Hello there wonderful readers. I have returned with another long-awaited chapter for We Three Assassins. I do apologize for the year-long delay, but I am now a college student living on my own and my life is very very busy at the moment. I appreciate your patience and dedication to this fic, and I really hope you enjoy this next chapter. If it is very short I apologize because I am getting back into the habit of writing so I'm a bit rusty. Anyway, enjoy!

Altair strolls ahead of the rest of the group, keeping his arms behind him, his hidden blade slightly out as a warning to Shaun who apparently has no concept of the term "personal space". Ezio and Connor lag behind Shaun and Desmond, peering over the edge of the walkway down to the food court. "What exactly is the purpose of such large structures as this?" Connor asks, scrunching his face as he watches a rather large man shamelessly eat a whole chilly dog whole. "And they call me a savage." He mumbles to himself.

"They're mainly just for convenience." Desmond says, keeping a tight grip on Shaun's sleeve. "They provide quick access to all kinds of shops and food places."

"Do they have brothels?" Ezio asks, ignoring the eye roll from Connor.

Shaun laughs. "Prostitution is illegal now, Ezio."

Ezio's eyes widen as if he has just seen something absolutely horrid. "Wait… what?"

"Prostitution is illegal, it's kind of taboo nowadays, though prostitutes still exist," Desmond smirks. "You'll just get arrested if you are caught receiving one's services."

Ezio clutches his chest as if he is about to have a heart attack and Connor pats him on the back. "You poor, immoral man."

The Italian swats Connor's hand away and speeds up to walk with Altair, but the Arabian flinches and throws Ezio on the ground, thinking he is Shaun. "What the hell?" Ezio shouts, pushing Altair's blade out of his face.

Altair stands up straight, wrapping his hands behind his back once more, his expression remaining stern, of course. "My apologies, I thought you were that yellow-haired heathen." His glare slices through Shaun like daggers and the Brit laughs nervously, tugging on Desmond's hand in a desperate attempt to run.

"It is alright," Ezio pushes himself back to his feet, brushing himself off. "Though an assassin should be able to tell the difference between boots," he gestures to his feet. "And those… whatever they are." He points to Shaun's flat-bottomed shoes.

Altair's glare hardens, and he turns away, walking towards the nearest store to the strange little group.

Shaun watches curiously as Altair walks into Hot Topic, trying hard to not laugh. "Desmond, do you really think they should be going in there?"

Desmond shrugs. "Probably not, but they sell assassin style hoodies here, which would be good for them because they could still have comfort of their hoods without all the…" Desmond trails off as he sees Ezio follow Altair, noticing the sword and various deadly daggers decorating his waist. "All the… danger of their weapons."

The group of five skulk inside the dark store and Connor finds himself drawn to a t-shirt with him on it. "Is that… me?" He looks over at Ezio who is inspecting a pair of checkered pattern shorts.

The Italian feels the fabric of the shorts between his fingers before looking to where Connor was pointing. "It looks like it should be, but at the same time this portrayal of you is much too fearsome."

Connor's expression flattens. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means he thinks you're a bit soft," Altair replies flatly as he squeezes a plush pony toy, releasing a small squeak.

Connor huffs, crossing his arms. "Why do you think I'm soft? Is it because I'm so young?"

"No, no, my friend," Ezio smiles, throwing his arm around his fellow assassin brother. "We are just saying you have a very gentle personality, despite being an assassin. That's not necessarily a bad thin-"

"Yes it is," Altair interrupts, snatching an Assassin's Creed hoodie off the shelf and throwing it in over his robes.

Desmond laughs at the Arabian. "You know your sternness just makes everything you do ten times funnier."

"I do not understand what you mean," Altair replies, aggressively zipping up the jacket. "This is such cheap fabric."

Shaun looks at the rack where Altair found the hoodie and grabs two more for Ezio and Connor. "We have your hoods, now we just need to get you some shirts, pants, and normal shoes."

Connor grabs the shirt with him on it and throws it at Shaun. "I want this."

"Someone's full of themselves," Altair mumbles as he rips off the size sticker on his hoodie.

"I heard that."

"I am sure you did." Altair replies as he places the squeaky pony toy in Shaun's hand.

Shaun stares at the tiny pastel horse but does not argue due to the fact he could feel Altair's murderous stare burning through his skull.

"Alright guys, we will leave Shaun to pay for this stuff and I will take you all to get the rest of what you need." Desmond says. "Oh, Altair, you're going to have to take that off so Shaun can pay for it."

"Why?" Altair asks, looking highly annoyed.

"Well they need to scan the tag in the hood and remove the security device."

"Very well." Altair concedes, unzipping the jacket before throwing it into Shaun's face and walking out of the store.

Connor watches Altair leave. "Does he show any emotion other than anger?"

Ezio shrugs, "Who knows. Maybe he needs the comforting embrace of a woman," the Italian passes a sly glance to Shaun. "Or a man."

"NO." Altair shouts from the outside of the store.

