Assassin's Creed (c) Ubisoft

Evie didn't like the looks of this. She didn't like the looks of this at all. "What is that?" she asked, pointing to the contraption in her brother's lap. Jacob looked down, wrench still in his hand, he tightened the nut. "Jacob."

"I have no idea what you're talking about dearest sister," Jacob replied, an innocent look on his face. Evie groaned, rubbing her face with both hands.

"What bull-headed hair-brained idea do you have this time?" Evie asked. "You know Dad is—"

"Dad isn't here Evie," Jacob stressed, grabbing another piece of material from his pile of scraps, "he's at that stupid faculty thingy he had to go to."

"He still wouldn't approve."

"I don't care," Jacob replied in a sing-song voice. "I'm going to finish my brilliant invention and then take it out back and give it a test run."

"What brilliant invention it this time?" Evie huffed. Jacob grinned at her and held up the device, which looked like a badly put together metal kite. "Are those my dresses?"

Jacob looked at the fabric secured with super-glue and duct tape to the frame. "Yep!" he beamed at his sister. "I figured you wouldn't mind if I cut up some of your dresses since you tell Grams you hate them."

"But they were mine Jacob! You can't just go and… and… and take my things!" Evie screeched, crushing the air in her hands.

"Why not?" Jacob asked, an innocent note in his voice. "You do it all the time."

"What!" Evie shrieked. "I don't go and take your things! How dare you accuse me of taking your things, Jacob!"

"Well you do! You took away my hook-gun—"

"That's because it was dangerous!"

"You took away my heavy duty industrial scissors—"

"You took two kitchen knives and put a bolt through them."

"I know, that was brilliant, wasn't it?"

"No, Jacob, that was stupid and dangerous."

"You also took my favorite t-shirt—"

"I only took it to wash it. Once it was cleaned, I folded it and put it in your dresser."

"Oh, so that's what happened to it. No wonder I couldn't find it. It wasn't in the clean laundry pile," Jacob mused, looking at the two piles of laundry in his room. One was small and more pleasantly smelling than the larger stinkier pile of clothes. Evie's jaw dropped at the sight of the two laundry piles. "I need to my laundry," Jacob mused. Evie groaned loudly in frustration. "So, yeah, those are the things that you took! I only cut up three dresses. So we're even."

"We are not even Jacob! For one, I only took away your dangerous items and I washed your shirt! You… you… butchered my dresses!"

"But you hardly ever wear them Evie!" Jacob protested. "And you said it yourself, that you don't like dresses."

"But that's not the point! I would've been more than happy to give you the stupid dresses if you…" Evie stared again at the fabric, "you only picked the ugly ones didn't you?"

Jacob smirked. "About time you noticed."

"Alright then," Evie said, tossing her head and folding her arms over her chest in a huff, like a bird settling its ruffled feathers, "I don't mind that you used those dresses. They were hideous and I never intended to wear them anyway."

"So… you're not gonna murder me in my sleep?" Jacob asked, eyeing her suspiciously. Evie chuckled, mirth in her eyes.

"I haven't ruled that out just yet, brother mine," she tilted her head, "though that contraption—"

"Most awesome brilliant invention."

"—might just spare me the trouble of doing it myself."

Jacob put a hand over his heart, a wounded expression on his face. "You wound me, sweet sister, you wound me. And here I thought we were partners in crime, together since conception, a modern day Bonny and Clyde!"

"Oh please," Evie muttered, rolling her eyes. "Are you almost done with that thing?"

"Why so you can lock it up and tell Dad that I was going to do something stupid?" Jacob asked, looking his invention over. "You know; I'm going to be a famous inventor like Thomas Edison one day."

"I know," Evie said, an easy smile on her lips. "But seriously, what is it?" she pointed to the contraption Jacob had constructed.

"It's a human kite! Or one-man flying machine. Whichever you prefer. I'm calling it the Jacob Frye Air Man 2000!"

"Why 2000?"

"Because it sounds catchy, now… I'm almost done," Jacob said, grunting as he tightened down another bolt. "There. Alright, she's ready! Let's go out and take her for a spin."

"You aren't going to climb that tree again are you?"

"Of course, why?"

"Well, I wanna be the test pilot," Evie said, a dangerous glint in her eyes. Jacob stared at her, clutching his invention. "Please Jacob!"

"Why the sudden interest? Normally you're the one trying to talk me out of trying to break my neck."

"Well," Evie scuffed the carpet with her toe, "I like doing dangerous stuff too."

"Oh sure, reading library books is real life threatening. Oh help me Henry! I got a paper cut! I gonna die!" Jacob mocked. Evie's cheeks tinted red, eyes narrowing.

"You leave Henry Green out of this!"

"Or what?" Jacob asked, leaning forward. "There is nothing that you have on me that I haven't told Dad yet."

"Oh really?" Evie smirked, preening as she remembered the one thing her brother has kept quiet.

"Uh-huh. He already knows about my porno stash under my bed."

