An: Oh lord I should not be writing this, I should be sleeping. I have a big test tomorrow. Anyways hope you enjoy it, Rated m for violence. MxM

"Desmond! Desmond, we got to get out, they're here!" I was abruptly pulled out of my sleep by Lucy's panicking voice. I did not really comprehend what she was saying to me due to having just woken up, but when Shaun hastily ran into the room and threw me a hidden blade I started to get the message.

"Dear lord, Desmond, get your bloody ass out of the bed. The Templers are here, now! And it's not my ass they're after." Shaun looked as bored and irritated as ever but the stressed tone in his voice gave him away; he was scared. Suddenly I was wide awake and shot out of bed, putting on the hidden blade and a pair of pants but not bothering with a shirt. I had never done what I was surely about to do now, kill a person. Sure, I had done it through Ezio and Altaïr but not for real, not in my body.
Banging was heard from downstairs, they were trying to break the door down and it would not be long until they were through. Rebecca peeked her head in, fully dressed and a blade around her wrist as well.

"Are you guys coming?! Shaun? What are you doing we don't have time!" She said when spotting said Brit bent over his worktable.
"I am copying all the material to a portable hard drive, we can't leave all this information here for them. Just go! I'll be right there." Rebecca did not need to be told twice, she disappeared downstairs in the blink of an eye, and neither Lucy hesitated. She grabbed my arm and started dragging me to the door.

"Hey, we can't just leave him there alone", I protested and tried to go back but Lucy gave my arm a surprisingly hard tug and kept going. Normally I probably would have put up more of a fight but as said I had just woken up and I had a little trouble analyzing everything that was going on, it was all going so fast.

"Shaun is an assassin, he can take care of himself." her voice was forced and her eyes determined. I guess it had not dawned on me that I should be scared yet, not five minutes ago I had still been in my bed, fast asleep, and now I was about to flee from what had been my home for the last couple of weeks.

"But alone? We should…" I protested. I admit that I had trouble seeing Shaun fighting anybody and winning, but that was not what was really bugging me. Surely, Abstergo would not break in to our headquarters with a humble number of people, no they would probably have a smaller army with them, and no matter how talented Shaun might be, he was not going to fight them off easily. I felt a tug at my heart that I was not prepared for, thinking about Shaun fighting against the countless guards of Abstergo all by himself. He had once said that being out in the field was not his area of expertise and to just leave him there…

"What are you doing?" The Brit looked up from his work and gave me his usual irritated glare like I had just asked him the dumbest question he had ever heard in his life.

"Oh, nothing, Desmond. Just playing a little bit of online poker. What do you think I'm doing? Now, go away I am busy." He turned away from me and went back to typing away on something that I could only assume was another database entry. It was not the fact that I terribly wanted to know what Shaun was writing, I just tried to find some way to connect with him, to figure out who he was. But he just kept giving me the cold shoulder. It was like he was surrounding himself with this brick wall that I just could not beat down, no matter how hard I tried.

Ignoring his request I sat down on a chair beside him and studied the screen, since he would not answer me, I could find out for myself right? Maybe he would start warming up to me if I tried to talk about his passion; history. I found out pretty soon though that to try to read anything he was typing was not that easy since his hands moved at an alarming speed and so did the text on the screen. How Shaun himself saw what he was writing was a mystery to me. I seemed to be able to make out something about world war II though in the blur of worlds, and it surprised me a bit to see that he was not working on renaissance Italy like he usually did.

"World War II? Why looking back so early in time?" I asked and Shaun rolled his eyes at the screen.

"What part of 'I am busy' don't you understand? Is it the 'I' that refers to me or is it the 'busy' that's like a doing thing, or is it that I AM BUSY?" he replied with an extremely irritated voice, but it really did not affect me. I had learned from the very first day I arrived not to take Shaun's comments too seriously. So instead I looked at him and studied his face. His eyes were following the letters that kept appearing and his eyebrows were furrowed in a concentrated way. It made him look quite nice actually, smart. As soon as that thought had crossed my mind, my own eyebrows furrowed in wonder. Why in God's name had I thought that? I saw that Shaun's eyes left his screen for a short second and glanced my way, noticing that I was still looking at him and finally he sighed, defeated, and turned against me.

