~Well guys here it is, not too long a wait this time, huh? I hope you all enjoy it!

Chapter 10

"Come aboard quickly brothers, or one of the guards might get lucky with their shots." Said Altair

Ezio hauled himself onto the boat as Altair bent over and pulled Malik aboard. Malik managed to sit on one of the seats in the middle of the boat, panting and gasping for air. Ezio sat in the front in a crouched position and pulled out his crossbow. He was able to hit one or two guards before Altair began paddling away across the water.

"Not that I am ungrateful for the rescue, but what are you doing here Altair?" asked Ezio

Altair could tell from Malik's glare that he wanted to know the same thing and that if he had any breath left he would be angrily telling Altair that he should be resting.

"I had a bad feeling a few minutes after the two of you left. I felt that something bad was going to happen. My instincts were telling me that I should follow you in case something went wrong." Altair was looking mostly at Malik as he said this, trying to get his point across.

Malik looked steadily back at him, and then nodded. He knew that Altair's instincts had saved them before, and he was not about to doubt him this time. After all, something had gone wrong hadn't it? They had been unable to get out of the Vatican, but Altair had saved them. Malik checked to make sure the Apple was still attached to his belt, and sighed in relief when he saw that it was still there.

"So," said Ezio in a relieved voice, "you have saved us. It is true that something went wrong, but since you showed up our mission was successful."

"No brother," Altair said in a tense voice, "that was not the problem that I senseI have a feeling that something else will happen before this is over, so we must be vigilant."

Malik glanced at Altair and saw the worry and apprehension on his face. What was so bad that could make Altair that anxious? Malik did not know what else could go wrong, but he would be prepared for it just in case. The boat slid next to a dock on the shore of Rome, and the three assassins disembarked. Altair's injury seemed none the worse for wear of paddling, and Malik was grateful for that. Ezio led the way through the streets as they ran through the city. Though Rome was beautiful, Malik now hated how big it was. Really, it would take them forever to get out of here! As they ran however, he at least felt relieved that they were on land, and not in the water or on a building. He could handle himself here.

They avoided as many guards as they could, but as they got closer to the edge of the city, the groups were more numerous. Obviously the absence of the Apple had been noticed and the Borgia's were desperate to catch them before they could leave the city.

"The roofs." Said Ezio as they hid from yet another group of guards

They climbed up a tall building, and then began to run along the tiled rooftops, jumping over the gaps and grabbing onto ledges and pulling themselves up. They could see the wall surrounding Rome, and it wasn't very far away. They stopped at the edge of a building that was right next to the wall. Ezio turned to them.

"It looks like we will have to fight our way out. We cannot reach the wall from here, and we would need horses to make a quick getaway."

He pointed to a horse stables next to the gates.

"My blade is ready. I will kill however many guards it takes to get out of here and back home." Said Malik

Altair nodded his assent silently. Before they could act however, the voice of Caesere reached them at the top of the building.

"I know you can hear me assassino! You think that because you have the Apple, you can just walk out of here. Well you are wrong! I took it upon myself to pay a visit to a friend of yours, and he was kind enough to join me today."

From the midst of guards that was crowded at the gates with Caesere, Leonardo was pulled to the front. There were bruises on his face, and his wrists looked red and bleeding from the rope that bound them.

Ezio started forward, but Altair and Malik grabbed him and pulled him back.

"He does not know we are here brother!" hissed Malik, "We may still be able to save your friend if we keep hidden."

"Malik is right Ezio," added Altair, "believe me; I want to save Leonardo too. But we cannot just jump out there and attack. I have made that mistake before."

Malik looked down at the ground. He knew that Altair was talking about the day that he had attacked Robert in the temple, the day that Malik's brother Kadar had died and he, Malik, had lost his arm. Though he had forgiven Altair for what had happened, Altair had never stopped blaming himself, and used his guilt as a reminder to never make that mistake again. Ezio stopped struggling, and took a deep breath. Caesere was still yelling down below them, but what he was saying was stupid and useless so they didn't bother listening to him.

"What do you propose we do, Altair?" snapped Ezio

Altair gave a grim smile.

"Don't worry brother, I have a plan. First things first though, Malik give me the Apple."

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"It would seem that your assassin friend has abandoned you after all, painter." Said Caesere in obvious glee, "He has not come to your rescue."

"Getting the Apple away from you is more important than my life." Said Leonardo simply

Privately, he thought that Ezio must be doing something to try and set him free. If he had attacked directly then Leonardo would have been killed, but if he managed to take Caesere by surprise, then he could save him. Leonardo did not mention this of course; otherwise whatever it was that Ezio was planning would not work. He only hoped that he was right about his friend, and that noting bad would happen.

