ShaunLuce. Because there's not enough of those in existence. -loves the pairing for some reason-
I've always been curious: Why did Lucy tell Shaun about Desmond, and not Rebecca? Lucy's known Rebecca for longer, yet seems to trust Shaun more. But why?
Because Shaun is about to get friendzoned.
Shaun slowly turned his head and looked over his shoulder once more. Rebecca was at her computer, Desmond in the Animus about five feet away from her. As he looked, Rebecca shot Shaun a sort of flirtatious look. The historian curled his lip after she'd looked away. Did she honestly think that he was looking at her? No, the real thing he'd turned around just to see was about ten feet to her right.
Lucy typed away at her computer, occasionally stealing a glance at Desmond's still form. Shaun seethed every time he saw this. He turned back to his desk, staring at the monitor but not really seeing it.
See, Shaun liked Lucy. Not that stupid kind of infatuation that Desmond was most likely affected with, but actual feelings. Before yesterday, he'd never actually seen or spoken to her, just email. But the moment he laid eyes on her, he felt it. It was like being hit in the chest with a pillow: soft, but it still knocked the wind out of him. "Love" at first sight was the hugest cliché ever, but he felt it. His heart began to pound, and as she walked toward him, he took an eager step forward. But she changed course and headed straight for Rebecca.
Shaun watched them hug, crestfallen. Lucy didn't even spare him a second glance. Then he saw Desmond, blanching at the fact that he really wasn't that bad looking. So Shaun acted crisp and business-like, barely even exchanging a few words with Lucy when all he wanted to do was talk to her, get to know her. He went back to his desk, fuming at the frustration of it all.
And then Desmond was there. "Hey."
"Hello, Desmond," Shaun droned, not even looking up. "Go away."
That's how most of their conversations went, when Shaun wasn't being sarcastic and Desmond wasn't being so American.
There was a few times that Shaun was able to talk to Lucy, when they were alone. And he jumped at every chance, started conversations with her when it was six in the morning and even he didn't feel like talking. He got to know her. She started laughing at his jokes. He began to sit closer to her when they had coffee.
However, Lucy also seemed to be getting closer to Desmond, the bloody wanker. Shaun didn't say anything, just seethed and watched as Desmond shamelessly flirted with her, growing more fond of her every day; Shaun could see it in his eyes as the American watched Lucy walk away. His eyes were directed at her ass, a small smile on his face. Shaun knew Lucy would only end up getting hurt if she chose Desmond.
One morning, during their coffee/tea that had became a morning ritual, Lucy laughed at something vaguely funny he had said. Her face lit up whenever she laughed.
"You know," Shaun began hesitantly, trying at some sort of intimacy. "I want to be you whenever I see you smiling... because it's easily one of the hardest things to do, what with all that's going on."
Lucy's laugh faded, then she smiled again. It didn't reach her eyes, seemed more like an awkward sympathy smile. She looked into her coffee. "Hey, can I talk to you really quick?"
Shaun turned to face her, abandoning his tea on the counter. "What is it?"
Lucy stared into her coffee, stirring it slowly with a popsicle stick. If Shaun didn't know any better, he'd guess she regretted saying anything.
Tentatively, he reached out his hand and pulled her head up by the chin so she was looking at him. He let go. "That's better. You can look at me while you're talking to me now." Warm smile, good job Shaun.
"Well..." Lucy sighed. "What if I told you that I... liked someone?"
His heart rate accelerated. "Er... really?"
She avoided eye contact. "It's, uh... it's Desmond."
"Dammit!" Shaun slammed his hand down on the counter, causing Lucy to jump. An overreaction, but it was probably necessary. "Lucy, don't you see? This will not end well for you! You're going to be stepped on and left behind by that... that..." He stopped, eyebrows knit together, unable to think of a word insulting enough.
"I get it," Lucy said quietly. "It's because he's an Assassin. We're both Assassins. It doesn't work."
No. No, because if Desmond being an Assassin eliminated him, then Shaun was out as well. "Not what I meant..." He hesitated. "I've seen the way he looks at you, Lucy. I know that look. When you walk away, he stares at your ass! Living in New York City as a bartender, do you really think that he is capable of love? You are going to get your heart pounded into the dust."
"But... maybe I'm different," Lucy muttered, staring up at him. Shaun realized how close they were—only half a foot preventing their bodies from touching.
Shaun shook his head. "You're no different to him. But..." He mentally kicked himself. Say it! "You're different to me."
Surprise registered in her eyes. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying..." He breathed in deeply, then rested his hand on her arm. "Choose me. Not him. He'll hurt you."
