"Croatia's next, Riley?" Luka positioned himself in the centre of the room and briefly exhaled, awaiting a response. His torn robes contrasted greatly with his bruiseless body, revealing his great trademark physique.
Riley smirked after putting on a surprised expression for a moment.
"Took the words out of my mouth..." Riley paused before letting out a small sigh and continuing. "Look, it might not be safe to converse here...the Templars that were onto us from the get-go escaped, they're probably on their way back to Mikhailov and Roth as we speak."
"We don't have a lot of time, then," Harris chimed in, taking the time to adjust his robes and correct his hair. "Tell you what, boys...I've been through this same shit recently, legitimately the same situation."
"Can confirm, the Cabellos can vouch too!" Luka briefly shouted in a positive tone.
Harris nodded before continuing. "Right, this sanctuary is toast, which gives me a major headache and sets me up with about sixteen meetings with the council...again."
"Don't be grumpy, old man!" A cheerful voice suddenly filled the space of the corridor. A massive shadow was cast over the room as a familiar Assassin walked back in. "Maybe Williams and Ford will be nice to you this time around!"
"I sure fucking hope so, Hugh..." Harris couldn't help but smile at Hugh's antics which brought a certain amount of joy into the atmosphere whenever he would appear. He crossed his arms before looking at the Rileys. "Tell you what...give us a couple of days to clean up the bodies and sort things on our end. Afterwards, we can all grab dinner...privately. How's that sound?"
Steve and Bruce looked at each other for a moment before making a decision. They exchanged a few nods and subtle expressions before Steve stepped forward and cleared his throat. He remained silent for a few seconds before extending his hand towards Harris and speaking up.
"That sounds grand, Harrison."
Harris waited a moment before stepping up and firmly shaking Riley's hand.
"Don't worry, I'll set us up with a contact of mine, he'll treat us well. Plus..." Harris turned towards the rest of the Assassins. "We could all use a nice little dinner as a break from the action."
This seemed to brighten up the mood, even a small bit. Harris got serious for a moment as he finished his statement.
"Now, you two better get out of here before I change my mind about my decision."
"We appreciate it, Harrison," Steve nodded with a smile on his face before patting Bruce on the shoulder and jumping through an open window towards their vehicle. Bruce started to follow him out, but he stopped in front of the open window and turned around.
"How will we keep in touch?"
Harris put on a playful smirk and looked directly at Scott. Scott made eye contact with Harris, nodded and let out a chuckle. "I'll find you."
Bruce smiled, waved to the Assassins and escaped through the window.
Paul walked up the stairs and raised a valid question. "Think we can trust them?"
Harris looked at him for a moment like he was genuinely thinking about the answer.
"I don't know."
Paul nodded twice as he gazed towards the window the ex-Templars escaped from.
As the Assassins stood in silence, Hugh looked at Andre, who returned the gaze towards him. The two men shared a silent exchange ending with corresponding nods, prompting Hugh to speak up.
"We should get the bodies out of here and get to our backup location, Harris," Hugh quickly scanned the corridor they were in. "You were right, this place probably isn't worth saving at the moment."
Harris began to descend from the top of the stairs. "We still have Assassins out on missions and patrol, I was thinking of gathering the bodies first and foremost, meeting with the Rileys, then coming back here a few days later to salvage files, important objects and so on."
"Right, then," Kane began speaking. "Hugh, Paul and I can go back to the main hall. Andre and Aleks can handle this corridor. Ashley and Luka can look through some of the hallways in between. We're gonna need a ton of vehicles to get these bodies to a safe area. Harris..." Kane turned to Harris, garnering his attention. "You might wanna check up on Rafael."
"Right, he's outside?" Harris pointed towards the doors leading out.
"Should be by the truck that Aleks used to drive here..." Kane turned towards Hugh as if he asked him a question.
Hugh looked at him and continued. "Yeah, Matilde and her daughter are with him as we speak. We need them taken care of, too."
"Don't worry, I'm on it," Harris reassured the group before heading outside.
Kane turned towards Scott. "Can any of your lads chip in and get a few trucks going for us?"
"Sure, can do," Scott replied almost immediately in a cheerful manner before grabbing his phone and finding contacts. "Might take a minute to contact them."
Kane began moving in the direction of the main hall while waving Hugh and Paul over towards him. Both men promptly followed him.
"No rush, it'll take us a bit anyway."
Scott nodded as he phoned his first contact. Thomas picked up quickly.
"Tom, I'm bothering you again today."
"As always, mate. What's up?" Thomas seemed to be driving but there wasn't too much noise surrounding him.
"We got a bit of a situation here, where's Dave at?" Scott began to pace around the room.
"Dunno, probably out with his missus. Why?" Thomas' tone was casual but curious.
Scott didn't hesitate to be honest with Thomas. "I need a few trucks, the sanctuary's been raided and we need to escort a lot of bodies."
"Oh, man...tell you what, I can get a couple of trucks, and I'll phone Dave on my way there."
"Sounds good, you heading out now?"
"In about twenty, yeah. Need to call the boys up."
"See you soon, lad."
"You owe me one, Scottie!" Thomas threw out a comedic sentence.
"I'll pay it back, don't you worry," Scott ended the conversation with a chuckle.
...
Harrison stepped outside, somewhat of a pleasurable moment in the rough day he's had so far. Typical of the weather in Britain, not showing a single ray of light through the thick, foggy clouds. He carried on, one step at a time, through the front garden of the sanctuary...or what was left of the sanctuary. Harris stopped for a moment and slowly turned around, gazing at every detail he could comprehend about the destroyed sanctuary. His mind flashed back to the previous major encounter with the Templars, where they destroyed his Parisian sanctuary, too. A large sigh escaped his mouth, followed by a faint whimper that he let out before shaking his head vigorously, trying to get his mind back to the task at hand. He continued down the garden, making sure that he took care of Rafael and what was left of the Matilde family. It's the least he could do, he thought. He frequently had this idea that kept him going through rough times - a way to ignore the pain he felt and focus on helping and protecting others. In his long life, this proved relatively successful, yet he always yearned for more. He always yearned for...his time, a moment where he could feel the comfort he provided for others. The brief walk to the truck that Aleks took to arrive back at the sanctuary ended quickly as Harris noticed Rafael outside of the truck lighting a cigarette with the two Assassins that usually guarded the gate and vehicles. Harris approached the small group and nodded upwards at the Assassins once they noticed him. The Assassins quickly straightened themselves out and briefly saluted Harris.
