Disclaimer: I do not own Assassin's Creed or Carrie.

This part of the saga takes the story much deeper into the world of Assassin's Creed as more of the lore is expanded and it touches on not just the books, comics and games but the movie as well.

I will post the xover with Assassin's Creed Revelations when I have the last part Assassin's Creed 3 complete. It might take a while but I will try to get it done as soon as possible.

The Assassins Strike Back

Monteriggioni, Italy…

The truck had just arrived at the still scarred Villa Auditore and the town of Monteriggioni while Hannah was giving them their current plan.

"Since we know that apparently the Earth is facing danger and Ezio had encounters with the Precursors we should probe his memories further. Maybe look for the Apple he had in case it gives us any clues." She told them as they left the truck. Desmond followed her, and was honestly was hit by a major sense of deja vu saying.

"We're at the Auditore Villa."

"Yes, its the only other safe-house we have in Italy and until we can get across the border we need to lay low." Hannah said with worry.

"Lucy knew about this place, so we won't be able to stay here long in case she told any one." Rita reminded Hannah as she got out of the truck to stretch her legs, Carrie hopping out behind her looking at the old structure that was still standing with awe.

"I know but we'll just have to risk it, there's nowhere else right now." Hannah said and Rebecca tried to get them back on task.

"Ezio hid the P.O.E. sometime in 1507, but when I try to access that DNA sequence he seems to be...remembering something else." Rebecca said, not sure what was going on exactly but Desmond said as he helped Sue out of the truck.

"Like a memory inside a memory?" Rebecca glad he understood said.

"Yes. Exactly. Maybe." She amended as she tried to explain her problem.

"Exactly. Maybe." Desmond said with a little exasperation but Shaun spoke up to try and get things moving and remembered something useful.

"I believe you experienced something similar back at Astergo, didn't you?" Shaun asked Desmond who looked confused and they were forced to referred to information they had gotten from Lucy's memories.

"The woman they called Subject 15 exhibited memory-within-memory-like-patterns, but she was pregnant. The memories of both the foetus's father and the mother were competing." Rebecca said with disgust at Astergo forcing a pregnant woman into the Animus.

"Desmond's not pregnant. At least, as far as I can tell." Shaun said trying to tell a little joke at Desmond's expense. "Might have just had a big lunch." Desmond rolled his eyes while Sue proposed a potential solution.

"If we went to an earlier memory and hopefully as Desmond syncs more with Ezio's memories we will be able to access the later ones?"

"Right, Ezio's troubled state could be being transposed onto Desmond, destabilizing the memory." Shaun said as he got what Sue was suggesting. "Either that or Rebecca's just not a good engineer."

"Thanks ass-hole." Rebecca said as she exited the truck but to stop any further bickering Rita took charge.

"Right well since its the only lead we have then we have to run with it and it hopefully will let Desmond gain more of Ezio's skills at the very least. Ezio was one of the most gifted assassins there's ever been so getting even a part of that skill is a blessing." She said with concern, not liking it but it was the only option they had. Desmond too didn't look happy but nodded, knowing it was probably for the best.

"This place isn't secure." Rebecca said noticing something as she got out of the van. "Cell phone surveillance can see right through the walls." Carrie, Sue and Desmond all looked confused at what she was saying.

"Don't you mean satellite surveillance?" Desmond asked but Rebecca just shook her head.

"Are you kidding? Astergo upgraded to cell towers ages ago. The waves go through everything above ground. They're going to find us." Rebecca added to make sure they all knew the danger but Hannah took control again and said.

"Not if we move fast. Now let's check out the Villa, if the crypt underneath is still good then we have our hideout for now at least. So let's go." She told them and they all turned and followed her, leaving the van and going up the steps to the Villa.

Carrie who had seen the images of the once great villa on the screen of the Animus was a little forlorn. It had been so beautiful she thought, but time and vandals had ruined it and left it a broken shell of its former glory. Her ancestors had once lived her she thought with awe, had fought to free Italy from the Templars here and now it was nothing.

As the entered the damaged and decaying structure of the Villa they discovered the entrance to the crypt underneath was blocked by a beam. Desmond however seemed to see something they couldn't and said.

"Hey, I think I might have something." Before running off, Hannah and the others all shared a look before running after him.

"Desmond." Hannah called out as the man came to a damaged railing that had been attached to one of the ancient walls. A sturdy wooden beam lay just beyond it and Desmond without any thought ran along it and then performed a perfect leap of faith into a pile of hay at the bottom. The others all looked down and saw a ladder which was a far safer way if slower and Hannah told them.

"I'll go with him. You guys stay up here and move the gear into the Villa, we'll open the way." Hannah said before running along the beam herself and taking a leap of her own.

"You have to teach me to do that." Carrie said with an awed breath to Rita who sighed and said.

"Maybe tomorrow night, right now we have work to do."

- x -

Desmond just rolled out of the hay in time for Hannah to make her own landing in it. He waited and she emerged with a smile.

"That's awesome." She said with a bright look in her eye which was mirrored in his.

"It just felt natural. We can get in this way." He said pointing to an old tunnel that ran underneath the Villa. Hannah nodded and told him.

"Good thinking." She then turned to the others who were looking down from the walls above and said. "We'll get in this way and open the door, just be ready when we do."

"Sure. It's not like we're all sitting up here with a big target on our backs." Shaun said with a sarcasm dripping from every word. Hannah and Desmond though paid him no mind and left them to get on with their job while they got on with theirs. Turning on torches they entered the dark tunnels and walked carefully forward.

Entering into the old shaft was eerie especially for Desmond as he saw what looked almost like ghosts running down the old and crumbling passageways. The Animus was really getting to him he thought with a great feeling of unease, knowing how it had ended for Clay. The memory of his suicide that they had witnessed in the animus through Lucy reverberating in his head.

"Hey, you okay?" Hannah asked as she noticed his distraction as they made their way forward. He wanted to say that he was but he just said.

"I was just remembering the last time I was here." He said and her face then frowned a little with worry.

"You mean Ezio." She said, hoping to remind him that although he now had the memory in his head it had been Ezio that had gone through it.

"Yeah...I know. Still its great to out of the animus." He said trying to change the subject away from his own struggles to retain his own identity.

"You know I don't do this sort of stuff most of the time." Hannah said, with a strange expression on her face. "I usually have to stay back and co-ordinate others doing it."

"Doesn't sound like much fun." Desmond said and Hannah frowned.

"No, but I know how to have fun." She said maybe a little too eagerly which Desmond only smirked at.

"Right, after we save the world I will make sure you and I have some fun." He said and she just glared a little at him before smiling a little, liking the sound of that more than she was prepared to admit.

Soon though they came to a locked iron gate with a very old looking skeleton impaled in the centre. Desmond watched as he saw and heard the 'ghosts' for lack of a better term run through the tunnel and close the gate behind them, impaling the soldier. It was so unsettling that he was lost in thought before Hannah came up to him and put her hand on his cheek, turning his head to face hers.

"I know its difficult but try and remain in the now, I'm here for you okay." She said with a smile that was warm and caring. Desmond's heart skipped a beat as he looked at her beautiful face and was so caught off guard by the fact that he found Hannah attractive and was honestly feeling something far more than that for her that he was powerless to move or speak for a moment before he managed to focus back on the task at hand. Lucy was still fresh in his mind and he was really not ready to handle this yet.

So he turned his attention to opening the gate and reluctantly broke contact with her to pull the lever and open the way ahead. The old mechanism though did not want to budge and only raised the tiniest bit before getting hopelessly stuck.