"My lord, look!" said one of the guards

He was pointing to an alleyway that led to the gates. A white robed figure was walking slowly and steadily towards them.

"Ha! So he has given up. I knew he would see reason if we had a hostage!"

Leonardo did not say anything, but even at this distance he could tell that the assassin was not Ezio. His robes were plainer, and did not have the same design. He also had fewer weapons on him, and walked with his shoulders hunched forward and his arms stiff. Ezio did not walk like that. A few seconds later Leonardo realized that it must be Altair. He was the only assassin he knew of besides
Ezio who wore the robes, and he could tell from what little he could see of his face. It could not be the other one, Malik, because he wore a black coat over the white robes and had no hood and one arm. Caesere did not realize that it was not Ezio until the figure was only twenty feet away.

"Who are you? Where is Auditore?" yelled Caesere

Altair did not answer, but instead held up his left hand which had the Apple in it. Before Caesere could lunge forward and grab it, Altair smirked at him, and then caused a burst of power form the Apple to sweep over all the people surrounding the gates. Leonardo had experienced the power of the Apple before without any ill effects, and was able to withstand it now, but the guards were not able to. They fell and clutched their heads, many of them screaming. Caesere winced and held his head with one hand, but pulled out his sword and ran forward. His blade met Malik's with a clang as the rafiq swooped in out of nowhere. Leonardo felt himself being dragged away from the guards and turned to see Ezio taking him over to the horses.

"Ezio!" cried Leonardo, never more pleased to see his friend

"Come Leonardo, let's get out of here!" yelled Ezio as he cut Leonardo's bonds and grabbed two horses

Malik was fending off Caesere's attacks as Altair kept his hold on the Apple and used it to keep all the new guards who were coming at bay. Malik ducked easily under Caesere's swing and kicked him in the chest. Caesere fell over backwards and Malik ran towards the horses yelling "Come on Altair!"

With one last burst of power from the Apple, Altair ran towards the horses. He stuffed the Apple back in the black pouch and hopped onto a brown horse. He and Malik quickly followed Ezio and Leonardo out of the gates and across the fields.

"It worked!" yelled Malik to the others, "I can't believe it but it worked."

"Good job Altair! You truly are a grandmaster assassin!" yelled Ezio

Altair, however, was frowning and kept looking down at the pouch that held the Apple. The others could now see that it was emitting beams of its golden light through the pouch.

"Altair, what's wrong?" called Malik

"I do not know! It won't stop going off!" Altair said back

He dug his hand into the pouch, and as his fingers touched it, a huge wave of golden light flew out of the Apple and another storm, similar to the one that had pulled Malik and Altair into Italy, appeared. Malik started swearing rapidly in Arabic and tried to steer his horse away, but it was no use. All four of them were dragged into the rip, and fell into a blinding swirl of white until they were suddenly engulfed in darkness.

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"Rebecca, what's happening?" yelled Lucy as she saw Desmond jerking and twitching in the Animus

"I don't know! Some sort of interference is causing the Animus to malfunction, I can't do anything!"

"Well hurry up and do something before it blows out Desmond's brains!" yelled Lucy

"Look, I don't know if this is relevant, but something weird just happened in the place where Desmond just was."

"Not now Shaun!" Lucy snapped as she tried to help Rebecca shut down the Animus and get Desmond out

"But this is important too! Ezio, Leonardo, Altair, and Malik just disappeared because of something the Apple did! It happened just as the Animus went weird. It's just like before too, when Altair and Malik appeared in Italy."

"Are you saying that the Apple, which we don't have, in the past is causing this?" said Rebecca skeptically

"Well it is the only link." Said Shaun in a offended tone

"We'll worry about that later. For now help us get Desmond out." Said Lucy

"Uh, Lucy. I don't think that's gonna happen." Said Rebecca

"What? Why?"

"Because the Animus won't turn off no matter what I do! If we unplug it we could kill Desmond. It looks like for now at least, Desmond is stuck."

The End.

~Surprise! It's the end. Worried about Desmond? Don't, he's not dead, just seriously maimed (I'm joking don't worry). I am writing a sequel, so the ending was just a way to transition into that, and to make you suffer because of the cliffhanger ;P The next story will have Desmond meeting the four guys who got pulled into that storm (sorry Altair and Malik, you guys are going to have to go through this all over again). I hope you all have liked this story and I hope that you will keep on the lookout for the sequel! Grazie for the reviews I have gotten, they have all been very awesome!

Arrivederci!

Misto~