"Well, I would suppose that you snapped up in the truth files that one piece of Eden was once in the hands of Adolf Hitler?" he asked me and I nodded, surprised that he actually was giving in to my curiosity. Mostly he would ignore me until I went away when I tried to talk to him.

"Hitler, as you saw, was supposed to fake his own death and then send back the piece of Eden but something must have gone wrong, because he was never seen again, and not mentioned anywhere in our files later on as living. It seems that after receiving the piece of Eden from Ford he did not send it back to its rightful owner among the Templers at the time and it has not been found since. What I am trying to do is trace the steps of Hitler's last days and see if I can found out what happened to him and where the Piece of Eden went." The more Shaun talked, the more his eyes left boredom and came to life and he could not seem to keep from gesticulating. I must admit that I had never seen the historian so passionate and he was a great speaker. If he had not been snatched up by the assassins he could very well have been a history teacher. It was very easy and pleasant to listen to his voice and I found myself becoming interested.

"Could it be possible that the power went to his head and that he really committed suicide?" I asked and for once it seemed that Shaun though that I had asked a smart question.

"Ah, that's what many thinks. But it could also be that he was assassinated by someone not from the order. History books claim that he died together with his wife Eva Braun in his bunker; he took a shot to the head and she bit on a cyanide pill…"

"Eva Braun could have killed him!" I exclaimed, fascinated. "Was she with the assassins?"

"Right on the spot, Desmond. That is what we don't know yet. There is no record of Eva Braun working for us, but she could very well have been an assassin outside the brotherhood that had actually figured out what was going on and taken the matter in her own hands. It would certainly explain why she stayed with him, because according to the books, Hitler was all but nice to the lady. Maybe it was a way for her to get close to him."

"And the piece of Eden?" It was nice talking to Shaun this way, friendly and like actual equals. It always felt like I was reaching for his level, like he was a little bit better than I could ever be, but having him look at me in that way got me wondering, maybe there were some other reason to why the historian was so harsh towards me.

"Good question. Well, it could be possible hat Braun hid it somewhere before she did the deed and that is where it gets tricky, there is not much documented about her life with Hitler." I stared at him with big eyes, astonished. He was really on to something, something that I had not even questioned. I had always taken the facts in the books of history class for the truth, but now the truth seemed to be a very abstract thing.

"Have you any idea of where it might be?" The Brit turned back to his screen and the concentrated look on his face returned.

"I might have, and I am giving the information to the ones out in the field", he muttered and started typing away.

"Why aren't you out there with them? I bet you could help a lot", I asked and a bitter smile appeared on his lips for a second.

"Because that is not my area of expertise, Desmond."

"Ready for another go in Baby, Des?" Rebecca had risen from the seat behind her computer, making our conversation abruptly come to an end, and was walking towards the animus again. Reluctantly I rose, I had much rather talked a little more with Shaun… When I talked to him my problems seemed far away. Abstergo finding us felt far away. Only while having this conversation with him had I for the first time felt distracted from my fears and felt soothed that we had this under control, that we knew what we were doing.

"Good luck in there, baby novice", I heard him mutter with a teasing sting in his voice…

Lucy would have none of my protests of leaving Shaun in there alone, instead she pushed me in front of her and blocked the corridor back to the room the historian still was in.

"For the love of God, Desmond! It's neither Shaun they want nor him it's important that we keep alive! Just go!" With one last, non convinced, glance back I turned my head and ran down the stairs to the storage room, where Rebecca was starting our escape vehicle. It was clear that all three of my partners were hoping to escape the fight, probably just as aware as I was about the problem Abstergo's number brought.

