Chapter 14: Greene/Promises

Chapter 14: Greene/Promises

Rating: M (Scenes of blood, gore and violence)

Pairings: Altair/Alex, Desmond/Lucy, Shaun/Dana.

----

"Is everything in place?" Randell asked from his desk as he looked at the reports in his hands before glancing up at Sargent Cross, who straightened up a little, his boots clicking together faintly as he did so as he was addressed, before he nodded sharply in response as his superior.

"Yes sir, the squads have already began setting up the pumps of bloodtox in the streets, there's some resistance from the hunters as some of the spots are near the hive areas, but we brought in some heavy artillery and tanks to keep them at bay, so far it seems to be effective at keeping them at a distance”

"Excellent, if you continue to have trouble send in some air support to keep the area clear, I'm ready to leak information to the media so it will be on the news, all I need now is confirmation from McMullen and Dr Vidic to begin; there's no way Mercer will give up this golden opportunity to finish Greene off for good" Randall spoke quietly as he pulled out a cigar and lit one up with a lighter, inhaling deeply before letting out a puff of smoke "I want you to watch Greene from afar and make sure Zeus takes the bait goes after her, once Zeus is vulnerable after the fight, you'll go in for the kill"

"Yes sir" Cross said with a firm salute before he paused " Permission to speak freely sir?" He asked softly Randell nodded before Cross continued "Do you know what McMullen and Vidic intend to do with the assassin?" He asked curiously, in truth he almost felt sorry for the medieval assassin, the poor guy was so far from home, and thrust into a world and a situation he couldn't possibly fully understand.

"Not yet, only that their 'guest' insisted he face the assassin head on, preferably alone, I don't know why, but if he fails to subdue Altair, then McMullen and Vidic already have a back up plan, and I have a bad feeling I know what they are doing" Randell grumbled, more to himself than to Cross as the middle aged man leaned back in his chair and frowned softly.

"...Sir?" Cross asked with a raised eyebrow expecting more to the story, but Randell didn't seem in the mood to give him an answer "Very well... I'll meet up with the rest of the team at the rendezvous point" he said before he turned to leave.

"Cross, one last thing...if those other assassins get in the way, don't hesitate to kill them, Abstergo or Blackwatch has no need for them, they are simply in the way" Randell said before he gave a dismissive wave of his hand before looking back at the reports on his desk, Cross paused at that but nodded in conformation, before he left closing the door quietly behind him.

---------

Alex was awake; as he always was, it wasn't so much the voices in his head stopping him from sleeping as the need to watch Altair as he slept; he knew that his time with Altair was growing ever shorter, and he wanted to spend every moment with him; he was sure that if his sister or the other assassins knew he was for better part of the word, being sentimental, he'd never live it down and he'd be teased in a light-hearted manner for it.

But he had a reason for it, his and Altair's relationship was doomed to failure, wasn't it? Altair had to marry Maria and have children with this women so that Desmond would continue to exist; it was important that Desmond existed because of his DNA, that and Altair was rather fond of Desmond treating the younger male much like a brother or even a surrogate son; and the very thought of having to let Altair go and having some women all over the other like that made his virus crawl in a mixture of anger and grief; simply put he didn't want to let the assassin go.

Alex watched the assassin sleep peacefully next to him, barely stirring as a small black tendril stroked tenderly over his cheek and down his neck, trailing over the others strong jaw and the curve of his neck mapping all the assassins features to memory, though his favourite feature of Altair's (Other than his ass) were currently hidden; he loved Altair's eyes most of all and he'd miss looking at then when the Arabian male was gone.

Alex tensed when he felt a warm hand hold his under the blankets and he realized Altair was awake, he sighed softly as the other male shifted and turned around to face him, Altair's eyes were dark and glazed over with sleep, and neither of them said a word, what could they say? I'll miss you? I love you? These were things that they already knew, and neither man liked to talk about their feelings too much, once was enough.

