Yes, yes, it's the long requested Assassin's Creed crossover a number of people have asked about over the years. Yes Peter's an Assassin, no he's not related to any of the already noteworthy Assassins in the franchise like Ezio, or Kassandra or Connor and no Peter will not be joining the Templars in any shape or form because he's come to sympathize with their views like other Assassins have. He sees their side and gets it, but he very much disagrees with their methods and is even outright appalled by some of them.
As for the pairings of this story, it'll be a Harem to a degree, but most of the women that Peter will be with will never come into contact with one another, mainly because they'll be dead by the time Peter meets another.
Disclaimer: I don't own any Marvel or Assassin's Creed characters seen, mentioned or used.
Queens, New York City, September 3rd 2012...
"That'll be... seventy six, thirty sir"
Peter couldn't stop the look of incredulity appearing on his face as he stared at the cashier in front of him, a kid barely old enough to vote with the facial air, acne and mannerisms to match. Between them was a small ensemble of food that he was in the middle pf purchasing for the dinner he was planning to cook for himself and his girlfriend tonight.
"S-Seventy... how the hell did this come out to almost eighty dollars?!" Peter asked as he gestured towards the various groceries he purchased.
It wasn't anything too special, just some spices, some vegetables, bread, meat and a cheap, painstakingly cheap bottle of wine. Far as Peter knew, none of this should add up so much, especially given the fact he looked at the prices earlier when he was shopping.
The cashier simply shrugged as he gestured towards the machine "It's what the machine says sir"
"Well screw the machine, run these things again you lazy little twerp!" Peter growled as he shot a dirty look towards the register.
The cashier sighed in annoyance at this "Sir, I'm not going to rescan your items. If you don't have the money to pay, that's alright, we'll just see what you can afford and later, when you do have the money, you can come back and-"
"Kid I'll slap you silly if you keep talking instead of re-scanning my stuff like I asked" Peter hissed as he felt his temper beginning to flare.
Years ago Peter would say he was proud of the level of restrain he had, but over the past few years, the current generation of brats roaming around the world had used up the man's steady supply of patience until only droplets remained. When Peter was younger, kids used to be so much more... respectful to their seniors, or at the very least they didn't give as much lip back. And Peter couldn't just smack the insolence from the kid since than he'd be charged, and that'd open up a whole can of worms he'd like to best leave... unopened.
The cashier scowled at Peter and looked like he was about to tall the manager, which Peter would've just loved for him to do, when a voice that Peter hadn't heard in years spoke up behind him.
"Really Parker, is this what you've been reduced to, arguing with kids at a cheap rip-off of Food Lion?"
Peter slowly turned to see a middle aged man dressed in a pair of light brown colored pants, faded black shoes that looked like they've never been polished a day in their life and a tan colored button up shirt underneath a brown blazer that Peter thought even his late Uncle wouldn't be caught dead in, and that man had as much fashion sense as Lady Gaga.
"Miles" Peter narrowed his eyes at the man.
The last time Peter saw William Miles was... well over twenty years ago he believes, before the man married his harpy of a wife and eventually popped out a child that undoubtedly became every bit the asshole William and his wife were. And it seemed that little 'Silly Willy' had finally 'grown up' in Peter's eyes, he had more grey in his hair than when Peter last saw him, and the man looked pale, as if he hadn't a proper night's worth of sleep in weeks, which was likely true given their once shared profession.
"Willy, if this is your fault... I will end you" Peter threatened, causing William to smirk a little as he made his way over to the cash register and spared a glance at the cashier.
"No, I'm afraid this blunder is their fault" William nodded to the scowling teen "He scanned your bottle of Scotch bonnet pepper twice because he assumed it was the same price as the ginger you were also buying"
"I freaking knew it!" Peter snapped as he turned to glare at the cashier "Now rescan my things or I'm calling your damn manager! Hell, I'll call whatever cheap Union you weaseled your way into and let them know your trying to screw me over- no scratch that, I'll call your deadbeat parents and ask them to actually take responsibility with you for once in their lives if you don't rescan my crap NOW!"
The teen glared at Peter for a few moments before he began to reluctantly re-scan Peter's things. The man nodded in satisfaction before he noticed the dry look William was giving him.
"What?" Peter asked with a frown.
