"My head…" Desmond groans out, softly lowering his head to the countertop. Megan bites back the giggle that wanted to escape her, looking over at Alex first then to the trickle of men coming down the stairs. Connor and Leo join Desmond at the bar; mimicking the position he was in as well. She sets down three cups of coffee, infront of each of them, trying to avoid making noise as the men continue groaning. She carries more out to the living room, two at a time, to the rest of them. Ezio and Altair were on the couch, hiding from the sunlight filtering through the wall of windows. Right at this moment, she kind of wished she had curtains to block out the light. Malik was about the only one who seemed to make an effort, he and Shaun in the recliners, when he took the coffee from her. She walks back into the kitchen, taking over from Alex on breakfast she had been cooking when they heard the first signs of life from the overindulged men. They needed to atleast set some grounds with the rest of them who were living there, a repeat of last night would be terrible not only for them but for the Assassins. Another night like that and they may drink themselves comatose.
Her phone's shrill ringing breaks the silence of the morning, causing the Assassins to jump and groan at the noise and for their reactions to it. Megan runs to the phone and picks it up. She answers with short statements, getting sharper and more cross as she talks. Nearly 5 minutes later she hangs up, runs her hands through her hair in frustration, and releases a heavy sigh.
"Dare I ask what that was about?" Alex ventures, having once more taken over breakfast and separated it evenly for the, and she looks over to him. She releases another heavy sigh.
"It was my publicist's office. Apparently, someone snuck in about a week ago and stole some of my manuscripts I just sent them a few weeks ago. And then torched all the hard copies while deleting the ones that were in their computers. They want me over there for the police reports and so that they can compensate me for the destroyed works." She answers as she takes the plate offered to her and she sits at the bar beside Leo. The rest of the men take their plate but hold off on eating for a little while, still nursing their hangovers. Alex leans against the counter by the sink, drinking from a cup of coffee.
"So we have to go to Seattle I take it?" Alex questions her.
"No. New York." Alex spits out his coffee, coughing and hacking as he tries to regain his breathe. Megan's eyes widen and she get off her chair and around the bar to pat him on the back, worried. The statement and noise causes the rest of the men to look at the two. Alex eventually waves off Megan's concerns, and she gets the washrag wet instead to clean up the mess he had made.
"New York?" Shaun croaks out, his voice sounding like he had swallowed a frog and his accent thick. She nods yes.
"Yeah, the main office is where I have to go. My agent is 'local' so he's from the branch office over in Seattle. When I send in my scripts, I have to send them to New York. They have a couple of flights they want me to take."
"They want you to go alone?" Ezio then says, as Megan rinses out the rag in the sink. She eyes Alex and his coffee wet shirt, debating on if she should go ahead and make him take it off or if it could wait till later. The look he gives her answers the question and she drops the rag in the sink. Instead she looks at each of the Assassins and their rather disheveled appearances. They were haggard, dark rings around their eyes which were bloodshot.
"They don't know I live with others. But I'm going to tell them, when I figure out which flight, to book enough seats for all of us. But first, all of you really look like shit." She laughs as they flip her off or grumble or other displeased noised escape them. Alex roll his eyes, fighting the smile that wanted to break out over his face.
Movement. There was lots of movement. Her position had changed because the hydra knew where she had been. She needed to hide better. This monster was smart, smarter than the others she had destroyed. Men were monsters. Evil. Megan needed to be saved. So much pain she had gone through because of men. Beaten, pain, they even got her hooked. But it helped her, helped her find her place in this cruel and unforgiving world of men. Helped her find her strength to destroy the monsters that were hidden from the rest of the world. Few could see them and this had helped her break that veil they made, causing themselves to look harmless. She wasn't fooled anymore. She had destroyed them. Reveling in the freedom. She was told to free all maidens, those so pure they needed to be sacrificed to protect forever. That is her mission and Megan was her newest maiden to free. Her books told her she was. There were messages everywhere, in writings and newspapers and even just running into them on the street. Their souls told her they needed to be saved. They may not know it, the purest ones begged for their lives even. Didn't they understand, she was saving them. They were testing her, the angels said so. Once they become like the angels, they thanked her. She twitches and lights up. She needed to keep watching, find the weakness.
"Okay, I talked to the company. I fibbed and said you, you, you, and you are my cousins." She points to Ezio, Altair, Malik, and Desmond. She then points to Connor, Leo, and Shaun. "You three are friends of the family, like you're all a band of brothers or something. Alex is my boyfriend so that isn't a fib." Various forms of understanding and rejection are fed back to her.
