( the impetuous brother )

★

CHLOE'S HEAD SCREAMED at her well before she started to gain full consciousness. A constant throb in her right temple from when she― well, from when she apparently hit her head.

The memories slowly came back to her: trailing Peter Kane, the unexpected ambush, the fighting, the―

Her head snapped up, ignoring the throb that now mimicked her heart in favor of knowing. A quick scan of the room revealed the underground cave that housed the― shroud? The casing was pushed back, and her eyesight was good enough to note the missing piece. What was someone like Dorian Jones doing with the Shroud of Eden?

Her mind supplied her with the answer in about a second: wasn't he the apprentice of an old Templar scientist?

Albeit strange, Jones seemed to have a motive. Revive his old boss? Immortality? Pure (while twisted) science? The phrase pick your poison seemed appropriate for the situation.

A groan from her side cut her examination short but provided the information that Kane was still alive, thank god. The fewer souls on her conscience, the better. 

(Wasn't she fine with killing not even four days ago?)

"Hey," she croaked out, wincing at her own voice. "Are you okay?"

"Define okay."

"Fair enough." Chloe cleared her throat, testing her bonds and taking inventory of any possible weapon on her person.

Dorian Jones was pretty smart, she'll give him that. The coat she had been wearing was gone, so all obvious weapons had been removed, along with her hidden blade. The ropes around her wrists were tight and her feet were bound to the wooden chair legs. 

A little wiggle room provided the feet were loose. 

A smirk. She could work with that.

"You going to make it?"

"Yes, but―"

"Good, act dead."

She didn't give him room to argue. "Come out and show yourself, coward!"

"What the bloody hell are you―"

"Come on!" she grinned, feeling the adrenaline coursing through her veins. "Don't tell me you're scared of confrontation!"

Ringing silence. Turning her head to the engineer, she raised her eyebrows. She got a bitchface in return, but Peter indulged her and let his head drop, slowing his breathing.

Good. Now she only had to worry about herself. "Wouldn't surprise me, seeing as you had your henchmen do your dirty work!"

"Such a loudmouth. Then again, it wouldn't surprise me."

Dorian appeared as he walked around her chair, crouching down not even a few feet in front of her.

His cold eyes met hers. "Flies do tend to attempt escape after capture, don't they?"

Bingo.

A shark-like grin split her face. "You have something of mine. I've come to collect."

His mouth quirked. Standing swiftly, the man approached a wooden table that was on the outskirts of the cave. The objects were far enough and swiped two objects. He strode back and presented one burner phone and red arrow.

"These finicky things?" He held them closer and inspected them. "Three days worth of poking and prodding and I've learned nothing."

Dorian pocketed her items and stepped closer, resting a hand by her shoulder and leaning down close. "Care to elaborate?"

"What, are you bothered you can't reverse-engineer something so simple?" Chloe tsked, shaking her head. "How the mighty have fallen."

Jones smirked before a crack filled the air. A second passed before Chloe registered the fire emitting from her cheek and the pain registering in her neck and mouth. 

Rolling her head back to rest on the chair, a bloody grin shone up at the Templar. "You won't figure it out, and I won't tell you." She chuckled. "Quite the stalemate, huh?"

"Oh, you'll tell me," he leaned in closer, his eyes boring into hers. "Because if you don't, then I'll kill Mr. Kane over here."

The threat didn't register. All she knew was that the bonding holding her feet was loose and Jones was right in her personal space. "Don't be so sure."

In a fluid motion, Chloe rose her knee and watched the Templar topple. His head cracked back when the Assassin slammed her forehead against his, and rose to her feet, twisting her body in such a way that the chair (that still had her in it) slammed Dorian to the ground.

Rolling away, Chloe snatched a broken chair leg and slammed it against his head, breathing in relief when he slouched to the ground. 

Tossing the leg away, she leaned down and grabbed her arrow and phone from his pocket, slipping the phone into her own and cutting Peter's bonds with the arrow. He immediately rose and rubbed at the marks on his wrist. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it." she nodded, reveling in the familiar security her own gear gave her. "Get out of here, I'll clean this mess up."

He nodded and turned, but stopped when Chloe called out his name.

"You have a good head on your shoulders. It shouldn't be wasted. The Assassins would love to have that."

He chuckled. "I'll think about it."

She smiled as he left, and turned back to take care of Dorian― who wasn't there.

Her smile turned to a scowl, and her grip on the only weapon she possessed tightened. "Alright, Jones, enough games. Come on out, and we'll settle this like adults."

A rough rolling sound surrounded her in three different places. The air erupted in smoke, and a dark chuckle surrounded her. "Adults? You're hardly older than a child."

"Still more mature than you," she mumbled twirling the arrow. Chloe twirled around slowly, her sight interrupted by clouding smoke, and raised her voice. "You're the one hiding!"

Pounding footsteps drew her attention to the side and saw the twins break through the stone. What the hell―

"CHLOE, BEHIND YOU!"

Chloe spun around with her hand outstretched to break any attack. Steel met flesh and her sharp cry rang out as the metal tore through her right palm. Clenching her hand, the adrenaline masked the pain as she blocked his attacks with the arrow, swiping at air. 