"No way." Desmond said with frustration but Hannah who was a bit smaller than Desmond without wasting a moment rolled sideways under the gate and around the skeleton just as the gate came down. Desmond looked at her with annoyance before she pointed out something while smirking at him.

"There's a way up over there." She told him pointing up towards the ceiling and he saw to his frustration she was right.

"Right watch out for bats." He said, hoping to get a rise out of her but she just smirked at him and said.

"Nice try Desmond." She said and without wasting another moment Desmond scaled the wall nearby which thankfully held his weight without breaking despite its age and reached the passage. He ran through quickly to try and catch up with Hannah as she raced ahead on him before dropping into some very cold water.

"Ahh." Desmond said hating the cold water that contained who knows what but pulled himself out as fast as possible and continued onwards. Running up the passage he saw Hannah jump down just in time for more ghosts to appear, running straight at him.

"Desmond." Hannah said seeing the disturbed look on his face and he told her with some discomfort that had nothing to do with his wet clothes.

"More ghosts."

Hannah thinking quickly took his hand and squeezed it tight to bring his attention back to her and had no way of knowing just how much her touch affected him. The feel of her hand on his? Honestly he was struggling to control his own thoughts and wondered if it was merely his own desires, madness from the animus or grief from losing Lucy? But at the same time he could not help but feel very strongly for Hannah.

He and her walked forward hand in hand till they reached another dead-end but saw a way around it up a nearby wall. They separated and climbed it and Desmond saw another pair of ghosts ahead of that sounded like Claudia and Ezio. He listened to them and could almost feel the anxiety Ezio had felt over his sister nearly being hurt before it disappeared.

Glad of that at least Desmond looked and saw no way forward on their current level and Hannah looking at the state of wall towards the only possible passage onwards told him with concern.

"Desmond, we can't climb this."

Desmond was about suggest giving her a boost or throwing her up towards the ledge but then saw the pulley system and remembered how Ezio had used such things in the past. A slight smile came to his face.

"Follow me." He told her and she looked at him confused and while she did as he said she didn't know what he had in mind. Stepping up next to the pulley he offered his hand which she took and pulled her up against him before pushing the lever.

The two of them flew up at a fast pace and were catapulted up onto the ledge above, only because Hannah hadn't been warned she stumbled and pulled Desmond over as they landed, meaning she was laying on the ground while he was on top of her.

The pair stayed like that for a moment, not really sure of what was happening between them, Hannah certainly hadn't felt anything like this since Daniel and Desmond had never felt so strongly for any woman even Lucy.

Reluctantly Desmond got up and helped her to her feet and the two stared uncomfortably at each other for a moment before continuing on in silence.

- x -

The door when it finally opened was a big relief to those that were waiting with a big pile of equipment.

"About bloody time." Shaun said with frustration having been waiting for ages for them to finally open the door before noticing something on the wall. "What's that?" He asked and Desmond answered with gratitude that it distracted them from what had just happened in the tunnels.

"Looks like something Ezio left behind. There are numbers underneath it; 1419, 1420 and 1421." He told them and Carrie activated her own eagle vision and grinned when she saw the same numbers as him albeit in orange glowing on the wall.

"Ahh." Desmond said a headache came on and Hannah looked ready to reach for him but stopped, looking uncertain. Carrie could feel the strong emotions flowing between them and she wondered what to make it, having so little experience at this.

"Whoa! They really built this place to last. No signs of structural damage. No cell signal either. It should be safe to set up in here." Rebecca told them and Carrie wanting to be helpful used her telekinesis to lift up most of the boxes containing their equipment before levitating them down the stairs like what the others would think looked like an old cartoon.

"Thank you. Saves us a lot of heavy lifting." Rita said to Carrie who smiled along with Sue while Shaun and Rebecca fretted a little.

"Hey, be careful with baby!" Rebecca said as she saw the Animus chair being floated down the passage into the sanctum. It was still weird to her, seeing Carrie do something like this but it was awesome too she thought with excitement, wondering just what else the young girl could do.

With Carrie's help they were set up very quickly and while it was a big comedown from the loft it was safe and they all could appreciate that and thanks to a change of clothes Desmond no longer stank like a sewer. Shaun had gone to hide the van so to make sure they had power Rebecca gave Desmond and Rita a job.

"The line near here is weak wattage, so we need more juice. Go up top and put these little guys on any circuit boxes you find so we can get some more power down here. About four should do." Rebecca told them and so they each took a pair each and started the long walk up the stairs and out of the sanctum. Seeing the troubled look on Desmond's face Rita asked him.

"Hey, something happen between you and Hannah?" She had seen the sudden tension between them and he answered a little too quickly.

"No, nothing happened! Nothing." He said urgently which only confirmed it. Rita was surprised as she knew Hannah had not been interested in any man since Daniel and yet the way she kept sneaking glances when she thought no one was looking let Rita know she was at least attracted to Desmond and he was to Hannah.

Rita didn't want to see either of them especially Hannah hurt but she didn't want to interfere either. It might be a quick flame of attraction or perhaps it might be something more. She knew the stakes at hand didn't really leave much room for romance but perhaps there might not be much time left either so best not to waste it.

"Whatever you two have between you, take it one step at a time." Rita told him and he looked uncertain. "Hannah doesn't like to be pushed but neither should you be. Take it easy and let it develop naturally." She said, her own relationships had been brief and passionate and fizzled out just as quickly so she had no idea really how to build a lasting relationship.

Desmond didn't look sure of that but nodded, his relationship if it could be called that with Lucy had been fast and not really had time to flesh itself out. Maybe that was why he had not seen the truth about her he thought sadly but with Hannah, he paused hoping that maybe this might be something more.

- x -

Sue was helping Rebecca, Carrie and Hannah set up when she dropped a box suddenly, the loud sound of crashing to the floor made all of them jump but thankfully it was empty and nothing was broken but Carrie rushed over and put a hand on her back and asked quickly.

"Are you alright?" With genuine concern on her face for the girl that she could now feel was indeed pregnant, almost kicking herself for not noticing sooner. Sue looked up with a small smile and said.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Really."

"Don't worry, we contacted a doctor and he should be coming here to check on you. I just hope we get set up quickly enough to see what the Network is doing with all the data we sent them." Rebecca said cheerfully and Hannah smiled a little now too.

"A little hell I should hope."


Assassin Safe-house, Unknown Location…Four Days Ago...

William Miles was staring at the bank of computer screens as the network prepared itself for the largest offensive they had ever launched. Also combat teams and other agents were in position to make their move.

"We are ready sir." One of the members of his personal cell said with a look of great anticipation, all the Intel they had received from the team in Rome had greater than any of them had ever dreamed and it was finally time to let the Templars feel a little payback after the purge.

"Then by all means...begin." William said with a cold satisfaction.

- x -

The Assassin Network was by large made up of normal people and hackers spread out all over the world with more professional members of the Brotherhood who undertook actual missions. They did hack from time to time but today they were launching the greatest mass cyber attack in history.

Using Vidic's access codes they bypassed all the encryption and security that would make what they were doing normally impossible and started stripping the Astergo database for everything they could get their hands on.

In offices all over the world Templars and even those that weren't a part of the Order watched in horror as their files were stolen and trashed.

All the stored memories they had collected from the Animus were ripped out of their system so no trace of them was left, the Network would look through them to see what could be learned from the stolen memories while the Templars were left with nothing to show for all their work.

The accountants of Astergo watched in horror as the organisation's bank accounts were drained of all the liquid cash Astergo had! The R&D budget for the next three years! The money to pay employees and taxes they might actually have to pay. Bribery Money! The slush funds for corporate events and expense accounts!

All of it...totalling nearly three billion dollars! Snatched away into shell corporations and down a twisting rabbit hole that no one could follow.

