The next step (open)

Bugsy sat there just staring at the screen he had worked at for the past few years. He just watched the code create itself in front of him. The same code he had been trying to break since the first day he got "hired" at Abstergo.

Bugsy had been working at Abstergo for a while now. Ember had put Bugsy in charge of a small elite group of hackers. There were at most 4 other people on the team at a time other then Bugsy. The team would keep a close eye on the tech of all sorts especially when there was a chance of causing issues to Abstergo's or Ember's plans. If something did pop up, the team tracked it back to its source and Ember sent someone to put a stop to it. Bugsy occasionally went along to see if there was anything he could pick up to expand his knowledge. Most of the time nothing peaked his interest, so he had given up going on the small missions.

Overall, Bugsy did not do much outside of this office room and the pent house Ember had set him up in. This lead to Bugsy slowly losing touch with the Carrion Crows. He still would touch base with Ember monthly or whenever something came up, but other then that Bugsy was always staring at a screen.

The death of Ember still hit him hard. Bugsy didn't know how recent the news was, but it still hit hard. So hard that he could only stare at the screen.

After a few moments Bugsy clicked a button to turn his autohacker on and left the room carrying his typical black computer bag. He walked outside of the Abstergo building and just walked. Not knowing where he was going. He just walked and walked and walked. Then stopped and sat on a random bench in the middle of London and let snow slowly fall on him hoping someone would tell what to do next.

Security had doubled at Abstergo after the attack a few months ago, and even more so after Ember's brutal murder at her home. Rumours had spread that it was somehow thanks to one of the animators. A few of the people from the art department had left, tired of the increased workload and being bullied by the higher ups. Templar or Abstergo assets were either being destroyed or stolen by an unknown person, and they were definitely not happy about it.

Katherine stood on the roof of a building across the road from Abstergo, glaring at the building angrily. The memories of how they had made her suffer were still fresh in her mind, she wanted them to pay, to watch them burn. Of course, there were innocent people in that building, old friends and colleagues, and she refused to bring them harm. Katherine looked down at her hands, and quickly swallowed some pills to stop the trembling.
"Come on, Kat, calm down. All I need is the data, see what they know, then get out..." She studied the building for a while, trying to figure out how she would get in undetected, and she eventually decided to come back later with more gear, and use the darkness to her advantage.

With nothing else to do, Katherine headed off to try calm down a bit. She took a seat on a bench near the coffee shop she would frequent during her time at Abstergo, and closed her eyes before she took a few deep breaths to calm herself. When she opened her eyes, she noticed a man sitting on a bench. He looked a bit familiar, like she had seen him in passing once or twice. A former colleague perhaps? Definitely Abstergo, either in the art department or IT. Katherine headed into the coffee shop, and quickly got two hot chocolates before heading over to the young man.
"Hey, you look like you could use this" Katherine said with a warm smile as she offered Aaron the hot chocolate.

Bugsy did not know how long he had been sitting there, but out of nowhere came a soft voice that broke him from his numb trance. All of a sudden the cold hit him and his entire body shivered. He was only wearing his brown hoodie for warmth. He still wasn't use to the London winters.

He then realized there was a women standing in front of him holding two steaming cups. Those looked really good right now. Was she offering him a cup? "Oh..... um hi" Bugsy said awkwardly. He took the cup she offered and slowly sipped. "Th.....thanks" he stuttered. The warmth filled his entire body. There was a long pause from Bugsy. "Would you like to sit?"

"If I'm not intruding" Katherine said with a chuckle before she dusted some snow off the bench before taking a seat beside bugsy. His somewhat awkward and nervous behaviour made her relax as she figured the man was very likely not a threat. Judging by the complete lack of graphite or ink on his hands, he wasn't one of the artists, so Katherine could only assume he was in IT.

"Are you alright? You seem a bit down." Sure, she needed information, but the man seemed to be a bit upset and that mattered more than information.

Bugsy took another sip. He stared out towards the street and watched as a few cars passed. Bugsy was thoroughly confused now. He felt extremely sad but a small warmth filled his chest as this women talked.
"Um....." He paused looking down at the cup. "Just got some bad news today" he said hesitantly. He wanted to open up, but if working as a free lancer had taught him anything there is always another motive.

"Ah, I understand. I'm so sorry." Katherine took a sip of her hot chocolate, and stared at her cup for a moment, deep in thought. She wondered what bad news he could have heard to end up in such a state. Nobody sat outside in a London winter with only a hoodie for warmth, not unless they were nuts or in a very dark place. She had been in that position before. "You lost someone" Katherine asked curiously. She didn't mean to pry, she just wanted to help if she could. Even though the serum had made her a ruthless killer as well as making her feel like a monster, she was still the same sweet and caring girl she was before Abstergo. She lowered her head, an old habit. "Sorry if that was inappropriate" Katherine said quietly.

