Months past in Masyaf as we fixed up the fortress and made it habitable. Rebecca, Dawson, Kate and Desmond scratched their heads as we began to make patches out of things from the river. Ezio began to laugh again when I dumped a bucket of plaster on Conner's head and watched him chase me around the ground dripping the gray goop everywhere.

It was strange being back here. It was as if something clicked in all of us. Masyaf was a symbol of everything the assassins once were. We protected the people from the corrupt, the wicked. We had fallen so far and now, eight of us were ready to take on the world. It was insane odds, but we had nothing to lose.

Kate was true to her word and the information from her sister was a great asset. The information was dated, but it showed the location of all their bases in Europe and Asia. Altair, Conner, and Ezio spent hours looking over maps and the like, marking their location. They thought out and devised plots on how to get rid of their holds on the countries around us.

I carried in some food and sat it on the table between them. "I think you guys need a break." I looked at them.

"We are in the middle of a planning session. This is not a good time." Altair went to move the tray, but I grabbed his arm. He started to glare at me.

"And I said you need to eat. You three have been hiding in here for hours, figuring and refiguring plans. I haven't even heard you come out to use the bathroom." I glared back. "What are you doing, pissing out the window?" All three of them looked away from me and found interesting places on the floor and walls. "Now that's just gross."

"Look, we need to figure out something soon. We have been hiding here for six months. In that time, we have lost so much ground it isn't funny." Conner turned his hazel eyes on me.

I sighed and shook my head. "And all of us understand that, but locking yourselves in this room for sometimes days on end is not getting you anywhere except lack of sleep and irritated at each other."

Ezio pushed off the wall. "I am glad that you care, 'lanna, but they are ahead of us in planning, manpower and well, everything. We are getting our asses kicked and we don't even know from what angle."

He was right. Since our self-afflicted exile, four teams in six months had been lost or captured; Abstergo had opened new facilities in Russia, and in China. Shaun was feeding us information when he could, but with the Templars watching everything, it was getting harder.

"What if we were to strike out at one of their smaller compounds? We have very little guns, and what we do have we have little ammo for. We could use that to restock and resupply ourselves. Also, get some more Intel on them." I crossed my arms over my chest.

Pushing the tray aside, the Italian looked down at the map. "You know guys, she has a good idea. There is a compound not far from Damascus. It's not big and would be a good point to start at." He placed his finger on the dot they had created.

Altair was next to him in second, grabbing another map. This one was of the compound. "They may have some of the things we need, and a larger vehicle is one of them. The SUV we brought will get the four of us there."

My brow rose. "The four? Don't you mean five?"

He shook his head. "You are not coming."

I slammed my hands on the table hard enough to rattle the contents that sat on it. Conner and Ezio took a step back, but Altair held his ground. "Oh like hell you are leaving me behind. I can best all of you here with a blade. I am the smallest and the quickest. You cannot do this to me, Altair." I would not be left out again. I was tired of being treated as if I was nothing more than a helpless woman who had to rely on the men around me to defend my honor.

"And you are not ready for combat." He met my glare. "You have been out of the game for a while now."

"And you are still an ass. I am going whether you like it or not. I am part of this team. I am an assassin." I growled and stalked towards him. "I will not be bullied by you, or anyone else."

We went toe to toe with each other. Defiant gray met stubborn amber. Neither one of us would back down and Conner knew that. He cleared his throat. "I think she should go with us." Altair turned his gaze in him. "Hear me out before you think of rearranging my face. You have been placing her on a pedestal for months now. The last raid we went on, you knocked her out and bound her before we left." I didn't talk to him for three days. "Now, I think she has a right to go. Technically she is the oldest of us all. Has you beat by, what? A hundred and fifty years if I remember right."

I smirked and inclined my head to my brother. "Thank you Conner. At least one of you is on my side." I turned my attention to Ezio. "I guess we are taking a vote. What do you think? Should I stay or should I go?"

"If you want my honest opinion, I think it would be a help if you went." He spoke up and locked eyes with the Arab. "You need to quit treating her like an invalid."

My smile brightened. "I love you, little brother."

"And I you, Alanna." He grinned. "Should we include Desmond in this?"

"Include me in what?" He walked in the room, holding a bottle of water and the remains of his sandwich, which he popped in his mouth.

I turned and walked over to him. "Altair does not want me to go with them on a raid. Ezio and Conner think it's a good idea. I think it's a good idea. What are your thoughts?"

He swallowed and took a swig from his bottle. "I know I am going to regret this later. This is a fight no one is going to win, but I think it's time she got back in the game, Altair."

I wrapped my arms around the young man's neck. "Thank you for understanding, Des."

He hugged me back. "Any time."

The vein on Altair's forehead looked like it was going to burst. "This is insane! I cannot believe you three would side with her crazy idea."

