Conner

I let the horses roam in the small pasture I had out back of my place. It was good to be home for once and not out being chased or being shot at. They ran for a bit and settled into their new home. I leaned against the rail and watched them. Altair's horse, a roan colt, looked up at me, and bared his teeth. Damn, that horse hated everyone. It took all of us to get the damn beast out of the trailer. It nearly took Desmond's hand off, and went after Tom, but the beast bowed its head to Kate when she came near, and it let her lead it to the pen.

"Hey Conner." Desmond walked over, and leaned on the rail with me. "That little fucker causing problems again?"

I laughed at him, and the colt looked over at us, ears perked. "No, but I think it is debating on if I am eatable. He has this predatory look in its eyes."

"Well it is the Old Man's horse. Alanna told me about this one horse he had when they were wandering the world. It hated her and anyone that came near it, but would follow Altair like a pup. It was funny, until the beast turned on her a few times." He smiled and watched the two horses chase each other.

I shook my head and stood up. "Come on." I turned for the house and he walked next to me. "So, what is going on?"

"Not much. They are having a hard time with Alanna and the Animus." He had been in contact with Rebecca and Altair. I didn't know them well enough to keep calling them.

"What type of trouble?" I asked as I walked up the steps and into the house.

"My dad sticking his nose into everything. They cannot probe too much into her memories without revealing shit to my old man." He ran his hand over his face and followed me into the house.

Kate looked around the corner from the kitchen when she heard the door close. "Ah, you boys are back. I was just about to call you in for dinner."

I had to laugh at the 'boy' comment. "Kate, you do know I am not a boy, right?"

She laughed and smiled at us. "I know, but you still look like one so get used to it, Conner, and Desmond there is still younger than myself. Well for right now, that is."

"Ha ha, you're a baby." I smirked at Des.

"Vai a farti forrere." He smirked back.

Kate about died laughing. Desmond looked at her. "I picked up a few curse words when I was in Italy for Abstergo. That's about all I know from my time there. Hanging out with drunken sailors in Venice will do that."

I looked from one to the other. I did not know a lick of Italian. "What the hell did he just say? I don't know that one."

She wiped her hands on a dish towel and stepped around the corner. "He told you to go fuck yourself, Conner." She smiled at Desmond. "Now, where has Tom gotten off to? I know he was here a few minutes ago."

"Yeah, I understand. Look I am in the middle of something right now, and when I'm done I will be there. Yeah Mom, I love you too. Bye." Tom rounded the corner from back door. "Sorry my mom has been pestering me to come and visit."

I cocked an eyebrow at him. "She does know you are an assassin, right?"

He nodded. "Oh yeah. My old man was one and so was his. She knows, and she accepts it, but right now she's mad because I forgot to clean out her gutters before I went and got mixed up in this. Got to love her priorities." He rolled his eyes and looked at us. "Did I miss anything?"

"Just Desmond cussing out Conner." Kate chuckled. "Now that you are here again, you guys can come eat." She headed back into the kitchen and began to pull down plates and glasses.

I took them from her. "You know you don't have to cook for us all the time, Kate. You are a guest here."

She fixed me with a look and I stepped back. "I will not sit around this house with my head in the sand. I cannot fight, but I can do my part by making sure you boys eat. I liked to cook for Alanna. I will do what I can, when I can, and if you don't like it, you don't get any cobbler."

That got my attention. "I am sorry, oh great chef. I will not question you any longer. My kitchen is your kitchen." I bowed to her with a smile.

"I don't think you have ever used this kitchen." Kate grabbed something out of the oven and walked it over to the island I had. "The oven is spotless."

"Hey!" I sat the plates on the table. "I used it to make Pizza Rolls…once, maybe twice."

"And I rest my case." She looked at me and winked. "I am just picking on you." Pulling off the foil, the whole room filled with the delicious scent of roast. "Now, that I have your attention again."

I felt my mouth water. I could not say no to Kate's food. She had been here for a week now, and I had never eaten better. "I am at your beck and call, as long as I get that." She knew what did us all in.

"Good, because I want you to teach me how to use a gun."

Huh? That stopped me in my train of thought. "Repeat that?" Tom watched from the table.

"You three heard me. I want you three to teach me. I cannot learn hand to hand, but I can carry a gun and learn to use it. At least that way I do not have to rely on all of you to protect me if something happens." She said it calmly and I knew she had been thinking about it for quite some time.

Desmond nodded. "I'll do it. I have no problems with someone wanting to protect themselves."

"I agree. I think it would a good idea." Tom smiled.

"Fine. We will start in the morning, but do not think you are getting a large caliber right off the bat. That would be asking for trouble." I sighed and sat down at the table.

She smiled and sat the roast on the table then joined us. "Agreed. Thank you boys for helping out an old woman."

A woman who knew how to get to all of us, I thought and put some of the meat on my plate along with the potatoes, carrots and onions. She was good, and I knew that she knew it.

