Megan could only stare. Her brain wasn't functioning and she was pretty sure she had stopped breathing. She sucks in a breath quickly, her lightheaded feeling getting only a little worse seeing as the breath she took was shallow and short. She was even sure her blood cells had decided to stay still and join her in her staring contest at the 6 men in swimsuits standing before her. This was too much for this time of day, especially seeing as she had just woken up. Alex was behind her and was probably just as confused as she was.

"Have you forgotten what you said we were going to do today?" Leo questions, cocking his head to the side and his blue eyes confused.

"… I'm still not awake." Was her response to him as she covers her eyes and forces herself to breathe. Was it warm in here or just her? Wait, scratch that; it was them and the half dressed man behind her. She turns back around and glides smoothly past Alex to go upstairs to change into her swimsuit. The two older Assassins had found a large creek about two weeks ago in June and today was July 4th. She just didn't know if she would be able to survive with more than half necked men around her.

Damn her hormones!

Well, she had effectively seen the best of the opposite gender and Channing Tatum couldn't hold a candle (well maybe a candle or a small, tiny flame) to them. She couldn't stop thinking 'I am the luckiest female in the world. I get to see THIS every day!' with a little squeal afterwards in her head. Outside she was as calm as possible though she couldn't stop the little smile that was on her face. She was just glad that the aviators she wore were not allowing them to know she was doing what any woman with a pulse would be doing: Checking. Them. Out.

And what a sight they were making. Des, Alty, Ezzy, and Leo were playing football after Des had explained what it was and she wasn't all to bothered with the display. Now if she could get Alex join in, her hormones would be a puddle of goo. She also wondered why her hormones were rearing their head like they were. After she had the wonderful make out session with Alex, they were in the forefront and had no intention of going anywhere anytime soon.

Her eyes drift over to Alex. He was hiding under a tree wearing his normal attire of jeans, boots, and a short sleeve gray shirt. She really didn't need to fantasize about what the man looked like in shorts. She saw it every day and she couldn't say she wasn't happy. Ever since the trip to Seattle, the two of them had gotten closer. They hadn't gotten further than the make out; in fact, they hadn't repeated it. They were still in the beginnings of.. whatever this was.

She drinks the Watermelon Smirnoff that she had set beside her, tossing her hair back so she could soak up more vitamin c. She wore an orange triangle bikini top with short blue jean shorts.

The men were appreciating the sight she made as well.

The freckles that were dusted over her face followed to the rest of her body. They really liked the birth mark they saw on her left side just under her collar bone. The damn thing was easily hidden when she wore her tanks and they had just stared at it for a split second just so she wouldn't know what they had been looking at. Alex on the other hand wanted to rip all of their heads off for looking at her like they were. But he couldn't, it wasn't his place. He had no claim on her, they weren't dating or anything. They were just really good friends.

But Megan knew they were looking, well except Leo. Either history was right or he was really, really, really polite. She wasn't completely sure which though. She found it funny whenever Des would get distracted and one of the other men would bean him in the back of the head with the football. He almost made it into the dirt a few times. Malik and Shaun were relaxing in the creek, sticking with the shallows. She decided she was going to join them but she was going to play in the larger part that was almost like a very deep pond. It had been dug out long before she had shown up and there was a large ancient tree with a rope attached to one of the branches that hung out over the pond part. She walks down and past the two in the shallows, with all of them paying attention to what she was doing, and makes her way over to the rope. She grabs it and goes as far back as she could and takes a running leap into the air before floating over and into the water in a cannonball fashion. The water deafens her to any outside noise and as she sinks a little further, she gives a short laugh that causes larger bubbles to race to the surface. She was atleast 10 feet down below the surface when she swims up. She looks to the opposite bank and finds it empty so she turns around in the water and finds all of them, Alex included, where she had taken off.

She begins to laugh like crazy as she treads water then floats on her back without having to move her arms to keep that way. "What is wrong with you guys?" She questions as they become upside to her.

"We didn't know if you could swim." Was Ezio's response and the other 4 Assassins and painter nod in agreement.

"Well obviously I can swim. Hell I float better than I sink."

Altair frowns heavily. "We know that know." She sighs while rolling her eyes and does a backwards dive into the water once more. The silence was better than chiding. And she had every intention of getting as tipsy as she dared and staying that way for the remainder of the day. But she also wanted to swim so, the point was kind of moot.

