Chapter 21

The hot, dry air of Nevada hit me in the face as I walked from the hotel. It was nearing that time of the day for the meeting with Sebastian. I was not looking forward to it, but it was something that had to be done. I needed more information on the Templars plans. I would get it out of the man, by force of by choice. It mattered little to me. I was tired of hiding and running. It was high time I went back to my roots. Become the assassin I used to be.

Slipping on my sunglasses, I turned west and headed down the strip. A block down the hairs on my neck began to raise, letting me know I had a tail. Call it a sixth sense, or I was trained way to damn well, but I could tell I was being watched. I wouldn't doubt Sebastian had put surveillance on our hotel. They would report to him every coming and going of our merry little band.

I knew I either had two choices. Lose the tail or identify the target. I chose option B. I wanted to know who was following me, and if they did work for Sebastian.

Walking down the boulevard, I kept the building on my left. Glass lined the street and I couldn't help but smile at the reflection. If the idiot following me had any sense, they would know what I was doing. I was using the glass to identify anyone following me. And that's when I saw them. Two men, about a half block back. They were talking with each other and keeping it casual, but their eyes kept drifting back to me. Oh they were good, but I was better. I was not just saying that to brag. I was really that good. Spend as much time as I have watching your back and trailing people, and you can have bragging rights too.

Now that my targets were identified, I decided to take this little game off the main streets and to the back allies. I could not draw blood in front of this many people. I still had to stay here a few days and if the cops got involved, I would spend a few years in a prison cell. I did not want to go there again. Spent two years in a correctional facility in the 60's for manslaughter. Of course, I should have spent more time, but I got out on a technicality. It was funny as hell, but that was for another time.

I ducked into the next ally and took off in a run. I jumped up on the dumpster and made it up to a set of pipes running between the two buildings. I laid down and waited for them to come. I did not have to wait long. They came around the corner. I let my sensitive ears listen.

"Shit! Where in the hell did she go? They will not be happy that we lost her."

They? Who were they? Did they mean the Templars?

"Maybe she went out the other side."

"She would not have time. We were only a few seconds behind."

I listened to their footsteps. They were right below me. I smiled and slowly sat up, so I would not make any noise. I peered down and got my first real look at them. The first was tall, maybe 6'1", dark blond hair, cut short, fit but not overly. He had a runner's body.

The second was shorter. Probably 5'10". He was bulkier than his cohort, but I was pretty sure he could keep up with him in a sprint. From the way they walked and carried themselves, ex military or washouts.

"We have to find that bitch or Vidic will have our heads. She is his only lead on that Miles guy."

So, Vidic was back in the game, and he wanted Desmond. I was not overly shocked. I wanted Vidic, but for a whole different reason. I just hated Templars. I wanted them all dead. Please. I was labeled as unstable a few hundred years ago. What would make you think I would change after a few hundred more. Yeah, right.

I moved like a jungle cat on the prowl. Slowly and quietly, I moved from my place on the pipes. When I was above them, I jumped onto them, slamming them into the ground. Rolling with the impact, I came back onto my feet and took a fighting stance. The smaller man was the only one that got back on his feet. The tall one was knocked out. He looked at me, fire burning in their green depths.

"I will kill you, you dumb bitch." He wiped the blood from his mouth from where he busted it.

I smiled at him. "You really think so? I just took out your friend and busted your face into the pavement. If you think you are such a bad ass, come here and prove it." I waved him forward.

He came at me, fists at the ready. Most guys think women are easy to take on in a fight, and most would be right. Majority of women can not fight and if they can, could not take on a full grown man that had it in his head to kill you. But you see, I am not your average woman. I have been taking on idiots like this for far to many years. I know the limits of my body and where I can push myself.

Drawing back, he threw he punch as he came at me. I dropped to the ground and rolled to my left, coming back onto my feet. "You know, you need to work on your aim." I just grinned at him.

When fighting a bigger person, get them riled up. They do not function as well, if as level headed, in a fight. They will make many mistakes that you can use to your advantage. Also, it works great on macho men who think women are weak.

"They said you were a slick one." He looked at him. "I will take you down."

I placed a hand on my hip. "You think so? I really don't. I am pretty sure I could have your ass stomped in a few minutes and not pull any weapons."

That got a good reaction out of him. His nostrils flared like a pissed off bull, and he charged once more. This time I did not move. I let him come. He swung and I ducked. Pulling back, I punched him in his side, right below the ribs, in the soft flesh that had no internal protection.

