XxXxXx

2012

Gerson's hand reflexively slapped over the cell phone in his back pocket as it rang shrilly, the sound echoing through the steep valley. Somehow, as he slapped it, he managed to silence it but the damage had been done.

Desmond's plan had called for them to get close, very close, to the excavation site and when the phone had rang they were already close enough for them to practically hear the Templar's breathing. Even without the irritating and highly inconvenient echo, they would have to be deaf not to hear it.

Unfortunately, as it turned out, none of the Templars were deaf. Every head turned towards the source of the noise, that is, towards Gerson. For a moment that seemed to last an eternity, no one moved. Templar and Assassin stared at each other like the cat that had just been discovered by a pack of dogs. A single gun shot broke the spell.

Gerson flinched as his face was sprayed with chips of stone as the bullet missed his head by mere inches. Next to him, Desmond's eyes widened so that they looked as if they might fall out of his head at any second.

"ASSASSIN!"

"Shit" Gerson mumbled, "Why must they always scream that out? Everyone knows who we are."

As one he and Desmond spun around and dashed off, scrambling over rocks in such a way that would make any mountain goat jealous. Of course, no sensible mountain goat would have gone any slower, not with the hailstorm of bullets exploding around him.

Desmond, his adrenaline pumping and his heart in his mouth, suddenly became aware of Altair "screaming" at him. That was odd. He had never heard the assassin even raise his voice before. Glancing back he saw why; though they were being shot at, they weren't being chased.

"Stop!" he screamed out in a voice not quite sounding like his own, but it was too little too late.

He heard a shot and saw Gerson stumble but before he could react to that, a second shot split the air. Not even Altair's inhuman reflexes could not help him against a projectile shot from a firearm. He felt a stinging pain between his shoulder blades, the impact knocking him forward. His head slammed against a rock and everything went black.

XxXxXx

1191

Badoura scribbled furiously in the dust on the floor, ignoring the looks she was getting from the other assassins…but not from Karim. She immediately noticed how he kept his face expressionless, eyes glued on her seemingly meaningless drawings as if he understood…or perhaps he did. It would be nice change for someone other than her little brothers to actually give her credit rather than turn their nose up just because she was a woman. That usual got old pretty quick.

She put the last finishing touches on her plans before turning back towards the men.

"Do you prefer us to go to the gate or into the fortress to release our brothers?" Karim asked before she could say a word.

She stared at him a few moments, her mouth open, before she composed herself, "At least give me a chance to explain…" she grumbled, impressed as well as irritated.

"My apologies." Karim said smoothly, inclining his head politely as much to pacify her as to hide his smile.

"Anyway…" Badoura began, rolling her eyes, "There are seven of us here so we will split into two groups, one to go to the gates and the other to sneak into the fortress to rescue our brothers as Karim has so kindly revealed. Those who go to the gate will be in the smaller group. They will be in charge of watching for that army. Since they were…invited here, they probably won't be expecting any resistance. Don't let them in, no matter what. Stall them for as long as you can by whatever means so long as it doesn't resort to blows. I mean that.

The other group will be the larger. They will sneak into the fortress to rescue our brothers from wherever they are being kept. I think you said earlier that there are villagers being held there as well, yes? If there are, they might be safer where they are for now, so just reassure them that they will not be forgotten and let them stay there. Once all the brothers are free, we all go to the gates, where I have a little surprise for that army. In answer to your question, Karim, I want you to take two others and go to the gates. I don't think that whoever is leading that army will listen to me, a woman, but might hear your words. Besides, I'm better at sneaking than you clumsy men and I want to get Ghaddar. A lioness might help should things get a little ugly."

"Anything else?" Karim asked, rather impressed.

"Keep an eye out for Altair. Mind, you might or might not see him, depending on whether he decides to show himself, but he will join the fun sooner or later."

"I take it you want me to tell him something."

"No…there's nothing you or I or anyone can tell him at this point that he will actually listen to. Some things will never change."

Aaaaaaa

Unlike Badoura, the very first thing Altair and Hasan noticed upon entering the valley was the total absence of guards. They were instantly on their guard, hands drifting towards their sword hilts and eyes darting around, picking out possible places where an ambush might be hiding.

Altair suddenly remembered the guard he had seen the day he and Badoura had left for Acre, the one that his eagle vision had marked as an enemy. At the time he had passed it off, thinking that it was his injuries that was interfering with his gift, but now he was starting to think that it was something more.

"Something wrong?" Hasan asked, seeing Altair frown suddenly.

"No…it's nothing." Altair said.

Before Hasan could probe further, Zauba'a suddenly jerked his head up, small ears pricked forward sharply. Altair felt him tense beneath him before sucking in a big breath of air. Knowing what was to follow, he shot out of the saddle and yanked the stallion's head down, burying his nose in the crook of his elbow, stifling the explosive whinny.

Altair frowned as he noted that Zauba'a had not been looking towards home, rather, he had been facing the way they had come. He stayed still, straining for all he was worth with all his senses to catch even the slightest hint as to what had caught the stallion's attention.