"Oh, sir, didn't see you there," one of the Assassins spoke.
Harris kept quiet and gazed through each Assassin until he got to Rafael, who took a drag of smoke from his cigarette. His eyes stopped and gazed through Rafael.
Rafael remained quiet for a moment before speaking up.
"Master Matthews, are you...alright?" A respectful greeting escaped his mouth.
Harris tilted his head slightly to the side before speaking.
"Luke, Will, give us a moment, yeah?"
"Oh, boss, we don't mean to intrude, but..."
Harris gazed through Luke who spoke.
"...is there anything useful we could be doing?"
Harris looked towards the truck, noticing Matilde and her daughter sharing a tight embrace behind the large vehicle. He nodded ever so slightly before replying.
"Take the woman and her daughter to our safe house."
Will took the liberty of speaking.
"Right away, sir. Our secondary location, then?"
"That's the one," Harris quickly answered and took a pause, but continued his sentence as Luke began walking towards the ladies. "Oh, and see if you can get us a few trucks from the safe house. There should be Assassins there, but if there is nobody, you know the procedure to operate the building."
"Aye!" Luke replied cheerfully and with a wave without turning around.
"Not a problem, sir, we'll have it sorted," Will answered before accompanying Luke. Harris nodded towards Will before he took off.
Both Rafael's and Harris's eyes followed the two Assassins before Harris spoke.
"Let's talk, Raf."
The two men began walking towards the sanctuary side by side with tiny steps, barely shuffling the little stones on the walkway.
"You seem to be uninjured," Harris started the conversation, hoping to calm Rafael down if anything.
Rafael sighed. "Thankfully, Aleks came through."
"You were missing for weeks, what the hell happened?" Harris continued.
"Hiding...mostly," Rafael immediately answered, almost like he was prepared for that question. "Well, until the Templars caught me."
"In Lisbon?" Harris questioned in a curious tone.
Rafael answered with guilt in his voice. "Don't tell me you spent valuable resources tracking me down..."
Harris looked at him but kept calm. "You know too much, Rafael, plus you never told me what you know or who you know it from...you know what I'm about to ask you...don't you?"
"The seven fragments, of course..." Rafael chuckled, earning a smile from Harris as confirmation. "I know where they were weeks ago, but my contacts informed me of a shift of location for each fragment..."
"A shift?" This surprised Harris. "What do you mean?"
"Well, we confidently know of the three fragments that Roth, Mikhailov and Giovanni have...those are no longer directly on them, as far as I know."
Harris sighed and nodded before breaking the brief silence.
"That's three, the other four?"
"My contacts have no clue about the final three fragments..." Rafael's voice suddenly seemed hesitant.
Harris's left eye immediately gazed through Rafael's old, worn-out face.
"Three?"
"Yes, three...I know where one is, but not the final three."
Harris patiently waited for an answer as Rafael gazed forward at a cloud of smoke coming off of a burnt flag of the United Kingdom.
"It's Abate's fragment, of course!"
Harris stopped moving, causing Rafael to stop shortly after. He kept a smile on his face while awaiting a reply from Harris.
"Abate's fragment wasn't on his corpse, Rafael, not to mention Jacob and Lawrence Prins were also searching for it yesterday in Lisbon..." Harris's speech slowed down near the end of his sentence as he looked down and gripped his chin.
Rafael kept a stupidly happy grin on his face.
"Which means that the Templars are one step behind, Master Matthews..."
Harris's face shot up, now staring directly at Rafael's happy expression.
"Where's the fragment, Rafael?"
Rafael let out a hearty chuckle before playfully answering.
"In Croatia, Master."
...
"In Croatia?!" Hugh's enormous voice filled the room they were in, a once beautiful office belonging to the Kingstons, Paul and Harrison since it was first built. The room was relatively untouched during the attack yet it did not feel like it carried the same importance as it once did. Several framed photographs, paintings and murals were plastered all over the walls, signifying a continuous remembrance of the recent Masters of the Creed. An undeniable energy flowed through the room, a tradition was kept in it for a long, long time. However now, at the height of everything happening, it felt no greater than a regular office.
Luka kept relatively calm, only lifting his head to look at Harris from a sitting position.
"So..." A different British accent began to make its way around the room. Kane leaned against the wall with his head bowed before lifting his face to gaze through Harris. "...this is Abate's fragment, then?"
"But Luka killed Abate, did he not?" Scott chimed in, pushing himself off of a different wall he was leaning on. "Surely, the fragment was on the..."
"The fragment was not on him, Scott," Luka raised his voice, a rare neutral tone escaping his mouth. Scott realised he was interrupted justly, so the room remained silent for a moment before Luka continued. With his fingers holding his forehead upwards, he moved them and stood up, a sour expression on his face. He looked at each Assassin in the room as he spoke.
"The goddamn fragment was not on him. That's one of the few mysteries I've encountered in my short journey as an Assassin. I checked his body. Maybe a more thorough search would have made me find it on him, but Prins saved me some trouble yesterday..."
...
"Abate's fragment, huh?"
...
"That's right, do you have it?"
...
"I was wondering where it was, too..."
...
"Prins has no idea where the fragment is either, yet the Templars have Abate's body. He questioned me about the fragment, even doubting that Roth could be lying to them..." Luka voluntarily stopped talking, his thoughts completely in motion in his brain. He turned to the left to look at Rafael, who stood next to Harris. "If what you're saying is true, Raf..."
Rafael's neutral face began to grow a smirk on it, prompting Luka to do the same. Luka took a few slow and heavy steps forward.
"...and the fragment is in Croatia, on home turf, then the Templars really are one step behind us."
"They indeed are..." Rafael took this as an opportunity to continue the conversation. His expression quickly shifted back to neutral as he started looking around the room as he spoke, similarly to Luka. "The only problem is we don't know where exactly in Croatia the fragment is, narrowing our search down might be a problem."
