Rebecca

I walked around the palazzo with the phone pressed to my ear, listening to the information Shaun had dug up for us. We were still playing tech support for our team in the field.

"I understand that, Shaun, but you cannot convince them that this will be the death of them." I shook my head. The gang had this fool's notion that they could kill Alan Rikken and that would be the end of the Abstergo problem for a while, but there would always be someone that would step up and take his place.

'Bloody hell Rebecca, what do you want me to do, fly to Monaco and show them in black and white that this plan of theirs is going to sink faster than the Titanic on her maiden voyage?' He growled in the phone and I could almost hear his brows furrowing in frustration. 'I know they are good at what they do, but they have to realize that this is one plan they will never pull off.'

"I don't know what to do. Ezio caught the man that was responsible for Jenna's death and now he is hell bent on destroying the whole company. It would take a nuclear holocaust to wipe Abstergo from the face of the Earth." I flopped into the chair and let out a sigh. "I am out of ideas."

'Well, it just so happens that I am not. If I must, I will find them and show them the errors that come along with this idiocity that they are trying. I cannot believe that Altair and Ezio would go along with this. I thought they were smarter than this.'

"Yeah well, one is sick with grief still and the other is sick with love. They are not thinking clearly and if you remember that it was Ezio and Desmond's idea to do this in the first place. I think the only one that might listen to you is Conner and possibly Alanna, but good luck getting to Alanna without going through her partner. You might just want to try for Conner instead." I looked out the window in front of me and saw Kate sitting by the small fountain out back. Dawson was in the basement working on his guns.

'Then I will just have to go that route. Kim is going to kill me, but this must be done. We cannot let them loose half-cocked and destroy everything.' I heard papers being shuffled around and a few keystrokes on the keyboard. 'Can you get a message to him to call me?'

"I can do that, or better yet, would you like him to come to you so you can show him face to face why this will not work? I can have him on the first flight to the States." I stood up and walked over to where I had sat my tablet down in disgust. Picking it back up, I sent him a message for him to call my phone in ten minutes. I knew he would get it. He was always playing games on his. It was nearby.

'If you can have him come to me, that would be wonderful, but a call would work.'

"You can talk to him and figure things out. I am staying out of it because no one wants to listen to me." Walking into the kitchen, opened the fridge and grabbed a yogurt. I tore off the top and licked the extra off the foil. "Have fun with that."

'Oh I will. I feel sometimes we are just here to keep them from making a large mess of the thing those five decide to attack.'

And I felt the same way. "I am right there with you, Shaun, but I had better get off here. He will be calling in a few minutes. I will have him call you right away."

'Sounds good. Be safe Rebecca.'

"Same to you." And I hung up the phone. I grabbed a spoon and began to eat my treat, but was only two bites into it when my phone went off. "Hello Conner."

'You wanted me to call?' He asked and sounded out of breath.

"Yeah, and what's up with you? You sound like you just ran a marathon." I spooned another bit into my mouth.

'I was out enjoying the warm weather over here. What did you need?'

"You need to call Shaun. He has something for you guys." I was not going to go into details with him. That was between him and the Brit.

I heard him breathe out. 'Any usually for that you would have told one of the other four. Why are you telling me and what are you trying to hide?'

Damn I forgot he was pretty sharp. "Fine, Shaun and I think this idea of you guys going after Rikken is stupid. All you guys are going to do is either piss them off or get your asses killed. He has proof that what I am saying is the truth." I did not sugar coat it. He was the one I didn't have to. He was like Altair and Ezio. Straight and to the point was the best. Better to not waste time on long winded explanations, they always said.

'Well, since you put it like that, I was starting to feel the same way. I mean, taking out one man would not do anything really anyway, but you can't tell the older three that. They have a vendetta against the Templars, and will not back down unless they can be proven wrong.'

"I know what you are saying. Call Shaun and let him tell you what he has found out. Then you can carry the message to the others. When do they plan on doing this?" All they told me was it was going to be during the Monaco Grand Prix, but that was still a few months off.

'We have not worked out the details on the day, but it will be during their annual gala right before the race. That would be the optimal time to strike.'

They were right. At least that part was true. "Tell Shaun that. He will want to know. They have not been giving us a lot of information on this mission. You have been the only one that is really talking to us."

'Desmond won't talk? That is strange. I guess he is following what Ezio told him. He emulates that man. Wants to be just like him. While I am glad the lad is looking up to one of us and trying to learn from that, I think he may have picked the wrong one at the wrong time. Ezio has kind of stepped off the deep end with the revenge.'