"You always had a way with children" William said in a dry tone as the two waited for the cashier to re-scan the items Peter picked out.
"That'll be... sixty eight dollars and thirty two cents sir" the teen scowled at the two men.
"You know, it's a real form of art how most brats these days make 'sir' sound like 'asshole'" William commented as he watched Peter pay for his groceries with cash.
"Yeah, and if this brat keeps it up, I'll introduce his head to the inside of his asshole" Peter said as he shot the cashier a scowl "Next time I come here, your attitude better be much better kid"
Without waiting for a reply, Peter grabbed most of the paper bags that were lined with his errands before pushing a few towards William.
"Come on, your helping me carry these. And before you complain, we're not going far. If you just so happen to run into me at the store, you probably just so happen to know where I live too... you creepy looking stalker" Peter said as he watched William pick up his bags and follow him towards the door.
"Hello Kettle, I'm the pot" William said as he and Peter stepped out of the store and into the cool autumn air of Manhattan "Though I think in your case, your the whole damn kitchen"
"Blow me" Peter scoffed as he began to trudge down the sidewalk and towards his apartment.
Thankfully there wasn't much in terms of foot traffic for Peter and William to navigate through, allowing them to reach Peter's home in only a few minutes. The building wasn't anything special, and even William couldn't help but find it so nondescript that even as someone as paranoid as him would overlook it. Though he supposed he shouldn't be too surprised, when Parker wants to disappear, no one short of God it seems can manage to find him again until he wants to be found.
"So how did you find me anyway?" Peter asked as they entered the building's lobby and headed for the elevator.
"Would you believe me if I said through sheer perseverance and dumb luck?" William asked as he watched Peter select one of the middle floors.
"You? I actually can see that, anyone else? Not so much" Peter snorted as they waited for the elevator to arrive "But no, seriously, how'd you find me?"
"Technically I didn't find you" William said as the elevator made a distinct 'bing' sound before the doors of the cart opened and they slipped in "The Templars found you a while ago it seems and have been keeping tabs on you. We stumbled across that information a while ago when we were trying to locate something and have been sitting on it ever since, just in case"
Peter hummed as he watched the lights of the different floor numbers light upas the elevator slowly climbed up to his floor before coming to a stop. Once the doors opened, Peter and William stepped out into a modestly lit hall and made their way to an unassuming door, two down from the elevator. Peter placed some of the bags on the ground as he fished out his key while William looked around for any signs of-
"Their not gonna be in this building" Peter said as he finally got his key out and used it to unlock the door to his apartment before reaching down to retrieve his bags "By this point they know I'll sense them a mile off"
"Are they close?" William asked as he followed Peter into the apartment and closed the door behind them.
"Oh I'm sure their in some of the neighboring blocks, and I'm sure they have cameras on this building at the very least. But if your worried about taps in my home, don't be. I do a sweep every morning after I wake up, before I leave to run errands, after I get back, and before I go to bed. Hell, sometimes when I gotta wake up to use the little boys room just for the hell of it" Peter said as he and William walked down the small hall towards the kitchen.
William took this time to observe his surroundings and was surprised with how barren Parker's apartment was. The hall itself had no pictures hanging, and from the brief glimpse he got of the man's living room, he didn't see any there either or even so much as a television, just a couch that looked like it's seen better days, a old leather recliner and ottoman and a coffee table with a number of stains on it's surface. The kitchen on the other hand was the complete and total opposite in William's eyes when they entered it and placed the groceries on the room's island counter. Black marble countertops, a extra large stainless steel refrigerator with transparent front doors, a door that undoubtedly lead to a large pantry, two stoves on each end of the kitchen's island counter, a stainless steel dish washer next to a large stainless steel sink, Peter's kitchen seemed to be every Chef's wet dream.
"Where do you get the money to purchase this?" William asked as he looked around the kitchen.
"Smart investments, a few night classes at Empire State for economics, some YouTube videos on smart budgeting and being cheap" Peter answered as he began to unpack his groceries and store them in either the custom built refrigerator, freezer, pantry or cabinets.
William hummed at this as he handed Pete his bags and watched the man put aside a few things before he began starting up one of the stove's on the kitchen's island and pull out several pans, a cutting board and a few measuring cups and a knife.
