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"Who did you see?" Nico looked up from listening to the calls of the sailors on the deck above toward her wife. It had been nearly a week since they'd set sail from the Serene Republic to the boggy little port village and now they were coming in to land. "Who did you see back in Venice?"

"The Elephant. He wore no armor, but his voice was the same. He waited for his brother, for the Rhino. He was a young man. The Elephant an older man."

"It was not the Lion?"

"No. The Elephant only ever met the Rhino in front of our shop. They always met there in front of that little alley. You know it now?"

"Ah. Yes, yes, I do." Maria sighed and held Nadya to her chest. "We should move to the deck above."

"We should. You think Desmond has is sea legs by now?" The Spaniard moved after her wife, keeping a hand on the small of her back to steady her as they moved into the relatively fresher air on the top deck.

"Lex," came the groan that answered them, "Lex, I want my Haysley back."

"You get Haysley when I get Jammy. Deal?"

"Deal. Ugh." Desmond looked toward the apothecary. "Give me some dramamine."

"I'll give you dry land, if that's what you want, haystack boy." Nico pointed towad the docks and a distant speck of gold. Desmond flung himself off the boat and into the water, swimming to land and running pell mell across the puddles and squishy ground to the hay by the church's paddock.

"He has a hay fetish, I swear to God," Lex mumbled as Amir helped him stand. The Coal Tit rubbed his brother's back as he helped him down the gangplank to the docks.

"We know, ahk." Maria looked back at the two with her husband. The apothecaries and the young man had kept a close watch on their patient, who still needed time to recover from his wound. The sea voyage had left him paler than he'd been even after the fight with Juan.

"Do you think Luca will be all right without us?" Maria lifted a brow at her husband. "He won't anger the guards?"

"He's growing up." She smiled. "He doesn't need us to take that much care of him, Nico. Besides, much as he stayed at our house and ate our food, he's not ours."

"I know, I know," the Spaniard rolled her eyes and moved toward where Desmond had gone to see about getting the little party some horses. Passing Lex into Maria's care, Amir took off at a run to head off the woman.

"Cheepcheepcheepcheepcheep!" He grabbed the other's belt. "I know where the best horses are and for free!"

"Well, then, little one, lead the way." The Coal Tit ran toward another group of horses, their faces bearing shallow deeps in the front. Grasping the reins of several of them the stable boys, he led them over.

Nico sighed as Maria made her way over to them with Lex, her face growing paler with each step. How could she forget about that?

"Love, they're not going to bite," she said gently as Desmond poked his head out from the hay and grumbled his way to his mount. The Sparrow looked at the two healers as Amir took Nadya into his arms and bundled her into a swaddled backpack. The little girl looked at her mothers and then at the Sparrow and Eaglet, smiling widely and giggling.

"I don't want to go on them. I don't want to go near them," whispered Maria. "I can walk to Monteriggioni."

"Bismillah yjibek ya tult-il-bal," the younger woman moaned, leaning her head on the nearest horse. "Por favor, Maria, get--on--the horse!" The woman stared at her wife before clambering onto the animal's back and gripping Nico so hard around the middle the men wondered if the poor apothecary could breathe.

Mounted up, Amir took a moment to scratch a note onto a small piece of parchment and whistle. A coal tit fluttered down from one of the roofs nearby, allowed the note to be attached, and flew off. The Coal Tit looked after his bird for a moment before trotting to rejoin the others.



The mountain ride provided enough of a distraction for the riders as they would have, each lost in his or her own thoughts, having passed the last village they would see for a time some miles back.

Desmond looked over at the others. Maria was all but asleep against Nico's back. Nadya was asleep in her little swaddle-bag on Amir's. Lex looked ahead down the track; the Eagle wasn't sure what was going through his head, though he guessed it was something to do with Jameel. His own mind had begun to scheme how to, once more, get them home.

And when I get home this time, I'm staying there!

As if to break the monotony of the tek, Lex suddely suggested, "Anybody wanna ride ahead?" Surprisingly, Desmond found himself nodding and saying, "Yeah, let's do that."

The pair sped their horses to a lope, descending down a slope and halting the sharply as they came to a wooden-bridge-spanned chasm. On the other side of the long bridge were two riders, one with his face veiled with black cloth, the other an unfamiliar man. The dogs wagged their tails briefly but stayed where they were.

"Who are you?" asked the man beside the veiled one, long black hair matched only by his equally dark moustache. A coal tit rested on his shoulder. "Are you the ones this missive reached Monteriggioni about? Where is my nephew?"

"Ezio said he would come in another boat," Desmond called back. "Who the hell are you? His Uncle Mario?"

"Yes," said the man.

"Do you have a brother named Luigi?" piped up Lex. Mario and the veiled man looked at one another at this and conversed for a moment before Mario said, "We will meet in the middle of the bridge and see who you are then."

