Altair
"Ugh." I rolled over to my other side, and cracked open my eyes. Desmond sat on the bed, shoving chips in his mouth while watching something on the television.
He heard the grunt that escaped my lips, and turned his eyes on me. "Hey, welcome to the living, old man. Thought you were going to sleep a few days. You really need to stop burning the candle at both ends. It will be the death of you."
I ran my hand down my face and looked at the boy. "If only. That way I could escape you."
He laid his hand over his heart and faked being wounded. "Oh, you hurt me with your words. And here I thought you were getting to like me."
Rolling my eyes heavenward, I rolled over onto my back. "I like you, boy. Like a rash. A really bad poison ivy rash. The one that spreads all over your body and there is no relief."
"Ouch. Now that one really did hurt. You are an asshole." The boy was finally catching on.
"It's not that I hate you. I hate everyone. It's nothing personal. Do not take it that way." Looking at the ceiling, I knew there was something I had to get up and do. "What time is it?"
"Half past six." I heard the chips go back in his mouth.
"What!" I shot out of the bed like a bullet from a gun. "I was supposed to go see Alanna today!"
The boy began to laugh, hard, as I flew round the room, grabbing clothes. His laughter became gasps as I tripped over my boots. "You are hilarious when you are in a hurry. By the way, it's only 3:26. You are fine."
I stopped dead in my tracks, and slowly turned to look at Desmond. "What?" Oh, he was so going to get hurt.
His chocolate eyes widened. "I am dead, aren't I?" I nodded, a small sadistic smile spread across my lips. "Oh shit!" He tried to scramble off the bed, but I launched myself at him, catching his ankle and pulling him towards the end of the bed.
We were too busy wrestling around that we did not hear Ezio enter the room. "I leave you two by yourselves for a little bit, and you attempt to destroy the room and yourselves."
I looked up from my place on Desmond's back. The Italian had his arms crossed over his chest, and tapping his foot. The boy spoke before I could. "It was his fault, blame him. I just told him the time when he asked."
Smacking him in the back of the head, I got to my feet. "Yeah, he told me the wrong time, and then began to laugh when I was rushing around."
"Don't really care. Grow up and act your ages." He sat down at the small table and began to read the paper that had been tucked under his arm.
"Oh, he supposed to walk around with a walker and I am to do the same thing you are doing?" Desmond flipped over on his side, and propped his head up on his hand.
That got a laugh from Ezio and a glare from me. "Watch your mouth, boy."
"Get over yourself, old man." He just grinned some more.
"I am getting in the shower." Grabbing my clothes, I headed for the small bathroom and slammed the door.
*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/
A bit later, I walked out, a towel draped around my shoulders. Ezio was now sitting on the bed next to Desmond. They both were shoving chips in their mouths. "What in the hell are you two watching?"
"College hoops. Nothing else on." The older one replied, eyes not leaving the screen.
"Jeeze." I laid the towel over the back of the chair and pulled the black shirt over my head. "Get a life, and do something."
Ezio just laughed at me. "I believe I was saying the same thing to you a few years ago."
I was about to reply when my phone went off. I looked at the caller ID and saw it was my boss. I still did bounty hunter work at Allen Turner. Ten years ago, we all said we were going to become dead to the world, but that did not happen. Ezio made a new life as Eric Masterson, but I went back to being Allen, the bounty hunter. It was the only thing I knew and I liked doing it. A least we had given Abstergo a good blow, and they would not come after me.
"Hello?"
'Allen, where the hell are you? I have a stack of hunts here with your name on it, and you are gone.' Jackson Kelson yelled into the phone, causing me to remove the damn thing from my ear.
"Jackson, calm down. I had something I had to take care of. You know how I work. I am freelance and you know that." Sitting down in the chair, I pulled my boots on and began to lace them up.
'I know, but Tim and Matt are idiots.' The other two guys that worked for him. They were good, but I was better. I had been doing it for longer than all of them combined.
