Rome 1504

"They are attacking Tiber Island!"

Altair, Ezio and I vaulted to our feet. We had been talking with Bartolomeo and La Volpe when a novice assassin ran into the barracks. He was bent over and out of breath.

"Slow down, son. Take a breath. What is happening?" Ezio stood in front of the young man.

"The Borgia. They are marching on Tiber Island as we speak. I was sent to find you. We must hurry, Master." He tried to stand upright, but nearly fell over from exhaustion. I caught him.

"You men head out. I will be along shortly." I helped the young man to a seat.

Altair grabbed my arm. "We will need you there."

I smiled at him. We had become the best of friends since he awoke. "I will be along shortly. Do not fret." He nodded and ran out the door. I turned to the young man once more. "Get some rest. We shall take care of the Borgia."

Taking off out the door, I grabbed the nearest horse and mounted the beast. It ran when I gave it rains and did not stop until I was nearly on top of the Borgia forces. Jumping from the saddle, I climbed to the top of the nearest building to get a better view of what I was about to face. That was when I saw them; they were getting ready to march onto the forces of the small army that was wanting nothing more than to kill every assassin in Roma.

Leaping from my perch, I landed in the soft blond hay and ran as fast as my leg would carry me. I would not let them hurt my friends. I would not let them hurt my family. They were all I had anymore. I would have laid down my life if I could for them and more. I was here to liberate Roma. I would not let them stand in my way.

I dove off the top of the cliff into the front lines, spooking the horses, who reared up and dismounted a few of the riders. That was when the surrounding assassins fired their arrows. I hid under the body of a soldier to keep from being hit. I knew one major wound would out me as an immortal and I could not let that happen. I wanted to save these people, not scare them.

Pushing the dead man off of me, I began the slow butchering of the forces around me.

Altair made it to my back. "I see you did not wait very long in joining us." His sword, his true sword, landed in the top of some poor bastard's head. I parried an attack with my sword and drove my hidden blade under the man's chin.

"Do you think I would have stayed away from this? This is what we do. This is who we are." I swung my sword around and decapitated another man.

He stood at my back and kept them away from my back and in turn, I did the same for him. "Keep your guard up. The last time we fought like this, I had a sword ran through my gut. I do not want to explain that if it was to happen again."

"Do not speak to me about staying on guard, you reckless woman. Watch my back, if you will." He planted his sword into the heart of a man and I could hear the slurping sound as the blade was withdrawn from the corpse.

"I will always watch your back, my friend."

The bloody dance went on for a bit longer until the men called for a retreat. We stood there, covered in other men's blood, breathing heavy. I felt his hand land on my shoulder, threatening to topple me. "You fought well."

I smiled up at him. "As did you. Now, hopefully we will have a day of rest after this battle. I do not think the Borgia will want to lose any more men."

He laughed and retracted his arm. "Come, let us clean up and eat. I may have eternal life, but my stomach does not."

Standing on the porch, I watched the two vans pull up the drive. I had been going out of my mind with worry, wondering when they were going to show up, but now that wait was over. But when they stopped short of the house, I knew something was not right. Men poured out of the back, automatic weapons drawn. I took off into the house. They were here for me, and the others.

"She has to be here somewhere." I heard one of them say. "Be careful. She is dangerous."

As if. I was only dangerous up close and with the firepower they were carrying I would not be able to do that. Running to my room, I grabbed the Apple and shoved it into the closet. I had to keep them away from this room, but I did not know how. Reaching deep inside, I thought about what I used to be. I was an assassin. I struck from the darkness. A blade in the crowd.

"Think, think, think!" I whispered as I stood behind the closed door. "What would I have done before?" I ground my teeth in frustration and tried to remember any training that I could.

Kill the power. Make them blind. The thought popped in my head and it was a good one. I smiled and walked over to the dresser. A dagger sat there and I grabbed it. It felt natural in my hand, like it was a part of me. I would only use it if I had to, and only then.

Jumping out the second story window, I rolled back on my feet once I hit the bottom. I knew the fuse box was in the laundry room on the back of the house, but they were all over the first floor trying to find me. I would have to get past a few of them to get to the panel.

Creeping to the back door, I peeked through the window to see at least four of them standing in the other room. Shit! I ducked back down, and cursed silently. How in the world did they find this place? Altair had told me this place was safe. Off the grid.

Looking down at the dagger, I knew of only one solution. They needed to die.

Ezio

I slammed on the brakes as we rolled up into the drive. Two white cargo vans were parked on the drive, blocking the way to the house. I threw it in park and climbed out. Altair climbed out the driver's seat of the second car. He walked up to me, gun in his right hand.

"What the hell is going on here?" I asked as I pulled the SIG out of the hip holster and cocked it.