"The man with you too," added the barkeep as they moved forward. The four men stopped near the center of the bridge and dismounted, walking to the center and looking at one another.

Mario wore a hooded cloak, one brown and one blind eye staring at them with utmost scrutiny. Beside him, the veiled man halted, dogs on either side, a hidden blade on his right arm, ring finger missing on a dark hand. Lex stared at the hand, the missing finger.

"Safety and peace be upon you, brothers," said the man, his Italian spoken with an accent thick like Jameel's. Lex jerked his head up. Desmond glanced at him as he opened his mouth and spoke in Arabic. Mario looked as well, frowning.

"You too, ahk al-akhbar?"

"Who asks?" responded the veiled man.

"A young man I think you might know, as I think you are an older man I think I might know," said the Sparrow. "Before I left for home a long time ago, you told me that if I ever had need of your sword or your tongue, you'd come help me."

"My tongue has not grown dull. My blade is likewise still sharp, my little brother." The man stepped forward, arms out. He touched Lex's shoulders tentatively, as if searching for them, before drawing him to his chest. Lex flung his arms around the man's waist, nuzzling into his belly. "You're alive. Amir said you were injured."

"I'm still convalesceing, technically. Just needed a change of venue from that swamp city they call serene." Badr threw back his head and laughed then, more heartily than Lex had heard before.

"Skandar, mashallah! It is you!" His hair was ruffled up into feathery tufts.

"Badr!" Lex grinned, laughing until he coughed. The man felt his face with his fingertips. "Have you gone blind up there?"

"Yes, actually," said the man, hands still tracing over his features as if to make a mental map of them. "Lost my good eye in Alamut shortly after you left. They did me the favor of removing the already sightless one as well. Who's with you?"

"Desmond--"

"Desmond!"

"Yeah, hello, how the hell are you alive?" said the man, who was immediately smacked upside the head. "Ouch!"

"The means by which I'm alive will be explained at a safer place than a rickety bridge. Is there anyone else with you?"

"Amir and two of our allies along with their child, both women, though one is dressed as a man." Badr's eyebrows rose over the blindfold he wore across his eyeless sockets, the veil coming down around his head. His hair was longer now, from what Lex could see beneath his hood, though his earrings and facial scars remained. If another had been added, the cloth over his eyes covered it as well. "Yeah, two women." Lex staggered as one of the dogs jumped up on him and lapped at his face before running over to Desmond and jamming its nose straight into his crotch, causing the descendant of Altair to let out a rather undignified squeal.

"Bourkan, enough!" snapped the desert Falcon, shaking his head. "Silly pup. Can you do nothing with him, Asad?" The other hound looked at him, a rope of drool falling from his mouth onto the wood beneath their feet. "I'm to assume that's a no." Badr folded his arms and leaned against his mount. He reached up and patted the mare's neck. "This is Ya Bint al Hawah the second."

"You're really gonna name your horse Fajera again?" Desmond muttered.

"And the mares after her."

"Where are your fellow travellers?" Mario interrupted, getting quickly to the matter at hand now that the reunion was ended.

"Mama!" Amir cried then, alerting them to the presence of the others as the Coal Tit barreled into Badr, almost knocking the man off his feet.

"Amir used glomp. It's super effective," Lex mumbled to himself, pocketing his hands. Nico and Maria looked at the man beside the one hugging the young boy.

"Signore Auditore." Nico bowed her head. "I trust we will not be imposing upon you to give us shelter?"

"Not at all, signora," said the man. "Where is your child?"

"On my wife's back. Her original bearer is a little preoccupied for the moment."

"Yes, I see." The Assassins looked at where Amir was wrapped around Badr. "Let us return to Monteriggioni. You must be wanting some rest."

The journey to Monteriggioni was blissfully uneventful, but for two stops for a quick Leap of Faith from the top of an old tower and at the gates of Firenze while the apothecaries took in the view of the city for a little bit. The rest of the ride was in silence, Amir wriggling in the saddle until he ran cheeping through the gates of the little village and over the rooftops toward the villa.

The other Assassins moved through the streets to the villa, mounting the steps and entering inside. The Sparrow moved upstairs and found a bed, lying in it as Amir ran down the hall and sat next to Ezio's praying mother. Mario returned to his office as Desmond spoke with Badr. Lex listened in as they passed.

Desmond was saying, "Do you know how to get us home?"

Badr responded, "I'm sorry, old friend, but if there is a way, I'm hindered now in finding it. Ask Amir." The barkeep's feet tramping up the stairs. A cheep. Then their voices were too low to hear, or he was too tired to listen properly.

The next few weeks were spent much as they had been in Masyaf, familiarizing themselves with their new surroundings. Only a few shops decorated the village along with a little church. The rest of the buildings were houses. A small mine was located nearby, though the time traveler and his brother weren't allowed to explore the shaft.

Neither, Badr added later when he caught them, could they see how far down the well went by lowering each other into it.

