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"Jameel, I'm glad to have found you," said the Grandmaster, looking at the Master Assassin. When he next spoke, his voice was almost hypnotic, "Altair has gone mad. He plans to come to Masyaf and kill me. You must defend me from him."

"What?" Jameel frowned and looked between the others. "Master, Altair would never do such a thing to you."

"But he would, my child, he would. That is why you must go and end his life for me."

No, that's wrong. Altair would never do such a thing, he thought, mind fixing itself on the illogicality of the words. Altair cares for the Master like he would for his own father, perhaps moreso. He would never go mad and try to unseat Al Mualim. Altair isn't that kind of man.

"Master, I can't." Jameel squeezed his eyes shut as his head began to pound.

"What of you?" Al Mualim turned to the two Novices. "Surely, my boys, you will fight for me."

"Desmond," Lex whispered, "why is the creepy old man trying to Jedi mind trick us?"

"I don't know. Just play along." Desmond nodded. "Whatever you say, Master." He stood and left the room quickly, keeping his hood up and his head down. The old man turned toward Lex and Jameel.

"Will you join him in defending me?"

Catching onto Desmond's game, Jameel said, "Yes, Master." Lex quickly followed it up with, "Brains." He staggered as the Owl pulled him to his feet and out the door.

"Brains?" Jameel hissed as they halted sharply, people blocking their path--servants and villagers. They stared straight ahead, muttering to themselves. When the Assassins pushed, they moved, but it was more bodily reflex than conscious decision.

"Yeah, brains. Was going for the whole mindless zombie thing. Like these guys." They finally broke free of the bodies, only to be brought up short again as they ran through the barbican. This time it was swords.

Lex felt the ring around his pinkie dig into his skin as the Hidden Blade sprang free of its sheath, feet falling into position one behind the other should he need to move forward and ram it into the swordsmen's throats. Jameel grabbed him by the hood as he began to move; the Sparrow gagged.

"A fine way to be greeted! What, no 'safety and peace be upon you' this time, Novice?" The owner of the sword moved into view.

"Malik?" Lex coughed, rubbing at his throat.

"No, I'm Salah al-Din. Who gave him this Hidden Blade? And why does he have all his digits?"

"It's mine, Malik." The Dai looked Jameel up and down as he spoke. The Owl drew the dagger from his belt, one of the few weapons besides his throwing knives he'd made himself wear every day despite his injuries, and moved after his one-armed comrade. "I see having your sword arm comes is paying off."

"You so could've said handy." The two men shot the Novice a look. "Yes, I know, horribly innappropriate, but it'd be funny."

"Is he always like this?" asked Malik, brows lifted as he pursed his lips.

Jameel left the question unanswered and continued walking as he said to Lex, "You're returning my Hidden Blade when this is over, Novice." Lex stopped so quickly Malik turned his head.

"Novice?" The boy lifted his arms and let them drop to his sides, slapping against his legs. "That's it?" He did it a second time, consternation showing on his face. "Novice?" Malik shifted his eyes between them. What was going on?

"Yes." Jameel narrowed his eyes. "We don't have time for this." The boy, who'd drawn his head back in surprise at the man's first statement, tilted his chin up quickly and clicked his tongue. Malik's eyebrows shot up to almost touch his hairline. For the short time he'd been acquainted with the boy, he'd known him to be difficult, such as when he made comments after everything the Hawk said, but this was downright insubordinate.

Malik between them again. Why didn't Jameel go over and cuff the Novice, put him in his place so they could get moving? Instead, he ordered, "Get moving, Lex."

"Psh." The Dai almost hit the boy over the head himself for the derisive noise. "Whatever you say, Master." The last word was spat as he shouldered between the two Master Assassin. It was only then that Malik realized the Novice had been speaking their language.

The group moved to join the men Malik had brought from Jerusalem, heading toward the ridge overlooking the village where Lex and Jameel had sat when the Owl had returned from his solo trip to Acre. Below them, Altair was surrounded, fending off sword thrusts from the brainwashed guards.

The men that weren't brought low by the Master Assassin were dispatched from above by a shower of throwing knives.

"Altair! Up here!" Malik called. The elder Eagle looked up and ran to meet them. The two men conversed quickly, Malik informing Altair about a journal Robert de Sable had kept. Who de Sable was, Lex wasn't certain, although from Jameel's mimicry of him he assumed he was a French knight. Altair warned Malik to stay away from the old man. Duh... "It would be a mistake not to use us."

"Assault the fortress from behind," Altair was saying, the exact conversation breaking through the boy's mental haze. "If you can draw their attention away from me, I might reach Al Mualim."

"I will do ask you ask, Dai." The Novices looked between the men and each other. Desmond had a knowing look on his face, an almost smile.

"These men we fight. Their minds are not their own."

"Jedi mind trickery did it." Jameel clamped a hand over the Sparrow's mouth as the other Masters looked at him.