"Altair, it's not insane. Since we came here, she has had more memories return than all the time she spent at the ranch. She is ready, rather you want to admit it or not." Ezio shook his head and grabbed one of the sandwiches I had brought in for them. "Quit thinking you know what is best." With that, he strolled out of the room, munching on the sandwich.

I went to walk out of the room, but he grabbed my arm. "You and I need to have a chat. Like right now."

I pulled my arm away and stood my ground. "You can tell me what you want right here."

"Fine, we do this the hard way." And before I knew it, I was over his shoulder and he was marching down the hall.

"Put me down!" I yelled at his back, and all I earned was a bounce on his shoulder that about made me sick. "Damn you."

Walking into the room that we had taken as a bedroom, he kicked the door shut, and then deposited me unceremoniously onto the bed. I glared up at him. He just glared back. "I am beginning to understand why we fought so much."

"Because you can be a stubborn, bossy, know-it-all?" I stood and smoothed down my shirt.

"No, because you love to run headlong into danger and not think about until after you are neck deep in trouble." He took a deep breath and looked at me. "Why in the hell do you want to do this so bad? Why do you want to get back into this fight?"

"Because this is who we are. This is why we are here. Besides, I am tired of sitting here, twiddling my thumbs while you guys run off and play the heroes. I am just as good as you guys are. I know what I am doing." I walked over to him. "I know you don't like it, but it is something that you are going to have to accept. The assassin in me is coming back. I am ready for this."

Turning his head, he just shook it. "I know, but I liked being your protector."

So that was what he was worried about? That I wouldn't need him anymore now that I was getting back in the swing of everything? I laughed lightly. "You should have no fears on that, Altair. I will always need you to watch my back. I am headstrong, remember?"

He snorted. "How could I forget? You let me know that on a daily basis."

That caused me to wrap my arms around his waist and rested my cheek against his chest. "I know. Now, let's go and get this finished planned out."

Ezio

We came back a little worse for wear. I had been shot through my thigh. Desmond was sporting a few scrapes and bruises, the same with Conner, and Alanna. Altair had been stabbed in the soft flesh of his side, but our mission had been a success. The base was destroyed and we had enough supplies for more raids and two armored HUMVEEs.

I sat on my bed and rewrapped the bandage on my leg. I frowned when I saw how little it had healed in the few hours since it happened. To stop the bleeding, I carefully slipped two stitches in the entrance wound and the exit required three.

There was a knock at my door. Grabbing a pair of sweats, I threw them on over the bandage and opened it. Altair stood there, pale as hell and swaying on his feet. I grabbed him before he pitched forward. "I'm not healing." He whispered.

I drug him into the room and onto the bed. His face contorted in pain as I laid him down. Pulling up the shirt, I cringed at the gauze that was tapped to his side. It was bright crimson. "Shit!" I grabbed the first aid kit and I pulled the gauze off, and looked at the wound. It was a clean cut, but I had to clean it out. "I need to clean this out. It's going to hurt."

He looked up at me, sweat beading on my forehead. "I can handle it. Go for it."

Pulling out the alcohol, I doused the wound and listened to him hiss. Wiping it clean, I threaded the needle with the stitching thread. Handing him a pillow, I frowned. "You might want to bite down on this. I have nothing for the pain."

All he did was nod and clamped down on the pillow. I set out on my job, and watched as his body had gone slack after four stitches. I still had at least six more. Quickly finishing, I inspected my work, cleaned up the remaining blood, and covered the wound with fresh gauze. What the hell was going on?

"Altair." I shook him. He moved slightly. "Altair, you need to wake you."

His eyes opened and he looked at me. "You already done?"

I nodded. "We need to tell the others."

"No. They are healing normally. Alanna's cuts are almost healed, as are Desmond's. I haven't seen Conner. I think it's just us." He stayed on his side but twisted his head to look at me.

"Why us though?" I asked, and sat in the chair. My leg throbbed, and I rubbed the muscles around the wound.

I head him hiss as he tried to move, but decided laying there was better. "I don't know. Maybe a fluke? It's not like we can just ask someone about this."

Another knock on the door. I looked over at Altair. "What do we tell them?" I whispered.

"We are planning."

I nodded and opened the door. Kate stood there and smiled at me. "Rebecca asked me to come get you and Altair. Something has come up. Have you seen Altair?"

I cleared my throat. "Yeah, he's in here. We were planning."

"Well, come downstairs in a few minutes." She turned on her heels and walked away.

I shut the door and watched him try to sit up and nearly cried out in pain. I grabbed him and helped. "They are going to find out, Altair. You cannot move without wanting to scream, and my leg is killing me."

He panted. "We have to get down there. I have had worse."

"Yeah, when you were mortal. That was several hundred years ago." I sat next to him on the bed. "We need to be careful."

He shook his head. "Help me up. I will be fine when I get on my feet."