Altair searched the others eyes and face for a moment, before he gave Alex's hand a little squeeze, a gesture of comfort as he pressed his mouth to Alex's in a chaste kiss with a faint smile before he settled down under the covers as he slowly drifted back to sleep his fingers still tangled up loosely with Alex's, their noses almost touching.

No actual words were said between them, but their actions spoke in volumes.
For the first time in years, Alex actually felt a lump in his throat, he felt a tightening in his chest as he bit back the urge to break, to actually cry; he wanted to scream and rage at the unfairness of it all, he was actually god-damn happy for once in his miserable life, and now it was slowly being snatched away from him by forces that were outside of his control.

Squeezing his eyes shut he forced all those thoughts and feelings away, down into the very back of his mind; he wouldn't break, not now, not when everyone still needed him, and while Altair was still here with him.

Swallowing the lump still stuck in his thoughts, he prayed for morning to come a little faster.

----

By the time morning came the bloodtox had done its work; Blackwatch had been pumping it into the sewers for most of the night and by the early hours of the morning, Greene couldn't hide for much longer, the earth cracked and shook as she burst out of the ground and emerged as a mutated monstrosity in the middle of central park screeching and crying out across the whole of the city.

A call which Alex heard, in fact it made him bolt upright in bed.

"...Alex?" Altair sat up with him; he'd woken up when Alex had moved and yawned as he tried to shake off sleep "What is it?" he asked.

Alex didn't answer, not at first as he got out of bed and scrambled towards the bedroom window and yanked it open so he could listen better; to anyone else Greene was just shrieking and letting out a series of yells, but Alex was tapped into her hive mind, he knew better than that he could understand what she was saying.

<Alex...Alex...come...come to your mother, you want me don't you? Then come and find me...I'm waiting> Alex gripped a hold if the side of his head his nails digging into his skill as his head throbbed in pain as the message got louder and louder inside of his brain, until it was so painful it drowned out everything else, he could feel Altair shaking him but he couldn't hear him or anyone else for that matter.

Eventually, Alex managed to block Greene's voice from his head though he was left with a throbbing headache and Altair, Desmond, Dana and Lucy were trying to get him to his feet "What the fuck just happened?" Dana asked, despite the obvious worry in her voice, she tried to keep her voice down for her brothers sake.

"Greene...she's, trying to communicate with me through the hive mind, her voice overwhelmed me  a bit, but I think I have it under control" He said as he staggered a bit before gaining his footing.

"Uh Alex...you might want to take a look at the morning news" Shaun said as he poked his head in looking worried; he had bags under his eyes meaning the Brit had probably pulled an all nighter again much to Dana's disdain. "Greene's just turned up"

Alex blinked at that before he gently untangled himself from Altair and his worried friends and family before he walked with Shaun to the laptop; they had no TV but the computer was running the mornings news feed, there being filmed from a helicopter was a monstrous creature, and Alex honestly had never seen anything like it before, he was pretty sure this form was more of a cocoon for the real Greene who was probably safely wrapped up inside, hiding from the bloodtox.

"Jesus Christ..." Desmond breathed as everyone crowded around the computer to watch the footage together, there wasn't much and it wasn't a live feed, but considering Alex's little episode, the footage can't have been taken that long ago. "That thing has to be at least 100 feet tall...how do Blackwatch expect to get rid of that!?"

There was silence for a long moment before Alex spoke "They don't" he muttered softly as he straightened up, the cogs whirring in his brain as he thought about this, Blackwatch didn't nearly have enough manpower to deal with a threat like Greene "They're drawing Greene out in the hope that I can deal with her, fighting fire with fire" Alex explained.

"...Alex you have to know this is a trap...once you kill Greene..." Altair spoke hesitantly; he knew Blackwatch wouldn't hesitate to kill two birds with one stone, and if anyone could defeat Greene it'd be Alex.