"So, what brings you here Silly Willy?" Peter asked as he began to sharpen his knife in preparation to cut the chicken he bought earlier.
"I-we need your help. The Brotherhood, hell all of humanity needs it" William clarified.
Peter paused in sharpening his knife for a moment to spare a glance at the food he was going to cook for the evening "I'm gonna need a lot more chicken if that's the case. best I can do with that is two, maybe three people"
"This isn't a joke Parker" William snapped.
"Oh believe me, I'm aware" Peter nodded in agreement as he kept staring at the food he was going to prepare "I'm gonna have to go back to that store again and put up with that mouthy brat, aren't I?"
Peter had to holdback a snicker as he could hear William clench his jaw so hard in frustration it was a miracle the man's teeth didn't crack. With a amused chuckle, Peter began to chop up the chicken and peppers he bought and place them in a pan.
William slapped his hands on the countertop, causing Peter to look up at him with a bank gaze "Parker, can you be serious for a second?!"
"Okay, fine" Peter said with a shrug before he stared at William with the most serious expression the other man's seen on him for a full second before adopting a smirk "There, happy?"
Before William could say anything else, Peter turned his attention towards the pan he filled with chopped chicken and peppers and carried it over to the stove. Peter could practically feel William glaring holes into his back as he placed the pan on the stove's burner and adjusted the flame. William seemed to shake in silent fury before taking several calming breaths before speaking in a far more retained tone than he would've used before.
"Parker, you need to understand that the Templars-" William began before Peter cut him off with a scoff and his attention on the pan in front of him.
"What I understand... is that I was considered 'Outdated', 'Stuck in the past', 'A bitter, jealous little old man that can't stand being shown up by someone that's looking to evolve the Brotherhood and not regress it' and what else was I told..." Peter paused as he tapped his chin in thought before shrugging "Ahh, I'm sure it'll come to me. Most things usually do. By the way, how's the current Mentor, Hector doing? Oh right, forgot he's dead. How'd that pan out by the way? Anyone new take over yet?"
"How do you even know about that?" William asked with a furrowed brow "I was under the impression you haven't had any contact with the Assassins for over thirty years. Do I need to speak to the American Mentor about not only keeping your whereabouts hidden, because I'm finding it hard to believe you went unnoticed in his own backyard, but also sharing confidential information?"
"He didn't say anything. The Templars sent me one of their exclusive retirement packages once they figured out I was done with the Brotherhood. Couldn't shut up about it, really" Peter said with a snort as he lowered the flame for the stove and searched for a jar of dried peppers to add to the cooking chicken "Still, it was oddly considerate of them to send me anything, though I think they could've settled for a bottle of wine and a 'We'll miss you killing our people and foiling our plans for global domination' card instead of a entire squad of hit men. I lost a house because of them!"
And his first and really only car... and his entire vintage stamp collection!
'Took me years to make that!' Pete thought with a sad shake of his head.
"When did this happen?" William asked with narrowed eyes.
"Eight, nine years ago? When you live as long as I have, times moves funny. The days, weeks hell even the years start to really blend together" Peter said with thoughtful look on his face before he shrugged as he took the pan of chopped chicken, peppers and sauce and placed it on the stove before reaching behind himself to the microwave hanging from one of the cabinets and set a timer for the food's cooking "Also, you didn't answer my question"
"What question?" William asked.
"Who took over?" Peter said as he turned back towards the man with a leveled gaze "Someone had to have stepped up after Hector bit the bullet. There a new Mentor or is the Council calling the shots for now?"
William was silent for a few moments as he held Peyer's gaze before his eyes flickered to something to the older man's side "I'm Mentor now... much as that means now a days. Hardly an Order left to lead because of what happened with Hector and the others"
"Like I said when I left, you forget what you are, forget how to fight, how to survive, how to adapt, your gonna end up regretting it when things kick off again" Peter said in a tone devoid of any sympathy "We're Assassins William, not... not whatever the fuck Jackson and Hector tried to make the Order into"
Peter wasn't naïve, he knew that as the world entered the Twentieth Century and new technologies and ideas developed, the Brotherhood would have to adapt with it. The problem was, they evolved too far from their roots, at least in his eyes, and became too reliant on subterfuge and political and economic manipulation to combat the Templars. True a small part of Peter was a bit relieved that they weren't having to resort to killing as often as they used to, but political machinations and economic maneuvering could only go so far against the likes of the Templars, a group whose long since mastered such things.
