It All Started Out So Innocently...

"Requiescat en pace," I mutter, gently lowering the man's head to the ground. A greedy banker, stealing all he could from the poor by influencing officials to tax them higher and higher for properties. He had been corrupt, I had done what was right, this was certain. His elegant, pure white robes lay around the sprawled cadaver, now soaked with blood from his body, blood I had drawn. He gave no fight, as countless others of his kind had once caught, and merely found himself trying to outsmart me.

"What the hell?" I heard a man shout from nearby, "He just killed that man! He's dead!"

My eyes dart up and I see the man, my reflexes kick in and I don't hesitate to quickly throw a knife from my belt. He falls to the ground, another murder, but necessary. My bounty by now was up far higher than any other man's in the Brotherhood or Thieves' Guild. As several others turned their heads I reached to my pouch and withdrew a small, metallic sack. After a quick pull on a string along the top of the sack, I threw it down. The citizens and guards around me began to cough and hack powerfully. I turned and saw a building, I had to improvise.

I felt my feet push me up the building to the ridge of a window. Another step up put me on a beam from which a plant pot hung and I scrambled on top of it. From here I could reach the upper edge of the stone building and attempted to pull myself up.

A rock landed just shy of my right hand, "Merda!" I shouted to myself. Another rock hit the building beside my waist as I desperately managed to pull myself on top of the roof. The guards were no longer distracted by the dissipating smoke and were trying to climb the building as well. I began a full sprint from roof-top to roof-top, avoiding being chased by more guards. Another three joined the two chasing me and I pulled two knives from my shoulder, turned around, and in one fluid movement threw them into two of my pursuers. They fell mid-run and I spun with finesse to continue my own getaway. A beam stuck from the edge at the end of the line of buildings and I did not hesitate to jump from it.

I tucked into a roll as I hit the ground and turned toward a large gate that was quickly closing to prevent my escape. More guards joined the chase at each corner, while others gave up from exhaustion. My breath lost the even in-out it had at the start of the run and I was quickly losing my stamina.

I saw five guards line themselves up, all in the same red uniform with metal chainmail over it. They held their blades up to stop me while another was still struggling to close the gate. My right hand rose as I approached and one of the guards looked at me arrogantly and laughed. "We're not moving!"

I merely smirked and pulled the hammer back. Upon release a loud bang could be heard as it echoed through Rome. He fell to the ground dead and the others were off-guard, I dove beneath the closing iron-wrought gate and barely made it. They began to curse among themselves and raise the gate once more. I laughed at their persistence as my midnight-black horse came from around the corner and I jumped to a lamp-post and swung to her back. I yanked the reins to the side to turn her around and shouted "Ya!" while my heels hit her in the side lightly.

I stood up gently, keeping myself slightly elevated. My robes were thin, my hood easily hiding my face from view. The hood came to a point at the front, like an eagle's beak, and the decorations around it were a crimson red. At my side was not the common long sword, but a jagged, unique knife owned by a fierce Warrior of Romulus. It was not a wide blade, but it was fast and it worked better for me than any combative weapon had before.

As the horse galloped I felt it bounce up and down while we rode the hills. If I saw a group of guards coming on horseback I gave a small whistle and two of my personally trained assassins would take them out and hide the bodies. "Whoa…" I said patting the horse as it stopped in front of a tunnel entrance. After a quick dismount, I stroked her nose and slipped silently into the tunnel.

I arrived at our established headquarters to be greeted by the assassins who had trained me, watched me rise through the ranks. La Vulpe was not at the Thieves' Guild for the day to get information on how my mission went and Machiavelli gave me a small bow and hand shake. I explained to them my situation and they sent out three of the newer recruits, donned in plain white robes, to clear my name around the city. I watched as they took off, destined to be great warriors of stealth.

"Yo, Desmond, get up." I heard Rebecca say as the shield that blocked my eyes retracted. She looked down at me, carefree as usual, and helped me climb out of the red chair of the Animus 2.0.

Shaun sat at his desk, points were pinned up on a map all connecting dots. There was a picture beside each dot, a kill Ezio had accomplished. Above it was a similar one, though the dots were not there, merely large circles in red ink, only one system of them was connected. One had a picture of Vidic beside it, it was thick and it was the largest circle. On top of this, that circle had a string leading to at least five others, all of which were connected to one another. The circles each had question marks in them, Vidic was a difficult find. One was over Roma, another over Firenze, and various other locations were marked.

He had nothing to do much since Subject 16 spoke to me, the message was nearly indecipherable, and considering it was personal, I would have more luck figuring it out. With a shrug I climbed from the chair and stretched my back. A satisfying crack ran up my spine and I sighed with relief. I looked at my two friends, Shaun and I had our arguments and our share of picked fights, but we never hated each other much. The relationship was complicated and bittersweet.