"Why do we have to be brothers?" Malik questions and she shakes her head in the negative.
"I said cousins. I didn't say that you were brothers, just related." She answers him.
"So, Altair and I could belong to different parents?" Ezio questions her skeptically, crossing his arms over his chest. They were feeling much better, still hung over but better. Connor looked like death rolled over compared to the rest of them even though they had cleaned up, showered, and ate.
"Of course." She answers and rolls her eyes. "And we keep it simple."
"It's a little easier to believe because there are some genetic similarities." Alex motions to Megan to come closer which she does. "For instance, the dark hair. Almost 40% of the people in the world have brown hair. All five of you have it. Brown eyes are just as common. Her's are more recessive."
"How did I turn into your model example?" She mumbles as she looks up at him, fiddling with the collar of her turtle neck. Alex had found it funny she didn't want to display the love marks he had given her. Unlike her, he was displaying the ones she had given him with pride. He gives her a look for her to remain quiet so he could continue.
"I think we get." Shaun interrupts as Alex opens his mouth to continue. He pushes his glasses further up his nose. "It does make sense for her to say that. And she is right, the dark hair and you all have roughly the same type of nose." He nods to himself. "This will work."
"How will we get to New York? It is many miles away." Connor looks over all of them. Megan face palms.
"Somebody show him a video of a plane while I go pack."
"How do you expect us to get on the plane?" Desmond questions as he hangs over the passenger seat, heaving a heavy sigh. Megan turns around and looks as Shaun who holds up several drivers' licenses before passing them out.
"I don't want any of you older era men driving. I don't need nightmares of vehicular manslaughter… or something." Megan grins at them.
"You're teaching her bad habits." Ezio says, giving Alex a glare. Alex looks at him in the rearview mirror for a second before returning his eyes to the road with a barely-there smile.
"He is not!" Megan says. Ezio, Altair, and Malik give her a flat look.
"Don't lie." Shaun gives a short laugh as she huffs, crosses her arms, and flops against the seat. Desmond laughs and sits back as they head to the airport. This made things a little easier since they (he, Shaun, and Alex) had been driving without licenses. Desmond turns to Shaun and pesters him about how easy it must have been to make them and what all else he did.
"I was told that there is a possibility for the plane to quit working." Connor says from the floor in between the middle seats with Malik sitting right behind him with his knees shoved into Connor's back. The one armed man was leaned against Altair's knees who was between Ezio and Leonardo.
"And why couldn't we take both vehicles?" Malik grouses out as he bounces. His tailbone was hurting dammit!
Megan sighs. "Yes Connor there is, but it's such a miniscule number that it really isn't worth having the ulcers for. My family's flight aside, crashes happen only every few years and the causes for it are normally found out about before the plane even takes off. You're more likely to get attacked by a shark than die via plane crash. And for the second one, as much fun as it would be to have the publishing company pay for everything including a second vehicle while I'm gone; they told me one vehicle."
"Still should have done it." Malik winces as Alex hits another bump. He could have sworn the man was hitting them on purpose now.
"Alex, quit being mean." And the ride turns smoother which mean he was doing it on purpose. Perhaps because of what happened last night? He puts the musings aside so he could go over them later.
When they finally make it to the airport Megan instructs the older Assassins on the procedures for getting on a flight. She puts her luggage on the scale and the men follow suit, the luggage disappearing on the conveyor. Next was the scanners, what fun. After having removed their shoes, all objects in their pockets, and whatever they were carrying on board; they step into the machine and does the exact same as the picture told them. Once through, hurray!, they sit at the terminal to wait for their flight. Megan was being to get antsy. No matter what she may say to them to relieve their fears, she still had her own about it. In fact she planned on having Alex help her ignore it. That thought brings a smile to her face because she had her publishing company get the two of them seats away from the rest of them (but close enough for them to keep an eye on the trouble makers, in first class may she add) so she was happy to say the least.
Finally their flight number is called and Shaun and Desmond lead the pack while Megan and Alex are at the end of it. The older era men follow the more modern era and take their seats in first class. When Alex and Megan go past them they give them a funny look Megan stops long enough to tell them that the other seats around them had been taken before continuing on with Alex whom was tugging her along. The people behind them were complaining about her having stopped and she decides that flipping the bird would be cathartic so guess what she does?
Yup, she did it and Alex pulled her a little faster, covering his laughter with his arm and coughing. The people behind them were complaining even more about how a rude child like her should learn not only her place but respect for elders. Alex sets her down beside the window (which was actually his seat but oh well) and takes the seat beside her. The rest of the people in line takes their seats. She could only guess what the guys were thinking about her little show.
