Not being able to communicate comfortably with someone was rather annoying, Ezio decided after having sat beside Conner for almost a half hour without doing anything.

About five minutes after Shay and M'gann had left in the direction of the bedrooms, Ezio had plopped himself beside Conner with a heavy sigh. The Italian man had tried to fill his time with looking around the main room of the mountain, but got tired after a while because there were no paintings, no portraits, and not even any kind of vase or antique he could get his hands on. The whole place felt awfully cold if you asked him.

But he wasn't about to allow boredom to take him, so he tried to look at whatever had taken Conner's attention. The boxy contraption that was in front of them had a type of screen and seemed to mimic the small puppet theaters he had watched as a child. But there were no puppets and certainly no humans behind the thing to control said-absent puppets. And in place of those humans and puppets, there were white and black dots dancing all along the screen. But nothing happened. Was the boy really enjoying all of this?

"Conner?" He had asked, trying to get the teenage boy's attention.

But the black haired teen had only grunted noncommittally and kept his eyes on the screen in front of them.

Still, Ezio tried to communicate with him at least five more times in the next thirty minutes even though the most he got as an answer from the boy was a broken, "Maybe." in Italian.

Ezio stayed seated beside the big teen for about one more minute after he had decided on one conclusion of the language barrier, but he was restless and bored. So he sprang up from the couch like a spring and grabbed Conner's shirt by the collar and pulled him up.

Conner had been nice enough to allow Ezio to drag him upwards and into the kitchen area of the mountain. He didn't really feel like trying to explain how he was so strong at the moment so he didn't really feel like putting up too much of a struggle against Ezio.

"Bambino, I am hungry." Ezio grumbled in his rapid way of speaking Italian.

He spoke fast enough that Conner had to strain his own hearing to be able to understand what had been said, and once he understood, his complexion paled by a small bit. He wasn't the type of person that would normally cook. And he still didn't like Ezio at the moment- there was still a bit of suspicion because of his assassin ways- which made him want to cook for the man much less.

"What you want me do?" Conner responded in a broken Italian, eyebrows drawn in as Ezio dragged him into the kitchen.

"Why, food of course!" Ezio responded happily, "I do not understand anything in here but I am sure you do, so I would like for you to make me something to eat."

Ezio had spoken with a careless happiness about him but Conner felt despair slowly begin to rise in his body. He wasn't a cook. M'gann usually always made the food for him.

"Now come on, I will help you! We shall create a feast!"

Conner really regretted being able to actually understand the Italian the man spoke. If only he hadn't assured M'gann he could deal with the man.

Artemis had disappeared into her room as soon as the group of four had left through the Zeta Station, having decided that she should get some sleep before yet another visitor arrived. Until now, she had liked Shay because of how careful and caring he was with her team. Desmond was a bit of a wild card, but he was all right in her book. But she still wasn't sure what to think of Ezio because of recent he had arrived.

Still, she had been tired from the initial mission they had gone on and so had decided to take a small nap while the rest of the Team was gone. But, about forty minutes into her nap, her stomach growled angrily at her and reminded her that she was a human, which meant she still had to ingest some type of food to be able to rest better.

So she got up from her bed, tied her hair up in a loose ponytail, adjusted her shirt and pajama pants, and padded out of the room in bare feet. She hadn't planned to be seen by the visitors and her friends were already used to her pajamas, so she didn't care that she walked out in such a manner.

When the blonde archer reached the kitchen, though, her hunger was forgotten for a moment by the fascination she felt at the scene before her.

Was Conner really in the kitchen? Did he even know how to work the oven he was trying to use?

And to add to the humor of the scene was Ezio wearing an apron that read 'Kiss the Cook' with his heavier robes left over the island of the kitchen, which left him in his much lighter undergarments. He had a large bowl in his hands and was placing in on the kitchen counter as he turned to Conner.

"Pizza, sí? È il più semplice." He said, all the while moving towards the fridge to start grabbing the ingredients he would need.