A sad look washed over me as I looked at the short, black-haired Rebecca, her headphones hanging limply around her neck and then to Shaun, the casual-formally dressed British man. Lucy was missing, her leadership, her ability to, if nothing else, make the team more focused on the mission at hand was gone. I put my face in my hand and had to steady myself on the bed in the corner of room and sit down. Just as I did, the door leading to our "office" opened with a hiss and William stepped inside. "Rebecca, Shaun, Mr. Miles, how's research today?"

Shaun merely shook his head and Rebecca gave him a look that obviously meant they were making no progress. "Shame…" William said as he pulled a small flashlight from his pocket and walked over to me. He held my eyelid open and flashed it in my eye to check the dilation of my pupils. It wasn't necessary, I was perfectly fine, but he insisted on it. The man repeated it once more with the other eye and took a step back, satisfied with the result.

"William, I'm fine, you don't have to do that every day." I had told him this time and again, but he seemed to not care at all. He was balding, or his hairline was 'receding' as he called it, we all knew he was losing his hair. There was a thin moustache-goatee around his mouth and it was a dark hue of orange-brown. William merely shrugged and disagreed before leaving.

I examined my surroundings, the bed I sat on, though comfortable, was a rounded-square shape and seemed extremely generic. There were two pillows beside one another at the headboard and a white comforter covered it. The floors had hardwood, much like the apartment in the warehouse when I first began my training. My face rested once more in my hands, the stress had gotten to me for the millionth time since the day nearly a week ago. I had gone into a coma-like state for two days, and now, five days later, Rebecca and Shaun had given up trying to cheer me up.

I rubbed my temples and Shaun shook his head angrily and pounded his fist on the desk. "Desmond! Get over it. I apologize, but come on, mate, she's gone. Lucy is dead, and even if it was you who physically stabbed her, it isn't entirely your fault, stop pretending as if it is!" I had never seen him so serious, so angry at anything before. Just when you think you know a guy…

"Shut THE fuck up, Shaun!" I rose to my feet, pissed off as ever with retaliation. "Not entirely my fault? Not entirely MY fault?" I was done, done with the way he acted so condescending toward me, as if I were less than him. "I fucking stabbed her! Stop trying to take no sides in this, the Apple and Juno FORCED me, so either it is or it isn't my god damned fault, but stop pretending like you think it's half-ass on both sides!" I could feel his breath I was so close to his face and he glared back at me through his glasses. "I swear to g-" I had not time to finish before he cut me off.

"Okay, yes, Desmond, I DO think it is your fault, if you listened to anything we said, had some self-control to NOT touch the ancient artifacts while I explained to you what was happening, then maybe Lucy would still be here!" At this point his face was red, and we were eye to eye, I had almost pulled my arm back and elongated the blade hidden on my forearm before Rebecca had intruded, pushing us apart. I didn't know she was that strong.

She gave Shaun a glare, then me, "Desmond, stop. We don't want to fight here; we've all lost Lucy, and just because she's gone doesn't mean we can stop working. So don't talk about whose fault it is because it's not going to bring her back, okay?" The woman looked back and forth, my breath began to even out with Shaun's, but I could still barely contain myself from pouncing on him and sliding the blade through his throat. "We have 65 days left to get this done and this fight isn't fixing anything. Christ you two…"

Shaun resumed his position at his desk, back turned against both of us and Rebecca slowly walked back to her place beside the Animus on one of the larger computers. I couldn't see the screen, but I knew she was enticed by a fresh round of Solitaire or Reversi while there was less work to be done. I grabbed my white hoodie from the rack beside the door and slung it over my plain, black t-shirt. "I'm going out, I'll be back… Sometime."

"No you're not." William said from outside the door, clearly frustrated. I sighed and held up my middle finger at the door. "Not appropriate, Mr. Miles."

"How the fuck does he know?..." I shook my head, "Whatever, I'm not in the mood for anything right now anyway." I turned and started for the bed when I heard Shaun stand up.

"Well, I'm turning in for the night, good night, Rebecca." He addressed the woman, obviously not mentioning me on purpose. I was glad he was finally giving me the silent treatment, maybe now I could think without a condescending tone correcting my every contemplation.

I sat back on my bed, ready to lie down when Rebecca stood up and walked over to sit down beside me. "Desmond…" Her voice trailed off, Shaun had long since left the room and locked it. William had gone back to his room by now and Shaun had locked the door behind him. Sadly, Rebecca would have to do the same thing. I was positive that William had not given me a key for a reason, and that reason would be Shaun telling him not to. "I know it still hurts, and it will for a long time… But, she's gone… We know it, we just have to move on and stop Abstergo from controlling the world."

I gave her a half-hearted attempt at a smile. She put her hand on my shoulder comfortingly and stifled a small giggle. I looked at her; my smile grew a little, becoming slightly more genuine. "You know, Becca, I love when you laugh like that… It's amazing." I put my arm around her shoulder and she leaned into me. She fit into my shoulder perfectly and I closed my eyes for a moment, "you haven't told me how you feel, y'know… About all this, about what you think, what you believe."