A little while later she was floating around on top of the surface while Des, Shaun, and Ezzy were swimming around her and under her. She apparently was now an obstacle for them. She really didn't mind it though, made her feel like she was doing something other than laying in the water like a dead log. The sky was still a bright merry blue and she could feel her skin warming from it. The water wasn't all that cold right now but soon it would be. She would have to make a trip down to the south for a month or two, just so she could be warm and play in the surf like she used to. And she was pretty sure the guys would enjoy it too.

She swims over to the shallows and gets out, grabbing the towel she had previously been laying on to dry herself off. She was ready to get out, her hands and feet pruned and painful, and she really was ready for the day to be over with. Not that she wasn't having fun, oh no, but she wanted to spend more alone time with Alex. The man was telling her a lot about himself or what he could remember really. He had thought she would be repulsed but in truth, while some of the things did make her slightly sick, she hadn't known the man they, the Blackwatch dudes, called Zeus. To her he was Alex Mercer, the hottest piece of ass she had seen in a while and a really good friend with. He could make her laugh and he listened when she told him things about when she was a kid. She was even getting close to telling him about her family. She hadn't talked about them in a long time, atleast not while she was awake.

Alex watched her dry off then sits in an abandoned plastic chair one of the others had brought with them. Malik was manning the grill where the hot dogs and burgers were cooking. The girl sighs, puts on her aviators and relaxes, once more soaking up the sun. Her skin still remained pale, which was interesting, but the little smile she had when she noticed… something, had him wanting to grin like a loon. He didn't know the last time he had wanted to do that, in fact, he didn't know if he ever had. He only knew the ghosts of the feelings the real Alex had had for Karen and even those weren't strong, he didn't know if it was because of the feelings that were bubbling up inside of him or because the real Alex had never really felt them. He wanted to rip his hair out it was so confusing.

"The food is done!" Malik calls loudly, having already gotten his food before announcing to the rest. He didn't want to kill anyone about getting a burger or hotdog. Megan still wasn't telling them what all was in them but they were still good. The girl waited patiently at the end of the line, allowing the men to get their plates before getting her own. She had gotten enough food to make even them sick.

Leo wasn't having any of it though. This girl was allowing them to live freely in her home and didn't expect anything of them, even his benefactors hadn't been so kind. They would hound him for his works and pay very little for them. In a way, he guessed that was why he barely ever could keep one for very long. "Megan, come here!" He calls as he pushes the men back. Even Ezio, with all his education, should have known to allow the woman to go first instead of the men. She was, after all, the gentler sex and should be shown the kindness that was belonged to it. Flummoxed, she does so with her face red. Altair rolls his eyes but gets elbowed by Ezio and receives dirty looks from the other two as well. He didn't understand why they acted so gently around her as if she would break from a conversation. She had already been through a kidnapping and hadn't broke, though when they found the house destroyed she had cried for hours. Eventually she had gotten replacement shelves and the more modern Assassins had helped her with putting them up.

"Here, you are the benefactor so you should get your share first." Leo says that kind brotherly smile on his face.

"Um, o-ok…" She didn't know if she should be grateful or suspicious. For now, she would be a healthy mix of the two. She catches Ezzy looking at her and doesn't find that smirk there, the one that he had had since they returned from Seattle. Maybe he was dropping the 'I know what you did and wanted to do' thing. She loads her plate up, a cheeseburger and cool ranch Doritos. She scurries back to her pilfered seat and takes it over beside where Alex was sitting, away from where the rest were. They were up to something fishy and she could smell it…

"She knows…" Desmond says quietly to Ezio and Shaun. The two roll their eyes but couldn't help but agree.

"You're acting like children." Altair huffs as he takes a bite of his burger. They were sitting in a semi-circle, Desmond now on the ground because the girl had taken his chair. But he had payback for making him sick and while Altair and Malik wanted to act like they were above such petty things, they weren't. Hell, once they knew the girl could swim they were all in on the plan; albeit with plenty of bitching and moaning about how childish it was.

"She had gotten herself sick as well; I think that is enough don't you mi amico?" Leonardo questions his close friend; he really was fond of the girl. She was intelligent and, while a little naïve, trusting; she had somehow managed to get Alex, the man who morphed his limbs, to be tame and calm. None of them could deny that the real danger was him. But she seemed to give him complete faith with her life, and after the way he had acted when she was taken they couldn't say he didn't deserve some of the respect she gave him.

"No, she got all of us sick and while she herself did as well; this will be the peace da resistance." Ezio responds with a smirk, one that promised mayhem was soon to follow.

