Chapter 6 - Truths

Altair frowned as he clicked around on the computer, ever since his reading and writing had improved enough to be able to learn how to use the strange device, the Arabian man had been doing nothing but trying to find any sort of clue about the assassins; if they even existed still, or had they died out completely? Altair hoped for the world's sake, that this was not the case.

Things between him and Alex had been...strangely tense to say the least, and he had the feeling Alex was avoiding him for some unknown reason; he wondered if it was because of what had happened before? He secretly hoped not, after all he'd simply been angry at Alex's dismissal of him and his abilities as an assassin, but that didn't mean he held that anger; he had long since learned to let anger like that go as quickly as it had come.

Whatever was wrong with Alex, Altiar never had the chance to ask the older man about it because the other was either out, on his own or locked away in his room and would never answer Altair when he knocked on the door, so the assassin was just left confused.

What confused him more was Dana's claim that Alex actually LIKED him; it certainly didn't match Alex attitude towards him of late; he had been just as stand offish and irritated as when Alex had first arrived in their home.

"What are you looking for?" Dana's asked, her half awake voice floated just over his shoulder, snapping him abruptly out of his thoughts. He turned to look at Dana and noted she was wearing black Pj's with pink skulls printed on them, her hair was a mess and she was eating cereal seen as it was first thing in the morning "...Assassins?" She asked with a raised eyebrow at his google search.

"...I want to find out if there are any assassins in the present that are out there...well if there there" he said softly he knew Dana would probably have even more questions for him now, but as time had worn on living with the two siblings, keeping the secrecy that surrounded his brotherhood seemed less and less relevant the more he started to trust them, well at least trust Dana, he just...didn't know where he stood with Alex at all.

"Seriously? That's what you spend all your time on my laptop for? Geez I thought you were looking at porn or something...never mind" She said at Altair's confused expression as to what on earth porn was. Dana coughed softly, deciding now was the best time to change the subject as she took the spare chair, sitting down next to Altair, "You know if your not getting anywhere I could help you I can hack into stuff that's hidden, maybe I can find something about your assassin friends" She suggested.

"Well they're not really my friends were more a group...a brotherhood" Altair clarified softly "If there are any assassins they wont be easy to find...were very secretive" He said to her.

"I can tell, considering you've never once spoken about this brotherhood of yours or what you do...Alex mentioned templars once but..." She looked at the Arabian male a soft but serious expression in her face "What's going on Altiar?"

"I don't know what's going on in the present...but...maybe it is time I told you about what has happened in the past" He said softly before he told her his story, about the creed and the rules he followed, about his failure at Solomon's temple and the attack on Masyaf his home land, about being sent on a quest for redemption and La Maulims betrayal.

"And the last think I remember was the artefact glowing brightly when I was injured...then When I woke up I was here in your sofa" he said as he finished; his tale even shortened and to the point had taken at least half an hour to explain fully.

"So...let me get this straight, you broke the rules of your own brotherhood, and failed to steal some artefact from Soloman's Temple, the Knights Templar are the mortal enemies of your creed , and wanted this...piece of Eden as you called it, for themselves" Dana paused as she let this sink in "But you not only failed to get that but you failed to kill this Robert de Sable guy, and your mentor Al Maulim sent you off to kill nine Head templars to redeem yourself...form what you've told me these people were like key figures in the whole of the third crusade that you killed"

Altiar nodded "Yes it would seem as such, from what I can gather on the internet, but note that the cause of death in undetermined" He said amused, sounding almost proud of himself.

"I noticed...but, when you found and killed that De Sable guy he told you that Al Maulim, your mentor, was actually working for the Templars and used you to kill off the other Templars...in order to unite the warring Christians and Muslims against your brotherhood!" she gaped "Wow just...wow, and he had the piece of Eden all this time and was using its power to control the minds of the people?"

Altiar nodded "Yes the pieces of Eden...there is more than one, there are artifacts that are older then before history even began...apparently they were even responsible for creating religion, by manufacturing events like the parting of the red sea... Al Maulim's piece of Eden, created illusions...but it didn't work on me...my old mentor claimed that what I was and what I did were too tightly wound together, to lose one side of me would be to lose the other, and he needed me to kill off the nine templars"

"Ouch...sounds harsh...but you didn't get to finish him off, because the piece of Eden sent you here...I wonder why?" Dana pondered.

