Conner

I held my gun at ready, breath coming out in pants as my back was against the wall. I had been spotted and shots had been fired. Shaun was going to skin me alive when I got back. His poor little Prius was in ruin, and well, a smoking crater a half mile back.

Blood oozed from the wound I sustained when I personally blew up the car. A piece of shrapnel flew past my head, cutting into the tender flesh of my cheek as I ran like the hounds of Hell were biting at my heels. It had bought me enough time to get away, but not enough to get out of town.

Resting my head against the building, I tried to control my breathing and checked my ammo. I had three rounds left in the Springfield. I had lost the Glock when I dove over the rail of the bypass and ran. I had only one clip for it anyway, so it was not a huge loss.

"Come out, Assassin. I will make it a swift death." One of the men that had been on my ass yelled from behind his car.

At least they did not know who I really was. All they knew I was an assassin that was wanted by Abstergo. It couldn't be that large of a list, but I was on there. "Why don't you come back here and get me if you want me that bad."

I heard him chuckle. "I am not that stupid. I know you can kill me with anything. You can't be doing well on ammo."

Well at least he got that right. I had one clip left after the three bullets in this one. "Shit." I said out loud, but not loud enough for them to hear it. I was completely screwed if I could not get away.

A bullet ripped into the brick by my head, causing me to duck and spraying me with bits of red dust. "Just give up now." He yelled.

"Fuck off!" I pointed my gun around the corner, unloaded the three rounds and pulled back. Ejecting the clip, it bounced on the ground at my feet, and I loaded a fresh one. Cocking the pistol, I backed up against the wall once more.

Scanning my surrounding, I saw a few ways to get out of the hole I had dug myself into. The port was no more than few feet to my left, but the water could be no more than thirty degrees. I would freeze before I got anywhere, but I would come back. I could hightail it back to the main road, and pray that I come across a car I can hotwire. Both choices were not the best, but option C was to climb the building, run along it, dodge their bullets and hope I can hit them while I am running away. Then, when they are distracted, make my great escape. I was going to most likely get shot, fall in the water and freeze to death.

Taking a deep breath, I shoved the gun into the holster and began my assent. I had to take the higher ground. It was really the only chance I had at getting the hell out of here.

They had not noticed that I was above them yet, which worked for me. Lining up my first shot, I hit the middle guy and laid him on his back. With that I took off like The Flash. I should have just ran and not fired, but I wanted to at least take out one of them. One less to chase me.

I leapt off the end of the building and onto some shipping containers. Keeping the momentum going, I jumped from them to the top of a tractor trailer, then onto the concrete. I did not stop and I did not let up. I kept running until I felt like I was about to fall over, then I found some more energy.

I could not tell if it had been minutes or hours I had been running, but my lungs screamed at me, and my legs refused to work. I collapsed into a snow bank, and lay there, staring up at the night sky. I had no clue where I was, but I knew I was not in the city any longer. The stars were clearer and I could see the haze from the Milky Way.

Sitting up once I got my breath back, I saw a house in the distance, and my heart sank. I knew where I was at that moment in time. I was at the old homestead. Davenport's house. Where I learned so much, and where I had started this whole damn life.

I slowly made my way on jelly legs, over to the dilapidated house. I was surprised the state had not torn it down, but this far out it was not doing any harm, nor was it hurting anyone. The roof sagged in places and the windows were all but gone. Vandals had spray painted the sides of the old house and most likely the interior.

"Davenport would kill me where I stood if he could see how I let this place go to shit." I shook my head and stepped up onto the porch, using an old pillar to pull myself up. There were holes in the flooring and I carefully avoided them, but I heard the boards creak under my weight.

The front door was off the hinges and lying inside the foyer. I sighed and walked in. Animals had made their home here and so had vagrants. At least someone was getting some use out of the old house. I knew I should have come back years ago, but that wasn't me. I did not hold onto the past like the others. I moved forward, but for what? There was no end to what I was. No end to the violence that was what we were.

I took a seat on the hearth and looked at the ashes that stirred in the old pit. That last time I sat here was with Alanna the night before we left for parts unknown to me or to her.

Davenport Homestead 1787

Stirring the coals with the stick, I added another log onto the fire and watched it catch. I was still taking in everything that had been told to me by the mysterious woman that now sat in the chair not ten feet from me. Her eyes watched the snow fall out the window, but would watch me as well.

"Alanna, how have you lived like this for so many years?" The question slipped from my lips before I could think of what I was about to say.

Her gray eyes casted to the floor and then she looked over at me. "It has not been easy, Conner, I will not lie to you. There have been times that the loneliness of the passing years weighs on your shoulders heavily and it feels that no matter what you do, you cannot escape the pain. I have been alone now for many years." Her eyes drifted closed and I heard the slightest sigh escape her parted lips.

