Don't own Assassin's Creed!

Chapter Thirty - Eight: Couldn't you have guessed?

Nothing out of the ordinary happened while Connie and Altair sat watching TV; and as nothing was happening with them, nothing interesting was playing on the TV. It seemed both were dull, which left the option of turning the TV off and actually doing something productive. However, Connie was well aware that she had to cook something, and turning off that TV would mean she had submitted to that duty...which would mean she wouldn't be able to relax anymore... it was a real shame in her eyes.

But none the less, the cooking of a good meal had to be done, and with much effort she pulled herself up from her plopped induced seating arrangement and stretched. With that out of the way, Connie grabbed the remote with a smirk and quickly turned it off, slyly tucking in away into one of the many pockets on her pants.

Altair's golden eyes focused to her direction, and he gave her a look that conveyed words such as "a little immature, don't you think?" or so she could guess.

That was all fine and dandy with her though; if she couldn't watch TV, neither could he... even though she was quite certain he couldn't understand it anyways. However she feared if he actually wanted to watch it enough to come and obtain the remote from her...she didn't want another "knife to throat" incident to occur again.

She didn't have any plans for this house, the house itself was a plan, and she hadn't come up for plans inside this plan. Confusing?

Well at least she had something to reflect upon as she cooked their meal, she was pretty sure she could come up with something elaborate enough for a situation such as mentioned.

Turning on her heel, she left the living room quickly, and set her destination to the contents of the freezer to which she had pulled out earlier.

When Connie had left the room, Altair followed silently behind her, walking over to the stool and taking a seat as Connie had her back turned at the counter. When she turned around he noticed her eyes widen, before she gave him an unimpressed look.

"What are you? A phantom ghost? You're somewhere one moment, then somewhere else seconds later." She accused, turning away from him when he smirked at her. It annoyed her that he always did that.

"Is that a problem?" he answered, as she began opening a package of something.

"Honestly. How many times have we been through the "Don't appear out of nowhere" conversation?" she asked in a bored voice, continuing what she had been doing.

"I'm sure it's been many, however, I am an Assassin." He stated blandly.

"Yes of course." She replied; giving up as she pulled out a frying pan for the chicken she was going to make. Silence filled the room for a moment, before she turned to see if he was still there; it's not like she would hear if he left. He was there however, and when she caught his eyes with hers, he spoke.

"Would you rather like me to stomp my foot then?" he asked, Connie couldn't tell if he was serious, but he seemed genuine.

"Well that would be delightful." She answered, cutting a slit down the middle of the chicken breast so it would cook faster.

There was no answer from Altair, and Connie continued with her cooking in silence. It wasn't long before the food was done; the aroma thick in the air.

Making a plate for the both of them, she handed one to Altair before picking up her own and sitting in the one empty stool beside him. Picking up her fork she began to eat, Altair following. Not much was said, and the food was quickly finished, Connie grabbing the dishes and throwing them in the sink and rinsing them. She then went back to her previous spot on the stool.

Resting her head in her hands as she sat there, she turned her head slightly in Altair's direction. The silence was getting old, and Connie sighed; starting a conversation.

"So, were going back to your time tomorrow?" Altair nodded in acknowledgement, leaving Connie to purse her lips at the silence again, sitting up straight and laying her hands flat on the black counter.

"On one note, I can't wait to get out of this house, but on another, I could possibly be killed, which is a very unpleasant thought." She added, tapping her nervous fingers on the counter now.

Altair sighed; Connie thought about that way too often, he was certain Al Mualim wouldn't kill her outright, if anything; he would send Altair to do it, but he doubted that as well.

Altair reached over and placed his hand on top of hers, halting her hand from its nervous tapping. Her eyes quickly diverted to his with a questioning look.

"Connie, thinking about it won't help you." He stated evenly, looking directly into her hazel eyes, which did in fact look worried. She diverted them then, and slipped her hand away from under his.

"Yes, you're right..." she looked towards the clock on the stove. "...and I think I'll be heading to bed now." She stated, getting off the stool and brushing off none existent dust before heading to the stairs.

"Oh, and make sure you turn off all the lights!" she called down to Altair as she was already half way up them.

Leaning on the counter for a moment, he appreciated the silence in the cool kitchen, before he got up and headed to the only two rooms used that night and shut everything off. He wondered slightly, as he was walking up the stairs, if they would actually be in his time tomorrow. What he wondered more about however, was what was causing all of this to happen. Something like this wasn't possible, but yet, it happened. He then wondered if it would just stop, with one of them being stuck in the others time set or world; what would happen then?

At this point he was entering the bedroom, which was open. It was evident that Connie was in the bathroom as the door was shut and she wasn't present in the bedroom. Walking over to the side of the bed he had grown accustomed to sleeping on during these past few days, he quickly got in.

