Connor sighed, letting the Babel album by Mumford & Sons ring in his head…again. Even if it was unintentional, he couldn't believe what he had done. Ellie was angry and hurt; he would have been too.

His heart gave a painful twist and he turned, tugging the covers over his head. He hadn't gotten out of bed all day. His stomach churned as he thought about facing Ellie and Claudia at school the next day.

A soft knock at the door barely got through his headphones.

"Yeah?" he asked, peeking out of the covers, pulling a headphone out of his ear.

"May I come in?" Haytham asked.

"Sure."

Haytham slowly opened the door, frowning at Connor. "Are you going to tell me what happened or not?" he asked, shutting the door behind him.

He pulled out Connor's desk chair and sat down.

"We seem to have something in common," Connor mumbled.

Haytham arched a brow. "And that is?"

"We turn our best relationships to shit really quickly."

Haytham sighed heavily, rubbing at his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. "That's….not a good thing. What happened?"

"I screwed up."

"How?"

"I shouldn't say stuff when I don't know what it means."

Haytham furrowed his brow, looking slightly confused. "Yes, and?"

"Well, some guys were asking if Ellie and I hooked up a lot and, as an idiot, said yes. I thought it meant hanging out or something."

Haytham shook his head. "Good Lord, I expected naïveté, but this?"

"Shut up."

"Sorry."

Connor pulled the blankets over his head again. "Ellie overheard. Now she doesn't even want to acknowledge my existence."

Connor heard the chair creak as Haytham shifted. "Have you tried talking to her to explain?"

"I went over there last night. Claudia answered the door and wouldn't let me explain."

"Have you called her?"

Connor stared at his phone. "I tried five times; I'm just going to give up."

"And why is that?"

"She obviously hates me now. I'll just accept it and move on."

His covers were suddenly yanked off of him, revealing Haytham's scowling face. "Don't you bloody do that. Don't make my damn mistake with any relationship you have," he growled.

Connor tugged the blankets back down. "It's easier."

"Yes, twit. It's easier, but I've regretted that every day ever since. Now you go try to fix this. I know you care about that girl."

Connor threw the blankets off, glaring right back. "Yeah, that would work in a perfect world. But this isn't a perfect world. She hates me now. End of story. Good day."

He flopped back down, building a cocoon around himself again.

Haytham sighed and got up, slamming the door on his way out of the room.

Connor trudged down the hallway, ducking whenever he thought he saw Ellie or Claudia. He made it to his locker, gulping as he grabbed his English book. It seemed to be laughing at him as he shut his locker and began trudging towards class. He finally made it to English, where Ellie and Claudia were already sitting down in their usual spots.

Connor snuck into the room, taking the empty seat at the back next to Revere. Connor set his backpack on his desk, wrapping his arms around it and burying his head in it and peeking up at Ellie. She glanced back at him, quickly turning around before they could make eye contact.

Connor's heart sunk and he buried his head back in his back pack. "Hey."

Connor looked at Revere. He really wasn't in the mood for this. "Yeah?"

"Sorry if what I said screwed things up. Dez told me what happened."

Connor shook his head. "I'm the one to blame."

"But…you didn't even know what it was."

"It doesn't matter. I said it, and I hurt her feelings in the process. So quit talking about it," Connor growled.

Revere nodded, sitting up straight again. "Whatever you say, man."

English sucked even more than usual that day.

Connor stared at Ellie, watching as she ran her fingers through her hair and tap her foot as she took notes. Connor buried his head in his back pack again.

He wished the floor would swallow him up and take him away from here.

He wished he was brave enough to just walk up to her and explain himself, but he didn't.

Coward.

For the next two weeks, Connor was now avoiding Hickey, his Crew, and his best friend. His heart would drop whenever he saw Ellie, but he continued on his normal way as soon as she was out of his sight. He stopped by his locker after school, sighing as he stuffed what he needed in his bag.

"Hey."

Connor glanced over his shoulder to see Desmond hitching his back pack over his shoulder. "Hey," Connor mumbled, shutting his locker.

"Look, it's Friday, and it's obvious that you need to get something off your mind. I know a good place to hang out," Desmond said, jerking a thumb toward the doors.

Connor frowned. He was planning on wallowing in shame in his room…again. Then again, the glares his father had been shooting his way were not appealing. "What's this place called?"

"A wondrous place called 'The Den'. Coffee cures the soul, man," Desmond said, walking toward the doors.

Connor quickly texted his dad before following Desmond down the hallway. "I don't have a car, so we'll have to depend on your wheels," Desmond admitted sheepishly, shrugging.

Connor waved it off, heading toward the student parking lot. "It's all right."

Connor pulled his keys out as he approached the Mustang.

"Goddamn! That's your car?!" Desmond yelped, eyes widening at the sight.

Connor arched a brow. "Yeah..."

"Holy shit!"