I sighed and finished off my treat. "We all know that. He has become a one man wrecking crew and there is not a soul that will stand up to him."

'I will and Alanna will call him out, but Altair will side with him nine times out of ten. They share the bond of hate. They both know where the other one is coming from. I, on the other hand, have never been married.' He chuckled.

"But yet, you had a kid." I smiled.

'Hey, we all have to have our outlets. Sex is mine. I like it and will do it when I get the chance, but we are not talking about me right now. I never knew my daughter. I was, in a lack of better terms, killed when she was a few months old. I watched her grow, but was not there. Anyway, I know what you are saying. I will give him a call.'

"Sounds good to me. I will talk at you later." Leaning against the counter, I launched the empty yogurt cup and nailed the garbage can. I still had it.

'Talk to you later, Becca.' He hung up the phone and I sat mine on the counter. I was hoping he would be able to talk some sense into the others.

Conner

I pulled the collar of my jacket up around my neck as I stepped from the warmth of the airport. My breath came out in mists as I looked around for my ride. Shaun told me he would meet me here when I arrived, but I guess he was running late. I did come into one of the busiest airport in the country, the Newark Liberty International.

"Conner!" I heard my name being called and turned to see Shaun jogging up. When he reached me, he bent over and was breathing heavy.

I laughed at the Brit. "What did you do, run here from the college?"

He stood up and looked up at me. "No. I got caught in traffic and had to park down the way. I hope your flight was uneventful?"

"Of course, but I forgot how cold it is in Jersey this time of the year. I have not been this far north in many, many years. I hate the city, and airports, and large crowds." I grinned, and shifted the bag on my shoulder.

"Then you hate any major city that has people." He waved me to follow him, which I did.

I walked next to him, dodging a few people who waited for a cab or the shuttle. "Not all cities. I try to avoid the east coast, the west coast, and most of the metro areas, but New Orleans I can deal with and a few cities in California. I like Hawaii, and Tahoe, only because I like to ski. I know I am a contradiction to everything I just said I hated."

"Not at all. Have you been overseas much? I bet you hate a lot of cities and towns over there." He pulled the car keys from his pocket and hit the remote to locate the small car in the sea of small cars.

I looked at his little Prius. "Can you get any smaller?" I wrinkled my nose at the tiny midget that was supposed to be a car. "This is like a matchbox car trying to play a grownup."

He gave me a messed up look. "Are you referring to those small cars that people would collect as children?"

"Are you really talking like a seventy years old man that is scolding a child? Dude, I am much older than you and yes, I am talking about those. I figured you would know about them since you love history so much. They were originally from England. Formed in 1953, if my memory serves me right, and it always does." I grabbed the door handle and opened in. "God, this thing is tiny on the inside."

"Well, all of us cannot afford to drive gas guzzling beasts like you prefer to drive. I like to save the world, and my little car does that." He climbed in and I did the same.

I sat my bag in the back seat and buckled up. He backed out of the parking spot, and we were off. "So, what info do you have that will stop this plan of theirs?"

"I have a list of every man and woman that would take Rikken's place if he is taken out." He turned into the stream of cars that were leaving the airport and we bobbed along at a whopping fifteen miles an hour until we got to the main road.

I nodded and looked out the window. "I am listening. What do you want us to do, kill all of the people on that list?"

"Nothing of the sort. I was thinking that you could become shareholders and kill only a few of them. What would be worse than scaring the staff, and then taking over the company from a legal way? Come at it from two angles. It would be a masterpiece of tactical planning. I have been working on the details for a few years now." He smiled over at me and turned right.

I looked at him, one brow raised in a question. He wanted us to do what now? I was not all into the buying out the company, but getting a few people bumped off, I could get behind. "Now, run that by me one more time. You want us to buy out Abstergo?"

He nodded his red head. "They are a publically traded company, so they have shareholders and stockholders. Four of you have the funds to buy out a lot of people in many key areas. You could take them down from two ways. If you buy the stocks and shares, you could limit their progress and have a say in what they can and cannot do. Then, if you start taking out the management, you could filter in our people and then we might be able to get someone to the top. Shut them down that way. It will take time, but we would be able to hold them in the palm of our hands then shut them down."

This sounded crazier than the last plan. "Shaun, do you hear yourself? You want us to start assassinating key people to put your people in their places while we buy the company out from under their noses. That is crazy."

"Oh, and blowing up the upper management isn't?" Shaun looked out the windshield, but spared a quick glance at me. "The Templars are like a hydra, Conner. Cut off the one head and three more show up. You have to attack it from the inside out. That is what my plan calls for. While a few of you attack the heads, a few more attack from the inside and destroy the beast."

