#its the second shiny ive ever gotten and the first ive caught wild

[tigercomplex]

also i want to say i now understand the hate for kricketune because i got a fucking shiny one like a year ago and ive been mad ever since

[pass3rby]

Caught By Your Past

31st Part

Fandom: Assassin’s Creed Pairing: Altair x Malik Warnings: modern AU, mature, OOC, original female character; unbetaed.

A/N: So, first of all, I'm sorry for the 'There must occur an accident in order for them to get their act together' drama. It was not the point there. Instead, I wanted to address that horrible (for Altair a lucky, in the end, really) thing that happens in your life sometimes? The one where you pretend something to get out of whatever and your life throws it right into your face the very next moment. Like, I still remember my classmate missing one day at school. The next one, she attended and after the classes I heard her whispering to a group of her friends that she "just didn't want to go to school, so I've told them my grandma/aunt died." (not sure which one that was anymore). I cannot remember exactly (yeah, I don't remember A LOT) if it was the very next day or just a few after when I saw her shaken up and crying at school. Turned out her grandma/aunt just died. So... There's that. Dun dun dun dun. Sorry for ruining the mood, but I kinda felt the need to explain why the story ended in such a cliché manner. (Yes, you heard right.) So, without further ado...

Lucy loved cognitive neuroscience and all the mysteries and possibilities it had to offer. Think about the various studies which were only asking for substudies and evolution. Attending university, she inhaled any information she could get. She had ambitions.

As much as she wasn't stingy with her smiles and at least a few polite words, that wasn't what she studied for. As if that hadn't been enough, she had to watch as those in power and with opportunities to move her chosen field further didn't care about it one bit. All they did was patting each other's shoulders, while the real progress in the field was rotting in the corner just because a few elites weren't capable of accepting that the world was changing, evolving.

What wasn't as painfully obvious when she had loads to do and learn, turned into a nightmare now as she was basically forced into twirling her thumbs. As much as she enjoyed digging deeper into her chosen field, everything has its pros and cons. For example.

Be a “genetic freak” and there you have it – a lonesome life right there. There's simply no time for anything else and frankly, why would you waste your day on whatever when what you wanted to do was right in front of you? Her obsession proceeded to swiftly bite her in the hide, though, as soon as they kicked her out of the university.

Wait. They kicked her out? They...?

Beep beep beep beep.

Her eyes opened on reflex, her cheek suddenly pressed against a pillow. Her pillow. And her old alarm clock was blaring full force.

Damn.

Another morning.

 ***

 Arriving at the hospital meant undergoing the same ritual she had done twenty-four hours ago. Then the coffee, the to-do list, the new patients and old; the stories. When it was a turn to check one Altair Ibn-La'Ahad's room and the patient himself, there was no telling what sight will greet her after the event from yesterday.

What she did encounter was atypical silence. Locating the reason of that wasn't hard. Taking in Altair's silent nod in greeting, her eyes immediately slid down to his hip and the extra heap of dead-to-the-world human.

Half-sitting on a chair, half-slumped on the side of the bed. Jet black hair. Male. Wearing the same clothes that he stormed the room in hours ago, his fingers partly threaded with those of their patient.

For the little time she had the... pleasure to know Malik Al-Sayf, she had no doubt that he must have been all-out knackered to allow himself ending up in such an undignified, hand-in-a-jar heap. As she looked back up, the brunette mouthed a “please, don't wake him”.

Giving a nod to signalize that she understood, she began the regular checkup of the IV and whether any of Altair's wounds reopened or bled through the bandages while quietly maneuvering her way around the sleeping visitor.

The bed's rightful occupant kept still – or at least much less animated now than what she had gotten used to. Not in a bad way, though. Nothing forced, stiff or that whipped kind of behavior, no. Somehow, the until-then very lively, socializing-addicted guy was more than happy to stay like that, silent.

Content.

That was the word.

In the end, it wasn't so bad to end up where she was. Contact with humans and not just the central organ of their nervous system had its perks. Instead of just picking at their brains, she got to talk to people or see this. That didn't change her opinion about the stuffed piñatas called higher-ups.

Almost done with the check-up, she carefully redressed one wound that seemed to be acting up a bit before getting her things and the old dressing, intent on soundless retreat to give them their privacy back. Only to be stopped half-a-step away from the bed.

“Hey, could you-” Altair whispered, pointing to his side table drawer messily, the gesture just barely clear enough for Lucy to understand what he wanted her to do. However, as he previously shared with her what secret the drawer held, she frowned.

“Are you sure?” After all, the other man was deeply asleep.

“Positive.”

“Shouldn't he be awake for that?”

