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Description
July 1, 2016; Indianapolis, Indiana

Ava sat in the warehouse with Ruby and the rest of their friends. Not the old hideout warehouse, grant it. That place was only just starting to be rebuilt, and it was going to take a while to get everything back in order. This warehouse was “donated”, so to speak. Donated in that Chelsea was able to call upon one last favor from a certain author the Hoosier Assassins knew just until the original hideout was back in one piece.

Not much had happened in the first couple weeks after the fight with Lucifer. The crew mostly stayed here or at home, recovering from their wounds and readjusting to the calmer life after their grandest adventure had reached its end. Chelsea had gone back to take care of her kids like normal, stopping by every now and then to check up on the things here in Indy that Carter and Jess mostly kept tabs on. Ava and Ruby spent most of their time at the backup warehouse, not doing much else than reflecting.

Ava sat in a gold-colored chair next to Ruby, who had her arm wrapped around her as Ava texted her mother making sure she got back to Minneapolis safe and sound.

“You ready to go yet, Champ?” Ruby asked her.

Ava thought about it, feeling the extra weight in her purse more than she wished she did, as small a difference as it was.

“No,” she said. “Not yet, Rubes…”

“Aight honey. We'll only hop in the car whenever you decide you're ready.”

“I know Rubes,” Ava chuckled. “You've been saying that for the past hour.”

“Well hey, it's true,” Ruby replied, punctuating her sentence with a kiss. Ava smiled, and went back to her phone.

A moment later, she put her phone back in her pocket and looked up at her girlfriend. “Let's go see what the others are up to,” she said. “I'd hate for us to leave without making sure everyone's doing okay.”

“Fine by me, Champ!” Ruby said, extending her arm out. “Lead the way.”

Ava nodded and stood up, stretching her joints for a moment before strolling over to the makeshift living room that the others had made from random furniture that was laying around the warehouse while Chelsea's contact wasn't busy filming his videos for one of his YouTube channels.

Speaking of Chelsea, one of the first things Ava saw when they walked in was her standing at the desk Carter was working at, an eyebrow raised as she stared over his shoulder at whatever he was typing up on his laptop.

“What are you doing?” she asked her cousin.

“Nothin’.”

“Boy.”

“I'm writing down the adventures we went on as a story to put on my DeviantArt.”

“Wait what?!”

“Yeah. I call it ‘Project Thunderbird’. People have been getting a kick out of it so far.”

“You've been putting out all of our top secret mission details out there on the internet for the whole world to see?!”

“Relax Chels, I've got it covered. I just tell people they're fanfictions based on those Assassin's Creed VR game thingies that Abstergo pumps out whenever they get a blood donor. Everyone thinks it's all fun fake stories, nothing more, nothing less.”

“Ooo, Nothing Less would make a good title for the Priscilla one,” Jess chimed in. “You know, because of that one Susan B. Anthony quote and all.”

“Ooh good idea!” Carter agreed, retitling his outline document.

Chelsea rolled her eyes. “Don't encourage him,” she said, huffing as she suppressed a laugh.

Then there was a quiet rapping on the door behind them all. They turned to find Jacob, still in his Duster, standing in the middle of the doorway. He collapsed his staff, looking at the group.

“Hey guys,” he said. “I… uh… wanted to see you two off.” He nodded to Ava and Ruby as he spoke. “Didn't want to miss ya.”

“Thanks man,” Ava said. “We won't be gone long, don't worry. We'll meet up with you guys when we get back.”

“That's… another reason I'm here. You probably won't be too happy to see me.” He laughed, shaking his head. “I won't be here when you do get back.”

“You're not leaving, are you?” Chelsea asked him, the concern in her voice a bit of a surprise to everyone.

“Worse,” he laughed. “I was approached by a man named… Otso Berg a few days ago. He caught me on my way home from work. He offered me a job. A good one.” He was quiet for a second, as if trying to think, then sighed. “He’s a Templar in charge of training a new Black Cross. And he chose me.”

“The Black Cross is real?” Jess gasped. “I thought it was just a myth.”

“What's the Black Cross?” Carter asked.