Sometimes, a life needed to be taken.
"Well if it's any consolation, I've been slowly trying to move us back to what we were before Jackson became Mentor and Hector continued his work" William revealed.
"Good for you" Peter said with a snort.
"And part of that involves trying to bring back those that were forced out" William said as he gave Peter a pointed look.
"I wasn't forced, I left of my own free will" Peter said with a dry look returned towards William "There's probably one person alive that could force me to do anything and you ain't her"
"Than you'll find it even more ironic that she left, or rather, ceased speaking with us as well" William revealed with a dejected sigh "Not long after you in fact"
"I told Hector not to push, let her come to that decision on her own" Peter said with a shake of his head "For such a master strategist, that guy could not read a room to save his life... literally"
"Hey, what happened wasn't his fault" William said with a glare "If anything, it was yours"
Peter's brow rose a little at his "Oh, and how's that?"
"If you hadn't left us, the Templars wouldn't have tried that plot of theirs with Cross" William stated "When he was visiting the camps, he would've ran into you and you would've sensed what he was"
"Maybe" Peter shrugged.
Peter's heard the story from the local Mentor, about how Daniel Cross was an apparent sleeper agent for the Templars and had killed William's predecessor, Hector when he finally found him after spending two years going from one assassin camp to another. Personally Peter has no idea if he would've been able to sense what Cross was, he's never had to deal with a sleeper agent before, but the risk of being found out might've been enough for the Templars to dissuade them from such a plot-
"They took my son"
Peter blinked at this and turned towards William with a raised brow "Excuse me?"
"The Templars, they took my son" William revealed with a heavy sigh "Not two days ago and shipped him off to their facility in Rome. Likely to shove him into one of their damned Animus and have him relive the life of one of our ancestors in attempt to find a Piece of Eden. Maybe multiple ones, depending on whose memories their trying to access"
"Well, who are his ancestors?" Peter asked with a frown.
"Depends on which side of his genetic code they intend to access" William said with a bothered expression "Both mine and his mother are descended from very prominent Assassins. People who left their mark on the Order that can still be felt today"
"Like who?" Peter probed with annoyance.
"The Auditores' for me, and Ibn-La'Ahad for her. Which means he's either going to relive the life of Ezio or even Altaïr, both of whom have come into contact with many Pieces of Eden and know of their final resting place" William revealed, causing Peter's brows to shoot up.
"Oh..."
William nodded gravely at this "Now you can see why I came to you. I'm already assembling a team to get him back, but the facility he's been taken to in Rome is a literal fortress. I already have someone on the inside that can help us, but I can't risk placing all of my bets on them sneaking my son out on their own. Peter, your the only one that can get in there, and save him and stop the Templars from using his ancestors memories to uncover the locations of these Pieces of Eden"
"Geez, the Order's standards must've really been slipping since I left if y'all need me to get anything done" Peter said with a snort.
Perhaps that Purge the Templars launched years ago was far more devastating than Peter realized.
"Will you do it?" William asked.
"Well it doesn't sound like I'm gonna have much of a choice in the matter" Peter said with a shrug as he turned towards William and leaned back against the stove and stared at the man "Chances are the Templars watching me already know your here and talking with me. So their gonna assume that I am going to help you, regardless if I was going to in the first place, and send over a nice little hit squad to unalive me... or try to at any rate. Sooo, I might as well. Rather have some people on my side instead of going it alone and hoping for the best"
A few decades ago, Peter might've ended up doing just that, but times had changed. The Templars have grown only more powerful since Peter left the Brotherhood and... well frankly, Peter's a bit out of practice. Granted, he's no novice, but going the better part of twenty years without utilizing his skills to their absolute breaking point and maintaining a proper and consistent training regime to prevent skill degradation had started to take it's toll on him. And he couldn't just rely on his... other assets to maintain an edge over any foot soldiers the Templars send his way, they, not like he used.
"I'm sorry Peter" William said with a look of regret on his face.