I ran down the stairs, hearing Lucy's footsteps close behind and listening intently to hear another pair of feet joining us, but they never came. We soon reached the ground and I really started to wonder what was taking Shaun this long. Sure, he had a lot of facts on his computer but most of it was already on that hard drive it should not take this long to copy the small information that lay around his computer. The car was on the other side of the room from the stairs and to get to it we had to pass the door that was step by step getting knocked down. It was not far from its breaking point when I passed it, and I thought to myself that we were never going to make it. Both I and Lucy ran like crazy across the room and it surprised me that my legs could carry me that fast despite spending most of my days lying down.

Rebecca had started the engine and we leapt in, Lucy in the front and me in the back. I was about to close the door but paused to look up at the beginning of the stairwell.

"Where is he? Come on Shaun…" Rebecca mumbled, her eyes fixed in the same place as mine, and with one foot at the pedal, ready to go as soon as that door broke down. Suddenly we saw him sprinting out from the corridor and down the stairs, the small hard drive in his back pocket. I let out a soundless sigh of relief; we were going to make it.
That was what we all thought either way, but just as the historian passed the huge garage door, it finally broke down and in came the back of a truck filled with armed Abstergo guards. It was certain that he was not going to make it and I did not even think twice, I once again threw myself out on the floor of the warehouse and started to sprint furiously in the direction of Shaun. I just barley comprehended Lucy screaming my name, but all I could think of was going to Shaun's aid as the Abstergo soldiers were creeping closer to him.

"Desmond! Get back!" he yelled but I did not listen, instead I threw myself at the guard closest behind him, burying my blade deep in his throat. I remember thinking it was strange that they were just armed with batons although I suppose they wanted to get all the information we had to offer them before they killed us.
Adrenaline shot through my body, in any other scenario I probably would have hesitated both once and twice before killing someone but at that point my mind was just focusing on one thing, protecting Shaun.

I was about to get up again, resuming the fight when I saw a baton coming flashing towards my face, it was only a half second away from hitting me when a flash of blue fabric swept past me and Shaun had successfully knocked the guard to the ground, without killing him.

I was standing outside the warehouse, lighting up a cigarette. I was not really supposed to have them since they messed with one's physique, but I had since long kicked the habit and had persuaded Lucy to get me a pack so I could get one just to calm down and let my thoughts drift. She had agreed but only if the package stayed with her so she could keep an eye on how many I consumed. I had ignored the fact that she was treating me like a little kid only to actually get that cigarette, but it really was driving me crazy.

I had just completed that thought when the door beside me opened and Shaun stepped outside. I eyed him for a second then took a whiff on the cigarette and closed my eyes. It was like tasting a piece of heaven for me.

"What are you doing here?", I asked, without looking at him, as I exhaled the smoke from my lounges.

"Lucy said to keep an eye on you", he simply said and my eyes opened again, a frown on my face at hearing this. I glanced his way and saw that he was now positioned with his back against the wall, arms crossed and a blank expression on his face.

"I am not a child, I don't need a babysitter." I muttered, annoyed and Shaun gave me a crooked smile.

"You sure about that? You're sure that you're not a 14 year old girl secretly smoking for the first time?", he said, voice teasing as always. I did not dignify that with an answer, but just grimaced at him before putting the cigarette in my mouth again.

"It's in case of Abstergo arriving, we can't have you walking around alone; it would be too easy for them to snatch you up", he explained when I gave him no comeback. He could probably sense that I was not really in the mood, not that this had ever stopped him before.

"You make it sound like it would be the easiest thing in the world to kidnap me. You don't think I can defend myself?", I asked a little grumpy. It had been a really long week in the animus. It had been exactly one year ago since Ezio's father and brothers died, in there, and that was emotionally tugging at Ezio, a feeling that was transferred to me and that was not so easy to shrug off as soon as I stepped out into the real world.