- x -

However there was more going on that the Templars did not realise straight away.

"All their government puppets and allies even the hidden ones sir." One of the hackers told William who looked at the list and saw a list that they mostly knew about already but some they didn't William thought and wondered if they should take out a few.

"There is the blackmail dossier that they keep so politicians and the like stay in their pocket sir. It also has all their cover ups and dirty secrets sir." The hacker said as they extracted that particular piece of information, looking disgusted at all the stuff in there. It was a very big set of files. William nodded before saying coldly.

"Leak it. All of that information is to be sent to every news outlet which will cover it. I want them disgraced and out of office." William said and the hacker did as his leader told him. "And the backdoors for potential future access?" William then asked.

"All planted, if we use them sparingly we should be able to access the database at future points any time we want. Plus data on all their secret projects and plans & security codes on all facilities and on the residences of Inner Sanctum and Council of Elder members." The hackers said.

William nodded and knew those were going to be very useful to the Assassins in the time ahead. Looking at one particular facility that he had been suspicious about for some time and now had all the plans, security codes and details for William turned to one of the other screens where a blonde woman wearing a white hoodie and black trousers was waiting.

"Galina, your team should be receiving all the details on the Madrid facility soon, I want to extract all the prisoners. Retrieval of the artefacts is a secondary priority." William told perhaps the most dangerous but capable agent he had. Galina Voronina nodded and told him.

"Understood." Her Russian accent strong and professional before clicking off. William smirked a little as he considered if this mission went as well as he hoped then soon the Brotherhood might have some new recruits. Then he turned to two other unit leaders and said.

"These are your targets. Take them alive so we can mine them for information." He said and then to others as they were given their targets.


Astergo House, Philadelphia, United States...

Laetitia England was glad to be getting home to her small house after a hectic day in the office, she nodded to her two bodyguards as she entered the secure but comfortable space that was owned by Astergo, the Templar's public face. It was cheaper to just live here and safer than owning her own place and she liked the little garden out back that she could relax in on her off days.

She took off her heeled shoes and with them off her feet she let out a sigh of relief, going to her kitchen to enjoy a nice glass of red wine before settling down to dinner. She had a fully functioning kitchen but the chef service offered here was much easier and she was hoping to enjoy their roast duck tonight since it had been so praised by others.

She didn't even notice the shadows moving against the wall behind her, nor did she hear any sound from outside as her bodyguards were quickly and quietly disposed of. The only inclination of trouble she got was when she felt the syringe being stabbed into her neck and someone grabbing her from behind. She tried to scream but her mouth was covered and soon she felt her limbs slacken and her vision darken.

She would never get to taste that roast duck as she disappeared into a van belonging to the Assassins, in fact Laetitia England head of operations for Astergo and member of the Inner Sanctum would never been seen again.

Nor would Archibald Grace, a member of the Council of Elders living in another home owned by Astergo this time in London. The security codes and details needed for these operations along with the plans being something that the Assassins pilfered from the database only a short while before.


Astergo Foundation Rehabilitation Centre, Madrid, Spain…

Galina was one of the most gifted Assassins born in the last hundred years, her skills were unmatched as was the team of people she led but even they would never dare break into an Astergo facility so brazenly.

But now they had not only the plans of the facility but the number of employees, the number of prisoners, the security codes and more. While hackers played hell with the facilities computers and kept security doors locked and the staff trapped by them she and her team eliminated the guards at the entrance and stormed inside.

The few guards present had no guns although some did have crossbows as to not kill the subjects brought there to have their memories read. Galina smirked as she saw a group of three guards charge towards them with nightsticks only for she and two of her group to skilfully dodge their clumsy strikes and impale them with their hidden blades although they did pick up the nightsticks and start running deeper into the facility.

Soon they reached what was the dining area where most of the forty or so prisoners were held, the security door opened allowing Galina and her team to enter.

Inside were a large number of the prisoners who all looked confused at the sudden chaos but as they saw the security room staff being overwhelmed they realised it was a jail break.

Not all the prisoners were descendants of Assassins so not all of them jumped in to fight but those could did. An older man who had been sitting quietly reading a newspaper instantly picked up the knife he had been using to cut up his food and stabbed it into one of the guard's necks while others started attacking the guards with whatever weapons they had to hand or if they didn't have any, attacking with the unarmed combat skills they had absorbed through their ancestors.

Galina smirked as she joined in the melee, easily defeating the guards and other staff who were now badly outnumbered as well as being outclassed and told the prisoners.

"Now is the time to escape, if you wish to join the brotherhood then go to the small bus outside. Otherwise run into the city and look for the nearest policia station, tell them that you have been held here against your will." She told the prisoners and without any hesitation those inside got up and moved as quickly as they could out of the facility.

"We have a team recovering the stolen objects and downloading any data on the computers of Alan and Sofia Rikkin." Her hacker told her through her ear piece. "The more disabled prisoners including priority one is in the secure ward."

"Copy that." Galina told him and started making her way to the secure ward, the door opened and the crowd of men and women in blue and white scrubs turned to look at them.

"Joseph Lynch." She called out and an older man stepped forward, Galina was troubled when she noticed his eyes. Discoloured, clearly blind she thought with shock and anger at the Templars for doing this. "I am here to extract you."

"Took you all long enough." The man said with a strong Irish accent but nevertheless walked forward, coping with his disability well.

"Do not worry, someone will be coming for you." Galina told the others who all looked like they had some kind of disability and moving them all would take far too long for her small team which was why she had sent the other prisoners into the city. They would alert the authorities and with all the chaos the network was causing Astergo wouldn't be able to throw around its weight to stop the local law from coming inside to rescue them. Taking Joseph by the shoulder she guided him out of the facility, she saw her people loading boxes that contained special items from their past that the Templars had stolen during the Purge and to her relief sixteen of the prisoners had actually gotten onto the small bus. She helped Joseph onto it and told the suspicious looking prisoners.

"We are heading to a safe-house were you can be processed. You all have a lot of catch up on if you are going to be a part of us." Galina said with a smirk as she considered the Brotherhood now had over a dozen new recruits that were more or less fully trained already.


Within hours of the Assassins leaking the information stolen from the Astergo database it was now being spread across the world at lightning speed. All their dirty cover ups and bribery, all the deaths they had caused directly or indirectly was laid bare for all the world to see with evidence that it was true.

The recent Chamberlain Massacre, still fresh in the minds of many American families after so many teenagers died was now revealed to be their massacre. Public figures who had believed in the Templar cause or been in their pocket were now being investigated for their connections to these crimes and more leaving them unable or unwilling to help the Templars mitigate the damage, many of those that were blackmailed quickly turned around and pointed the blame at the large corporation and its members which only made the dirt stick more tightly. Politicians who had once been in favour of the corporation quickly turning against them to secure their own positions in the next elections.

But that was not the only thing exposed by the big reveal, the secret control they had of supposed 'rival' companies was revealed to the world and the different legal bodies moved swiftly to rectify their hidden and illegal monopolies. CEOs were soon forced from office or arrested and shares seized before being sold off to other business people or those rich enough to afford them.

People who were not Templars.

As the inquiries went on and the businesses were taken away Astergo itself now started losing contracts from not only other businesses but more importantly the government contracts that made up most of its income, the public figures who got them those contracts now being investigated for corruption and while they might yet be cleared the contracts were unlikely to be given back to them, especially with so much more intense competition. Some now faced charges of treason as their hidden backdoors in the national defence mainframes were exposed to the world and the militaries affected worked frantically to fix their sudden vulnerability.