Lucy's eyes were wide, but her forehead creased in a slight frown as well. "I... I'm sorry, Shaun." She sighed. "I just don't think of you that way. With Desmond, it's different—"
Shaun yanked his hand back. "Fine. But don't you dare come to me when your heart gets broken."
He stalked out of the kitchen, tea forgotten on the counter and Lucy forgotten behind him.
Lucy largely ignored him after that. Shaun guessed she was angry that he thought she couldn't handle herself. He would've been perfectly fine if she'd just left him and everyone else alone. But she still made herself closer to Desmond! It was like everything Shaun had ever said meant nothing to her.
So he stood by and watched. Watched as Desmond impressed Lucy with his learned abilities, watched as Desmond murdered those Abstergo guards, watched as Desmond and Lucy went off alone into Monteriggioni's tunnels.
Shaun stood and fumed at the unfairness of it all while he and Rebecca waited for the other two to find an entrance.
"You really like her, don't you?" Rebecca asked non-challantly as she played with her MP3 player.
"Um, wha.. what?" Shaun feigned ignorance. "I've no idea what you're talking about."
She looked up now, amusement in her eyes and a smile playing on her lips. "I may not be the 'love doctor' like you claim to be, but I can tell when one person likes another." She leaned against the outer wall of the Villa, having pocketed her music player. "You can't stay away from her."
He scowled. "That is absolutely none of your business."
Rebecca waved a hand dismissively. "A lot of people tell me that. A lot of people tell you that, too. Yet if you had, you wouldn't be here."
She had a point, which made Shaun scowl harder. Had he not been snooping around, the Templars/Assassins never would've found him. And he would never have met Lucy.
"I know for a fact that she and Desmond made out," Rebecca said, a smug smile on her face.
"I'm sorry, what?" Shaun gasped. "She did not!"
Rebecca laughed. "All right, she didn't. But judging from your reaction, you care if she did. Which is enough for me."
"Okay, so maybe I don't want her to end up with some jerk who'll smash her heart into a thousand pieces!" he blurted out. "Is that so wrong?"
The brunette raised her eyebrow. "Tension between you and Desmond? Do tell."
The historian glared. "Stuff it."
She laughed again, shorter, but didn't say anything, which was just fine with him.
It was silent for a few minutes, during which time Shaun bit his lip to stop himself from telling her all his problems. He did need someone to rant to, but come on, it was Rebecca! She'd probably blog about it or something.
So he just glared at the moon. It wasn't even anything special like full or barely-there, it was a bloody half moon. Just a fat, misshapen, white hunk of rock.
"Why are they taking so long?" he mused aloud.
"Worried they're having a make-out session while you're not around?" Rebecca asked casually, as if discussing weather.
"Stuff it," Shaun hissed again.
"...You know, it wasn't necessary for her to go down there with him," the historian said quietly. "She could've stayed up here with us."
"With you?" Rebecca was looking up at him now, an actual concerned look on her face. Maybe.
Shaun shook his head. "Just not with him. She won't listen to me."
The brunette shrugged. "Maybe you're not using the right words."
"I told her she was going to get her heart pounded into the dust," he mused. "Is that wrong?"
Rebecca raised her eyebrows. "Well, I may not be Lucy, but I'd be kind of freaked out if someone told me that. It's too strong."
"Damn."
"14 19, 14 20, 14 21..." Shaun tilted his head, then moved toward where he knew the secret passage was. Desmond's voice was floating through the wall, and it made the historian angry just hearing it.
"Can you open the damn bookcase, Desmond?" Shaun spat out the last word, because he really didn't want to taint his mouth by saying it out loud.
"It's about bloody time," he hissed as the door was opened, pushing past both Desmond and Lucy and making his way down the passage, withdrawing his flashlight as he descended.
Because they could do whatever they wanted. He didn't care any more.
"She liked him, Bill. That's what she told me." And there, sitting in the small airport's waiting room, Shaun Hastings started to cry. It was all such a waste! Why was Lucy dead? Why wasn't she here with him now? Why hadn't she listened to him?
Even though there were people - albeit strangers - around him, Shaun had never felt so alone in his life. Not in high school, where everyone'd dismissed him as a "nerd" and didn't come near him, not when he was kidnapped by Abstergo and sat by himself in the back of a van for days, not ever. He wanted Lucy back. But she hadn't wanted him.
And now she was dead, and she'd never know how much he cared for her.
So the timeline is kind of hard to follow, but basically it starts during ACII, the day after Desmond and Lucy arrive, then Shaun remembers meeting Lucy and the time after he met her where she tells him she likes Desmond. Time then skips forward to Brotherhood, after skipping forward again to Revelations. Get it? Good.