Conner

Everyone gathered in the courtyard. I paced the grounds and watched them. We were all back to normal, for the most part. The five of us that were affected watched the mortals. It had shaken us all to the core. Desmond had a haunted look in his eyes. Ezio kept looking around like he was waiting for the ghosts of this place to jump out and attack. Altair stood like a sentinel next to Alanna, who had not smiled since earlier in the day.

Rebecca looked around at everyone. "So, what do we know?"

I stopped my pacing. "Well, we were immortal, then we weren't and now we are. How long it's going to stay like that, none of us can come up with an answer."

"Well, what caused it?" Dawson asked as he watched from his place on a low wall.

We looked at each other, and shrugged. "None of us know. This has never happened before." Ezio spoke up.

Kate sat next to Dawson and just watched us. "Does have anyone have any ideas?"

The group looked to each other, but no one opened their mouths. It had stumped us and I had to admit, I was confused. Alanna wrapped her arms around herself and rubbed her arms. "Is this going to happen again? I think that is what all of us have running through our heads."

"That is a good question. Alanna, Altair, you have been around the longest. Has this ever happened in the past?" Rebecca asked, turning her eyes to the two ancients.

They looked at each other and shook their heads. "No, never." Altair answered. "I mean, there have been times that we have not healed as fast as we normally do, but that was because we took a lot of wounds in a short time. I am guessing that it over taxed us."

"So there are limits to the amount of wounds you can take?" Kate stood and popped her back.

I answered that one. "Yeah, there is, but what happened with us doesn't even come close to that limit. When I found out I was immortal, I took a half dozen musket shots damn near point blank in the chest. Granted I didn't wake up for three days, but I survived."

Desmond shivered and pulled his jacket around him tighter. "Alanna and I took damn near fifty bullets between us ten years ago, and we are still here to tell the tale."

"I blew myself up with a small explosive in the 1920's." Ezio shrugged.

"Survived a plane crash." Altair held up his hand.

"A blast that leveled an entire complex." Alanna spoke softly.

That shut everyone up. We all knew what happened. Them better than me. I had heard about it when I showed up at the ranch. No one would look at her, and she did not seem fazed by it. It was the same song and dance. Everyone tried to avoid that subject, but she knew it and understood. She did not talk about what she remembered.

Clearing my throat, all eyes came back to me. "We have established that we can take some damage and come back, but that does not help us right now."

"Conner's right. It is not helping to dig up the past." Altair laid a hand on Alanna's shoulder and stepped away. "This is getting us nowhere fast."

"So, what do you propose?" Rebecca looked up at him.

"We continue to do what we had planned. It has to be done, and there is nothing we can do about our problem right now until it happens again." He lowered his head and shook it slowly. "We have to deal with Abstergo right now."

Sighing, I moved closer. "I am with Altair on this one. We have to take care of this threat now, and worry about it later."

Kate spoke up. "And if you were to go back to being mortal in the middle of a fight?"

"Then we die. Simple as that." Ezio clinched his hands into fists and then relaxed them at his side.

The older woman's eyes widened. "You would just throw your life away just like that?"

"Kate," I stepped up to her, "he has been alive double what I have. Alanna and Altair have been alive nearly a millennium. Sorry Des, you have only been alive, what, 35 years?" He nodded. "We would not be throwing our lives away. I would call it a final eternal rest."

The others agreed with me. We had been alive for so long, and I was tired. Tired of living the same life every year. Fighting to keep myself free. I could tell Ezio felt the same, as did Altair. Alanna did not remember half her life, so some of this was new to her again, but I know if something happened to her other half, she would be right behind him.

I think Kate finally understood. "So, what are your plans?"

"I have my own agenda." The Italian began to pace. "I am going after the bastards responsible for Jenna's death."

We had known for a long time he had planned on splitting from the pack to pursue that mission, and we had a backup plan to keep an eye on him. Desmond walked over to him. "Can I tag along? I own them as well. I own them for Tom."