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

The next morning after everyone was done with the morning chores, I took Kate to the shooting course that I had set up. It was a bunch of tin cans and targets nailed to some boards. I had chosen a Makarov PM for her to shoot for the first time. It had little recoil and was damn accurate. It was the best thing to come out of Russia.

I handed her a set of safety glasses. "Here, put these on."

She slipped them on and looked down at the gun. "What is it?"

"Makarov PM. It has an eight round clip and you will be shooting 9 by 18mm cartridge. It is a good little gun. Not practical for what we do, but in your case, it will do well." I picked it up and slid the clip into it, and checked to make sure the safety was still on. "You will have to break this down later."

Raising a brow, she just shook her head when I nodded. "You are doing to show me right?"

"Of course. I am not about to let you try to take apart this gun without help for the first time." I slid on my safety glasses and pulled my gun out of my hip holster.

"What is that one?" She pointed to mine.

"This is the same one Alanna used to carry. It is a Browning Hi Power. Desmond handed to me when we were rescuing you. It is not my first choice in handguns, but it needed some bullets put through it" I pulled a few clips I had loaded earlier.

"Was that one hers?"

"Doubt it. I think she had them on her when everything went south." I looked at her and smiled. "Are you ready?"

"No, but I guess we should get started."

Altair

I lounged in the char as I watched Alanna in the Animus. It was still strange to see her in the machine. Rebecca said that they were making good progress and was uncovering a few good runs on the memories. I wasn't so sure. I mean, we had been at it for a few days now, and she kept skipping past the time frame we needed.

"Becca, do you think she might not have been aware of the whole incident?" I asked as I watched Alanna walk down the same dirt road for the third time today.

She turned her blue eyes on me. "It's possible, but right now she wants to keep trying."

I shook my head and sat back. I have had to watch the scene from Monteriggioni unfold as well. The one where I told her she was tool, a pawn. Listening to my words at that time it felt someone had physically slapped me across the face. I felt sick. I had been so wrong to her for so many years and I wish I could go back and erase the things I had done to her.

"Whoa! This is new."

I sat up straight and looked over at her monitor. "What?"

"Her memory is shifting again. I don't know if it's from her amnesia, or what, but she keeps going to a specific time." She typed something into the keyboard and touched the button on the side of her earpiece. "Alanna, I need you to lock down on what you are thinking about. It's scattered on this end."

'I'm trying, Becca, but I can't.' I heard Alanna's voice through the speakers. Rebecca decided to do that so I could hear what was going on at all.

"You are doing fine. I think you almost had it that time." Rebecca concentrated on the monitor.

I saw the screen go to white and then a gray room. Alanna was holding a gun and panting. This was it. This is what we were waiting for now for a few days.

'Get the hell away from me!' She screamed at the men in front of her. 'Where the hell am I?'

'Calm down, Ms. Dowd.'

Vidic. I saw him walk into the frame and I felt my hands form fists. The man had lived. The picture began to pixilate. "Becca?" I looked at her.

"The memory is intense. She's trying to reject it." A few more keystrokes and then called out to Alanna. "'lanna, you are doing great. Please stay with it."

The memory didn't clear up, but it jumped ahead a few minutes to a few men grabbing her and her fighting them. "Get off me! Now!" She screamed at them, kicking her legs and trying to shake them off of her to no avail.

"Get her into the Animus! I don't care if you have to shoot her. I want that information!" Vidic yelled from the safety of the other side of the room.

"Fuck you!" Her fist came up and caught one man under the chin and lost the grip he had on her leg. With the free leg, she twisted and kicked the man holding her other leg in the face and he dropped her.

Taking off out the open door, her feet carried her swiftly down the hall and to the stairwell. I watched on the edge of my seat, and when she thought she was home free, that was when they struck. She was hit from behind by a bullet.

Dropping to her knees, she tried to stand again, but was shot once more. This time the bullet ripped through the side of her chest, barely missing the heart. She dropped to the ground, trying to get her breath, which I knew was feudal. Her lung had been hit. I had been shot like that before.

"Get her back upstairs and get her in the Animus." Vidic crouched down in front of her. "You should have just done what you were told, Ms. Dowd. It would have all been over soon."

The monitor faded to black and I blinked. "Alanna, you still with us?" I asked from my earpiece.

I heard her breathing heavy. 'Yeah, I… I think so. They did have me. They caused me to lose my memories, didn't they?'

"From what we just saw, I would say they tried to get everything out of your head, but the Animus had side effects if you are left in it too long. They may have done that to you and to protect itself, your mind shut down. I have seen it happen with Subjects 10 and 13." Rebecca leaned back and sighed. "I'm going to pull you out now. I think we are done for now. Actually, I think we are done for good."

'Wait! What if there is more? I can try again. We got here.'

"You just heard her, Alanna. You keep trying you could lose all the ground that you have gained. There is no more to find. They had you and put you in the machine. That is all there is to be known. You can't find anything more." I looked over at her prone body.

'But...'

Rebecca cut her off. "No buts. It is too dangerous." She began to type in the codes to cut the machine's feed, and I watched Alanna begin to wake up.