"I know" Alex said softly, not looking at Altair, he didn't want to see the look on his face, or even his sisters for that matter "I can't let her go on a rampage though...the way things are she could wipe out half the city in that form, and enough people have died" He said; usually he wouldn't give a damn about the safety of other people, before he met Altair and the assassins, his only concern would be Dana's safety, but now... well maybe Altair and the assassins had rubbed of on him a little, he wanted to stop Greene for more than one reason.

"You can't do it alone" Altair said giving Alex a hard look, even if the other tried to stop him the assassin would find a way to help him, he wouldn't let Alex dive into battle, that was obviously a trap to kill the other.

"...You won't take no for an answer will you" He stated as he glanced up at Altair, unable to keep the faint knowing smile off his face.

"Damn right I won't, I'm not going to stand by and watch you get slaughtered" Altair said firmly, his eyes hard and determined as he gave the other a pointed look "Myself and the other assassins can provide you with backup, when Blackwatch turn on you, and they WILL turn, we'll be there for you" he promised as the other assassins nodded.

Desmond chuckled a little as he shrugged a bit in response "Altair is right, we do this together or not at all" He said simply "But we need a plan of action, this is serious business, we can't be disorganized when there's so many Templars and Blackwatch out there"

"I'll get to work on making strategies, Dana can you see what information you can find by hacking into Blackwatch's network, see if they know any more than us about Greene's current form or any weaknesses she might have, everyone else should get kitted up and ready" Shaun said softly as Dana nodded sitting down next to Shaun and opening up her laptop.

---

Altair slipped back into the bedroom he and Alex shared as he opened up the wardrobe where his assassin uniform was there was also his normal clothing and some body armour that Desmond had stolen from Backwatch; it was light and flexible enough or him to wear the body armour under his robes.

"You better be careful out there" Alex said behind him once he'd followed and closed the door behind him leaving them alone, even as the words left his mouth he knew it was silly to say, and the faint, amused expression on the taller male's face proved it as he half turned to his lover, giving Alex a raised eyebrow looking more than a little amused at this statement as he put on a thin white t-shirt before slipping on the body armour.

"And why wouldn't I be? I do intend to return home with you, you know" He said simply as he clipped the body armour into place before slipping on his robes with a smile, it felt much like he was putting on an old friend as he slipped the hood over his eyes and strapped on the large leather belt around his waist, before clipping the strap around his chest and loading up all his weapons, as well as an additional pistol and rifle provided by the modern assassins.

"I..." Alex broke off as he watched the other suit up, Altair hadn't worn it since he'd stepped into Alex's life, and to see him wearing it now, it was like a sign that his time with the other was almost up, and he was about to step out of his life again, permanently. "I hate this"

Altair paused in the middle of  adjusting his straps before his shoulders slumped a little as he sighed sounding exasperated "I know, I get it Alex, you don't have to explain anything to me" Altair spoke simply as he checked his hidden blade was functioning properly before he turned and looked at the other male with a soft steady gaze and an almost sad smile before he rested his forehead against Alex's as he sipped a hand onto his waist "Whatever happens, you must live, understand me?"

"Live?" Alex snorted softly at that, he was hardly alive, more like reanimated, but in truth he didn't want to live without Altair; it was selfish he knew it was going against the inevitable, like a man swimming against the tide that was dragging him out to sea; but that's what he felt, REALLY wholly felt with every fibre of his being.

Altair chuckled "Yes, live, I am not the only one that needs you Alex" He said simply "And if I die or my time really is up here, then move on, and live a good life, for however long it lasts, I want you to promise me"

"...Don't make me promise that" Alex said softly, it was almost close to pleading at the assassin as he stared at him a pained look in his ice blue eyes.

"...promise me" He repeated firmly; he wasn't going to take a no far an answer, not about this, he knew that despite keeping up a tough act that Alex would be devastated when he was sent back to his own time, and Altair knew he'd be much the same, but the two of them would have to brave the pain and move on, as hard as it would be.