Artemis smirked at Conner's flustered face- his eyebrows were drawn in annoyance, but his face was almost as red as Wally's hair- then decided that it would be best to leave the 'chefs' to their work and turned around.

Her hunger was ignored as she made her way towards the mission room, where she felt that she would find Kaldur. And once she reached the main mission room, she found Kaldur standing in the very middle of it, facing a rather stern looking Batman, who was talking to him on a screen.

"You are telling me you allowed three strangers to enter Mt. Justice before deciding to tell me about them? Even though you know how possibly dangerous they were?" Batman questioned, eye slits drawn into his 'Bat glare'.

The Atlantean teen nodded mutely, eyes steely as he kept them trained on the Bat. Artemis noted that his body was tense and seemed to be frozen in place, and it bothered her that he actually dared to accept the Bat's scolding all by himself, without anyone to back him up.

It was a good thing she had entered at that very moment to be able to be the reinforcement Kaldur most probably thought he wouldn't need.

"He did all that because we decided as a Team to help the guys out. Their world is in peril. Did you know?" Artemis asked as she crossed her arms and stepped towards the screen, earning Kaldur to turn to her with shock running across his face before he composed himself once more.

"The first to arrive was a man named Shay Cormac that needed immediate medical attention. Which is how he was introduced into the Mountain, we all thought it would be best for Red Tornado to treat him rather than take him to a hospital and just leave him alone. After he had been treated and we began to get to know him, Desmond Miles was transported from his home to stand right in front of us. We were wary of him at first, but calmed down as soon as he explained his situation." Kaldur explained, tone firm but respectful. "And finally we found Ezio Auditore when we went to Arkham Asylum to fetch him. There is a fourth visitor and I set Robin, Kid Flash, and Zatanna to accompany Desmond Miles."

"These men are all Assassins?" The Bat asked, frown grim as he looked down at both teenagers in front of him.

Both the girl and the boy nodded, "But it's not what you think, Batman." Artemis immediately spoke up, already knowing the Bat would use that information against them, "They're not the killers for hire we're used to. It's a rather long story that we still don't have. Actually, Desmond only explained a fraction of how he managed to come into our world."

"But they are not the kind to kill senselessly." Kaldur stated firmly, "M'gann has already gone through the memories of both Shay Cormac and Desmond Miles and we found nothing that would lead us to believe they are dangerous beings and are likely to harm us. They may have killed, Batman, but they do not kill just for fun. Every single life they take has a reason for dying and they never feel any type of happiness when they do so."

"That you know of." Batman growled, "We do not know these people, Kaldur'ahm. We do not know what type of world they come from and just how powerful they could be. Your decision to keep this information from the League until right now was reckless and seems to lack consideration for the kind of danger you may have just placed your team into."

"I am telling you everything I now know, Batman." Kaldur argued, even though he kept his tone obedient. "Believe me when I tell you these men come from a world without powers. They see people like us in comic books, Batman. Most humans in their world could not being to fathom what we are able to do."

Then Artemis shrugged, "Besides, I highly doubt Shay would be able to get past M'gann's mental search. Desmond? Maybe because he's from the future. But Shay comes straight from the Seven Years' War. I find it hard to believe that a man from so far back in time would be able to fool M'gann. Especially seeing how he was the first person to arrive."

Batman stayed silent for a moment, then relented, "The Justice League is stretched thin taking care of some missions around the world at the moment. But as soon as I am able to, I myself will go down to the Mountain to ensure these 'harmless' visitors are who they say they are. Batman out."

~/~

Artemis had stayed standing beside Kaldur for a few seconds after the transmission had ended, feeling a pit start to form in her stomach with worry over what the Bat might do to Shay, Desmond, or Ezio. She didn't think he would readily hurt them just on the sole reason that they hadn't hurt any of the Team, but she was more than aware as to all the interrogation methods a man like him must have known.