Connor got in, tossing his bag in the back.

"I need to convince my old man to get me one of these!" Desmond said, following suit.

Connor pulled out of the parking lot, making his way toward an intersection. "Where is it?" he asked, stopping.

"Just get on the street with all the horses. Can't miss it."

Connor rolled his eyes. He would rather have street names, but he wasn't in the mood to complain.

"Got any jams?"

Connor tossed him the CD holder from the dashboard. "Help yourself."

Desmond perused the CDs, making an approving or disapproving noise every once in a while. "Man, you need to get some dubstep or something. All of this is old or alternative."

"What's dubstep?"

Desmond widened his eyes, jaw dropping. "You're killing me, Smalls!" he yelped with a grin, getting his phone out of his pocket.

Connor arched a brow at the reference. "Really? You're going to call me that?"

"You're as big of a square as he is."

Connor couldn't argue with that point.

Desmond pulled another thing from his bag, plugging it into the dash. "You're going to love this."

A guitar started to play, and then techno stuff began. Desmond turned up the volume. "Get ready for it."

Connor furrowed his brow. "Ready for wha-"

Then the bass dropped.

"HELL YEAH!" Desmond shouted.

Connor knew he would have a headache before they got to 'The Den'.

Connor's ears were still ringing when he got out of his car. He wondered how Desmond could still hear properly as they walked in.

'The Den' was a nice, simple little café. Connor followed Desmond over to the counter, looking up at the choices. He had only started drinking coffee when Ellie dragged him into Starbucks a couple times. His stomach sunk at the memory.

"Connor?"

Connor looked to see Kadar standing behind the counter, wearing an apron and a nametag. "Hey," Connor said, surprised.

"Hey Des. The usual?"

"Go for it," Desmond replied with a grin.

Kadar got to work, pulling different levers and pouring coffee beans into certain things.

Connor looked up at the menu again. One thing caught his eye. Forest Fruits stood out to him. Kadar set Desmond's cup of coffee in front of him. The Styrofoam was overflowing with whipped cream and chocolate syrup. Desmond slapped a few dollars down, taking a huge swig.

"What will you have, Connor?" Kadar asked, waiting patiently.

Connor shrugged. "Uh…grande Forest Fruits?"

"Coming right up!" Kadar chirped, getting to work. He pulled on levers again. "How's Ellie, Connor?"

Connor almost just walked away.

"She's doing great!" Desmond piped in, wiping whipped cream off his upper lip.

Connor gave him a hard look. Desmond shrugged.

"Tell her I said 'Hi'," Kadar continued, oblivious to the interaction.

Connor shook his head at Desmond, looking at Kadar again. "So…you work here?"

Kadar shrugged. "My brother owns the place. I just help out when he needs it."

"Malik owns this place?" Connor asked, looking around. Now that he was paying attention, he could see little knick knacks and other decorations that looked like they came from the Middle East.

"Yeah, he finally got enough money to do it. Altaïr helped out too."

Desmond took another swig. "Where is the four fingered a-hole anyway?"

Kadar snickered a little, pointing.

Looking at Desmond, Connor was startled by the man standing behind them. He didn't even notice him approach!

The man had short, light brown hair that stuck up a little in the front. His gold eyes were glaring down at Desmond. His lip curled, causing his scar to dance with the motion. Connor suddenly realized that Desmond and the man had the same scar…and he wondered why it looked familiar.

"Four fingered asshole, huh?" the man growled.

Desmond spun around, gulping. "Uh…hey Altaïr."

Altaïr rolled his eyes, pushing Desmond to the side. He set the box he was carrying on the counter. "I have a gift for Malik."

Kadar set Connor's smoothie on the counter. "That's 4.75, Connor. Is this another prank?" Kadar asked, looking into the box curiously.

Altaïr shook his head. "No, it's those damn blenders he had been asking me to look for. Doesn't he know I have other things to do?"

Kadar gave him a sarcastic look.

Connor put a five dollar bill one the counter, waving off the change. He walked over to Desmond, who was sitting at the nearest table and glaring at Altaïr.

"So…how do you know them?" Connor asked, sticking his straw in the lid.

"Altaïr and my dad work together."

"Doing what?"

"FBI stuff. I don't know what they do exactly. Something about secrecy."

Connor almost choked. "FBI?"

"Yeah. My dad's actually worked with yours a couple times."

"Why?" Connor spluttered.

"Your dad is a badass lawyer. My dad calls yours when they want an asshole prosecuted or something."

Connor shook his head. His father would always surprise him, it seemed.

"Woah! These are pretty cool, Altaïr."

Connor looked at the counter to see Kadar fiddling with one of the blenders.

