Alanna

I could hear the cannon fire. The smell of gun powder in the air, and the ground tinged with blood. I heard the planes fly overhead and the rapid fire of their guns as they found the enemies flying past. I began see things that were not there, and it scared the hell out of me. I did not know what to do, or where to turn. The guys wanted me to talk about it, but I was scared. Who the hell was I? What the hell am I now? I didn't know if I wanted those answers anymore.

"Alanna?"

I slammed the book closed with a start. I was so wrapped up in the life I used to live that I had not heard Conner walk into the room. Turning, I looked at him. "Hey I'm sorry. I was reading."

He walked in, hands in his pockets. "I came to say goodbye."

"Goodbye? But you just got here. Why are you leaving now?" I sat the book to the side and stood. He had been here less than a day. I had no time to pick his brain about who I was when I was with him, and the relationship between us. I wanted… no, let me rephrase that. I needed to know who I was throughout my life. I needed to unlock the answers inside my own mind, but it was like the lock was frozen.

He rocked back on his heels and then his toes. "I am not good with people. You, most of all, should know that." He stopped for a minute and thought about what he had just said. "Well, you would know if you could remember me."

I knew he did not say it to be mean. The guys often did it when they were talking about something I had done with them. I would stare blankly at them and then they would apologize for what they had just said. I was so sick of hearing the word "sorry" over and over. I was broken, but I was working hard to fix that.

"Conner, I wanted to ask you some questions. I haven't got to the chapter where I met you. How did we meet?"

He sighed and let his hands fall. "It's not a pretty answer, Al. You kind of wanted to forget about what you did." He looked at me with those hazel orbs. "Well, I think you finally got your wish. Why don't you let the past die and start over? Be someone other than what you used to be. We are killers. You could be more. I always thought it was sad that you never really had a choice in your life. Now, I think you finally do."

I never had a choice? That's all life was. A bunch of choices we had to get to the end of the journey. But the journey would never end for us, would it? "Who was I, Conner? I need to know."

He sat on the bed and raked his fingers through the shoulder length hair. "You were kind to all that you could, but a vicious streak that made you two different people. To the populous, you were a giver, a mother to every child that did not have one, or needed another. A mentor to the assassins, but never gave away enough for them to know your true age. I found out the hard way what you really were."

I took the chair across from him. "Please, continue." I urged him. I just wanted to hear a bit more.

"I do not think that would be wise, Alanna."

I looked up at the doorframe to see Ezio standing there. He leaned against the wood frame, and watched me. I frowned and slouched in the chair. "I need to know, Ezio. I want to know."

He shook his dark head and sighed. "You do not need to push yourself. You have plenty of time to remember."

Conner, sensing there was a fight about to start, stood. "Look, I will make you a deal. I will hang around for a few days. If you remember anything about our time together before I leave, I will talk to you about it. I will not tell you anything, but I will help you remember, alright?"

So, he was going to side with the Italian. Just when I thought I may get some answers. "Whatever. I remember anything, I will let you know."

"Good." He took his leave and walked out.

Ezio walked into the room and stood at the foot of my bed. "Alanna, we all want you to remember, we really do, but if what happened when you trained with Altair happens every time you push yourself, you are going to be dealing with a lot of pain."

I stood abruptly. "That was a onetime deal, Ezio. It's not going to happen again. I just… overdid it. I learned from that mistake and moved on." I was not about to let him push me around. I would not let anyone do that.

He smiled gently. "I just don't want to see you get hurt. You have several lifetimes to remember, and maybe Conner was right. Maybe you can start over."

Was he serious? I had to be hearing things wrong. "I am an assassin. I have always been an assassin. I can just start over. I think I have done that enough for all of the years I have lived. Now, if you kindly get out of my room, I want to get back to reading." I glared at him, hoping he had caught the message.

"Fine. I will leave you be, but I am just trying to help you." He headed for the door.

"Your 'help' has not been very helpful." I mumbled. I knew he heard me, because all he did was shake his head slowly and walk out.

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

Later on, I made my way down to the barn. My mind was still reeling from everything that I had read. I had read up to my creation, but I still had so much more to go through. So many different lives, names, people. I did not know how to process it all. How could one blow to the head make me forget so much? And since I forgot it all, would it all come back, or be lost to the sands of time.

There was only one person I knew that could help me with the things that I thought of now, and that was Altair. I just wanted some clarification on a few things, not complete answers. He would help me out there.

I found him in the corral with a young horse. He had the beast on a long lead and walking it around in circles. Leaning on the rail, I smiled at his back. He had a way with the animals, but with humans, that was something else.

The water was cool on my bare feet as I dipped them in the river. The sun had just begun to set and I knew that the temperature would as well, but for now, this was a small piece of heaven.

"Alanna, we must move. The Templars will be upon us if we are not careful."

I sighed and stood. I knew our break would not last long. We had been spotted by a Templar scouting party, and they killed my horse in their quest to finish us off. Altair pulled me onto the back of his and rode off. Now, we were lost in the wastelands. The river was the first break we had in days.

"They have not found us in three days, Altair. I believe we are fine for the moment. Please, relax but for a moment. You will fall over if you do not." I turned to him and smiled gently. He was always pushing himself, always on guard for some hidden threat or plot to destroy us.

He led the horse to the river to drink. The poor beast had been carrying both of us for so long, and with very little food. We too, had not eaten much since our encounter with the Templars, but we would be fine.

"We must be on guard. They cannot catch us, because if they would, they would know our secrets." He patted the horse's neck and let him roam for a bit to munch on the small shoots of grass that grew nearby.