"Costa..." A growl escaped Andre's mouth, who had only been patiently observing the conversation at this point. His usual intimidating stature and raspy voice were strictly highlighted that day, making it seem like he was particularly annoyed at that moment. Rafael's stance tensed up a small bit, his expression dropping a notch. Andre spoke firmly.
"It's time you told us who your contact is."
Rafael closed his mouth, sucked his lips in and let out a heavy sigh.
"Two individuals...they seem as though they are a couple, but I am unsure, I have only been working with them in recent memory..." Rafael's eyes remained fixated on only Andre at this point. Andre lowered his head ever so slightly, causing his glare to feel more powerful. Rafael had to continue talking eventually.
"They go by Romeo and Juliet..."
"Their real names?" Andre immediately questioned.
"I'd tell them if I knew," Rafael answered. "They owe me their life, a few years back I ended up helping them as part of a contract. Good kids, although they seem very passionate about each other..."
This got Ashley's attention, making her ask a question as curiously and genuinely as she could. Her tone was softer than normal.
"How so?"
"They are genuinely protective of each other, and don't allow anyone to know their identities, for starters..." Rafael's expression and tone softened as he spoke back. "Just...I've been around for a while now, and I also spoke to them in person, sometimes your gut growls badly when you see certain situations, you know?"
Ashley took a moment to reply, putting a bright smile on her innocent face.
"I think I do."
Silence took over a little bit. Paul looked at Luka, who was seemingly about to speak again, but Luka caught this and gestured towards Paul, in case he wanted to take over the conversation. Paul politely nodded with his eyes closed as Luka winked, comfortably crossed his arms and briefly waved at him.
"How comfortable are they with sharing their information with us?" Paul chimed in with a very different question to Ashley's, seemingly prepared to go look for them himself if he needed to. "You tell us everything you find out from them anyway."
"I'm sure that's fine, I'll relay my contact details to you, then," Rafael nodded, replying in a positive tone.
"Right, everyone!" Harris raised his voice as he made his way to the centre of the room. "We need to begin the process of moving everything important over to the safe house. It doesn't have to be much, but a start is enough. How does everyone feel about clearing their schedules for the next few days so we can sort that dinner out with the Riley cousins?"
Harris looked all around the room, expecting some feedback. He got no complaints in return, and a couple of playful chuckles and shoulder shrugs from Hugh and Kane.
Suddenly, Luka spoke.
"Harris?"
His voice wasn't shaky or quiet in the slightest.
Harris did not reply, he simply looked at Luka and nodded upwards, expecting the question to come in.
"I would have asked you this in private, but with pretty much everyone important in the room, this feels more appropriate..."
Luka gripped both fists as he spoke, attempting to find the smoothest way of asking his demand. He slightly hesitated before taking a deep breath with his eyes closed. Once more, without any shame in his voice, he requested.
"Before you inevitably send me off to Croatia to hunt for Shakespeare's well-known couple and the fragment Abate tossed up his ass..."
A few chuckles surrounded the room.
"I need a week off."
Luka took the liberty of phrasing his request sentence by sentence, slowly.
"I want to go back to Italy, specifically Rome."
Harris's eyes widened ever so slightly as he listened intently.
"I want to see Gabriel again."
...
It was a busy day in Rome, people scurried across the streets, seemingly interested only in remaining punctual with the plans they had arranged that day, traffic flying all over the place outside the streets filled to the brim with restaurants and bars. Rome was a rather tame city, in terms of the destruction of property, at least in comparison to the rougher areas of London and Lisbon, for instance. That day was meaningful, as the obscene flow of society was rudely interrupted, but not by an evil source.
In one particular pub, a certain man had just about enough, in more ways than one. A regular at the pub, a drunkard, disturbed the people relaxing and working there. The employees hesitated to remove him from the scene, particularly frightful of the man's connections to dangerous people. This pub was notoriously old-fashioned, to put it lightly. Many people avoided it if they could help it, at first glance it was a dangerous building in a much more dangerous area. A familiar giant walked through the front door of the pub with his hood up. The drunkard, as blatantly as he could, kept his usual impoliteness towards everyone there, almost making it a game to see who he could piss off the most in the shortest amount of time. Heavy footsteps surrounded the entrance of the pub, the large man walking forward, noticing the drunkard and subtly nodding at a few of the regulars. He only acknowledged the drunkard when he looked directly at him and paid attention to him.
"Big man!" The drunkard yelled out, his voice gargling on itself.
The gentle giant only looked at him before removing his hood, revealing his face, a large scar sitting pretty on the right side of his lips. He quickly looked at the bartender, another fairly big man.
"Not gonna kick him out, Ugo?"
Ugo shrugged whilst putting both of his hands on the counter in front of him. "You tell me, Gabriel."
Gabriel sighed and tossed his head backwards as he stared at the ceiling. The drunkard made more noises, probably throwing in a few words, too, but Gabriel ignored him and his slurs. As the drunkard got closer, his words began to become clearer.
"...you wouldn't seriously be here in a bad mood, would you?!" The drunkard laughed maniacally. He began lightly touching Gabriel's massive arm. "Get it together, Auditore! You're a powerful man, why are you so scared to retaliate?!"
Before another peep could emerge from the drunkard, a slight groan escaped his mouth after Gabriel simply turned towards him, now facing him fully. Without using any ounce of power, Gabriel pushed him back only using his palm, causing the drunkard's legs to quiver and lose stability.
"Not today, Rossi."
Gabriel's voice was heard clearly, seeing as how the pub quieted down to witness the exchange. Rossi wouldn't back away, in fact, he stepped up once more, barely holding himself up, either from Gabriel's shove or from the alcohol he consumed.
"No nerve on you people, for Christ's sake! Toughen up, you KNOW you cannot do anything to me regardless!"
"Three seconds, Rossi," Gabriel remained stern, a rare sighting in his demeanour. He even repeated himself. "Three seconds."
"What will you do, huh?! When my connections hear about this, you will ALL PAY THE PRICE!" Rossi began to point his index finger at everyone present in the pub, including Gabriel. "You're playing dangerous games, Auditore, watch your step!"