There! His grey eyes widened slightly as he caught sight of a cloud of dust billowing skyward above the valley. They were running out of time.

"Quick!" he said, leaping lightly into the saddle, "They are right behind us!"

XxXxXx

2012

Sura glared at the phone as if hoping that it would reach the person she was trying to call. This wasn't the first time she had had problems trying to get Gerson to pick up his cell phone, and it certainly wasn't the last, but something told her that this wasn't like the other times. She tried to shrug it off, thinking that it was simply the lack of sleep and stress that was causing her to feel edgy but her mind wasn't buying it.

"Any luck?" Lucy asked, popping her head back into the room.

"None." Sura said, "You know, that bothers me a little. He never answers his cell but…"

"Assassin instincts screaming?"

"You could call it that." Sura said absently, suddenly agitated and pacing, "Lucy…go grab our gear and meet me by the car. I swear something has happened to the boys."

Lucy nodded and left. As soon as she did, Sura jabbed at the numbers on the keypad fiercely, rather briskly asked her parents to keep looking through Badoura's old journals before burying her face in her hands.

They had been in danger before, they had all been in danger more times than they could count, had had some very close calls even, but that was the nature of the job. They had long ago accepted that risk, welcomed it even, for there was nothing that could equal that thrill. However, these two boys were special to her. She worried about them all the time. They were her little brothers!

Sura's head shot up. She had called Gerson a little brother before, mostly just to tease him over the fact that he was younger than her, but since when had she ever thought of Desmond as a little brother? Come to think of it, where on earth had she suddenly gotten this motherly streak?

XxXxXx

2012

"This is getting real old, real fast." Desmond mumbled to himself as he dragged himself into consciousness, his head throbbing from where he had smacked it against a rock. Groaning a little, he tried to reach up to rub at his face but his arms wouldn't move. With a start he realized that he was tied up. They apparently were taking no chances this time, tying him up securely from head to toe. Why they were using rope instead of something a bit more…modern perhaps, he wasn't quite sure. (Maybe it had to do with the author's rope fetish…)

Groggily he looked around, trying to get his bearings. He was in the shade, though he highly doubted it was because anyone was concerned for his well being. He saw Gerson, tied up just like he was, across from him, still unconscious, a small trickle of blood still dripping from his forehead. He would have a nasty headache when he woke up. Desmond sympathized with that.

Wait…he had been shot! He remembered it clearly; hearing the explosion, felt it between his shoulders. A clean hit like that should have killed both him and Gerson instantly. Unless…

"Damn." Desmond grumbled, "Tranquilizers. Used our own trick against us."

Suddenly, as his eyes fell on a distinctive stone object that dominated the small cubby they were, the full realization of what had happened hit him. They had been caught. They had been caught, tied up and they were now sitting next to a tomb. Desmond felt his heart rate pick up and his chest tighten a little. He was sitting next to Altair's tomb.

"Well, well, we meet again Mr. Miles."

Desmond had to exercise every ounce of self control he had then to not say something sarcastic, or scathing, or sardonic, or derogatory…heck, he had real hard time not saying anything at all, as Dr. Vidic stepped in front of him, grinning wolfishly.

"You really should have just stayed hidden under whatever rock you were under." He said, "But, now that you're here, you get to watch as we get the key to achieve the goal we've been trying to reach for these past years. A generous offer, really, but we do owe it to you…and your ancestor especially. After all, it his remains that will give us what we need."

Desmond snarled and would have tried to lunge for the man, but the ropes dug painfully into his skin, a pointed reminder that it would have been a waste of energy.

"Ah, I see your friend has decided to join us." Vidic motioned towards Gerson, who groaned and shook his head painfully, "Good, I didn't want him to miss this. Gerson Salar…the scheduled subject 18, had Desmond not provided us with his wonderful ancestor. So nice to finally meet you in person."

"Fuck you." Gerson mumbled, trying to uncross his eyes, his headache almost unbearable.

Vidic, surprisingly, just laughed. "Now, now, no need for that kind of talk. Well, I'm sorry Lucy wasn't here to join us for this monumental moment but that can't be helped. We've tarried too long and it's high time we opened that tomb."

Vidic waved to someone out of either assassin's field of vision and a few seconds later, the small space was filled with people, crowding around the stone tomb with crowbars.

Desmond felt his chest tighten up with dread as he watched them get into position. Desperately he looked over and caught Gerson's eye, begging him to come up with some last second daring escape plan. Gerson just gave him a sympathetic look, as pained as Desmond felt, and slowly shook his head. He was out of ideas. He was just as stuck as Desmond.

"Alright, gentlemen, open it up!"

XxXxXx

A/C: and here it is, my lovely readers! Sorry to keep you waiting but i was debating; give them a short chapter and give them a healthy dose of assassin kick ass next time or a long one now and let loose some cliffies...you can see what a chose; happy early Chrismahakwanzika. (not so sure I spelled that right...) Heeheehee, Gerson Salar...his name is a combination of the names of two guys I no. Both keep questioning me about him, and both flipped during this chapter. Oh I love my boys...

-Vanillathunder215