XxXxXx

2012 Hama, Syria

For a moment no one moved, the lingering echo of Gerson's voice hypnotic, holding them fast in utter shock, but then it faded, breaking the spell. Then they all turned and dashed for Gerson's room at the same time, fighting to be first through the door like they were grade schoolers.

"Well, I had to go through all the other junk first to get the good stuff." Gerson explained, ignoring the scuffle behind him, "Easily 75 of the stuff on any computer is worthless and only a fraction of what's left over is of any real use to us."

"Yes, yes, we know." Sura snapped impatiently, "But what did you find?"

"Would you chill? I'm enjoying my moment of glory here." Gerson scowled, "Anyway, after getting rid of all that I found a couple of documents, some files, and an e-mail or two."

"Wait…can you hack into their e-mails from here?" Desmond asked.

"Maybe." Gerson shrugged, "Only problem with that is if they are already logged on another computer. Then I can't access anything within their e-mail…only monitor what they do. Kinda like parental control. That would be a good idea…we could probably get more up to date information that way. If I put it in right, we wouldn't be discovered for years!"

"What did you find?!"

"Jeez, keep your hair on, lady!" Gerson said, "I'm getting there! Well, since Sura seems to be on the verge of pulling a Mt. Vesuvius…"

"Gerson…"

"Fine, fine. I'll give you the simplified version since Abstergo apparently has a harder time then me coming to the point. Basically they have run out of viable subjects to run in the Animus to look up memories on their descendants since Desmond got loose and they can't find Sura or me or Desmond's parents and all the others whose ancestors might be candidates are dead, gone or missing. So, since they found that Desmond's ancestor was such a good source of information on the whereabouts of the Piece of Eden, they decided to pursue that track."

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked, "They don't have Desmond anymore, they can't access Altair's memories without Desmond."

"Not quite." Gerson corrected, "You see, another file indicated that Abstergo had been working on another project; one that involves using someone's DNA to look up their memories, not their ancestor's. It's a complicated process, something I think only Lucy would understand, but what it boils down to is this; they don't want Desmond or me or anymore "subjects"…they want DNA directly from the memory holder."

"Wait…that means" Lucy started, looking a little sick. Desmond got a very bad feeling about that. If it meant what he thought it might…no, he couldn't bring himself to even think about it.

"Yeah…they're looking for Altair himself." Gerson said, giving the now pale Desmond a sympathetic look, "They're looking for where he's buried so they can extract his DNA."

Desmond felt as if someone had punched him in the gut. Never before had he ever gave thought to the fact that Altair was actually dead. He just considered Altair not there. Like he was in another country or something but not…dead. Simply thinking about it was bad enough but now someone was trying to…to dig him up? No, it was too much. Desmond had practically lived side by side with Altair for over a week, felt like he truly knew the assassin. He felt sick.

"Desmond? Are you ok?" he heard Lucy ask but he couldn't answer. He didn't trust himself to open his mouth.

Altair's dead. More than just dead, actually; he was a dusty pile of bones buried somewhere. Just bones. How? How the hell could someone as invincible as Altair die? Did he die soon after the memories Desmond saw or did he live to be far older? Was he killed by an enemy, by an assassination gone wrong, or did he die naturally? Somehow, none of those ways seemed a fitting way for Altair to die. He seemed just too damn stubborn to die. But the thought that he was dead, was now nothing more than skeleton, was too much for Desmond.

"I hope he realizes that first Abstergo has to find where he's buried." Gerson said as Desmond ran from the room, his hand over his mouth, "That in itself could take years."

XxXxXx

1191 Masyaf

Malik glanced around to make sure no one was watching as he slipped out of the fortress and into Masyaf. It wasn't too difficult, given how he had been doing this since he was a novice slinking out, usually with Altair and Badoura at his side, to go mess around in the city. This time, however, the punishment for getting caught would be far worse than boxed ears and various chores.

Once out of the fortress he could relax a bit, but he still had to keep a wary eye out for any of the patrolling assassin guards or, far worse, one of Kamal's men. If they saw him, it would be his death sentence.

He breathed a sigh of relief as he approached one of the houses, but allowed himself to glance around one last time, taking great pains to carefully scan the rooftops, for anyone who might turn curious eyes on him. He didn't see anyone and he didn't think anyone was that good to escape his scrutiny. After all, he had spent his life training with Altair and Badoura and no one could hide better than Badoura. Feeling satisfied, he opened the door and walked in.

Instantly, he found himself staring down the business end of several swords but he wasn't overly alarmed.

"Safety and peace, my friends." He said.