"..." Alex's shoulders slumped a little as he looked away from Altair to shrug on his hoodie and jacket "...I promise" He said finally after a long moment "I hate you for making me say it...but I promise" He muttered softly.

Altair said nothing he just tipped the others face up and kissed him, sort of like a silent reassurance to the other that things would be alright "Lets go" He said simply as he left the bedroom and joined the others in the living room. Alex let out a loud sigh as he took a moment to collect himself before he followed; he had a feeling today was going to be hell on earth.
---

"Okay, the information we have so far is that Greene's thick hide can barely be penetrated by tank rounds, which means all the artillery down there is dong jack squat to damage her, you see these tendrils, I think is you damage those first, get them out of the way it'll provide you with a better opening to get to her...granted it won't be easy, but it IS possible" Shaun said as he glanced to Alex "I'm not sure how the soldiers on the ground will react, if anything they might help you seen as Greene would be the much bigger threat, but they'll turn on you the moment she's dead"

"Yeah I figured as much, what about the other assassins?" Alex asked

"Desmond and Lucy will be on these rooftops providing you with sniper support, I'll be in the van with Dana disrupting Blackwatch's communications; if they can't receive information from the higher ups and intel from each other, it'll cause a state of confusion for a while, giving you time to maybe escape or even kill them before they can react"

"And Altair?" Alex asked with a raised eyebrow; so far it seemed like a pretty sound plan.

"I'll be in the ground, covering you" Altair said simply before Shaun could say anything and he gave Alex a look as if daring him to protest, when neither male said anything Shaun just coughed a bit "Ah, yes, well...good, if everyone is ready we should get in the van and get set up on location"
Altair just nodded at that as everyone filed out, Alex and Altair taking up the rear of the group as they gathered their bags and headed down the stairs of the flat towards the van "You are going to get yourself killed, its going to be a bloodbath down there and you know it” Alex whispered softly.

"Alex, I am not made of glass, I kill people for a living Alex, I was trained for this all my life, I am not fragile, despite what you think" He said his tone was firm, maybe a little annoyed they were having this discussion but he tried to keep his patience, he didn't want to have an argument with the other over this, not before they went to ground zero into possibly the single toughest battle any of them had ever been in. "I know how you feel about me being on the front lines but I can't stand back and do nothing, fighting up close is my speciality, I promise I'll give you and Greene enough space to fight, just let me watch your back, trust me to look out for you, no doubt she will send hunters after you"

"..." Alex just nodded; he knew no matter WHAT he said the other would stubbornly do what he wanted anyway, better to agree about this and work together than fight over it "Alright just make sure you don't get shot or I'm gonna have to take you back to Ragland"

"I won't" He promised with a smirk as they headed out of the apartment block and into the back of the van with the others, Shaun was driving and Dana was  in the passenger seat typing away as she focused on the task at hand, though she did glance to Shaun on occasion.

The ride to Central park was quiet, Lucy and Desmond were sat next to each other their fingers laced together as they held each others hand, Lucy leaning on Desmond's shoulder throughout the whole ride, neither of them said anything and no one questioned their relationship, everyone knew about Lucy and Desmond and even Shaun had agreed it was about time they hooked up.

Parking the van in an alleyway near central park Lucy and Desmond got out first "Here, take these ear pieces it'll make sure we can keep in contact" she said as Altair nodded slipping one into his ear as Alex did the same "We'll set up on the opposing buildings and tell you when we are ready" She said before she and Desmond split up and slunk away.

Alex and Altair waited by the van until Lucy and Desmond confirmed they were in position "Time to go" the Arabic assassin said softly, the virus nodded at that as he went first shifting into his full armoured form and with his large blade "Stay alive" he said his voice sounding tinny and unusual sounding while in his full armour.