"Everything happens for a reason, perhaps it is fate you and Alex found me that day" Altiar responded softly. "Nothing is true, everything is permitted" He murmured, more to himself then to Dana.

Dana chuckled softly "Well it;s defiantly a tall tale but its hard not to believe you, having lived with you for so long as I have...I guess its my turn to share some secrets huh?"

"That would be nice yes, you and Alex are always off whispering to each other" He said amused. "I was beginning to feel left out" He said softly; he WAS curious as to what Dana was researching for Alex; usually whatever she found had Alex leaving the house not minutes afterwards.

"Well I guess its time we filled out in...you are aware that Alex is trying to find the people that turned him into the virus right? Well he...he's tracking down and killing them in revenge...not only that he's working hard out there to stop a women named Elizabeth Greene, she's also infected but with a different strain of virus that Alex has, anyway, he freed her from Gentek by mistake and now she's infected half of New York, she's the one that spawns those Hunters to attack and infect humans and that attack Alex...right now he's just, trying to put things right" She explained

"...I see...it explains a lot and I can understand the secrecy but why are the military after him as well? It seems Alex is being hunted by just about everyone" Altiar said softly feelings of sympathy crept up on the assassin; he had known Alex had it hard but it seemed that pretty much everyone was against him; Altiar could almost relate to it. "Do you think he can do it?"

"...I don't know, to be honest I worry he's taking on too much at once I do what I can for him but, hey I'm only human" She let out a small shrug "...Its a lot of work, but that's Alex for you, he wont stoop until he's found all the answers he needs" Dana said softly "Sometimes even I feel a little out of the loop and I worry about him even though he's fucking superhuman!... well, that and he's been acting really, odd lately, I mean more odd than usual" she clarified.

"...I wouldn't know I haven't seen much of him for the past few weeks...I think he might be avoiding me" he admitted to her as he stopped his search for assassins on the computer, for now at least and turned to her "Did I do something to anger him? Because I've hardly seen him around the apartment for the past few weeks"

Dana blinked at this a little surprised by this confession, and she smiled a tiny bit; she DID have an idea of what might be going on with her brother, but she wasn't 100% sure and poor Altiar seemed clueless, she almost felt sorry for him being so out of the loop like he was about pretty much everything that was going on; it was probably why she had now decided to tell him what she and Alex were doing; she trusted him enough, even if Alex didn't.

Dana leaned back in her chair and pondered a little before she spoke "Well, I really don't know either, like I said he's been acting kinda weird but he won't tell me what's up, sometimes Alex can just be in a world of his own when he's focused on something, you probably didn't even do anything wrong" She said with a shrug.

"Your brother is...not easy to live with "Altiar said with a soft chuckle as he sipped on his now lukewarm coffee.

"Nope not at all, but that's just the way he is now, and honestly I wouldn't have him any other way" Dana said with a faint smile; Alex had his flaws, this was true, but he was still her big brother no matter what, and since he'd been infected he had been more of a big brother to her than in the past; it was kind of ironic how Alex seemed to care more for her now than when he had been human.

"...I suppose not" Altair murmured, more to himself; Alex was a strange person and he seemed to have mood swings worse than Dana when she was on her *cough* time of the month; One minute Alex could be holding a conversation and have a sense of humour, and the next he was cold and distant, Altair just couldn't figure the man out.

"I need to go to the store, were running low on Milk and coffee again" She said with a sigh; seen as Alex and Altair were now wanted ( Altiar had gotten onto Blackwatch's hit list because he 'hung around' with Alex) she was the only one who could disguise her self and walk around without getting caught.

"Alright, be careful you there" He said to her as she stood and headed to the kitchen,there was the sound of plate clinking as she dumped her dirty dishes and cutlery in the sink before she headed to the bathroom, when she came out she wore a lone blonde wig and sunglasses, smirking she walked to the coat rack and shrugged on her jacket.