“Templar boogeyman. Kills any agents of the Order that get a little too greedy with their resources, if you know what I mean.”

“And you're taking that job?” Chelsea asked Jacob, clearly trying to hold in some harsh opinions.

“I thought about it,” Jacob said, “and almost denied it on principle. The Templars are the bad guys, after all.” He straightened up, nervous but proud. “But they do want someone to keep them in check. And Otso thinks I'd be perfect for job. So… I accepted it.”

The room was silent, though it wasn't quite as tense a silence as one might expect. It was almost calm.

“I take it that means you wouldn't accept an offer to rejoin us hooded folks then, huh?” Carter quietly laughed.

“I kind of blew my load on the Devil. I think you guys would only hold me back,” he chuckled.

“Oh trust me, you'd have me on your ass either way,” Chelsea quipped, a surprisingly chill smirk on her face.

He smiled. “Glad to hear it. I can always count on you to be a dead weight, Chels.” He looked at the room. “I'm not dead yet. So you guys are cool with this?”

“Man, no matter what path you take, you're always a member of my Brotherhood,” Carter smiled. “I'll still come down and give you the new hideout keys once the place is rebuilt.”

“You're cooler than I originally assumed, I guess,” Chelsea said.

“I'm not exactly the kind of person to throw stones, given my own past,” Jess laughed.

Ava stepped up and patted Jacob on the shoulder, smiling. “Just don't try to kill us too much, mkay?” she told him.

His eyes started to well up and he swallowed. “Don't worry. They'd only send me after Jess,” he lightly laughed. “The rest of you are fine.” He wiped his eyes. “Thank you. I needed that.” He looked to Ava, tears starting to come down. “Then I guess… I guess I will be seeing you when you get back”

Ava and Ruby nodded, stepping back a little bit towards the door, and looking across the room at all their friends, smiling.

“We should probably get going now while the traffic’s not too bad,” Ava said.

The others nodded, waving a heartfelt goodbye to the both of them. They all smiled at one another, everything finally at peace in their little home. Ruby put her arm around Ava's shoulder, and led her to the door. Ava leaned against her shoulder and pushed the door shut, only managing to hear Jess suddenly say, “wait what did you say about coming after me?” before it closed and the two made their way to the parking lot with Ava's bag in hand.

------------

July 1, 2016; New York City, New York

The city was much louder than what Ava was used to, with cars rushing along the busy streets that surrounded this little isolated patch of fenced off green. But she drowned out all the white noise. She didn't even really take in all the scenery. The Statue of Liberty stood tall over the distant shores, but she only paid a passing glance to it. The One World Trade Center stood tall above the city, a towering plaque to a lost structure that played such a tragic part in the life of Ava's old friend. But even so, she didn't grant it much attention. She kept her senses focused on this little patch of green in the big city, somehow quieter and calmer than all the hustle outside the fences. The gentle paths led Ava and Ruby through the field of gravestones, each marked with the names of people long gone. Yet somehow the quiet kept the somber mood away, bringing peaceful bliss to the field of those passed.

Ava and Ruby walked until they found the patch of land they were looking for, a small little square of grass with four simple stones. For a moment they simply stood and looked at them, just letting the breeze pass them by as they read them off silently to themselves:

Saqr Dylan
Loving father, husband, and soldier
May 16, 1966
September 11, 2001

Nawra Dylan
Caring mother and defender of all peoples
November 4, 1967
September 11, 2001

Maria Dylan
A beautiful flower never able to blossom
October 28,1994
September 11, 2001

And then finally Ava pulled her gaze to the last stone, keeping herself as calm and collected as she could keep herself.

Ben Dylan
Best of friends, hero to all
January 17, 1995
June 16, 2016

Ava took a deep, shaky breath and wiped her eyes with her fingers. Ruby kept her arm around her shoulder, gently rubbing her arm to comfort her. Ruby simply stared at the gravestone in silent reflection, probably doing the same thing as Ava: remembering every second of every day that she spent with her best friend. For a while both of them stood there like that, Ava struggling to hold herself together while Ruby mourned quietly alongside her. Neither of them spoke, they simply took the scene in.