“Absolutely not.” If anyone were to witness their back-and-forth whisper game, they would laugh for sure. She, personally, would. Also, she was starting to suspect that the room's dark stowaway might be actually dead, because the acoustic here was doing them no favors.

No, he was good; his chest moved just now.

“You know, I still think that doing this while he's asleep is kind of wussing out.”

“To the contrary, hun. Braver man has not walked this Earth.”

“That doesn't make any sense,” As if going through with this while the man was awake would equal intentionally running onto a scalpel... Well, considering the previous reaction, the thought of modern seppuku wouldn't be entirely baseless. Yet, “You're a BASE jumper.”

“Exactly. Excitement. Adrenaline. Hardly suicidal. Malik?” pointing at his partner as successful in that as with the drawer a minute ago, “Waking him up now, you might as well start thinking about what to write in my obituary. Now, c'mon, before he really wakes up.”

Not entirely convinced, she pulled the drawer, taking a small box hidden inside and passing it to the suddenly impatient patient. Not that he didn't politely thank her before diving into work.

“Fuck. Dammit.” Swearing in a subdued voice, he kept trying to open the box. Since he had one arm in a cast and the other bandaged heavily, rendering it a basically mummificated appendage, they were unsurprisingly, visibly and frustratingly close to no use in his endeavor whatsoever.

Before he could swear any further – and possibly also louder – she took the box away from him, opening it herself before returning it to its owner.

“Aw, thanks.”

“You're welcome.”

Ungracefully shaking the box upside down resulted in dumping its content into his palm.

“Now the fun part,” he chuckled and wasn't he right. Since his only hand that had a chance to actually do the deal was the one further away from where Malik lied, this was hands down going to hurt. Nothing that would pop his stitches open or setback his healing if done carefully enough, but it'll have a bite. Lucy watched as he stubbornly pushed through anyway.

He took a deep breath before turning his upper body towards the slumbering man as much as possible; reaching with his hand out...

Almost...

Almost-

Defeated, he was forced to lay down on his back again, eyes closed, mind obviously whirring. After a bit the amber showed again with renewed fervor shining through.

“Maybe if you held his hand up?” The thoughtful voice was soon covered in a layer of plea frosting on top. Lucy sighed but did as he asked, careful not to wake the dark-haired man up. It was much better option than him really ending up doing some serious damage to himself.

“I feel like I'm being a part of a conspiracy here.”

“Well, darling,” Altair moved again, painstakingly slow, the arduousness of the exercise easy to read on his face. Nevertheless, he kept up with the conversation despite the physical pain, “You basically are. But no worries, he likes it.”

“He's asleep.”

“He still likes it.”

She snorted. This man was impossible. While objectively a tempting specimen of a man, it was more of a relief that he was spoken for, because taming this wild being? That would be a hardwork. But clearly an ordeal somebody had under their belt already anyway.

After a few dozens of very dragging seconds full of hand-handling on her part and careful cooperation from them both, she could finally be a witness to Altair painstakingly – if shakily and quite gingerly – putting a shiny new ring on the literally oblivious man's finger.

With the deed done, Altair wearily slumped back to his original position, eyes squeezed shut, breathing labored.

“Aw shit, that was harder than I thought.” She closely, if secretly, monitored his pulse slowing down back to normal. His eyes shone with quite a deal of pain when he blinked them back open again, though. She went to re-read when was the last time he had something for pain.

“I presume you're not talking about the nerves.” She noted dryly, humor on par with his. Hmm. She'll check up on him in an hour again and if he'll want, she'll have it ready.

Altair's shit-eating – if tired – smile was answer enough. He was obviously satisfied with himself.

“That was the least romantic proposal I ever saw.”

“Thank you, dear.”

The proud grin never ceased.

Gie was starting to understand why Malik was so exasperated with Altair at times.

Let's start with that fake episode with cast and brace... he even had the gall to ask her to pinkie-swear! The offer alone was utterly ridiculous, since the only one getting something out of that deal would be him; she wasn't in any danger from Malik finding out.

Although he and Malik seemed somehow gotten over the matter the morning Altair left again, the experience could be hardly forgotten. No wonder that the drive to the hospital looked the way it did.

Since Malik was the one driving, there was enough space in terms of opportunity to notice things. Things like Malik not being stressed. As in really not stressed. At all. Even her brother had certain tells, but none of them were showing. If anything, he seemed irked. When she asked if he was alright, the answer was a curt “Perfect.”. Go figure.

Now, Altair had been hospitalized, seriously hospitalized and while in no way would anyone plan that, it was heck of a timing to get into an accident anyway. All Gie was saying here was that even though she loved them both, she could finally see where Malik was coming from. Altair tends to do dumb shit and when something really happens...