"Maybe he'll actually believe us?" She asked, turning to Kaldur with a small smile.

He smiled back at her, even though it was nervous and shaky rather than comforting, "Thank you for coming at the moment you did. It took me almost thirty minutes just to build up the courage to contact the Bat... I don't think I would have been able to finish saying all I needed if you had not arrived."

Artemis punched his arm softly with a wink, "You know I'd always stand behind my oh so great leader."

The dark skinned teen chuckled softly with a shake of his head, then asked, "What is going on out there? I am so accustomed to Robin or Wally running in at any moment to interrupt whatever I am doing that it is odd to not have them do so right now."

Both began to walk out of the room and towards the main hall, all the while Artemis's smile broadened.

"You had to see Conner and Ezio, Kal! You know that Conner is rather awkward, right? Well apparently Ezio isn't a good reader of emotions because last I saw them, he was forcing Conner to actually help him cook."

Kaldur's complexion paled in record time, "You allowed a man from Renaissance Italy and Conner in the kitchen? Alone?"

At least the blonde had the decency to feel slightly embarrassed and turn slightly red, "Maybe I should have thought the situation out a bit more."

"Oh, really?"

"Hey, I don't need your sarcasm, Mr. Leader. Who just saved you from-" Artemis was about to say something rather mean to Kaldur, but a sudden beeping in the mountain made her cut her words off. "Well shit."

Kaldur rolled his eyes for a moment then began to run in the direction of the kitchen. Artemis followed after him and soon enough they were able to see smoke billowing out of the kitchen in all directions, the rapid and shrill beeping of the smoke alarm reverberating all throughout the Mountain.

"What has happened here?" Kaldur asked with wide eyes as he entered the kitchen, where he found Ezio and Conner both coughing rather loudly as the clone threw the oven door open, causing it to fall off one of its' hinges.

"Abbiamo cercato di fare la pizza!" The Italian man managed to be heard through all the coughing and the loud alarm that kept sounding all the while Conner stuck his hand into the oven without an ovenmit of any kind to grab the pizza they had supposedly made.

Kaldur understood a small bit of what the Italian had said, but Artemis could only understand the word pizza. Still, she could guess rather easily what had been attempted to be made and she smiled, even though she coughed at the smoke all around her.

The clone threw the pizza he had grabbed out of the oven onto the kitchen counter, even though it couldn't really be called a pizza. There were small slivers of the color of yellow that had originally belonged to the cheese they had used, but there was no color but black apart from those slivers. The thing must have been as hard a hockey puck and it was shriveled and burnt to a crisp.

Artemis couldn't help but laugh at the situation. Ezio joined her in almost no time because it was rather humorous indeed. Kaldur and Conner, though, couldn't find just what was so funny with smoke billowing out of the oven and a charred and an inedible pizza.

"Conner, why did you not look for M'gann to help you with the cooking?" Kaldur asked softly, now looking around the kitchen to find it covered in all types of foods. He didn't even want to ask just how the eggs had gotten so high on the wall.

The black haired teen grumbled as he crossed his arms, even though he eyed the oven to make sure it wasn't turned off. Luckily, it was. "She went to speak with Shay about something. I promised I would keep Ezio occupied until she was able to come back and help translate again.

Kaldur's annoyed look softened into a much more controlled one, then he sighed and shook his head, "If you wanted to make food, you could have asked Artemis or myself. We would have helped you."

Conner now turned away so as to not be seen by his friends because his face reddened. He knew he could have looked for them at any moment but... for some reason, he had wanted to make something himself. He couldn't explain why he felt the sudden urge to create edible food, but he sure felt annoyed at having burned the first pizza he ever tried to make.

"Yeah... I know..." He grumbled so low Kaldur almost didn't hear.

Kaldur looked at Conner with softness in his eyes then patted him on the back. "Come on. Let us clean this mess up then we can order pizza for the whole Team."