The group follows Desmond to a men's clothing store full of fancy suits, shirts, pants, ties, etc. Connor stops to eyeball a pair of nicely pleated khakis. "I really like these." He feels the fabric in his hands. "So soft."

Desmond joins him at his side and eyeballs the assassin before grabbing several pairs of pants in various sizes. "Go to those changing rooms over there and try these on and see which ones fit the best, you're about the same size as me, just a bit thicker so I'm not too sure what your waistband would be."

Connor takes the pants and looks over to the changing rooms. "I go change in there?"

"Yes, before you buy clothes you're allowed to try them on to see if they fit." Desmond replies, yanking Ezio away from a table of neatly assorted ties.

"What was that for?" Ezio grumbles, rubbing the back of his neck.

"We are not buying ties, we are buying shirts and pants." Desmond states before grabbing a pair of neat white dress pants in several sizes and handing them to Ezio. "Try these on, I figure you would like to look more expensive than everyone else."

Ezio smirks and snatches the pants from Desmond's grasp. "Smart man."

"What about me?" Altair joins the group, scanning the various styles and colors of pants.

Desmond strokes his chin before grabbing a several pairs of black dress pants. "Here, they suit your stone-cold expression."

Altair cracks a smile for a mere second before angrily taking the pants and marching to the dressing room. Connor and Ezio quickly follows him and they all stand together awkwardly as they look down the line of private stalls.

"Do we all go into one?" Connor asks, shifting uncomfortably on his feet.

"No you idiota." Ezio snaps, "We each take one to ourselves." He takes the first stall and closes the door behind him, Altair and Connor exchange strange glances before take neighboring stalls.

"What are these black hard things that are attached to the clothes?" Altair asks, the sound of plastic snapping echoes through the room. "Dammit."

"I do not think they're supposed to snap like that." Connor retorts, before a broken piece of hanger flies over the stall and knocks him in the head. "Seriously?"

"Yes." Altair replies dryly.

"What are you two bastardos doing?" Ezio hisses from his stall.

"Altair threw a foreign object into my stall, it hit me in the head." Connor whines, followed by a thud as he smacks into the stall while attempting to put the new pants on.

"What are you doing in there, child?" Altair growls while he struggles with the zipper. "Damn this metal tooth snake."

"You mean a zipper?" Connor snorts.

Altair bangs his fist against the wall of Connor's stall. "I do not know what I mean, now shut it!"

"Would you two mind not making so much noise." Ezio snaps as calmly as possible.

"No!" Connor and Altair shout simultaneously.

Ezio sighs, stepping out of his stall to look at himself in the mirror. He smiles, "Not too horrid, if I do say so myself." He turns when he hears that both Connor and Altair have emerged from their stalls and are starting to square up.

"You need to show me some respect you runt." Altair snarls, balling his hands into fists, his hidden blade beginning to make an appearance.

"I deserve just as much respect as you do." Connor snaps back, resting his hand on his pistol.

Ezio notices the growing hostility and starts to look for Desmond frantically. He watches as Connor suddenly draws his pistol and grabs his tomahawk as Altair fully unsheathes his blade. "Woah, woah, brothers there is no need to-"He stops when he hears a soft click as Connor cocks his pistol and quickly jumps at the assassin before he manages to aim the barrel at Altair.

Later that night Shaun, Desmond, and the three assassins all fumble into the small lab space, Shaun hauling all the shopping bags full of clothes and shoes. "Lucy, Rebecca, we're back." Desmond calls.

"Hey guys," Rebecca's head pops up behind a screen. "What's with those two?" She points to Connor and Altair, both refusing to look at each other.

"They had a little quarrel in the changing room." Ezio says calmly. "Connor almost shot Altair."

Lucy jumps up from behind the Animus. "Wow, really?"

"Yes," Shaun sighs as he drops all the bags onto the floor. "The stress of being in a completely different time period must be getting to them, as to be expected."

Altair stares straight ahead, but a soft squeak emerges from his pocket as he squeezes his new toy.

"What was that?" Rebecca asks, stifling a laugh.

"That would be Altair's new companion," Ezio snorts.

"It helps me relax when I feel uncomfortable." Altair states, almost too seriously.

Ezio rolls his eyes. "Right, right."

Squeak.

Connor twitches and steps away from the Arabian assassin. "I'm going to sleep." He leaps back up to his pipe and lies down, turning his back to everyone on the ground.

Shaun looks over at Altair and smiles. "Altair I was wondering if you wouldn't min-"

Squeak.

Shaun looks confused as the assassin stares back at him with a deadpan expression.

Squeak.

Ezio leans towards Shaun. "I would take that as a 'no'."

Squeak.

Now there is an actual plot I plan on including in this silly little fic, but this chapter was to kind of delve deeper into the tense relationship between the three different assassins, and I added the squeaky pony because I figure Altair needed something totally innocent to contradict his stone-cold personality. I hope you enjoyed! Feel free to leave feedback about what you like or would like to see me change or do. Constructive criticism is always welcome in my stories along with the nice posts of people simply saying they enjoyed my work. Thank you for reading. I shall see you in the next chapter. Bye-Bye.