She tugs at the collar of her turtleneck. God she hated these things but it was somewhat better than running around with her neck all bruised up. Or so she thought once the heaters started to kick on, then it was hell in the air. Speaking of when the plane was getting into the air her stomach was doing uncomfortable flips and she had clenched her hands into fists. Alex had noticed and took her hand in his, bringing her left hand further over so he could hold it in both of his hands. Warmed by the gesture she gives him a smile. But now, now she just wanted to take off this damn woolen thing.
"Itchy?" Ezio questions, suddenly appearing beside them and making Megan jump. She gives him a look before nodding in the positive.
"Worst idea ever to wear this thing." She answers with a smile. Ezio grins widely, setting her on edge. He didn't always grin this big and when he did, normally Alty was on the receiving end of some harebrained prank orchestrated by him and Desmond.
Only difference was, he was around Megan and Alex not Alty.
"Connor is in the lavatory trying to turn himself inside out."
"Oh no." Megan unbuckles and maneuvers around both Alex and Ezio and goes to the bathroom (all the while her equilibrium deciding that pretending it was on a ship on the ocean was a good idea and the other people complaining she needed to remain in her seat or that she still was being disrespectful) only to hear someone regurgitating what was in their stomach, or atleast trying to. It sounded mostly like dry heaving, painful dry heaving. She knocks on the door. "Connor?"
A garbled noise that sounded like 'yes' was her answer. Damn, had she of known he would be ill on the flight she would have given him some sort of sedative. Better he be tired than nauseous.
"Do you need anything?"
"Off?" Was the response followed by more painful noises. Spying a steward she get his attention by waving him over.
"Ma'am you need to be in your seat."
"Yeah, I know. But my friend is sick and I'm just trying to make sure he's ok. Was just wondering if you had anything like anti-nausea medicine or something?" The man looks thoughtful before nodding, especially after a rather loud and hard retch issues from the lavatory.
"Yes we do, let me go get some." The man gives one last look to the lavatory door and walks off. Megan knocks on the door once more to gain Connor's attention.
"I'm getting you some medicine so just hold on, okay?" She receives no noise, just more heaving. She winces. He really wasn't good with flights. Atleast they knew that now and could prepare for when they returned home and got home.
Finally, after 2 connecting flights, they finally land in New York City. Alex had his hood up, his posture rigid to the point that it reminded Megan of when they first showed up. They all talk it over and decide that Megan only needed one person to go with her to the office and Desmond was chosen to go with her. They get into a cab and, after being stuck in traffic for an hour and a half, make it to the hotel. She checks in to the four rooms the company had booked for her and gets several keys, handing them out to some of the men. She and Desmond hand over their things to the roommates and once more climb back into the cab to sit in traffic for another hour before making it to the office.
Megan then has to go through several different secretaries before she finally gets to the right place. By this time both of them were dead on their feet and highly annoyed. Megan argues and talks and negotiates for nearly another hour when the man gives in and they shake on whatever the deal was. They then jump back into a new cab and get to the hotel. Dragging their feet they get into the elevator and go up. They bid each other good night, even though it was in the afternoon, and enter their rooms. Megan immediately pulls off the sweater, tossing it off towards the bathroom. Alex was relaxed, and half naked, on the bed and raises a brow at her.
"How did it go?"
She sighs but smiles. "Good, still have to go in tomorrow to sign stuff for the police but with the company negotiations are done." She crawls into the bed with him, snuggling up to him. Even though he seemed relaxed, he was still wound up about something. "What's wrong?"
Alex shakes his head in the negative. "Nothing."
Megan sits up, sitting cheerleader style, and puts her hands on her hips. "Alex, something is wrong. Your acting like someone is going to jump out and kill us or something."
He denies it at first but eventually concedes, telling her about his experiences the last time he was in New York. She remains quiet during the telling.
"This isn't the New York you were in."
"I know. Can't help what my brain tells me." She smiles, crawling off of the bed and standing at the foot right infront of him. He fights the smile that comes to him. He had the feeling he was being hunted by the girl. He didn't really mind.
Gone. The princess had left with the hydra. But there was a black knight now with her. He would be difficult to destroy. She would break into her princess' home; make sure she was safe wherever she was now. And she still needed to find the weakness.
She pulls out the baggy only to find it empty. Her twitching increases, the jerking motion seizing her whole body causing her to drop the baggy and pipe which shatters on the ground. She needed more, more crystals to be able to see the truth of everyone. Their true selves.