It wasn't moments later that Connie entered the bedroom and did the same, having shut the light off as she entered however. She quickly plopped down onto the bed and gave a quick "Good night" receiving a reply on his end as well.

He had to wonder then, had she ever pondered what was causing all of this? He was going to ask her her thoughts; however he noticed she had already fallen asleep...how? He wasn't sure, as she had slept for most of the day as it was.

Sighing again to himself, he shut his eyes and willed himself to sleep, thoughts on where they had been last before they came to Connie's time. As he recalled, they had been about a few hours way from their destination, which was a good place to start their travel again.

Sleep over took him then, just as he allowed.

/'''''\\\\\\\/'''''\\\\\\\/'''''\\\\\\\/'''''\\\\\\\/'''''\\\\\\\/'''''\\\\\\\/'''''\\\\\\\

Cloudy smoke seemed to be everywhere, the only thing that Connie could see where her hands in front of her face, however even those were a tad hard to see. Where was she anyway? Thoughts of possible locations seemed to escape her grasp as she pondered.

Out of nowhere then, misty substances seemed to be swirling in the air in front of her. How was it she saw this but nothing else? Perhaps the place was black? However, if that was the case why couldn't she see herself?

Thoughts were disrupted then, when the mist began forming into odd shapes that her imagination was playing with, and the air became heavy. Everything seemed so weighed down, and she found herself kneeling with her hands on the ground from the force of it all.

Suddenly, everything got heavier, as if gravity had become angry, and she felt her head begin to ache. Her necklace, she noticed, was weighing her down greatly. She collapsed on the ground harshly when a huge force appeared out of nowhere to shove her down.

Being on the ground didn't seem to help however; it now felt like she was being squashed between the floor and whatever else was causing this. Gritting her teeth from the pain now, she felt her eyes drooping on her, and it felt almost like her energy was being pulled right out of her.

Heat had been radiating from her necklace, and that had been something she could ignore for some time now, however at this moment it felt like it had just been in a 500 degree oven. She felt her skin burning, but couldn't move to get rid of the pain, as the force from before had not let out.

Panic filled her being as she laid there on the floor unmoving and quickly losing her energy. All she could feel was pain and panic and suddenly warmth exploded and engulfed her body, before her eyes shut and she was gone.

/'''''\\\\\\\/'''''\\\\\\\/'''''\\\\\\\/'''''\\\\\\\

Altair would have thought it was a dream again as he woke up, but Connie was beside him on the mat she had once been sleeping on, all those days ago. That was all the proof he needed.

Getting up from where he awoke, he walked over to Connie, kneeling in front of her. Her position of sleep was rather uncommon for her; she was flat on her stomach with her arms spread out, like she had been getting squashed. He resolved to wake her up, as they had to quickly make their way to Masyaf.

Reaching over to wake her up, he remembered that was not the best course of action, so he quickly grabbed her leg and pulled, dragging her slightly with a smirk. As he suspected she jolted awake, grabbing at the mat to stop her body from being dragged.

"What the hell?" she questioned as she was let go of, and sat up rubbing her eyes. The rubbing of her eyes slowly stopped as felt dust in the air and the hot sun. She snapped them open when she realised where she was.

"Oh God, I'm back here again." she muttered, pushing herself up off the ground and standing, Altair standing as well form his squatting position. Her dark hair was in her face and she quickly pushed it away.

"Is there a problem?" Asked Altair as he walked over to his stuff and began packing it all.

"No." She looked around the camp they had, she felt like she hadn't been here for so long, even if it had been five days. She noticed Lily was still there, grazing on some of the patches of greens around her, it was like they were never gone, had never left to begin with.

"Did five days go by here while we were gone?" asked Connie, rolling up her mat as she looked at Altair for an answer.

"The thought crossed my mind, as it appears the logs to the fire are still warm, as if we never left." Answered Altair as he got up, walking over to Lily with his things to pack on her. Lily too was a sign that no time went by, she would have tried to escape, needing water and food.

"Why is it then that time doesn't go by here when we're in my time, but when we're here, it's a different story?" She asked, walking with her things over to Lily as well.

"I know as much as you on this matter." Was his answer, as he gave water to Lily when he was done.

"Very helpful." She replied dryly, and the conversation was over.

The two quickly had everything packed and ready, and Altair got on Lily, no trouble what so ever. The dilemma she had faced all those days ago came back to her in a rush. That dilemma just happened to be something as petty as, two people plus one horse equal unsatisfactory results.

The smirk on his face could be seen from anywhere she was sure, and she pursed her lips as she walked over. He held out his hand for her when she attempted to get on, not even bothering to provoke her with a snide remark, she read it on his face well enough.

Grabbing onto his warm hand, she allowed him to pull her up onto the horse. Altair then proceeded to wrap the hand he had held around his waist, before kicking off in the direction of Masyaf.