Conner groaned at having to clean, but looked at Ezio and told him what had to be done in his broken Italian. The man seemed as if he had wanted to put up a fight and not clean, but he thought about how it was technically and his fault and relented. And so the four began to clean up the mess that had been made in the kitchen.

"Hey, Desmond, who are you hoping for the visitor to be?" Zatanna asked from her spot walking beside the man, all the while Robin and Wally walked about three paces behind them.

They had walked all the way to the Central City Flash Museum because Desmond's phone told them they would find the newest visitor there and they had maintained a companionable silence about them until Zatanna had spoken up.

Desmond glanced down at the girl for a moment then shrugged, "Don't know. I guess Altaïr is actually the only one I don't want to deal with just yet. So Connor would be the best bet, really."

"Altaïr? From when is that guy?" Wally asked, curiosity peaked by the odd name.

The only adult in the group of four sucked in a breath at the question, straining to remember the answer, "Uh... He was born in 11-something and died by 1257. He lived in Masyaf, a city in Syria."

The kids all nodded at the information, then Robin asked, "So you would much rather deal with Connor- whom I'm presuming is the guy from Revolutionary times- than with Altaïr. Why is that?"

By that time the group had reached the front doors of the Flash Museum and they could clearly see how everything was turned off and how the museum was closed. It was a good thing Robin and Wally didn't really care for the schedule it was supposed to keep.

"Okay, here's the plan. Zee, can you get us inside?" Robin asked, which made the girl nod with a smirk.

The words that then came out of her mouth were unlike anything Desmond had ever heard before in his life, then, before he could ask just what she had said, he suddenly found smoke beginning to rise at his feet. Like any normal human being, he began to freak out at the sight, even though the kids didn't seem to care. And before he could really ask what was going on, his whole body disappeared. He couldn't see himself.

But then they materialized inside the museum and he began to almost hyperventilate-but-not-really. He looked all around himself, found that the kids were all looking at him with amusement, then he gulped in air and glared at them.

"You can warn a guy next time." He growled, crossing his arms as he turned to look into the museum.

It was a good thing young Connor was much more curious than what Desmond remembered the older Connor to be. If not, they may have been stuck inside the museum all night trying to find the slipper the Native American that had grown much more tentative of the world after having killed both his father and Charles Lee.

"Connor!" Desmond called as soon as he saw the man in the rather white garments. It was the freshness of the clothes that really let Desmond know they were dealing with a much younger Connor, which was just what Desmond had been hoping for. He really did not want to think of how problematic dealing with the older version of the man would have been. "We're allies. Friends."

The man's hazel eyes widened slightly, but instead of retracting into the shadows like Desmond expected, he instead walked closer and allowed the group to see him completely.

"Who are you? And where am I?" He asked, looking at the oddly dressed strangers with slight hesitation.

"Know what, Desmond?" Zatanna interrupted, smiling at the young man, "I like this guy already. He's much sweeter and much more bashful than Ezio."

Desmond rolled his at the girl then motioned at himself, "My name is Desmond Miles, Connor. And I promise you that we're only here to help."

Luckily for them, Connor trusted Desmond without too much hassle. The problem now, though, would be getting him back to the Mountain because none of them wanted to walk all the way back to the Zeta Station, nor did they want to freak Connor out with Zatanna using a spell. She couldn't really teleport them over such a long distance, though, but maybe she could have gotten them just a tiny bit closer.

"Maybe M'gann should have come..." Wally mumbled, looking at Connor with curiosity shining in his eyes.

Connor had no idea what to think of the strangers other than that they wore odd clothes and the red headed boy looked like he might just be a troublemaker.

The reason as to why Ezio's words when speaking to Conner are English is just because Conner understands him. Conner just can't speak Italian properly, which is why he answers in not perfect English. Artemis and Kaldur understand Ezio a lot less, which is why he speaks real Italian then.

Did y'all notice this is my longest chapter in ever? I think it is, even when compared to any of my other stories. I'm very happy with it! I hope you liked it! Please review.