Ezio nodded and understood. Hell, we all understood. Their partners died while in their care, and they lived. I watched them and everything was falling the way we wanted it to. Altair had worked with Ezio for long enough to know what he was going to plan and set Desmond with him.

"If you two need any help, I am good a tracking people. Just give me a call." I smiled at them, and Ezio smiled back.

"I may take you up on that, but first, I think we need a change of venue. How about one more mission as a five part team?"

Desmond

The five of us looked down on the Auditore palazzo. Abstergo was watching it hard core, just like the last time Ezio had been hunted by the Templars. I looked over that the man in question. "Now, why are we taking this back?"

"Well, it has running water, heat, and somewhere to cook food. Not fire pits and you can walk down the street to get food, not have to drive to another city." He answered, not taking his eyes off the men at the front gate.

"You know we cannot do this in broad daylight." Alanna spoke up, not taking her eyes off the front door.

"I know. We are just scoping the place out." Ezio watched the men change shifts, as did the rest of us.

We sat up on the roof all day, getting the information we needed to take back the palazzo. They changed shifts every four hours. Conner and Altair followed the ones that left back to a small building Abstergo owned that they were using as a barracks.

From the count, there were fifteen in the building at any given time and ten guarding the palazzo. It was not a large number to keep tabs on, but it was enough to keep us busy.

We sat at a small café a few blocks from our target area. I sipped on my pop along with Conner, while the others drank coffee. "So, what is the plan?" I asked.

"That is a good question. We are going to do this from two fronts though." Ezio popped a piece of pastry into his mouth. "Any ideas?"

Altair sat his cup down, grabbed a napkin, and began to sketch on the back of it with the pen he took from Alanna's purse. "There is only a guard of ten at the palazzo. One of us could easily take it back, but once the alarm was raised, fifteen more men would be on the way."

Conner looked at what he was doing. "So, they are going to have to be hit at the same. Is that what you are getting at?"

The Arab nodded and slid the sketch to the middle of the table. "It's not the best, but it will do."

It was a sketch of the palazzo and the main floor of the barracks. I was impressed. I was still not used to the whole remembering things the first time. I guess I was wired differently. I could barely remember simple things sometimes. I guess it came with age. "So, what is the game plan?" I asked as I ate the last of my muffin.

Ezio must have been on the same wavelength. "Two and three?" He asked and the older man nodded. "Who do you want?"

"I will take Desmond and Conner. We will hit the barracks. You and Alanna will take the palazzo." He looked at each of us.

That got a brow from the rest of us. Normally he chose Alanna for his team. "Conner and me?" I looked at him.

"The palazzo needs stealth and speed. Out of the five of us, Ezio and Alanna are the best. Ezio knows the place inside and out. Better than the men that occupy it now. Alanna can get in and out before anyone knows she was there. The barracks require stealth as well, but more upfront brute strength. That is where we excel." Altair shook his head and took another drink of his coffee, then made a face. "Too much creamer."

Alanna chuckled, grabbed the cup and pushed hers in front of him." Because you have mine. I switched them on you to see if you would notice. You didn't."

I laughed at her. "Nice one."

She smiled. "None of you saw it. Wow, you guys were so focused on what he was doing that you didn't pay attention to me."

Altair shot her a look, took his real cup back and took a drink. "Much better. Don't mess with my coffee, woman." I could see the edge of his lip pull up in a slight smile.

Sticking her tongue out at him, and faster than I had ever seen his hand move, he grabbed it. Her eyes widened and went cross-eyed as she looked down at him. Conner, Ezio and I laughed as she sat there looking at him. "You had better behave, woman, and keep that tongue in your head." He chuckled, and released her.

"Ha ha, Al." Conner grabbed his pop and took a drink. "You've been told"

"Shut up." But she smiled at him and punched Altair in the arm. "And that was for grabbing my tongue, bastard."

He smirked. "I know who my father is, sweetheart."

