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What a fucking nuisance, Malik thought as he was stomping up the stairs of a tower. Finally arriving on the top floor, he unceremoniously passed by the guy who was there to talk Altair out of „committing suicide”. Their shoulders might´ve slightly bump into each other. That would be because Malik did not bother with any grace of a cat, this time. Instead, his purposeful stride reminded of a panther, that was sure of its prey, not acknowledging the presence of this or that twig in its path. And sure enough, when he stood at the entrance leading to the gallery outside, Malik channeled his inner carnivore as he yelled:
“Come back down, you attention-seeking sucker. I got called by the police to kindly extract you. Again.” The put-upon voice would speak volumes even without the worded form.
Its owner did not bother with anything more than that. Turning on his heel, Malik left the same way he came up there, not even waiting to see if Altair truly listened and stepped back down off the edge or not. Still, that was exactly what the other man did.
Shoulders dropping, Altair left the very edge of the tower without getting to do the leap of faith yet again. But the golden eyes did notice Malik’s elevated breathing. He felt a tentative stream of warmth enveloping his heart.
It was getting seriously annoying. If Malik knew that Altair would cause such trouble here, he would’ve chose a different country for their mission. Yes, they had the best chance to extract all the information needed here, but Malik would have changed their location if he knew what was coming. Gladly. On the other hand, there was also the suspicion that it would make no difference whatsoever, anyway.
Seriously, let’s be honest. Choosing any other brother from their order would solve everything nicely. There would be no danger of messing the mission up with crazy ideas. Malik should’ve expected this is going to happen.
The first time it happened it was on a bridge. Allah knows Prague has quite nice bridges. Even Malik could appreciate, say, the top-quality craftsmanship the Charles Bridge was built with and even more the continuous alley of sculpted statues decorating it.
Count with Altair to decide it’s not a bad idea to try a leap of faith from one. Not the Charles Bridge, though, which was constantly brimming with people, true, but at least there was water underneath. Of course he would not choose such a place. Instead, Altair set his eyes (and later his feet as well) on a motorway bridge that led through the city. One, that almost literally screamed at every idiot “Hey, this shit is serious, there is no springboard down there to bounce you back.”. But that was not the end of it either. Because the idiot picked the Nusle Bridge.
Leave it to Altair to choose suiciders’ favorite bridge they jump from to end their lives, to train his leap of faith. The place truly had an undeniable power to attract lunatics.
The third attempt at whatever Altair was trying to achieve with this nonsense, Malik was prepared.
And this time he could even take an elevator on top of that, too. Literally.
When he finally got on the rooftop, he was welcomed by a sight of Altair at the edge of the building, ready to jump.
To be honest, Malik was at a “been there, done that” stage by then. And there was also the fact that he did leaps of faith of his own, too, so there was nothing much special about this…except the heights. He had to admit that.
“What now, Altair?”
The brunette turned around facing Malik instead of the building’s edge.
“I’m gonna jump.”
Well, wasn’t that a surprise.
“Really.” There was a challenge issued in the tone the raven-haired man used.
“Yeah. I will.” Altair didn’t back down and stubbornly kept the eye contact going.
Malik’s mouth stayed silent for a while. His eyes did not leave Altair’s either, though. Not even when he finally spoke again:
„But you’re still here.“
„You’re not gonna stop me?“ There was a genuine surprise in Altair’s voice. The reaction conjured a sudden evil grin on Malik’s face.
„Oh no. I don’t think so.“ He savored the sound of the words on his tongue while proceeding to come closer to the other man. And closer.
„I even think,“ he was just couple of meters away from Altair now. Pigeons, quietly sitting perched on the ledge next to Altair until then, took up to the sky, scared off by the sudden movement towards them. „that I will actually help you take the leap.“
„You-“ But the brunette did not even get to finish whatever he wanted to say, because the very next second he found himself in the air with nothing beneath his shoes. The courtesy of Malik’s foot.
He and his bulged out eyes disappeared beneath the building’s edge then.
The culprit turned one eighty then, back straight and head held high. There was a simple intention of enjoying the silence and absence of any more suicidal ideas in the comfort of the current hideout on his mind. He went for the entrance to the rooftop.
At approximately one third of the rooftop, there could be heard a dull thud.
There it was.
Idiot.
„Malik, I love yooooouuu!“ The despicable earsplitting howl carried even as far as to the rooftop the raven haired man still occupied. It would scare the pigeons away for sure if Malik did not do the job a moment prior to it.
The addressed man grew all red in his face.
Of course it was caused by the outrageous yell. There was nothing else to it.
Not even the call to the guys who readily prepared the high fall air bag beneath.
No-leap-attempt era lasted for two weeks exactly. The last day saw Altair on edge like you see an addicted person at a withdrawal stage.