I heard him grunt and step back. "Cheap shot." He held his side.

I stepped back from him, out of his grasp. "No, that was a well placed punch. Now, are we going to dance in this ally all day, or are you going to come get me?"

He smiled, and I did not like that. When the enemy smiles at you, they have something up their sleeve. What he was planning, I had no clue, but I was sure it was not something I was going to enjoy. "I don't need to."

Just then, something connected with the back of my head, causing my vision to swim. I had just been waylaid from the back, and broke a rule in a fight. Even if the second guy is down, keep an eye on him. He will not stay down forever.

"You are a cocky bitch, aren't you?" I heard the first guy say from behind me.

I blindly swung and felt my fist connect with something. I let my blade slide out and into soft flesh. A grunt and something hitting the ground followed before a few thousand volts of electricity coursed through my body. My world faded to black.

/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*

Pain greeted me as I awoke from the blackness. My arms were pulled painfully behind me and bound to the chair I sat in. My feet were bound to the legs as well.

"Ah, welcome back to us, Ms. Dowd."

I lifted my head and looked at the man if front of me. He was in his early fifties, gray hair and dark blue eyes. He smiled at he, but it was more of a predator smile then 'good to see you' smile. I would have punched him in that smug face if I was not bound to a chair.

"I love the accommodations. So sweet of you to book me this room. Very sheik and comfortable." I glared at him. "Now, who do I owe the pleasure of thanking for this stay?"

"Ah, but that would spoil the surprise. You see, you are the key to getting my wayward sheep back and something that was stolen from us many years ago." He paced in front of me.

"Well, I hate surprises, so I am going to guess. You are Vidic, the sadistic bastard that wants Desmond back and I am going to act as your bait for him to come. Do I have that right?" I pulled against the hand restraints. There was no way to get out of them. They had used zip ties to bound them and handcuffs to lock me to the chair. Damn they were good. I could pick the locks on the handcuffs, but it would do me no good if I had nothing to cut the plastic of the ties.

Nodding he stopped in front of me and met my eyes. "You are a clever one. Sebastian was right, but you are not as smart as you think you are, Ms. Dowd. I don't have to use you as bait. You will be going with us when everyone has their little meeting in a hour. You sent your friends a message saying you would meet them there. I do hope they come."

I shook my head, and laughed. "You have not done your homework, have you? We only send texts if we are in trouble and can not talk. They will know something is wrong. Now they will come armed with even more equipment. You are so fucked."

A man walked from the shadows and punched me in my jaw, hard enough I heard the pop of the jaw hinge weakening. I knew one more hit like that, and it would break. Blood flooded my mouth from the cut that had formed when the inside flesh split against my teeth. I spit it at Vidic. "You do not frighten me, little man. Punch me, kick me, stab me all you want. I was trained to take the pain and keep coming."

"Yes, yes, that assassins training. But the human body can only take so much. You will either pass out and die from blood lose." He stepped back from the bloody spit on the floor.

So, he did not know, or he did and did not want me to know. Either way, it mattered little. "So, since I am not getting out of this alive, answer me this question. Why is the Apple so damn important?"

Vidic rolled his eyes at me. "Honestly Ms. Dowd, do you really take me for a fool? I know what you are. I know what has happened. My coworker in Italy took great care in documenting everything. He watched how you and your two male companions reacted to the Apple and how it affected Mr. Miles as well. I would say you four are just alike. I know about your ties to the Apple. Your long life. If you want, I will throw you into an Animus once our meeting with the others are concluded and extract the information from that mind of yours." He trapped my temple and I turned my head, gnashing my teeth at his hand.

"Touch me again, and I will see that you loose your hand." I growled and pulled again against the restraints. The blood flow to my hands was beginning to get less and less. Numbness began to set in as the tips of my fingers began to loose feeling. I had pulled the restraints too tightly in my attempts to test them. It was not wise for an assassin to loose feeling in their hands. If we lost them, we lost our livelihood.

He just smiled at me, but back away once more. "You have a temper, and I will be glad to see you broken of that. Knock you down a peg or two. Do you think you and two men can topple us? I do not believe you can. Talent alone can only take you so far."

Talent hell. I was not just talented, I had hundreds of years of honing my skills to take out these bastards. Too bad those bastards had grown to such a force a few well placed bombs could not take them out. Oh how I missed the old days. "You know, Vidic, you keep running your mouth, I am going to see to it that trap is closed, permanently. Oh, and as for my trip into that Animus. You can kiss my ass on that. You would have to dance in drag and do the hula before I got inside that machine."