"Ah, Malik, you have finally arrived." A voice he quickly recognized as the rafiq from Acre, "Come in. We were starting to get worried."

"My apologizes. I was just being extra careful coming here." Malik said as the blades disappeared like magic, "I would rather this go unnoticed."

The room was small, and not very well lit, with nothing but a table in the middle. Sitting at the table was the rafiqs from Damascus and Acre, the only cities to be truly affected by this new sudden change. The rafiqs from Tyre and Arsuf should also be there, but the crusaders had seen to it that the bureaus in both cities were destroyed. Some assassins had made it home, but not the rafiqs.

In the flickering shadows Malik noticed the outlines of several silent guards and was pleased. They were taking this seriously after all.

"This is starting to get out of hand." The rafiq from Acre, Muzaffar, said, "If we can't even trust our own leaders…"

"Yes, yes, you've said that about fifty times already, my friend." The Damascus rafiq, Hasan, said, "Let's get to the matter at hand; how in the nine hells did Kamal get to the position of master?"

"He said that it has something to do with orders from the head Alamut bureau." Malik said, "However, I don't see how that's possible. For one, it's a long dangerous ride from here to Persia and even worse going through those mountains. For another thing, no one has left to or from Alamut. They probably don't even know what's happened, let alone care."

"So why would he lie his way into the position of master?" Hasan asked, "Being master is not only one of the most impossible jobs there is but if he doesn't do it right someone is bound to kill him before long. If he's here for that thing that corrupted Al Mualim…"

"I don't think he even knows of it." Malik said quickly, seeing the two rafiqs get nervous at the mere mention of the Piece of Eden, "He can't find it anyway, not without a long intensive search that would have been better executed at a much lower rank, where no one would pay any attention to him."

"No one accused him of being smart, Malik." Muzaffar reminded him, "But I agree with you on that; he's most likely not after the Piece of Eden. Maybe this has something to do Altair, perhaps? It's no secret they hate each other and Kamal has just about ripped apart the fortress looking for him since he arrived."

"It might, but why take it out on the rest of the brotherhood?" Hasan asked, "No, this goes deeper than any bad blood between two men, no matter how bad it seems."

"He's going after Badoura as well." Malik said, half to himself.

"That I'm not going to worry about." Hasan said, making Malik look up sharply, "Badoura can look after herself. She'll get herself worked up just because she's a woman, but then she'll bite back harder than a snake. She'll be fine. She always comes out better than anyone."

Malik had to admit that to be true. She never seemed to be bothered by whatever drama was being played out, no matter how deep she seemed to be in it.

"There's another thing." Malik said, "Though he wasn't able to wholly confirm it, Altair has discovered that Conrad of Montferrat is indeed in Acre as of now and something has gotten him and all his men stirred up. Rumors whisper of revenge against us for the death of his father, William."

"One of the templars Altair killed." Muzaffar commented, "I never thought there was much affection between them…and I know there isn't any love lost between Conrad and Richard. Perhaps it has to do with him that's got the Montferrat whelp excited?"

"No, Richard is busy is Arsuf, as you well know." Malik said, "Besides, Altair was attacked in Acre…they were actively looking for him."

"What are you trying to say Malik?"

"I'm not sure. All I know is that we have unexplained threats coming from the inside as well as from the outside." Malik said, sighing in frustration.

"So what do you propose we do about it?" Muzaffar asked, leaning back in his chair.

"We will have to be the ones to take care of the inside threat. We are the only ones who can politically influence what goes on around here and we're the ones that the others are looking to." Malik said, not noticing the amused looks on the other two rafiqs' faces, "Most of the assassins are rather disgruntled at this sudden new change and many remember the last time we saw him…and that little fight between him and Altair. I think we'll find most rather willing to help us out."

"To do what?"

"For now, we go back to our bureaus and pretend like Kamal has us under his thumb but all the while we get the assassins to spy on what he's doing. I'm not sure what to do after that…I'll think of something."

"And what of Conrad?"

"That will be Altair's job. He can't stand for sitting around and waiting anyway and will stand even less for what he considers politics." Malik was pacing by now, still oblivious to the amused rafiqs, "Besides, he can't stay in the fortress, not with Kamal there. The place will blow up if it comes to blows between them again. No, we'll take care of the problem inside and Altair will take care of the outside problem."

Suddenly he glanced up at the two older rafiqs, who were trying not to laugh, "What?"

"Here we are, two old men, being outclassed by a mere puppy." Hasan said, "Alright, Malik, it sounds good enough for me. You're taking the reins on this one."