"You too" Altair said with a smirk before he watched the other run off, mentally he counted to ten, letting the other get a good head start before he followed after him his sword in one hand and his 10mm pistol in the other.

-----

The area around Greene was nothing short of a blood bath, corpses of men and soldiers were sprawled all over the the place staining the grass a dark red with all the blood that had tainted the ground, Greene let out a roar as she spat out debris from her 'mouth' and swiped at tanks and artillery with her large sharp tendrils; it was obvious the military and Blackwatch were fighting a losing battle; and even Blackwatch's numbers were not unlimited.

As soon as Alex entered the area all focus was on him Blackwatch were unsure on what to do at first as they tried to radio in and report that Mercer was on the scene, of course with the communications disrupted they didn't get any news back so they decided to focus on Greene seen as she was the bigger threat, so for the most part they left Alex alone.

Alex growled in the armour before he charged Greene, dodging the chunks of debris that was hurtling towards him, using his armour meant he wasn't as manoeuvrable but he was still fast enough to dodge the debris before he began hacking away at her tendrils with his blade, he got slammed and batted to one side by the other tendrils at first but he soon cut down their numbers.

Altair mean while was fighting hunters, trying to keep them away from Alex so he wasn't distracted, Lucy and Demons were of course providing support with anti-tank rounds that blew holes the side of a basketball in the hunters. "Good shot Desmond" Lucy said through the earpiece as she aimed and fired at a hunter trying to charge Alex; the bullet blasted through the creatures head making it drop dead at the virus's feet.

Alex wasn't aware of the death and destruction around him, he wasn't even thinking about Altair right now, all he wanted, was for this bitch in front of him to die, then he could focus on protecting Altair's back later when Blackwatch turned on them.

---

Altair focused on pushing back the hunters, and keeping them way from Alex, he knew the creatures weak spots, it was all a matter of simply manoeuvring himself in the right position to use his sword to snap the creatures spines before beheading it, the assassin soon got into a rhythm of killing, he had the corpses of at lest 10 or 15 hunters before one of the super soldiers that Blackwatch had trained that had been infused with an altered and less lethal strain of Alex's virus, jumped down from a building and charged at Altair.

The assassin would be lying if he said he hadn't been caught by surprise at that as the soldier pounced on him, knocking him to the ground “Target acquired” The man said before grabbing Altair by the throat and ran off with him, several sniper shots were fired but they missed the soldier as it dragged Altair away from the battle.

“Unhand me!” he snarled s he flicked out his hidden blade and stuck the soldier in the neck but to his surprise the man didn't so much as flinch, let alone drop him as he expected instead the man carried him away from Central park to at least a good five or six away before he was tossed to the ground, Altair looked around it seemed like one of the abandoned military bases “He's all yours”

“Excellent, excellent...Altair isn't it? Ah ah, now I wouldn't go for your weapons if I were you” Warren said with a thin lipped smile, as there was a distinct click of safety's being flicked off firearms, the weapons in question were aimed at his head and chest from the guards surrounding the doctor “Come now there is no need for violence, we simply want to, reunite you with an old friend of yours, he's been most adamant to meet you since he realized you and he jumped forward in time together...” He nodded before the back doors of a nearby truck opened and there clad in dark robes was...

“...Al Maulim” He said softly spitting the name out like venom; of course who else would have followed him this far into the future but his old mentor? All the hurt, the anger and betrayal he felt before he was sent to 21st Century New York began to build up.

Al Maulim regarded the other with something akin to disgust and a thin lipped smile that was as cold as his eyes as he regarded the assassin “Ah! My most promising pupil...or at least you were, want to finish me off do you?” Maulim asked with a snort “I doubt you could with these men protecting me”

“You coward! If it isn't the piece of Eden you're hiding behind its with other men that are not you're own, come out and fight me like a man you bastard!” He growled disentangling himself from the elite solider, yanking his arm violently out of the man's grip with a feral snarl “I swear to you this, no matter what, I will kill you”

“Ha...I severely doubt that but so be it, let us see if the student can beat the teacher!” Al Maulim said with a chuckle “But first...lets get rid of our spectators” He said simply as he pulled out the piece of Eden from out of his robes as he began to glow brightly; the look on Warren Vidic's face was priceless as his eyes widened, how had they not realized the other man had been carrying that thing the whole time!?

