VIII.
Flintlocked

They ended up waiting three days and Edward was the one who came back with the news. It looked like Flint was making his long awaited move. He had crawled out of where ever he was hiding and it seemed he had his own plan. He didn't think that the Assassins could or would come after him if he had a force of soldiers guarding him. He was going to take himself and what remained of his gunpowder stores and sail them off to an island to lay low.

Of course, Mary had no idea about that at the moment.

She was too busy running for her life.

Perhaps on a better day she would have stayed behind and fought. Perhaps if she hadn't gotten caught in the act of stealing some of the gunpowder that belonged to the Templar Hilary Flint, she would have been able to bribe the soldiers to overlook her misdemeanor. If they hadn't seen the hidden blade, a clear mark of an Assassin, strapped to her wrist, maybe she would have been able to talk her way out of it.

As it was, she had made quite a few mistakes when she had gone to steal the gunpowder.

One, she had plotted by herself to steal it. Mary was not what one would call a foolish person; but the boredom of waiting must have gotten to her. She figured, if she pushed, perhaps they would hear something sooner. So she decided to push without consulting Edward or Rhona. She had just meant to steal some of the gunpowder and ignite or keep it for the Assassins or well…she wasn't sure what she intended anymore.

Sneaking into where it was kept had been easy. The guards had been fooled by two young women who had been paid by Mary. Mary knew some Spanish but wasn't fluent enough in it communicate more than a few words with the women. They knew little to no English. She had pressed some gold into their hands and it turned out that they were both very fluent in Gold. In the end that was all that mattered and she had slipped into the small underground bunker without so much as an eye batted at her. This was where she messed up.

She had expected the women to keep the guards busy for some time. What she didn't expect was for, as she was grabbing a small barrel of gunpowder, those guards and women come strolling down into the same room as her. One of the guards was clearly distracted by the woman, leaning up against the wall with her beneath him. The other just casually glanced towards her as she glanced up at them. He blinked and she ducked behind some boxes, hoping he had thought he was seeing things. No, of course not. That wasn't in her favor, of course. She heard him draw his sword and she could barely make out the sound of his boots as he drew closer.

She had engaged her blade and jumped around the boxes to meet him, her blade going into one eye socket. It was disgusting, killing someone that way. It made a gut wrenching squish sound as she drew her blade out of his eye socket, though the eye remained, ruined and unseeing, in its proper place. The man fell to the ground and the other was alarmed now. He was calling for reinforcements. Her limited Spanish provided her with that answer. The two women were standing there looking shocked, moving out of the way as five more guards thundered down the stairs. Mary hurried towards the other side of the room, noting another exit. There was another group of guards there, cutting her off. She turned, backing away from both groups slowly. She drew her gun and cursed gently. This was going to be messy. She aimed down, the guards thinking she was aiming for their knees, moved giving her a clear shot of the gunpowder barrel she had left on the ground.

She shot and ducked into the corner, curling into a ball. The room was small, so she hoped the two women had already fled else that gold she had given to them meant nothing. Something wet hit her back and she didn't look, not caring to see what had hit her anyway. She waited a moment before looking at the damage she caused. It was a massacre. There were a few guards covered in debris and wet pink and red things that Mary didn't want to think about, lying a few feet from her. Only four guards remained alive and one was missing a leg. They were beginning to stir, so Mary headed for the exit. She didn't get far, in fact just outside, before more guards showed up.

How many is that bastard having guard these damn things? She thought, a frown furrowing her face. They saw her coming out of the storage building though and they shouted for her to stop. She hesitated for a moment, thinking of her options and well – running was probably the best idea.

That was how she found herself running for her life down the streets of Havana, shoving people out of her way as she went. Damn her coat was hot in the sun! She had to get away fast. Though she could run a long way without getting too exhausted, the heat was as much a danger to her as the guards.

She saw some boxes stacked on one another, in the perfect shape of some steps and she jumped from one, two three! She grabbed a sign and swung her body onto the next building's roof. She heard them readying their guns and she managed to climb higher and roll across the top of the building, pressing herself flat, just in time. She heard the bullets bounce off the side of the building. She risked a glance over the side, in time to nearly take a pellet to the face. She ducked down again, cursing. She could hear them moving. They couldn't climb up but they could surround the building and shoot as soon as she peeked her head out.