"So, you guys were loud." Ezio comments the next morning as they all meet up in the hotel lobby. Megan turns bright red and punches him in the arm as hard as she could, but damn did that still hurt her hand. Desmond grins lewdly at her and she gives him the same treatment, Connor looked exhaustedly at her. When Desmond and Megan had left, rooms were figured out. Desmond, Ezio, and Connor were the short stick drawers and so they had to share. Altair had a room with Leonardo, Shaun shared with Malik. The two men rub their arms, pained expressions on their faces.
"Morons." Shaun says, rubbing his temples.
"So where are we going?" Altair questions after shooting the two idiots a glare. Megan shrugs.
"Dunno. Probably just roam close to here or something." She answers and her stomach growls loudly in protest. She wraps her hands over stomach to quiet the noise. All the other men's return the sentiment. Megan looks at Alex and laughs as he gives an exasperated look.
"There are a couple of places near here to eat." And he leads the pack of people. They finally settle on a pizza joint, much to the delight of Ezio and Leo. Altair and Malik stare at the enormous slices of pizza and when they finally decide to eat them, after being egged on by the rest of the group to eat, they finish quicker than the rest of the group. After that they walk around, being shoved and pushed and more or less tossed around in the sea of people, looking at the buildings and then go into the shops and windows. When they finally they make it back to the hotel, they were tired and weary and exhausted and didn't want to have to go looking for something to eat for dinner so they just order Chinese and wait for it to show up at Alex and Megan's room. So they were just sitting around and watching movies and shows and pretty much anything that would catch their attention.
Once the food shows up Desmond, Alex, Shaun, and Megan have to show them how to eat with chopsticks or atleast try to before they just throw forks at them while they continue to eat with chopsticks. They all share the food, trying everything to find what they did and didn't like. Once that was done and over and the trash was cleaned up, they all go to their respective rooms to fall into food comas.
Megan falls onto the bed on her back, arms spread wide and she sighs happily. Alex lays down with more grace than she did and pulls her to him, molding her body to the shape he was making. Megan giggles as his breath tickles her neck and ear, which he begins to nibble on. "Alex, quit. That's not fair." He does with a heavy sigh. Megan twists in his grip and plants soft kisses on his lips, which he returns. She feels him relax more; he had been tense as he walked around to show them places, his head down and his posture a little demure compared to normal. It was nice for him to return to who she knew.
"Megan should have a room for herself. She should not be sharing with him." Connor complains as he lies down on the cot that had been provided for him the day before. It had been made while they were out sightseeing as the girl had called it. No matter what he was told about the society of this time era, he still found things were hard to swallow. Differences in not only dress, atleast of what he had seen so far, but in how they talked and reacted; how they treated one another, like Megan's little display when they were in the lobby and she had punched both of the men who were sharing the room with him, and how they just didn't seem to care. It was very difficult to adjust to it.
Desmond heaves a sigh as he flops down face first on the bed. Ezio had done the same as soon as they had entered, not even bothering to change out of his clothes. Desmond and he had. "It's like this." Desmond says, garbled by the bedding. He sits up to face the Native. "Today's time just doesn't care. People become who they are on the inside and not who they are told they have to be by society. Granted society still tries to do just that, but the freedom that we have now allows us to either follow what society says or who we think we are. Some people become the in-betweens, the people who do what they want but still within societal rules. Megan is one of them but I think she is becoming more of who she wants to be now. Like she's coming out of some sort of shell." He gives a shrug and flops back onto the bed face first.
Ezio lurches up, grabs some clothes, and goes into the bathroom to change. Connor sighs and lays on his back, watching whatever it was they had turned on on the TV.
Yay, chapter 14 is checked off the list. I have to admit, this is the longest story I have written. Normally I get stuck with the story its self, don't know how to progress with it. But this is the one that I love working with it to get the story to work. I can say that I have the chapters already planned out and I'm really excited.
I want to thank Ellozorro for her wonderful review. It makes me feel that I am doing something right with this story. And Raychaell, I'm sorry that it wasn't Ezio but on the outtakes you'll find out why it was Conner. I didn't put the whole argument but he was really rather cross for a few days. And a sulky Ezio is no fun to poke fun at. But they've all been complacent since the introduction of our favorite Native Assassin so chapters are coming together quite nicely.
I'm going to be putting up links on my homepage for my twitter, skype, e-mail, devianart, and tumblr accounts. As always please review, e-mail, pm me, favorite, or follow. Any of these are appreciated.
Toodles till the next chapter!