AC Syndicate: Isolated Files [OS]

Mistake

[Chapter image by me]

In a dark and muddy London cul-de-sac, loud knocks were heard. Rumbles of effort and pain flew through the air. A voice kept begging for mercy, claiming the owner's innocence. But its pleas were often interrupted by the collision of the fist against the jaw, or by the voice of a woman mad with rage and grief.

She had found the person who had killed her father. The man who had killed him. The man she was beating up was a friend of her father. She blamed him for his betrayal. She claimed with anger that her father had trusted him.

"How dare you beg me mercy when you didn't have it for my father ?!" she reminded him. "YOU WERE FRIENDS !" she yelled. "I should kill you right now for taking everything I had!."

Despite his deplorable state, the man tried to defend himself as best he could, he even wanted to apologise. But the brunette, possessed by the hatred she felt, did not take a moment to let him explain himself, to give him a chance to say he was sorry.

"But if I kill you now, you won't suffer anymore too quickly... But that's out of the question. That'd be too sweet for what you've done... Giving me years of suffering and guilt..." she murmured with a lump in her throat. "You just deserve to suffer as much as I did !"

Not far from here, a man with a top hat and a big leather coat has just come on the roof behind the woman. He heard the sound of violence and came to see what happens in the dead-end street where it's from. He saw one of his first initiates after Crawford Starrick's death. A few seconds later, another person joined him. It was a woman, the same height as him. Despite the darkness of the night, the two shadows on the roof witnessed the scene between the hooded brunette and her ailing victim, back against the fence.

"Please... l-let me... explain..."

"Why should I, huh? To manipulate me as you did with my father?"

The young woman drew her secret blade and slowly approached her victim, like a predator advancing towards its prey. No more time to waste, no more chances to speak. No more lies and fake excuses. The only thing she wanted was to give him the final blow. The poor man felt it and began to cry harder, still begging for mercy.

"Please... believe me... I have nothing to do with your father's death..."

"Well, I won't have anything to do with yours," she answered back while she raised her hand to kill him.

"VICTORIA!" shouted a voice from above.

The woman suddenly froze and raised her head, turning it in the direction of the commanding voice. She saw the owner descending with another woman with him. How could the other two Assassins have found her? She had left nothing behind that would show her intentions. She lowered her arm and, with a snap, slammed the blade into its notch. The anger and rage was gone, replaced by surprise and a bewildered face.

"Jacob?! Evie?! What are you doing here?" she asked as the twins approached her. "And how did you find me?

The impetuous brother went to the apprentice while the intrepid sister went to the poor, innocent victim.

"We're keeping you from making a mistake."

Victoria remained silent, only watching Evie examine the man she had beaten. This poor guy was suffocating from pain and severe injuries. The Frye twin said that he needed to go to hospital as soon as possible. The apprentice looked again at the man in front of her to defend herself.

"I wasn't going to make a mistake, Jacob. That man killed my father," she said, pointing to the victim who was being helped to his feet by Evie. "He must pay for what he did."

Quietly, glancing at her brother, the blue-eyed brunette indicated that she would take care of the injured man. She hoped she could find a carriage to take him as quickly as possible for treatment. Jacob got the message fast as Victoria followed them with her eyes.

"That poor man you're about to kill is innocent, Victoria," he pointed out as Evie walked past them. "The real culprit is manipulating you."

"How can you say that, Jacob," the student demanded with anger slowly returning. "Dawson betrayed my father by telling the Blighters about his intentions. Now he has a better life, he's rich, and he acts like nothing happened. Meanwhile, all these years, I've done nothing but suffer, she tried to justify herself. And God, they were friends, Jacob," she continued as her anger grew. "What kind of friend does that?"

Jacob remained calm and listened to his friend and apprentice. He understood the frustration and pain she was feeling. But he had to remain impartial, act as a teacher, as a Master Assassin.