"Oh? But does he know that you kissed Connor last week?" Evie asked, grinning wickedly as Jacob's face paled to a nice shade similar to milk. She slowly walked around him. "How you kissed a boy," she leaned in close, "and liked it!"

"I kissed Pearl Attaway!" Jacob protested, his cheeks turning pink. "And the pornos are all of hot chicks! I like girls too!"

"Yes, but you still kissed a boy and liked it!" Evie teased.

"Evie, don't you dare tell Dad. Connor even swore he wouldn't speak of it, and he didn't like it. So, please don't tell Dad I'm… I'm…" Jacob sighed, "that I'm bisexual."

"Let me be the test pilot for your stupid kite thing and I'll keep my mouth shut," Evie said, "though I'm pretty sure Dad already knows, he's just keeping his mouth shut out of respect to you."

"Alright, you can be the test pilot," Jacob muttered, reluctantly. He got to his feet, using his foot to close his tool box. "C'mon, then," he said, "let's go to the backyard."

Evie regretted ever talking Jacob into letting her be the test pilot. She wondered why her sensible logical side didn't kick in and tell her to keep her mouth shut. She pressed herself up against the tree trunk. Jacob did the stupid things. Jacob did the daredevil stunts. Jacob got his bones broken and laughed about it at school the next day. She was sensible Evie Frye: Student body president, cheer captain, debate team captain and a straight A student. She didn't do crazy stuff like this, though she always wanted to, and she use to get into loads of mischief with Jacob when they were kids.

But she was fifteen now. She had to focus on getting into a good college so she can get a good job and achieve her dreams. "C'mon Evie! Take the Jacob Frye Air Man 2000! My arms are getting tired holding it up!" Jacob shouted from below.

"Right," Evie said, steeling herself. She squatted down and grabbed the stupid looking kite thing Jacob had haphazardly put together with scrap metal, super glue, duct tape and swaths of her ugly dresses. Evie thanked god she had the foresight to put on her bike helmet.

"Now, remember, Evie!" Jacob called from below as she positioned the bulky thing on her back. A weird piece of metal jabbed into her spine. "Inch out until the branch can barely support you and then jump! You should catch the updraft and glide for a foot or two."

"Jacob," Evie said, staring out at the end of the branch that seemed too far away, "I love you, but honestly… I don't think you have a good understanding of the physics behind flight."

"Nonsense, of course I do! It'll work!" Jacob said. "So, go… whenever you're ready!"

"Hi guys," a voice said. "Whatcha doing?"

"Connor! Evie, don't worry about a thing! If you get hurt, Connor can get his dad!" Jacob said.

"Evie, why are you up in the tree this time?" Connor asked, Evie peered down at her best friend and neighbour. He was wearing a grey t-shirt and black jeans, a watch on his left wrist, and some tribal bracelets she was sure he made himself on his right.

"She wanted to do it this time," Jacob said. "Beats me, I really wanted to take the Jacob Frye Air Man 2000 out for a spin."

"Is that seriously what you named it?"

"Why does everyone hate the names I give my inventions!"

"Because they're dumb half the time," Connor pointed out.
"Hurry up and jump Evie! Unless your chicken!" Jacob said and began to cluck loudly like a frightened hen. Evie scowled.

"I'm not chicken! Watch!" Evie said and shimmied out along the branch until it began to sag beneath her weight. Taking a deep breath she jumped right when the wind gust.

There was no thermal.

She was falling.

The ground was rushing up much too fast.

She let go of Jacob's stupid contraption.

She screamed as she hit the ground and heard a sickening crunch. "Evie!" Jacob and Connor shouted. Evie whimpered in pain, as her brother pulled his ruined invention off of her. "Evie are you alright?"

"Dad! Dad!" Connor was already yelling and running back to the restaurant where his mother worked and he and his family lived above. "Dad! Evie's been hurt, but I'm fine! Can you call the ambulance?"

"It's okay Evie," Jacob whispered, "I gotcha. Connor's getting his dad to call an ambulance right now."

"I'm sorry Jacob," Evie whispered, leaning into her brother. "I ruined the Jacob Frye Air Man 2000."

"It's okay, it was a design flaw. I'll make it better next time," he said. "Everything will be alright, I promise."

When Ethan Frye got the text message from Haytham, he thought it was Jacob doing something reckless again. So he had to read it twice before realizing, Evie was the one that got hurt. This was baffling and highly concerning. Thus he excused himself from the meeting and hastily made his way to the hospital.

Jacob and Connor were sitting in the hospital room with Evie while Haytham Kenway was trying to explain to the nurse that Evie wasn't his daughter. "…Ah, see! This is her father, Ethan." Haytham said, gesturing to a harried looking Ethan as he smoothed down his tie. "Connor let's go."

"Bye Evie," Connor said with a little wave and followed his father. Jacob shrunk into his seat once Ethan turned his attention on them.

"What the hell did you do Jacob?" Ethan hissed.

"Dad, it's my fault, I talked him into letting me—"

"Quiet Evie!" Ethan snapped. "Jacob, explain now."

"Why? So you can just ground me for a month because Evie didn't want to be a tight laced prude anymore and decided to do something daring."