He just looked at his cup of steaming chocolate. Was it really that obvious? Bugsy could only remember one other time he had felt this messed up. He had complete blocked the memory of the blood on his hands.

"Oh .... No its fine" he took a deep drink of his hot chocolate. He could just feeling his tongue being burned but he didn't care. "Yeah..... She was a " he took a deep breath then sighed. "She was a close friend"

"I... I'm sorry for your loss" Katherine said sadly. She had lost people too, and at least two of them she had to kill. It was a memory that still hurt quite a bit. Katherine wiped away some tears, and looked back at her cup of hot chocolate before letting out a sigh. "We're going to need more hot chocolate than I thought. Care to join me? That coffee shop has some mean pumpkin pasties, and a wonderful chocolate cake."

He just stared at his cup, watching the steam. Should I really go to a random coffee shop with some random women thought Bugsy. Actually thinking about it, Bugsy had no idea where he was. He had wandered so long mindlessly that he had no clue which part of Londan he was in.
Then he felt his stomach rumble. He put his hand on his stomach. His instincts said to walk away but his stomach said otherwise. "Actually pastries sound really good" with an extremely awkward smile.

"Come on then, I'm buying" Katherine said with a smile before leading the way to the coffee shop. Money was never a problem for her as her clients payed her very well for her services.


The woman at the till smiled warmly when she saw Katherine.
"Hey, Kat. What can I get you?"
"The biggest hot chocolate you can manage, a decent slice of chocolate cake, and whatever my friend here wants" Katherine said happily before heading to her old table.

Bugsy smiled again awkwardly. Socializing was not a strength of his. He flipped his old hood up as he followed the women. He wanted to say he could pay, but she seemed happy so he said nothing.

The warm air hit his frozen skin as they entered. It stung a bit, but at the same time felt good. "Can I just get a regular hot chocolate and a pumpkin pastry" Bugsy said softly. He then followed the women to a table and sat across from her. He looked out the window. " Um thanks"

"It's no problem, really" Katherine said with a warm smile. She loved helping people out, or just showing a bit of kindness. It almost seemed like she had forgotten about her mission. A waitress arrived with their orders, and Katherine paid what she owed as well as a decent tip. "You just looked like you needed a bit of kindness in your life. I was like that not too long ago... Someone showed me a bit of kindness and helped me figure out what to do next. Cal- he helped a lot." Katherine looked down at her hot chocolate, trying to push the memories aside as she sipped at her hot chocolate.

Bugsy gave a weak smile. He was still hurting a lot, but this random women did help a bit. Even though, Bugsy was still a bit hesitate since this all just seemed too perfect, but for now he would accept the kindness.

Bugsy took a giant bite out of the pumpkin pastry and with in seconds a even larger grin showed on his face. He had forgotten how much he loved pastries. He had stopped eating them so much since the crumbs got everywhere especially in his tech. He chased the bite with a sip of hot chocolate. "So um what is your name" he said with some crumbs on the corn of his lips.

Everything seemed so normal to Katherine, just two people getting a hot chocolate. When he asked her her name, she panicked a bit. Of course, she used an alias for her criminal activities, but this man was from Abstergo, so there was a small chance he had heard her name.
"Katherine Wuulf. Wh-who are you" Katherine asked quietly. She was a bit scared that she would figure out who she was, even to some small degree.

Bugsy paused for a moment to think if he had heard the name before. Something way back in his brain said he did, but he couldn't think of it right now.

He took another big bite of pastry. Katherine wasn't joking when she said the pumpkin pastries were good Bugsy thought to himself. With some food still in his mouth he said "Oh my name is Aaron Willams" He took a big sip of chocolate to wash down the pastry then wiped his month with his sleeve. He paused for a moment "But most just call be Bugsy"

Aaron Williams... Bugsy... Those names somehow sounded familiar to Katherine. Ah, Bugsy! He was one of Ember's handpicked employees, undoubtedly one of the best programmers and hackers. Katherine became a bit uneasy, knowing that if she fought, she'd give away her identity. Fleeing was always an option, but she needed the information.
"Wait, you work at Abstergo. Didn't you help me with my computer when Maya blue screened on me? I think I had purple hair at the time."

Bugsy had to think for a long time. There were so many employees at Abstergo that remembering anyone seemed impossible especially for Bugsy since he really wasn't a people person.He really didn't do a lot of help calls either. ""I don't really leave my office much" he said finishing up his hot chocolate

Wait there was a moment when a virus had gotten through one of the time he was out of office on a mission that crashed a lot of computers. He had personally go around finishing quiet a few. That was it! "I think I remember now. You had purple hair and a picture of a really cute cat on your desk"

"Yeah, that was me" Katherine said excitedly, "You really saved my ass that week." Katherine took another sip of her hot chocolate, and let out a sigh of relief. If memory served, she had pink hair during the attack, and Jack had personally carried her out of Abstergo with his coat being the only thing covering her aside from a sports bra and tights. She shook the memories of that day from her head, and took some pills before taking another sip of hot chocolate. "How are things at Abstergo now? Last time I was there, things were... they weren't too good."