"And then what? You want to kill him out of jealousy? Do you expect your father to come back after this? Besides, do you really think he would approve of what you're about to do?"

"Don't you dare talk to me about my father like that," she growled through her teeth as the tears began to well up. "You're no one to tell me that."

She clenched her fist, wanting to punch him in the face, but she didn't. She loved him far too much for that. She turned her back on him to leave the cul-de-sac and be left alone. But Jacob didn't hear it that way. He wasn't finished with her. He had to be tougher.

"Don't turn your back on me, Victoria!"

The brunette stopped and tensed up. She turned to him, still angry. She didn't want to obey him, but his loud voice had forced her to.

"I'm the leader of the Rooks, I manage the Brotherhood with Evie," he reminded her, stepping towards her. "And we are your teachers," he added, stopping in front of her. "Your intentions, your behaviour towards this man, and these emotions you can't control is contrary to what Evie and I have taught you," he said as Victoria looked down at the floor.

"This isn't about the Brotherhood, Jacob. This... this is about my father... about me..."

A tear rolled down her cheek as she barely closed her eyes. Seeing her teary-eyed pained the Master Assassin, but he had to stand firm with her. He stayed calm and held out his hand, inviting her to give him something.

"Then you are not worthy to wear this gauntlet."

His words had the effect of a bomb for the apprentice Assassin. She looked at him, shocked. She couldn't believe what he had just said. She felt so misunderstood by her friend - best friend. It hurt her very much. But instead of obeying Jacob, still with tears in her eyes, she did not move. She just faced his gaze and pursed her lips. She knew she was worthy. So did the Frye twin. He had never thought any of those words. He believed in her as he does in Evie. It hurt him to have to reach this point to get a reaction from her. In the face of her silence, he decided to stir the pot.

"One day, you told me you wanted to leave Rooks because you wanted to do more for London, more for England, because you felt everything you do wasn't enough. I gave you, with Evie, the occasion to do more things for people beyond London with the Brotherhood. And it's this Victoria that I want to see with this gauntlet. Not the one who I see now."

Victoria remembered his confession and his follow-up. She pursed her lips again, her gaze turned to the side. Her throat tightened as Jacob dropped his hand. Her feelings about her past and her oath to the Brotherhood were fighting in her guts. A battle between his heart and his mind. Jacob placed his hands on the young woman's shoulders, exhausted with anger and torn inside. Seeing her state of mind, he decided to become the friend she needed.

"Look, Victoria. If this is only about you, then I'll talk to you as a friend."

The ex-waitress of the Seven Bells looked at the Assassin again, trying to wipe away her tears as she felt his hand on her shoulder.

"I just ask you to trust me. This guy had nothing to do with your father's death. Like him, like you, he was just a victim of Blighters, of Starrick." he reminded her. "And anything you do won't bring your father to life, and you'll make families suffer for nothing if you don't control yourself or don't take a step back before act."

"-But how did you know he was innocent? All the evidence was against him... And you know nothing about him."

"You still have a lot to learn, Vic. With practice and time, you'll be able to see the world the way Evie and I see it," he replied, taking his hand off her shoulder. "But it's up to you whether you want to stay in the Brotherhood or not."

"If you think I'm worthy of wearing this gauntlet," she replied with a hint of sadness in her voice.

Gently, Jacob decided to take Victoria in his arms to comfort her. At first surprised, she enjoyed the embrace and returned it with her eyes closed.

"I believe in you, Victoria. I never thought for a moment that you weren't worthy of being an Assassin."

At these words, the former Rook closed her eyes and let a tear fall, as if relieved of a weight on her heart.

"Thank you, Jacob..."

A few moments later, Brother Frye broke off the embrace and looked at his friend before offering:

"How about we go back to the train, Blackbird?"

In response, Victoria nodded, smiling slightly. So, without delay, the brash brother and the Frye friend walked back to the train hideout, which had stopped at Whitechapel Station for the night.