She growled, rolling away from the attack, springing up immediately to block another incoming attack. A knife tore through the air and lodged itself in Dorian's left shoulder, causing him to falter. She leaned in close and tore her gauntlet off his, immediately sliding it back into its rightful place on her forearm.

Jones ripped the knife in one fluid motion and chucked it back in the direction it came from, grinning when a yelp sounded from behind the wall of clearing smoke. 

Chloe kicked the man while he was down, growing irritated when he landed next to the discarded chair leg she used earlier. Dorian spun around to block an attack from Chloe's sword and used the same tactic to knock Jacob's incoming knife to the ground. 

The Templar was good, holding his own at three trained Assassins. Chloe let a growl out and used Peter's empty chair to give herself leverage―

―only to come crashing down on empty space. Chloe rose to stand in-between Evie and Jacob. A quick glance to the side revealed Jacob sporting a similar gash on his right hand. Nodding to Evie, the trio made their way to advance. Chloe raised her hand to fight―

―and a golden aura knocked her back, slamming into a column behind her and sinking to the floor. Her lungs contracted around nothing, and she gasped for a breath that she couldn't catch.

"Enough!" Dorian shouted, holding an Apple in his hand. "I've had enough!"

The force on her chest doubled. Falling back to the ground, a bitter laugh escaped as she fell back on the stone column. This motive makes more sense. Chloe didn't know if restoring an Apple of Eden by using another piece of Eden was possible, but here she was. The Shroud could be used to restore life, so why wouldn't it work on pre-historic magical technology that could control humans?

What is my life? she thought, grasping at the stone to lift herself up.

Dorian had ample opportunity to become better than his teacher. All Dorian had to do was build on top of Brewster's research instead of looking for himself, and the Templars would welcome him with open arms. That was his motive: seeking solidarity with the people who could give him a chance to become better than his teacher.

"You Assassins waltzed into the city, pretending to own the people, the buildings, the boroughs!" he seethed, pacing back and forth like a predator about to make a pounce on his prey. "You forget who built this city in the first place!"

"You mean the same people who took the credit from the people?" Chloe choked out, stumbling to her feet. Jacob and Evie were slowly helping each other up.

"We gave the people clarity! A place to belong!"

"You didn't give them a choice!" Chloe fought back, stumbling to the next pillar and trying to keep attention on her. "If they didn't cooperate, they'd die! How is that belonging?"

Dorian roared, drawing in his arm―

―and cried out as Evie tackled him, the artifact rolling to the floor. Chloe lunged for the Apple―

―and Jacob grabbed one side as she grabbed the other. The Apple grew warmer and warmer, but Chloe couldn't bring herself to let go. She made eye-contact with Jacob, and her mind clicked.

"You said my name... how―"

"―Chloe, let go!"

"I can't!"

The Apple grew hot and a blinding light filled the cave―

―and the last thing before Chloe blacked out was Jacob yelling her name.

★

The wind streaming through the trees and the singing birds were the first thing Chloe noted when she came to. Her hand was throbbing, her head was pounding, and the last thing she wanted to do was open her eyes.

She moved a finger, and then a toe, and then a leg. Leaves crunched under her body, and the flexibility of the leather caused alarms to go off in her head, but why? Why was she on the ground?

The ringing in her ears was interrupted by something heavy skidding to the ground next to her. Two hands― one warm, one cold― were shaking her shoulders.

"...loe? Chloe, can you hear me?"

Her hand swatted at the voice. "Leave me alone, Alex."

"What? No, Chloe, it's―"

"―Bucky!" her eyes snapped open, and Bucky moved out of the way just in time to avoid her body snapping up. Her eyes were wild scanning the forest in front of her.

"Bucky? Chloe?"

"Sam, over here!"

Sam rushed over, standing over a crouched Bucky and a close-to-hyperventilating Chloe.

She didn't understand― her mind was screaming at her. Her clothes were wrong, her weapons were wrong, even the time was wrong. Her bow and quiver shouldn't be with her, and her tact suit should be left in a―

―Her hand was throbbing.

Bucky was resting his hand on her shoulder, watching Sam trying his best to contact anyone. Yelling and rustling were coming from the battlefield off to their left, and Chloe vaguely remembered T'Challa going past their group to rouse a shuttering Wanda.

Her hand was still throbbing.

"Hold this," Chloe demanded, shoving the bow in her hands to Bucky, who fumbled for a few seconds with the weapon. Shaking hands met her glove, and the young woman tore off her glove.

A scar, running from the base of her palm to the base of her index finger, was healed over, if not slightly pink.

"I was there," she breathed, allowing Bucky to help her to her feet. "It wasn't a d―"

A circle of glowing sparks erupted in front of the trio. Bucky and Sam stepped into a fighting stance in front of Chloe as she shoved on her glove. She reached back to draw an arrow and only grasped at air. She grumbled softly and positioned the bow to use it like a sword―

―and a man in a red cloak emerged from a rusted, barren landscape. Debris covered the area along with loose gravel and metal. A cut was on his cheek, and people were gathered behind him.

"I don't have time to explain," he said, a foot on either side of his portal. "The fight isn't over. Five years have passed, and Captain Rogers and Tony need our help."

A beat passed.

Observing their reactions, he smiled. "Any questions?" 

★

10/21/19

on to endgame!

peace,

aidan.