Then just a couple of days later, another scandal rocked Astergo. Spanish authorities discovered their unlawful imprisonment of many different people including foreign nationals who were being forced into the device known as the Animus, some of whom were suffering permanent disabilities as a result of their exposure to the machine.

This was yet another round of investigations as international arrest warrants were put out for the two people most responsible for the facility in question, Alan Rikkin the CEO of Astergo and his daughter Sofia who ran it.


Holborn Hall, London…

The Grand Templar Hall or Holborn Hall as it was publicly known where important members of the Order would gather for the rare mass meetings was one of the few facilities not on official databases so it was decided that a quick meeting between some members of the Inner Sanctum and the Council of Elders would be held to try and come up with a solution to their sudden crisis.

The different members of the Order had to travel in disguise or use decoys to make it into the hall, Ellen Kaye, who was fuming at having to travel in the uncomfortable position of hiding in the boot of her expensive car so she wouldn't be seen arrived to see only two members of the Inner Sanctum present and neither of them was the one she really wanted to see as her fellow Council members walked up behind her.

"Where is he?" She demanded of the two that had shown up. The pair looked annoyed at being given this question, like they weren't good enough without Alan Rikkin to hold their hand.

"He has an international arrest warrant out on him." Agneta Reider said with irritation at the higher ranking Templar.

"The Rikkins are keeping a low profile at least until the heat dies down." Mitsuko Nakamura said with equal annoyance and Ellen just frowned at how fast a situation could change.

One moment the order is more powerful than it had ever been with near complete domination over the world, but in the space of a few days all that had come crashing down around their heads! She felt the migraine she had been dealing with for the last couple of days starting to get worse again but soon it would no longer be a problem as under the stands nearby, a device unnoticed by all those present was ticking away until without warning...it exploded.

The blast as so powerful it ripped through the building in moments and killed all the Council of Elders and the Inner Sanctum members instantly while taking the lives of most of their security detail and levelling a good part of the internal space of the building.

William watched with satisfaction as emergency services rushed to the scene, a small grin appearing on his face as two more members of the Inner Sanctum and the entire Council of Elders was wiped out in a single attack. While the hall had not been on any official database communications they had sent regarding the meeting had been intercepted and so they had rigged a small surprise for them.

He knew the job was far from done and many Templars still existed especially arguably the most dangerous one Alan Rikkin but this was the kind of victory he had only dreamed of before and took a moment to enjoy the triumph for the brotherhood before he got moving as he had an appointment to keep in Spain.


Villa Auditore, Italy…

Carrie and Rita were taking a risk by being outside the villa although it was in the dead of night so Carrie could learn an important rite of passage.

"A leap of faith is as much about faith as it is about precision." Rita told Carrie who was looking nervously at the pole that Desmond had leaped off at the back of the villa. "You have to trust yourself that you have gotten it right so do as I do." Rita told her student and with the grace of a cat got onto the beam and to Carrie's fright, leapt off the edge. Carrie rushed forward, terrified that her teacher was going to be a big splat on the ground only to see her roll out of a pile of hay and look up at her expectantly.

Carrie was both awed by the act but terrified to get on the pole and try herself. Rita started climbing back up the ladder and sighed as she saw the problem, she put an arm around Carrie who was a little comforted by the embrace.

"I know, its scary but when you do it once...it gets easier with each time you do it." Rita told her and led her over to the pole but Carrie was so frightened at the idea that she resisted.

"I can't do it! I just can't!" Carrie said with fright but Rita turned to face her and looked her straight in the eye with stern intensity.

"Yes you can!" Rita told her with her best 'teacher' voice. "A year ago you wouldn't have been able to do a lot of things that you can now! But you learned and this is no different. You already took the biggest leap of faith you will ever take in your life by trusting me and following us on this crazy journey. Thanks to you so much has changed! You can do this!" She told her and held her hands as if hoping for her to feel the confidence that she had in her.

Carrie was struck as she did feel the strength of Rita's conviction, the power of her belief in her was enough to move Carrie to tears and she hugged Rita for all she was worth. Rita was surprised by this but wrapped her arms around the young girl and hugged gently back.

They would look a strange sight if anyone saw they, standing there but if anyone did see them they might mistake the two for a mother and daughter, the expressions of contentment and relief on each of their faces.

Carrie bolstered by her teacher's faith in her, slowly separated from her albeit reluctantly and climbed slowly out onto the pole. She did her best to not look down but as she came to the end of the perch she took a deep breath to steady her courage and made the leap.

She was for a moment caught in the sensation as she fell through the air, her arms extended and felt the wind rushing past her as she plummeted downwards. She could see the hay pile and prepared herself as she plunged into it.

Rita watched with baited breath as Carrie emerged from the hay stack with a smile on her face and Rita could not help but smile to with a tear rolling down her cheek. So proud of Carrie, that she had completed a very important rite of passage today.

- x -

While Carrie and Rita trained Desmond had come out of the Animus for a rest, while Sue and Rebecca checked out the Animus and Shaun checked the data they had gained, Hannah took a moment to speak with Desmond.

"How are you doing?" She asked him, seeing that he seemed distracted she wanted to make sure he was okay. He looked up, the air awkward as the feelings neither knew whether to give into or not surged between them. She put her hand on his shoulder and it honestly was almost too much for him.

"You can take a break, let us analyse the data and get your head straight before going back in." She told him and he was so glad of the break that he reached up and took her hand but it was like an electric shock when their hands came into contact. She was powerless to pull away though as was he, neither knowing what was happening.

Desmond, unable to resist it any longer stood up and with Hannah as powerless to resist this chemistry as he was lent forward and kissed her.

She was so shocked that she wasn't able to stop it and soon was kissing back, neither of them knew where this madness that had gripped them had come from but neither was too concerned as they continued kissing with Hannah wrapping her arms around his neck while he wrapped his around her waist.

The others slowly noticed what the pair were doing and politely left them too while Rita and Carrie appeared from upstairs. Smiling a little as they left them to enjoy the moment.

Unfortunately it was broken a short while later a tall man with dark skin came down the stairs.

"Hey Gabriel." Rebecca said with a warm smile and went over to hug the older man who hugged her back.

"Hello Rebecca, I hope you are taking care of that old leg injury of yours?" He asked in an accent that Carrie didn't recognise and Rebecca laughed.

"That has been good for a long time, now here is my new partner in Animus design and our expectant mother Sue." She said turning to Sue who looked at him with confusion before Rebecca told her. "Gabriel is one of us, probably one the best doctors that the network knows. He's here to check up on you. Don't worry, he's the best." Rebecca reassured Sue who was disarmed by Gabriel's warm smile as he talked to her.

"Do not worry, we are going to see how you are doing that's all, besides he needs to do a DNA test on you and Carrie. See if there are any surprises we need to be aware of." Rebecca said and both Carrie and Sue were a little surprised by that.

"Why do we need a test?" Sue asked but Hannah who had taken the distraction caused by Gabriel to separate herself from Desmond explained.

"We just what to check your genetic history, while we know Carrie's father's lineage we don't know her mother's or any of yours. We want to see what ancestors you have." Hannah said standing awkwardly with Desmond, not really sure what was going on between them any more. Carrie and Sue both looked a little uncertain but allowed their blood to be drawn and while Sue was being examined by Gabriel, Shaun spoke.

"William Miles has a mission for Rita and Carrie." He said. The two women mentioned looked on in confusion while the rest of the group looked on. "While Desmond continues to go through Ezio's memories Rita and Carrie go to Florence and intercept a Templar courier, their head of operations in Europe is taking documents containing several of their back up plans. Find him, kill him and retrieve the documents." Shaun explained. "All other units are on other operations as the offensive continues and given our proximity he wants us to do it. Me and Rebecca will be on comms but it falls on you two."

