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Description
May 21, 2016; Indianapolis, Indiana

Everyone took a long, long break after that night. No one had the spirit to do anything except the bare minimum. The hideout was dead quiet most of the time. No one felt comfortable with talking that much. It was as though the entire building had just frozen in place. Carter was depressed from losing his friend. Chelsea was recovering her energy from having her baby. Ben and Ruby were wrecked with guilt over what had gone down. And Ava…

Ava sat in her room for weeks, refusing to come out most of the time. Her friends put food and water down at her doorstep to her once they realized approaching her wasn't much of an option. She sat there in thought most of the time. Thought, tears, or both. That was all she had the willpower for after what went down.

The voices kept coming back, but she didn't care. Her head hurt on a constant basis, but she didn't care. She just sat on her bed and watched the room warp and twist into different time periods. It was the norm for her now. She was too deep into it now to care anymore.

“What are you doing? Get out of the way right now, young lady!”

“No! You can't kill Mr. Smith! He's nice!”

“His people have slaughtered ours and taken our homes! He has to die, Pocahontas.”

“No Kahente! Please!”

Ava smacked the side of her head like a staticy tv. The voices and scenery changed.

“Mrs. Bellamy-”

“Priscilla dearie, I told you it's okay to call me Aveza. We're all friends here, sweetheart!”

“Oh. Okay. Why is there a bad man as president?”

“Well, unfortunately your government allows for a lot of loopholes. Men like Andrew Jackson use these whenever they can to take control for their Templar buddies.”

“I hope we can stop all the Templars one day, Aveza.”

“So do I, dearie, so do I.”

Ava hit her head again. Her eye twitched.

“Dhien hates me, Jaga...”

“No, Apsarini, I promise she doesn't.”

“She's mean to me…”

“She just wants you to be ready.”

“I hate her.”

“She's under a lot of stress, little sister. Please try to understand… Things can't always be easy…”

Ava felt a couple tears roll down her cheeks. She mindlessly wiped them off and hit her head again.

“Oh… Sorry Aren… I didn't mean to bring up the war…”

“Oh no, Kiki, it's quite alright! What's the point of having an adventure of you can't tell anyone about it?”

“You're not mad?”

“Course not! What reason have I to be mad? I'm sitting next to the love of my life in the most gorgeous city on Earth with our child on the way. I couldn't be mad if I tried!”

“Okay… so you don't mind?”

“Love, I will never lie to you. If you ask me about my life, I'll tell you about it. I won't keep secrets from my family.”

“Then why did you lie to me?!” Ava shouted, tears pouring down. Her lip trembled. She started breathing heavily. “Why can't I just get off easy? Why can't I just know what the hell is going on?” She stood and looked at the ceiling. “If I'm getting caught in some angel war, I feel like I have a right to know what the hell is going on!” she shouted. She knew Gabriel couldn't hear her. She knew he was in the Temple and nowhere else. Or was he? Maybe he could hear her. Maybe he was just being an ass, a trickster trying to toy around with the mere humans.

Ava realized that she had clenched her fists and that her nails were drawing blood from her palms. She loosened her grip and lowered her head.

“I just want to know why I have to hurt like this…”

Then another thought started creeping into her head. She grit her teeth.

“We have a responsibility as Assassins, Aveza, one to protect and serve the people forever.”

“No,” Ava stated to no one. “No! You know what, I'm done! I'm bloody done with getting hurt for something so stupid! I don't need this! I'm getting my answers now and then I'm going home! Ruby!”

She stormed to her door and ripped it open, slamming it behind her without looking back. Her face was red with fury. She had made up her mind, and she wasn't going to let anyone tell her no. Not at this point.

She stormed into the living room, where the Animi were gathering dust and Ben and Ruby were sitting on the couch moping. They looked up at Ava when she walked in. They saw how mad she looked, and their own faces were filled with concern… and a bit of fear.

Ava glared them down and then sauntered over to the Animus. She grabbed a headset and dusted it off. Ruby darted over to her in protest.

“Woah woah hey, Champ! What are you-?”

“Put me in,” Ava snapped, tossing the headset at Ruby.

“What?”

“Apsarini. 1883. Now!”

“Ava, hun, with all due respect, hell no!”

“One last session to finish grandma's stupid war stories.”

“Ava…” Ben warned. “You're clearly not thinking straight. Come on, let's go and-”

“Shut up, Ben! I'm thinking straighter than I ever have before!”

“Oh really?” Ruby said, not having any of this. “Is that why you came in here demanding we keep going with the thing that nearly killed you?”

“Listen to me!” Ava shouted, tired of not being heard. “Listen to me right now! I am done, do you hear me? I quit!”

All the color drained out of Ben's face. Ruby's jaw dropped.