Connie eyes widened at the sudden start, and her second hand wrapped similar to the first one instantly.

"A fair warning would be appreciated next time." Muttered Connie off to the side; already not liking the galloping of the horse.

"Is that all?" he asked with a fair amount of sarcasm Connie didn't know he had possessed.

"For now." Was her chuckled reply, as she looked off into the distance ahead of them. The terrain was likable enough; the rocks, trees, and patches of grass had a certain characteristic that she liked, so she was sure the landscape alone would occupy her enough for the rest of the journey. She wished there were sunflowers however.

If that failed there was always the option of starting a conversation with Altair, but that could always be saved for when there was no other option.

/A couple of hour's later\\\\

A huffed escaped Connie's parched lips as she couldn't take the landscape anymore. Her neck was starting to hurt from the constant turn to the side, there was no other option now, it was either sit and do nothing, or mutter a few words to Altair.

Boredom chose for her, and she sighed.

"So Altair, I've been thinking about the whole master killing me thing, do you- and don't lie- do you think your master will kill me?" This question had been nagging her for a while now, she had been trying not to think about it, but she couldn't help it anymore, if she was going to die, she wanted to know.

"I've pondered what Al Mualim would do if he learnt of your presence." He answered from in front, the pace of the horse staying consistent.

"So?" She pushed him onward.

"He would kill you for the fact that you know too much." Answered Altair; looking down at the dirt covered ground beside the horse.

"But I have no reason to tell anyone! I know no one from this time, so why would I betray my only friend!" She responds, now getting worked up over it, couldn't she just hop off this horse and not go at all? Did this "master" even know of her presence?

Altair's brow furrowed at the use of the word "friend" and wondered if Connie even realised if she had used it. None the less however, he responded to her fanatic response.

"I know this, but Al Mualim does not."

Sighing again Connie continued, calm once more. "What if I explained my situation to him? Would he believe me?" she asked, her voice lowered to its original level.

"I don't know what Al Mualim would think, but it would be best to try." Answered Altair; steering the horse correctly on the worn path.

"Altair?" he barely contained himself from sighing in annoyance, he had to remind himself that she was just scared.

"Yes?"

"If... if your master does condemn me,... would you protect me?" her voice was soft and even, and the question itself shocked him.

"I would try, but I'm not in the best of situations right now." he answered slowly. He found himself saying this, but would he actually do it? Disobeying his master again would not have its best outcomes, especially after he was given another chance. However, why would he disobey his master again? For Connie?

If anything, protecting Connie would just get them both killed... But he would try...

Connie took a deep breath. "That's all I would need." she answered to him, happily.

Having slowed the horse for the conversation, Altair quickly picked up the pace and they were off once more.

"Do you think that perhaps I could just wait outside of Masyaf? Then he wouldn't know I was with you an-" she was cut off.

"Connie. Malik sent a message to Al Mualim if you remember, your presence with me had been know for quite some time." Answered Altair reluctantly, he had just crushed another one of her ideas.

"Oh," was her meek reply. "I guess there's no avoiding it..., I never thought I would die this way, and I'm walking right into it...it's not something I would ever do." she said looking off to the side again.

"Connie, as long as you explain your situation and tell the truth, I don't think he will kill you." said Altair still looking forward.

"I hope your right."

Connie looked ahead of them, noticing Masyaf coming into view.

"Is that it?" Connie asked pointing forwards towards the castle, the one that eerily reminded her of her dreams.

"Yes." he answered.

"It looks nice." she said before leaning forward against Altair's back and closing her eyes, this could have very well been the last time she could relax.

AN: In a dream, feeling panic can be described as such "To dream that you are in a panic, indicates a lack of control and power in your life. You may be feeling helpless in some situation or unable to make a clear decision."

Also to dream you are in pain can be described as such as well: "To dream that you are in pain, signifies that you are being too hard on yourself with regards to a situation that was out of your control. It may also be a true reflection of real pain that exists somewhere in your body."

Just something for you guys to think about. :P

Wow, has it really been over a month? Geez, I need to get my ass in gear and write faster! XD but really I'm sorry it took long for this update

I hope though, that everyone had fun this holiday and New Year!

So thank you everyone for the reviews and fav's and alerts, and well everything! You are all awesome! And I especially thank the ones who have stuck with this story for so long :3 thank you so much, it means a lot.

Here is a special thank you to Miss. Fleckle for proofing the chapter! You are awesome!

So I hope everyone liked the chapter, the next one will NOT take a month to write, I know exactly what I'm going to write. :D so let me know what you thought of this chapter, and if it was okay.

And...just asking but, does Connie seem Mary sue-ish? I really hope she doesn't, but if she does to you, could you let me know why? :D