"I'll go alone." Rita said, not worried about the mission as to be honest it would be nice to get out of the crypt for awhile but while she had faith in Carrie she was not ready for a mission yet. Rita was full of worries for each way she could be hurt of captured but Carrie said.

"No we go together." Her expression of being petulant was for once like a normal teenager but Shaun interrupted, preventing a potential argument.

"There will need to be two, one to retrieve the case and the other to handle security. It has to be both of you since Desmond will be here." Shaun said and the rest of the group looked uneasily at the pair who were standing there, more tense than normal.

- x -

Florence...The Next Night…

Spending the day hiding in a deserted house in Florence while Rebecca and Shaun looked for signs of their target was to say the least awkward, neither spoke to the other all day as they waited for the go.

Carrie was in some ways though excited for her first mission for the Brotherhood but at the same time was angry at Rita for not wanting her along. They had been so close the night before and she had felt her confidence in her so why didn't she want her here?

Rita just waited patiently, resting up and said nothing but she kept making quiet looks of concern towards her.

When finally the time came, it was a relief for Carrie so at last they could get out of the house while Rita's nerves got worse.

The old buildings of Florence were perfect for them as they raced across the rooftops, leaping from one to the next with ease as they approached the target position. Stopping on the roof above they looked down and saw the man they were hunting leave the safe house with a number of guards around him. Rita seeing the odds against them said.

"I'll handle the guards, you get the case and the target." Carrie looked thunderous for a moment but with an annoyed frown she nodded and with a calculated jump, the two pounced.

Rita landed right on top of one of the bodyguards and planted her hidden blade right in his back before pulling it free and kicking one of the guards hard in the leg, breaking it before impaling her blade in another one that was about to draw his gun.

Rita seeing another one was about to shoot she steered the one she had just stabbed in the way and used him as a human shield to not only protect herself but also get close enough that she was grab hold of the offender and with single solid thrust stab him in the gut.

Meanwhile Carrie was having a harder time than she expected, in her annoyance to get this over with so they could return to the villa she had jumped and assassinated one of the bodyguards instead and now was faced with the target who was aiming a gun at her, fortunately his hand was shaking so badly that the bullet it fired only grazed her arm but the pain was sharp. Before he got off a second shoot however she ran forward and stabbed him straight in the neck and tore the briefcase he was holding from his hands before pulling her blade free too.

She looked down at him gasping for breath as he fell to the floor, blood gushing from his ruined throat.

"You've got the case, good now let's get out of here as locals are calling the authorities." Rebecca's voice came through on the comms and Rita grabbed Carrie by the good arm and pulled her away into a side alley where with effort they climbed the walls with the case and got onto the roof. Running a short distance before stopping.

"Oh god your hurt!" Rita said with distress and immediately started fussing over the injury but Carrie told her.

"It's fine, just a graze." Carrie insisted and pushed her away but Rita would not be put off and started tying a bandage from her own top around it.

"This is why I didn't want you here, I should never have let you get hurt!" Rita said with a maternal concern which Carrie found so alien she didn't know exactly what it was.

"Rita." Carrie said with a look that made her stop, Rita just sighed and closed her eyes before saying.

"I know you were ready for this and I've had worse injuries than this one myself but I never want to see you hurt!" Rita said with genuine fear in her eyes. "I dragged you into this world and I brought you here! I care too much about you to let you get hurt without a fight Carrie." Rita said with her energy seeming to run out as she spoke the last word.

Carrie was stunned and almost overwhelmed by the emotion that was pouring out of Rita, her eyes moistened a little as she considered if this was what it was like to have a real mother...one that cared and loved her. Mama had loved hurting her but Carrie could never be sure if Margaret had actually loved her as a mother should love a daughter beyond that. Maybe not but she had no real way to know for sure.

What she was feeling from Rita now though, she thought was actual love. Caring for her well-being and actually wanting the best for her. Carrie leaned forward and hugged Rita who was surprised but hugged her back, resting her head on Carrie's and stroking her hair.

- x -

Villa Auditore, Italy…

"This is healing very quickly." Gabriel noted as he tended to the graze on Carrie's arm. "Another day it should be gone. I can't say I have ever seen anyone heal this fast."

The group tensed a little as the strangeness was too close to Carrie's secret and they didn't want any one other than them to know just yet but Rita then distracted him by asking.

"So how is Sue? The baby?" She asked looking at Sue who was smiling brightly.

"All good, she is a very healthy young woman who will no doubt give birth to healthy baby." Gabriel said with a joy at the news which Sue was glad of, seeming to have come to terms with it and in fact was excited by the thought of having Tommy's baby. Gabriel then told them what his tests had discovered.

"Well, that child though has a special linage through you Sue." He told her not wanting to spoil the surprise. Sue and the others looked surprised at the announcement.

"Your tests said she has a special ancestor?" Rebecca asked with curiosity and Gabriel nodded.

"Well don't keep us in suspense. Who is it?" Shaun asked while Sue looked on expectantly, Gabriel decided to let them know.

"You have assassin blood in you Sue, you are a part of the Frye bloodline." He told her and while Sue, Carrie and Desmond all looked on in confusion having never heard of that particular family. Hannah, Rebecca, Rita and Shaun though looked shocked and in fact grinned a fair bit as it sank in. For Shaun in particular as he was intrigued for the implications for his historical research.

"Through which one?" He asked eagerly and Gabriel told him.

"Jacob, through Lydia."

Shaun was now grinning widely before explaining to those not as familiar with assassin history as the others.

"Jacob Frye and his twin sister Evie liberated London from the Templars in 1868 after it had been in Templar hands for around a century. They rebuilt the brotherhood there and managed to gain a lot of powerful friends. Years later just prior to World War One they both trained Jacob's granddaughter Lydia who was the sole Assassin watching over London during the war. I would love to get a hold of their memories, not to mention Ethan Frye Jacob's father who was a famous assassin in his own right." Shaun said, eager to study a famous trio of assassins and through them learn a bit about Evie too.

Sue looked amazed at having Assassin ancestors too and smiled, wondering if she could go into the Animus herself and gain some fighting skills of her own but putting her hand on her belly knew that would have to wait till she had given birth, not wanting to hurt the baby with the animus.

"Oh man, you got cool ancestors too." Rebecca said with annoyance. "Mine were just Prussian mercenaries. Boring!"

"Yeah because guns aren't dangerous at all." Hannah said with a shake of her head.

"There was a few surprises with Carrie too though." Gabriel said and they all looked to him in surprise. "She has a very high amount of Precursor DNA in her, the highest we have ever seen in a human being around thirty percent. I can't say what that means for you my dear." Gabriel said and he noticed them all visibly tense at that before moving onto the second part of his report.

"The test of your lineage also revealed something surprising, not only did it confirm you are indeed Thomas Miles's daughter but it seems you have an assassin ancestor on your mother's side too." Gabriel told them, his face becoming more grave as he spoke.

"Who?" Carrie asked, now confused as she had not idea just who this new ancestor was. Rita at her side took her hand.

"Nikolai Orlev." Gabriel said with sorrow and Shaun blinked for a moment before Hannah exclaimed with shock.

"That lunatic! He was Daniel's ancestor too." She said and Carrie was unnerved by the way she described her ancestor as a lunatic especially with the way her mother had behaved. Rita squeezed her hand to comfort her and told her in as best a way as she could the difficult story.

"Nikolai Orlev was a Russian Assassin that was to say the least...troubled. He had a difficult career and had a lot of horrible things happen to him that strained him badly. He immigrated to America but was separated from his wife and daughter who were sent back to Russia while he stayed with his son who he raised in a very harsh way. He was eventually killed by his own son due to his mistreatment or so we've heard."