Peter smirked grimly at this "No your not. You intentionally approached me in public, knowing I'm being monitored by the Templars here and they'd recognize you"
The look of remorse on William's face evaporated almost instantly "Worth a try"
"Least your honest" Peter chuckled before he gestured for William to follow him to the door "So when do you wanna leave? I'm assuming your gonna wanna speak with the local Mentor before departing, make sure that you being here and meeting with me doesn't cause any trouble for him and the Templars already in the city?"
"Among other things, yes" William nodded "I've charted a flight from a small airport out in Long Island that'll take us to Iceland tomorrow evening. From there, we'll be taking another flight to England to link up with a Cell that I've assigned for this mission. After that, you'll head for Rome and extract my son and do whatever you can to keep the Templars from getting their hands on whatever Pieces of Eden they locate through him"
"Iceland huh? Better pack my mittens" Peter quipped as they reached the door and he opened it for William to step through "This Cell your gonna have me work with, anyone I know?"
"No" William answered.
"Do they know who I am?" Peter inquired.
"One of them helps maintain the Brotherhood's historical records, so he more than likely will be aware of who you are" William stated.
"Cool, he'll help with introductions. Make sure to let him know to overexaggerate my accomplishments to the others. I want them to view me in total awe when they lay eyes on me for the first time" Peter said.
William paused for a moment to stare at Peter with an unreadable expression before making a disgruntled sound in the back of his throat and turned to leave.
"Oh, and William?" Peter called out to the man before he stepped out of the apartment.
"Hmm?" he looked back towards Peter with a question look before paling at the very dark look in Peter's eyes.
"If this turns out to be some elaborate ruse to get me back... I'm going to kill you, your wife, and anyone else that tries to get between me and your" Peter said as he took a step towards William and lowered his voice even further "Do you understand?"
William was silent for a few moments before he nodded "I understand"
"Good" Peter beamed, the dark look in his eyes gone, as if it was never therein the first place, before he pushed the man through the door "I'll see you tomorrow afternoon. Make sure that flight you got us has peanuts"
Before William could say anything else aside from a startled 'What?', Peter slammed the door in the man's face before turning and heading back to the kitchen to continue making his dinner for the evening.
Something told Peter this would be the last good meal he'd have for a while.
...
"This is Marston-"
"Hey, Andy, it's me" Peter said as he stirred the contents of the pan with a wooden spoon a few minutes after William had left.
"Oh, mister Parker, what can I help you with?" Andrew 'Andy' Marston, current Mentor for the American branch of the Brotherhood of Assassins asked with curiosity.
"Oh I don't know, things seem to be going great at the moment, aside from, you know, the uninvited guest I just had to deal with" Peter said with a scowl towards the phone "Thanks for the heads up by the way"
"W-What are you talking about?" Any asked, confusion evident in his tone "What uninvited guest?"
'Huh, so William paid me a visit without alerting the local Mentor... guess he was already suspecting him of keeping quiet about me' Peter thought as he poured himself a glass of champagne "William Miles"
"WHAT?!" Andy shouted with shock "He was here? When? How-"
"He just left a few minutes ago after he gave me his 'We need you to save us cause we've done screwed ourselves' pitch'" Peter interrupted the man with a chuckle "By the way, he might be calling you later to chew you out over the fact you've known where I've been the past few years and didn't say anything"
A regional Mentor keeping quiet about Peter's whereabouts, which was essentially in said Mentor's backyard from the Mentor of the Order? Yeah, Peter did not envy the tongue lashing that Andy was about to endure, hell he might actually loose his position as Mentor of the American Brotherhood. Though that seemed a bit extreme for William, and likely impossible if half of what Andy's let slipped about the current state of the Assassins around the world was even true.
"Oh joy" Andy sighed on the other end of the line.
"Just say I threatened you or something to earn your silence. Not like he's gonna do anything to me. Apparently I'm needed to rescue his kid from the Templars" Peter stated.
"I'll keep that in mi- oh, speak of the devil, I'm getting a call from him now" Andy said with a mixture of amusement and dread in his tone "Sorry, but I gotta take this. He's probably pissed enough as it is, no need to make it any worse"
"Ahh, don't let Silly Willy intimidate you boy, remember, this is the guy that peed himself the first time he performed a Leap of Faith" Peter chuckled at the memory.