“I'm done with being dragged through the mud of this stupid war between you jerks and the Templars! I'm done with being a pawn that just sits back and takes a beating for the sake of everyone else! I'm done with my head getting ripped into pieces! I am done! I want to get this stupid side quest for Gabriel done, I want to hand over my hood, and I want to go home to Minnesota! Because I am done!”

Her hand lunged at her neck and grabbed Kahente's necklace. She yanked hard and snapped the string in the back. She jumbled the beads in her fist and slammed it onto the floor. Her friends looked at it, and then her, in stunned silence.

“A-Ava…” Ben choked.

“Put. Me. In. I'm finished! I'm done! I'm not one of you, I'm not an Assassin! I'm tired is what I am! I. Am. Done. So let's get this stupid memory session over with so that I can go home and watch tv with my mom.”

Ben and Ruby just stood there, not knowing what to say or what to do. Ben's hands were trembling. He looked like he was about to cry. He looked full of guilt. Ruby just clutched the Animus headset in her hands, feeling the cold, uncaring metal of it. She looked at her girlfriend, but she didn't see her girlfriend. Ava didn't care anymore. She was done anyway. Once she had this finished and she was back home, she never wanted to see either of them ever again. Ruby seemed to realise this, and it caused her to well up in tears. She frowned.

“Fine,” she said, turning to the old chair and getting everything set up. Ava nodded unsympathetically. She sat down when she was told to and waited for the headset to be lowered onto her head by Ruby. She noticed Ben was still in the same spot, a hand on his trembling mouth as his body shook with every breath. Ava was too far gone to care anymore. She looked at the ceiling as Ruby brought the headset down. She bent over and looked Ava dead in the eye.

“We'll take you home, but we won't stop worrying about you, or caring about you. We still love you, Champ. I still love you.”

Ava said nothing. Ruby lowered the Animus over her eyes. The void flashed into existence around Ava's vision. Double helixes swarmed her. The sequence of genes on the last end of the DNA strand lit up and started blinking. There was a clacking of keyboard keys outside. Ava watched the molecules blink faster and faster, getting brighter and brighter. Soon her vision was engulfed in white. For a brief moment she was finally released from the prison of the voices that were screaming in her head. There was only one mind in her brain now. It took in the sounds around her. The sounds of the streets faded out almost as quickly as they hit her ears. Her horse's hooves smacked through the mud as it ran full gallop alongside the tracks and plowed through the streets. She kept her eyes on her target, kept her ears primed on its clattering wheels. She whipped the reins harder.

Her target was on that tram. Nothing could stop her now.

Description
May 21, 2016; Indianapolis, Indiana

Everyone took a long, long break after that night. No one had the spirit to do anything except the bare minimum. The hideout was dead quiet most of the time. No one felt comfortable with talking that much. It was as though the entire building had just frozen in place. Carter was depressed from losing his friend. Chelsea was recovering her energy from having her baby. Ben and Ruby were wrecked with guilt over what had gone down. And Ava…

Ava sat in her room for weeks, refusing to come out most of the time. Her friends put food and water down at her doorstep to her once they realized approaching her wasn't much of an option. She sat there in thought most of the time. Thought, tears, or both. That was all she had the willpower for after what went down.

The voices kept coming back, but she didn't care. Her head hurt on a constant basis, but she didn't care. She just sat on her bed and watched the room warp and twist into different time periods. It was the norm for her now. She was too deep into it now to care anymore.

“What are you doing? Get out of the way right now, young lady!”

“No! You can't kill Mr. Smith! He's nice!”

“His people have slaughtered ours and taken our homes! He has to die, Pocahontas.”

“No Kahente! Please!”

Ava smacked the side of her head like a staticy tv. The voices and scenery changed.

“Mrs. Bellamy-”

“Priscilla dearie, I told you it's okay to call me Aveza. We're all friends here, sweetheart!”

“Oh. Okay. Why is there a bad man as president?”

“Well, unfortunately your government allows for a lot of loopholes. Men like Andrew Jackson use these whenever they can to take control for their Templar buddies.”

“I hope we can stop all the Templars one day, Aveza.”

“So do I, dearie, so do I.”

Ava hit her head again. Her eye twitched.

“Dhien hates me, Jaga...”

“No, Apsarini, I promise she doesn't.”

“She's mean to me…”

“She just wants you to be ready.”

“I hate her.”

“She's under a lot of stress, little sister. Please try to understand… Things can't always be easy…”

Ava felt a couple tears roll down her cheeks. She mindlessly wiped them off and hit her head again.

“Oh… Sorry Aren… I didn't mean to bring up the war…”

“Oh no, Kiki, it's quite alright! What's the point of having an adventure of you can't tell anyone about it?”

“You're not mad?”

“Course not! What reason have I to be mad? I'm sitting next to the love of my life in the most gorgeous city on Earth with our child on the way. I couldn't be mad if I tried!”

“Okay… so you don't mind?”