I pushed off the table and let my chair roll over to the side of the chair. Her eyes fluttered open and I smiled at her. "Hey, welcome back."

She smiled slightly and shook her head as she sat up. "Hey back."

I placed a hand on her back as she leaned forward and tried to gain her bearing. "You alright?"

She nodded and stood up. I did the same. "I'm good. I wish I knew what they got out of my head."

"So do we, but they didn't record any of what they got." Rebecca shut down the machine, stood and popped her back. "Well, at least their information is right. They had you and got something."

Alanna sighed and pushed some stray hairs out of her face. "But how did I get away? They wouldn't have just dumped me." She looked back at me. "Would they have?"

The confusion was back in her eyes. I hated seeing that. "I hate to say it, but I think they did. They put the bracelet on you to track your movements and probably hoping you would lead them to the Apple."

"But I didn't have it! Conner had one and the other was," She stopped and her hand went to the side of her head. "Shit! I can't remember!"

The memory lapses were coming back. She was having trouble remembering things that she knew she had rediscovered. The Animus was doing it again. I reached out for her, but she pulled away. "Alanna."

She shoot a look at me, her eyes alit. "No, don't 'Alanna' me. I am tired of this shit! I am tired of being babied and coddled by everyone. I am broken and fucked up and I am not getting any better. If anything I am getting worse!" She headed for the door. "God, I wish I had been destroyed in that blast. At least that way they would have never been able to get their hands on me, and I would not have put everyone in danger." Throwing open the door, she stormed out, pushing past one of the teenagers out of the way.

The boy looked at her, then turned and looked at us, eyes slightly wider than normal. I addressed him. "Can I help you?"

He stepped into the room. "Mr. Miles would like an update of your work."

Rebecca nodded. "Tell him I will be there in a few minutes."

The boy nodded back and left. I crossed my arms over my chest and sighed. "I don't like how he is sticking his nose in all of this."

Rebecca's hand rested on my bicep. "I know, but he is giving us protection for right now. Abstergo will not start an open war with us here. That would be like giving the world an open invite to our private war."

I knew what she was saying, but I did not like it. "It is way too risky letting him know any of this."

"I am only giving him what he needs to know." She retracted her arm and headed for the door. "Why don't you go blow off some steam and teach the recruits a thing or two about being an assassin." She smirked and walked out.

The idea was intriguing. I had not been able to show anyone up in a while. I followed in her footsteps and into the sun. I blinked a few times and looked around. A few of the boys were doing drills and a few were practicing with blades. I grinned and headed that direction. I could handle that.

The instructor eyed me as I walked over. Dawson was at the shooting range, teaching a few men how to handle a sniper. He was one of the best. He inclined his head in acknowledgement of my presence. "Can I join?" I asked as I stopped in front of him.

"I heard you were a bounty hunter. You know how to handle a blade?" He asked looking me up and down.

"I know a few things." I smirked. Like I would tell this man I have forgotten more about the art than he would ever remember.

"If you get cut up, it's on you." He shrugged and moved to the side. "It's your funeral. This is the advanced class."

"Have you taught them throwing knives?" I asked. I had not seen anyone doing that.

He shook his head. "A dead art. With the metal detectors that they have out there, it is hard to get them in anywhere."

"Really? You can make them out of a hard plastic and they function just as well. You can easily make them." I looked at the blades he had on the table. They were not as well-crafted as my own. I had a real blacksmith make mine, but it was getting harder to conceal the short sword I favored. My sword was long abandoned in the trunk of the Mustang. One of the only pieces I carried with me everywhere.

I picked up one of the smaller blades from the table, and tested its weight. "You seem to know a lot about blades for a bounty hunter." His green eyes narrowed and watched my movements.

I shrugged and flipped the blade in my hand. "I use them a lot in my field. A gun is noisy and draws attention. A blade can be non-lethal as well as lethal, as long as it is the right hands." Clutching the dagger in my fingers by the blade, I threw it and it stuck in the pole near Dawson. He shot me a dirty look and pulled it out, then walked it over. "It's a few grams too heavy in the handle. Reduce that and it would be an awesome throwing knife."

"Quit throwing things at me, Allen. I hate that, and you know it." He nailed the point into the table and I watched it shake a bit.

I chuckled. "Sorry. It was the safest place to throw it."

"Quit trying to show off." Dawson smiled and walked back to his students.

The man in front of me smiled. "Would you like to teach my students a few things?"

"Sure." I shrugged. It would be a good time killer.

I felt eyes on me and looked up from one of the climb towers. Alanna knelt on the edge of the platform. She smiled at me, and I smiled back. She turned and climbed back down.

Vai a farti forrere –Go fuck yourself

Google has a wonderful translation program, and playing Assassin's Creed 2 over again doesn't hurt! ;-P Oh what I have learned from playing the games. Italian is a fun language and people look at you funny when you yell at them in it, but I learned an important lesson. Do not cuss out your boss! What?! I didn't know the man spent five years in Italy and knew what I said. He laughed at me, though and corrected my pronunciation. I love that man!