Altair

"What do you mean she's gone!" I blew up on Desmond.

The younger man backed up from me, out of strike range. "I mean she is not in her room, and the Dodge is gone. She took off when we were in town. I told you we should have taken her with us." He glared at me.

Pacing the room, I growled under my breath. The woman would not listen. She thought she could do whatever she wanted, when she wanted. Even without her memories, she was too headstrong. "I cannot believe she went and did this." Then I stopped and shook my head. "Yeah, yeah I can."

"So, what do we do now? Do we track her down?" He watched me, but at a distance. He knew better than to be near me while I was pissed.

Before I could answer, I hear gravel crunching on the driveway as a car came up the way. I bolted out the door to see the silver Ram pull up next to the house. Alanna smiled from the driver's seat, but she saw the frown on my face, and immediately exited the truck. "What the hell were you thinking?" I yelled at her.

She bit her lip and looked at the ground. "I'm sorry. I had to get away. For a month now I have not left this place, nor had contact with the outside world. You may be okay with that, but I am not. I cannot handle staying here and doing nothing. I needed to get out. I need to do something!"

From the sound of her voice, it was on the verge of tears. I will admit, we had been keeping her under lock and key since the night Abstergo came after her. She had not been off the property in a few weeks. A sigh escaped my lips and I shook my head. "I am doing this for your own safety, Alanna. If Abstergo got ahold of you, I do not know what they would do to you. They do not like us much."

"But… but I just needed to see other people. I like to meet people. To go that long without interaction…" She shuttered at the thought.

Desmond walked over to her, and draped an arm around her slender shoulder. "If you ever want to go out, I will take you out."

My teeth began to grind. I don't know what the boy's angle was, but something was not right about it. He did not like to go near a lot of people. Not since the accident. Since his last run in with Abstergo. "Desmond, can I talk to you for a moment?"

He looked at me. "Sure." He then turned his head back to Alanna. "I'll be right back."

I lead him towards the barn. Alanna walked back to the truck and pulled out some bags. I knew where she got the money. I have given her a credit card so that way she could order things online. I never thought she would take one of the trucks and leave with it. The woman was too independent.

I stopped just shy of the barn door, out of hearing range for Alanna. Desmond leaned against the small truck we had there for small trips for feed or equipment. "What did you want? Or what do you have a problem with, Old Man?"

My eyes narrowed. "You will not take Alanna off the property."

He snorted. "Why? If she is with me or you, she is going to be safe. You have to see that. I understand that you want to keep her safe, but she is human and a strong willed woman. She is going to keep leaving and you cannot watch her all the time. At least this way we know when she leaves."

My anger began to get the better of me. I knew that he was only trying to help, but there was something else that I was seeing, or my mind was making it up. I knew at one time he liked her, but could it be that he still had feelings for her and not in the way I liked? "Why did you volunteer to take her? You hate society almost as much as I do."

Chuckling, he stood straight and shook his head. "If it makes her happy, I would dress in drag and do the hula. She is not the same as she once was, Altair. She is an innocent. I like her that way. The real question is you willing to do the same? I know you love her, but all you have been doing since she came here is not allow her to do anything. She cannot even take one of the horses out without someone going with her."

"I am trying to keep her safe!" I blew up. The boy just did not understand anything. He did not love someone as much as I loved that woman. I would do anything to protect her and keep her from harm's reach.

"And you are suffocating her as well! You are to focused on keeping her away from everything, trying to make sure you do not have to go years again before seeing her, that you do not see that you are driving her away. You went 300 years before without seeing her." He dropped his arms and glared at me.

I went to make a retort, but stopped short. He had a valid point. I had gone 300 years before without seeing her face. Well, once in the 1800's and it was not long, but I thought this time she was dead. I thought I would never see her again. "Alright Desmond, what do you propose? I start taking her out of here more often?"