"Look, give me a few days and I will be there. I just have to take care of this right now." The man was sometimes worse than me when I got an idea in my head.
'Fine, but I am going to call you Friday for a report. I hope you are on your way to St. Louis then.'
"Whatever. Talk to you on Friday." I hung up the phone and sighed. Sometimes I wonder why I had gone back to him in the first place. "Alright, I am heading out. See you two later."
They nodded, but did not speak. I just shook my head and walked out the door. I did not understand them sometimes, but I never took the time to learn either. It was a vicious cycle with us.
The Mustang was sitting in the same place I had left it the night before. I had gone back after the mission ten years ago and retrieved it from my garage. I was not about to leave it there. Once Alanna remembered everything, she would kill me for the miles I had put on it. I also had to replace the windows in it when I got into a firefight with a few thugs a couple years ago. I would not tell her that.
Firing up the old car, the motor purred. I placed the shifter into reverse and backed out of the parking spot.
Alanna
Relaxing was not one of my strong suits. Actually, I sucked at it. It was like I was always a bundle of energy at all given times, and there were not enough things for me to do to get rid of all of it. Sometimes it was maddening.
"Anna, you really need to calm down. He will come over. You just have to have some faith child." Kate smiled at me as she walked through the living room and picked up the crossword puzzle she had been doing for days. "Besides, you are going to wear a rut in the carpet."
"It's almost five. What if he does not come? Then I have lost the one link to my past. I need to know who I am, Mom. I want to know." I flopped down on the couch and buried my face in my hands.
For almost a year, I wandered around not knowing who I was, or where I came from. I was afraid to go to the police for some reason, and hospitals. Riding on trains and stealing small sums of money from people, I made it here it here to Golden, Colorado. This was where I met Kate.
She had just left the store when three men cornered her and tried to rob her. I do not know how I knew, but I fought them off using a broom handle I had been using as a walking stick. When the cops arrived, Kate lied and said I was her daughter. She told me she could see the confusion in my eyes when they had asked me my name.
I confessed to her that I did not know who I was. I had been like this for almost a year. That was when she took me home with her and worked with me to find out who I really was. We did not learn much. Only that I could fight and I was not the most patient person.
"You will learn, Alanna, I promise."
My head shot up at the use of my real name. I was still strange to know it. I had Googled it last night, but there was not mention of the name La'Ahad anywhere. The only thing it meant was 'son of none.' Such a strange meaning to a name.
"Why did you call me Alanna?" I watched her.
She sat the book in her lap. "My dear, it is time you learned who you are. You must start using your real name."
"I'm scared. For so many years, I have been Anna, the amnesia woman you took in. Now, I know I am Alanna, but nothing else. I don't know if I am ready to remember." I hung my head, feeling tears gather in the corner of my gray eyes. I had wanted to know who I am since I came out of that hole, but now, I was so close...
Kate stood, walked over to me, and sat down. Her hand began to rub circles on my back. "What scares you about knowing?"
"What if I was someone that was not good? What if I did horrible things in my life? I don't want to be that type of person." The tears spilled out and dripped on the carpet in front of me.
Gathering me in her comforting arms, she kissed the top of my head. "If that is what you were, then you do not have to be that again. You are a new person, and be what you want to be. The past does not define you."
The words she spoke comforted me, but the tears still came. Why was I so frightened? "What if I have a family already?"
She chuckled and sat me up. Wiping the tears from my face, she poked me in the tip of my nose like a child, causing me to laugh. "Then I will have more people in my life. It does not matter who you were, I will always know you as the wonderful person who has helped me, and anyone that needed it. Think of this as being reborn. You are a new person. Never forget that."
Opening her arms, I fell into her embrace. She was right. It did not matter who I used to be. I was someone new, and I would always remember that. "Thank you Mom. You have always been there for me when I needed a comforting word."
"That's what I am here for." She patted my back.