“Love, I will never lie to you. If you ask me about my life, I'll tell you about it. I won't keep secrets from my family.”

“Then why did you lie to me?!” Ava shouted, tears pouring down. Her lip trembled. She started breathing heavily. “Why can't I just get off easy? Why can't I just know what the hell is going on?” She stood and looked at the ceiling. “If I'm getting caught in some angel war, I feel like I have a right to know what the hell is going on!” she shouted. She knew Gabriel couldn't hear her. She knew he was in the Temple and nowhere else. Or was he? Maybe he could hear her. Maybe he was just being an ass, a trickster trying to toy around with the mere humans.

Ava realized that she had clenched her fists and that her nails were drawing blood from her palms. She loosened her grip and lowered her head.

“I just want to know why I have to hurt like this…”

Then another thought started creeping into her head. She grit her teeth.

“We have a responsibility as Assassins, Aveza, one to protect and serve the people forever.”

“No,” Ava stated to no one. “No! You know what, I'm done! I'm bloody done with getting hurt for something so stupid! I don't need this! I'm getting my answers now and then I'm going home! Ruby!”

She stormed to her door and ripped it open, slamming it behind her without looking back. Her face was red with fury. She had made up her mind, and she wasn't going to let anyone tell her no. Not at this point.

She stormed into the living room, where the Animi were gathering dust and Ben and Ruby were sitting on the couch moping. They looked up at Ava when she walked in. They saw how mad she looked, and their own faces were filled with concern… and a bit of fear.

Ava glared them down and then sauntered over to the Animus. She grabbed a headset and dusted it off. Ruby darted over to her in protest.

“Woah woah hey, Champ! What are you-?”

“Put me in,” Ava snapped, tossing the headset at Ruby.

“What?”

“Apsarini. 1883. Now!”

“Ava, hun, with all due respect, hell no!”

“One last session to finish grandma's stupid war stories.”

“Ava…” Ben warned. “You're clearly not thinking straight. Come on, let's go and-”

“Shut up, Ben! I'm thinking straighter than I ever have before!”

“Oh really?” Ruby said, not having any of this. “Is that why you came in here demanding we keep going with the thing that nearly killed you?”

“Listen to me!” Ava shouted, tired of not being heard. “Listen to me right now! I am done, do you hear me? I quit!”

All the color drained out of Ben's face. Ruby's jaw dropped.

“I'm done with being dragged through the mud of this stupid war between you jerks and the Templars! I'm done with being a pawn that just sits back and takes a beating for the sake of everyone else! I'm done with my head getting ripped into pieces! I am done! I want to get this stupid side quest for Gabriel done, I want to hand over my hood, and I want to go home to Minnesota! Because I am done!”

Her hand lunged at her neck and grabbed Kahente's necklace. She yanked hard and snapped the string in the back. She jumbled the beads in her fist and slammed it onto the floor. Her friends looked at it, and then her, in stunned silence.

“A-Ava…” Ben choked.

“Put. Me. In. I'm finished! I'm done! I'm not one of you, I'm not an Assassin! I'm tired is what I am! I. Am. Done. So let's get this stupid memory session over with so that I can go home and watch tv with my mom.”

Ben and Ruby just stood there, not knowing what to say or what to do. Ben's hands were trembling. He looked like he was about to cry. He looked full of guilt. Ruby just clutched the Animus headset in her hands, feeling the cold, uncaring metal of it. She looked at her girlfriend, but she didn't see her girlfriend. Ava didn't care anymore. She was done anyway. Once she had this finished and she was back home, she never wanted to see either of them ever again. Ruby seemed to realise this, and it caused her to well up in tears. She frowned.

“Fine,” she said, turning to the old chair and getting everything set up. Ava nodded unsympathetically. She sat down when she was told to and waited for the headset to be lowered onto her head by Ruby. She noticed Ben was still in the same spot, a hand on his trembling mouth as his body shook with every breath. Ava was too far gone to care anymore. She looked at the ceiling as Ruby brought the headset down. She bent over and looked Ava dead in the eye.

“We'll take you home, but we won't stop worrying about you, or caring about you. We still love you, Champ. I still love you.”

Ava said nothing. Ruby lowered the Animus over her eyes. The void flashed into existence around Ava's vision. Double helixes swarmed her. The sequence of genes on the last end of the DNA strand lit up and started blinking. There was a clacking of keyboard keys outside. Ava watched the molecules blink faster and faster, getting brighter and brighter. Soon her vision was engulfed in white. For a brief moment she was finally released from the prison of the voices that were screaming in her head. There was only one mind in her brain now. It took in the sounds around her. The sounds of the streets faded out almost as quickly as they hit her ears. Her horse's hooves smacked through the mud as it ran full gallop alongside the tracks and plowed through the streets. She kept her eyes on her target, kept her ears primed on its clattering wheels. She whipped the reins harder.

Her target was on that tram. Nothing could stop her now.