I was fading in and out of consciousness. The sunlight was giving me a headache. It was way too bright. With every lope of the horse, my shoulder was open to more pain. I wish there was some Tylenol or something around. I turned my head to look at Altair.

He was grinding his teeth and was intensely concentrating on controlling the horse. In my dazed state I asked Altair, "Can you turn down the lights? My head hurts…" Altair seemed momentarily confused by my mention of electricity, but then leaned his head over mine, shielding my face from the light.

"Just stay with me. There's a good campsite nearby; there we'll be able to take out that…" I fell into sleep, wondering what the next word he had said was.

In my sleep, I remember somebody carrying me and then setting me down. It was a man. He had one had on the side of my face. It was soothing and-

Holy mother of Jesus Christ the Lord!

There was a wrenching pain coming from my shoulder. I abruptly opened my eyes, and there was Alty, just sitting there with the bloody arrow in his hand. I went hysterical.

"WHY THE FUDGE DID YOU DO THAT?! THAT FREAKING HURT! I AM GONNA GET AN INFECTION AND THEN I WILL HAVE TO GET MY ARM CUT OFF AND THEN I WILL BE LIKE MALIK! AND IF I BECOME LIKE MALIK, THEN YOU WILL SUFFER MY FURY!"

"Malik has both arms, you idiotic girl." Oh, I forgot this was BEFORE the game.

"JUST SHUT UP AND FEEL BAD FOR ME ALREADY!"

"I have always felt bad for you because your lack of intelligence," he said coolly.

"NEVERMIND!" I was panting from screaming. My arm still hurt a lot. If only I brought some Advil…

Altair got up and went to the midnight black horse. He dug around in some saddlebags until he found something. He pulled out some cloth and a strange, small vial. I didn't ask what it was. He sat down beside me, and lifted up the cloth. He poured some of the liquid on it. The liquid was clear, and smelled of alcohol.

Wait, ALCOCHOL?! IT STINGS A LOT! NO!

While I was having this mental breakdown, Altair had leaned toward me with the cloth in his left hand. I noticed and continued freaking out. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god- and he started cleaning the arrow…

"WHY THE FUDGE ARE YOU CLEANING THE FREAKING ARROW WHEN I HAVE A FREAKING PUNCTURE WOUND! PUNC-TURE WOUND!" I shrieked at Altair. He just sighed.

"Do you EVER stop screaming? It's quite exasperating." He continued to stroke the arrow with the cloth.

I just leaned back on the log that was behind me. I closed my eyes and tried to think about something to distract me from the pain. I couldn't think of anything until I heard Altair breathing deeply. Hmm… Altair. Hot. Tan. Muscled. Confident. Strong. HOT… Again. I internally smiled when I felt the sting of alcohol.

Darn it, Altair! Darn the freaking yarn! (And yes I can knit. I am going to knit bunny ears onto Altair's hood, too! Just kidding! Or am I?) I whimpered as Altair cleaned my wound. He raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you WANTED me to clean you wound?" he asked with a sarcastic tone.

"Do NOT make strangle you right now…" I threatened. He laughed.

"I doubt you can. I am a TRAINED assassin. You even have an injury to prevent you from doing so."

"Well, then: how come I could steal your sword? How come you didn't notice the archer, even though you are always like: I-am-the-awesome-assassin?!" I asked him forcefully. He looked down at the ground dropping the rag, now covered with dirt and blood. It took him a few moments to answer.

"I was… Distracted…" I wouldn't take that excuse.

"Why were SO DISTRACTED? What was there that was SO DISTRACTING?! I could've DIED back there!" Wow, I am really malicious when irritated. Altair looked really uncomfortable and shifted in his crouching position.

"I am sorry… For not being aware of our surroundings… I should have protected you better." The way he said it made me feel really bad. I softened my tone.

"I am the one who should be apologizing. I shouldn't have taken that out on you. But, I really am curious: what was distracting you?"

A flush appeared on his face. I think he realized it was there because he pulled his hood farther over his face. It was cute.

"Um… Someone there was making me feel… Different. In a nice way, I suppose." It dawned on me! He had a crush on somebody at the bureau. At first, I thought it was sweet, but then I realized: there weren't any girl assassins. So… OH MY GOD! ALTAIR LIKED MALIK! OH MY GOD! I was reminded of the horrors of Altair/Malik yoai all over FanFiction. I shivered. I just thought that Altair didn't have that particular preference of partners. BUT, there was a girl at the bureau, now that I think of it. That girl was: me… Did he like me? Did he LIKE, LIKE me?

I had a mental explosion. No. Way.

There was absolutely no way that he liked me. I mean: come ON! This is a FICTIONAL GAME WORLD we are talking about. That reminded me of home. How was I supposed to get back?

AND HOW THE FUDGE DO THEY SPEAK AMERICAN ENGLISH HERE?!

But, he might just like Malik. Yeah, probably.

Apparently, I had been in deep thought for a while because Altair starting worrying.

"Emma… EMMA? Are you okay?" He was such a mother hen.

"Yeah," I said, rubbing the back of my neck, "I am just tired."

"I will get out my sleeping roll." He turned and got up, moving toward the horse. He left the cloth next to me. It was kind of disturbing. I looked at my arrow wound. It was already bandaged.

I was left thinking about the bedroll.

Wait, he said "sleeping ROLL." Singular, not plural. Oh my gosh. I didn't pack one. Does this mean we have to share-

"Emma, did you pack a sleeping roll? I can't find yours."

"No…?"

"You realize we only have ONE then, right?"

"Yes?" I cringed.

"Here, you can use it-"

"No. You should use it."

"You are injured, you need it more than I do."

"So you'll freeze to death and I'll be screwed next morning?" He stood next to the horse in thought.

"So… You want to share then?" he asked, scratching the back of his head.

"Naturally body heat." I replied. He sighed and unrolled the bedroll. I slid into it, and he got in on the other side. It was a tight fit. His shoulder kept pressing into my shoulder. I hissed. Altair seemed to notice.

"Lay your stomach."

"But then there will be no more room!"

"Just do it." I complied and shifted onto my stomach. All of a sudden, Altair lifted me and pulled me onto his chest. I immediately started blushing.

"Is that enough room for you?" He asked with a smirk.

"Yeah."