Altair continued with a sigh of irritation, "If you can avoid killing them, do so."

"Yes. Though he has betrayed the tenets of the Creed, it does not mean we must as well." Malik nodded. "I will do what I can."

"That's all I ask. Safety and peace, my friend." Malik pressed his hand to his chest and bowed his head.

"Your presence will deliver us both." With that, they were off, Altair up to the keep and the rest down the slope into the village. The two time travelers found themselves carried along in the middle of the group and were glad of it. Had they been told to find the way on their own, they would have been wandering the mountains for days. As it was, Jameel and two men brought up the rear behind them, with Malik and the remaining two up in front.

Malik raised his arm, halting their progress. He drew his sword and moved off into the brush alongside the path, motioning Jameel to follow. The other Assassins split off into pairs as well, leaving the Novices to scurry into the nearest clump of shrubbery. From their position, they could see another path that led up to the back wall of the keep. Along with the very steep climb up to the back wall of the keep.

"Can I say something?" Lex asked.

"No, but you're gonna say it anyway," said Desmond.

"Smart. Yeah, about that." He pointed to the climb. "How the hell does he expect us to get up there?"

"Quiet!" Lex almost threw himself into the air with the jump the scare gave him. The bartender calmly turned and looked at Jameel. "Get ready. We'll move in fast and hard."

"That didn't sound dirty." The man shot Desmond through with a look. "Fast and hard. Understood, sir. On which position?"

"Take the track down toward the keep. The guard will be alerted and come to you. From that point, cover fire will be provided by--what are you snickering about?" His death glare was turned on Lex this time.

"Will medical care be made available at a discounted premium for us cannon fodder?" Judging from looks alone, Desmond was sure Jameel didn't need his stare to kill Lex. He would have gladly done it with his single working hand. Desmond shoved the boy onto the dirt track and all but sent him tumbling head over a** down it in his haste to get moving.

"Look, stop being a pain in the a**," he said as they rounded the bend below where the other Assassins were positioned.

"I'm not being an a**."

"Oh, the hell you aren't. Look, in this situation, he knows twice what we could ever come up with about tactics. So stop with the smart a** remarks."

"Or what?" The two Novices stopped at a narrowed part of the path where the cliff edge was a sheer hairpin turned wrapped around a jutting piece of rock.

"Or that suppressive fire he mentioned just might not be aimed toward helping you. Go."

"What?"

"Go!" Desmond made a shooshing motion with his hands, palms down, flicking his hands away from him. "Put your loud mouth to use and get their attention." Lex stuck his tongue out at him before heading around the small ledge. "Oh, very mature." Whatever insult was tacked onto the end of that was lost to the Sparrow as he trotted toward the river.

He didn't have to go far to find the guards. They dropped down toward him from another overhang of rock. The small Assassin backpedaled and held up his hands.

"Whoa! The Master sent me to tell you something." The men stopped. Surprised that the trick worked, he said the first thing that came to his tongue. "A shoe on all your heads!" He turned and slipped on the loose gravel beneath his feet, landing hard. Lex yelped as a sword came down at him, rolling out of the way and dragging himself onto his feet again, the guard pounding after him. "Dessy! I think I pissed 'em off!"

He backed up against the rock face when he reached the narrow ledge, eyes flicking from the mind-slaves drawing their weapons to the sharp drop into the water below. "Dessy?" He glanced over his shoulder. Desmond was gone. Oh, s**t. "Uh..." He turned back to the guards following him, one leaning around the rock and looking at him. "Would now be a bad time to ask if any of you guys are named Steve?" Lex jerked away as a blade came for him, the sword clanging against the rock as his foot left the solid ground. His eyes widened as he flailed for something to grab, even the blade that had been coming for his head.

A hand snaked out and grabbed his arm as the Assassin guard was given a helping heave-ho over the edge by Desmond, barely missing the dangling boy. Wait, what the hell's he doing over there? Lex staggered as he was pulled back up.

"Why do I always have to save you?" Jameel snapped and turned up the track again, leading him through the brush toward where the others were. More guards were coming their way, two thick clusters about five or six in number.

"Yeah, it's a bad habit. You should really look into breaking out of that. Why the hell is Desmond over there?" Lex pointed down to where he'd led the guards before almost falling. Jameel gritted his teeth.

"I'm only going to say this once. Listen carefully. It was an ambush."

"Oh, so you wanted me to go for a swim? You could've just asked me to scale the Cliffs of Insanity while I was at it." The man rounded on him, almost knocking him over into the guards fighting the Novice and Assassins below them.

"Shut up! Shut up, shut up! God help you, you're a petulant little child."

"Yeah?"

"Yes!"

"Really. Well, y'know what?"

"No, tell me."

"You're the idiot who has his back turned!" Lex shouldered Jameel aside and blocked the blade coming for his back with his bracer, catching the hilt with his free hand. Jameel's dagger hilt was rammed into the man's face, his nose crunching as bone split.

