Note ~ If you have visited my profile lately then you should know that I had a little creative breakthrough while eating some scrambled eggs and I have some plans up my sleeve for future chapters. :P Granted, I never actually plan anything, so I guess you could call it...inspiration maybe? Whatever, enough of my talk. On with the chapter!

P.S. ~ Thanks for the review Water-Sirene! And to all of you who have been reading this little old story! You all deserve a muffin...or two.

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Altair stared expressionlessly at the shrouded creature peeking around the other side of the door. It was too dark to see anything but the dark strands of hair that fell messily over the mystery's eyes.

"Zafar Hadad?" he asked cautiously, squinting in the heavy shadows with hopes of getting a better look at his greeter.

After several pained minutes, the person spoke. "H-How did you find me?"

Altair froze. Despite being slightly huskier than he remembered, the voice that breathed before him was impossible to mistaken for anyone else's. It was completely devoid of any accent familiar to him, and it carried with it a thread of sadness that could be countered by no other. This voice belonged to the girl.

But how? What were the odds of happening upon her like this? He had been searching for a doctor and had thought that finding her would be a whole other task. And yet there she stood, covered in darkness, her question lingering quietly in the humid alley.

"I-I came here for my Brother," Altair pressed, his composure faltering.

"Your Brother?"

He could not tell if she was harmed, but she was alive, and that was enough to lift an incredibly aching weight from his spine. Also, she was not in the hands of the Templars, or at least it seemed that way. What Templar doctor would care for an Assassin?

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Suddenly, a little gear inside my mind clicked and started turning. The man on the table was an Assassin, and he had some close connection to Laleh. Then there was the letter. Zafar had told the plump woman to bring it to Masyaf because the Assassins needed to know that one of their Brothers had been injured.

And now, Altair stood anxiously on the other side of the door, his expression swirling with thought. That unreliable Assassin had just randomly happened upon me while searching for his Brother.

"So…" I began hopelessly, "You weren't looking for me?"

Part of me felt guilty for even asking, but I had to know. I had to know if he had been searching for me to fulfill his promise of protection. I wanted to know if anyone cared that I had been kidnapped.

"Actually, I was. But I had no idea I would find you here. I saw you escape the Templar camp a-"

"You were there? Why didn't you help me?" I almost shouted.

The back of my heart was silently leaping in a field of flowers upon learning that he had been looking for me, but it was easily masked by my surprise.

"I did," Altair hissed, annoyed at my outburst.

I was utterly confused. "How?"

"I distracted your pursuers so you could get away. If it weren't for me, you would be dead right now." His tone was cold, and I felt compelled to drop my argument for fear of my life.

What he said made sense. They had randomly stopped chasing me, but I had dismissed it as some merciful act of God.

I gazed at his boots guiltily. "Thank you."

"You have nothing to thank me for. I promised to protect you until you could find a way home, and I plan on carrying that through. I am pleased to see that you made it to Damascus safely, despite my lacking efforts to find you after you escaped."

I hesitated. "What do you mean?"

"I was…forced to go back to Masyaf, and I wrongly assumed that you had gone the same direction."

"What do you mean 'forced'?" I asked suspiciously.

Altair twitched his shoulder slightly and winced. "Does it matter? We have more important things to worry about, like getting you back to Masyaf."

For an Assassin, he sure was bad at bluffing. "I think it does matter," I persisted.

He glared at me for a few long seconds before attempting to change the subject again. "Can I come in? I don't want a guard to see me standing here."

He had been standing patiently for quite a while. I deemed it only fair to let the subject drop…for the meantime. I opened the door carefully so as not to let it squeal loud enough to wake Zafar and watched as Altair slid into the dark room, suddenly becoming a shadow before me.

I felt like I knew everything about him, and yet so little. It seemed like he was a completely different person than the Altair from the game I had known so well. I think it was because he was so human. No longer were his emotions and responses pre-determined and memorized. He was just as unpredictable as anyone else I knew, and that realization came very close to being frightening.

"How do you know the doctor?" he asked suddenly.