"Who knows, if you were caught off guard…" he trailed off. "Can I have a taste of that?" Shaun asked and held out his hand, which I placed the cigarette in. Our hands touched for the briefest moment and a rush that I had no explanation for ran through my body. I froze with my eyes stuck on him, but he seemed not to notice, instead he inhaled the poisonous smoke and let out a satisfied hum.

"… so long since I've had a fag." I reacted to the word at first until I remembered that he was British, how I could ever forget was a mystery; it should be very clear with that thick accent of his.

"And you are supposed to protect me? What could you do? Smack a lexicon in their face?" I asked as he put out the cigarette again, having taken the last drag.

"Oh, haha Desmond, very funny." He said and folded his arms around himself again; I could see a shiver go through him and the hair on his neck rise. I felt a sudden urge to touch it but ignored it and kept talking instead.

"No, seriously I want to know. How could you ever protect me?" My voice was maybe a little bit too mocking, but I could not help it. The things that kept popping up in my head when he was around was unsettling for me, the rush, the longing to touch, and I had to repress it some way.

"Listen, seventeen...", the fact that he used my number like I was just another subject to him hurt a little and I guess it was Shaun's way of marking that he had had enough of this verbal beating of mine, which I thought was a little immature considering how he always threw sarcastic insults my way. "… just because I don't sit around in an animus all day, letting my muscles wither away, nor is out there on the field right now does not mean that I was never a novice or received the same training as every assassin gets".

"About that, why aren't you out there?" I asked although he had already explained it to me, but I just could not stop, I wanted to aggravate him. His eyes met mine, a rush once again going through my body, and I saw that he was not pleased, not even a little, a frown covered his face but then he sighed and looked away. His eyes looked good when he was angry.

"I already told you, it's not there I am needed the most. And I actually prefer it that way. I have never enjoyed taking another man's life away. But make no mistake, Desmond. I am an assassin through and through. I've killed before, I expect to kill again. It's just that… I prefer not to". With that he turned around and opened the door to the warehouse.

"Let's go before I lose my patience and do Abstergo's job for them. Besides, it's freezing out here".

The memory flew through my mind as I, frozen in action, watched him but he soon got me back to reality by grabbing my arm ad pushing me behind him and taking on the next guy at the same time.

"Desmond, run!" he snarled at me, but I did not listen. I could not just leave him there, so instead I made a move to attack only to be pushed back again.

"Seriously, you wanker, get out of here. We can't afford your death neither losing you to their side so, take this and get out, I'll hold them off." He handed me the hard drive and I stared at him for a moment, hesitating, and watching him get back to the fight. Shaun was good, I could never have known that he had this in him, but he fought of multiple men by himself and at the same time making sure that no one came past him to get to the truck.

"Desmond!" I heard Lucy scream from the car, she was ready to leap out and join in if she had to, but it was clear that she wanted me to run to her instead. I glanced back at her and Rebecca and then directed my attention back at Shaun who just blocked another blow and for the first time this evening used his knife, but sticking it in his opponent's leg instead of neck.
I did not know what to do, I knew I was risking the mission by putting my life on the line but I could not just leave him there. I… I could not, he would surely get killed.
I hesitantly took a couple of steps back, towards the car but my eyes were fixed on the Brit fighting for his life in front of me. He looked back at me and saw me hesitating.

"Desmond, I'll be fine. Please just go", his voice was not harsh anymore… it was pleading.

I woke up in the middle of night. There were footsteps walking into the room where I slept, in the same room as the animus and the computers were placed, in fact. I pretended not to have noticed at first, until I heard Shaun's chair creaking. I had learned that it was his chair doing that sound because he always went to bed hours later than the rest of us and I could not really seem to get to sleep when he was in the same room as me. The sound of that chair and his quiet footsteps had been a signal for me that he was gone.