She looked up at me, "Desmond, I believe what you've told me. She was a close friend to all of us. But you can't live in the past anymo-" She was cut off, I wasn't trying to be rude but it may have been a bit harsh when I did.

"Becca, that's not what I asked. How does it make you feel? I don't want you to hide this from me… I understand being strong around Shaun and William, but when it's just us… You can tell me anything." I looked down at her and pulled her shoulder closer to me. My arm reached up to her hair and pushed a strand that had gone astray back into line gently.

The woman shied away for a moment before sighing, "I feel dead… Lucy and I hadn't seen each other in a long time before , but she was my best friend… And I don't want you to think you killed her, at all, but she is gone… And I'm trying to get passed it… It's just hard, Des… It's just too hard…" She turned her head into my shoulder and I could feel her breath breaking up into sobs. This was the first time I had ever seen Rebecca cry; I had never seen her be anything but sarcastic and carefree.

I rested my head on hers and wrapped my other arm around her shoulder in an embrace. Her head moved to my chest and I rubbed her back softly, "Shh… Rebecca, it's okay… It's really okay…" I wiped one of the tears from my face, trying to hide how I felt. She shook her head and I knew what she meant; she didn't believe me this time. She refused to take her own advice, lying to herself.

I pushed her gently from my chest to meet her gaze. Her eyes were reddened from her moment of weakness and I softly wiped a tear running down her cheek off her face. My hands gently caressed her cheeks and I lightly pressed her lips to mine.

After a moment she pulled away, slightly happier. Her breath was moving slightly more quickly and I could feel her pulse under my hand on her cheek. It was the first time I had had kissed her, and it felt right, "Thanks, Desmond… How is it that every time I come to cheer you up, I wind up being the one needing it more?"

I looked at her and the corner of my mouth perked up a little bit, "Maybe it's because I know how you feel, even when you don't." She looked down, her face flushed slightly, burning a hue of red. I pushed her chin up to face me again. "Don't shame yourself, Becca, look up at me. I'm not judging you… See?" I asked her in a soothing voice as I pressed against her lips again.

This time she held it for a moment or two longer and I savoured it for as much time as I possibly could. She pushed away and looked to the floor. "I have to get back to my room, thanks, Desmond." She attempted to give me a smile but it looked more like she was in pain. I only returned one to assure her that she looked good doing it. "Good night," and with the good night, Rebecca opened the door and stepped out. I could hear it click as she closed it behind her, locking it.

"Good night, Becca…" I told her as she walked out, wishing I could've done more, anything more to help her get over Lucy. But my mind was still reeling from the events Juno and the Apple had forced me into. After Lucy's death and me waking from my coma, Rebecca confessed that she had come to see me at night and talk to me; even if I was unconscious, she wanted somebody to talk to. Over the several days that passed, she and I had grown closer. Somewhere along the way I had shared with her how I felt and she barely hesitated to tell me the same thing. What did surprise me, though, was how when we kissed, I felt as if it were the first time I had really been with her. Sure, we had talked, but something felt different, closer than we had been before.

I leaned back in the bed and put my hands behind my head. Closing my eyes I managed a small, but slightly noticeable smile rise to my face. It was the first time in a long time I was genuinely happy, or at peace even. I hadn't even thought about the one less day to stop Abstergo or the stress of having all the weight on my shoulders.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I do not own any characters from Assassins' Creed, nor do I own any rights to the franchise. It's fanfic, you guys know it. ^-^ Hey, tell me what you think, R&R, I need a bit of strong feedback, it's my first fanfic, let alone AC fanfic, and as much as I wanted to go a Desmond & Lucy route, I figured maybe I could make the Rebecca & Desmond route work just as well… Tell me what you think :) because I didn't see any Desmond & Rebecca stories at all, so I figured I'd try to first. So, please, constructive criticism, I wanna know what I can do better, is there something I missed in Rebecca's character? Is Shaun's condescending tone missing an aspect? Well review ^-^ I wanna work out the small kinks as soon as possible so the story can get going. :) Again, thanks for reading, I'll see you at the next chapter.

Sorry that I made the note so long, I'll try to keep it shorter in the future. Tell me what you think about the Desmond/Rebecca pairing, because seriously, I saw *no* other story like that and had issues coming up with a way to make it work. Hence why I'm really pushing for feedback on whether I integrated the relationship well or not. I'm still not sure what the future holds for the whole Lucy-is-dead-but-maybe-not thing that *EVERY* other story does (which is exactly why I'm hesitant). If I want a Lucy and Desmond story I can always make one separate, at some point I'll probably integrate a poll into my profile or the story or whatever I can do to ask you guys what you want me to do. But don't worry about the plot right now, just favourite, review, subscribe, whatever you feel is necessary for my first fic. :)

~B