Warning: Language (Since Desmond is very vocal about his feelings) and Violence
Disclaimer: Assassin's Creed is owned by Ubisoft
The Same Creed
By EnigmaticPseudonym
Flight
Desmond was bleeding from cuts that covered his face and chest, accompanied by dark bruises that seemed to dot his whole body. His chest still ached from the kick that was delivered to his sternum by his interrogator, a man named Gable. His left eyelid was left bruised, raw, and half open. He spat out blood and chuckled to himself. Apparently, all that water that they submerged his head in didn't do anything to clean out his bloodied mouth or his blood-stained sweatshirt.
His father had spent his whole life trying to avoid the Assassin brotherhood—trying to give his younger brother and sister, and him, a life devoid of killing another human. But his father reluctantly trained them in the arts of evasion, Close-Quarters-Combat (armed or disarmed), and gunplay to prepare them for the inevitable.
Sooner or later the Templar Knights were going to find them. The Hashshashin brotherhood could forget, but THEY, the self-righteous Knights, never would as long as you were born an Assassin. They would hunt you down without remorse and without care. That's why their father had trained them against his beliefs.
Gable, the Abstergo building's Chief of Security, held a gun to the bartender's knee. "Will you cooperate? To recover the Pieces of Eden, we need a guide. An Assassin who knows the locations of the remaining few."
Desmond smiled at him and spat on his shoe. "Cooperating is out of the question. Tenet Three: 'Do not compromise the brotherhood.' Turning my brothers and sisters into mindless husks DEFINITELY falls under that category."
Gable growled and smashed his pistol across Desmond's face, followed by a punch to his stomach. He brought the 9-millimeter M9 Beretta up and fired. The bullet grazed Desmond's ear and solicited a gasp from the bartender. Desmond's heart had skipped a beat.
He smiled at the Assassin's discomfort and aimed his pistol at Desmond's knee again. "Lucky for you—I have good aim. Now, before I count to three, you WILL tell me that you will be compliant."
Desmond struggled against the ropes that tied him to the chair. "HELL NO!"
"ONE… Come on Desmond, you're smarter than that…
"TWO… THR…"
The door exploded with calculated force and cut off Gable's countdown. The metal door fell down with a clang and fiber wire around the Templar's throat quickly knocked him out. The unknown attacker picked up the man's pistol and holstered it on her left side.
Desmond's bindings were cut and he was pulled out of his seat and tossed out the door in less than five seconds.
"Evac-One, are you ready for pick-up?" she asked rather breathlessly.
"Affirmative, Lima-1. We're en route to your location. ETA: Two minutes. Do you copy?"
"Roger, package is secured and we are making our way to the roof. Be advised, I have enemy contacts chasing me on foot."
"Affirmative, we're coming in fast and low. Switching to Evacuation Plan B. Good luck."
"Thanks. Over and out."
Desmond blinked to help his eyes adjust to the bright light. He was confused. One second, he was about to be shot in the knee. The next, someone was dragging him down the hallway and up the stairs.
He turned to look at the woman he owed his life to. His eyes immediately scanned his savior. Blond hair tied up in a ponytail. Black long-sleeved wool sweater and cargo pants. Light-weight bullet-proof vest with the Assassin logo painted onto it. Bluetooth earpiece.
"Lucy! What's happening?" he asked. He ducked as a piece of the ceiling fell in front of him. Lights above them popped with fury, adding more deadly projectiles into the foray. Bullets shattered the cement and wallpaper as they slammed themselves wholeheartedly into the environment.
Lucy pulled out Gable's M9 pistol with her left hand and emptied the clip at the guards chasing them. "I told you to have a little faith. This is our way out."
Desmond physically shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Right… What's our objective?"
"Get to the roof via the rooftop atrium. Evacuate the premises. A helo is on its way," Lucy called out. Knowing that Desmond was now fully awake, she dropped his arm. He immediately realized how much of a dead weight he was—she was sprinting two meters ahead of him and was leaving him behind. He picked up his pace and tried to stay half a meter behind her at most, fighting against the pain that resulted from two days worth of beatings.
"Des!" Lucy yelled as she pulled out another pistol. "Take this," she said while she placed a fresh clip in Gable's pistol and shoved it into his hands. "Do you know how to shoot?"
"Yeah, my dad taught me when I was eight." He brought the pistol up and 'triple-tacked' a guard in front of them—two shots to the chest, one to the head. Desmond acquired the next target and did the same. The feeling of regret for taking a life was thrown into the back of his mind. 'Compartmentalization,' his father had said, 'can save your life after your first kill.' He lowered his weapon, failing to anticipate for another Templar before the hostile popped out from around the corner and fired.
Lucy twisted to the left and dodged the bullet without losing her momentum. She leaped into the air and flew towards the surprised guard. The Templar tried to aim his weapon in defense, but to no avail. Within milliseconds, Lucy cocked her hand backward to release the safety mechanism, jerked her pinky towards her to unsheathe her hidden blade, and plunged it into the neck of the unsuspecting assailant. She only stopped for half a second to secure her blade before breaking into a dead run again.
"MOVE Desmond! We're running out of time!"
The final stretch of their run took them through the atrium on the top floor. Bullets rained down on them as dozens of guards emptied their clips on the fleeing Assassins. Desmond and Lucy fired back, aiming at the thickest concentrations. He turned his head away from the retreating room and focused on the glass doors that separated them from the large balcony.
Desmond and Lucy brought their shoulders forward and shattered the glass as they went flying through. After an impromptu roll, they were both back on their feet and aiming their weapons at the quickly massing group of guards.
Lucy whispered calmly, "Des, move backwards with me and stop only when we're at the railing." She threw a fresh clip at Desmond and watched him catch it and adeptly reload the weapon.
He nodded to tell her that he was ready and waiting. Desmond kept switching targets, adapting to the aggressiveness of each individual guard.
"Desmond, Lucy! Put your guns down! You can't escape," Warren Vidic scowled. The scientist stood in front of the mass of security guards with Gable standing next to him. "This roof is full of guards, has a 70-story drop, and no helicopter. It's time to GIVE UP. You can't win! Not with these odds."
Desmond looked behind him and studied the view of New York from the top of Abstergo building. The lights of the "Big Apple" dwarfed the stars in the sky—almost as if it was a star on its own. They were so high up that the people below him looked smaller than ants. It would have been beautiful, if it wasn't the only obstacle that denied them freedom.
Lucy stood straight up, motioned for Desmond to do the same, and lowered her weapon. "We can't give up when we're so close. I have faith in my brothers," she said as the sounds of the rotor blades of a helicopter increased in volume. "We just have to know when to leap."
Desmond's eyes grew wide. He whispered quietly but intensely, "You're kidding!"
She stared into his eyes with stone cold determination.
'Damn it, she's not!'
"Just hold on to my arm, Des." She faced the crowd again. "Goodbye, Warren."
Vidic glared at the two Assassins. "Shoot them NOW! Don't let them get away!" By the time the Templar guards had raised their weapons, Desmond and Lucy were already facing away from them at the edge of the roof.
Lucy dove off the roof of the building with Desmond following soon after. The bullets that were fired previous to the jump whistled safely over the Assassins, escaping into the night.
TBC…