Sarah and I ascended to the top of the building next to us. She was an excellent climber, well trained. I knew that no Templar could climb like that. She was an Assassin all right. She looked me over. "You're pretty young to be one of us, how old are you?"

I smiled. "Actually, I'm twenty seven."

Her eyes were wide. "You look much younger...how long have you been an Assassin?"

I shrugged. "Ten years," I started, "You?"

She shrugged. "Fifteen. I started my training at fifteen. My father was the Guild leader at the time."

I nodded. "He must be proud."

She smiled a little. "I hope so..."

I noticed her tone. She seemed sad. I straightened. "Was he still part of the Guild when..."

She shook her head. "My father was killed by a Templar agent," she started. Her tone hardened. "Nathanial Bishop...the Grand Master in America."

I nodded. "I'm not familiar with him, but I promise you we'll get him." She nodded and looked to our large tower.

"What is that?"

I smiled. "It's our Den. We should proceed quickly if we're to avoid suspicion. I don't like being this close to the crime." She nodded and we took off, free running across the rooftops and jumping over ledges to our Den. It was refreshing to have someone who could keep up with me. Before Sarah, Ishara was the only one who could. Well, beside my master, I'm sure she could, but I digress.

We checked behind us; nothing. We looked below us and saw nothing as well. We free climbed down the building and got to the front door. It was locked as always. I punched in the code and we went in.

Thomas paced the main hall with angst. I looked him over. "Thomas? Are you okay?"

He stopped pacing and looked at me. "You…you're back!"

I nodded. "Yes," I said, worried. "Of course I'm here…what's wrong?"

He shook his head. "My boys and I took out one of them, and they said they killed you…"

I nodded. "Rest assured, Thomas, I'm fine."

He looked me over; no doubt looking at the bruises on my face. "You got bruised up pretty good…"

I nodded. "Yeah…Chestnut was much stronger than I thought he'd be. But He's dead, and I have his files. It's frightening how much information they have on us. I must speak with the master."

He nodded and looked to Sarah. He narrowed his eyes at her. "And who are you?"

She gave a bow. "Sarah Donovan," she said. "Formerly a Guild leader in the Americas."

He looked at her robes carefully. "Yes…I recognize your robes…it's an old style…"

She nodded. "They were bequeathed to me by my father. Issiah Donovan. He was killed by the now Templar Grand Master in America." He nodded and looked back to me.

I could still sense his doubt. "She can keep up with me," I assured, "She's one of us." He nodded and looked back to his contacts. I motioned for her to follow.

We walked to the Master's chambers and I knocked on the door. "Enter…" came her voice. I walked in and her office was in shambles. I looked at her and found her facing her window, her hood drawn over her face. Her fists were clenched tightly. "Master?" I asked.

She spun around, her eyes red with frustration, and possibly with tears. She looked at me. "Drago?"

I nodded. "I'm still kicking," I said. "I've brought information for you." She walked towards me, reaching over her desk. I began to hand the files to her. "They've got more information on us than I ever thought possible." She spread the files across her desk and ran her fingers over them, right to her file. Her eyes went wide as she looked at the file. She opened the file and her eyes went wider. "Oh my god…" she breathed. I nodded.

She looked back up to me. "Where did you get this?"

I cleared my throat. "From Maurice Chestnut's estate," I said, "He's dead. But he was much stronger than I thought." She nodded and looked to Sarah.

"Who is this?" she asked.

Sarah bowed. "Mentor, I am Sarah Donavan, formerly a Guild leader in America. I was also hunting Chestnut."

Master walked around the table, her eyes showing concern. "Donavan?" She asked. Sarah nodded. Master frowned. "I…I heard about Master Donavan's death…I'm sorry."

Sarah nodded. "Thank you," she said, "The man who killed him is Nathanial Bishop." Master nodded and sat down, pain creasing her face.

"…he's the new Grand Master…" Sarah nodded and my master looked at her. "What happened to your Den?"

Sarah winced. "We had a traitor in our fold…we didn't figure it out who it was until it was too late."

I looked her over. "Who was it?"

She turned to me. "Marvin Francois." Master and I looked at each other, equally baffled.

"Who?" We asked.

Sarah winced again. "He's one of the members of the 'underworld' that we used. He did great work at first, but he was seduced by the Templars and he led them right to us. I'm going to hunt him down and punish him for that."

Master nodded. "…we must have a traitor in our mists as well."

I nodded. "I agree. I don't know if we have anyone by that name…I'll consult Thomas." A part of me suspected Thomas, but if he was a traitor, I don't think he'd stay around for me, Sarah, and my master to gang up on him. Something didn't seem right to me. For us to have the same problems…the mole had to be the same person…but how could we miss him?

I was about to walk out for Thomas when a thought occurred. The email I received earlier. I pulled out the thumb drive. "Master, we may have another problem."

She looked me over, her grey eyes scanning me with worry. "What is it?"

I handed her the thumb drive. "I received an email from Isharra, but the ending line of the message ended with 'May he guide you...'"

Master raised an eyebrow. "I see…"

Sarah looked at me curiously. "Drago, may I see that?" We looked at her. She smiled. "I'm a pretty good hacker, I'm confident I can trace it back. If it's from one of his cronies I'd like to help you take them out. No Assassin would use a Templar's venomous words." Master and I nodded.

Master looked to Sarah. "It seems that you need a new home."

Sarah nodded and bowed. "It would be my honor to serve you."

Master nodded. "Good. I stick to our custom; by the words of our one of our greatest, Niccolo Machiavelli. 'Laa Shay'a waqi'un moutlaq bale kouloun moumkine. The wisdom of our Creed is revealed through these words.'"

