Assassin's Bureau:
The rafiq looked down at Altaïr's ribs and made a face. Aisha, Maria, Abbas and Rashid were there too
"That bad, uh?" Altaïr asked the rafiq.
"Well, let's just say it won't heal if you don't rest…" the rafiq said.
Altaïr adjusted his mantle.
"I can't rest…" He said. "Not right now…"
"Altaïr I think you should hear the rafiq…" Maria said.
"I'm not going to risk losing Simas again…" He said.
"You don't need to…" Maria said again, approaching him. "We can track him to others cities and…"
Altaïr was about to protest, but she raised a hand. All looked surprised when Altaïr remained quiet.
"I'm not finished yet…" She said. "Like I was saying, and maybe later we can catch two fishes at the same time, Simas and the Templars…"
"I'm afraid she is right master…" said Rashid. "You have to be fully healed to lead us to victory… if not, you're an easy prey…"
Abbas and the rafiq nodded as well.
"Aisha?" Altaïr asked, looking at her. "You decide…"
She looked uneasy and after a few seconds said:
"I'm sorry Altaïr… they are right…"
He looked at everyone there… even knowing everyone had a point, he still felt a betrayed. Without saying anything, he turned and walked to his room.
"Altaïr…" Maria called.
Maria wanted to go to him, but Aisha stopped her.
"Let him be…" she said to the other woman.
Maria looked at her, then at where Altaïr was…
X ~ X ~ X
When the others arrived, they were surprised to see everyone, but Altaïr in the main room bellow the bureau.
"Where's Altaïr?" Raouf asked.
"I don't think he is ok right now…" The rafiq said.
"What happened?" Hassam asked.
"The rafiq looked at his ribs and we made sure he'd rest, so we won't pick Simas today…" Rashid said. "What did you discovered?"
Raouf and Hassam told them what they found.
"Where is he now?" Raouf asked again.
"In his room…" Aisha said.
Raouf and the others looked at them.
"Did any of you checked on him?" Hassam asked.
"He didn't left…" The rafiq said.
"How can you be so sure?" Hassam said. "We are talking about Altaïr here…"
"What are you talking about?" Maria asked.
Rashid suddenly became tense as Aisha run to his room, followed by everyone.
Aisha knocked before opening the door, only to find the room empty…
X ~ X ~ X
Altaïr stopped and put his right hand over his ribs… they were hurting a lot….
He thought about what happened…. He knew that everyone was just being careful, but he was their leader and their security was his responsibility… so was the Apple…
He also knew the rafiq was going to say and so he and Maria worked on another plan, without saying anything…
Now he was looking for Simas… he just hoped this worked also…
X ~ X ~ X
Assassins Bureau:
Aisha knocked before opening the door, only to find the room empty…
"He is not here…" She said.
"What?" Rashid asked.
"He's an Assassin… he knows how to exit from a place like that…" said Raouf.
All of them were quiet.
"This is her fault…" said Abbas.
Maria looked startled at him.
"Why?" She asked.
"You had no right to talk to him like you did…" He said again.
"You all agreed with me… even you…" She said. "Don't put this on me…"
"She's right…" the rafiq said. "It's everyone fault he run away… and now we have to go after him…"
"How, if Altaïr run away and we didn't even noticed?" Aisha asked. "H knows how to hide…"
"If we find him, he won't let us bring him back here…" Hassam said.
"Then we have to make sure he isn't in any danger…" said Raouf.
"So, where can we start look for him?" Maria asked.
"We have to split…" Raouf said.
"And what we do if any of us find him?" She asked again.
"They are waiting for a package tonight, so we can meet at the palace…" Hassam said.
X ~ X ~ X