I cleared my throat. I really had to get this back on track. "Okay, I can't believe I am going to be the voice of reason, but we need to get back on track."

"Yeah, that's normally Ezio's job." Conner snickered, and grabbed for the Italian's pastry, only to have a fork poked into his hand.

"Touch my food, and I will skin you right now." He held the fork, tongs out towards the Mohawk. "Keep it up, boy and you are going to lose that hand."

While he was distracted, Altair reached over and grabbed the plate and handed to Alanna. I laughed at them. Sometimes it was like being with a bunch of five year olds, but I would not trade it for anything. "I think we are all nuts."

"That is true." Ezio nodded with a smile on his face. "So, tonight?"

The rest of us nodded in sync. That was kind of weird, but it was just us.

Alanna

I was crouched on the roof next to Ezio, watching the shift change with Ezio. I could hear his blades flick in and out. He often did that when he was in deep thought, or he was gearing himself up for an intense fight. Reaching over, I laid a comforting hand on his bent knee. "You doing okay there?"

He nodded his dark head and it brushed his brow. Pushing it back, I heard him sigh. "Yeah, but I will do better when we get this over with. I cannot believe they would take over my home like this." I pulled my hand back, and let it hang between my bent knees.

"I can. They got all of this from my head. I feel it is my fault. All of this is my fault." Hanging my head, I looked down at my hands. It was my fault. If I had fought them harder, or died like I was supposed to do, this would never have happened. Jenna would be alive, he would be happy, and life would have kept on rolling. "If I had just died…"

I didn't get to finish that because his hand rested on my back and rubbed a bit. "I know you blame yourself for everything that has happened, but you can't, Alanna. We all know the dangers we put mortals in when we get too close. I knew that, Jenna knew that, and Tom knew that. Everyone at Masyaf knows that, but they stay to help us because they believe in us. Believe in what we can do."

Raising my eyes to him, I locked on to his. "But if they had never gotten ahold of me, they would not know the things they know now."

He nodded once. "This is true, but they would have figured things out eventually. You, above all, should know the dangers of being around mortals. You have been alive the longest. You have seen things that none of us will ever see. You lived through some of the bloodiest times in history."

"From what could remember, I hid myself away. I did not get involved." I told him. There were still things I could not remember. I had recovered many of my missing years, but the times from my rebirth to Monteriggioni that I could not recall. There were also other years I could not pin down as well, but I was working on it.

"We all have hidden ourselves away from the world at one time or another. When I finally came to grips with what I had become, I wanted nothing more than to bury my head in the sand and hope it was a bad dream that I would wake up from. It was the recalling of yours and Altair's story that made me keep going. If you could do it on your own for as long as you did, then I could as well. You went a hundred and fifty years caring for him while slept. That is a feat all on its own." He smiled gently, and rubbed my back a bit more. "Quit blaming yourself for the past. It happened and we are going to take care of the bastards responsible for all the shit that ever happened to us."

I nodded and gave him a small smile. "I am with you. Sorry for the small breakdown, Ezio."

"It's alright. You were there for me when I had few of them the last couple of months." He smiled back. Reverting his eyes back to the task at hand, he took his hand from my back. "I think it is time. The others should be in position. Are you ready for this?"

"Of course." I tested my blades and they slid in an out with no problems. "Let's get this done."

He led the way off the roof we were on and down the fire escape. Popping the sewer grate, I made a face from the smell. "We will not be in there long. The hatch to the wine cellar is right across the street."

"I am getting the first hot shower." I growled at him. I cannot believe that he was having me crawl through the sewers. This was so gross. The last time in was in the sewer that I could remember was in Rome and I was being led by Altair. We were tracking a few Templars that went underground. Ran into a few Followers of Romulus, and had to fight them. That was not fun at all. I think I washed my robes a dozen times before I could not smell the sewer any longer. I was going to burn these clothes for sure.

"Suck it up, Miss Priss and let's go." Ezio rolled his eyes and jumped into the hole.