"I know, but you are exhausted. I am as well." I walked over to him and touched his arm. "I will take the first shift. You sleep and I will wake you in a while."

I knew I had him when I heard him sigh. "Very well, but do not let me sleep long."

Nodding my head, I walked away from him and over to where the horse grazed. As I approached, it lifted its head and looked at me. I held out my hand and the beast snapped at me. "Bastard horse."

It bared its teeth and began to paw the ground. I backed away slowly, as to not agitate it anymore. It liked no one but my companion, even though I was the one that had brought it treats when I could.

I blinked at the sun as I came back from the memory. It was the first memory I had that did not involve violence, except the horse trying to take my hand off. Sadly, I could not remember what ever became of the horse I named Altair Jr. behind his back. They both hated most humans and I guess found me annoying.

"Altair." I called to him, alerting him of my presence.

He turned and gave me a quirk of the lips. I did not get many smiles from him, but the ones I did, I cherished. "Give me a moment."

I nodded and watched him lead the horse around the corral one more time. He walked up to the beast, a gentle pat its sleek neck and unclipped the lead. It trotted off and he walked over to me. I stepped back as he vaulted the fence. "What's going on?"

"I wanted to ask you a few questions." I began to play with a section of my hair that had fallen from the braid.

He raised a brow. "If this is about your past, I will only answer if you have remembered."

I was starting to get aggravated by that answer. "I know. It's about some things I read in the book Conner brought. I remember a few things about Malik. Now, I was trying to find out. I mentioned a woman by the name if Maria Thorpe. Who is that?"

A shadow crossed his face. He turned from me and began to walk away. "Altair!" I chased after him and grabbed his arm. "Was it something I said?"

He did not look at me right away. He looked at the ground, then the sky, and finally he turned his gaze on me. "Maria was my wife when we were mortal."

"Oh." I had not thought about that. I do not know why I had not written down who she was, or I had not gotten that far. "I'm… I'm sorry. I did not mean to upset you. I saw her name, and I could picture a face, but I could not make the connection to who she actually was."

He placed a hand on my shoulder. "It's alright. I just had not thought about her in a long time."

I could tell he was deeply troubled by my mentioning her name. "I… I think I'll head back to the house. Sorry for upsetting you. I had a few more questions, but they can wait."

I backed away from him. I did not mean to give him the haunted look yet again. I had seen it once before when he awoke to a new world and an immortal life. I had hoped I would never see that look once more, but with a slip of the tongue and no real clue at the consequences my words would cause, I had given him at look once more.

Now I really felt bad. But, before I could dwell on it any further, Desmond flew down the path towards us. "Oh I am glad I found you two. We need to move. Like now. Ezio just got a call from Becca. Shit, how do I say this?" He fidgeted a bit until Altair stopped at my side.

"Just spit it out. That would be the best way." He growled.

Desmond glared at the older man. "Fine, here goes. The Templars finally put two and two together. They went to see if we had come back. Since we haven't, well, they took Kate."

I felt my heart drop. The woman would watched me, gave me a home, love and made me feel wanted, had been taken because of me. "What do they want?" I asked when I found my voice.

"Don't know, but knowing them, it's not good." The younger man looked at me. "Alanna, are you going to be alright?"

I thought about the last thing she had said to me before I left.

I opened the back door and closed it once more. "I can't do this. I cannot leave you. What if they come back and…?"

She cut me off with a smile. "Alanna, I'll be fine. Quit your fussing. You are starting to sound like my mother."

I hiccupped and tried to smile at her joke. "But what if..?"

"Alanna," she cupped my cheek in her hand. "You knew one day you would have to leave. This not how I pictured it, but you are going with someone who can give you the answers you seek. When this blows over you can come back and see me, but until then I will be fine and you will be fine. I am a call away. You know the number."

I nodded. "I know. I am going to miss you."

She wrapped me in her arms once more, and I felt safe and secure. "I will always be with you. Now go. Safety and peace, my daughter."

It hit me like a Mack truck doing seventy. "Oh my God! I think Kate knew about us. I think she knew about the Assassin Order."

They both gave me a messed up look. Altair was the first to speak. "Why do you say that?"

"The day I left. The last thing she said to me was 'safety and peace'. That's what the other assassins used to say when we departed. What if they were not hunting me, but her? The attack in the parking lot. The strange cars riding past every once in a while. I think they thought she was training another assassin under their noses." I shook my head. "But she wasn't. She didn't know who I was. I didn't know who I was."

"Whoa, whoa! You think Kate is ex-Brotherhood?" Desmond blinked a few times, trying to process what I just told them.

Could she have been? Or was I seeing too deep into what she had said? I pinched the bridge of my nose and closed my eyes. Could I even trust my own memories from only a few months past? I was beginning to give myself a headache.

"Alanna," I looked up at Altair. He had laid a hand on my lower back. "We will get this sorted out, but right now; we need to figure out where they have taken her."

"We are going to get her back?" I asked, looking at him with pleading eyes. I could not think about her with those men and what I knew about them. I was afraid for her safety and her life.

He merely nodded. "Let's go back up to the house and figure out our course of action."

Alright, let's start off by saying I have not had my computer since October. I ended up running into some financial problems and pawned it. I just got it back out on Saturday. Well, then I had this chapter done, but my lovely children lost my flash drive that had it on there. So, I had to start from scratch. I was so mad. Anyway, I will try to make regular updates from now on. At least a chapter a week. Two if I can get it in. Again, I am so sorry for the wait and thank you all for reading.