"Oh trust me, I remember. I was the one that had to go after him and land in that puddle of his" Andy said with a chuckle before it died down "I'll call back later and let you know what happened"
"Sure, ci sentiamo piu' tardi" Peter said before the call ended and Peter placed the phone back in his pocket just as the door bell rang.
Peter frowned at this and slowly approached the entryway of his kitchen that led out into the hall and peeked down towards his apartment's door. Several seconds passed in silence as Peter waited to see if the doorbell would be rung again, or if someone, multiple someones, would kick down his door and storm his place. When instead a series of loud knocks could be heard through the door, Peter slowly approached it and glanced through the peephole to see a young white haired woman in her late twenties dressed in a black leatherjacket and blue jeans standing out in the hall, looking directly at the peephole.
"You gonna let me in handsome or do I gotta pick the lock again?" she asked with a slight French accent.
"Heh... like you need a excuse" Peter muttered as he unlocked the door and opened it to the young woman "Evening Felicia, what brings you to my humble adobe?"
"Ne puis-je pas simplement souhaiter être en présence de mon amour?" Felicia spoke in nearly unaccented French as she leaned against the door frame with a lazy smile on her face.
"Non se hai intenzione di provare a rubare di nuovo le mie cose" Peter responded as he stepped to the side and let Felicia in "When'd you get back?"
"Just a few hours ago. Airline was able to get me on another flight after the original was delayed" Felicia said as she slipped into the apartment with the grace of a cat and removed her jacket, revealing she had on a simple a white tank top, and hung it on one of the coat hangers next tot he door and took a sniff of the air and licked her lips "Mmm, what'cha make me?"
"I was making some peppered chicken with pasta and homemade sauce" Peter revealed as he closed the door and locked it "But I made enough for two, just in case some free loader decided to stop by and help herself to some"
"How sweet of you" Felicia teased as she kicked off her heels and made her way deeper inside Peter's apartment.
Peter rolled his eyes at the woman and quickly picked her heels up and placed them next to the coat rack and made his way back to the kitchen to finish preparing his, and now Felicia's dinner for the evening. Meanwhile, Felicia made her way around Peter's apartment, checking to see if anything had changed in it since she last saw it several weeks prior. The living room was still as bare as the day Peter got the place, and the guest rooms still lacked a bed or drawers, a not so subtle clue that he did not intend to ever entertain guests for very long.
'Unless their joining him in his bed' Felicia giggled as she slipped into Peter's bedroom.
The bed was nothing to boats about in her eyes, just your typical queen size mattress from one of the local stores that cost less than any of Felicia's shoes. It was comfy enough she supposed, but she very much preferred her own, personally designed by Janjaap Ruijssenaars. True it costed upwards of one point nine million, but considering it felt like she was sleeping on a cloud and perfectly molds around her body as she sleeps, it was a worthwhile investment.
'I know Peter loves it...' Felicia thought with a faint blush as she remembered all the times she took Peter to her bed.
Turning her attention away from the bed, Felicia focused her gaze on the far wall across from her, lined with several shelves that were filled to the brim with a litany of items that Peter had collected over his long tenure with the Brotherhood. Most of it seemed to be simple knick-knacks he collected from wherever he was at the time while others seemed to be some kind gift that looked to be more sentimental in value than monetary. One item caught her attention, mainly because she didn't remember seeing it the last time she was here, causing the white haired beauty to approach the shelf and reach out for it.
"Now why haven't I seen you before?" Felicia grinned a little as she held the hat up to inspect.
It was an old, very old, dark leather pinch hat of some kind with a small braided rope wrapped around it. The hat's brim had a few small holes and tears in it and it looked like a strong enough breeze could tear it clean in two. Slowly, Felicia placed it on her head before pulling it to the side a little and turned to examine her reflection in the window beside Peter's bed, mentally replacing the clothes she had on for something more... western.
"Howdy partner" Felicia gave her reflection a small tip of her hat "Mind helping this poor gal break a bronco? She can be real good at riding one if you do"
"You know that's not how women used to talk back than, right?"
Felicia forced herself not to flinch at the sudden sound of Peter's voice and slowly turned to see the man grinning at her as he leaned against the door frame, his arms folded across his chest. She had no idea how long he'd been there, with as quiet as he could be, he very well could've been behind her the whole time and she'd never realize it until he either said or did something.
