Malik woke to the smell of food cooking and laughter.

"GET ME DOWN!"

Malik rolled out of bed, the vein in his forehead throbbing, "Those blasted novices better have a damn good reason for waking me." He mumbled as he stumbled to the door but all anger was lost as he looked out into the main room.

"What the-"

Ciaran looked over towards Malik and rubbed his eyes, "Ezio was snoring last night and it woke Altair. Never give Altair duct tape, never!" He said as he dropped to the floor laughing.

Ezio was hanging from the ceiling by his wrists, which were covered by silver and pinned to the roof.

"It's not funny! This hurts and I cannot control snoring!" Ezio whimpered, fighting back tears.

"Get him off the roof. I do not need this first thing in the morning." Malik said, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Here." Desmond said as he shoved a weird looking cup under Malik's nose. It smelt good so Malik wasn't going to question.

He took the cup and sniffed the contents. He couldn't smell any poisons so maybe it was okay. Malik took a small drink and felt the hot liquid run down his throat. He moaned softly and took a bigger drink.

"Told you he would like it."

Malik looked over to the kitchen and saw Rurai sitting next to Altair, both of whom were drinking from similar mugs.

"What is this?"

"Coffee, it helps Desmond make stupid choices faster and makes Ciaran a person." Rurai said before downing the last of it.

"It is good." Malik said softly before moving towards Altair.

The other Assassins in the room watched as Desmond climbed up the wall and over to Ezio, who had tears running down his cheeks. They all just watched as Desmond started peeling away all of the tape and Ezio dropped to the floor with a thud.

"Did you have to be that harsh?" Ciaran asked as Rurai walked over to Ezio's unmoving body.

"How was I supposed to know he was going to drop like that?" Desmond countered as he landed behind Malik.

"Not you, him." Ciaran said gesturing to Altair.

"He woke me up." Altair growled into his coffee.

Malik was barely listening to Ciaran and Altair, part of him was worried about Ezio. The Italian was the odd man out with no brothers who spoke his native tongue or from him homeland. His features were softer than Altair's and he was nicer. He wasn't born into the Assassin ranks from what Malik could tell and he held himself with an almost vengeful air.

"What is Ezio's story?" Malik asked Ciaran.

"Donno. He just showed up with Desmond and they haven't been really talkative about where they came from. Ezio went back to Italy and Desmond stayed with us. His dress has been weird but he's adapted quickly. What about Altair?"

Malik cocked an eyebrow and laughed softly, "He's a stubborn man. He and I had a falling out a few months back when I lost my brother and my arm."

Ciaran looked at Malik's arm or lack thereof and sighed, "I am sorry for your losses. He has suffered a loss as well no?"

"Yes, he witnessed his father's execution." Malik said sadly.

Ciaran looked over at Altair's back as he and Desmond wrestled in the garden and sighed, "Let's just hope everyone comes out of this alive and happy." He murmured not realizing that Malik heard him.

"Yes, let's hope."

~AN: If anyone can come up with a chapter name for this chapter, let me know!~