Assassin's Creed: Winter's Falling

Chapter 28

"Welp," Ann put her hands on her hips. "I'm beat after today. I'm gonna go crash in the room. Leggo, Bart."

Ann took the stairs two at a time; Bart trailing behind her. Charles lead the other's upstairs after her. He opened the door to what would be the girl's room for Ann before turning to address the rest of the group.

"We're a very small group," Charles smiled sadly at them. "Always have been. The den wasn't really made to accommodate this many people, but I'm sure we can make it work."

"It's fine, Charles," Andy patted his shoulder. "We've been in tighter scrapes before."

"You're probably tired after your long journey," Charles smiled. "Lady's to the left, gentlemen to the right, and I shall call you down for dinner when the time arrives. If you have any questions for me, I'll be downstairs."

With one last glance and smile at Nerida, Charles disappeared back down the stairs. Everyone, exhausted, wandered into their rooms to unpack. They were glad to see their gear sitting neatly on the beds. Sol set Maria's cage down and let her out. Maria instantly walked out of the room. A scream followed by a soft purring sound came from the other room. Sol went to investigate. She found Maria gently circling Andy's legs. Andy looked as if he had a live grenade in front of him. Sol couldn't help but laugh.

"She must have missed you," Sol smiled. "She's been avoiding you, but now I think she's made up her mind how to feel about you. Looks like you've won Maria over, Andy."

He was confused at first, but then Andy made a soft oh-ing noise and slowly relaxed. He gently leaned forward and stretched out his hand. Maria instantly stuck her head under his open palm. After a moment of hesitation, Andy let himself scratch her. Maria purred louder.

"I missed you too," Andy couldn't help but smile.

"We all missed you," Sol watched them contently. "A team is only as good as it's leader."

"No," Andy smiled at Sol. "A leader is only as good as his team."

Sol grinned and turned away. Andy watched her go, then turned his attention back to Maria. He was grateful for what he had. This team of his, it was better than anything he could have ever asked for. He had almost raised two of them and had found them rest. He hadn't known it then, but those meeting where the ones that had changed his fate. Now he knew he understood how important a meeting could be. This team was everything, and Andy was sure everyone felt the same way.

"Ground rules, Andy," Lazerus threw his bag on his bed. "No snoring. Jack woke up outside once for that."

"Fine," Andy straitened. "No midnight phone calls. Lightning still doesn't fully trust you after Jamaica."

"She's still on that?" Lazerus shook his head. "She has trust issues. I told her what the calls where. Faust can even verify them."

"She's had a rough past," Andy shrugged.

"Haven't we all?"

"Did you kill your parents because they were abusing you?"

Lazerus was silent. He knew He should have responded, but he wasn't sure what to say. He hadn't been expecting a response like that. He couldn't help but wonder what had happened to the others. They knew his story, but he didn't know any of theirs. It would have seemed unfair if Lazerus had remained unaware of the mildness of the horrors of his own past. Still, the curiosity got to him.