XxXxXx

2012, Masyaf, Syria

"Man, are you sure you wanna do this?" Gerson asked as he, Desmond, Lucy and Sura crouched behind the same boulder they had that morning, "I mean, we could always get what we want another way…"

"No." Desmond said, "I want to get whatever might be there before the Templars do. They really don't need to get their paws on that stuff."

They were back in Masyaf, this time in the dead of night. The darkness around them seemed impenetrable, the only source of light were the soft glows from the various pieces of equipment still around the fortress walls. Apparently, Abstergo wasn't too worried about thieves.

"There are only four people guarding the inside of the ruins. Everyone else I think has gone to a hotel in Hama or Masyaf." Lucy said, "But there's no one left inside that's still working. They seemed very laid back on this project…I wonder why."

"I don't really care." Gerson, "This only works to our favor. Come on, let's go before I change my mind."

"Are you scared of the dark Gerson?" Sura asked teasingly.

"After that incident with Desmond? Shit yeah." Gerson dourly.

The four slunk all the way up to the gates without incident but stopped when they heard the low murmur of two of the four guards conversing. Both Gerson and Desmond felt their hands itching for want to kill the Templars but both knew better than that. A dead body, after all, attracts attention faster than if they had gone up and introduced themselves as assassins. No, the guards would live.

Which was why each of them carried a small capsule filled with Halothane vapors. They worked rather like smelling salts; snap it open and the vapors would pour out. Halothane itself was rather antiquated and not used very much anymore but it would get the job done and the assassins didn't really care all that much if the guards suffered from any of the adverse effects of the drug. The hardest part would be to convince the guard to inhale it.

Lucy snuck up behind her guard and crouched down below a small wall, the capsule poised over her thumb with her index and middle finger, ready to snap it open. As the guard walked back towards Lucy's hiding spot, she flicked a small pebble over the ground. Not very loud or very far, but enough to make the guard curious and bend down to investigate…and got a lungful of the anesthesia.

Sura chose pretty much the same route, except that, as her victim moved closer, she simply popped up out of nowhere and snapped her capsule open before the guard could fully register what he had seen.

Gerson, rather frustrated with all this slinking and creeping, took a more direct approach. Computer nerd he may be (he preferred to be called a "hacker") he was rather energetic and today hadn't been all that exciting…until now that is. He simply stood in the shadows, utterly amazed at the guard's oblivion, as he walked by, not even seeing the big assassin. With a sigh that should have alerted the guard, Gerson fell into step behind his target and, after a few steps, slammed his fist into the man's head, dropping him like a stone.

"While I don't think you're going to wake up anytime real soon, best not to leave anything to chance." He murmured to the slumbering man, snapping open his capsule, "Pleasant dreams."

Desmond actually had the easiest time. As soon as he spotted his target, he let the assassin in him take over. He ran silently up behind the guard and leaped, judging the distance perfectly as he landed on the guard's shoulders, one hand muffling his shout and the other practically shoving the broken capsule up his nose. Desmond sat on his back for a few seconds to make sure he was truly unconscious before dragging him to a quiet corner and leaving him sleeping peacefully.

"Ok, where is this room you were talking about?" Lucy asked, "As I said, I wasn't paying that close attention to that memory."

"This way." Desmond said, "It's underground."

The way he led them through the darkened ruins was rather spooky, given how he seemed to know every turn and passage as if he had lived there his whole life. In truth, he didn't really know where he was going…but some force inside him pushed him along, going deeper within the fortress. Finally he stopped in the middle of the hall.

"There. That's where it is." He said motioning towards the wall, "Uh…I think the passage caved in."

"What was your first clue I wonder?" Sura said sarcastically, "Great, now what?"

"Oh for the love of God!" Gerson said, "Weren't you the one getting on to me about being an assassin or not? There's more than one way in!"

"It's blocked, dumb ass. Meaning you can't get through it."

"Shut it. Look, the stones are really loose right here and here while the support for the walls and ceiling are still pretty strong." Gerson said, pointing, "We can pull these rocks away in no time. Jeez, this means you get to do some actual work, Sura."

Desmond laughed and pushed between them before Sura could reply, her eyes narrowed dangerously at Gerson, who was smirking victoriously, and began to push and prod at the stones, trying to determine which to pull out, like a giant Jenga puzzle.

Most of the stones were rather large and heavy and, though Desmond was strong enough in himself, without Gerson's immense strength it would have taken them all night just to get to the small tunnel behind the loose stones.

The four quickly followed the tunnel, noting how the walls glistened with condensation. They were far underground now, under the groundwater source even, which was evident by the slight popping of their ears as the air pressure changed. Suddenly, the tunnel opened up, the wet walls falling away into darkness.

