Altair

For a few weeks now, I had watched Alanna, with her childlike qualities, bring a life to the ranch that I had never seen. She was almost always smiling during the day, but at night, the darkness took over and all I heard was screaming from her room. She had nightmares. Horrible nightmares. She would never remember them all, but she would smile when she came out of her room in the morning. It did not seem to bother her, but it bothered the hell out of the rest of us.

Desmond said it was like his time before the Apple had created him anew. The nightmares that ate you alive from the inside out. He would cringe when he would hear the gut wrenching screams pierce the stillness of the night. I would grind my teeth and resist running upstairs to wake her. We all did. Ezio would usually go outside, away from the horrid sounds.

Sitting at the table, watching the sun make its way over the distant horizon, I thought about what we were going to do. Alanna's memories were not returning. She had not remembered a single thing out here in the place she once called her own. For the first time in my long life, I had no idea what I was going to do. I could not take her back to Golden, back to Kate. Abstergo had been there and would be back again to find her. In the condition her mind was in, she would not be able to stand up to them. I would protect her.

"Good morning Altair."

I turned in the direction of the person that spoke my name. Alanna stood in the doorway, smile on her lips and her chocolate hair spilling down her back. I managed a small smile in return. "Good morning to you. How was your night?"

She glides over to the coffee pot. "Interesting to say the least. I saw many new things in my dreams that I had never seen before. It was so real. Like I had lived back then." A chuckle escaped her full lips. "But that's insane. I am only in my late twenties, early thirties. I have heard of reliving past lives. Maybe that is what my dreams are."

It was coming to the time to reveal things to her. Should I start off that she is immortal? That she will never die? "Alanna, do you believe in living forever?"

Turning to look at me, she held the mug between her hands. "Why do you ask? You strike me as the practical sort. Being immortal is only in science fiction novels. There is no truth to it." She walked over to the table and sat down.

Well, that was not what I was looking for. Now, how do I break it to her that everything in this world is based off of a silver of truth. "Alanna, what I am about to tell you is going to come as a shock."

She held up her hand to silence me. "You told me that you did not want to reveal anything of my past, so that way I would remember it on my own."

I glared at her. "I thought you wanted to know about your past and where you came from."

She returned the glare with the same intensity. "Is the past really that important? That's what it is, the past. That was who I used to be. I am someone new. I am free, alive and no one is taking that from me, Grand Master. Not you, Ezio, or even Desmond. Va te faire foutre." Getting quickly to her feet, she went to leave.

Her last words echoed in my brain for a minute before I caught it. 'I am free, alive and no one is taking that from me, Grand Master.' She had not called me that in many years. Not since Renaissance Italy. "Alanna wait!" I bolted from my chair and ran after her. "Wait a minute."

She stopped at the bottom of the stairs. "What do you want?" She did not turn to look at me.

"What did you call me? Back there in the kitchen? What did you call me?" I had to hear it again from her lips. Just make sure I was not hearing things that I wanted to hear.

"Grand Master. I called you Grand Master…" She paused in mid-sentence. "That's what I used to call you. A long time ago." She spun around and looked at me, eyes wide. "I remembered something."

A smile broke out on my face and I scooped her into a hug. "You did, and without any of us telling you anything."

A giggle escaped her lips as she wrapped her arms around my neck. "I did. Now, all I have to do is remember more than that."

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

We spent the remainder of the day trying to coax more memories from her jumbled brain. No more would come, but her remembering that one little bit was a start. She had been floating on cloud nine for much of the day. It was nice to see her completely happy.

Twilight overtook the land as all of us sat on the front porch, watching the fireflies dance in the fields before us. It was a calm serenity that surprisingly, I was enjoying. Ezio had told us he was leaving the following day. He had not been away from Jenna and Marcus this long since the boy had been born. I could not blame him for wanting to go back. I had to get back to my job, but I did not want to leave Alanna here with Desmond. The boy would cave to anything she wanted. I had already seen that. He still followed her around like a puppy on a string.

"I am going to miss you, Ezio. You are going to have to bring your family up here sometime to see me." Alanna smiled at the Italian.

He chuckled. "I will, won't I. Hopefully you survive your time with these two. I have not attempted to kill them in many years."

Desmond shook his head. "You have never attempted to kill me. That has always been Altair. You just yell at me, and then send me to him."

She laughed and rested her hand on my arm. "Have we always been like this?"