"Antiquing you say? I still do not understand how that is to give us revenge." Malik snorts afterwards. When Desmond first brought this about to them they couldn't understand why someone would waste a resource on something like that. Then they remembered the store Megan took them too and fully agreed with it, only because they knew the resource was easily replenishable.

Desmond rolls his eyes but Shaun was the one to answer. "It's more along the lines of a prank, not revenge. American's are rather well known for it." He says with a smug note in his voice, one Desmond easily caught and returned a stuck out tongue to.

"It's easy; you just have to catch her off guard." Desmond shrugs, chowing through his second burger.

"They are up to something I can feel it." Megan mumbles to her herself; they were back inside the house because it was nighttime and the night air was cold. She was eagle eyeing the Assassin's, namely Des and Ezzy. She just didn't think that the oldest two would be in on anything, just those two. They were the troublemakers. But she couldn't deny Mother Nature's call any longer. She makes a break for the bathroom and when she comes out, Altair throws a bag of flour on her. She squeals in surprise, curling up on herself while standing on one leg to fend off any further attacks. Ezio was behind her with a bucket of water that he dumps over her head causing that same squeal to escape a second time.

She was now paste.

She looks down at herself, at the now gooey mess that covered her body. She could hear the chuckling of the men, except Leo and Alex (who had left to go eat), and scoops up some of the paste. Quickly she turns around and smears it down Ezzy's face and shirt, who in turn stares at her in surprised. She repeats the process but has to chase Alty down before she manages to rub it into his hair. Then all hell breaks loose.

And Alex walks in on the warzone of flour, sugar, water, and even chocolate sauce. He could only stand there in shock and wonder just what had happened in the 30 minutes he had been gone.

"Get him!" Megan yells as she pops up from behind the couch, a water gun in hand as Altair tosses flour on him and Desmond douses him with chocolate. Megan turns the mess into a paste as she squirts him with the water. He could only stand there dumbfounded.

Megan, on the other hand, was howling with laughter as the others eye her and return fire. The war resumed with Alex unsure of what was going on but revenge singing in his blood; but it wasn't the same that had him killing all those people, it was a friendly kind.

The focus of the main attack though was on Megan. And she was not giving up easily.

Megan was cracking, not literally though. The paste had hardened and dried and with every movement, was flaking off. She hadn't had that much childish fun in forever. Malik and Altair had even enjoyed themselves, which she would say was a breakthrough. While they had managed to loosen up some, this was the first time she had ever seen them really let loose and act immature. Alex had even joined in and while she had seen him without some of his guards in place but this was the first she had possibly seen with him having so many down and in front of the rest of them. She was glad, glad that dynamics were changing and they all were becoming friends.

In fact, they were all lying on the ground in the middle of the mess they had made, Megan's head laying on Alex's stomach. They were laughing, just laughing. For no reason other than enjoyment and exhaustion. She wasn't bothered with the mess, she was too happy that everyone had enjoyed themselves and acted like little kids. From everything she had learned from them, they never really got to have a childhood. Never really got to act like children. They always had to be aware and be alert to any kind of danger, no matter what they were doing. Here it was safe and they didn't need to do that, they didn't need to be alert at all times, they didn't need to fear what could be lurking outside the house.

Megan could only hope that she could keep them acting like this. It was fun and she hadn't felt like this in years.

"This is going… to be hell to … clean up tomorrow." Shaun says between breaths. Megan could only agree with him. Right now, she needed a shower and she would play dirty to be the first in.

"See ya suckers!" She yells as she scrambles to her feet, pushing down on shoulders to keep her balance as she makes her way up the stairs. The stampede behind her had her pounding her feet on the floor harder to make it to her bathroom first. She releases a peal of laughter as she slams her door shut in Alex's face, grabs her clothing as Alex gets the door open, and locks the bathroom door just as he runs into it. She couldn't breathe she was laughing so hard. Alex hit the door and it rattled like an earthquake shook the place. She strips, throwing the dirty clothing in the hamper and gets into the shower.

When she gets out, clean and changed, Alex was standing in the middle of the room with his own clothing waiting on her. She moves aside to let him use the shower. She looks at her bathroom door when he closes it and sees the crack running down it and the caved part of where his head's height was. She begins to snicker, imagining his surprise as hitting the door.

She exits her room and goes into his, getting comfortable on his bed. This was definitely something they had gotten in the habit of. The two would spend a few nights in her bed or a few in his. They didn't care really which one. Ezio peaks into the room and when he sees that Alex wasn't in there, he comes inside the room. He was clean so she assumed that whoever he raced to get to the shower first, he won. He clears his throat.