Now that he worded it like that, I could start to see that plan in my head. Attack on two fronts. Keep them focused on the physical attacks, while another slips in behind and takes them out silently. "I am hearing what you are saying. You have this on paper? They are not going to believe me on this one."

"Actually I do. Kim came up with the concept. She is amazing when it comes to numbers and figures. I am only here for tactical support and a few history lessons, but I do not have to worry about the lessons with you." He chuckled.

"This is true. Now, I am following you so far. Once I actually see this, I think I will jump aboard all of this, but we are going to need Rebecca to funnel some accounts. Altair told me that once they found out who he was, they froze his accounts. Ezio as well. Alanna's were drained when they thought she was killed and placed in a vault somewhere. They did not tell me where. All of my money is at my place. I hated the government and I have never had a bank account in my whole unnatural life." I shifted a bit in my seat. "Think she can do it?"

"Is the sky blue? If it has to do with computers, that woman can work magic with it."

We drove for a while and talked out the plan. It was sound and had a lot of good ideas, and I could see how it was better than what was planned by us. We were still thinking like we would when we were mortal. Our ideas were outdated, and that was why we were losing this war.

Once we arrived at his place, he ushered me in and Kim was waiting for us. She smiled and extended her hand. "A pleasure to meet you, Conner. I have heard many good things about you from the others."

I smiled and shook her hand. "A pleasure as well. I am glad to finally meet you. Now, shall we go over this plan of yours?"

She lead me to a room in the back of their small home and pulled a few papers from a filing cabinet. "This is what I have so far. I was hoping to show the others, but Shaun told me you guys are spread around."

Taking the papers from her, I started to look them over. "Altair and Alanna are in Monaco doing some scouting and Ezio is with Desmond in Athens, keeping their heads down from their trip to Russia."

She stood there next to Shaun and watched me with her pale green eyes. "So, what do you think so far?"

I flipped through a few pages and nodded. "You have covered all the details. Why didn't you start doing this?"

Chuckling, she shook her head. "We may be professers at a large college, but money is one thing we do not have a lot of. It will take a small fortune to pull this off."

I grinned as I pulled out my phone. "I know four people, myself included, that can fund this."

Kim and Shaun broke out in large smiles.

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

Seven of us were gathered around Shaun's desk in their home. We gathered a few days later. It was hell trying to get them back into the states. Altair yawned and stretched. Ezio rubbed his red eyes and Desmond leaned a little heavy on the desk. Alanna and I were the only ones that seemed to be wide awake.

Shaun started out and explained the plan. Ezio stopped him half way through. "So, you want us to use our combined wealth to buy out Abstergo?"

The Brit nodded. "That is correct." He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and grabbed the packet they had showed me. "This will show you what we have planned, but it is up to you. It is your money."

Alanna held up her hand. "You have me lost, sorry. I have no clue where my money is. For that, you have to deal with the guys." Patting Altair on the back, she took a seat in a chair and closed her eyes. I was pretty sure she was asleep a minute after she did that.

"Well, looks like it falls to us." Altair yawned. "But is there any way we can talk about this after we have had some sleep? I don't sleep well on planes."

Ezio followed behind him with another yawn. "I second that. My mind is taking in what you are saying, but I am not fully processing it."

Desmond looked up at us, brown eyes slowly blinking. "Did someone say sleep?"

Kim laughed, and looked at her husband. "I believe they are tired, Shaun."

He laughed a long side of her. "I believe you are right." He tidied up the papers. "I think we will reconvene after you gentlemen get some rest. The guest rooms are set up, but people are going to be sharing beds. There are queen size beds in the rooms, but that is all."

"I will take the couch." Desmond held up his hand. "I will not share another bed with Ezio. He kicks way too much."

The Italian laughed. "Who said I was not doing it on propose?"

That got a laugh from everyone in the room. "Very funny, asshole." Desmond glared at Ezio. "Good night to you all." H walked out of the room.

I shook Alanna awake. "Hey, everyone is going to get some sleep. I think you should follow."

"I am not that tired." She yawned and stood. "Well, maybe a little."

They all agreed to go get some sleep and meet back in the office in a few hours. They filed out of the room, and I looked at Kim and Shaun. "I am pretty sure they will do it. If not, well, I will try to make them."

"I hope you are right, Conner, because we are running out of options and time." Shaun shook his head and sighed. "I just hope this works."

To everyone that has been reading New Beginnings, i just want to let you know, I am going to be taking a break for a week or two. I will return and finish this thing once and for all. Love everyone and see you soon.

*SassierSphinx*