Gabriel's expression remained stone cold.
"Two."
"I must be respected, you do not have authority over me!" Rossi kept shouting at the top of his lungs, hoping to prove his point, or maybe rally some people on his side, but he knew, with certainty, that everyone in that pub detested him. Delusionally, or perhaps from his drunk state, he continued screaming his lungs out. "I gave you people the protection, now you're gonna turn on me?! BULLSHIT!"
Rossi backed away at this point, Gabriel stepping forward as much as he stepped back, making sure the gap between them did not widen in the slightest.
"One."
As soon as Gabriel counted the last second down, he planted an incredibly fast punch in Rossi's stomach, followed by a series of quick hits to his head before lifting him slightly just to drop him on his back with incredible force. Rossi was immediately out cold. Gabriel crouched, grabbed his body, tossed him over his shoulder and calmly and slowly walked over to the pub's large front window. Without breaking a sweat or wasting a second, Gabriel tossed Rossi's unconscious body through the window, shattering it into a million pieces. Rossi's body landed on the windshield of a parked car, not quite tossed hard enough to make it to the middle of the road, destroying the windshield and hood of the car. A loud car alarm began screaming and roaring throughout the street, a sound the civilians of the block were all too familiar with. Gabriel stood still for a moment and put his hood back on, only letting out a proper sigh before turning back towards Ugo.
"Call him a hospital, would you?"
Ugo managed to nod several times after his expression and body finally relaxed. He hurried to the phone at the end of the room as Gabriel turned around and began walking out of the pub. Before fully exiting the building, he raised his powerful voice once more, lifting his head enough to be facing the front door square on.
"Just so we are clear, nobody knows what happened to Rossi," this garnered the attention of the regulars who all gazed through him in shock. They were all surprised, witnessing a behaviour from Gabriel that he never usually displays. The few people who knew him personally had especially confused expressions on their faces. This outburst was not expected from him, but he was pressured enough to the point of retaliation, an understandable reaction in most people's minds. Gabriel briefly turned towards the regulars, keeping his hood up. He finished his thought.
"For all you know, the regulars got tired of Rossi's shenanigans and beat him up before tossing him out the window," Gabriel took another step towards the exit. "If anyone bothers any of the regulars, or even you, Ugo, let me or Lucio know. We'll handle it."
Gabriel confidently walked out into the street, passing by Rossi's body, only to stop a few steps past him before briefly pulling out a note and a pen. A few people that were passing by looked at him in fear, or possibly admiration. He scribbled something down before tossing the note next to Rossi. He continued his stride down the street, putting his note and pen away in two of many of the pockets his jacket had on it. Turning a corner, he embraced the darkness of an alleyway, disappearing into the shadows.
The note read:
"This can't go on,
I humbly request a meeting with Signora Danielle Giovanni,
to have a peaceful conversation.
The date and time can be determined on Signora Giovanni's behalf.
Signed, G. Auditore."
...
3...
2...
1...
"Good evening to all of our Italian and central European viewers, salutations and good morning or afternoon to our viewers from outside the country."
Most of the people watching recognised this way of greeting the viewers of the news, a familiar slogan that Italian folks, especially during the Revolution, have adopted into their memories and vocabularies.
Bianca Grasso, a well-respected news reporter and interviewer, started this evening's news report for the citizens of Rome and Italy in general.
"We have a couple of follow-up discoveries on the stories comprising this week's news reports, the details that many of you have been looking for, passively hoping for an outcome or actively searching for one."
She eloquently presented the introduction, establishing a quick goal for the viewers at home and around the globe.
"However, as we always do, we will start off with relevant news that just struck our city and/or country. We will be looking at Rome, which many of our staff and viewers consider home, but these days we are witnessing more and more outbreaks of violence."
The monitor behind Bianca readily showed a satellite recording of the incident that took place a couple hours prior, Gabriel's assault on Rossi. It showed the ending stages of it, Rossi being tossed through the pub window and Gabriel writing and leaving the note next to him.
"Much like some of the previous assault cases we have had over the last couple of weeks, we have no identification on the man committing the act, but we do know the victim's name, Aldo Rossi."
A mugshot-like picture of Rossi came up on the screen beside the now zoomed-out, paused satellite recording.
"Rossi has a criminal record, charges of assault and battery, as well as speculation on arson and murder. He was released on probation for all of his crimes around fourteen months ago, and has since been roaming the streets, reportedly causing nothing but trouble in the rough neighbourhoods of our city."
The footage was resumed and fast-forwarded until a few shady characters appeared on the video.
"Unfortunately, we were not able to get a legitimate statement from anyone involved, seeing as how Rossi was carried away by a few people a short time after the altercation. Some people speculate who would have done such a tremendous feat of throwing a man out of a window, yet some hold this interaction in high regard, admitting that Rossi was quite a thorn in some of the townsfolk's sides for far too long. With that, we move on..."
Bianca's voice began to echo and fade out near the end of her sentence. A determined and passionate lad, no older than nineteen, stared at the large monitor in front of him, witnessing Bianca's news report. In the magnificent hall of the sanctuary he resided in, Lucio could only bring himself to a natural feeling and expression of disappointment, perhaps for the petty crime, or perhaps because he knew exactly who did it.
Our main gentle giant walked up the seemingly endless staircase and stepped foot into the hall. Lucio turned towards him, remaining composed. He spoke loudly enough to ensure the breaking news report did not overshadow his voice.
"You were out late, fratellone."
Gabriel took his hood off, revealing the same face and expression that he showed when entering the pub earlier that day.
"Sì, fratellino. For the last couple of weeks, every night I have had to wander somewhere," he began to slowly advance through the room. "My presence is essential for our brothers and sisters, as well as the civilians."
Lucio audibly sighed but managed to crack a smile. He did not seem angry or upset in the slightest.
"Tell me about what happened today, please."
Gabriel gazed at the news channel being played in front of Lucio. Although a different story was being reported, Gabriel knew that his fight with Rossi would have been on the news. He smiled back and calmly explained the altercation, which took a few minutes.
After the brief telling, Lucio had to respond.
