(Hahahha! I'm alive! I promise you won't have to wait that long again. That was ridiculous. ^^;; )
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Altair sat on a wooden bench outside of Sister Teodora's office, with his arms folded tightly over his chest and a scowl on his face. He reached up and pulled his beanie down a little further over his face, and grumbled a little before shifting in his seat and looking up at the girl who sat in a large comfortable looking chair in front of him, with her legs crossed and her chin in her fingers. He snarled.

"Don't you have anything better to do?"

The girl, who had previously introduced herself as Maria Thorpe just continued to stare at him. "What's your problem? You can't share the waiting room with me?"

"You're staring at me." He growled.

"I am not, you're just paranoid."

Altair was about to stand up and march out, then and there, but the mental reminder of just how badly he had hurt his first, and possibly best friend, kept him rooted to the spot. He was nothing if not stubborn. He turned away, and folded his arms in a huff, before leaning back into the wooden seat.

"So were you named after the star?"

"What?" He looked back at the girl. Who, despite what she said, was most certainly staring at him.

"Altair." She said, sitting up straight and picking at a wrinkle in her skirt. "It's the brightest star in the Aquila constellation. Is that what you were named after?"

The question caught him slightly off balance. He shook it off a second later, and leaned back again, folding his arms. "How should I know?"

"Didn't your parents ever tell you?"

"No."

It was quiet again, for a full minute after that, and Altair had started to think that maybe she was done asking inane questions. And then…

"So what happened to your finger?"

"Bear fight."

"That's not funny. "

"Am I laughing?"

Maria folded her arms, looking extremely put out, and then scowled at him. "I'm trying to have a conversation with you. Why are you so rude?"

"Why are you so nosy?"

"If you asked me questions I would answer them." Maria leaned back, raising her chin as if issuing a challenge.

Altair looked up at her. "I don't want to know anything about you."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't care."

Finally, as if someone had been listening to his plight, his torment was ended, when the door to the headmaster's office opened, and Sister Teodora stepped out, and looked down at him. "Altair?"

"Yes?" Altair looked up at her, moving his hat back out of his eyes.

"Claudia is here."

Altair pushed himself off the bench, ignoring the curious glances Maria was giving him, and then walked into the office. He took a deep breath as he stepped inside, and he realized he had absolutely no idea what he was going to say to her. Presuming that the mysterious man on the other end of the telephone was even telling the truth and this was the correct Claudia Auditore. Then again, how many Claudia Auditores could there possibly be?

Sister Teodora led him into her modest office, and stepped aside for him to walk in ahead of her. He took a deep breath, and stepped inside, and once he was in, Sister Teodora shut the door softly, behind him. He looked back at it, and then looked forwards at the two chairs that sat in front of the desk that occupied most of the room. Seated in one of the chairs, was a young girl, with dark hair and a pale complexion. It was a bit of a contrast to Ezio's tanned and constantly slightly sunburnt skin. Still there were resemblances in their features, and it was almost instantly apparent they were in fact siblings. She looked up at him, and her nose wrinkled as if she was trying to discern just why a filthy slightly older boy would be here, asking for her by name, and frankly Altair couldn't blame her. He shuffled his feet slightly, and looked up at her again while clearing his throat.

"Are you Claudia Auditore?"

"Obviously." She spoke in a guarded tone, as if trying to discern if Altair was some sort of creep who was here to either rob or kidnap her.

"Um… My name is Altair." He started, taking a few steps forward. "I'm a friend of Ezio Auditore."

Suddenly, the girl's eyes widened and she shoved her chair back so hard it nearly tipped over. She stood up and turned to him, extending her arms as if she was going to grab his shoulders and start shaking him. Altair took a step backwards, holding his own hands up defensively, as she spoke.

"Ezio? You know Ezio? They said he went missing after he had been put up with a foster family! Where is he? Do the police know where he is?"

It suddenly occurred to him, that this might not have been the best idea. Of course Ezio would be thought of a missing, and of course his sister would be worried out of her mind about him. He wondered if she was going to call the police, and she certainly looked about ready to. He had to put a stop to that right away. "Ezio's fine!" He blurted, though at the time, he honestly wasn't sure of that. "Me and him… and a few others… We're all um… We're all living in a sort of… boarding house." He nodded.

"A boarding house?" She put a hand to her chest and grabbed onto the chair for support. "Oh thank god… After what happened with Federico… and poor Petruccio, I thought… "

"Wait… what?" Altair took a step forwards. "Federico and Petruccio? Your other brothers, right? What happened to them?"

Claudia frowned at him. "Ezio did not tell you?"

"Ezio has been looking for you and his brothers for almost a year now…" Altair felt guilt well up in his chest. "He hasn't heard anything about you."

"Oh no…" Claudia stood up. "He doesn't know?"

"Doesn't know what?" Altair felt himself getting more than a little frustrated.

Claudia reached around and grabbed her left arm with her right and lowered her head a little. She looked pained, but she glanced back up at him anyhow. "Petruccio has never been the healthiest boy in the world. He… hasn't been doing well for a while now. They tell me he is in the hospital, though they won't say much on his condition. And Federico, well-" She sounded as though she was going to choke on her words. "They said there was an accident and…" She trailed off as tears began to well up on the edges of her eyelids.

Altair's eyes widened. "An accident?" Claudia only nodded and Altair felt as though his entire body was going numb.

"He was so angry when Mama and Papa were arrested. I was too, but… Before we were separated, he was going on and on about things that made no sense. Conspiracies and the like. I knew he was upset, but…" She trailed off. "They wouldn't say what happened to him."

Altair reached up and grabbed the empty stub, where his ring finger should have been. "Just an accident… huh?"

Claudia nodded again, and took a few steps towards Altair. "But Ezio… is he… Is he here?"