"Asshole." I muttered and followed behind him.

When I hit the bottom, nasty water sprayed up around me from my touchdown and I about gagged. "See? It isn't so bad."

"This is coming from a man who used to use the old tunnels of Rome as a way to get around. I think it damaged your sense of smell." I covered my nose with the sleeve of my shirt. It was foul.

I heard his light chuckle. "Quit being such a woman."

Huffing, I followed him in the dim light. The bastard could see in the dark, I could not. I let my ears be my eyes, listening to his footfalls and following that.

True to his word, we were not in there long. He popped open the hatch and pulled himself up, then pulled me up as well. He looked at the wine racks and shook his head. "They have helped themselves I see."

"Take it out of their hides. Let's get this done with." I grabbed his sleeve and moved forward.

One guard was outside the door. Ezio slipped behind him, and planted a blade into the side of the man's neck, severing the jugular. The guard dropped and bled out onto the stone floor. I turned away from the scene. I was still not completely comfortable with the whole killing thing, but I knew it was something I was good at once time in my life. Hell, most of my life. All but twenty years of it, and well the seven I spent with Kate.

I felt Ezio grab my arm. Looking up at him, his face was blank. "Are you alright, Alanna?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." I swallowed and nodded. "Just getting reacquainted with death again is all."

He nodded and walked forward. I followed behind him. I knew I was going to have to do this as well. I was not here to shadow him. I had to pull my own weight on this mission.

When we reached the main floor, he held up his hand signaling me to stop and I did. Then he held up to fingers. I breathed in, steadied myself and let it out. He looked back at me, and nodded that I was ready. Quiet as a church mouse, we slipped into the room, and pounced.

My blade sunk into the larger man's chest, finding his heart. His eyes widened when he realized what I had just done. I gave a twist and pushed him off. He was dead before he hit the marble of the kitchen floor. Three down, seven more to go, I thought to myself. I knelt down, said a small prayer, and closed his eyes. I was always told to respect the dead.

We found two more men on the second floor playing chess in one of the rooms. They were easy to dispatch and we placed their bodies in the bathroom across the hall. Five down.

The three in the sitting room was a bit harder. There was no easy way to get to them without giving ourselves away and so we came in from separate doorways. I struck from one way and Ezio came in from the other. The first two never got their guns out of the holsters before out blades found their soft flesh, but the third shot at us. I pulled my man in front of me and let his dead body take the bullet while my partner threw a knife at him, nailing the man in the gut.

Dropping my victim, I ran over and laid open the young man's throat. His hands grabbed at his neck and tried to keep the blood in his body in a feudal attempt to keep him alive, but it was not to happen. I watched as he fell to his knees and died at my feet.

Once I looked at what I had done, I felt the bile rise up in my throat, but I pushed it back down. I would not get sick here. Not yet, at least. There was still two more outside.

I think Ezio knew I was starting to have a hard time, because before I knew what was going on, he led me from the room. He took me to the formal dining room and sat me in a chair. Kneeling in front of me, he looked at my face. "You sit right here. I don't think you were ready for this."

I swallowed again. "I…I'm fine." But he knew I was lying.

"Lie to yourself. I know you are not fine." He stood, and headed for the doorway. "Stay here. I will get the last two outside."

I didn't move, or say a word. I don't think I could. He was right. I was not ready for this. The last mission, I was not up in my victims' faces. I didn't have to see the life leave their eyes as I felt their blood wash over my own skin. Just the thought caused my stomach to roll. The vomit would not stay down this time and I made a desperate run for the kitchen, relieving my stomach into the trash.

Sliding to the floor, tears poured from my eyes as I thought about what I had just done. The eyes of all my victims I could see in the back of my mind. I clasped my hands over my mouth and tried my damnest not to scream. Then I tasted it. The blood that I had on my hand, and my stomach rolled again. I threw up into the can once more.

And that was how Ezio found me, throwing up in a can, crying my eyes out.