"You and I both know you did the right thing, Gabriel," this statement caught Gabriel off-guard, even if he knew that there was a great level of truth in it. Lucio continued. "You've been stressed beyond belief. Rossi pushed your buttons, you snapped, and that's okay. It's not like any of us had a high opinion of the guy anyway..."
Gabriel's face expressed that he was genuinely thankful for Lucio's opinion. He let Lucio speak further after a brief pause.
"What I wanna know is, what was the note all about?"
Gabriel had seen the question coming from a mile away, so he answered it truthfully in a neutral tone.
"It was a request...as you said, I snapped. Rossi ticked me off a little too much today, more than he usually does, and we all know of the crimes surrounding that area of Rome..."
Gabriel seemed to get more compassionate as he spoke.
"Lucio, both you and I grew up there. We know how much it means to us for those areas to be safe. I carefully thought it through, and while I have not consulted anyone about it before proceeding with the plan, I believe it is the way to handle this."
Lucio patiently awaited an answer, crossing his arms comfortably.
"I requested Signora Giovanni to have a meeting with me."
A few moments of silence occurred as Lucio's gaze only dropped for a moment before lifting his head again. He still remained calm.
"I figured you'd do something of the sort. It is only natural that you are seeking out a greater solution to this...and I agree with you, of course," Lucio relaxed his arms and began to gradually stride forward. "Danielle, as negatively as we can think about her political venues and social status, is not our primary enemy."
Gabriel nodded before confirming Lucio's statement.
"For now, our main concerns are the legions of thugs taking over Rome with their grubby paws."
"Right, and if we wanna look at the greater scheme of things..." Lucio turned around and looked towards a massive whiteboard that he and Gabriel had been working on over time. It was an old-fashioned way of keeping track of the Templars and their associates. The top of the whiteboard featured the flags of Germany and Russia, with Roth and Mikhailov next to their corresponding countries. Lucio finished his thought.
"...Danielle's the least of our concerns from those three."
Gabriel nodded once more.
"Let's hope we get a response soon. I have a positive feeling that she will hear us out."
Lucio nodded too. As the conversation was seemingly over, a familiar British Assassin walked through the main hall. His London accent filled the massive room.
"I thought I heard you two chatting away in here."
"Late night gym session, Rock?" Lucio spoke first, with a hint of playfulness in his voice.
Ruth seemed noticeably bigger, and particularly sluggish that night.
"T'was a rough one, Bull," Ruth cracked a chuckle through his tired state. "What have you two been up to?"
Gabriel lowered his head slightly as he spoke, maintaining eye contact with Ruth. "I attempted to set up a meeting with Signora Giovanni."
"Oho..." Ruth got closer, wiping some of the sweat dripping down his hair. "About time, eh? Her response?"
"We are awaiting it with high hopes," Gabriel replied enthusiastically. "If what you said is true, Ruth, we shouldn't have issues stooping in contact with her."
"I'm telling you, Gabriel..." Ruth walked right up to Gabriel and put his hand on his shoulder. "She has no reason to reject a peaceful offer. Besides, she is not the main threat."
Lucio nodded and grunted positively, agreeing with Ruth. "We said that just now, as well."
"See? We have nothing to worry about," Ruth began to walk away. "Your positivity is finally rubbing off on me, G! Know that whenever Danielle responds, we'll be ready to help!" Ruth ended the conversation with a genuine smile and thumbs up behind his powerful statement.
Lucio chuckled for a moment before turning to Gabriel.
"Go rest, fratellone. You deserve that much after tonight."
"Will do, fratellino. I appreciate your words."
"As always."
...
Only a few short days passed.
Amongst the crickets happily chirping on a cool and slow night, a few people shared excitement amongst themselves, preparing for a wonderful dinner reservation. Some of the Assassins were situated together, but due to the safe house's limited number of rooms, there had to be a certain amount of people per room. A massive mirror, which took the space of about half the length of the entire hallway of the somewhat large room, couldn't properly cover the monstrous size of Hugh's body in its entirety.
He attempted to put on a bow tie, perhaps this activity being the most intense thing he had to focus on in those more or less casual days. Using sheer focus and determination, Hugh squeezed the bow tie gently and tried aligning it properly around his massive collar. Unfortunately, after a few moments of a cheeky stuck-out tongue and intense focusing, his bow tie flew across the floor as it slipped out of his hands. Hugh let out a clumsy grunt and grumble as if he had just met with someone who he didn't fancy at all. Hugh's bow tie landed right in front of the bathroom, and with perfect timing, Kane stepped out, seemingly prepared for the event. He crouched and tossed the bow tie back to his older brother. His gold suit was dashing, sporting a high-quality pair of bright suit trousers, a dashing pair of shoes and a beige top hat. Hugh caught the bow tie with ease before putting on a big smile.
"Where's your cane, Kane?"
"I was just about to ask you if I'm honest," Kane stepped forward while scanning the room. He spoke whilst looking away from Hugh and stepping deeper into the room. "You need help with the bow tie?"
Kane turned towards Hugh when he didn't hear his voice for a couple of seconds. Hugh looked at Kane's chest, where a beautiful gold tie hung around his neck perfectly. He was almost blinded by the hypothetical glow coming off of it.
"No, thank you..." Hugh managed to muster up a reply before turning around towards the mirror. After taking a deep breath, Hugh put the bow tie on with great haste and no mistakes. Like a proud little boy showing his mother a drawing he had made, Hugh turned towards Kane proudly. "Got it! I'm ready!"
Kane tapped the ground with his golden cane as he made eye contact with Hugh.
"Great work, Hugh, let's see what the juniors cooked up!"
The White brothers quickly grabbed their wallets and jackets before heading out of the room and into the large hallway of the secondary sanctuary. Ashley, Luka and Scott all shared a room together and it was situated right across from Kane and Hugh. Hugh took a second to properly stretch and attempt to do some jumping jacks in the suit he wore. While Kane was locking the door to their room, he commented in a bit of a playful tone.
"You know you aren't going to be doing any of that during dinner time, right?"
Hugh chuckled at his little brother's comment and finished stretching.
"Leave me alone, I am large," Hugh let out a sigh out of pure relief. "I can't believe we were able to find me a suit my size without consulting anyone."