"I'll be fine, you worry as much as Alex!" She said with a soft chuckle and a wave of her hand; she kept a pistol and a small switch-blade with her at all times so she could at least fed off a hunter or the military if they somehow saw through her disguise.

"Your my friend I have every right!" He said smiling right back he chuckled softly as she just waved and closed the apartment door behind her leaving Altiar alone in the apartment.

Alex leaned back in his chair as he wondered what to do now; it was quiet today the infection of New York having moved further away from where they were living meaning there were less patrols over the quarantined zone. He decided he would do some training for a bit...or he would have had he not almost jumped a mile at a voice right behind him.

"Dana's gone then?" Alex said, Altair almost pulled a fucking throwing knife from his pocket and threw it at Alex he'd spooked him that much, hell he almost fell out his seat "Don't do that!" Altiar snapped his heart still thudding in his chest; by Allah, didn't the man KNOW not to sneak up on him by now?

"...I'll take that as a yes" the older man said with a soft grunt as he moved across towards the bathroom; it was then that Altair noticed the strange small in the air, one that was eerily familiar...it took a moment for the assassin to recognize it "Are you bleeding!" Altair said as he stood suddenly; it would explain why Alex turned up when Dana wasn't around; after all she'd fuss over the other for the rest of the day.

"No, most of it...isn't mine" He grumbled softly his eye twitching in irritation as the younger man followed him to the bathroom and he rounded on his "Go away Altair" He bit "Just leave me alone" He growled the virus rippled again stronger this time; it almost felt like the virus was getting out of control, that he was getting out of control and as much as he didn't want to admit it, he was beginning to understand why.

"I just want to help Alex, Dana won't be gone for very long, and you know she will worry if she sees you like this...I'll help you get cleaned up before she gets back" He said softly; inwardly he was worried, Alex was covered in blood,the dark red liquid staining his shirt and hooide, some of it was even splattered on his hands and he hat plenty more on his jeans, needless to say Dana would have a fit if she saw the state Alex was in.

"You need to get out of those cloths, I will try and get the stains out, If Dana asks I'll say they were muddy, it's raining outside, she wont know any different" He said, more to himself then Alex who was just starting at him as if to say; 'you want me to strip while your here?'

Altiar coughed a bit his cheeks stained a little red when he realized held asked Alex to strip in front of him "Uh I'll leave, take a shower or something to get clean I'll pick the cloths up later when your done" He said softly before he left.

Altair slipped into the kitchen with the armful of cloths, and leaned on the counter, well that had been...awkward to say the least; he hoped Alex didn't take offence, he honestly just wanted to help the other hide the fact he was recovering from bullet wounds and that he was covered in blood.

Alex's shower was quick, he wasn't in there longer then ten minutes, he slipped out of the bathroom clean and still dripping wet and towel around his waist, he glanced at Altiar before he headed to his room closing the door behind him no doubt to change into a similar pair of jeans and a shirt.

Altair felt a shudder go down his spine at the look Alex gave him he didn't understand what it meant but he had a bad feeling about it the look was almost...feral.

Shaking his head of such thoughts Altiar got to the task at hand he slipped into the bathroom and picked up Alex discarded cloths he dragged them to the kitchen and proceeded to scrub the blood out of them in the kitchen sink using all sorts of different products on the shirt, hoodie and jeans which had been stained the most with blood, of course this meant that Altair got his own white shirt and pants wet as well but he hardly cared; after all it'd dry out soon enough.

Once he got as much blood as he could out of the clothing, he put them all in the wash he simply wiped down the leather jacket; it was dark in colour so you shouldn't see any blood stains anyway, and hung it up by the door. Altair sighed satisfied with his work, even though said work had been rather...womanly; ah well he had helped Alex and now when Dana came home she wouldn't suspect a thing; which was a good thing because that women worried too much for her own good; something he and Alex actually agreed on.

When Alex appeared out of his room Altiar was a little surprised; usually Alex locked himself in his room and didn't emerge again, but it seemed he was going to be graced with the pothers presence today; Alex stepped out in a pair of jeans similar to the ones he was wearing earlier and a t-shirt rather thing his normal white shirt which looked a little unusual on the other considering how Alex usually dressed but Altiar didn't think it looked bad on the other.