The piece of Eden flared brightly and human looking, but eerie and transparent phantoms all bathed in a glowing light killed the soldiers snapping their necks or slitting their throats, killing without mercy, Vidic stumbled back in horror at the amount of power the piece of Eden really had, he'd never seen one in action before.

He decided it was better to retreat for now, and leave Altair as a sacrificial lamb to the other Syrian who seemed to have all the cards in play, it was better to keep out of this, both men were trained killers after all.

Altair frowned as he readied his weapons; he knew using a gun on the other probably would be no use, the piece of Eden would block it on Al Mualim's command, he would have to do this the old fashioned way “Come down here and fight me with honour coward, we'll finish what we started once and for all” He growled his golden eyes narrowed in anger as he grit his teeth against each other in anticipation.

“Ha! I am no coward, I have felled hundreds of men far more skilled then you...but if this is what you want, then so be it” the grand master drew his sword before the two charged at each other, each having the intent to kill as their swords clashed as they met.

-----

Fighting Greene was hard, it was possibly the most difficult fight that Alex had ever been in in his life, he was sure that without the assassins help (And even Blackwatch to a point) it would be freaking impossible to stop her, she was wild, raging and slaughtered anything in her way, even her fellow hunters were not spared her madness as they were battered aside as if they were nothing. Alex was bloody and injured, his regeneration couldn't fully keep up with the rate he was being wounded by Greene's attacks but he didn't give up, once she was dead he'd retreat, maybe kill a hunter or two on the way out and consume them.

He grunted as he got hit by some flying rubble but moved past it to hack away at her attacking this flashy body she wore, he attacked her for what seemed like hours before he monstrous form began to collapse, slime and all sorts of fluids spilling out of the giant 'mouth' of the creature before Greene fell out on the floor looking exhausted and weak.

Alex snorted as he grabbed her by the throat, no one made a move to stop him “Any last words?”

Greene laughed sounding tired and wheezy as she looked at him “Oh my boy...my child...you'll lose everything...” She hissed softly her fingers clawing at his hand weakly as she dangled a few feet from the floor “You'll lose him, no matter what you do...does it sssting? To have ssssooo much power...but to be sssooo helpless?” She croaked before she started to cough a bit, before it turned into high pitched laughter “You are cursssed, now and forever” Alex's eye twitched before he roared and slammed her onto the ground; all his fears, everything that he hated about this whole situation about himself  and his worst fears were being thrown in his face by her “Shut up! SHUT UP!” He snapped as he punched her, clawing at her, his body consuming her but by bit until she was gone.

He sunk to his knees as he felt her thoughts saw her memories flickering through his brain before her presence was gone, she was finally gone and out of his life...but still her thoughts and her last words lingered, what if she'd been right? What if he was cursed?

He didn't get much of a change to linger on that thought as Blackwatch's backup finally arrived and had him surrounded before they began firing upon him insistently, without mercy, grunting in pain he smashed his way through a group of soldiers and ran for his life bloody fingers fumbled for the ear piece in his jacket as he ran down and alleyway so the soldiers lost sight of him, “Lucy, Shaun, where's Altiar?”

“We don't know! One of those soldiers took him, were trying to get in contact with him but he's not responding to us over the communicator” Lucy replied as she and Desmond packed up to move to another location, now Greene was dealt with, it was best if they moved before Blackwatch or any Templar agents found them.