"Jacob!" Ethan and Evie hissed. Jacob sheepishly glanced at his sister before glaring at his father. "Jacob," Ethan said again, "what happened?"

"Evie took one of my inventions for a test run. It crashed and burned… metaphorically, and she broke her arm."

"Dad," Evie said, before Ethan could lay down the punishment. "It wanted to do it. I talked Jacob into letting me do it. He was going to do it himself as he always did, but I…" Evie swallowed, "I wanted to do it."

"Evie, didn't it cross your mind how dangerous that was?" Ethan asked, going to his daughter's side. He smoothed her hair from her brow. "You could've broken your neck."

"Of course," Jacob said, standing up, "you're worried about Evie breaking her neck when she does something stupid, but what about me? Don't you even care about me?"

"Jacob," Ethan growled.

"No, ever since Mom died, you've been treating me like I'm some sort of… of… mistake!"

"Jacob, not now," Evie hissed, glancing between her brother and father. Jacob glared at his father, knowing he hit a nerve.

"No, I'm sick of it, Evie! Mom died nine years ago and you're still acting like it's my fault that I had soccer practice! You were supposed to pick me up but you didn't! So," Jacob said, "it's your fault Mom was even driving and got hit by that drunk driver!"

Ethan clenched his fists and unclenched them several times unable to look at either of his two children. He took several deep breathes before walking closer to Jacob. "Daddy, please don't!" Evie protested, but instead Ethan pulled his son into a hug.

"I'm sorry Jacob," Ethan whispered. "It's not fair of me to blame you for something you had no control over. I'm sorry. I'm a bad father."

Jacob was frozen for several moments before wrapping his arms around his father and hiding his face in Ethan's chest. Jacob sniffed, tears coming unbidden. "I'm sorry too."

"No, don't be," Ethan mumbled. "I needed to hear it. I probably needed to hear it for a long time, nobody bothered to tell me though."

Jacob nodded, sniffed a few more times before pulling away and scrubbing at his face. "Okay, I'm better now." He said, smiling, though Evie could tell it was forced and weak. Ethan chuckled.

"If you say so Jacob," he turned his attention back to Evie. "Now. Let's see what the doctor has to say about you, princess."

They were sitting in their closets, the hidden hole opened. Evie had her broken arm propped up on her knees. "You didn't have to make a scene at the hospital Jacob," Evie said, her good hand through the hole, she could feel Jacob's thumb stroking the back of it.

"I'm sorry," Jacob muttered.

"But Dad did need to hear that," Evie added, "just not… at the hospital."

"I felt bad for what happened… so I just… snapped," he muttered. Evie smiled, a small chuckle escaping her lips. "What?"

"You try to act all tough, but you really do care."

"Of course I do!" Jacob protested, "you're my sister… my twin sister. We've been together since… conception. I… I don't know what I'd do if I lost you Evie."

Evie pressed her head against the cool wall of her closet. "I don't know what I'd do either Jacob. But I'm here now and I won't be going anywhere any time soon."

"Of course not," Jacob said, "because you won't be doing any test piloting anymore."

"You know," Evie said, twisting her good hand around to squeeze his fingers, "same goes for you. You're my twin brother, and I won't know how to function without you by my side. We've been together since the beginning."

"What about Henry?" Jacob asked.

"Henry is… different," Evie mumbled, feeling her cheeks tint. "But my point still stands. Don't go getting yourself killed, because I need you too."

"Fine, I won't do as many reckless things," Jacob sighed.

"Good," Evie said. "Now, let's go to bed, before Dad comes in and checks on us."

"He hasn't done that since you were thirteen," Jacob pointed out, but he had already let go of Evie's hand.

"Better safe than sorry," she quipped, pulling her hand through the hole.

"True, well, night sweet sister," Jacob said, putting up his board.

"Night dear brother," Evie said and moved her board into place.

Originally Jacob was the one that did the test pilot, but I thought it'll be interesting if Evie did it. Overall I'm pleased with how this turned out. It makes me want to play Syndicate.

But first… I need to finish Unity…

Ugh! Why do I have school tomorrow! I want to play Unity now, but I can't because of school! HISSS!

Since I couldn't think up of any plausible reason for Cecily to die in childbirth as per canon, she died when the twins were six because a drunk driver hit her. This scenario may or may not end up in Ethan Frye's Guide to Child Rearing. I haven't decided yet. This story is unrelated to Ethan Frye's Guide to Child Rearing but is set in the same modern day alternate universe as the Guide to Child Rearing series are. This is also my first Frye twin focused fic. I had the idea and I just had to write it.

And of course the twins have a secret hole in their closets that connect their rooms. They are twins after all.

Save an author; leave a review!

If you don't review, I'll assume you hold some level of contempt for this fic and wish to see Connor cry.

So… do you want to be responsible for Connor's tears?

Nemo

PS: TC and Haytham are like Connor and Achilles. TC is the cranky old cat and Haytham is the cute cuddly spunky kitten that just wants to play. TC highly disapproves of the idea.