"Everything is sorted Dana wont know any different when she returns from shopping" He assured Alex as he headed over to the bookshelf; he decided that training could wait until later there probably wouldn't be enough time between now and when Dana made dinner so it;d have to wait until tonight, he began scanning the book titles his back to Alex. As usual he didn't get a response from the other and he presumed Alex was going to go off and do whatever Alex usually did in his own room.

What he wasn't expecting was Alex, breathing on his neck right behind him his hands on either side of the bookshelf blacking him in.

Altair suddenly felt very claustrophobic; what the hell! "Alex? What-" He didn't get to finish his sentence when Alex actually BIT him, the assassin let out a choked yelp of surprise as Alex growled against his neck; the bite hurt a bit but it hadn't been hard enough to make it bleed.

Naturally Altiar hissed in pain and elbowed Alex in the gut hard trying to get him off, but slamming his elbow into Alex's stomach was like hitting a padded brick wall "Get off me!" He struggled managing to at least turn around to face the other, but grunted as Alex slammed him into the wall next to the book case.

Alex growled softly again at Altair's resistance "What is about you..." He broke off with a soft hiss, tendrils slid out of Altair's body and began wrapping around Altiar;s body pinning him to the wall, the black and red tendrils pulsed and glowed softly around his arms, legs and waist keeping Altiar pinned; no matter what he tried he couldn't move.

"What are you talking about! Let go of me right now!" He growled; he was too pissed off to actually be scared of the other; then again he had never been afraid of Alex since he met him.

Alex let out a soft growl as his whole body rippled in response in the others anger; the virus was almost ecstatic at this reaction; Alex didn't respond tot he others protests other than to shut him up, his mouth roughly pressed against Altair's in an act of dominance over the other, one hand fisted in Altair's hair forcing his head to angle the right way so he could kiss him properly.

Altiar was stunned; he froze up in utter shock his mouth dropping open as his brain crashed, which Alex exploited almost hungrily, his eyes closed a she just focused on feeling Altair's body pressed against his and the taste of the others mouth.

When the younger assassin's brain finally rebooted he let out a snarl and tried to kick the other off him, anything he could think off so Alex let him go; he tried not to focus on how warm Alex felt or about who the kissing was...rough but, nice in its own way- no! He wouldn't focus on such wrong carnal acts!

Then suddenly as he;d come Alex tore away form him panting softly the look in his eyes burned with something he couldn't fathom at all right now; he quickly realized WHY Alex had turned away however, because a moment later Dana walked through the door, her arms full of bags of shopping "I'm back- Oh Alex your home!" She said before she paused looking between the two slightly ruffled men "Uh...did I miss something?"

"No...nothing" Alex bit out before Altair could respond before he turned and left for his room without another word.

Altiar just stood there, leaning against the wall as he shook a little; what on Allah's green earth had THAT been all about? Altiar just couldn't wrap his brain around the fact that ALEX FUCKING MERCER had just kissed him! He shuddered to think what Alex might have done if Dana hadn't returned!

"Hey are you okay?" Dana asked concerned, Altiar was leaning on the wall his knees were shaking a little as he panted a little out of breath and his skin was unusually pale "You look like you've just seen a ghost!"

"I...I need to take a break" He said weakly he managed to push himself away from the walk and make it to his room where he collapsed on the bed; he'd never felt so weak in his entire like, it was almost like Alex had sucked half of his life out of him from that kiss, and yet his mouth burned and his stomach churned unpleasantly.

Altiar let out a soft sigh and he closed his eyes; he decided that thinking about Alex and his fucked up mood swings could wait he felt tired even though it was only the after noon, he tossed the covers over him and closed his eyes as he drifted to sleep and prayed that Alex wouldn't haunt his dreams as much as he did while he was awake.

Heheheheh Yes were actually get ting to play and yes were getting to the hot steamy make out sessions and sex, bare with me I have a lot of shit to write before they get that far XD Just enjoy this flight/make out session in this chapter XD

Jade.