"Crap, how are we going to search if we can't even find all the walls?" Lucy groaned, sore and frustrated.

"Hang on, there's a trick I learned back when I was a kid." Desmond quickly reassured her, pulling out his flashlight, "See, this cavern has a flat roof so if I shine my flashlight directly up into the ceiling, the light should reflect off of it and reach out towards the walls."

"I don't think that's going to work, Des." Lucy said, "These are rock walls…there's nothing to reflect off of."

"Watch and be amazed!" Desmond said, rather pleased with himself.

He pointed his flashlight up and clicked it on. Sure enough, the light beam reflected off the ceiling, bouncing out to the walls, so that the cavern was illuminated in a faint glow that reached out to every corner. Desmond set his flashlight on the ground, still pointing up, and looked around.

It was a fairly large cavern, given how it had to be carved out of solid rock, with astonishingly smooth walls, ceiling and floor. There wasn't much in the way of decoration but Desmond immediately noticed that a familiar symbol was carved onto the floor, the sweeping assassin symbol in the shape of an "A" whose ends flared out with all the grace and intimidation of curved blade. They were definitely in the right place.

"Look! Des, you were right!" Sura said, pointing to the far corner, where several shelves Desmond didn't remember seeing stood, over flowing with rather delicate looking scrolls. They didn't seem very organized, as if whoever had put them there had hastily shoved them in the shelves.

"Remember, we're only here to collect them. Don't try to unroll them yet." Sura warned, "We leave that for Abida."

They nodded and went about their work, Desmond shaking off his slight shock at the realization that he was going to have to work with his mother again. Though they had apologized and more or less forgiven each other, things were still rather awkward. Plus he had a feeling he would have to finally tell his parents about Altair. Why that made him uncomfortable he didn't know; he felt like he was hiding a stray dog or cat in his room that he knew he wouldn't be allowed to keep.

After a while Desmond found himself working side by side with Gerson, the girls carefully packing the scrolls away a little ways off.

"Hey, you alright?" Gerson asked suddenly, taking Desmond off guard, "You were rather…agitated earlier today."

"Yeah, I'm good." Desmond said, "I just wasn't expecting that. Didn't think Abstergo would resort to grave robbing, is all."

"You're good at bull shitting, I'll give you that." Gerson grinned, "You just don't like imagining Altair dead."

"Would you and Sura stop doing that? It's giving me the creeps." Desmond said rather moodily.

Gerson grinned wider, "Not a chance. I've spent a long time picking on Sura and you're fresh blood. I'm not letting that go. But, seriously, I don't think we're going to find him."

"Huh?"

"I don't think we, or Abstergo for that matter, are going to find Altair."

"What makes you say that?"

"Desmond, we are in the middle of a God forsaken desert." Gerson snorted, "There are hundreds of thousands of places he could be. Not only that but he worked in several different cities, covering hundreds of miles of roads between them. He could have gotten killed on the job in any of those cities or on the road and left where he fell…I don't think I need to tell you what city guards did to the bodies of criminals back then."

"I don't know man." Desmond said slowly, "I think he's around here someplace. Don't ask me how I know, but…shit, it's just…God damn it, I just know, all right?!"

"Ok, whatever you say." Gerson agreed, not totally convinced, "You got your theories and I got mine…hopefully these scrolls will tell us what we need to know."

"Hey, I was right about those, you know."

"Alright boys, we're done here." Lucy said, "Let's go. It's almost four in the morning and Abstergo rises early so let's get going before someone realizes we're here."

They quickly scampered back through the tunnel and pushed some of the stones back into place just enough to allay suspicions for a little while and started back out. They were feeling pretty good, almost giddy. With the loot that they had, they were easily a good several steps ahead of the Templars. This might even provide the…

"Hey you! Stop!"

They froze as someone rounded the corner of the passage, looking suspiciously like a guard.

"What are you doing here? The castle is closed during the excavation." The guard demanded. Then they noticed that he was wearing, not Abstergo issued clothing, but a uniform that identified him as one of the fortress' security guards. Apparently he hadn't noticed the unconscious Abstergo guards yet…but he did notice the odd-shaped bags they were carrying. His eyes widened.

"Thieves! Someone call the police, we got thieves here!"

"Oh shit." Desmond mumbled.

XxXxXx

A/N: Doesn't look too good for Desmond and co. does it? Seems Lucy forgot about the locals. I'm sorry, there wasn't a lot of Altair in this chapter. Next one has more of our favorite assassin, I promise. Review, please. Everyone has been lovely so far on the reviews and I LOVE yall for that!! Reviews make me feel loved and those warm fuzzies make my fingers type faster.

-Vanillathunder215