She had to move, now.

Praying that they were still reloading, she stood and dashed for the next building. She felt bullets wiz by as she jumped. She landed, rolled and kept moving. She heard them shouting and yelling but she kept going. Luckily in Havana many of the buildings had flat tops or nearly flat tops. It made it easier for running, though that made it harder to dodge bullets and escape their eyes. She saw a church in the distance. She would have to jump back to the ground and hurry to climb the church before they realized what she was doing, but she was going to do as she had to.

She ran faster, digging her smoke bombs out of her pocket. She tossed three on the ground, right at her pursuers. Hopefully that slowed them. She saw a well-placed ladder ahead of her and used it to slide to the ground. She made her way onto the church grounds and quickly scaled up onto the roof of the church. She didn't stop there, scaling even higher, up towards the peak of it, where there was an area wide enough for her to sit upon. By the time she got to that point though, she was sweating and tired. She wanted a drink of water but she didn't have any so that'd have to wait until she made her way back.

She sat down, at least enjoying the cool breeze, happy for a moment to catch her breath. She watched the people far below her. Guards were looking and the rest of the world was going about their business. No one bothered to look up because what kind of person could get all the way to the top of the church?

She sat a while, resting herself and when the excitement below seemed to calm down, she found herself on the ledge, looking for a way down. Ah, there it was. A hay carriage parked just below the church. The owner gave his horse two pats and walked to the nearby tavern. He didn't see Mary land in the pile of hay or see her jump out, brushing hay frantically from her clothes and hair.

She hurried back to the Bureau and found Edward and Rhona both waiting for her. Rhona gave her a look, but saw how exhausted she must have looked and fetched her a drink. Edward wasn't nearly as causal and decided to voice his thoughts straight away.

"You're late Mary." He followed her inside. He watched as she took the glass of water from Rhona.

"Up yours, Kenway"

"In a bad mood, Mary?" He asked. "I could help you with that…I'm sure Rhona has a back room."

"Really, Edward." Rhona scoffed, throwing the man a glare. He shrugged, joking - or mostly so at least. "Mary, what happened? Why are you so late?"

"How late am I?" She asked as she sat down.

"About two hours by my reckoning." Rhona sat down across from her.

"Ran into some trouble. No, don't worry it was my own fault." She shook her head and gave them a brief overview of what had happened while she was out. Edward filled her in then on what he learned. She sat still and silent for a while, Rhona looked pale and drawn. Mary nodded to herself. "Well, anyone have a plan?"

"I'll engage him and you two circle around – carefully – and…well you know the rest" Her voice was harsh, sort of strained as she tried to be casual.

"Suddenly squeamish, Rhona? Can't quite bring yourself to kill him?" Edward pushed and the Assassin's eyes hardened. Edward was teasing, but he had stepped on a few toes with that statement.

"Of course not! I just don't want you to feel like I'm telling you what to do!" She denied. She glanced at Mary, as if suddenly questioning how Mary dealt with him as long as she did. Mary just raised an eyebrow in a 'Don't-look-at-me' gesture.

"I think that injury must have left you with a touch of fever" He grinned at her, tapping the side of his head.

"Can we just…not talk about this?" She demanded, leaning back in her chain, a frown on her lips.

"Well how about how we'll find him then?" Edward asked. "I imagine you'll know about that too though, huh, Rhona?"

"Oh, he won't be hard to find. The cheeky bastard, strutting about like the cock of the walk" She spat on the ground, trying to act disgusted, but she wasn't fooling Mary. She wasn't fooling Edward either and he seemed like he wanted to push today.

"Admit it, Rhona. Deep down you like the walk of that cock" He was grinning at her, leaning across the table now. She pushed him back with a hand to his forehead. His chair fell back and he windmilled his arms trying to right himself before he fell over. The chair, and Edward with it, fell back finally with a loud thump, spilling its owner onto the ground. Rhona stood, leaning over him.

"I can arrange to have you in thummikins if flogging's too kind, Kenway." Her voice was dripping with annoyance. Mary laughed at Edward's expression, somewhere between shock, bemusement and bewilderment.