"T'was a great deal, yeah. I was more or less shocked they had suits perfect for the both of us, just sitting there in the store window..." Kane just managed to put his keys away as the doors to the room next to them opened. A familiar duo walked out.
"You're pushing your buttons at that point," a plain response to an ongoing conversation escaped Andre's mouth. He wore a classic black suit, similar to Hugh's dark blue suit. "If he wanted to, he'd just do his job."
"Do you believe so? It is not like I chose to be on his bad side..." A gentle reply escaped Aleks's mouth as he stepped out of the room. His attire was entirely white, much like Kane's was entirely gold. "It is a bit of a complicated situation..."
"For no reason, Aleks," Andre nodded towards the White brothers as he finished his thought. Hugh waved as both put on a bright smile. "Just call him over the weekend, shit'll resolve."
Aleks closed and locked the door behind him.
"I suppose you are right," Aleks's tone became more cheerful as he greeted Hugh and Kane. "You look great, you two!"
"We know, Aleks, likewise," Kane answered playfully. "What were you two talking about?"
Aleks's tone shifted once more. "Just some trouble with my daughter's teacher...she seems to be having issues in class. I will have to resolve the problem via phone call."
"It'll be fine," Andre reinforced the positive thought he produced earlier. "What's White doing?"
Andre's remark caused Kane to look around him briefly. Hugh was in front of the door of the juniors, loudly banging on it for a few moments.
"WHITE!" Andre suddenly shouted towards Hugh, causing him to briefly turn his head backwards. "What're you doing?"
"You should get your hearing checked, old man!" Hugh chuckled before continuing. "The kids are playing tunes in there, meaning some noise needs to be made to get their attention."
"What are they playing?" Kane curiously asked.
Hugh took a second to listen, leaning his ear against the door.
"Sounds Croatian..."
"Well, we know who the DJ is then," Kane chuckled as he approached the door. "Is it rock?"
"Sounds like it."
A sudden loud bang from inside the room changed the mood. Luka barely opened the door as the music faded away. He stepped out sporting a similar suit to Hugh's before closing the door behind him.
"They didn't like ex-Yu..." Luka noticed the four men standing close together. "Lads, pleasure, looking fantastic."
"You too, Luka," Kane returned the compliment before following it up with a question. "What of the twins?"
Luka looked towards the door for a moment. "The Richardsons might take a while to get ready..." He paused before turning towards Kane and Andre in a short amount of time. "You two still smoke?"
Andre let out a chuckle and a grunt before pulling a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket.
"You need a fag?" Kane did the same.
"I'm trying to quit, so I don't carry them on me anymore," Kane handed Luka a cigarette. "Thanks, Kane."
Hugh chuckled amusingly at the conversation as he crossed his arms. Andre walked past him and patted his shoulder before making his way out with Kane and Luka. Hugh got Aleks's attention.
"Aleks, let's check on Harris, he told me he could be running late."
"Right, of course, where is Harrison anyway?" Aleks curiously asked as Hugh walked past him heading towards Harisson's office.
"Not sure, to be honest, let's check his office."
Aleks nodded and let out a simple grunt.
Silence surrounded the two men for a brief few moments before Hugh spoke.
"Just to touch on something..." He began his sentence and then paused. This garnered Aleks's attention. "Do you mind telling me more about your daughter?"
Hugh seemed genuinely curious, his tone was gentler than usual and he did not put on any odd expressions. Aleks noticed this and waited for a moment or two before smiling and answering.
"Kasia..." Aleks spoke softly. "Her name is Kasia."
Hugh couldn't help but form a smile on his face, but he refrained from saying anything at that moment.
"She is only eleven, but she is exceptionally smart already!" Aleks chuckled at the end of his sentence. "Her teacher is giving me trouble...he does not appreciate her consistently beautiful artwork being sketched during his class."
Hugh chuckled also. "Sounds like she's bright and talented, just like you."
"I appreciate that, Hugh. But I must ask..." Aleks stopped walking after he finished talking. Hugh stopped too and looked towards him. "Why do you ask?"
Hugh couldn't hide some sort of discomfort or sadness in his expression, but he tried to mask it by closing his eyes and letting out a short laugh.
"Curiosity, that's all."
"Are you thinking about having a little one yourself?" Aleks immediately questioned after Hugh gave him a generic answer.
The air around Hugh suddenly got tighter, but he did not let those emotions get to him, although he was surprised that Aleks was able to read through him instantly. He eventually sighed and answered properly.
"Kane and I made a deal, a promise if you will," Hugh continued walking, prompting Aleks to follow him. "We promised to each other that we'd dedicate our lives to the Creed until we couldn't go on anymore or when the main threat has been dealt with."
"Not until after the Revolution, is that right?" Aleks questioned calmly.
"Something like that..." They made it to a staircase which they used to ascend a few floors. "We agreed that only after we had retired that we would get busy with life."
Hugh sounded off, he didn't seem upset or disappointed during his speech, but something was certainly off. Aleks noticed that and attempted to remain positive during the conversation.
"Does that bother you? Not being able to enjoy the basic things people strive to achieve in their lives?"
"The thing is..." Hugh paused for a moment as his voice got louder and his natural tone slowly returned. "I would rather fight a horde of Templars than commit to a relationship or anything further right now."
Aleks grunted and nodded, he seemed sympathetic.
"Besides..." Hugh continued in a more cheerful tone. "I already have plenty of kids in this family."
Aleks immediately smiled at this remark, fully understanding what Hugh meant with his comment. "If you ever need advice on someone who managed to balance both lives out..."
"I know, thank you."
"You seem ready, lads."
Hugh and Aleks were halfway up the final floor they needed to climb to make it to Harris's office, but he was already waiting for them at the top of the stairs. He was dressed impeccably, sporting a suit combination similar to Kane's, but it was coloured dark green. It fit him very well.
"Let's fetch the others and head out!"
...