"Megan, I need to speak with you."

"About?" She leads confused about this whole thing and then that smirk shows up. That one that meant he knew something.

"About how you and Alex are close." She swallows the lump in her throat. If he noticed then what about the others? Ezio shakes his head as if he could read her mind. "No one else had put it together yet. Well, Leonardo may have but he may not have really put it together." He stops, looking thoughtful before continuing. "But I must ask if you're sure of your feelings?"

She sighs. "I- I don't know. This is something new and what I feel I don't know if he reciprocates. I'm still trying to figure it all out. For now, we're friends. Really good friends." She answers, her face a little red. Ezio's smirk changes into that of an older brother's soft smile. He walks over and sits on the bed, patting her leg. She smiles at his understanding and gives him a hug then he leaves. Alex comes in right afterwards and she has to fight the blush trying to take over her face. He gives her a curious look before getting in the bed with her.

"What did the Italian want?"

"Nothing, just wanted to talk. He's fucking random." She gives a laugh as Alex tugs her down further into the bed. She didn't complain in the least. The house was cold at night and she still enjoyed sharing in Alex's warmth. He had explained that his body now ran at a higher temperature than normal peoples and that the season's didn't bother him. She had joked that she wished she could be that way, she hated always being cold. He had just laughed, saying that she didn't have to worry about it. But she was happy right now, her heart light. She relaxes, pushing the conversation she had with Ezzy to the back of her mind, and clearing her mind. She falls asleep quickly.

"This is ridiculous. How are we going to ever get this stuff off?" Megan says, sitting up and wiping her brow with her arm. Her eyes drift up to the ceiling and her mouth drops open. "How the hell did we get it up there?!" The rest of the men look up and stare for a moment before beginning to laugh. They had been at it for hours, ever since they had woken up and ate breakfast. The paste had hardened into rather resistant globs that didn't want to be broken or removed from their place.

"I... do not know…" Leo says, fighting down the laughter so that he could speak. Ezio was leaning against him, using him for support as he seemed incapable of it himself.

"That is excellent!" Ezio crows out, laughing harder. Megan throws the wet rag she was using to soak the flour mixture at his face; it hits its mark, wrapping around his head like a blindfold. He gives a manly shriek before falling over backwards causing Altair and Malik to shake their heads at his stupidity while everyone else began to howl in laughter. They were still having fun from last night, which was a good thing. They were relaxed still.

"Weak." Alty says to him, a cruel smirk on his face as Ezzy rips off the rag and glares at him.

"Ok, ok; as fun as last night was, I really don't want a repeat. Who knows how long this is going to take if we don't get it cleaned up soon." Megan says giggling. The two roll their eyes but return to scrubbing. Everyone was trying something different; she had a wet rag soaking parts of the paste before she scraped it off with a scraper. Leo had one as well but was scraping it off while it was dry, Ezio was scrubbing the at it with a soapy sponge with an abrasive side, and the rest were just trying to get it off of whatever it seemed to be on. It was hard work and by the end of the day, they had managed to get it off of everything but the ceiling. Megan sighs, rotating her shoulder. Her arms were killing her because no matter what they tried to use, nothing worked. It took good old fashioned elbow grease. It was painful. "Screw iiiitttt…" She whines to herself walking over to the couch where the rest of them were laying around on the furniture, all just as exhausted as she was.

"So who's going to make dinner?" Desmond questions, and everyone pelts him with pillows.

Alrighty, another chapter down! I had several ideas for different chapters but I really liked this one.

I want to thank, as always, anyone who reads this. When I last checked I have over 500 total views. I had a few new people review and there were questions that were asked.

twonormalgirlsandaiportal: The pairing with be explored further. Its a learning process. And I have the first of many outtakes finished. The first I hope you enjoy.

Raychaell Dionzeros: I love the idea. I might use it. I don't know if it will be in an outtake or in the main story just yet. I will tell you though that I couldn't stop laughing when I read the review. I still laugh when I think of it. Best review to wake up to.

Pheonix-164: I have to agree with you and the term you coined has sent me into a giggle fit at random times. And I'm glad I'm not the only person dealing with ADHD, you would think that after how long I've been dealing with it I would have a better hold of it.

And also, I wont be updating for the rest of the week. I'm going over and hanging out with some friends for the rest of the week and also helping them move. Just because I'm that kind of person. As always, I enjoy hearing anything you have to say about my story and welcome reviews, faves, and you can e-mail me if you have questions. My e-mail is on my homepage. Thanks!