"I have an idea of how to find him. C'mon, he'll be at the port right? Let's be going" Mary told them, a smile still on her face. She stood and Edward rolled to his feet. He must have been feeling the heat of Rhona's glare but he ignored it and followed after Mary. Rhona sighed and followed after their little troupe, off to kill the Templar Flint.

Within an hour the three of them sat up on a building where they could see the port. Mary sat cross-legged on the edge of the building while Edward crouched to her left and Rhona sat with her legs over the edge of the building to her right. The three of them looked down at the port, where a group of men all dressed similar had gathered. From the distance they were, it was a little indistinct and hard to pick anyone out of the crowd. Mary had a plan to find Flint from here and Edward was key in that.

"So how am I going to point out our man from here?" Asked Edward.

"Have you forgotten what I taught you already, Edward?" Mary asked. She pointed towards the group of people at the port. "Look there. Focus now Edward, use the Sense, just as I taught you. Focus until you see and hear a type of shimmering. Remember?"

Edward looked on where her finger pointed. She could see the concentration on his face and she could see the change in his eyes as he allowed the Sense to take over his senses. After a moment, he grabbed her hand and moved it to the right slight and down a little. "Right there" He whispered. He didn't let go of her hand right away, but his fingers slid off her hand and left Mary with a…creeping sensation.

She wouldn't be able to place it now, but it was familiar. She was too focused on the task ahead.

Rhona gasped. "Edward how did you…"

"I told you, he has the Sense, Rhona. More useful than you think, eh?" She dropped her hand. "We all got a lock on him, hm? Rhona, you're distraction, Edward, you and me are going to circle around. Everyone be careful"

"Aye" Rhona was clearly nervous but she hid it well, at least in her voice. Her eyes reflected how she was truly feeling.

"Let's be going" Edward muttered and the two of them parted ways from Rhona. They crept across the buildings and they saw Rhona waiting until they were nearly behind the troops. Edward stood and nodded once, making a hand signal and then he and Mary began to crawl down a ladder.

"Hey Flint!" A shout rang out across the port. Mary and Edward couldn't see her but Rhona was doing her part to distract. There was the sound of a gunshot. "Haha! Not much of a shot, are you, Flint?"

There was a laugh as Edward and Mary moved through the crowd, closer to their target. "You should know, Dinsmore!"

"I should, after studying you for so long!" Her voice was strong. Mary got a peek at her, standing not thirty feet from Flint and his men, holding one gun in her hand, though her hand was at her side. She was ready though. Mary could tell by how her hand trembled.

"Then you finally admit your obsession with me!" Mary got a good look at Flint next. He stood with his arms wide open, a pistol in each hand. He was grinning like a mad man.

"And how many men have you sent after me, just this week, Flint?" Rhona asked, pointing her free hand at him. She waved it in the air. Just a little more, just a little closer. Mary ducked behind a barrel and Edward moved along in the crowds. She waited at the edge of the group. A solider restlessly paced closer to the barrels Mary was behind. He took aim at Rhona and Mary quickly grabbed him, pulling him behind the barrels. She slit his throat and pushed him into the water.

"What did you expect?" Flint called back. "That I would come in person? You overestimate your importance!"

"You're a pig, Flint!"

"Oh…don't be stroppy, Dinsmore."

"Oh don't be such a beard splitter!"

Edward acted, shooting two guns at once, killing two guards. Flint turned, fire burning in his eyes. Rhona charged forward. He turned back to the charging Master Assassin and then looked at Edward, who was about upon him. Flint dodged Edward's attack shooting with a gun and then kicking Edward. He flew across the port, skidded a few feet across the ground and then fell into the port's waters with a splash.

"Edward!" She shouted. She had no time to check on him as the guards, now alert to her presence, attacked. She fought her way through them and towards where Rhona and Flint were having a shootout. She ended up ducking behind a barrel feet away from Rhona though, as Flint kept a gun in each hand and stayed focused on the two Assassins like no other. He truly was handy with a gun. Shame that they had to kill him.