Eventually Ruby gave Ava a gentle nudge, prompting her to look up and see Ruby nodding towards her purse. Ava looked down at it, swallowed her soft sobs, and nodded. She slowly reached into her back, curling her fingers around the weight that had been nagging at her the entire trip. She pulled the flowers out, staring at them almost as long as she had stared at the gravestone before finally stepping forward. She bent down, and gently laid the bouquet on the grass that gently swayed over Ben's grave. She smiled tearfully at the gravestone before standing up again and backing up. Ruby pulled something out of her own purse as well, a single white eagle feather, and she copied Ava's motions, placing the delicate thing right beside the bouquet. Then she stepped back as well, wrapping her arm around Ava once again and giving her a quick kiss on the head to comfort her. Another long moment of silence, this one only being broken when Ruby looked at Ava and nodded for them to start making their way back to the car. Ava wiped her eyes one last time, sniffled, and nodded. She followed her girlfriend back down the path towards the car, silently wishing their friend a safe journey as they made their way back and left him to rest in peace.

------------

July 2, 2016; Indianapolis, Indiana

Ava stood on the rooftop, watching the streets and skyline, listening for any signs of new adventures. It was a quiet day, it seemed. Not much going on in the city for them to hop into. Her ears eventually did perk up in the middle of the day though when she heard the telltale sound of police sirens in the distance. She smiled and looked over at Ruby, who grinned right back and pulled up her hood. Ava suddenly heard the scruffing of footsteps behind her, and she turned to see Carter and Jess smiling as well as they walked up to join them. Two more figures appeared on the rooftop as well in the form of Jacob and Chelsea, both equally ready for action. Ava smiled at them all as they stood in a line along the edge, like eagles perched and ready to take flight. Ava looked out onto the Indianapolis skyline, standing tall and proud as her friends stood beside her. She looked up into the sky, and she saw an eagle hovering above in the crisp blue sky of a new day. Her smile grew wider as she pulled up her own hood, and stood on the edge, ready to go. She closed her eyes and felt the breeze catch her hair. She spread her arms wide, taking a deep, calm breath as the eagle called out from the sky.

And they took a leap of faith.

Description
July 1, 2016; Indianapolis, Indiana

Ava sat in the warehouse with Ruby and the rest of their friends. Not the old hideout warehouse, grant it. That place was only just starting to be rebuilt, and it was going to take a while to get everything back in order. This warehouse was “donated”, so to speak. Donated in that Chelsea was able to call upon one last favor from a certain author the Hoosier Assassins knew just until the original hideout was back in one piece.

Not much had happened in the first couple weeks after the fight with Lucifer. The crew mostly stayed here or at home, recovering from their wounds and readjusting to the calmer life after their grandest adventure had reached its end. Chelsea had gone back to take care of her kids like normal, stopping by every now and then to check up on the things here in Indy that Carter and Jess mostly kept tabs on. Ava and Ruby spent most of their time at the backup warehouse, not doing much else than reflecting.

Ava sat in a gold-colored chair next to Ruby, who had her arm wrapped around her as Ava texted her mother making sure she got back to Minneapolis safe and sound.

“You ready to go yet, Champ?” Ruby asked her.

Ava thought about it, feeling the extra weight in her purse more than she wished she did, as small a difference as it was.

“No,” she said. “Not yet, Rubes…”

“Aight honey. We'll only hop in the car whenever you decide you're ready.”

“I know Rubes,” Ava chuckled. “You've been saying that for the past hour.”

“Well hey, it's true,” Ruby replied, punctuating her sentence with a kiss. Ava smiled, and went back to her phone.

A moment later, she put her phone back in her pocket and looked up at her girlfriend. “Let's go see what the others are up to,” she said. “I'd hate for us to leave without making sure everyone's doing okay.”

“Fine by me, Champ!” Ruby said, extending her arm out. “Lead the way.”

Ava nodded and stood up, stretching her joints for a moment before strolling over to the makeshift living room that the others had made from random furniture that was laying around the warehouse while Chelsea's contact wasn't busy filming his videos for one of his YouTube channels.

Speaking of Chelsea, one of the first things Ava saw when they walked in was her standing at the desk Carter was working at, an eyebrow raised as she stared over his shoulder at whatever he was typing up on his laptop.