Slowly I sat up in my bed and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes.
"Shaun?" I asked quietly, the answer did not come at once but after a few moments, he exhaled loudly and his voice echoed weakly across the room.

"Please, Desmond just go back to sleep". Normally, I would not have bothered with trying to talk to him, but there was something in his voice; something broken, pleading, something really wrong.
I really do not know what I thought I could do or why I did it but slowly I put my feet on the cold floor, not bothering to slip in any more clothes than the briefs I was already in, making my way through the dark room, only seeing shapes and outlines of the furniture.

Shaun was sitting in his chair, lit up in a bluish light from his screen, head in his hands. I slowly made my way over there and kneeled on the floor beneath him, trying to catch eye contact with the historian, but he kept his hands over his face, although he knew that I was there. I was about to awkwardly ask him what was wrong but he spoke first.

"Please, I don't want to talk about it. Just go". Judging by his voice he was not crying, but there clearly was something on his mind, and I could not bring myself to just walk away or go back to sleep like I wanted too when I knew he felt like this. It tugged at my heart seeing him this way. I let one of my hands fall on his and carefully unfolded it from his face.

"We don't have to talk, we can just sit here." I whispered, not knowing what I was doing, just that I wanted to be there for him. He stared at me for a while, lowering the hand still over his face to his lap, but let me keep the other one in mine.

"Do you hate me, Desmond?", he suddenly asked and I gave him a puzzled look. I could never hate him, I wished I hated him instead of having these feelings I knew I had, but I could not.

"No", I said instead of saying what was on my mind.

"Everybody hated me as I grew up. That was why it was so easy to leave for the order. No one cared", he said simply like he had just told me what temperature it was outside. I was surprised that he was telling me this; that he let his wall fall.

"One of my friends I've had since I came to the brotherhood died tonight", he exclaimed, eyes still on my face, like he was analyzing my reaction to what he just had told me.

"I am sorry". I simply said and squeezed his hand a little but he only shook his head at this.

"Not your fault. I don't have many friends, I keep pushing them away. I have a hard time trusting them. Lucy, Rebecca and this man who died today are my closest friends. They've known me since I joined the brotherhood", he kept telling me and I just sat there, not knowing what to say at this newfound vulnerability of Shaun's.

"Why do I trust you?", he suddenly answered and my eyes widened in surprise. "Why is it so easy for me to trust you?", he repeated and I opened my mouth to answer but did not know what to say.

"I… don't know", I simply muttered and felt like I was utterly useless at this. Suddenly he bent down closer and gripped my chin lightly, making me look up at him and seeing my reflection in his glasses.

"I don't know what I am doing", he muttered and then placed his lips lightly on mine. I froze, the rush coming through my body again but much stronger this time and I could not help but to stretch my neck a bit into the kiss. But suddenly he broke it and rose, a horrified expression on his face, then walking away.

"I am sorry, Desmond. I didn't mean to do that", he spoke hastily to me before walking away, leaving me completely confused.

Lucy had ran up behind me without me noticing and gripped my arm, started to drag me back to the car. I did not put up much of a fight, I was too torn of what to do and I was glad someone made the decision for me. Still, I felt like a traitor leaving him there.
I was thrown in the seat behind Rebecca and the door was slammed behind me, mere seconds later I saw Lucy running towards Shaun, about to help him.

Days had gone by and we had gone back to acting like the kiss had never happened. We spoke occasionally but it was our usual back and forth and he kept telling me to go away when I came to speak with him, more persistently than he had done before the incident.

My confusion was getting worse and worse, I needed to get away for a moment so I asked Lucy for another cigarette which she gave me without any fuzz.

"Would you go with him, Shaun?", she asked the Brit without looking up from her work.

"Sure, it's not like I got really important work to do here", Shaun replied, sarcastic, but nevertheless rose and walked up beside me.

