A/N Okay so here it is the beginning of the re-write and yes I know it is very, very wrong to do this but I hated it and felt I had no choice. So short update they have just left to go on a mission leaving Maria alone in the hotel room to wait for them.
Dropping onto the bed she glanced at the papers sitting beside the laptop feeling more than a little pissed off for being left alone she hit out at the only thing she could and scattered the items across the room. "God damn idiot woman you let them leave you again!"
Kicking the photos which had landed at her feet she noticed something scribbled across one of them that hadn't been there before. It was the one of her standing outside the church and the message scrawled across the bottom of the picture simply said, "Why so sad Habibti?"
Smiling to herself she reached over for her bag to pen a reply when she heard their voices in the car park below, "Sod this why write it when I can say it!"
Grabbing her jacket she ran to the stairs knowing she was going to have to be lucky to catch them before they left. Running past the girl at the reception desk she grinned, "These bloody taxi drivers will never wait longer than 30 seconds."
Throwing open the front door she saw the only car in the place that seemed to be moving, a huge black secret service looking number currently reversing to get out. Dashing across the tarmac sure that at any moment she would fall she ran to it and managed to hit the boot a couple of times before it pulled off. "Oh come on I ran for this I never bloody run stop the damn car!"
Red lights came on just ahead of her and she sighed thinking it might not be them in which case she is going to look like a 24 karat idiot but oh well...
The back door opened and Altaïr stepped out of the car looking more than a little confused, "Is something wrong Maria?"
Pausing not only to catch her breath but also to mentally prepare herself for how needy she was about to look, "Yes something is very wrong Altair you were leaving me. You asked why so sad, well I can tell it is because I had left you and that's not going to happen again." Moving closer to him she continued without giving him a chance to reply. "You say there is a place for me then prove it take me now."
Taking her arm he led her further away from the car, "I understand you don't want to wait and worry but you have no experience Maria I don't want to risk you being harmed."
"I want to be there; I'll wait in the car if need be but please don't leave me here." The sounds of the traffic rushing past to their left faded into meaningless white noise as her face searched his for any clue of his mood.
"Do I have a choice Maria?"
"No you don't." She dropped her head onto his chest and gave her real reason for her desperation, "I thought you were all dead and it broke my heart, I can't do that again I can't sit there and wait to see if you come back."
Resting his chin on top of her head he chuckled when he heard her offer to share her news in return for a seat in the car. "You can't bribe me Maria besides I already guessed your little secret. Mood swings and uncontrolled vomiting, I'm no doctor but..."
"Don't worry it was a one night stand I'm not going to hold you responsible, just get us to safety and then we can work things out from there. "
"We can plan our wedding later for now we have to go..."
She held her head low until she felt he would be safe from her blinding grin and then snorted, "I'm not marrying you for the simple reason that you don't like Hani Shaker!"
On the drive to their "hit" as Maria kept calling it she had to endure all manner of teasing about her chasing after them but she took it in good spirits. "So do I get a gun?"
"Would you know which way to point it Maria?"
Kadar smirked and replied on her behalf, "She'll point it at you if you keep that up Malik."
Altaïr remained quiet for most of the journey even refusing to be drawn on the debate about them being on a hit, he held her hand and let most of the conversation pass him by. Shifting in his seat so he was looking right at her he began issuing instructions to her. "You stay in the car out of sight no matter what happens. If you hear gunfire and we haven't returned within 10 minutes leave immediately."
"But –"
"Maria no buts, this is how it is to be for now." Moving his gaze to her still flat stomach he added, "You have to think about more than yourself now."
When she never replied he titled his head questioningly at her.
Attempting not to sound like a petulant child she replied, "Okay, fine yes I stay in the car and if you don't come back I leave."
The car came to a stop and the woman leaned over from the front seat, "Are we ready to go guys?"
Altaïr got out first and pulled his seat forward to let out Malik and Kadar who had moved to the back when Maria got in but instead of closing the door he got back in beside her in the otherwise empty car. "I would have wanted you with me regardless of the child Maria it is just another reason for us to be together but it's not the main reason."
His hands framed her face as he leaned forward to kiss her, "Please stay in the car."
She nodded and kissed him one last time before he left to join the others.
They left the car behind the trees and made their way to the biggest of the barns surrounding the farmhouse. Malik looked at the barns and scoffed, "This is big enough for four families to live in and they use this to store what, straw..."
Sophia moved past him to the front of the group and whispered something to her husband who leaned in toward her and kissed her cheek. Malik couldn't make out what she had said but he had told her not to worry everything would be fine.
Altair stopped walking and took in his surroundings, "Kadar get up on the roof and tell me how many men you can see."
They stopped in the shadow of the huge building and waited for the scout to return, "There are only six men up front."
"This is wrong Malik there is something very wrong here. If as we have been told the leaders of the British Templars are here this place should be crawling with guards."
Malik's eyes darted to the Englishman who now looked about ready to scream, "What did you expect to find Ben, think about it."