"Most of the time, but there were many years that you were gone and we could not find you." Ezio leaned back in the chair, a yawn escaping his lips. "You were always better at getting lost in the crowd than any of us. A woman does not get looked at twice in…."

I nudged him with my elbow. He was about to tell her what she used to be. I raised an eyebrow at him, warning him. Alanna, unfortunately, caught that he was about to say something. "Okay, I am tired of you guys just hiding what I used to be. I want to know, like right now." She stood and faces us. "I'm a big girl. I can handle it. What the hell was I? A contract killer?"

"Something like that." Desmond hung his head. "Altair, it's time we tell her. She has to know since Abstergo is after her now."

I stood and glared at him. "No, we don't. We three are assassins. We can take care of this."

A hand collided with the back of my head. "I swear on everything holy in this world, if you do not start answering some questions, so help me, I will beat you all to a pulp and stake you out for the vultures to snack on."

I rubbed the sore spot I now had. "I have a solution for you. You said you can fight, right?" She nodded. "Then fight we shall. You best me at a fight, and I will tell you whatever you want to know. Do we have a deal?" She had not bested me since her training. I knew I was safe.

A sly smile broke out onto her face. "Are you sure about that? I am pretty good."

I stuck out my hand. "Do we have a deal?"

She looked at my hand and then at my face. Grabbing my outstretched hand, she firmly shook it. "You're on."

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

Desmond

I had never seen Altair and Alanna spar. They had always sparred with either Ezio or myself, never with each other. It was a treat to say the least. Altair, with his calculating mind, scared me as he stood there in the middle of the ring that was set up in the barn. Alanna, on the other hand, moved like a sleek jungle cat, confident in her own skin. I could now see how she was named el cazador de la noche, the night hunter. She was graceful in her movements.

Ezio and I stood outside the sparing ring, waiting for them to start. Altair was the first to speak. "We will be sparing barehanded. No cheap shots with the dirt, or anything underhanded. We will fight three rounds. The best two out of three wins. Any questions?"

Alanna let go of the leg she had been stretching out. "Yeah I have one for you. Are you ready to be brought down a few pegs?" She smiled at him.

"Let's just get this going." He stepped back and began to circle.

Alanna watched him and waited. It was the first time I had seen her do that. Normally when I spared with her, she would strike first, but with a different opponent, different tactic. She was calm and still. All I heard was the shuffling of Altair's feet in the softly packed dirt. Ezio sat beside me, intently watching the two eldest.

"I have always wanted to watch them beat the shit out of each other. They never would. Now, who do you think will come out on top?" Ezio leaned back in the chair he had drug in here. I wish I had thought about that. Now I was stuck standing the whole time.

I shook my head. "Don't know. I have no clue what Alanna can remember. If she is half as deadly as she was the last time we sparred, I am putting my money on her to win. But, Altair had been doing this since he was a child. He seems to be able to read peoples' moves."

He smiled. "I am going to say he will put her down. Gently though. He would never really hurt her."

I turned my attention back onto the two in the ring. I had missed who threw the first punch, but they were now at it. Altair blocked a punch from Alanna, and grabbed her arm. She swiped a leg at him, and knocked him of balance, causing him to release the hold he had on her arm.

Recovering quickly, he lunged at her, and knocked her to the ground, effectively pinning her to the ground. "I win."

I chuckled at the string of curse words that came from her mouth. She was taking the lose very badly. "Let's just go again. You won't get lucky again."

They began to circle each other once again. Watching and waiting for the perfect time to strike. It was as if the old Alanna was right under the surface, waiting for the right time to come out. Two cobras, in a deadly dance of dominance. It was a sight to behold.

Alanna made the first move. Sending a two piece his direction, but as always, the Master Assassin was light on his feet and avoided the fists. He then followed up with a few punches of his own, causing the female to backpedal out of his long armed reach.

Jab, retreat, and then repeat. That was their dance. Kick, drop, and roll. Trying to avoid the other one's precise strikes, but every once in a while, getting hit. They kept it up longer this round. None would give ground. Neither one would back down. Ezio and I marveled at their speed and technique. They were like twin blades.

Finally, Alanna saw an opening that had been left. Sliding quickly in for the kill, she punched him from behind, knocking off his balance, and then swiping his legs out from under him. Landing unceremoniously on his backside, he had no time to recover before she pinned him to the ground, a smile of victory on her face. "Point for me."