"Mad...just like mama." Carrie said with fear in her voice, now seeing a pattern that scared her. Her ancestor had been crazy and driven his own son to kill him while her mama had tormented her for years and while she would never have hurt mama, the thought had occurred to her more than once growing up. Could that be in her future too? Carrie thought with fear, to be a horrible person just like Mama? She was feeling very scared at the idea.

Rita who knew the situation Carrie had faced at home prior to discovering her heritage gripped her hand tightly and turned her so they were facing. She stared deeply into her eyes as she spoke.

"Carrie, what happened to you was awful but that doesn't define who you are! You never hurt your mother despite her giving you plenty of reason to. You don't kill unless you have too! Both Nikolai and Margaret allowed all their pain and misery to consume them, whatever happened to them might not have been their fault but what they did with it was. You have to play whatever hand you're dealt and you play yours a lot better than they ever did. However you got these gifts or whatever life you've lived the only person that defines who you are, is you." Rita told her and as a tear ran down Carrie's face Rita gently wiped it away.

Carrie didn't speak, instead she launched herself forward and hugged Rita tightly who was surprised but soon hugged her back. Everyone looked on with a small smile on their faces, seeing the bond the two shared.


Abandoned Hacienda, Spain…

The heat of Spain was almost as jarring as the jet-lag William thought with irritation, as a globe travelling assassin one would thing you would get used to this kind of thing but you never really did.

Right now though he was preparing to meet with a friend he hadn't seen in almost thirty years.

Walking into the room he saw the man who had been a devoted and capable member of the Brotherhood not to mention a family man sitting at the table. His sightless eyes were a disheartening but William pushed past that, the Joseph he had known wouldn't have wanted his pity so he just walked up to him.

"You still have the same heavy walk William." Joseph said in his gruff strong Irish accent which made him smile.

"Its gotten a lot heavier the last few years." William answered back before Joseph got to his feet and the two men hugged. "You want to get out?" He asked already knowing the answer but wanting to make sure that his old friend hadn't changed too much.

"Hell no, I want to make the bastards pay for the last twenty plus years I've been locked up by them. And for Mary." He said looking sad as he mentioned the wife he had been forced to kill rather than allow the Templars to force her into the Animus. The fact he had been forced into it himself was of little consequence when compared to that. "But first I am going to find my son, especially before the Templars do."

"I know, we have a location and I will give you the details later but for now...what about these new recruits?" William asked and Joseph nodded.

"Some things never change I see, just as impatient as ever. Bare in mind some of them haven't had all their ancestors probed yet so they might need to spend some time in the animus to complete their training." Joseph said with a bitter smile. "Come on then, let's meet them all." Joseph said and managed to find his way to the door which impressed William but he knew Joseph would never left any impairment get the better of him. William followed and saw on the veranda a group of fifteen people sitting around waiting for him.

All of them were checked as much as possible but internal security was thankfully a lot higher these days William thought before studying them. They were all very different, a lot of different types of people but all like Joseph were still wearing those awful Astergo scrubs. The oldest of them, probably around the same age as he and Joseph if not older stood up.

"So this is the mentor?" He said a clipped English accent, his thinning white hair short on his head but his eyes were as intense as any William had ever seen. "I do thank you for our liberation but I do question how long you intend to keep us here? We are eager to take some of our years of imprisonment out on the Templars." He told him shortly but it was in such a dignified and refined way of speaking you couldn't help but admire it.

"William Miles, this is Benjamin Scott. A former judge and descendant of Thomas de Carneillon and Niccolo Machiavelli among a few others." Joseph introduced which made William raise an eyebrow as those two men had been very successful mentors to the Brotherhood.

"Yes and while my unfortunate heart condition means I can no longer be a field operative I am more than happy to apply my abilities wherever they could be placed." Benjamin said before he started introducing the others.

"This is Lin, a descendant of Shao Jun, then there is Nathan who is a descendant of Duncan Walpole, Moussa who is descended from Baptiste and Emir who is descended Yusef Tazim." Benjamin said and William was impressed by the names mentioned so far except Baptiste and Walpole as those men were known to have betrayed the brotherhood but Benjamin continued with his introductions, turning a young Indian woman who was looking at him with eyes far too intense for a girl her age.

"Dhriti Aditi, a girl from a middle class family in India, a family which was distant as she wanted to see more of the world but also was of her father's unsuccessful first marriage and was treated coldly because of it. She was taken on the way home from school and forced into the Animus. Her lineage is impressive though as she has among her bloodline Ethan Frye, Evie Frye, Jayadeep Mir and Arbaaz Mir." Benjamin said and William's eyebrow rose at the impressive list. If she had the skills of all of them then this young woman would be a formidable fighter indeed.

"Maximilian was an architect from Germany. He was just attending a conference when he was grabbed from his hotel room in the middle of the night and had the memories of Lukas Zurberg, Girolamada Lucca and Darla probed." Benjamin said pointing to a man in his early thirties with short black hair and wearing slim framed glasses. His eyes were sharp and studied everything William noted, not familiar with all those ancestors but he would review the files later.

"Cesare was a pickpocket in Genoa, picked up by police before being handed over to Astergo. His skills come from Lucas Bellini and Perina di Bastian." Moving onto the next one, a young handsome Italian rouge who was smirking widely and sitting close to a blonde woman who sat there ignoring him coldly. She was the next one Benjamin introduced.

"Niska was a street racer in Russia who was ran off the road by a driver in the pay of the Templars, they pulled her from the car and probed her nearly three centuries worth of Russian Brotherhood ancestry." Benjamin said and the woman just nodded at William who was impressed at her poker face, it gave nothing away.

"Then there is Ibrahim." Benjamin said with a gesture to a fairly young Libyan man with a shaved head who nodded respectfully to William who returned the gesture. "He was a young man working on a farm who was grabbed by Astergo while tending to cows. He has the blood of Najma Alayza in him."

"Anna is one of the youngest." Benjamin said turning to a young slim brown haired girl of no more than sixteen who had her legs crossed on the table and whistled like she was bored but he could tell she was alert and ready for any kind of trouble by the way she was positioned. "She was lured from Scotland to Madrid by winning a trip that Astergo rigged for her to win before faking her death and sticking her in the facility. She has a number of powerful ancestors including Claudio and Alessandra d'Avanzago and has all of their skills now. She wants to travel and is legally dead so she is ready to be an Assassin herself."

"But Luis would rather stay in Spain and help out here if he can." He said gesturing to a middle aged Spaniard who was sipping water with a carefree expression. "A descendant of Magdalena Suárez, Miguel Carasso and Gonzalo Pardo he loves his country and wishes to protect it." Benjamin explained and William wondered if he might be willing to run this safe-house since it was one of their best and a good location for training new recruits or set up some more around Spain.

"Sophie is a London girl." Benjamin said looking to a young brown haired girl who smiled at William with a genuine warm caring look which made William wonder if she had it in her to be an assassin but when Benjamin explained her back story he realised she was stronger than she looked.

"Her father tried to kill both her and her mother when she was twelve but although he died they didn't even if her mother would never walk again. Still she helped her mother as much as she could, playing her violin and singing to cheer her up when things were bad. She was the only one here that knew she was going into the Animus as Astergo offered her money for spending some time in there for their historical research program but when they realised her importance namely that she has; Clara O'Dea, Robert Fitzwalter, Miko, Nicolas Fatio de Duiller, Ser Aubrey Hague and Emiliana Santi in her bloodline she found herself a permanent guest there while her mother suffered an 'accident'." Benjamin said and a look of anger crossed Sophie's face for a moment at what the Templars had done merely so her mother wouldn't raise fuss about her not coming back.