“I'm trying to locate him but its hard to get a fixed lock on him, however communications and such are jammed at a military compound to the south, it seems that's where the interference is coming from, chances are looking there would be your best bet” Shaun responded “Alex, you better hurry, there's no telling just how much trouble Altair is in right now before there was the sound of gunfire “Shit! Blackwatch found us! We need to move!” There was the sound of an engine revving and screeching tired before Alex was cut off from the assassins.

“Shaun!? Dana!” He called but all he got back was static, cursing to himself he ran down the alleyway; he'd have to make sure Dana and Shaun were okay first, Altair could handle himself a little longer he was sure. He had nearly reached the other end of the alley way when  he saw Cross get in his way, usually he'd enjoy tearing into the fucker that used his little sister as bait, but now wasn't that time

“...Cross, I don't have time for you, get out of my way and I'll pay you back for what you did to my sister and to Altair” he snarled softly as he morphed his arm into his whipfist; he knew well by now not to go against Cross at close quarters seen as his stun rod hurt like a bitch/

“Sorry Mercer, but I have orders to take you out, here and now, but tell you what,if you beat me, I'll tell you were Altair is...not that it'll do you much good, he'll be lost to you by the time you do find him if my bosses plans are any indication” Cross said with a faint smirk “You know what the funny thing is? I feel sorry for the poor bastard, he didn't want any of this, he didn't ask to come here, and now he;s nothing more then a pawn, a pity really he puts some of our best soldiers to shame with his skills”

“...” Alex's eyes narrowed as he snarled; he really didn't have time for this, but it seemed he didn't have much of a choice, Robert wouldn't let him leave without a fight “Fine let's make this quick” He huffed as he readied himself.

Robert Cross chuckled as he raised his stun rad and hand-held rocket launcher with a smirk “Well then show me everything you have!” He grinned before he charged in at the same time as Alex; this was going to be a LOT of fun.

--------------

There was the sound of metal clattering to the floor as the Piece of Eden bounced once, twice before rolling and becoming still, Altair glared at Al Mualim his sword at the man's throat, he didn't really care that Al Maulim had gotten him in the shoulder; it was a flesh wound something he;d be able to shake off, the former grand master however, wouldn't be able to shake off a blade through his throat, severing his spinal column “...La shay' haqiqah, koulo shay' moumkin...master” He whispered as he pulled back grunting in pain as the blade in his shoulder was pulled out as he moved away, Al Mualim slumping against the wall dead and bleeding all over the floor.

“...” Altair looked the man over; it was hard to believe he once used to respect and love the man like a father, the betrayal he felt was still bitter, still very much raw, but now Al Mualim was gone, he would in time, be able to move past this and move on “May you find peace in death” He muttered softly to himself as he gripped a hold of the wound on his shoulder; the good news is he wasn't badly wounded, the bad news was that his right arm was now pretty much useless he could barely hold his sword without his hand and arm trembling from the effort of it.

Altair tensed when he heard slow, sarcastic clapping behind him, spinning around he saw Vidic the piece of Eden now tucked under one arm as he clapped “Bravo, you killed your own master without thought or hesitation...we could use a man like you, you know” Warren said with a smile “We could give you a save haven for you and that creature you like to call Alex...all I require is your obedience, and your co-operation”

“Never, I'll never become a pawn of the Templars, I did not spend my whole life fighting you, only to turn  my back on my ideals!” Altair growled as he pulled the pistol from his belt and aimed it at warren with his unarmed hand

“Oh well...that's your choice” Warren said with a shrug as he clicked his fingers, before Altair felt someone crack him hard on the skull from behind, he grunted and collapsed on the floor his eyes flickering closed as he tried to remain conscious “Inject him with the serum and strap him up to the machine, Mercer will be here looking for him soon enough...it should buy us enough time to escape...we have what we came for” Warren said with a dark chuckle “At last...it's all mine”

That was the last Altair heard before he felt something being jabbed roughly into the back of his neck, his eyes closed and everything went numb and silent.