I brushed past him to shut the door, focusing nearly all of my energy on closing it quietly. "I met him on the road to Damascus and he gave me a ride here. When we arrived, he offered me a place to stay."

Altair was silent for a moment and I imagined that if I could see his face he would appear deep in thought, as he often was. "I see. It is fortunate that everything turned out so well. I was planning on having to search the entire city for you."

"I still don't understand, though," I wondered aloud, turning to face his voice. "Why would you want to find me so badly? I thought you just wanted me out of your hair."

"Out of my hair?" he asked, genuinely puzzled.

I laughed a little to myself. "Yeah…It means out of your business. Umm…not your problem."

"Oh," Altair paused to make a mental note of the phrase. "Of course not. That…device of yours cannot fall into the Templar's hands. It is my duty to bring you back to Masyaf."

I thought about this for a moment. It was a rational answer he had given, a guarded one. "Well, what if I don't want to go back?"

Altair's voice jumped a little, and I was afraid he would suddenly break his calm demeanor and drag me back tied to the legs of his horse. "I want to help you find a way home, but-"

"Please," I whispered. "I want to leave this city knowing that it doesn't hold the key to my return."

Altair didn't answer. Instead, he allowed the thin moonlight peering into the room to guide him to his unconscious Brother. He lay his palms on the tired wooden table and stared at the sleeping man meaningfully.

"We have until he is on the better part of recovery," he finally blurted out.

"What?"

"We will stay in the city until then. But when he is well enough, we will all ride to Masyaf."

I smiled sleepily and nodded, though he had his back to me. "So where should we start?"

"Nowhere, right now. I need to rest from my journey." He sat in the dirt and leaned against the table wearily. "And I must speak with this doctor, Zafar."

"Try not to judge him too harshly," I whispered.

He cocked his head a little. "Why do you say that?"

"It's just…Oh, forget it. You'll meet him in the morning."

I couldn't see his face, but I knew he was staring at me. I just couldn't bring myself to tell him all of Zafar's faults. It was not my place to do so anyway. I stumbled over to my rugs and fell against them, trying to absorb what all had happened in such a short amount of time.

Altair had found me again, and we were going to look for my way home. I smiled contentedly. For the first time, I felt a little twinge of hope drifting somewhere in my heart. I mean, what were the odds of reuniting with him in such a way? It had to mean something, like that I would find my way home in this city. In any case, things were beginning to look a little brighter.

"Altair?" I mumbled, trying to decide if he was asleep or not.

"Yes?"

"I never told you my name."

"I'd rather you not tell it to anyone."

"Huh? Why not?" Who was he to tell me how to distribute my own name?

"Because you are not of this time. It only makes sense for you to remain a ghost while you are here."

I felt an instant pang of guilt at his words. He made a valid point, one that I should have considered earlier.

"I…umm…"

"You already gave it to somebody, didn't you?"

I did not answer him, choosing instead to let him revel in his perceptiveness.

"Well, just keep it to yourself from now on." I was surprised at the lack of judgement in his tone. Perhaps it was because he was so tired.

"Then what will you call me?" I challenged, a little hurt by his request.

"Shabah."

"What does that mean?"

"It is what you are in this world."

I swallowed dryly, remembering his previous advice. "Ghost?"

"Goodnight, Shabah." he grumbled, his breath curling into a light snore.

I rolled over on my concrete bed and squeezed my eyes shut, preventing any pointless emotion from surfacing. He was right and I knew it, but who wanted to be completely insignificant like that? I was nothing to this place, and I could deny it not longer. But still, there was comfort in knowing that I did matter in my own time. And when the sun rose, Altair and I would begin our search for clues.

~.~.~.~.~

"How is she doing"

"Well enough. She saw it, though."

"Relax. I doubt she's smart enough to know what it is."

"Yeah well, just remember that she's the only one."

"Of course. We don't want to go through all that trouble again anyway."

"Good."

"But you should keep in mind that that means she is valuable. I trust the implant is in place?"

"We're still making a few minor adjustments. It should be applicable in a few days."

"Keep an eye on her."

"We always are."