"Oh, and how did they talk?" Felicia asked with a grin as she placed a hand on her hip and cocked it out a little and placed more emphasis on her accent "Like this miss'tah Park'ah?"
Peter's grin twitched a little "Something like that"
"Good to know. Remind me to wear this when we decide to start role playing a pair of outlaws from the Wild West" Felicia giggled as she reached up and gently removed the hat and placed it back on the shelf, right next to an old Tomahawk, it's ax blade fashioned into a shape similar to that of the Brotherhood's symbol.
"I'd rather not, the Wild West wasn't exactly a great time for me" Peter said dryly "Besides, that hat's old as dirt. And with how wild you can get, I don't think it'll last long"
Plus, considering the history of that hat, or more specifically the people who owned it, Peter wasn't sure role playing with it would be in good taste.
"So I see" Felicia grinned as she spared another look at some of the items on Peter's shelf.
It took a bit more effort than she was willing to admit to not try and calculate how valuable some of these items had to be. While Felicia's preferred vice was jewelry, she has occasionally stolen valuable artifacts, either because it's original owner was someone famous, or rather infamous, or because the people who made it were no longer around. Some of the things on Peter's shelf would leave most Fences she's worked with drooling waterfalls at the profit they could get with them, such as the jewel egg sitting next to the hat she just picked up that looked suspiciously like one of the lost Imperial Eggs of a certain Russian Royal family.
'Hmm, Peter did say he was in Russia at one point...' Felicia thought as she resisted the urge to lick her lips at the bejeweled egg.
"Come on, dinner's ready" Peter stepped out of the doorway and stood to the side and waited for Felicia to finish ogling his stuff.
He made a mental note to have Andy come over and place his things in storage while he was away, wouldn't do for something to go missing now.
"About time, I'm starving" Felicia said as she reluctantly turned away from the literal treasure before her and excited the room and made her way to the dining room, with Peter right behind her.
"I know, any longer and I swear you'll start meowing like your little fur balls when they go longer than ten minutes without food in their bowls" Peter responded as they entered the dining room and he moved to pull Felicia's chair out.
"Baby, we both know you'll more than likely end upmaking me purr" Felicia cooed as she took her seat and Peter scooted her in "Such a gentleman, thank you"
"Ehh, my Aunt and Uncle got something right with me" Peter grinned as he took his seat across from her and reached for a bottle of wine and began to fill his and Felicia's glasses with the light blue liquid.
"Well cheers to them than" Felicia said as she accepted the glass from Peter and held it up to toast.
Truthfully she preferred champagne, but Peter always managed to obtain the best tasting wines she's ever had. Though considering how long he once spent in Italy, she supposed it only made sense the man developed some kind of knack for picking out good wine.
Or at the very least had one helluva hook up.
"Cheers" Peter said as he and Felicia clinked their glasses together and took a sip of their glasses before setting them aside and begin to dig into their dinner.
"So how's things been?" Felicia asked as she took an experimental bite of her pasta before humming in approval at the flavor of the sauce.
"Alright" Peter said with a shrug as he pushed his food around his plate with his fork "Been looking for a job recently. Starting to get low on money"
"Not surprising considering you blew most of it on your kitchen" Felicia teased.
"I don't here you complaining" Peter said with a pointed look towards her already half eaten plate of food.
"I never said it was bad" Felicia said as she reached for her glass to help washdown some of the food "Anyway, have you found something you might like to do?"
"I did" Peter admitted with a grim chuckle "Teaching believe it or not..."
"Oh, where at?" Felicia asked, curious.
"It was going to be at Midtown High School but..." Peter trailed off as he remembered his earlier conversation with William "Something else came up and... well it's kinda taking precedence at the moment"
"What's that?" Felicia asked, confused and curious as to what happened.
"The Brotherhood stopped by, and I was asked to come back" Peter revealed, causing Felicia's eyes to widen in surprise.
"Seriously?" she asked.
"Very" Peter sighed as he reached up to rub his brow "And sadly I can't tell them to screw off this time because it sounds like things will get very, very, very, very, veeeeery bad if I do. Like game over kinda bad"
"Oh... well shit" Felicia said after a few seconds of silence.