Bugsy popped the rest of the pastry in his mouth and attempted to wash it down forgetting he had finished off his drink. It took him a bit to chow, but after he swallowed he said. "In all honesty, I wouldn't really know." He started to play with the empty cup. "I don't pay much attention to the day to day stuff. I keep in my own little office and just make sure all the tech works." He paused for a moment, "come to think about it, outside of my team and Em...." he stopped himself wearing a sad expression, "the person I lost, you are the first person I talked to in about a month in person."

"Lady Ember Shay" Katherine asked, her voice a bit shaky. Bugsy was Ember's IT specialist, an honorary Crow. If he figured out who she was now, and what she had done, she'd be in a much worse position than she was already in. She had no idea how she was going to handle the situation aside from just running off.

Hearing Ember's full name caused Bugsy some sadness since the only time he had see or heard it was in the email he had gotten about her death and what was next for Abstergo. Then Bugsy realized Katherine had gotten really nervous all of a sudden. He paused for a moment wondering if he had said something wrong. "Um, yeah. Did you know her at all?" He asked but before Katherine could answer Bugsy added "I suppose most people know her especially if you worked at Abstergo"

"Mhmm. I was dating her brother at the time, and he was living with me. Sh-she wasn't happy about that." Katherine looked incredibly nervous at that point, perhaps a bit scared. She quickly checked the time on her phone, and pretended to read a message. Seeing how sad he was, how he was close to Ember... He'd be pissed when he found out that she killed Ember. Katherine finished her hot chocolate as she figured out what to do, and she decided it was better to run. "I-I need to go. It was nice to meet you, Bugsy. I'll see you around." With that, Katherine headed outside, and disappeared into the crowd. She had to prepare for her mission, so she headed off to Jack's old warehouse to gather supplies as well as do some last minute training.

"Oh okay? well bye and tha" but before he could finish Katherine was already gone. He sat there for a moment wondering what had just happened. He pulled out a black phone with a crow etched just above the screen. He stared at it thinking to himself "Ember did you leave more behind then I know", which in itself was a stupid question. Bugsy hadn't know what the crows had been up to for quiet some time. He hadn't even heard hide nor hair about Daz and Patches for a long time.

Bugsy put the phone away and got up "I guess I will just go back to the only place I know." And that is what Bugsy did, well after he order a dozen pastries to go. Bugsy slowly made his way back to Abstergo and back to his little office in the corner. The place was dark and quiet, something Bugsy was use to.

He stared at the screen again. The code had grown since he had left, but the autohacking program slowed it down. "Well might as while just have a late night talk with you" He said out loud in a somber tone. Bugsy popped a pastry in his month and started to work.

Katherine was crouched on the rooftop of Abstergo, rummaging through her gear. She slipped her weapons into their various holsters before pulling on her Deathstroke mask, pulling her ponytail through a hole at the back. When she pulled on the mask, she let herself loose, doing anything to achieve her goal. She wouldn't hesitate to kill, there was no black or white, it was all the same.

Katherine took a deep breath before making her way inside, slinking about in the shadows, carefully avoiding discovery. She knew the way to the IT department as she used to deal with the guys quite a few times when she worked at Abstergo. It was late, so she figured nobody would be there. It was supposed to be a simple in and out job; nobody needed to get hurt. All she needed was information, just some data.

Katherine saw a light on in one of the rooms, and crept a bit closer. She could hear someone working at a computer, fingers working at the keyboard, and decided to carry on with her mission. Katherine headed down the hall, before entering the server room, plugging in a laptop and immediately searching for the information she had been looking for. Subject 34, that was all she was looking for, as well as any information that they had on her.

"Oh for god sake" Bugsy said as his last attempt caused three more rows of code to get added. He took a huge bite out of a pastry angrily. He had already devoured 6 pastries and 3 mountain dews. He glanced at the clock on his computer and noticed it was a quarter after midnight. He didn't care though. He didn't wanna go anywhere else. This was his safe zone. Bugsy decided everything that happened in this room, well everything expect how this stupid code worked.

Just as Bugsy cracked open another dew and ping popped up on his left screen. It was a secured an alert. The big wigs told the IT to set up stronger secured after what had all happened in the past few months. Now every basic user had stronger passcodes, the higher you went the more passcodes you needed to enter, if one code was entered wrong then the employee had to report security for verification, no access was allowed one hour after business hours, and a bunch of other upgrades. Bugsy installed them so he know how to worked around them.

" It is probably some dumb guard trying to watch YouTube on break"Bugsy grumbled. "I'll just message security" He said as his spine cracked all the way up. " maybe I should get up. he said with a wince. Typically the alerts would go to the security team this late, but since an IT member was logged in it override that and would send it to them.

Bugsy got up bringing his dew and smartphone in hand with a pastry in his month.