"And her?" William asked seeing the potential talent of this group was immense, pointing to the youngest of all. A girl of no more than twelve who was sitting on the wall looking out across the landscape. Benjamin took a look at the girl himself and explained.

"Lara is a descendant of Altair but through Claudia Auditore rather then Ezio, however they tried to probe the Precursor Civilisation with her but something made the memories nothing but static and she hasn't been a normal girl since. She seems almost fae in her mannerisms but she see's things that everyone else misses and I know she escaped into Madrid not once but twice and returned each time! Her intelligence is extremely high but when she has to fight she is lethal." Benjamin said and William looked at the girl strangely, not sure what to make of her and she seemed to notice his stare and turned to look at him, scanning him from head to foot then went back to what she was doing.

William wasn't sure what was going on in her head but what was clear was they had over a dozen fresh fighters that once properly caught up would be a powerful asset in the war.

"When you are all brought up to speed on how things operate these days if you want to still be a part of this war then you will be able to form your own cell." William told them and nearly all of them looked glad of that but Benjamin interrupted.

"As good as that is we do need to discuss something else, this is not just a war but a chance for the Brotherhood to rebuild itself. While the Templars are off balance and we keep them that way the rest of the Brotherhood needs to be restored to its full strength if this is going to mean anything in the long run." Benjamin said with a pressing look in his eyes.

William was forced to stop and reconsider some of his plans when he was reminded of that. This was the first real chance the Brotherhood had since the Purge started to catch its breath and take stock of its future. It wasn't just running constantly from a seemingly unstoppable enemy any more, at last it had a chance to address its wounds.

A chance to rebuild, that William thought was worth considering.


Templar Inner Sanctum Meeting, Unknown Location…

Alan Rikkin looked as professional and unconcerned as ever when he entered the room, remarkable considering the last few days of constantly having to avoid the authorities until they could find some way to get these charges quashed.

At his side Sofia was looking more casual than she should but she had been finding it harder to adjust to being a fugitive than he had. Her white shirt was wrinkled as she had been sleeping in it and her hair was in a mess from not being able to care for it properly. He would allow her a chance to fix herself up soon enough.

The loss of the Madrid Facility had hit her hard he realised, all her work gone but it could be rebuilt with time he thought and considered how best to convince her of that when the other surviving members of the Inner Sanctum arrived.

He was instantly infuriated at how low the numbers were, of just over half dozen or so high ranking and skilled Templars that had once made up the elite circle just five other than he were present. Daniel Cross and his lieutenant Juhani Otso Berg stood there looking tired after running around the last few days while Isabelle Ardant was drinking her cup of black coffee with a pinched look on her face.

David Kilkerman was looking through some papers with an expression of horrified disbelief on his face which made Alan know whatever he was looking at was unlikely to be good for them.

Other than that Otto Schmidt was the only one present and that made Alan's mood grow much darker.

"Where is Doctor Álvaro?" Sofia asked hoping to speak to him about his fascinating work on the Pieces of Eden but Isabelle spoke up with anger in her voice and a very strong tightening around her eyes.

"The Assassins got him! Killed him right inside his own home! They even got Alfred Sterns! Its open season on Templars right now if you didn't notice." Isabelle snapped at Sofia who stepped back a little with the older woman's anger but Alan knowing anger wasn't going to help spoke up.

"Now now, we need to keep our cool. None of us could have predicted the sudden change in our fortunes but what matters is we keep our heads." He said taking a seat with Sofia at his side who was now he guessed with a bit of pride a member of the Inner Sanctum. His words seemed to convince the others to calm down and he asked Kilkerman what he needed to know. "And what is the state of Astergo?"

"Fucked." Kilkerman said with brutal honesty as he threw down some papers which made Alan raise an eyebrow.

"Care to elaborate?" Cross asked with Juhani at his side nodding with frustration at the lack of clarity.

"The company is haemorrhaging money!" Kilkerman said with a sigh of exhaustion. "With all the liquid cash gone and the loss of contracts from all the scandals we have had to sell off a lot of buildings and assets to stay afloat. Combined with the loss of the Council of Elders and being deprived of their accounts the Order is the weakest its been for centuries." Kilkerman said with exhaustion, sitting back in his chair.

Alan nodded, he had never imagined such a devastating blow could be struck against the order. He would now he saw with bitterness have to be the man that rebuild what they had lost.

"Well, we had best get ourselves ready then. The War is still going on and we all have jobs to do." Alan said, vowing that like so many times before the Templars would rise again and somehow would destroy the Assassins.


Villa Auditore, Italy…

Gabriel had left to return to his own normal life while Desmond had re-entered to the Animus to find the apple they were looking for Rita took the opportunity to give Carrie and Sue a little firearms training.

"Right, simple hand gun Glock 17. A clip of seventeen rounds per clip." Rita said holding up the pistol for them to see before indicating the long barrel attachment on the end. "Silencer to muzzle the shot."

She waited while Sue and Carrie awkwardly held their identical pistols and got used to the weight, then she slid the magazine in.

"To load, push in until you hear a click and then pull back the slide." She said pulled the slide on the top of the pistol to load a bullet. She watched as they more slowly than her did the same before Rita turned towards one of the three makeshift targets she had set up.

"Turn off the safety, hold with both hands to steady your aim before you fire while steadying yourself with your feet as much as you can." She told them, holding it with both hands and showing them how it should be done before pulling the trigger. A pair of shots hit the target she was facing dead centre. Rita turned with a look of expectation at Carrie and Sue who looked at each other with uncertain looks before turning and shooting at the targets.

As they felt the recoil they both nearly dropped the guns in surprise having not been expecting it, letting our a cry of shock before Rita seeing their fingers were still on the triggers told them sternly.

"Unless you are going to shoot keep your fingers off the trigger, you don't want to fire accidentally, either that or click the safety back on." She told them with eyes focused on their weapons. Both girls did as they were told and clicked on the safety.

Desmond then surprised them all by waking up from the animus.

"We've got it, the Colosseum." He said with relief having finally managed to discover just where Ezio had hidden the apple.

"Right, if we get moving we should be able to get there before dawn." Hannah said. "Then we'll head out of Italy to another safe-house across the border. Best get out of the country in case the Templars are still looking for us." She said and Shaun who had been quietly listening to something then spoke up.

"I think you all might want to hear this. Its from Warren Miles and its being sent around the entire network." He told them and keyed on a message that he had just received.

"My fellow assassins." The clipped and hard voice of William Miles sounded around them, Desmond visibly tensed at the sound of his father but Hannah took his hand and held it. "For the first time in over twelve years we have at last gotten the upper hand and levelled the playing field against the Templars, given them a taste of the pain we felt during the Purge. We have struck a blow that has wounded them greatly but we must not forget that the war is not over. We must continue to press the Templars and check their attempts to rebuild their power."

"However." William's voice continued as they all eagerly listened. "At last we have the chance to lick our wounds and recover from the devastation and losses inflicted on us. Wherever you might be know that as a brotherhood we stand strong, some units will continue to fight the Templars wherever they might be but others will begin the work of rebuilding the Brotherhood back up to what it once was. We will recover and grow strong again. We work in the darkness, to serve the light." He said before all of them completed the sentence along with him.

"We are Assassins."

Just as the message finished the lights suddenly went out and left them all in darkness.

"Damn European power grid." Rebecca cried out with frustration. "I just noticed that door to the apple had some kind of verbal key and now we can't analyse Ezio's memories to find out what it is." She said knowing they had just hit a major road block.