While Desmond spoke with Mario about getting home, Amir and Lex took to racing through and over the village, around it, and then taking to horseback to gallop through the hills. Anything to distract themselves from their worries. It was on one such race, the hooves of their horses pounding toward San Gimingano, that they saw Ezio riding down the track to meet them.

A rucksack was strapped to his back, the two noted as they moved through the streets. Desmond, finally roused from his napping place in the nearby haybale, followed them into Mario's study. There they watched as Ezio moved to one side and slid open a door, which lead to a set of stairs.

"Are you coming, amici?" he asked, as if he waited on them. The group followed down the stairs and into a large, high ceilinged room.

"Welcome to the Sanctuary," said Ezio. "Statues of our Assassin ancestors reside here. On the--"

"Chronologically"--Amir pointed to the second man on the left--"Darius, first wielder of the hidden blade, Persian Assassin, slayer of Xerxes."

"The 300 guy?" Desmond and Lex squawked.

Not answering their question, Amir pointed to the second statue on the right, a woman, "Iltani, Babylonian Assassin. Poisoner of Alexander the Great."

"Babylonian?" Desmond mumbled.

"Iraq, Desmond, she's from Iraq. Baghdad," grumbled Lex.

"I know that!"

First man on the left of center: "Wei Yu. Chinese Assassin. Killer of Qin Shi Huang, the--"

"--first emporer of China." Desmond stared at Lex. "What? I took an art class or two."

First on the right: "Amunet, the Egyptian asp wielder. Killer of Cleopatra."

"So it wasn't suicide?" said Desmond, but again, the question was unanswered by the Coal Tit, who seemed in a trance.

"And the next?" Ezio prompted needlessly. Amir pointed, far right.

"Leonius, Roman Assassin. Slayer of the corrupt emporer Caligula."

"Y'know, people speculate he had lead poisoning and that led him to do most of the crazy s**t he did," added Lex.

"Oh, really?" came from Desmond. "And what was the excuse for the rest of the stuff?"

"His grandpa was an insane ***** who kept him locked on an island fortress for most of his life after having his father murdered."

"I shouldn't've asked."

Far left. "Qulan Gal the Mongolian. Slayer of Genghis Khan. Darim and Altair helped him bring down the warlord."

"And the man in the center?" asked Ezio. Amir jumped down from the small railing, prompting the others to follow him. Ezio went to one of the statues and placed a stone disk inside the plinth. The other stones in the other plinths then began to turn, the bars from before the last statue in the center rising up like a portcullis.

"Mama." The Assassins gazed up at the armored Altair, the two time travelers having never seen him dressed in such array. Ezio strode to the statue and stripped its armor, beginning to buckle it onto himself, along with a sword that rested before the statue's feet. Lex squinted, blinking as he saw a familiar, green stone around the statue's neck. No, not one stone. Two.

Moving up to the statue, he climbed up and reached around the Syrian man's neck, lifting the crystals from it. He gazed into the sightless stone eyes for a moment, shuddering at the thought that maybe, just maybe, bones lay beneath it. Bones of a long dead man. But no, no, that wasn't the Assassin way, to put a man's bones forever in stone like that, to make a display out of it.

Stepping down, he looked at Desmond. The Eaglet all but squealed and danced on the spot.

"Oh my God! Oh my God! Home! We can go home!"

"Yeah...yeah, we can go home," Lex mumbled. He stared at the crystal. "Well, you can go home."

"What do you mean?"

"I have to wait for Jameel."

"No."

"What?"

"We both go back. Same time. You know that. Two come, two go."

"But--"

"Look, he's fine back in our time, isn't he?"

"What are you two saying?" Ezio asked. The Assassins hadn't realized they'd fallen into English.

"They are looking to go home," said Amir, "as they must. They--we--have friends there. Allies."

"My uncle has not--"

"Mario does not yet know. We know. Trust me." Amir pressed his hand to his chest. "Go upstairs and speak to your mother and sister. They've missed you. I'll see them off."

The Assassins watched as Ezio headed back up the stairs. Amir looked toward the time travelers.

"You know how these crystals work."

"Ahk--" Lex started. Fingers pressed to his lips. The younger--older--one shook his head.

"La. Go home. He will come here in due course. Trust me. All will be well." Amir stepped back. "Now lie down, go to sleep, and dream of your own time."

The two men looked at one another before lying down on the cool stone floor and shutting their eyes. Once more, Lex focused on the present, on the strange Englishman, the room, the orange and white chair, Jameel and his laughter...



"Bloody hell, can't believe the match's..." Shaun stopped and looked toward the beds. Lex and Desmond lay there, Desmond on one, Lex curled up snugly in Jameel's arms, as if they'd never vanished into thin air before all their eyes to begin with. "What in the name of Satan's ******** knobcheese are you people doing just bloody apparating back here?!"