Sarha nodded, her head still bowed. "Yes Master. Nothing is true; everything is permitted."

Master nodded. "I'd brand your finger, but seeing how you're already one of us I see no need. That would also help identify you. Welcome to our Guild, sister. I would like you to help Drago determine the authenticity of the message he received."

Sarah nodded. "On my honor, we'll find out who sent the message, and we'll punish them for trying to deceive us."

I looked at Sarah and smiled. Something about her determination touched me. I had to be careful too though. She wasn't just trying to help us, she was out for revenge. I couldn't blame her, nor deny her right to vengeance, but we had a mission to complete. A sickening thought crossed my mind. I may have to be partners with her…but if she steps out of line…and she doesn't heed me…I may have to kill her…I've no desire to kill one of our own, but I can't let her destroy the progress we've achieved here. I will be watching her carefully.

Master waved us off, casting her eyes to the other files. "Go now. I must be alone. I have to look at these…" Sarah and I nodded and walked out. Sarah smiled.

"Wow…it's been fifteen years since I've heard that…my father was old school you know. I thought for sure that one as young as her would have adopted a less formal initiation, like Warren Miles…"

I shook my head. "Miles was an idiot," I said, "He should have never took Desmond to the Animus. Desmond was brought in from the outside as a man, not a child like you and me. We were born into it, we were raised through the Creed. Someone like him can't truly understand how deep the Creed goes. I'm not so sure that whole catastrophe thing that was talked about was even true."

Sarah shrugged. "Me neither," she said, "But I think it was brave of him. He gave himself up for the world…"

I shook my head. "Just another Jesus story," I said, "I'm sorry, he should have used the Apple, taken over Vidic, got the info, and used it against them, not throwing the Apple away and letting them find another Piece of Eden. I don't like the Pieces of Eden, but if you have one you should at least use it if you're able. Things might have turned out differently. If Desmond could use the Apple, I'm sure his father could have too. They were both of Etzio's blood line, right?"

Sarah shrugged. "You would think." She looked me over. "You don't like the Animus much, do you?"

I shook my head. "I prefer to fight our battles here, in the real world. There are plenty of us who use the animus and hide behind young initiates who want to do the right thing, but they get killed, and they get traced back to us. We should be doing this ourselves, not sending young children to die for us. I'm glad Master doesn't allow that device here."

Sarah nodded. "I don't like it either. I used it once. I lived through Amelia Stewarts memories. She was an English Assassin from the 1800s. She was good. She fell for a Templar though…I mean, she killed him, but she fell for one…"

I nodded. "That's why I don't like the Animus. It fills our minds with mistakes and successes of the past. It makes us lose sight of the present. It gives them that much more control over us."

Sarah nodded. "I forgot…they can track the animus signals…"

I nodded. "I've been in their facilities before. I've seen what they can do. I've seen people get fucked up by over exposure to the Animus; cases similar to Subject 16. It's not pretty."

She nodded. "You're right, it's not…" We went silent for a moment. The tension was increasing, and the bad memories were starting to boil in the back of my mind.

I shook it off. "So, my room's down here. Do you think you can trace it from any computer?"

She nodded and help up the drive. "Sure. It's all in knowing code." I led her to my room and to the computer. She put the thumb drive in, pulled up the email, and started to type like a woman possessed.

She was incredible. She pulled up page, after page, after page, flying through code and deciphering things I never thought possible. After ten minutes she leaned back, a smile creasing her lips. "It's a fake alright."

I nodded. "I guessed that," I said.

She grinned. "Ah," she began, "But here's the interesting part. You see this?" She pointed to an odd line of code.

I nodded. "Yes. What is it?"

She looked to the three plus signs at the end of it. "This is a common Templar code. They used this back when they started making the Animus. The original code for the Animus was 87456AA+++." I nodded and saw that very designation on the screen.

"It's so small you can barely read it."

She nodded. "Yeah I know. They do that for emails too. How they got yours I'm not sure…"

I ran my fingers over my chin. "They may have got it from a phone hack, I mean, phones are pretty easy to hack into now."

Sarah nodded. "True, but our stuff is encrypted, so, I'm not sure how they were able too. The traitor I mentioned wasn't a computer guy by any means. He barely knew how to turn one on. So, it couldn't have been him."

I couldn't help but nod. "Sensible," I said. "Or, it could have been a ploy all along, so you'd leave him alone with a computer."

She mulled it over. "Possibly…but I doubt he'd know old code. All the new stuff is full of letters."

I looked her over. How does she know so much about Templar code? "You know a great deal of Templar code…"

She nodded, frustration creasing her brow. "My father, god bless him, made me read bits of code as a child. He wanted me to know who and what was sending me, and us, messages." She looked up at me. "My first five years was nothing but coding and deciphering encrypted messages. I hated it."

I nodded. "But you're so good at it."

She shook her head, a smile coming back to her lips. "Yes…the old training is hard to forget. I'm sure you felt the same when you took out Chestnut. I mean, I could see the smoke from around the building."

I finally smiled. "Ah, so you're the one who made him look the other way."

Her eyes went shifty and she looked away from me. Embarrassed. "Yes…I was trying to sneak in while you two fought…but…(sigh) my robes are old, and thus have bits of armor in them. They clink together when trying to rush. He heard me." I nodded and looked to the computer. I found more messages. I blew out a sigh and reached over Sarah's arm. She moved it and I saw her bare hand. She had our seal branded on her ring finger. I smiled. She wasn't kidding. Her father was old school. I'm glad master didn't make me get mine branded. It's odd that Master didn't see her hand…but then again…she didn't look at her hands either.