Restless legs – their rapid sound annoying the hell out of Malik when he was trying to gather some pointers to the case through maps and internet.
Grunting – informing everyone near enough that Altair was not pleased. Certainly not happy.
It did not help matters any, that Malik could not find any usable leads whatsoever that would give him something to send the other assassin snooping for.
Hence, Altair got into a habit of biting his lower lip next, growling (the second stage of grunting); hands kept going into the already messy mop of hair every now and again, too, obviously needing some occupation.
Those were the weaker symptoms, but the researching half of their two-person team knew very well that given it enough time, it could get way worse very easily.
Malik counted it a luck that the man did not decide to practice his knife-throwing skills. That could turn outright dangerous now, since he saw Altair’s hands shake badly last evening. He had no idea how bad Altair had it when without nothing to do. Nothing active, that is. The man did throw a proffered book into a room-corner like a petulant child.
“Right,” Malik spoke suddenly, after another hour or two spent bleeding his eyes out by watching the laptop screen for way too long. “Get up.”
“You found something?” Altair was suddenly alert and on his feet almost the very same second.
You could say that.
“Yes.” Altair’s brows furrowed when his companion did not elaborate further.
“Will you tell me then, brother?” Now, he was on edge alright.
“No.”
“I cannot investigate anything if I don’t know what to even look for.” The brunette reasoned with him, displeased without a doubt, but still trying to keep his temper and impatience in check.
“I am very much aware of that. That’s why I am going with you. Now let’s get on our way. Do not talk.” The last note immediately alarmed Altair.
“Are we being watched?” The man’s body grew taut, for sure with the realization that he did not register such danger earlier and by himself, because he was under the influence of his withdrawal symptoms. Malik let him get a good taste of the feeling that surely must’ve accompany such thought. Just long enough, so the man could learn from it, before answering:
„No, we are not.“ And he closed the door to the flat behind them, locking it, then turning around to head over to the elevator at the end of the hall. Altair matched his steps with Malik’s instead of marching forward, obviously hooked by the conversation.
„Why should I not talk, then?“ Now it was plain suspicion ringing in his voice, with caution on the side, too.
Better.
„I do like silence.“ The answer earned him a frown from the brunette, along these words.
„You do not expect me to really go along with it just because of that, do you?“
„It was worth a try.“
They traveled quite a bit further this time. Not just to the Prague’s borders. They left the city completely, heading over to the area near Pilsen instead. Their destination wasn’t another set of agglomerated buildings, though.
The moment Altair saw it and realized where exactly they were going, his eyes lighted up like a child’s did when given a present on birth day.
Maybe it was not such a bad decision.
“How many times can he do this?” Malik asked while looking at the water below. A man standing next to him hesitated with the answer. The pair of assassins probably did came across a bit intimidating. What with Malik’s constant frown (thank you, Altair, now go jump off a bridge again, why don’t you) and Altair…being Altair. But the guys they met here with were no cowards either by any means.
“Well, we did not expect someone would be so into it on their first time here. We hoped others will get the chance to try it, too.”
A total of seven people were standing on a railway bridge over the valley of Hracholusky dam. Altair just managed to jump off it – for a third time already – enjoying the whole lucky rope swing business. A lot. Honestly, Altair’s over-enthusiasm to jump off each of those times, might’ve easily give anyone an impression of someone, who was not “all there“. And they wouldn’t be far off the truth, would they. These people seemed to get it, though.
“I’ll pay you.”
“Guess there’s enough jumps for the others while your friend will be on his way back here. It takes some time anyway.”
Malik silently opened his wallet and gave the man his money.
Hence, the afternoon saw Altair enjoying leaps of faith to his heart’s content and Malik…Malik did not have to deal with police. The final peace was...
Freeing.
Calming.
Exhilarating.
“MALIK AL-SAYF LOVES MEEeeeeee!” Sounded a yell from bellow them on another jump and really, it could be only one person screeching this.
“Let me cut the rope right now and you’ll get double.”
A/N: So I bet you expected something else, but you gotta deal with this, because this one was my very first idea of a fitting FF after learning about fanficsaroundtheworld. Also, I just really wanted to express my support of the idea more than anything else.
On that note, I would really like to thank to (now read in capitals, please) @bewareofchris, @phoenixislost and @dreamingcellardoor for going through with the idea of fanficsaroundtheworld. Diversity is the world’s best after all and thanks to your resolve new lot of fanfictions has a home. You guys, rock! Thank you very much again for holding this event. Let’s hope the FFs will keep coming even long after that. ;)
P.S. Someone, anyone, everyone! Come visit to CR sometimes, we’ve got enough pigeons for everyone. Feel like real Czech assassin – have your own pigeon, lol