Chapter Two

"Desmond!" A hushed voice echos through the maze of alleys behind the Villa Auditore. With a nervous sigh, Lucy lifts her hand and presses the button on her headpiece. "Anything yet?" She asks the others.

There's a slight pause, some crackling from interferance and then, "No, nothing yet." Shaun replies, dryly. There's the distinct sound of someone knocking over a trashcan and the British Historian swears, quietly before signing off.

"Rebecca?" Lucy asks. "How about you?"

Rebecca sighs into her earpiece before saying, "Nope, I haven't found him yet."

Desmond had told them he'd be gone for ten minutes. That was a half hour ago. And he still hadn't returned. There was no questioning why his comrades might be concerned for his safety. Lucy visibly shudders at the idea that, maybe, Abstergo had shown up and-No. She shakes her head, peering around another corner. No way. Desmond was stronger than that now. He wouldn't go down without a fight. And besides, he had his headset. He would have contacted them if something had gone wrong. There where is he? A cold little voice asks Lucy in the back of her mind. The blonde woman frowns at the question. Maybe he just got turned around...She offers, lamely. In all honesty, Lucy wasn't sure why she was so worried about him. After all, wasn't it her job to-

"Ugh...huh...?"

Lucy snaps back into reality at the sound of Desmond's voice. She quickly taps her earphone. "I've got him!" She says, hurriedly to the other Assassins. Then, with a quick survey of the area, she finds him slumped against the side of a building. His head dangling, weakly and his eyes glazed over. "Desmond!" She calls in a soft voice as she runs toward him.

The dark-haired man shifts, tiredly. Just enough to glance at her out of the corner of his eye. "Lucy..." He mumbles, wincing at a sudden pain in his head.

"What happened?" She asks, kneeling down to get eye level with him.

"I uh..." He pauses, struggling to come up with a coherent sentence. "I heard Claudia calling me...she was...waiting on the balcony...waving at me..." Desmond's words were slurred and broken. There was just the tiniest hint of an Italian accent marring his voice.

"Claudia?" Lucy mutters, eyeing him in concern. "You mean Claudia Auditore? Ezio's younger sister?"

Desmond hesitates, as if confused by what she'd said. "Yeah...Ezio's sister..." Silently, he added Not my sister...Ezio's...not mine... He groans in pain, clutching his head as more ghostly figures assulted his mind. Somewhere behind Lucy, a man wearing a gaurds helmet and armor asked, "Is there a problem here?"

"No...no problem..." Desmonds responds, suddenly. He recoils from the unexpected words that came from his own mouth. They hadn't sounded like his...

"What was that?" Lucy asks him. "Desmond, are you feeling alright?"

He shakes his head. "I'm okay."

Just then, a chorus of footsteps interrupts them as Rebecca and Shaun jog around the corner. They slow their steps and smile in relief at him. "What happened, Desmond?" Rebecca asks, shifting a lock of her dark hair away from her shoulder. "You get lost or something?"

Shaun snorts, shaking his head. "Yeah, I'll bet that's what happened. I mean, it's not like he's a trained Assassin with centuries of experience or anything." The brunette man rolls his eyes. "Really, Rebecca?"

"Shut it, Shaun." She snaps.

"Guys!" Lucy growls. "Stop bickering like kids and help me move him before someone hears us."

Rebecca flashes a look at Shaun. She motions to Desmond and stands aside. "Ladies first." She snickers at him.

"Oh, very cute." He mutters, pulling Desmond to his feet. He and Lucy drape his arms over their shoulders and support him as they hurry back to their hideout.


"How're you feeling?" Lucy's voice was gentle, almost motherly, when she knelt down beside Desmond's place at the Animus. He wasn't plugged in but that was the best place for him to rest in the dark, dank cave.

He shrugs, casually. "Better." It was the truth. He had next to no memory of what had happened to him after having heard Claudia call him. And even less memory of his team finding him. They all claimed he had been awake the whole time...but he was having a pretty hard time believing that.

The blonde frowns and sits back. "Really, Desmond, if you're still feeling sick, we need to know about it."

Desmond shakes his head. "I said I'm fine, Lucy. Right now, all I want to do is go back to Ezio and finding the Apple-"

"Not now." She interrupts him, pushing herself to her feet. "Right now, all you need is rest."