"You told me when I first awoke to this life that there are others like us. Where are they?" I turned on the hearth to fully watch her.

"For that, I have not an answer. We parted ways in 1744. I have not seen them since." She shook her head, and a tear rolled down her cheek. It splashed on the wooden floor without a sound. "I would like to know where they are, but I made a vow when I left that I would not look for them. If fate means for us to be together, they will send me a sign."

She hid her secrets well. "Who are they?" I asked.

"My master when I was mortal and a friend I guess you could say. You need not know their names at this time. You are far too young to know who they are. If something was to happen to you and the Templars take you, names are powerful things. Telling you my real name was dangerous, but necessary. They knew who I was in life. Well, slightly, but they would draw the line to the others. In time I will tell you, but not today." She stood and walked to the window. "When the time comes, you will meet them, but until then, please understand I am doing this to protect you, myself, and them."

I nodded my head. "I will trust you for now."

"Thank you." She smiled at me. "Now, what will you do with this place?" She gestured to the house around us.

"Leave it behind, I guess. I will not need it any longer." I stood and walked over to her. "Why do you ask?"

"We all keep something from our past, Conner. It is our ground. It lets us know where we come from." Pulling the knife she hid on her, she held it out. "This was my father's. He died when I was just ten years of age. It is the only thing I have of home, but I would never part with it."

The dagger was slightly curved. The firelight played off the dark metal that it was made from. "I have never seen such dark steel."

Alanna smiled and re-sheathed the blade. "It is forged from Damascus steel. It is from my homeland. Strong like my people."

"But why hold onto a house? Fire could destroy it. Nature could claim it back. It does not make sense." I did not understand what she was meaning.

Her eyes rolled heavenward and then back to my face. "Conner, this is where you learned what you are, correct?" I nodded. "This place is you. This place, this house, is a piece of you as much as you are a piece of it. Do not let go of it so lightly."

Present

Birds rustled in the rafters as I leaned against the cold stone of the fireplace. Alanna had told me many years ago that we all needed a ground. Something or somewhere to call home. For her, it was her father's dagger. Ezio had the picture he carried of Jenna and Marcus, but I knew about the other things in Italy. For Altair, it was Alanna. Desmond did not have anything that I knew of, and I did not have anything for my past except for this place.

Maybe that was why I ended up here. I shook the thoughts out of my head. I was not one to dwell in the past. I did not think about where I came from. That was long gone and dead. Best to just leave it there.

Knowing that I had to get a move on, I stood up. My legs were still weak, so I just sat back down. I needed more time to get my strength back up. Pulling out my phone, I opened and growled. It was completely dead.

"Well, looks like I don't get to call for back up." Putting it away, I decided my best course of action was to start a fire and wait until I had more strength.

Dawson

"Yeah, he's not in the city anymore, Becca." I looked around at the crime scene. "Yeah, tell Shaun that his car is gone."

'You mean he ran off with it?' Rebecca asked.

"No, I mean it is gone, gone. Like in Conner blew it up." I sighed and walked back over to where Alanna had parked the GTO. "We are going to drive around a bit and try to find what happened to him. I will call you back when we find anything."

'Be safe Dawson.'

"I will." I hung up the phone and Alanna rolled down the driver's window.

"So?" She asked. She had elected to stay in the car in case someone saw her. If they spotted Conner, and knew who he was, then they would know her.

"The hole in the ground over there was the Prius." I got in the passenger's side and shut the door. "From the noise the cops are making, there was a shooting at the docks about twenty minutes after this explosion."

"Sounds like Conner, but I hope it wasn't him." She put the car into gear and drove off. "Why hasn't he called yet? Damn him and the lone wolf crap. I am going to strangle him when I get ahold of him."

I heard her sigh. I knew they were close. Brother and sister close. "So, what's up between you two?"

She glanced at me. "Conner was the one I took under my wing. I have known him since he was very small. A few of his people found me after I had dug myself out of the grave the Brotherhood had put me in after the disastrous fight when Haytham turned on us. That was his father. I did not know at the time that Conner, or rather he was called Ratonhnhak;ton at that time. I knew he was special, but I did not know how."

She turned a corner and drove towards the edge of the city. "You were there when he found out, right?" I asked. I had heard she had worked with all of them before and after the immortality.

"Yes. The night he fell, I had heard that there was an ambush set for the assassins. I didn't know what group, so I followed Conner to make sure he was alright. I knew his grandfather. He was the one that brought me over from England. Haytham was no more than a boy at the time. Anyway, I helped Conner come to grips with his immortality. He has always been the lone wolf. Never forming attachments. I think this is the longest I have seen him stay with a group since he was mortal."