I knew he wouldn't, but I did it anyway. He swayed but stayed upright, until he tried to walk. I caught him before he hit the floor. "We need to tell them."

All he could do was nod and wrap his arm around my neck. "I think I need help."

So, I helped him to the meeting room. I heard talking as we approached the door. "The raid has them on edge. Shaun told me they have put extra guards at their bases near here." Rebecca.

"We can handle them. It's not like they can kill us." Desmond. The kid was partly right now.

That was when I walked in with Altair. We probably looked like shit. "You are partly right. They can't kill you, but I believe they can kill us now."

"Altair!" Alanna rushed over and helped him to a chair. "Oh god!" She lifted his shirt. "You're…You're not healing." Her hands flew over her mouth.

He tried to smile at her, but failed. I knew he was in a lot of pain. "I'll be fine. I just need some rest."

The others looked at each other. Conner brought a chair over to me. "Sit down."

I gratefully took it and rubbed my leg again. I hadn't felt pain like this in ages. I breathed in and out, trying to control the throbbing. Desmond stood and looked from Altair to me. "What happened?"

"Don't know. We are just not healing." Altair gritted his teeth.

Alanna smoothed his hair back. "We need to get you to bed." She looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"Alanna, I'm fine, or I will be." He took her hand. "I'm not going to die on you from a little stab wound. I've had worse."

"Des, Conner? Will you please take Altair back to his room?" I asked. There was no way I was going to be able to climb those stairs once more with him. I about lost it when we came down.

The two guys nodded and Altair, for once, did not complain. Alanna followed behind them. Kate walked over and handed me a bottle of water and some pain pills. "It's not much, but it might take the edge off."

I graciously accepted them. I had not had to take something for pain in hundreds of years. This was a new territory for me. Dawson paced the room. "Ezio, do you have any idea what would cause this? Why you and Altair are the only ones affected?"

I shook my head. "I don't know. This has never happened before. We have always healed. Now, there was a time that we healed a bit slower, but it went back to the way it had always been." I pushed my hair out of my face. I had not cut it since Jenna's death six months ago. "None of us know how the immortality thing actually works."

"What if we were to go back to the Vatican? Back into Minerva's temple? Do you think she might give some answers?" Rebecca looked over at me.

"That was a recording. She was never there. I don't even know if there are answers to the questions we seek." Sighing, I hung my head. "We may have to come to grips with the fact that we have been released. We will begin to age, and then die." The thought now scared the hell out of me. Six months ago, I would have gladly given it all up, but now, it was the only way I had to avenge my wife's death.

Desmond and Conner walked back a moment later. Conner leaned against the wall. "He passed out before we even made it upstairs. He's in a bad way." The Native American shook his head.

"We can't lose either one of you." Desmond turned to me. "Think the Apple might give us some answers?"

That was not something I was willing to try. "It might, or it might decide to finish us off completely. I am not willing to take the risk."

"I will then. We have to find out what is going on." The boy paced the length of the room. "If it kills me, it would be no big loss."

I fixed him with a look. "And that would leave Conner and Alanna to take care of the Templars. Alanna is going to be a wreck because of this. She is going to be watching Altair like a hawk now. And it also means her and the two of you could be next. We may have just run out of time."

The room fell into silence. They took in my words. Kate spoke first. "So, our last line of defense may have fallen before we had a shot?" She played with the chain on her neck.

"I hate to say it, but it may have come to that. The Templars may have won." I hung my head. They may have won indeed, and with that, I felt my spirits sink.

"Well we need to figure out what is going on with you guys." Conner shook his head, and walked around the room. "Why is it only affecting you two and not us?"

"Maybe because they are the oldest out of the line?" Desmond shrugged.

Rebecca stepped forward. "No, if that was the case, then Alanna would be affected as well. As I could tell, she is not."

I sat back in the chair and ground my teeth. "I have no clue what is going on, and if I did, I would fix it. I am the one with a hole through my leg and Altair is upstairs with a wound in his side that may kill him." I glared at everyone in the room. "Does anyone have any useful ideas as to what may have happened?"

"Ezio, you need to calm down. We will figure this out for you." Kate stepped over to where I was sitting, and placed her hand on my shoulder. "Why don't you go and try to get some rest? We will brainstorm and figure something out."

I was beginning to like this woman. She was cool under pressure and always tried to keep the peace. "I think I will try that. Maybe this is all a bad dream and when I wake up I will be on a tropical island sipping a highly alcoholic drink."

She laughed. "That sounds like a wonderful idea. Would you like help up?" She held out her hand, and I took it willingly.

Pulling me to my feet, I waved off Desmond, who had walked over and was about to help me upstairs. "I think I can manage. If you hear a lot of cursing and someone falling down the stairs, you know I did not make it. Then you can come, pick my body up off the floor and get me to a bed." At least I still had a slight sense of humor.

He nodded with a smile on his face. "I think I can handle that."