"I won't die so easily!" He called to them. He tossed something in Mary's direction. She looked down at her feet. A bomb? She moved, jumping out of the way and ducked down, avoiding the explosion. Someone tackled her and she found herself pinned on the ground by one of Flint's few remaining guards. She squirmed underneath him, even as he held her arms at her sides. This meant that he couldn't hurt her with his hands but he was still pinning her down and pressing down on her in a most uncomfortable way. His one knee was pressing into her hip bone, keeping her from kicking her legs too much. She struggled though, trying to break free of his grip. Flint was still looking towards Rhona, knowing she was the last remaining threat.

"I wouldn't expect you to, mate" Edward was standing on a group of barrels, a gun pointed at Flint. When did he get up there? He was soaked, dripping water, and Mary could see his left arm was bleeding. "You did give us a challenge, but lot of good that did you." He smiled and then pulled the trigger. The bullet hit Flint in the chest and knocked him off his feet. The Templar fell against the crates he had been using as a shelter, gripping at the bleeding wound as if he could stop himself from bleeding out.

Rhona was moving towards the fallen man as soon as Edward's gun went off. Mary couldn't get any closer as the she was still struggling against the man on top of her. He was stronger than her physically and she couldn't get her arms free. She hated playing dirty – at least in this aspect – but she had no choice. She used one leg to unbalance him and free both of her legs. She then promptly kneed him as hard as she could muster in the groin. He made a face and fell off of her, cursing her, her mother, father and every ancestor she ever had. She inserted her blade in the back of his neck before he could recover and hurried over to Rhona and Edward.

Rhona was kneeling over Flint, her head bowed. She reached over and closed his eyes. She pulled the Templar Key from around his neck and handed it back to Edward. Without looking at him, she said "His charm's all used up. Let the memory of him be locked away for good." Then she stood and gave both Edward and Mary a hollow look. Without another word, she walked away.

Yes, she said let it be locked away for good, but how easy was that? Mary looked at Edward who stood clutching the key in his hand. He looked down at Flint's body and then over at Mary.

"You okay?" He asked. Mary realized she had just been standing there staring.

"Yeah. You're bleeding, let me take a look." He glanced at his left arm, where there was a bloody rip in his robe.

"It's just a scratch." He sighed as she gave him a look. He must have realized it was useless to argue with her. "C'mon. Let's go have a drink on The Jackdaw"

"What about Rhona?"

"I think she rather be alone right now, don't you?" She hesitated and then nodded.

They walked together back to the Jackdaw where Ade saw them into Edward's office below the wheel. Edward stripped off his robe and allowed Mary to poke at his wound. He told Ade of what happened as she cleaned and wrapped the bullet wound. It went a little deep, cutting into the muscle of Edward's arm. It had to be painful but he didn't complain. Perhaps because it was just above his tattoo on that arm, just avoiding ruining the art of it. He sure had a lot; Mary wondered what his wife would think of them. Most people didn't think well of tattoos after all, they were a sailor's thing. A thug's thing.

"And what are we going to do now, Captain?" Ade asked. Mary leaned back, looking at Edward, wondering what his next step would be. He said nothing. He reached to put back on his robes and didn't speak as he got himself in order once more.

"…I can pay you if you'd help me hunt down some of the Templars on my list" She said quietly. She got back out her list and laid it on the table. She took a quill that Edward had on the table, crossing out Flint's name. She pointed out two other names. "These men are in Havana. You help me kill them, I'll pay you"

"I suppose I can do that" Edward gave her a smile. "Ade, go tell the men we're having a bit of a holiday here in Havana"

"Aye" And Ade left, to spread the news.

"And for every other Templar you help me kill, I'll make sure you're paid well, Kenway" Mary told him. He grabbed a bottle of rum and poured them each a cup, a grin on his face.

"Well then, Mary, I suppose I'll have to help you then. How could I say no to you?" He pushed her cup towards her and she grabbed it.

"Up your arse, Kenway." She was smiling though. It was practically a compliment for her to say that to him now. She shot back the rum and he did too. They both slammed their cups on the table. "Let's be off!"

"Aye. Let's be off."

A/N: This had to be my favorite chapter to write. I really love Rhona and Hilary's story, they have great dynamic. Anyway, leave me some reviews~