"I don't know, but the house is dark and I don't hear anything." He looked back at the others and waved them up.

Rebecca, Dawson, Tom, Desmond and Conner walked up to us. Kate stood back at the car and watched the house, one hand over her mouth.

"We need to find out what happened here and where Alanna is." I turned back to the house.

"Surround the house and storm it. We need to find Alanna." Altair headed for the house and the rest followed.

There were only three doors on the ground floor of the old house. The front door, which was rarely used by any, the kitchen door, which was the main door in and out, and the door that lead to the mud room, or the laundry room, which we used a lot as well. I entered through the kitchen along with Conner. Rebecca, Dawson, and Desmond headed for the back of the house where the laundry room was, and Altair went through the front door with Tom.

I had just entered and had my gun level, I heard Alanna's voice flow from the darkness, but there was something wrong. It sounded almost, hollow. "Careful, there are a few bodies in here."

"Where are you and where are the lights?" I asked.

I heard a sigh and a chair scrape the floor. She had been sitting at the table. "I flipped the main breaker off. I could not get away from them, and they had guns. So I took away their sight."

"I found Alanna." I called out into the house. "Becca, flip the power back on. The panel is next to the washer."

A moment later, the lights came back on and I had to step away from her. She was covered from head to toe in blood. She looked down at herself, and shook her head. "Most of its mine, I think. It could be theirs, but I know I was cut a few times."

Walking over to her, I could see confliction in her eyes, like she did not believe what she had just done. "Alanna, why don't you sit down for a few minutes?"

She chuckled, but it lacked warmth. It was a reflex. "I have been sitting here in the dark for a couple hours now. They came right after the sun went down. I think they were trying to catch me off guard, or lay and ambush for you guys. Either way they know about us and where we are."

At that time, the others walked in, careful of the bodies in the way. Altair walked to her side and she looked up at him. "Are you alright?" He pushed the hair off her face.

Nodding, she looked around. "I'm fine. I think I need a shower." Pushing past him, she walked from the room, bare feet trailing blood across the hardwood floor.

"What in the world happened here?" Conner asked as he looked around the small kitchen. Three bodies lay in pools of their own blood, and a forth lay between the living room and kitchen.

"They came here for us, and got slaughtered by Alanna." I sat the gun down and shook my head. "We need to get rid of them, clean this up and get the hell out of here. There is no telling how many more are going to be coming after us now."

Everyone began to pick a job. Rebecca and Desmond elected to take the vans far out into the mountains and get rid of them. Dawson would follow them in one of the trucks to bring them back. I handed Tom a set of keys to one of the trucks and he went to get it and backed it up to the porch. Kate sat with Alanna in her room. She was now not talking to anyone, or really coherent.

As we began to load the bodies into the bed of the pickup, I looked at Altair. "How do you think they found us?"

He shrugged and threw the body into the bed of the truck. "I have no clue. This place isn't even deeded in any name associated to me or anyone else. It's under a shell company and that line goes nowhere if you go far enough. There is no way they could have found this place unless they followed us, had a man near here in town, or they can track us."

I wiped the sweat off my face with the back of my arm. "We need to find out how. That way this does not happen again. I need to get back to Jenna. Where will you guys head?"

"I have a place in Texas. It's a small place, sits in the middle of nowhere. We can head there." Conner walked out, a body slung over his shoulder. "It's the only place I know of that they won't find us. I have it registered under a friend's name. She knows who I am. We will be fine there." He disposed of the body atop the others.

"Once we get done here, we will pack and head out." Altair leaned against the house and shook his head. "This is a nightmare."

"You said it, brother." Conner sat in one of the chairs, letting his arms rest on his bent knees.

Tom pulled up in the other pickup with the bobcat attached to the trailer. "Where am I digging the hole?" He called from the driver's window.

"Out in the field. We need it far enough away from the house that if they come out here they won't find it right away." I told him and he nodded. "Let's follow him out and get this over with."

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

A couple hours later, the house was cleaned up to the best of our abilities. We all had showered and disposed of any evidence of what happened here. Bags were being packed and cars loaded. I grabbed my bags and threw them into the small sedan I brought.

"Call the moment you get back. Keep us in the loop." Altair shut the trunk for me.

"Will do. You do the same when you get down to Conner's place." I held out my hand and he grasped my forearm. I did the same. "Safety and peace, Altair."

"Upon you as well, Ezio." He nodded and released me.

Climbing into the car, I backed it out of the spot it was in and drove down the driveway. I didn't know when I would get to see them again, but I knew we were all in danger still.