“What are you doing?” she asked her cousin.

“Nothin’.”

“Boy.”

“I'm writing down the adventures we went on as a story to put on my DeviantArt.”

“Wait what?!”

“Yeah. I call it ‘Project Thunderbird’. People have been getting a kick out of it so far.”

“You've been putting out all of our top secret mission details out there on the internet for the whole world to see?!”

“Relax Chels, I've got it covered. I just tell people they're fanfictions based on those Assassin's Creed VR game thingies that Abstergo pumps out whenever they get a blood donor. Everyone thinks it's all fun fake stories, nothing more, nothing less.”

“Ooo, Nothing Less would make a good title for the Priscilla one,” Jess chimed in. “You know, because of that one Susan B. Anthony quote and all.”

“Ooh good idea!” Carter agreed, retitling his outline document.

Chelsea rolled her eyes. “Don't encourage him,” she said, huffing as she suppressed a laugh.

Then there was a quiet rapping on the door behind them all. They turned to find Jacob, still in his Duster, standing in the middle of the doorway. He collapsed his staff, looking at the group.

“Hey guys,” he said. “I… uh… wanted to see you two off.” He nodded to Ava and Ruby as he spoke. “Didn't want to miss ya.”

“Thanks man,” Ava said. “We won't be gone long, don't worry. We'll meet up with you guys when we get back.”

“That's… another reason I'm here. You probably won't be too happy to see me.” He laughed, shaking his head. “I won't be here when you do get back.”

“You're not leaving, are you?” Chelsea asked him, the concern in her voice a bit of a surprise to everyone.

“Worse,” he laughed. “I was approached by a man named… Otso Berg a few days ago. He caught me on my way home from work. He offered me a job. A good one.” He was quiet for a second, as if trying to think, then sighed. “He’s a Templar in charge of training a new Black Cross. And he chose me.”

“The Black Cross is real?” Jess gasped. “I thought it was just a myth.”

“What's the Black Cross?” Carter asked.

“Templar boogeyman. Kills any agents of the Order that get a little too greedy with their resources, if you know what I mean.”

“And you're taking that job?” Chelsea asked Jacob, clearly trying to hold in some harsh opinions.

“I thought about it,” Jacob said, “and almost denied it on principle. The Templars are the bad guys, after all.” He straightened up, nervous but proud. “But they do want someone to keep them in check. And Otso thinks I'd be perfect for job. So… I accepted it.”

The room was silent, though it wasn't quite as tense a silence as one might expect. It was almost calm.

“I take it that means you wouldn't accept an offer to rejoin us hooded folks then, huh?” Carter quietly laughed.

“I kind of blew my load on the Devil. I think you guys would only hold me back,” he chuckled.

“Oh trust me, you'd have me on your ass either way,” Chelsea quipped, a surprisingly chill smirk on her face.

He smiled. “Glad to hear it. I can always count on you to be a dead weight, Chels.” He looked at the room. “I'm not dead yet. So you guys are cool with this?”

“Man, no matter what path you take, you're always a member of my Brotherhood,” Carter smiled. “I'll still come down and give you the new hideout keys once the place is rebuilt.”

“You're cooler than I originally assumed, I guess,” Chelsea said.

“I'm not exactly the kind of person to throw stones, given my own past,” Jess laughed.

Ava stepped up and patted Jacob on the shoulder, smiling. “Just don't try to kill us too much, mkay?” she told him.

His eyes started to well up and he swallowed. “Don't worry. They'd only send me after Jess,” he lightly laughed. “The rest of you are fine.” He wiped his eyes. “Thank you. I needed that.” He looked to Ava, tears starting to come down. “Then I guess… I guess I will be seeing you when you get back”

Ava and Ruby nodded, stepping back a little bit towards the door, and looking across the room at all their friends, smiling.

“We should probably get going now while the traffic’s not too bad,” Ava said.

The others nodded, waving a heartfelt goodbye to the both of them. They all smiled at one another, everything finally at peace in their little home. Ruby put her arm around Ava's shoulder, and led her to the door. Ava leaned against her shoulder and pushed the door shut, only managing to hear Jess suddenly say, “wait what did you say about coming after me?” before it closed and the two made their way to the parking lot with Ava's bag in hand.

