Age 19:

Malik paced back and forth before the desk in the library of Masyaf. He had his hands folded behind his back, and he stared at the floor as he walked, clearly deep in thought. Rauf, who was sitting at the desk with an open book before him, looked up at him in mild amusement and irritation at the distraction.

"He'll be fine, Malik." said Rauf tiredly.

Malik stopped his pacing and looked at the other assassin, his eyebrows drawn together in worry. "But what if he's not?"

"He will be." Rauf insisted, "He's in good hands."

"I'm not so sure." Malik muttered.

"Relax, brother." chided Rauf, "It's just a shadow mission, and those hardly ever go wrong."

"Mine did!" Malik snapped.

Rauf nodded. "But you have to admit that that was unusual. Don't worry so much, your little brother will be fine."

"Acre is dangerous, and Altaïr isn't exactly careful!" Malik pointed out angrily.

"I will not argue with you, but Kadar will be okay." said Rauf simply, turning back to his book.

"How do you know?" Malik hissed spitefully.

"Because I choose to believe it so." Rauf said without looking up, "You just wait. Altaïr and Kadar will be back later this afternoon, and they'll be fine."

"But what if they're not?" Malik exploded, taking up his pacing again, "What if something went wrong, and no one was there to help them, or- or-"

Malik grimaced, a thousand different ways everything could go wrong flashing through his mind. He pictured Kadar and Altaïr beaten, captured, tortured, stabbed, beheaded, bleeding out, mutilated...

This went on for about another ten minutes until Rauf suggested, "Why don't you go down to the village to meet them, if you're so worried?"

Malik came to a halt once more, suddenly realizing that he was probably irritating his fellow assassin. "Sorry," he muttered. "Good idea."

He headed down to the village of Masyaf, sitting down on the edge of the well in font of the main gate with a book in his hands that he wasn't really interested in. Instead, he just stared anxiously down the road for about another four hours until he saw two figures riding horses. Malik sighed in relief, and strode out to the stables as Altaïr and Kadar approached and dismounted.

Malik immediately rushed to Kadar's side, grabbing him and appraising him for any injuries. Kadar's blue eyes momentarily widened in surprise until a grin broke out across his face. Out of the corner of his eyes, Malik could see Altaïr roll his own and cross his arms over his chest patiently.

"Good to see you too, brother." Kadar chirped cheerfully.

"What happened? Were you hurt?" Malik demanded.

"Everything's fine, Malik." Altaïr said, a note of irritation in his voice, "Calm down."

"It was great!" Kadar exclaimed, "Altaïr was a great teacher! I learned so much from him!"

"Is that all?" Malik asked, straightening and folding his arms over his chest, noticing with a jolt that Kadar was almost his height.

"It was fantastic!" Kadar said before turning towards Altaïr and adding, "Thank you so much. Maybe I can come with you on more missions?" he added hopefully.

"That is up to the Master." Altaïr said dully, "I must go report to him."

Malik stared at him suspiciously as he abruptly turned and headed up the hill to Masyaf without a second glance backwards towards the Al-Sayf brothers. Malik scowled at his retreating back before turning back towards Kadar.

"Why don't you head back to our room?" Malik suggested, "I'll join you in a moment or so. There's something I need to check."

"Whatever you say, brother." Kadar said happily.

Kadar started up the path, a short distance behind Altaïr, and Malik scrambled up onto a roof near by. He hopped from roof to roof, keeping Altaïr in sight as he went, eventually dropping down onto the path behind the assassin without him noticing. Malik followed Altaïr through Masyaf silently as he made his way to Al Mualim's office.

Altaïr knocked on the door, and Al Mualim's voice called from within, beckoning him inside. Luckily, as Altaïr entered, he left the door open so that Malik could hear their conversation easier. He pressed himself against the wall next to the door frame.

"Safety an peace, Master." Altaïr said.

"Safety and peace." Al Mualim replied, "I trust your mission was a success?"

"Of course." Altaïr sneered, "Would you expect anything less?"

"Good, good." said the Master, "And your shadow? The younger Al-Sayf brother?"

"He got in my way on the Informer missions a couple of times," Altaïr admitted. "However, he was eager and willing to learn." he added.

"Anything else?" Al Mualim said. Malik could hear the old Nan's footsteps as he paced back and forth.

"Nothing I can think of." said Altaïr.

"And where is he now?" Al Mualim asked.

"I left him over by the stables." said Altaïr, a note of distain in his voice, "Malik's probably fussing over him right now."

Malik scowled as Al Mualim responded to Altaïr, sounding amused, "Oh, is that so?"

"Yeah." said Altaïr.

"Anything else I should know about?"

"He was a bit squeamish when I actually took my target's life."

"I see." Al Mualim said, before raising his voice, "Is this true, Malik?"

Malik froze. How could he have known? How did he know I was here?

"Come on out, Malik. I know you're there." said Al Mualim blatantly.

Malik swore and shuffled into view, standing in the doorway. He took a sharp stab of pleasure to see the look of shock and surprise on Altaïr's face. Al Mualim, as Malik expected, looked somewhat amused.

"Safety and peace, Master." Malik said respectfully, feeling mortified.

"What are you doing?" Altaïr demanded.

"Your eavesdropping has improved since you were last tested." Al Mualim said approvingly.

"Thank you, Master." said Malik lowly.

"So, is it true what Altaïr said?" Al Mualim continued.

Malik paused. "What do you mean?"

"That your younger brother is squeamish about death." Al Mualim said.

"I- I wasn't there, so I wouldn't know." Malik pointed out, "But I wouldn't be surprised. I remember how upset he was when he had to kill some cats for training, one day."

Al Mualim stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Yes, I got a similar report from his teacher."

"He is still an innocent in many ways, Master." said Malik.

Al Mualim nodded, and then nodded again. "Vary well. You are both dismissed."

Altaïr and Malik nodded and exited the room. As they walked back down the hall, Altaïr punched Malik on the shoulder. Malik staggered a little bit, but made the decision to ignore him, figuring that it was for eavesdropping on his conversation with the Master. Malik rolled his eyes, and the two walked down the hall together.

Now, I don't know who started the thing where Kadar was really sweet and innocent, but whatever. Headcanon accepted.

Note: Sorry about all the glitches. I'm not sure why that happens, as it seems to happen at random, so I cannot do anything to stop it. In any case, thank you for letting me know.