Conner

Everything had been loaded into four cars. I looked at the controlled chaos with a critical eye. The two horses had been loaded into a trailer. I was against leaving them, so was Altair. Every piece of gear that could be used was stored in the false bottom of the truck bed and trailer floor. Dawn was nearing when everything was ready.

I threw the last bag into the trunk of the Mustang. It was being trailered down because of an oil leak. We could not afford to have it break down on the road. Desmond wheeled his motorcycle out of the barn and into the bed of the trunk.

"I think that is the last of it." He yawned and I was feeling the same. We had not slept in over a day, and it was taking its toll.

Walking back into the house, everyone else was sitting around the table. Altair raised his head and looked at us as we walked in. "I have four routes planned for us to get to your place." He handed us the papers. "New identities for now, and so on."

"I hope you scheduled a sleep stop soon because we are running on an empty tank here." I yawned and shook my head. I was really tired.

He nodded. "Already made the reservations."

I smirked. "Damn you're a good man… despite what everyone else says."

"Ha ha." Shaking his head, he turned to everyone else. "We have four cars. There are eight of us right now. Breaking down into teams of two is the best plan."

Rebecca looked up from her drink. "So, who is with whom?"

Standing up, I heard his back pop and winced. I knew he had been bent over that map of awhile. "Pick your partner. I don't really care who is with whom." Opening the fridge, he grabbed a Mt. Dew and cracked the top open.

Dawson looked over at his wife. "I have Becca."

Well that was a given. "Kate, would you like to ride with me?" I smiled at the older woman. She nodded in return.

"Hey Des, want to be riding buddies?" Tom asked from his place at foot of the table.

"Sure, and that leaves Alanna with the old man." Desmond smiled at Altair, who flipped him off for calling him old man.

No one wanted Alanna with them right now. At the moment she was in her room, still in a state of shock from what she had done the night before. Kate had finally got her to lay down and get some sleep. I couldn't really blame her. She was like a new person and now she had to take a life. Well, not a life. It was more like she slaughtered thirteen guys last night and only ended up with one bullet to the leg and a few cuts on her arms. We ended up having to tell Kate what we were because she was going hysterical when she saw the wounds. They were almost healed by now.

"Conner, can I have a word with you a minute?" Altair looked at me.

He never asked to talk to me alone. It must be important. "Sure." I followed him out the back door and down to where the cars were parked. "What's on your mind?"

"Keep an eye on Kate. I know she had ties to the Templars, and then she came to our cause, but a few men have done that in the past only to double agents." He leaned against the bed of the truck and shook his head. "I still have not figured out how they found us here."

I leaned on the truck next to him. "You know as well as I do that if Abstergo wants something bad enough they will find a way to get it. They want our secrets and a Piece of Eden. They want Desmond, or they want the Apple. It makes no difference to them." They had told me about everything on the way to get Kate. How they tried to stop Desmond from getting the Apple and how everyone has been involved in one form or another. It was enough to make your head spin on trying to keep track of all the things that they have done in the hundreds of years they have been alive.

"I know, but if they try and go after Des, they are dead. The boy has gotten better since that day I met him in Monteriggioni. I know you can hold your own against them, but I hate having mortals caught up in this war." He growled and stood straight. "I have tried since the moment I awoke to eradicate the bastards from the world and not a bit of what I have done has made a damn bit of difference."

I kicked a small rock with the toe of my gym shoe. "I have been doing the same. You and I are a lot alike. I know you do not want to hear that, but it is the truth. My father was an assassin who turned to the Templars. I believe your master, Al Mualim, did the same thing. I ended up killing him. You did the same. We both know about betrayal. I don't like it and I know you don't either. We are fighting a losing war. There are not a lot of assassins left and the Templars grow every year."

He glared at me, but I could tell it was not a mean glare. It was one that I pointed out the truth and he did not like it being brought to the light. "Look, all I am saying is that we need a new plan of attack. The only reason I am talking to you about this is because you have been fighting them for a few hundred years. Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against Des. He's a good kid that got the shit end of the stick and he has shaped up to be a good asset to the team, but he has only been in this war for ten years. We have been doing it for a few lifetimes.

"Ezio is going to find out what he can about Abstergo tracking us when he gets back to his place. I am no spy like he is. I am the soldier that kicks in the door and put a bullet in the bad guy's head. I hate change almost as much as I hate Templars." Altair frowned and looked up at the sky. "But enough about that. We need to get moving. Just keep an eye on her."

He began to walk away, but I called out. "You do know that she didn't know where this place was until we brought her here yesterday, right?" He stopped, turned and looked at me. "Just saying."

"Shut up and leave my paranoia alone."

Hello again! To tell the truth, I had like six chapters done over the weekend. Then I read them, didn't like the direction and deleted them. I started over, but I like this way better. More action, more humor and there will be more