------------

July 1, 2016; New York City, New York

The city was much louder than what Ava was used to, with cars rushing along the busy streets that surrounded this little isolated patch of fenced off green. But she drowned out all the white noise. She didn't even really take in all the scenery. The Statue of Liberty stood tall over the distant shores, but she only paid a passing glance to it. The One World Trade Center stood tall above the city, a towering plaque to a lost structure that played such a tragic part in the life of Ava's old friend. But even so, she didn't grant it much attention. She kept her senses focused on this little patch of green in the big city, somehow quieter and calmer than all the hustle outside the fences. The gentle paths led Ava and Ruby through the field of gravestones, each marked with the names of people long gone. Yet somehow the quiet kept the somber mood away, bringing peaceful bliss to the field of those passed.

Ava and Ruby walked until they found the patch of land they were looking for, a small little square of grass with four simple stones. For a moment they simply stood and looked at them, just letting the breeze pass them by as they read them off silently to themselves:

Saqr Dylan
Loving father, husband, and soldier
May 16, 1966
September 11, 2001

Nawra Dylan
Caring mother and defender of all peoples
November 4, 1967
September 11, 2001

Maria Dylan
A beautiful flower never able to blossom
October 28,1994
September 11, 2001

And then finally Ava pulled her gaze to the last stone, keeping herself as calm and collected as she could keep herself.

Ben Dylan
Best of friends, hero to all
January 17, 1995
June 16, 2016

Ava took a deep, shaky breath and wiped her eyes with her fingers. Ruby kept her arm around her shoulder, gently rubbing her arm to comfort her. Ruby simply stared at the gravestone in silent reflection, probably doing the same thing as Ava: remembering every second of every day that she spent with her best friend. For a while both of them stood there like that, Ava struggling to hold herself together while Ruby mourned quietly alongside her. Neither of them spoke, they simply took the scene in.

Eventually Ruby gave Ava a gentle nudge, prompting her to look up and see Ruby nodding towards her purse. Ava looked down at it, swallowed her soft sobs, and nodded. She slowly reached into her back, curling her fingers around the weight that had been nagging at her the entire trip. She pulled the flowers out, staring at them almost as long as she had stared at the gravestone before finally stepping forward. She bent down, and gently laid the bouquet on the grass that gently swayed over Ben's grave. She smiled tearfully at the gravestone before standing up again and backing up. Ruby pulled something out of her own purse as well, a single white eagle feather, and she copied Ava's motions, placing the delicate thing right beside the bouquet. Then she stepped back as well, wrapping her arm around Ava once again and giving her a quick kiss on the head to comfort her. Another long moment of silence, this one only being broken when Ruby looked at Ava and nodded for them to start making their way back to the car. Ava wiped her eyes one last time, sniffled, and nodded. She followed her girlfriend back down the path towards the car, silently wishing their friend a safe journey as they made their way back and left him to rest in peace.

------------

July 2, 2016; Indianapolis, Indiana

Ava stood on the rooftop, watching the streets and skyline, listening for any signs of new adventures. It was a quiet day, it seemed. Not much going on in the city for them to hop into. Her ears eventually did perk up in the middle of the day though when she heard the telltale sound of police sirens in the distance. She smiled and looked over at Ruby, who grinned right back and pulled up her hood. Ava suddenly heard the scruffing of footsteps behind her, and she turned to see Carter and Jess smiling as well as they walked up to join them. Two more figures appeared on the rooftop as well in the form of Jacob and Chelsea, both equally ready for action. Ava smiled at them all as they stood in a line along the edge, like eagles perched and ready to take flight. Ava looked out onto the Indianapolis skyline, standing tall and proud as her friends stood beside her. She looked up into the sky, and she saw an eagle hovering above in the crisp blue sky of a new day. Her smile grew wider as she pulled up her own hood, and stood on the edge, ready to go. She closed her eyes and felt the breeze catch her hair. She spread her arms wide, taking a deep, calm breath as the eagle called out from the sky.

And they took a leap of faith.