"That... pretty much sums it up" Peter snorted as he reached out to grab his wine glass and take a sip of it's contents.
"Are you gonna be okay?" Felicia asked as she took another sip of her glass and watched Peter as he added even more swine to his.
"Yeah, I'll be fine" Peter said with a shrug "Just annoyed is all. Also kinda pissed that their only coming to me now because their in so deep they forgot what the sky looks like"
"So will you?" Felicia asked.
"Will I what?" he asked after taking a bite of his food and wiped away some of the sauce on his lips with a napkin.
"Actually rejoin them?" Felicia questioned as she used her fork to push her chicken around her plate.
"Originally I was gonna say no and tell the man to screw off until he dropped a few bombshells on me and made some annoyingly good points" Peter sighed before he turned his gaze towards the food on his plate "And if for some reason I did decide not to, I'm sure they have something this time around to force me back in and keep me"
Honestly Peter would be surprised if the Assassins still haven't found a way to keep him around by force if they had to. When he was still with them, and gave them very little reason to doubt his loyalty to the Creed, there had to have been closed door conversations between the ranking Mentors and Council members on how long that'd last. The Order's history was filled with examples of men and women whose loyalty eventually ran it's course and they either joined up with the Templars, or left the Order entirely. And for the longest time, Peter was the Order's greatest weapon against the Templars, thus it'd only make sense to a few that they'd ensure it would always be the case.
"Maybe" Felicia shrugged as she leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table's edge and interlocked her fingers while her chin rested on them "And maybe those assholes all died in the Purge that Andrew mentioned. Who knows, maybe helping save the world, for real this time, might be enough to get them off your back"
"One can hope, though I doubt it" Peter said with a frown.
Even if the Assassins let him go, the Templars sure as hell won't.
"Well I guess I'm gonna have to come with you than, make sure those jerks play nice with you" Felicia grinned.
The glass of wine in Peter's hand stopped a few centimeters from his lips before being slowly set back on the table as the former Assassin looked at the jewel thief with a raised brow.
"You wanna come with me?" he asked, unsure if he heard right.
"In more ways than one handsome" Felicia winked "But yeah, I do. Lord knows your gonna need another pair of eyes watching your back. Though, admittedly, my eyes might wander a little lower from time to time"
"I would prefer you watch the others" Peter said in a dry tone.
"I could, but than you'd get all jealous that I'm giving other people my attention" Felicia teased.
"I think I'll survive" Peter remarked before taking a deep breath and leaning forward to rest his elbows on the table and gave Felicia a serious expression "But Fee, you need to know, that you can't afford to screw around if you do come with me. These people I'm gonna be working with, they will kill you if you give them a good enough reason"
"I can handle myself Pete" Felicia said with a frown "This won't be my first rodeo with a bunch of crazies"
"I know that, but I also think you've gotten too complacent with me" Peter pointed to himself "And I'm worried that you think all of the Brotherhood will be like me, or Andy or Smith. Their not, hell the sides you've seen of Andy are what he wanted you to see, you don't know him like I do. And these people I'm gonna be working with, hell I don't even know them but if their anything like the people I used to work with back when I still ran with the Brotherhood, back before Jackson started to screw it all up. They will cut you loose if you end up being a liability"
Granted not all Branches of the Brotherhood acted this way, but Peter was going off information several decades out of date. Even Marston doesn't know how the Assassins in other branches of the Order act or operate. They could end up being some of the nicest people Peter's ever dealt with in the Order or total apathetic assholes that'll see him and to some extent Felicia as liabilities.
"Well than I guess you'll have to watch my back, preferably my ass, hmm?" Felicia said as she held up her glass in a mocking toast "Now let's finish this food, waste a few hours humping each other into the nearest furniture and than go see what we can do to help your little friends, yeah?"
Peter sighed as he raised his own glass and 'clinked' it against Felicia's before downing the alcoholic liquid in one gulp.
Everything is permitted, as they say.
...
And done.
Next chapter, Getting back in the swing of things...
Translations:
French: Ne puis-je pas simplement souhaiter être en présence de mon amour? Can't I simply wish to be in the presence of my love?
Italian: Non se hai intenzione di provare a rubare di nuovo le mie cose. Not if you plan to try and steal my things again.