This, though; this was truly something else. Altair Ibn-La'Ahad worked fast. There was no question about that. Awestruck, she just stood there, in the hospital room, her eyes firmly held and fixed by the metallic shine coming off her slumbering brother's finger. Ring finger. Left one.

Her eyebrow went up.

Altair's wiggled in answer.

One leaves for a couple of hours to preclude an end of student privileges and obligations only to return to a completely different world. One she never even imagined that she'll find herself living in for how far off the concept was. Strange to see but great all the same.

Time didn't wait around even then, though, and so it happened that Malik – engaged Malik? – started to gradually wake up. Taking stock of his surroundings, nose wrinkling... his fingers gave a strange kind of spasm upon encountering steel andwaitaminutethere. Did she imagine it or-

Don't tell me...

Gie didn't even get to decide how she felt about the revelation before Malik's head went up, eyes forcefully blinking the sleep away. Not daring to even imagine what will Malik do when he finds out, her eyes hunted down the amber hue.

Unapologetic in all its glory.

For the love of- that man was an accident waiting to happen combined with utter disregard for basic principles.

No matter the amount of desire to kick someone in the shin, they both stealthily watched as Malik was little by little shaking off the fog of sleep, in silent truce. True to his fashion, Malik was a bit slow in the mornings without a proper kickstarter – a very useful knowledge to wield – and today was no different.

Not fully focused, yet his littlefinger and middle finger kept subtly, inconspicuously brushing over the new adornment, evaluating the situation for sure. He didn't take a look – he was too awake already to be that obvious. Shame that she and Altair were focused exactly on that particular area, rendering all his efforts vain. But they better come up with a cover up themselves, because Malik was bound to look up any moment.

What's your plan now?

“Morning.”

Cheery, huh? Satisfied with the evidence that Malik noticed the ring much? He might've notice it way easier, if you gave it to him when he was conscious.

On one hand, she recognized the daring person, on another she couldn't believe that his ability to think quick on his feet failed him so bad. Neither of which meant she was thrilled. She inclined more towards-

“Hmph.”

Well, that's one way to say it.

“More like noon.” Opposing with pure facts straight away was an automatic reaction. One of which Malik would be proud. It wasn't her looking for a fight per se, as much as Altair deserved a good smack, no. More like a 'what the hell' statement of her inner self if anything, only continuing with the topic where it was left off. Whatever. She might as well play distraction so as to give Malik an opportunity to take a good look with his own eyes.

“Semantics.” Altair winked, taking cue from her and intentionally switching his full attention her way.

Forcing a frown on her face, she ignored it. She was trying to stay mad at him here. She was doing this for her brother, not confirming their renewed conspirators-in-arms status. Nope.

“Did you take a look who we're talking about?” Speaking of which, Malik was yet to take a look. What? She was his sister, she had to check! But he did stop with the ring nudging, fingers idle again; there was no way he didn't realize what the constricting band around his digit was and its meaning.

Nothing.

No reaction.

“If you want to bicker, there better be a coffee available.”

Except this one.

Malik got up from the chair to stretch, his joints cracking unnaturally loud.

“It is. In the hall. The vending machine is fully operational.” Okay, maybe she was starting to get annoyed by both of them this little bit. Is he really not gonna say anything?

“Ever helpful, little sister.” And here they were, back to the dry ribbing – as if she'll back off.

“Don't mention it.”

“I won't.” He checked for his wallet before heading for the door.

What the-As he was leaving, Altair gave Gie a beaming smile.

“Unbelievable.”

Next

A/N:

Well, this is it, guys. Now, please, if you give me a minute of your time, I'd like to explain this whole thing (CBYP in the form it is). Aside from my obvious weak spot for AltMal, in overall, I just wanted to include all the situations that happen in stories and completely ruin them for me just because they are written in that soap opera-ish manner, you know the kind of thing? Namely, I'm talking about:

1) love triangle between siblings and a third person 2) accident being all relationship trouble solution (okay, now, I know I'm walking a very thin line here, but you gotta admit that eventually Malik and Altair would be able to solve their shit even without Altair falling with no hay safeguard) 3) way too feely, overdramatic reactions to everything happening in the story. (what I mean is feelings are good, but that overplayed kind I'm having serious trouble with)

So, I've decided to give them a try myself to draw them differently. Because I believe all of these can happen. What I also believe in is, that they don't have to necessarily result in Esmeralda field of doom if there's a valid explanation at hand.

What do you say, how did I do?

Also, you didn't believe I'd left you hanging like this, did you? (actually, you could and you probably did, fuck. x.x) Anyway, be prepared for an epilogue the next week! ;)