"Hm?" Altair looked down at her. "No… Sorry. He couldn't come today, and I didn't exactly have time to tell him I found you, but… if you want to come with me, I can—"

"Come with you?" She looked a little taken aback by the statement. "I couldn't… I… Sister Teodora has been so nice and accommodating to me here, and I do like it here." She turned to him again. "I couldn't just leave."

Altair honestly could not sympathize with that sentiment. He had jumped at the first opportunity to escape his own boarding school, but… He couldn't force her to go either. He frowned and put his hands to his hips. "Don't you want to see Ezio?"

"Of course I do!" Claudia looked offended now. "I just…" She trailed off again, and Altair tilted his head, before lowering his hands to his sides again.

"Alright, I get it." He nodded. "I'll bring Ezio back up here. To see you."

"You will?"

"Yes, of course." He chewed on his lip, thoughtfully. "I'm not sure when…" It wasn't as if he had the driver and his huge black car at his disposal after all. But he'd find a way. Take a bus or something.

"When doesn't matter!" Claudia turned to him, smiling from ear to ear. "As long as he gets up here to see me!" She suddenly shoved the chair out of the way and darted forwards wrapping her arms around Altair's waist. "Thank you, Altair. Thank you so much."

He swallowed hard, clearly uncomfortable with the display of affection, and awkwardly patted her on the back. "You're welcome. Now… I um… I gotta go. I'll bring Ezio back up here sometime soon."

Claudia released him, and pulled away from him, and smiled up at him. "Alright. Tell Ezio I said hello, and that I miss him so much."

"I will."

And with that, she was gone. She left the office and left Altair standing there, gripping the stub of his finger tightly. He looked down at the floor, and sighed. Everything was so convoluted. He wasn't sure if he'd ever make sense of any of it. Slowly he began to pick himself up , and turned to the door. He opened it, slowly and stepped outside, closing it behind him. He looked up to see Sister Teodora looking down at him, looking very sad. For him, maybe?

He swallowed and looked up at her. "Yes?"

She smiled a little, though it was still a very sad smile. "Be safe out there, Altair."

Altair raised an eyebrow, and nodded very slowly. "Alright… I will." He edged his way past her, and into the waiting room, where he very quickly noticed the distinct lack of Maria. He felt relief flood through him as he made his way to the front door. He pushed it open and stepped out onto the front steps, looking out into the parking lot and scanning for any signs of the black car. He hoped to god that the driver hadn't just left him there. Finally he spotted it, parked along a small curb, and he hopped down the stairs towards it. As he neared it, he noticed the driver of the car was standing outside the passenger side of the car, and was pleasantly conversing with another man, who was leaning against the hood. The man was bald, and very well dressed, but there was something about him, that set Altair on edge. Like he had seen him somewhere before. As he drew closer, he suddenly noticed another person with the two, and he suddenly felt his stomach churn as he realized who it was.

"Oh, Altair." Maria looked up, and smiled at him. "Are you leaving?"

The two men looked over at him suddenly, completely dropping their conversation to focus their attention on him. Altair felt like he was being studied. He squirmed and nodded. "Yeah."

The driver of the car smiled down at him, and straightened. He looked as though he was about to say something, but the bald man he was talking to beat him to it. "Who's this?" He asked, pointing down at Altair, sneering as he did so.

Altair had opened his mouth to speak for himself, but Maria stepped up beside the bald man and with a large grin said. "His name is Altair, sir."

Altair raised an eyebrow at her calling the bald man 'sir', but decided not to question it. He looked up at the bald man, and shrugged. "What she said."

"You two know each other?" The bald man motioned between him and Maria.

This time it was his turn to cut her off, as she opened her mouth to say 'yes', Altair beat her to the punch. "No. Not really. We met in the hall."

The bald man seemed rather unimpressed, and looked Altair up and down with a snort. He then turned to the driver and pointed at him, as if he was pointing to an old ugly chair he'd like to return to the thrift store, rather than a person. "This isn't the boy you were talking about is it?"

The driver smiled. "Oh no." He reached over and put a hand on Altair's shoulder. "I'm just picking up Altair for a friend of mine." He then looked down and met Altair's gaze. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

Altair glanced between the two adults, but did not bother shrugging off his hand. "Yeah. I did."

"Well then, I'll take you back home." The driver nodded and then turned back to the bald man, and extended his hand. "Robert, it's always a pleasure."

The man shook it, briefly but sincerely and then turned away. "Come, Maria. It's time to go."

"Alright." Maria nodded and looked back to Altair. "Bye, Altair. See you around."

And with that, the two of them walked deeper into the parking lot, leaving Altair with a sour look on his face. "God, I hope not." He muttered. The driver laughed a little and then walked back to the car, and pulled open the back door.

"Shall we go, then?"

Altair looked up at him and nodded. "Yeah… Thank you."

"My pleasure."

Altair climbed into the back of the car, and the driver shut the door before walking around to the other side to get behind the wheel. Altair pulled his seatbelt down around himself, as the driver started the car and drove away. "So who was that guy?" Altair looked up, leaning one arm onto the arm rest.

The driver looked up into the rear view mirror, to get a glance at Altair, and then looked back at the road. "That was Robert De Sable."

Altair frowned and, ran a hand over his chin. "That name sounds familiar."

"It should." The driver nodded. "He's a very rich, and very powerful man."

"Is that girl his daughter or something?"

"Maria?" He saw the driver crack a smile. "No, not exactly. She's his… ward, I suppose. Something of a father, though they've never described their relationship that way."

"Hmf." Altair folded his arms and leaned back into the seat. "She was annoying."

The driver let out a short barking laugh. "I think she liked you."

"Gross."

This only prompted more laughter, and Altair resigned himself to the fact that this was going to be a very long car ride.