"Yeah, just don't cut your hand off. Malik would hand my ass to me if you did," Altaïr said, taking the box and flattening it. Handing it to Kadar, he ordered a coffee to go. After he got his coffee, he walked over to Desmond, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Connor tried to not stare at the empty space where Altaïr's ring finger should be. "Your old man and I got another case. Don't expect him to be in tonight," he said, squeezing Desmond's shoulder.

"I know. As usual," Desmond growled.

Altaïr furrowed his brow. He sighed and stood up straight. "Hang in there kid. I know how you feel," he said.

"Yeah."

Altaïr shook his head, looking defeated. He looked at Connor, who tensed up. Altaïr had an air about him that screamed "Don't mess with me!"

"You're Haytham's kid, right?"

Connor frowned. "Yeah. Why?"

"He won't be in tonight either."

Connor furrowed his brow. "Why?"

"We need his help with something. That's all I can tell you," Altaïr answered.

"Get used to that," Desmond cut in sharply.

Altaïr gave Desmond a hard look before waving goodbye.

Connor stared at Desmond for a moment before focusing on his drink again. If Desmond wanted to tell him what was going on, he would.

"My Dad and I…don't exactly get along. He's always gone and Altaïr always comes back to make sure I'm doing okay. He became like a big brother to me," he finally said, swirling his cup.

Connor nodded. "What happened with…" Connor gestured to his ring finger.

Desmond sighed. "I know one thing about my dad's work. They deal with gangs and terrorists and stuff. Altaïr was hired because he can speak Arabic and all that shit. Some assholes caught him once and tortured him. All I know is that they had to amputate the finger when they found him."

Connor almost bit through his straw. Holy shit. "Wow…"

"Yeah."

They sat in silence again. Desmond roughly cleared his throat. "Sorry I started acting like a little bitch."

Connor waved it off, gulping down the smoothie. He could understand the whole 'Dad is never there' complex.

"So, what's the story behind you and your dad?"

"Huh?"

"Dude, I've known your dad since I was ten. I didn't know he had a son until my dad talked about it at the beginning of this school year. What's the story?"

Connor sighed. "I moved in with my dad when my mom died," he began.

He told Desmond the whole story.

He didn't know why. Maybe he just wanted another friend that knew what was going on.

That only made him miss Ellie more.

Haytham stalked into the office, slamming his hands down on William Miles' desk. "You bloody arsehole!" he seethed, glaring down at the man.

William Miles frowned up at him, tossing the papers he was reading on his desk. "Calm down, Kenway."

"No. I told you that I wanted nothing more to do with that case, and you're asking me to help again?!"

Miles pinched the bridge of his nose. "Look, Ahad and I found a new lead and-"

"It's been a bleeding decade. Do you know how hard it will be to convict somebody with this shit?" Haytham growled, standing up straight again.

Miles stood up, moving to close the door to his office. "Trust me. It won't be hard when we figure this out."

William got a file out from his desk and held it out to Haytham, who eyed it suspiciously before opening it. His eyes widened at the names decorating the papers.

"You-"

"Yes. We finally found them."

"But…how?"

"Don't doubt Altair when he has a vendetta. We have the names of every advisor and enforcer. I know we're on the trail to finding the leader."

Haytham almost choked as he scanned the list, freezing on one name. "Borgia?"

"What about them?"

"I…almost represented Roderigo once. He wanted to buy some land west of here many years ago."

"The land the reservation is on now?"

Haytham felt his heart clench a little. He shook the feeling off, reading off the other names on the list. "Cesare Borgia. William 'Almualim'. Robert de Sable. Reginald Birch…"

Haytham glared at the paper.

"Do you know him?"

"I did, once. I thought he was dead."

Miles held out his hand. Haytham handed the file back. "What does this mean, William?"

"It means, that we might just be stepping into a mine field."

Haytham frowned. "Will our families be targeted?"

"Possibly."

"I want nothing to do with it," Haytham decided. Ziio entrusted him with their son. He would die before letting her down there.

"What if I told you one of them was in the school system? Both of our families are in danger," Miles stated, looking weary.

Haytham tensed up. "Who?"

"I think you know who."

Haytham scowled. "Braddock."

Miles nodded. "We already convicted him once, but his superiors got him out."

"It makes no sense. Braddock didn't need to get into this. He was successful."

Miles sighed. "That's the thing. Braddock was in this even before what happened between you two took place."

Haytham shook his head. It made little sense. "Bloody hell."

"I called you in here for another reason, Kenway."

Haytham pinched the bridge of his nose. "And that would be?"

"We need to talk to your sister, Jenny."

Haytham froze. "And why is that?"

"She could be our best witness."

Haytham tensed up again, fitting all of the pieces of the puzzle together.

"You don't mean-"

"Yes."

Haytham sunk down into the chair in front of Miles' desk. "Shit."

Miles nodded, looking a little worried.

Haytham never wanted to take on a case like this ever again, thinking about how he had to help Jenny many years before.

Human trafficking was nasty business for everyone.