The boy smirked. "Now you are getting it. There is a fair coming up this weekend at the fairgrounds. Why don't you take her there? She will love it. If you don't want to take her, I will. She needs interaction with humans and needs to see what everyone else is like. She needs to learn why we do what we do, and then she might start remembering."

I cocked my head to the side and just looked at him. "And when did you grow a brain in that dense head of yours?"

"When I had to deal with your stubborn ass for ten years. Then before that, having you in my head for a few weeks. Now that was a scary thing." Desmond smiled at the memories.

I waved a hand at him. "Anyway, you are jumping subjects. Fine, I will take her to fair. You are to stay and make sure Abstergo is far away from here. I do not want those assholes around before we are ready for them."

He frowned again, but did not say a word. He knew what I was doing. I did not want him anywhere with Alanna alone. Not that I didn't trust him, it was, well, just that. I did not trust him. Not with her. Not the way he once felt for her. I did not like the way he looks at her. The way he was always doing things for her. It put me on edge and I did not like being on edge at all times. It was nerve wracking.

"Now, I am going back up to the house and sort this shit out." I walked away from him and toward the house when he called out to me.

"You know, you can't force her to fall back in love with you. That is not the same Alanna that we once knew. You of all people should know that."

I stopped in my tracks. Turning slowly, I stared at him. "What did you say?"

He walked over to me, a smirk on his face. "You heard me, Altair. I know you did. You cannot make her fall for you. If she does, then she does, but if she falls for someone else…"

He let the sentence trail off. I now knew what he was working for. He wanted Alanna. He had never stopped. "You had better get those thought out of your head, Desmond Miles. You will never have her, and I will make certain of that. I would be dead before I allow you to be with Alanna."

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

Alanna

I smiled as I walked through the fairgrounds and watched all the people wandering around. It was a wonderful treat to get out of the house and see everything the small county had to offer. The smells were delightful coming from the cook-offs and the baked goods people were selling. Children laughing and running from game to game caused a small laugh to leave my lips.

Looking back at Altair, he was neither smiling nor frowning. I could tell this was not high on the list of things he wanted to do, but I was grateful he brought me. It was a nice change of pace from being in the house all the time.

Taking his arm, I smiled at him, earning a partial one in return. "Thank you for bringing me here. It was very kind of you to do this."

"You're welcome, Alanna. I thought you needed a change of pace." He laid his hand on mine, and began to walk.

I followed him through the grounds, wondering where he was leading me. "Where are we going?"

"Heading to get something to drink."

"Oh, okay." I just kept smiling, and following him. I did not know where I was, but it seemed familiar all the same. Like I had been here in my past, but it was not for a festival.

Watching everything that was going on around me, I enjoyed all the sights, sounds, and smells that were here. That was until he lead me past the livestock and a cow nosed my arm while I was not paying attention. I could not help it but scream and jump into Altair, causing him to stumble to the side.

I held on to him like he was a lifeline. Slowly turning my head, I looked at the cow. Large brown eyes stared back at me, and at that time I forgave her for scaring me. "She is so cute!"

He rolled his eyes heavenward, but did not release the hold he had on my shoulders. "Only you would find a cow cute."

I shot him a halfhearted look before turning back to the cow. "She is. Just look at her. Big brown eyes and a slightly dimwitted look. If it were male and human, I would think I was looking at Des."

That got a laugh out of my bodyguard. "Why would you say something like that?"

I grinned at him. "Because it got you to laugh, and the way Des watches me. I am not dense, nor am I stupid. You two must realize I still can think and I can put two and two together. Just like I know what your full name is."

He visually stiffened. I knew I had hit something there. Now, it was a matter of saying the right things to get him to tell me small things. I just wanted some answers to a few questions, and if I had to manipulate him, or Desmond, so be it.

"Shall we get that drink and sit somewhere? We have much to talk about." I knew it would not be easy getting information from him. He was the hardest men I had ever come across. Desmond, on the other hand, was easy. The problem was I could not get the man alone for more than a few minutes.

He nodded and walked towards where the food carts were set up. I followed a small, secret smile on my lips. I was going to get my answers, or I was going to die trying.