Three black Sedans pulled up to a remote area, far enough away from London that they needn't be bothered by society that particular night. The residence they were heading to could be considered a resort, it seemed that exotic to the tame Assassins, yet the British Assassins spent a more brief time admiring the building. One Sedan contained the two sets of siblings and Paul, and the other contained everyone else. The third Sedan was backup. Hugh was appointed the driver of their car that night, and he proved that call to be favourable, parking their car perfectly into its designated space. He stepped out of the car first holding the keys, ready to lock the doors once everyone got out. With a big grin on his face, he witnessed the other two cars stopping, along with Harrison getting out of the second Sedan's driver's seat first. Hugh glanced at the private resort, the particular building unfamiliar to him, so he shouted towards Harrison who straightened his suit.
"Huge call, Harris! Nice place you brought us to."
"Only the best for my brothers and sisters, Hugh..." Harris approached the location slowly, comfortably grouping with everyone around him as all of the Assassins got out of the cars. "A mate of mine owed me a favour, so he's treating us to this."
"Who died and made you the driver, White?" Andre chimed in with a joke directed towards Hugh, prompting a chuckle from the big man.
"I am staying off alcohol either way, I promised I wouldn't go back to it."
"Not what I meant, but good..." Andre seemed positively surprised. He turned towards Luka. "You can get hammered if you want to."
"Barking up the wrong tree, there," Luka answered through a smile. "I'll only allow myself fags for tonight."
"Look at you, being all healthy like that!" Ashley teased him as she stood beside Hugh. "I'm very proud of you, love."
Luka winked at her, maintaining a smile on his face. "Means a lot, love."
The two lovebirds began to slowly approach each other, sharing a quick embrace and kiss while quietly conversing. At this point Hugh began to move away from the couple, flicking his head in the direction of the establishment while looking at Andre, signalling to give them some space. Andre immediately picked up on this and let out a 'hmph' sound before putting on a genuine smile. He followed Hugh who led him to Kane and Aleks kicking up a casual conversation a bit further away, prompting Harris to join in on the talk and slowly guide the group towards the entrance.
...
A bit further into the night, the Assassins were situated at a lengthy table with Harrison sitting in the main seat. Near the end of the feast, Andre, who sat rather close to Harris, subtly nodded upwards while making a small movement with one of his hands, indicating that he would stand up any second now. He arose from his sitting position and cleared his throat, gathering the attention of the rest of the group who were in the process of finishing their meals.
"Everyone."
His voice was as powerful as ever, but the delivery of it was softened, almost like Andre was trying exceptionally hard to sound more polite than he usually does. He held a glass of champagne in his right hand, keeping his left hand close to his body.
"Some of you know me better than others. I am often described as a man of few words by fellow comrades..." He looked over at Aleks when mentioning comradery, who smiled at him. "...or anyone who ever met me, however..."
Andre took a hefty pause, looking around the dinner table trying to find the right words to continue. He took a breath and spoke.
"I feel it is important to praise a man, or a group of people in this case, before something drastic happens. Most men don't get their first flowers until their funeral, so I will attempt to remedy that, at least metaphorically...Master Matthews," he turned towards Harrison, garnering his full attention. "I will never hesitate to praise the leader of the Creed, and I think you should be proud of finally becoming one. No matter what stereotypes I give off, I am always proud of being an Assassin amongst all of you."
Andre waved his glass around, moving his available hand more fluidly near the end of his speech.
"I can safely conclude, judging by the smiling faces and eager conversations happening at this dinner table, that all of us needed this dinner, and that all of us still need a further break to continue operating at our best. I will humbly request to be sent back to Belgium after this, where I will ensure my country is in full control of the Creed. I thank you for listening and I thank Matthews for organising this dinner."
With somewhat of an abrupt ending, Andre raised his champagne glass high into the sky.
"Nothing is true, everything is permitted!" He raised his voice, followed by the whole table repeating their slogan and enjoying a drink alongside it.
After everyone finished their dinner properly, Andre found himself walking up to Hugh and Kane.
"Dre, join us! We have much to celebrate, grab a drink!" Hugh waved his bandaged hand towards himself. Andre hastily grabbed his glass of wine from the table and returned to the White brothers. They shared a toast and each took a drink from their glasses.
"A man of few words...yet he delivers a great speech," Kane uttered after the toast. Andre grunted and nodded in response before Kane continued. "You said you're going back to Belgium?"
"I have to," Andre firmly replied. "No telling how long the tensions between France and Germany seep into my country..."
A lengthy pause occurred before Andre nodded his head towards Hugh.
"You broke your fist, eh, White?"
"I guess I'm taking an extended break..." Hugh chuckled in a moody tone. "I'll be back in a few weeks. I was thinking, though..."
He turned towards Kane who looked at him. Hugh paused for a few moments, anticipation rising between them.
"When was the last time we went to Germany?"
Kane's eyes widened, perhaps from the shock of hearing that statement or from the fact Hugh even proposed the question. He took his time answering, pondering to find the right way to say it. Kane spoke softly.
"When we were young and reckless, I'd say...14 years ago?"
"Funny enough, that was right before we were permanently transferred to Osijek, except we didn't know it was bound to be permanent..." Hugh let out a tiny sigh whilst looking at the bright night sky. "It was also right before I found Luka."
"You've both hit 40?" Andre stated in a confused tone as if he phrased his sentence as a question.
"Hugh's 43, I'm 41," Kane pointed at his older brother then back towards himself. "We're not that much older than the juniors, but it certainly feels like it, if anything, Andre, it feels like you could be a father figure to Luka more than us."
"I can't comment on that," Andre quickly replied. "It is you who mentored him, I can't take that away just because I am older."
Kane and Hugh both nodded in appreciation, neither of them needing to say it. After a brief pause, Kane turned his head towards Hugh.
"Germany, huh? That's a big topic to think about, Hugh," Kane spoke with nothing but concern and care. "What made you dwell on that?"
Hugh sighed loudly this time before answering. "I need a big job to get back into the swing of things."
"Are you sure that's what you need?" Kane immediately questioned him, his tone not changing in the slightest. "The last time we managed to even grab a contract in Germany, our whole mission was jeopardised and most of the team didn't make it."
