I stay in Masyaf where I'm still an outsider but I wouldn't have to worry about being killed. Or do I run as far and as fast as I can to the first ship going to England to make sure I don't screw anything else up?

Wait, wait, that's if I'm stuck here. I can't worry about a what if, I need to figure out a way home. The Apple, it's a piece of Eden so it could help me get home. But what if I can't wield it? Would I never see my family again? Oh God, I hadn't thought of them in a few days! The pain of being away from home, the sickness, it's not as strong as it first was! Was I growing accustomed to being torn from them? Was this pain now something I'm no longer troubled with? Fear and anxiety filled me as I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to remember everything. My parents are my best friends; the both of the smokers, the both of them always trying to give my brother and I a good life. My younger brother is now taller than myself, a heart breaker. Oh God, what did their voices sound like?

Groaning, I laid back on the bed, my arms over my eyes. "Why me? Why was I put here? I'm not anything special. Sure, I'm a fan, but come on, I'm just one girl. Why not have someone who dresses up or someone who actually knows the characters and can help out in any way?" Sighing, I curled up on my side, my legs now on the bed as well. "I'm grateful that I have a chance to meet with Altair, Malik, and to even be here but why me? I don't even have a console to play it on!" However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized why I was there. "Cosplayers would want to help out in any way that they can and more of the avid fans would spill the storyline, would mess up history, but that still doesn't explain why me."

The kitten only purred in his sleep. "Thanks for your help."

I miss being home and not dealing with all of this stress.

-.-.-

It was getting hot, almost too hot. I was sweating and there was something suffocating me, something fluffy with tickling my nose and the whole time, it was vibrating. Finally cracking open an eye, I saw the thing tickling my nose was a tail and the kitten was laying on my neck, asleep. Moving the blanket off of me, I picked up the kitten and set him next to my head as I sat up. Oh geez! Sneezing, I felt my back tense up before I sneezed again. The kitten was awake by this point, his back arched high, tail fluffed, ear back as he glared at me with his large yellowy eyes. "Well, maybe if you weren't trying to kill me, maybe you wouldn't have gotten scared."

The tom said nothing, only lowered his back for just a small fragment, as if he understood. Looking around, I realized that I had fallen asleep in Malik's room, more specifically, on Malik's bed! And I was covered up by a blanket! Who covered me up, again? I'm grateful that people are covering me with blankets while I sleep but it's beginning to frighten me by how often it happens.

Perking up my ears, I strained them to listen for anything out of the ordinary but instead, I'm met with silence. I didn't know how I should take it. "Is Altair back?" Getting off the bed, I yawned and stretched, Malik's scent filling my senses, a blush staining my cheeks. I can't believe I slept in Malik's bed. "I'm pretty sure I'd be killed if other fans found out about this…"

Standing, I grabbed the blanket and quickly folded it, setting it on the bed before I left the room. Why was I so tired? I've never slept this much, ever! Every night, I'm asleep sometime after sundown, every morning, I'm up at dawn and I take so many naps now, one would think I wouldn't need to sleep so early. The blanket over the door was pulled aside and I was surprised by what I saw. The bureau wasn't as empty as I thought it was, but instead was filled with three assassins and, of course, Malik. Two of the assassins were wearing robes like Altair's but their sleeves weren't white and the other was dressed in the same style but no sleeves all together, the scars on his arms prominent. The two assassins with gray sleeves were busying themselves over a game of chess, one with his hood down, dark shaggy hair with a hand under his chin waiting for the other to make a move. His opponent had what looked like a single dark stain on his left shoulder, an old stain from a wound?

Malik, who was bent over some book, looked up and nodded to me. "You're awake." The sleeveless assassin lifted his head at me from an old scroll he was reading, his back and foot against a wall while the assassin with the stain turned his head.