"It needs a password." Hannah said with worry knowing they were stuck if that was the case.

"Try humming Beethoven's fifth." Shaun said sarcastically but Rita then had an idea.

"Maybe we don't need too. Desmond had animus echoes while he was coming in here maybe if he goes there the answer might come to him." Rita suggested before Desmond suddenly realised something.

"The numbers Ezio left on the wall upstairs." He told them and they all turned to look at him not understanding. "The image the numbers were painted on looked exactly the same as that door, see." He said as he led them all up the many flights of stairs till they reached the top and the triangle image on the walls.

"Yeah, its a perfect match." Rebecca said as she looked at it herself.

"1419, 1420, 1421. So those aren't dates but the password to the vault?" Sue asked wondering just how Ezio had known to leave them there just where they would find them so many centuries later.

Shaun then as he read the numbers suddenly realised something.

"Oh my God." He said with amazement and they all turned to look at him with surprise.

"Well, don't leave us hanging?" Hannah asked pressingly.

"God." He said again which only made them all look at him with confused annoyance till he elaborated. "I am, I am! The Tetragrammaton. The seventy two names of God. You see? They're all contained within three verses. Exodus 19 through 21. And, get this, you'll like this, if you arrange the four Hebrew letters in God's name within an equilateral triangle." He told them excitedly pointing to the one on the wall. "Their numerical values add up to the same number: 72."

"Are you absolutely sure about this?" Rebecca asked, knowing they could be gambling everything on a hunch but Shaun reacted with injured pride.

"That's kind of why I am saying it out loud Rebecca yeah. But I haven't gotten to the kicker yet. Construction on the Colosseum began in the year 72." Shaun said which left them all feeling a little spooked.

"That's a lot of coincidences." Carrie said feeling unsettled.

"But that means we have our password." Rebecca said with a look of acceptance as while she might question him every now and again she trusted Shaun completely.

"Shaun go get the van." Hannah said with a determined look on her face. "The rest of us pack up, we won' be coming back here." She told them and so they retreated down the stairs again to get all their gear they couldn't afford to leave behind. None of them noticing that in the case they had put it in the broken Apple of Eden they had brought with them was glowing an ethereal blue.


Colosseum, Rome…

The sight of the famous ancient arena was awesome when Carrie and Sue both finally caught sight of it, not having had the time to do so the last time they had been in Rome. They both looked at it with amazement at its size and age being nearly two thousand years old.

"Deja Vu." Desmond said, feeling from his experience with Ezio's memories that he had already been here.

"I bet." Rebecca said knowing full well how strange this must be for Desmond.

"Well, we can't stay long so better get moving." Hannah said, worried about them being in the heart of Rome so soon after the warehouse and the increased surveillance of the Templars. "You guys stay with the van, keep a look out for trouble." She told them as she and Desmond prepared to go after the apple.

"Whoa, what about us?" Shaun asked with annoyance at being left out again. "You might need an actual historian down there." Hannah bit her lip before saying.

"Right okay, it looks like the tunnel leads right beneath Capitoline Hill. We'll look for other passages down while Desmond follows Ezio's route. Rita, you keep Carrie and Sue here in case anyone shows up."

Rita nodded reluctantly while Sue and Carrie looked annoyed as the others ran off to have all the fun. Retreating back to the van Sue began rubbing her eyes furiously.

"Hey are you alright?" Carrie asked with concern.

"Its my eyes. They just ache." Sue said with a tired voice while Rita just sighed and told her.

"Then stop rubbing, chances are you will only make it worse."

Sue was about to respond when suddenly she cried out and put her hands over her eyes while Rita and Carrie grabbed her to stop her falling over and dragged her over to the truck. Rita checked her over while Carrie asked with desperation.

"What's wrong?" She was now very concerned especially with Sue being pregnant but Sue didn't immediately answer, only managing to take her hands away from her eyes. Rita checked them but they both seemed okay.

"My vision, its all funny!" Sue said with sudden fright. "All grey and you guys look blue!" She said with fear. That made Carrie and Rita turn to look at each other with surprise as they both already knew what this was.

"Right, listen to me." Rita told Sue while holding her hands, remembering the last time she had dealt with someone having a moment like this. "Just take a deep breath and listen to my voice. You are going to just fine. Now take a deep breath in and out. In and out." Rita told her and led her in the same breathing exercise that she had once done with Carrie in the locker room when all this had began.

After awhile Sue managed to calm down and her vision had returned to normal, Carrie and Rita both smiled and gave her a look of pride.

"Now you are one of us. Enjoy eagle vision." Carrie said to her and Sue blinked in surprise at suddenly having the same ability as them. Carrie turned to Rita with a questioning look but she just frowned. She knew Sue had a least a little Precursor genetics as the tests revealed she had Jacob Frye's DNA who had the ability himself but Sue's had been dormant until now. Somehow that gene had been triggered but as to how she could only guess.

Looking in the van she saw the box with the damaged apple inside and her frown increased, Carrie had lived in the same house as it for years and developed all these abilities she had...maybe it had been responsible. Could it be affecting Sue too? She wondered knowing if that was the case the longer they were around it who knows what it could end up doing to them all?

However as she was pondering this and doing her best to keep vigil in case anyone unexpected showed up she was shocked to see Hannah running up to them with Rebecca and Shaun carrying an unconscious Desmond between them.

"What happened!?" Rita asked not sure if they could take another surprise, Hannah who was looking both scared and flustered said.

"We don't know, he touched the apple and then fell unconscious." Hannah said and Rita then noticed that in her hand, Hannah was holding the Apple they had come for.

- x -

While Sue and Rita were asking what had happened in the Temple, Carrie went over to Desmond and touched his head, hoping she might feel something that could help but could only sense a vague feeling of his thoughts. Wherever Desmond had gone she could barely feel it and she looked over to the Apple with anger at it doing this when it suddenly seemed to blast out a brief but dazzling burst of golden light.

Carrie found herself stuck like a statue, unable to move and yet her mind was active.

"WHAT!" She called out in a panic but saw the others were completely frozen. A strange female voice then spoke.

"You are only in our most unlikely simulations but you are a factor that could change the balance. You must help him, help Desmond find the Sixth! Find the Temple! The final pieces lay within the memories of another." The voice was strange not entirely human which only made her feel more scared.

"What do you mean!? Who are you?" Carrie asked with desperation to move but the voice did not answer fully.

"You have the same memories as Desmond. You must explore them yourself, gain their skills too if you are to help him and someday find your father. He still lives." The Voice told her before suddenly, she jolted out of whatever was holding her and looked around to see the others hadn't even seemed to notice what had just happened.

- x -

Unknown Location...Days Later...

Hours later as they made contact with other Assassins who had spirited them away from Italy Carrie and Sue sneaked down to the Animus.

"Carrie, I really don't know about this." Sue said with nervousness, not sure she knew enough about the Animus to manage Carrie having a session in it. Carrie however told her.

"With Desmond down we need to continue sorting through the memories, I am the only one besides him that can do it!" She told Sue, not telling her what had happened with the Apple as she knew Sue would only try to stop her and the thought that her father might be out there and that she might find him was too big to ignore!

"We start at the beginning, we already have the memories and we take it in small sessions." Carrie said as she sat in the red and white chair, her heart racing as she braced herself. "Start with Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, twelfth century." She told Sue who was looking very worried before telling her firmly. "Do it."

Sue with more than a little hesitation especially about doing this behind Rita's back, activated the memories in question and Carrie jerked before her eyes closed and she was transported back in time to a tunnel in the midst of the Third Crusade.


There we are, hope you enjoyed it. Please review and let me know what you thought.