Assassin's Creed: Firewall

To Face a Brother

 Malik did not give her long, barely an hour that passed like a minute when he returned and woke her from her unintended nap, pushing for the story of what happened at Masyaf. Stress pinched his brow from the start and Emma was sorry that she could not ease it in any way. Her words only made it worse, but she told it true and complete from the moment they left Jerusalem to the moment Altair pulled her from Masyaf; the Mongol raiders and the burned village, the late night run-in with Abbas, she left out none of it. By the time she finished, his shoulders sagged heavily.

"I wish I could say that I do not believe it, but the words of the people I spoke to brought nothing that could convince me of such." He released a heavy sigh, rubbing his forehead. "It is the why of it all that vexes me."

"I don't know his motive, but it can't be good, for any of us or the people." Emma slouched in the chair, massaging the burning wound on her thigh. Objectively, she could almost understand the drive to get information out of her, forcefully or not. She was from the future, she could have information that would change the course of history. But there was something else, something sinister behind it all. There was no real proof, nothing but a feeling she couldn't shake and her senses screaming at her that he was dangerous. If she just knew why, why he was doing all of this, what his end goal was, then they could predict his next move and stop him.

If it wasn't already too late.

Malik stood watching her, but she had a feeling he wasn't really seeing her, his mind running through everything he thought he knew.

"We have questions and very few answers. There is one place more that may have the information we seek." Yet he did not sound thrilled to go, in fact, Emma would dare say it was the last thing he wanted to do.

"Great, where?" Her chest ached as she forced herself to her feet, swaying as her leg buckled, recovered, and held.

The Dai opened his mouth, paused, and released a pained sigh. "Beneath Solomon's Temple, where this all began."

Where Altair made his fatal mistake and lost his rank.

Where Malik lost his left arm.

Where he lost his brother.

It'd been months, but that would hardly make such a wound any less raw.

"Malik....I could go. Just point me in the right direction and I'll see what I can find," Emma offered, wincing as she reached for the black robe. She would rather sleep the rest of the day than move again, but time was no longer on their side. How long it might take Altair to reach the plains of Arsuf, she hadn't a clue, but she knew she couldn't afford to be benched now.

Malik shook his head. "You are injured."

"A flesh wound."

"This is something I must do."

She paused, gauging the sharp lines of his face, the weariness in his eyes. "You haven't been back there, have you?"

"No," he answered after a pause, "my duties here have not permitted me the time."

And he'd still been recovering from the loss of his arm, the threat of the Templars too great to risk going when he couldn't defend himself. Emma couldn't believe the man that led a group of slavers and killers would honor an enemy with a proper burial, which meant his brother's body was likely right where he had fallen.

"You don't have to do it alone. Let me go with you at least." They would look a ragtag pair, but this wasn't something Malik should have to face alone. No one should have to face such a thing alone.