I flushed with embarrassment, lowering my eyes. "Yeah, sorry about that…"

The two at the chess muttered something to each other before returning to their game. The one leaning against a wall suddenly smirked, rolling up the scroll and setting it on a shelf. "Well, well, have you been hiding her, Dai? I didn't know you had taken in a wife." My whole face was on fire from that point and looking over at Malik, I saw a flush on his face as well before he threw a knife at the assassin. The assassin laughed and dodged the knife quickly as it buried itself in the wood of the shelf where his head was, setting a finger on the handle as it vibrated with how much force Malik threw. "I was only joking, Dai."

The one armed Dai narrowed his eyes at the sleeveless assassin. "Go and wait for Altair to set Ishmael free. All of you, go!"

The two at the chess board grumbled, following the orders. All three left through the courtyard, their shadows dancing over the wall. I blinked and looked over at Malik, seeing that he was flustered. The kitten jumped onto the counter and sat down on the scroll, looking up at Malik. The man looked down at the kitten in return, a hand on the tom's head. "Foolish."

Going to where the knife was thrown, I was surprised by how deep it was embedded in the wood. I guess that Malik kept practicing even after gaining a disability. With some difficulty, I pulled the knife free and whistled. The knife had made a huge notch in the wood that was deep, one that I was pretty sure would have reached the back of the piece of wood without any problem. Moving away from the shelf, I held the knife carefully in my hand, trying to figure out how in the world he had done that so fast and with that much force.

Oh, right, he was an assassin before he became a rafik.

Going to the counter, I had saw that the kitten had climbed up Malik's arm and was currently climbing his way into the empty sleeve. I wanted to say something but I didn't want to come off as a pushy and I didn't want to make it seem as if I wasn't sensitive to what had happened. Instead, I set the knife on the flat surface, seeing the kitten curled up as a lump on Malik's shoulder. "Does he always do that?"

Malik's eyes went from the parchment in front of him to the now lump on his shoulder. "Whenever he isn't resting there, he finds a wall to sleep against my stomach."

"How?"

"I never know until I'm pulling him away." I giggled and sure enough, the kitten fell into the empty sleeve. I expected to hear a rip or tear, perhaps even hear Malik grunt, but instead, he sets a hand to his shoulder, undoing the sleeve and letting the kitten roll to the wrist as it's set on the counter. "He does this constantly."

I reached over, taking the empty sleeve in hand and opened the wrist, seeing the kitten look out at me. "He likes you," I said, peeking over at Malik.

His lips rose a fraction, not really a smile but just enough to soften his face as his hand went to the lump of kitten, stroking it to hear the purrs. "I admit: I've grown fond of him myself." Smiling, I let the wrist fall, sealing the light from the kitten so that he could sleep. "If only he'd stay away from the pigeons."

Giggling, I shook my head, scratching the lump where the ear was. Our fingers brushed together before we pulled away, as if touched by fire. Now blushing, I kept my eyes low as I back away from the counter, trying to break away from the awkwardness. I heard Malik clear his throat before the scratching of quill on paper filled my ears.

It was then that I heard a bell toll and it scared the crap out of me. I jumped, setting a hand to my heart before laughing at my jumpiness. The bells continued however and it worried me. Lifting my head to the ceiling, I began to worry. It was the signal of danger, it was the bells of alarm, one I have heard so many times. Altair's killed his target and is currently running to safety, but I began to wonder if he had made in time to save all four of those who were trapped by the man who was their judge, jury, and executioner.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Malik's head raise as well, his eyes narrowed before he shook his head, returning to the parchment. "The novice never learns."

"Why do you call him that?"

Dark eyes looked over at me and there was a sadness in them. "He acts without thought, brash and stupid. To kill a target then get spotted long enough for the guards to spot him and ring those bells, it goes against the tenants."

"To be one with the crowd," I muttered, seeing the Dai nod. Lowering my eyes again, I force my curiosity to die down as I sat on the cushions inside, waiting for the assassin to return.