Just before I said another word, the doorbell rang. I stood up and smoothed out the skirt I was wearing. "I'll get it." I walked over to the door and opened it. Altair stood there wearing a black t-shirt that fit him well, and a pair of worn blue jeans. "Hi." I smiled shyly at him, not really knowing what to say. There was something about him that made my heart skip a beat.
"Good evening. I hope I have not made you wait too long." He gave me a slight smile.
I played with the ended of my hair. "Uh, not really." I chuckled nervously.
"You do not have to be nervous around me, Alanna." He stuck his hands in his pockets.
I could feel my face turn scarlet. "I... I'm always nervous around new people. It's just how I am. I'm sorry." I diverted my eyes to the ground.
"Well, maybe we can change that. Would you like to go get something to eat?"
I looked up at him. He had not moved, and neither had I. "Uh sure. Thank you. Before we go, would you like to me my mother?"
He merely nodded. I turned and headed back into the house. Kate was still sitting on the couch, but she had grabbed her crossword book again. "So, you must be Altair. It is nice to finally meet you."
"A pleasure." He inclined his head.
"Alanna, will you run upstairs and grab my purse? I want to order a pizza, but I left it upstairs." She smiled at me.
"Sure." I nodded and walked up the stairs.
Altair
Alanna left the room, leaving me with her adopted mother. "I wanted her out of the room so I could have a word with you." She looked at me, green eyes neural.
"She will be back soon, so what would you like to say?" I stood there, hands in my pockets, not really knowing what to do. I had never really interacted with someone's mother. I mean, this woman was not related, but she had been watching over Alanna for several years now.
A sly smile came over her face, and she reached on the side of the couch. "Oh, she will be a bit." Then she held up a purse. "I knew where it was the whole time."
Oh, I was being to like this woman. "Okay, you have my attention."
"I want to talk to you about her. She is special to me. I have helped her become the woman she is now. If you, in any way, hurt her at any time, I will personally see that you leave this town without her. Then you will not like the other part." Her eyes narrowed.
"Ma'am, I wouldn't..." But she held up her hand.
"Let me finish." She stood and stepped in front of me. "I have cared for her and even though she is not my blood, she is in every sense, my daughter. Be good to her and I will be good to you. Now, what is your past relationship with my daughter?"
I knew it was going to come down to this. "Ma'am I would never hurt Alanna. I have been grieving for her. She was, well is my wife."
That got her attention. "She was your what?"
"My wife. We married a few months before the accident. I thought she was dead. I could not find her afterwards. That was ten years ago." This woman had a right to know. "I want her to remember who I am on her own. I will not push anything on her. If she remembers, she remembers. If not, then I will see if there is something still there in her heart. I do not want her to do something that she does not want to do." It was the truth. If she could not remember what we had, then I will let her live her life. I would not let her tie herself to me for the past that we once had. I was not always an asshole. I did have a heart when I wanted to and that was when Alanna was involved. I would go to the ends of the Earth for her. All she ever had to do was ask.
She nodded. "I believe you. I truly do. Now, since I have not told you my name, It is Kate and I would like you to not keep her out too late. We have a wedding to go to in the morning for one of my friend's son."
"I will have her back here by ten. Is that fine?" I would be on my best behavior. Easier said than done. I just hoped nothing happened that would set my temper off. You would think that after all these years I would be in better control of it, but no, I was not.
Kate smiled at me. "That is fine, and do not tell her about what we have talked about. I don't want her to know that I was in her business again."
That got a smile from me. "Your secret is safe with me."
I know, I know. This chapter is kind of sappy, but I like sappy. I have been doing research on amnesia to make sure I get it right. Some people never remember everything and it can take years for it to come back to them. Trauma, head wounds, and the like can cause amnesia. It is very interesting. Anyway, there will be some action in the next chapter. I kind of like the playful banter Altair. He is a fun one to write. Alanna will also be meeting everyone else and who knows what can come from that. See ya later.