He growls in frusteration. "We don't have time for-"

"I know." She snaps. "Believe me, Desmond. I know we're short on time. We need to find the Apple of Eden before Abstergo. But, think about it this way: If you don't get rest, the Bleeding Effect will only get worse. And then you'll end up just like Subject 16 and we'll have no one who can find the Apple." The harshness of her words stung him for a reason he couldn't figure out. But he knew she was right.

He sighs, leaning his head in his hands. "I can't just sit here and do nothing."

"It's a good thing you feel that way." Shaun calls from across the cave. "Because of your little episode, Rebecca has to run some tests on the Animus 2.0. Which means I'm short one partner for my supply runs. That means you are the lucky man who gets to accompany me. Be ready to leave in ten minutes."

Desmond arches an eyebrow at his forwardness. "Alright then...looks like I found something to do while Rebecca fixes Baby."


The road leading out of Monteriggioni was winding and narrow. They were constantly dodging pedestrians as well as bikes and animals. Desmond's passenger side window was rolled down, allowing some of the cool morning air into the stuffy van. The melodic sound of people chatting, happily in Italian coupled with fresh air, making the drive away from their secret hideaway a little less nerve-wracking than it really was.

Shaun had the radio on, trying to tune into a station that spoke English. But he wasn't having much luck. Eventually, he sighed and turned it off. "All of the local stations are in Italian." He grumbles, as if Desmond hadn't noticed.

"Not true." Desmond points out. "I think I heard one that was in French."


"Hey, Lucy!" Rebecca calls. She was leaned over the Animus's complex inner workings, her forehead glistening with sweat. When she receives no answer, she peeks over the red leather seat. Her chocolate colored eyes scanning the dark cave. Lucy was no where to be seen. She stands up, brushing dirt and grease off her clothes. "Lucy?" Silence.

She shrugs and crosses the room, finding the wrench she was going to ask Lucy to hand to her within an orange toolbox on the floor. She glances sideways at her companion's laptop screen. It glowed, brightly in the dark, illuminating Lucy's desk with an eerie silver light.

"Hm?" She straightens, noticing that Lucy's email was open. She stands up, clutching the wrench to her chest as he tilted her head, craning her neck to see what Lucy had been up to. She'd been acting...tense lately. Especially after being in her email for too long.

"Rebecca?" Lucy's voice caused her to jump and walk, resolutely back across the room, wearing an innocent smile.

"Yup." The dark haired woman says, quickly as she ducks back behind the Animus. "I was just looking for my wrench. Baby's got a few screws loose." She silently curses herself for being such a terrible liar.

Lucy doesn't respond for a few seconds. "Okay."

Rebecca hears the squeak of her chair as she sits down in front of her computer again.

"Do you think that could have caused something to go wrong? Maybe that's what affected Desmond so badly..."

"Yeah, could be." The technician agrees, gingerly as she places a shaking hand over her thundering heart. Why had Lucy's arrival frightened her so much? And...why did she want to see who her blonde friend was emailing right now?


"Oh for God's sake, Desmond!" Shaun complains, loudly. "You're a grown man! You should know right from left by now!"

"Hey, I'm not the one gave me the map upside down!" The young Assassin counters, frustrated.

"Yeah, Desmond. You know that little star-looking thing that says 'north' 'east' 'west' and 'south' on it? South isn't supposed to be facing upward!"

"Okay, okay! I'm sorry. Uh, take a left here."

"Are you sure?" Shaun asks him in a tone that sounded like he was talking to a three year old.

"Just go left!" He groans.

Shaun turns left, steering them onto another identical street where all the road signs are written in Italian.

"I thought you'd been here before. How come you need a map?" Desmond asks him.

"Actually, we're going somewhere new today." Shaun replies. "I usually do supply runs with Rebecca and our cover story is pretty sound. Bringing you along instead would raise questions, since there's only a few cashiers and all of them know us. I'd rather avoid explaining who you are to them."

"So this new store, have you guys checked it out?"

The historian shrugs. "It's a family-run market miles away from most civilization. How they stay in business is beyond me but, anyhow, I highly doubt Abstergo has planted agents there of all places."

"Doubt?" Desmond leans back into the seat, trying to calm his nerves. He'd never been good with unfamiliar places, even before being kidnapped by Abstergo Industries a few months ago. He blamed growing up on the Farm for that much... "That's real reassuring, thanks Shaun."

A/N: So, what do you guys think so far? I hope you're enjoying it and yeah, this is going to be a pretty long fanfiction. Just a heads-up.