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

We found a spot off the beaten path. Sitting down in the grass, I watched the afternoon sun begin to make its trip lower towards the horizon. We were not far enough away that we could not hear the crowds of people, the noises of the animals, or the sounds of laughter from the thrill seekers, but we were back a ways that no one could just walk up on us.

He looked at me over the picnic table, amber eyes watching me. Just from his expression, I would tell he was not happy about having this talk. "Now, how did you learn?"

I took a sip from my lemonade. "I remembered. Well, sort of. I don't know if it is my memory or that of a past life, but you were there and Ezio as well. I yelled at both of you. Repeatedly I might add. I called you La'Ahad and Ezio by his last name as well. If we have the same last name, that means one of two things. We are either related, but I can't see that being true, or we were married at one point. So, am I right? Were we married, and I want the truth."

He sighed and hung his head moment. In that instant I knew the truth. We had been married and that was why he was protective of me. "Yes, we were married, but it is complicated."

I glared at him. "You still do not want to tell me anything, do you?" He shook his head. "You told me when I started to remember, you would fill in some of the blanks. Well, now is the time. I am starting to remember things, but you do not want to live up to your end of the bargain."

"Alanna, it is way more complicated than you realize. I could be here for days, even years, trying to fill in what you cannot remember. Why can you not see that?" He looked at me, and that was the first time I had ever seen him plead with me.

I could not back down, I would not back down. I wanted answers and come hell or high water I would have them. "You do not get it. For seven years I have wondered who I was, and where I come from. I have watched people, wondering if I had known them in the missing parts of my mind. I cannot figure out for the life of me why you will not tell me anything."

"And you are not catching on. You not remembering what you have forgotten is safer. With Abstergo hunting us, you knowing what little you do remember is not putting us at risk. If they were to capture you, you have deniability about everything. You do not know what is going on." He smacked the ground, causing me to jump.

I went silent. I did not know what to say. I know he wanted to keep me safe, but I was wanting to remember. I thought about his words and what he was saying. I chose my words carefully, as to not push him farther away and to not piss him off.

"Altair, I understand you are trying to keep me safe, but fate deemed it to where I was to come back. I have lived happily for seven years, and now, it is time I become who I used to be. I may never be the Alanna you remember, but I am here and want to learn who I was at one time. Fear is not something new to me. I have lived with it for a long time. Now is the time for me to not be afraid anymore." I reached for his hand and took it in my smaller one. "I do not want to live in fear for what time I have on this Earth. I was once told, 'Life's not about waiting for the storm to pass, but about learning to dance in the rain.'"

His eyes drifted to our intertwined hands. "Alanna, I don't know…."

I smiled gently at him. "Let me decide the risks. I want to know what I was once like. I need this now more than anything. As long as I do not have to deal with a gun I will be fine."

I could see that the wheels in his head were turning. He was debating it, and for that I was glad. Maybe I would get somewhere with him. I wanted to be prepared for what was to come. I wanted to able to watch my own back, and have to rely on Desmond or him to do that. I wanted to be what I used to be and that was not afraid.

"Give me until tomorrow and I will give you my answer. Do not take this to Desmond. He does not need to be involved in this." He squeezed my hand.

I nodded and smiled brighter. "Now that is settled, would you like to go ride some rides? I have wanted to get on the Ferris wheel since we got here."

"Alright, if that is what you wish." He did not sound too thrilled about it.

I leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Thank you again for bringing me here."

I have been having trouble with this chapter. I wanted a good interaction between the two of them, plus Desmond and Altair really having a problem. Now you see what Desmond is shooting for. Will it happen? I really don't know yet. Right now, I am sitting in a park doing this chapter because my van decided to overheat on me on the way home from work. Damn van. Anyway, I will hopefully be doing regular updates from now on. Yeah, yeah, I have said that in the past, but now I have the first week of college under my belt, it should be a breeze. That is until midterms. Oh\ boy, watch out! See ya later.