I watched the road pass us by. "So where do you think he would have gone to?" I did not know Conner. That was why they sent Alanna with me. She knew him better than anyone else left in the world.

"There is only one place I think he might go, but I don't even know if the damn place is still standing. I have not been back there since we left this area in 1787." Pointing the car towards the river, we drove out of the city and as the road narrowed, she turned off onto a dirt path. "I am going to kill him for this."

Bringing the car to a stop at the wood line, she set the emergency brake and killed the engine. "Where are we?"

"Well, we are about a mile from where he might go, but there is no way to get the car there." Alanna got out of the car and walked to the trunk. "Arm yourself. I do not know what we come across, or who."

Grabbing weapons, we armed ourselves and to walk. "Can I ask you a question? And do not take this the wrong way, but how did it work out that you knew everyone before they became immortal? Does everything circle around you?"

That had been the topic of debate for some time now. Alanna's steps faltered, but she corrected herself quickly. "I have asked myself that in the past. I mean, I know Altair because he found me, and brought me into the fold. Ezio, at first, was a chance encounter. I met his uncle first then I met him. I made a promise to Mario to watch out for Ezio until he could stand on his own two feet. Make sure his revenge did not consume him. I failed there.

"Conner was also a chance encounter. Had I not been found by his people, I would not have met him. Desmond you know about. You were there when I was given the mission." She vaulted over a fallen tree.

I had been there because I was supposed to go with her, until Sebastian put a stop to that. There had always been a few men that were loyal to Alanna. Some that she had worked with and some that she trained. I was one that she found and recruited. "Now, if you can remember, why didn't you take over when Sebastian came out as a Templar?"

Turning her head, she smiled. "Now why would I do that? I am no leader. I never have been. I don't crave power, or go looking for it. It is not my place to be that. Besides, that would have ousted me faster than anything."

We continued to walk. When we came up to the top of a small hill, which was when I saw it. A run down house in the middle of a field. "That is it?"

"That would be Davenport's old homestead. The land is deeded to someone that I don't know, or remember. I think it is deeded to me because he up and left and wanted nothing to do with it. I knew one day he would regret that." She shook her head and I followed behind her.

Coming up on the house, she called out to him. Not by Conner, but by his Mohawk name. He was there because he called back to her and his head came out a window. "So, what made you think to come here?"

She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. "Why did you not call? We have been worried sick as to what happened to you. I thought they had captured your ass. Now, I am going to beat it when you get out here."

Conner laughed and jumped to the ground, holding up his hands while he walked over to us. "My phone is dead, and I was not about to go back into the city. Not with them looking for me."

Alanna raised her fist, growled and dropped it again. "Damn you. I want to hit you, I really do, but I'm not going to. You had all of us worried, you ass."

He walked over to her and wrapped her in a hug. "I'm sorry, Al, I really am."

Now that the reunion was over, I looked over at the land. "So what do we do from here?"

"We need to take out Lawrence McDaniels before he can go underground. I know we were supposed to wait, but this may be our only chance to get him." Conner still had his arm around Alanna's shoulder. "What do you say? You two up for an assassination, the old fashion way?"

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

I lay on my stomach on the parking garage roof and watched McDaniels out of the scope of my gun. "Al, he's coming up on your six. Conner, you had better be ready."

I saw Alanna step out of the alley she had been in. Dressed in a business suit, Alanna walked past him and 'accidentally' bumped into him. Conner was around corner, gun and silencer ready. I was up here just in case something went south and he needed to be taken out right then and there.

Papers went flying as they collided. Alanna bent down and started to grab them, and McDaniels did the same. When a few of the papers flew past the alley, he went after them and I saw Conner grab him. 'Got him, Dawson. Get down here so we can move.'

Alanna threw the papers in the trash and I began to disassemble the rifle. When I had it in the duffle and met up with them, Conner was sitting on the trunk. "Where did you put him?"

He patted the trunk. "We have to dump the body somewhere they will not see it right away. There are too many people we have to kill and if we leave the body here, that will put everyone else on alert."

Alanna had ditched the jacket. "I am not thrilled to have a body in the trunk, but I understand. Let's roll and get back to the others."

I nodded in agreement. We had too much to do and not enough time to do it.

It was a hard choice to put this chapter up with the events that happened with the Boston Marathon over the weekend. I rewrote this chapter twice over the weekend and then when I finished it, I had not heard about the bombing yet. I waited and tried to think of a way to rewrite it once more, but I could not, so I toned down the first scene. There were more explosions and more shootings, but I rewrote it to one of each. I could not do that with the first part taking place in Boston. My heart goes out to all affected by this horrid tragedy.

*Sassiersphinx*