AN: Ok, before you read there are a few things you will need to know. For one, this is my first try at writing an AU for AC (hehe ACAU, sounds like some expensive college). I have a basic idea of where I want this fic to go but I'm recovering from a nasty case of writer's block so things might be a little slow. Also, chapters will be short in the beginning but I promise once I get back into the swing of things they will get longer! But I'll be heading off to college soon so I'll try to get as many chapters up as possible before then (since I've heard it's quite difficult to do both at the same time.) ok, you can read now. Aren't I a generous author? X3

Altair groped blindly for the source of the infernal beeping noise that was his alarm clock, refusing to open his eyes. He moaned loudly after missing the snooze button several times and eventually gave up and pulled its plug. He sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, glancing over at his girlfriend, pretending to still be asleep. He sighed. He pretended to think it was cute most of the time when in all actuality he found it extremely annoying. He got up out of bed in nothing but his plaid boxers and reached for a random pair of blue jeans.

He heard Maria stir behind him but continued to fumble with the zipper and button of his pants. Maria, however, had other plans. Her long, frail arms coiled around his torso like a viper, "Here, let me help you with that." She whispered sweetly in his ear as a delicate hand slipped into his still unbuttoned pants. Altair quickly removed it with a stern look. She didn't take him seriously and pressed kisses to his neck. Now frustrated with his annoyingly persistent girlfriend Altair turned around and gave her 'the look' as referred to by his few friends, "Not now, Maria. I'm going to be late for work."

She pouted and retreated to the warmth of their bed. Altair sighed for what felt like the hundredth time just that morning and finished getting dressed before heading out the door. He zipped his white hooded jacket the rest of the way up realizing just how cold it was that morning and put on his helmet. H e hopped on his sleek black motorcycle and sped off to his job.

It wasn't like he hated working at the popular video game company. In fact he quite enjoyed working at Abstergo. He was one of the concept artists, in charge of designing the characters and creatures for the games they came up with. The thing that really ate at him though was that every time he worked endless hours on a character, they would have the final say in what it looked like and it would almost always be a drastic change from what he had created. 'They' being the graphic designers/programmers; the people that actually made the game.

He pulled into the parking lot and a few moments later greeted by his fellow artists and friends in the room they shared when working. Leonardo was being his usual, overly charismatic self and said hello in a physical way by giving Altair a back-breaking hug before running off to finish whatever piece of work he had most likely been working on without a break for the last twenty-four hours (on his own time, of course). Ezio, however, barley acknowledged him as he stared intensely at a blank sheet of paper, praying that the muses would help him out soon.

"You're going to burn a hole in the paper if you keep staring at it like that." Altair said casually as he took his seat. Ezio just huffed and continued staring. Before Altair could turn around to his desk Leonardo moved in to ask him a million questions about his own piece. Altair said over and over again that the picture looked fine but he knew it was pointless. The man never did consider any of his works actually done. He gave up and turned to his work that he left right here on his…desk…

Wait…

"Where the hell is my work?" Altair asked sounding more confused than angry. The room was silent as the two other men exchanged glances. Altair's brow furrowed, "Where. Is. My. Work." He asked again knowing that he probably already knew the answer.

Ezio spoke up first, "He was new, Altair. We tried to tell him but-"

"Who?" Altair said in a barley controlled voice.

Leonardo spoke this time, "The new guy. He came in looking for the latest designs. We tried to tell him he should wait until you got here but he insisted and just… Altair, where are you going?"

"Hazing. This new guys ganna have to learn his place soon enough."

"Oh, this'll be good. Mind if we go and watch?" Ezio asked with amusement.

The older man just kept walking and Leonardo and Ezio took that as an invitation and began to follow him (from a safe distance). The others that worked in the building saw Altair and kinew that look on his face. They only wanted to stay out of the way.

Altair stormed down the halls toward the only people that dared take his work without telling him first, "Damn programmers. Think they run the fucking world. I'll be damned if I let them take my crap before I'm done with it. They owe me that much. All their ganna do is mutilate it anyway. They can wait ten fucking minutes for me to get here." he muttered angrily to his self. He burst through the door and Ezio pointed out the man that had taken Altair's papers. He was the only one who hadn't stopped what he was doing to see who Altair was going to rip to shreds. The man grabbed the others shoulder and spun him around, "Hey! What the fuck? Give me back my work! I should-"

"You should what? Thank me for not filing this as three days late like I should? Or maybe to thank me for not informing your supervisor that you were late to work? You're quite welcome. Now if you would be so kind as to leave me alone and let me get back to work?"

Everyone was absolutely silent. No one had dared to take Altair's work without his knowing and then threatened him about his punctuation. Altair glared at the man before him. He was backed into a corner. His boss had been on his case lately about his tardiness and he knew if he found out about this little mishap that he would be in for it.

The man straightened and turned to leave.

"How anti-climactic." Ezio whined.

"If it helps at all, the little doodle you've provided is adequate enough to give us an idea of what we need." The man called from behind.

Oh, that was it. Altair stopped. Turned on his heels and grabbed the collar of the man's shirt, "Just who do you think you fucking are?"

"My name," he said as he calmly removed Altair's hand, "if that is what you're referring to, is Malik. But you will be calling me Mr. A-Sayf if you plan on keeping your job Mr. Ibn la-Ahad." Another hush fell over the room and again Altair grit his teeth and retreated back to his own office.

AN: OMG! I hate Maria! I know in the game she was important and all so Altair could carry on his blood line but damnit! I don't know, maybe it's that way with all the female gamers that love Altair and Malik and think Ubisoft should totally do a fan-service with them… Oh, and please forgive me AC faaaaans! I felt so weird making the Assassins work in a place called Abstergo but my brain was being mean and not giving me any better ideas! Please forgive!