"As nice as this witty banter is, I'd appreciate it if you both stopped acting like fools," said Malik as he kicked a guard in the middle. The man went sliding over the edge and landed with a thump on one of his comrades. Silence reigned as the work of disarming and subduing picked up its pace.

Malik moved with his sword as if he'd been doing it one-handed his whole life, twisting aside those that came for his head and whacking them upside theirs with the flat of the blade or the pommel. Desmond paused to watch snatches of the Rafiq's fight before returning to his own.

Altair's spawn was giving the guards a run for their money. Each time they moved forward, he brought them back to square one with a jab to the face or a bodily shove that left some of them flat on their backs. One man charged at the Assassin fighting at his side, sword raised, yelling, "For the Master!"

Desmond's arm met the man's throat first, clotheslining him. The guard flipped in the air and landed on his face in the dirt.

"Many thanks," said the man who'd come with Malik. He spun quickly. "Behind you!" Desmond nodded.

"Hold that thought, man. Shoryuken!" He wheeled around and caught the last man under the chin in an uppercut that jerked his head backward. He, too, fell on his face. "Hell yeah! Always wanted to do that." The Eagle was forced to jump back as another man landed heavily on the ground where he'd stood.

Above, the other Assassins were almost through with the guards as well, although their reinforcements made it difficult. Jameel was defending himself well with only an arm and his legs, fighting back to back with Malik. The swordsman was showing his worth. Each man that came at them from his side was easily disarmed with a flick of his wrist and brought down with a kick or strike from the sword. The Red Owl was dropping men with powerful blows from his knees and elbow, breaking a few more bones with his knuckles and braining some unfortunate over the head with his sword hilt.

Lex was on the defensive, evading blows and blocking them when he couldn't. He gasped as his heels came up against the edge of the cliff again. Flailing out, he twisted himself around and landed on his side, rolling up onto his feet as another swordsman came for him.

Suddenly, his stance shifted, settling in a half-crouch, one leg stretched out in front of the other, one fist cocked, the other relaxed almost against his leg. The guard paused. Lex pushed forward and up, bringing his heel around against the guard's face, sending him tumbling into the ground.

He ducked as another blade swished over his head, clipping off some of his hair. He rounded on the man and punched him hard in the mouth, grabbing him by the front of his robes and kneeing him in the gut. Taking his lowered head in both hands, he brought his leg up into the man's face, letting him drop. Panting, he looked around. The men that had come to back up their embattled brethren were on their knees, begging for mercy, swearing up and down to Malik's sword that they didn't know what they were doing there, that one moment they'd been talking to the Master and the next they had the blade to their throats.

Lex reached up and felt his lip as Desmond made his way up the slope with Malik's man. Blood came away on his fingers.

"Huh." He looked up as the bartender nudged the body at his feet.

"Damn, kid. You can fight." He didn't receive an answer, the boy still mesmerized by the small cuts and bruises that were now making themselves known to him. Jameel settled his hand on Malik's shoulder and looked at the Novices. The Dai nodded. He went over to the two young men and looked them over.

Desmond had a few scrapes and a nice cut on the back of his hand, but he would live. Lex had a fat, split lip and more than a few bruises on his arms. It seemed his bracer had taken the brunt of the blows. As for that little matter... Jameel reached over and took the boy's arm as he began to unclasp the weapon from it.

Lex let his arm drop to his side as the blade's weight was taken from it. He looked up at the Owl, then away again, studying one of the bodies that lay on the ground. He'd taken a nice, heavy hit to the head, blood coloring a nice patch of his gray hood black.

"Are you listening to me?" He jerked his head up. Jameel held up the bracer. Depsite his hard voice, his gaze had softened. "Not yet. Understand? Not yet." Lex nodded, then looked around. Malik and the others were already gone, running back to the keep.

Making their way back through the village, where a few people were standing with dazed looks on their faces, including Rauf. The three men settled into their stride as they climbed up the mountainside, passing villagers that were equally as dazed and confused as the ones who'd been down in the valley below. Entering the training yard, they halted on the dais.

Altair was moving down the stairs, carrying Al Mualim's body in his arms.

Desmond's eyes widened, unable to look away from the sight. Jameel sighed and lowered his head. Lex kept his eyes averted. When the Master Assassin had moved passed them, Jameel walked on. The Master is dead. He shut his eyes, but still saw the Eagle, the one he thought of as his brother, walking down the stairs, carrying the one he knew Altair'd seen as a fatherly figure in his arms. The Master is dead.

He glanced over as Lex sat down beside him, silent for once. The Sparrow returned his glance, but lowered his head and kept his peace.

Outside, Altair was watching as Al Mualim's body was prepared for burial. He turned as a hand rested on his shoulder, looking at Desmond. The Novice met his gaze before setting their brows together. Altair pressed his hand against the back of Desmond's neck. So they remained until Malik chided them, saying that his one arm couldn't dig the grave by itself.