"Great!" I thought. "This was the awkwardness I wanted to get away from not take with me". But I kept my mouth shut and we walked outside in silence.
It was late, and it had gotten dark outside, the only light coming from the moon and the sporadically placed street lamps. I lit my cigarette without even looking at Shaun and inhaled deeply. It was quiet for a while, I thought it was nice but I guess Shaun felt it was awkward because he opened his mouth and asked me something that felt like he only asked it to break the silence.

"When did you start smoking?", he asked and I shrugged.

"Kind of comes with the job of being a bartender", I replied and took another whiff.

"You were a bartender?", he asked, seeming actually surprised. I looked at him and cocked an eyebrow.

"You didn't research me?"

"Didn't think it was necessary, all I needed to know about you and Altaïr was in your file", he shrugged and I hummed.

"You want a whiff?" I asked and offered him the cigarette. He reached out and once again brushed against my hand. He paused before he took it and looked at me. Part of me wanted to punch him for being so damn cryptic and part of me wanted to lean in and kiss him.

"What, Shaun?", I finally asked him when he did not take it. He let his hand fall without the cigarette and looked away.

"You know that friend I talked about the other day?", he asked but did not wait for me to answer. "He was the only person I've ever truly trusted, that I've ever felt close too. Losing him was losing a piece of me, like I broke. I don't ever want to feel that way again". I did not know what to say to him but just stood there and looked at him.

"When I talk to you I feel the same trust building up…", he slowly told me but I still kept quiet. Silence filled the air for a while and he looked at me, finally I replied.

"Why do you want me to hate you?", I asked him and he chuckled quietly.

"You aren't too bright are you, Desmond? It wouldn't hurt as much losing you if you did". I leaned back at the wall beside him.

"I don't hate you", I simply said, not knowing what to answer to that. Once more I wanted to hit him in the face, but I refrained.

"I know…"

"Just kill him, it's not him that we need, they're getting away!" a very familiar voice screamed out and I saw Vidic in the back. My heart froze, apparently they had been armed with other weapons but waiting for orders to use them.

One of them raised a knife. Lucy ran.

He pushed himself of the wall and positioned himself face to face with me, leaning in.
"I don't know what I am doing…", he said once more when I gave him a questioning gaze.

"SHAUN!" I screamed, but he could not hear me, failed to see the knife that was coming towards him.

Lucy sprinted, getting closer.

Our lips met, and this time he did not pull away. Moments passed, and I hesitantly kissed him back, he still did not pull away, instead he came closer. I dropped what was left of the cigarette and buried my hands in his blue sweater. He was my link to reality, and I was his.

Finally he broke it and looked at me before letting through a small smile.

"I will have to make sure that I die first".

The guard buried his dagger in Shaun's neck, Lucy leapt in the same second and her blade sliced through the flesh of the guard only moments too late. Everything froze for what felt like a lifetime, a lifetime of pain, before Shaun collapsed to his knees, clutching his neck that was bleeding heavily.

Rebecca put in the reverse gear and then hit the gas pedal going out the back way that she probably had opened while waiting for us.
Lucy got up from the guard, gave Shaun one look and he mimicked something to her that looked like 'go'. I could not feel, not hear, not think. I did not even notice the scream of agony I let out.

Rebecca paused for a second when she had gotten out. Lucy who was a lot smaller than the guards moved quicker and threw herself in the back of the car, which door was left open I saw Shaun turning around, looking at me with a small smile, then Rebecca put full speed ahead.

"I won't let you."
"And how are you going to stop me, smack one of my lexicons in my face?", he asked then kissed me again.

An: ah, well that turned angsty... I am a little bit sad today because I miss my friends. it wasn't supposed to go like this from the start. Also a lot fluffier than my work usually is... fluffier and angstier... it's weird. Hope you enjoyed. Oh and the stuff about Hitler, I was just trying to remember what the truth files said about him, but the stuff about that Eva Braun might have assassinated him was just me making things up, it's not in the game anywhere^^

Good night to you! / ajlin (don't be afraid to review)