"I'm aware of the powerhouse that is Germany, and how much the Templars got a hold on the country...so much so that even Ryo was frightened to do work there, but back then we were motivated enough to take the risk!" Hugh raised his voice, placing his available hand on his chest, trying to somehow convince Kane on his side. Kane broke their eye contact and stared down for a moment whilst Hugh spoke. "You and I knew the risk, but we also knew the reward. If we had even managed to grab intel 14 years ago, we would have climbed the ranks incredibly quickly."
Hugh paused for a moment, knowing Kane wasn't the most comfortable with the topic, and patiently awaited a response. Andre followed the conversation intently while occasionally drinking from his glass. Kane spoke as he raised his head.
"So you're suggesting that we would be fine now taking a contract there, more experienced, more skilled, stronger, smarter, more knowledgeable..." Kane listed off a few things which Hugh confirmed with light nods. "I don't know, Hugh. I want to believe in us enough to say you're right, but I don't know what it is about that place...I don't have the fire in me to take the risk anymore."
Hugh grunted out of disappointment but quickly put on a smile and softened his tone. "Regardless, we have to wait a few weeks if we want to do anything together," he began to walk away from the two men, attempting to reach the bar to grab another drink. "Dwell on it, little brother, and don't feel pressured to accept. I have some thinking to do myself."
Kane and Andre stared at Hugh's massive back which was covered by his large suit perfectly.
"If you need advice on anything, White," Andre directed his gaze at Kane who returned it. "Do let me know."
Kane softly nodded a few times. "I appreciate it."
Andre patted Kane's shoulder lightly a few times before slowly walking away from him, leaving Kane with a half-empty glass of wine, a head full of flashbacks and an intense anticipation for the near future. He looked up at the night sky curiously before closing his eyes, attempting to shift through some of his repressed memories from that time 14 years ago. His eyes winced as he imagined a worn-down clock tower reminiscent of the Gothic style, local pubs with funny names spanning entire streets, intensely fast and secure public transport, and branded, expensive cars parked legitimately everywhere. A few things popped out during the memory, such as a drop of blood falling from a finger, a crying child, no older than three, an explosion destroying the inner chamber of the same clock tower, several vehicles driving into other vehicles on the street, clenching the hand of someone who was bleeding out on the ground, an image of his big brother carrying at least three people...
A distant shouting of his name in a soft tone, clearly spoken by a calm woman...
"Kane, Kane..."
Slowly, the voice became less distant and less gentle, morphing into a man's voice...
"Kane, Kane!"
Morphing into a very familiar voice.
"KANE!" Hugh's shouting finally got through to him. Kane was still clutching the hand of the lady on the ground. "KANE, I'm already carrying three people, grab her and LET'S GO!"
Kane shook his head, his mind finally clicking properly with the situation at hand. The woman was bleeding pretty badly from her stomach, so Kane gently lifted her into his arms.
"Careful, clench that for me..." Kane had already tied a bandage around her wound. His voice was firm but gentle at the same time. "Think you can keep that pressed for me?"
The woman nodded with several winces and grunts. She let out a hefty moan as her breathing became sporadic. Maybe it was always sporadic, but Kane only noticed it at that moment.
"Hugh, what the fuck just happened?!"
"Do you not remember?"
"No!"
Kane and Hugh carefully manoeuvred through the dark alleyways connected to the one they originally used to escape the scene.
"An explosion went off in the clock tower, then several cars' engines exploded on the street..." Hugh's tone could be described as properly terrified but intensely focused at the same time. "I heard another explosion in the distance...we might be witnessing a terrorist attack."
Kane's eyes widened as he realised the severity of the situation. He clenched his teeth together in anger, his body subtly shaking on its own as he continued running through dark alleyways. His breathing became just as irregular as the woman he was holding, perhaps from worry or from sheer panic. Hugh was in front of him by several metres, leading the two of them and the people they were carrying to supposed safety. He attempted to communicate with someone via his earpiece but only static sounded in Hugh's ear as he became genuinely angered by the circumstance.
"God damn it..."
"What?!" Kane shouted in response to his big brother's tame display of anger and disappointment.
"I can't get through to Brian..." Hugh felt the need to stop moving in the middle of an alleyway heavily breathing, surrounded by three green dumpsters, so both he and Kane could catch a breath. Their outfits were completely covered in dirt and almost torn to shreds, matching their bruised and cut faces and bodies. Even technology wasn't on their side as Kane checked his phone which was shattered completely.
"I have plenty of stamina left," Hugh suddenly exclaimed, grasping his brother's attention. "We need to make it to the extraction point, Brian mentioned it if we ever managed to lose contact."
Kane nodded a few times, heavily breathing alongside his brother. He was puzzled by Hugh's first sentence, realising that he probably wasn't physically tired, but mentally destroyed in the moment. The way he eloquently delivered the message to Kane amid their intense moment gave him even more reason to admire his big brother.
"Let's go, lead the way!"
Hugh firmly nodded with a sly smirk directed at his brother before he faced forward, took a deep breath, regulated his breathing and continued to sprint through the alleyway. It felt like Kane took merely three steps forward, his footsteps conveying nothing but the determination his brother instilled in him before a sudden outburst of darkness forced its way into his eyeballs before he even felt himself falling. A shockwave erupted from behind them, sending Kane's damaged and tired body to the ground effortlessly. Hugh stood his ground, managing to dash behind a dumpster just in time to avoid the blast. He took several deep breaths before turning his head back from behind the dumpster, staring at Kane's lifeless body lying a few metres behind him alongside the woman he was holding right before the blast.
"Kane..." Hugh uttered to himself before he stood up with ease whilst still carrying the three bodies on his back and arms. He dashed towards his brother, gently putting down his unconscious brethren so he could tend to Kane immediately.
"Kane, wake up!
...
KANE, give me a sign of life, DAMN IT!
...
KANE!"
His voice echoed through Kane's unconscious mind, snapping him back to the aftermath of the dinner he just had in the present moment. He took a few deep breaths before sipping some wine from his glass.
"That's right..."
He mumbled to himself.
His eyes were filled with the intense but beautiful night sky before being engulfed in flames and a massive explosion for a brief moment.
He blinked and it all went away.
"That's right."
He repeated to himself, somehow more assured of what he was saying this time.
"It's all blank from that point on..."
...