"You're right we have cased this place for months and when the leaders have been here the security has been much tighter but our Intel is good Malik I can't guess at what has gone wrong."
Sophia's feet danced nervously as she watched the men come to the conclusion she had never doubted they would reach, they were assassins and not about to walk into such an obvious trap. "I have to tell you something and I know what it means but I had no choice, Ben I hope you can understand I know you won't forgive me."
Her husband of four months stepped closer to her, his face now unreadable. "Forgive you for what Sophia?"
"They've been tailing me since I started photographing Maria and her shadows and yesterday they swooped and took me in." The thunderstruck faces of the men she now faced did little to ease her shame but she kept on speaking. "They were going to kill me and I got scared. That's all I have, no defence here, suddenly it just seemed like I had a lot to live for."
Altair advanced to her and she matched him step for step, him forward her back. His expression was furious but when he spoke his voice was calm and soft. "Where are they hiding?"
She had to close her eyes to block out his glare so she could find the nerve to speak. "Most are in the trees the rest of them will come from our right side, I was told to run to them as a signal to open fire."
"Give me names."
"You know them all the only one we were unsure of was James Turner, he was the one who held a kettle of boiling water over my head to convince me to cooperate."
Ben grabbed her arm, "You led us here knowing it was an ambush!" Virtually spitting the words at her she tugged her arm free.
"Yes I did and how do you think that makes me feel?"
"We can sort this out later but for now we need to figure a way out of this." Malik never took his eyes off the woman who knew in her heart she was going to die for what she had done. "We could try to get back to the car and rethink our plans."
"They will have moved into position in the trees that path is now blocked."
Thinking of the men who now stood between them and the car- not to mention Maria - he considered the shortest route back to both. "Can we count on you?"
Sophia felt nausea burn her throat with the bitter taste of bile. "You can count on me I told you about that trap remember? I'll do what I can to help you get out of this."
A blinding too bright light suddenly swallowed the darkness they had been sheltering in and a voice from behind them called out. "Open fire men and we are not looking for prisoners."
Diving for any cover they could find behind equipment the assassins returned fire fully aware they were outgunned and pinned down.
Maria saw the light shining through the trees and heard the voice call out. She had no experience to call on but had seen enough movies to understand they had been cornered. Diving over the front seat she sat behind the wheel preparing to be the getaway driver. Trying to stay calm in an impossible situation by convincing herself that Altair would not take any unnecessary risks then she realised she hadn't the first idea what he would do since he was practically a stranger to her. A stranger who fate had thrown in her path and because of the intensity of the circumstance normal etiquette had been all but abandoned. She had gone from thinking him an arrogant prick – a sexy arrogant prick – to, to what...?
Biting her lip, the knuckles of her hands clinging to the steering wheel so stretched they looked ready to pop through the flesh she tried to see something of what was happening instead of listening to the voice of reason which told her to get this car moving and get the fuck out of dodge.
Crouching low behind a broken tractor Sophia looked across to her husband and offered him a weak smile, one which he never returned. She had signed her own death warrant knowing full well no matter what the outcome of the fire fight her life would end this night. The fear she felt while in the hands of the Templars had been both unexpected and humiliating; she liked to think of herself as being unshakeable and had been proved wrong. Kadar was between her and Ben loading a fresh clip into his gun preparing to fire off another salvo of shots.
Moving closer to her husband so he could reach him to bring him closer she told him, "I'm sorry I was afraid but I can do the right thing now."
Confusion became panic as he realised what she was planning to do, "No stay down we can find a way around this you are only human they will understand." Grabbing for her as he spoke but she was already at the end of the vehicle.
"Kadar as soon as I start firing run for the trees I'll draw their fire for as long as I can."
The novice stared at her for a second before nodding. "Tell them I'm sorry they were going to pour scalding water over me but this here I can take this." Gesturing to the other side of the farmyard she smiled.
Kadar for once was lost for words, he had stayed close to her so he could plant a bullet in her brain the second she showed any sign of running for the men she had made the bargain with but this sacrifice, he had not foreseen. In Arabic he shouted to his brothers behind the low wall to run as soon as he broke cover he stopped again and nodded to her again.
Ben nudged past him "Sophia get back here we need to talk!"
Whether she heard him or not he couldn't say but she sprang up from behind the tractor and fired wildly in the direction of their enemy. As he watched her his heart filled with pride and agony in equal measures before looking behind him to see the other men running to the trees. Moving to the opposite of the vehicle he emerged as his wife had before firing in the direction she had. He saw her fall to the ground before he began to feel the searing heat in his body as the marksmen found their spot.
She saw shapes heading towards the car and started the engine. They all jumped in the same back door and someone yelled at her to drive. She could see other shapes racing out from the trees and white sparks coming from them which matched the sound of gunfire. Without further hesitation she slammed her foot down and drove.
A/N This is what I had planned since I decided to make the story longer, I have no idea why I changed it. Sorry again for the chopping and changing