Another punch was my reward for that. I grunted, but never cried out. Oh, but that was worth it. I saw a vein pop out in his forehead, telling me that I was getting to him. That made it all worth it. He just glared at me. "I see you are going to be harder to break than the others. Well, no matter. Every person has a breaking point, and I will find yours. Pain does not seem to do it." He clasped his hands behind his back and began his pacing once more.

The numbness in my hands began to spread up my fingertips to the palms. I had to get loose. I could not loose my hands. I did not know if that was something I would heal. I had never lost feeling like this. "Let me ask you a favor. Info for something. I want my restraints loosened. You want some info. Ask your question. If you like the answer, you loosen these ties. I am handcuffed and my ankles are tied to the chair. Do you really think I can go anywhere?" I hated bargaining, but it was the only way I knew at this time to get a little loose.

He stopped a bit to my left, and watched me with those dark blue orbs. "And how do I know you will be truthful?"

I chuckled a bit. "Look at me. Do you think I can get away? No, I can't. You have me strapped to a chair, and I cannot get out. My hands are going numb and if they lose the flow of blood for too long, they will be useless. Then you will have to kill me because I will no longer have a reason to keep going. An assassin without their hands is kind of like a gun with no bullets. Yeah, it can still function, but it can do no good without their ammo. No assassin would live without both hands. I know of only one man that lived with just one arm. He was still skilled, but he would not last in an all out fight."

He nodded. "You make a valid point, Ms. Dowd. Very well, but I ask my question first."

"Go ahead." I leaned back in the chair. My rear end was falling asleep, but that was from sitting in the uncomfortable chair.

"You know this is a Templar controlled town, and yet, you willingly stopped here. Why?"

That was his question? I would have figured he would have asked about my immortality or the identities of Altair and Ezio, but he asked why I was here? Damn that's a dumb question. That one I could answer honestly. "I was here to get information. I wanted the man who turned on me, and what better way to do that than to come to the one town that has info pouring out of everywhere. No assassinating. Just info. I wanted to know why."

His expression changed to that of confusion. "That's all you wanted? Information?" I nodded. "You could not have gotten it anywhere else?"

"What? Did you think I was here to blow up Vegas? Me and one other guy? We are good, but not that good. You really need to get a hobby." I grinned. "Besides, I like this town. One can come here to forget their troubles."

He shook his head. "Cut off the ties, then rebind her. Not so tight this time." He looked back at me. "And quit your struggling this time. They will only get tight again."

With that, he turned on his heels and walked from the room. The thug who was getting a thrill in hitting me, pulled a knife from his pocket. I finally got a look at him. It was the second idiot from the ally. "Do not move or I will stick this knife in your gut and watch you bleed out."

I smirked at him. "So how is your friend anyway? Where did I get him at?"

That earned me the back of his hand. At least it was not a punch this time. "Shut up. You managed to stab him in the side. Lacerated his liver."

I knew what that meant. "Ah, poor baby. So, has he found a donor? You know he can't live a normal life without..." He backhanded me hard enough to knock the chair over.

My shoulder took the brunt of the landing, and I heard the snap of the joint. The pain rushed up through the joint and I did no know of it was broke or just dislocated. They both felt the same. I would not give him the satisfaction of letting him know he hurt me.

He knelt in front of me, and grabbed my face roughly. "I will be glad when this is over, because once it is, I will see to it that I get you. I will do horrible, terrible things to you. Make you wish you were never born."

I glared at him. "When this is over, I will watch you die horribly at the end of a blade. Make no mistakes on that one."

He laughed and let go of me. "We will see about that." He pulled the chair upright and cut the restraints. I felt the blood rush back into my hands. He retied me, and walked away.

As soon as I heard the door shut, I sighed. This was going to be a long day. Why, oh why did I have to leave the hotel? All I wanted was to get some gum, a Mt. Dew, and a energy drink for Desmond. Hopefully the guys realized that the text was not from me and know something is up. I did not like the way this way going and could not even free myself. This was a really shitty day. Man I should have never come to Vegas.

Alright, I have been a bad girl. I have rewritten this probably three or four times. I had a chapter with just Shaun and Rebecca, but I did not like it. Then an idea popped in my head about having one of them taken hostage. I have never done that one before. I also had a small case of writer's block. Hope you like it. Next chapter should be up soon.