I chuckled and watched her help him up off the ground. "Hey old man, I think you two are tied. If you do not want to spill your guts to her, I would advise stepping up your game."

Altair shot me a glare. "The only guts that will spill will be yours if you do not keep your tongue firmly planted behind your teeth, boy."

"He is just having a bit of fun, Altair. Leave him be. Besides, I am having fun." She smiled while opening a bottle of water for him. Handing it over, he drank deeply from the cool liquid. "Shall we continue, or would you like a moment to rest?"

He shook his head no and wiped the sweat from his brow. "I should be asking you that. You look more tired than I am."

"But you don't like to spar like this with someone. It only tires you out faster, and leaves you vulnerable for attack in the field. You should always be on your guard, no matter if you are with friend or foe. No human can be fully trusted, not so long as they breathe air." She recited that to him, but when she was done, her gray eyes widened. "That was right, wasn't it? That's what you used to tell me while you were training me."

We all looked at her, eyes wide. She was beginning to remember. Slowly, but it was coming back. My eyes focused on Altair, who was also wide eyed. "Yes, that is correct. Tell me, what else do you remember, Alanna?"

She hung her head. "Nothing. I mean, I am just spitting things out. It's like my mouth has a mind of its own and it will remember things that I have forgotten before my brain knows what is going on." Looking back at me, I saw confusion in their depths. "I want to remember, but I don't know how."

Ezio stepped into the ring. "Alanna, I have a theory, if I may?" This I had to hear. Ezio's theories were usually pretty good.

She nodded. "By all means."

"You seem to remember when under pressure, or doing something at comes naturally to you, like fighting. Now, can you think of why you would be good at fighting?" He crossed his arms over his chest.

"I'm like you guys, aren't I? I am an assassin, I think." She wrapped her arms around her. "That would explain why I can fight the way I do. How I can move without a sound, and climb like a spider. I am fast when I want to be, but have so much energy most of the time I want to go insane."

The Italian nodded and smiled at her. "That is most of us in a nutshell. Yes, you are one of us, I will not deny that. You have a gift, Alanna. You have forgotten most of your past. You know nothing of who you were and what you have done. You can start over fresh, but the one thing you can't change is what you are. You are an assassin, and that is what you will always be."

She shook her head slowly. I could tell she wanted to run. She, like she was now, was not a violent person. "I don't want to be a killer. I do not want to do harm to another human being."

I walked into the ring with them. "Alanna, we do not kill anyone. We kill the wicked, the corrupt. The ones that would harm another human with no remorse or emotion. Believe me when I say this. I was just like you at one time. I did not want the power over life and death. I ran from that life. The mere thought of spilling another's blood turned my stomach and I would gag. Now, I see why we do what we do. We are defenders. We help the less fortunate. We make the world a better place from the people who want to take our free will."

Turning those big gray eyes on me, she nodded. "I understand what you are saying, Desmond, I really do, but I do not think I can kill."

"You don't have to. That is why we brought you out here. To keep you away from the ones that would force your hand to do the one thing you do not want to do. They would have taken your choice from you. It would have either been kill them, or stay as their prisoner. It is not pretty being in Abstergo." Altair walked behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You are stronger than you think."

"Thank you. All three of you, but I need to go think about a few things. I am in such a rush to learn who I was, that I have not thought of if it is a good idea. I am a different person than who I used to be. Could I be her again? That is something I have to figure out."

Ezio nodded. "Take your time. You need to figure that out before you go any further."

A sigh escaped her lips. "You are right." She dropped her arms to her side. "I think I am going to take a shower. Excuse me."

She brushed past us and walked out of the building. We all watched her go, but did not say a word. There was nothing left to say. It had all been brought to the light. She knew what she used to be, and what she was destined to become once more. No one could take that away. No one could erase that from her mind, or her hidden memories. Now, the hard part was when she learned she was immortal, and would have to live with that for eternity.

Oh my God! I am so sorry for the delay. I have been having problems with my internet and I also started classes this week. Right now I am unloading this from a Starbucks. Yum java java! Storm rolled through and knocked out the power to school, so they cancelled classes. That gave me time to do this. I have been working on changing a few things like adding a prologue and explaining a few things before this story. I am still toying with the idea, so... Well, on with the story and tell me what you think. There will be some action in the next coming chapters. Heads up! See ya!