Chapter 1

"Alright, Baby (A.K.A. The Animus) is prepped and ready to go!" Rebecca yelled from the main room. A grumpy British voice responded. "Why do you always have to shout! Get off your lazy ass and walk in to talk to him!" She was quick to retaliate. "Oh, just drink your fucking coffee Shaun!" Said man grumbled and practically screamed. "Get in here Miles!"

Desmond sighed as he slid his tired body off his (extremely scratchy) cot. Since he started using the Animus, (not by his chose) sleep had become more and more elusive. It seemed every time he closed his eyes, images of either Altair's or Ezio's life played in his mind. If not those, then nightmares that were thankfully and regretfully completely his own. He felt like his head had become a prison, always locking him inside against his will, to witness memories that belong to dead men.

He got dressed quickly and strapped on his weapons. When he entered the room, Lucy looked up from her computer and smiled. "Good morning Desmond, just lie down and we'll get started."

"No breakfast, as usual." He though sadly to himself. He was lucky to get a cold cup of tea and half of a sandwich after he was done. He eased himself into the chair and sat back.

Lucy got up and stood by his right side. "Ok Desmond, the Animus has been gliching a little lately, so if anything feels off just tell us and we'll eject you." He nodded and closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, he was meet the bright white haze of the Animus loading screen. He sighed and looked down, watching the mist crawl lazily over his black sneakers… "Wait! Ezio doesn't wear sneakers! They weren't even invented yet!" He franticly threw his arms out and saw the familiar white sleeves of his hoodie.

"Guys, what's going on? Why am I still me?" He called up to the ceiling. Lucy's panicked voice boomed around the small room, coming from every direction at once. "We don't know! The Animus is going haywire! Hang on, we're going to eject you!"

Suddenly, pain crackled through Desmond's body. He fell forward with a shout. Fire raced into his veins, paralyzing the young assassin in an instant. He tried to scream for help, but the pain was agonizing and it stole his breath away, leaving poor Desmond to writhe in misery as molten lava was poured throughout his aching body.

"Desmond? Desmond! Shaun what's happening?" Lucy shouted. Said British man was typing up a storm, fingers flying across his keyboard, as error messages popped up all over the screen. "That's what I'm trying to find out! This makes no bloody sense! The Animus just suddenly switched back to Altair's memories and it's like it's trying to force him into them without synchronizing first. I can't explain it. I can't even eject him. Becca, how are his stats!"

Rebecca's trembling voice echoed in Desmond's ears. "Not good! His heart rate's off the charts! I can hardly get reading on him! I can't- I…I don't know what to do! It's like… he's fading away, but that's impossible! His consciousness is in the Animus. It has nowhere to go!" She looked like she was ready to pull her hair out.

Meanwhile, the pain in Desmond's body had slowly faded to a dull tingle, running from head to toe. He cautiously rolled over onto his back. When no pain emerged, he propped himself up onto his elbow and did a quick check list.

"Head… check! Arms… check! Chest… check! Ass… thankfully a check. Legs… disappearing. Han- wait, WHAT!" Wide eyes shot back down to his legs to see they were in fact dissipating, turning into the coding that surrounded the White Room. His feet were already gone, replaced by an odd numbness. The de-coding had spread up to his thighs, greedily reaching for more of the young man's body.

"Becca! Shaun! Lucy! Wha… what's happening to me?" He stuttered up to the ceiling in a frightened voice. Everything below his waist had now disappeared, the glittering computer code drifting aimlessly around him.

The three older assassin's were unable to answer, all of them struck speechless, as they watched Desmond's prone form shine brighter, the golden halo of light enveloping his body entirely. "Oh my god" Lucy whispered, just as Shaun murmured "By the creed"

All three watched helplessly, as the glow engulfed Desmond, searing the eyes of all who witnessed it.

"Help…" Was the last thing Desmond uttered, before the last of his body disappeared, and the world faded to black.

Darkness reigned supreme in the assassin safe house, the only light coming faintly from a flickering light bulb. No one spoke. No one could. All anyone could think of was the young man they had all come to know as a little brother.

Lucy was standing, head bowed towards the floor, as tears and silent sobs rocked her small body. Rebecca had her back turned to the room, her forehead pressing against the wall, but the slanted light revealed two tiny trails of water dripping down to spatter on the floor. Shaun was on his knees, staring at the empty chair as if willing it all to be dream, and to see the young man get up and complain he was hungry. He heart tore itself in two, when he realized that would never happen again.

He was gone. Just… gone. No body to bury. No special place to visit when they missed him. Nothing. "He didn't even know how much we cared." The Brit thought miserably. "I treated him like dirt, Lucy only smiled and gave orders, and Becca used him as a guinea pig. We never told him we loved him. We just lost our little brother and he thought we didn't care." He lowered his head as a tear slipped out of his eye. "He thought we hated him and now… he's gone."

Silence covered the room, only broken by the lonely wail of a failed heart monitor.