It took them a day and a half to reach Rapid City and by the time they did the three Assassins had grown restless. They couldn't sit still in the van and seemed more then happy to get out when Desmond demanded Lucy stop at a restaurant just inside the city. Lucy tried to convince him that nothing would happen to him while at the farm, but he refused to listen. Rapid City was as close as he was willing to get to the Farm and had no intention of setting foot beyond it to the Black Hills where the Farm was located. Shaun complained while he pulled out his back pack as well as the three for the other men, but after an hour of insulting and shouting that only received a cold and calm gaze from his intended target he left with Becca to take the equipment to the farm. Lucy stayed with Desmond and the others to be sure she could call for back up if anything happened. Not that they should have a major fear of Templar's here. This was a strictly Assassin related town, so only Assassins and innocents here as far as Desmond's Eagle Vision could tell.
Desmond looked around the semi-busy streets with a calculating gaze and his shoulders tensed. Too many of the people that walked by were tinged in blue when he used his Eagle Vision. It was causing him to become restless and made him want to run to the nearest bus station and go anywhere but here. The sudden feeling of a hand on his shoulder made Desmond look over his shoulder to Ezio who was giving him a reassuring smile. Desmond smiled back a bit before returning his gaze to the streets. Silence stretched out as they waited for Lucy to get a call from Becca, Altair taking to pacing the sidewalk due to restlessness while Connor and Ezio scanned the streets beside Desmond. They waited maybe another minute before Lucy's phone rang and drew the attention of all four men to her.
"Hello?" Lucy answered, listening to the person on the other end of the phone, "I'm sorry sir, he threatened to jump out the window if I- No, he won't listen to me. I've tried, but- Yes, sir. I will meet you there."
Desmond watched Lucy cautiously, having a feeling he knew exactly who had been on the other side of that phone call. She turned to speak to him, but the glare he sent her was withering and she snapped her mouth shut at the sight.
"You have fun with that meeting, but I'm not getting in that van and I'm not going to the Farm." Desmond replied with a growl.
"Desmond, just because this is an Assassin based town doesn't mean it's safe here for you, we need to go to the Farm so that we can get you out of view of cameras." Lucy replied sounding frustrated.
"I think I can handle avoiding cameras for a few hours thanks." He spat back, turning and walking down the street without another word. None of the men who followed after him complained, in fact all three seemed very eager to be walking after being forced to basically sit still for almost four days. Lucy called after them, but Desmond ignored her as he turned down one of the smaller streets in the town and continued walking.
Desmond could still navigate this town even after the decade he'd spent away from it, and there was only one place in the town he remembered to be like a sanctuary to him. Stopping at a stop light, he pressed the crossing button and shoved his hands in his hoodie pockets.
"Where are we going Desmond?" Connor asked as the Mohawkian stopped beside him.
"Someplace I know I won't be lectured about needing to go to the Farm." He replied simply, walking across the street as the sign changed. "And where is that tesoro?" Ezio asked, curiously.
"The Family of a friend of mine while I was at the Farm owns the place. They may be the only Assassin's I never had a grudge against before Abstergo took me. It's only a couple blocks away come on." Desmond replied, picking up his pace.
The three men fell silent and followed Desmond without further questions. Eventually he stopped in front of a small building that had no windows besides the ones on the front door and the sign was turned to close. Smiling slightly at the sight of it, he opened the door and motioned for the others to follow him down the set of stairs just inside. A bell went off as they walked in and he quickly strode down the stairs looking around as he stepped down into the large underground bar.
"We're closed! Come back at eight!" A feminine voice called from somewhere behind the bar counter.
"Even to old friends who have probably been away too long?!" Desmond called with a smile as he pulled off his hood. The sudden appearance of a young woman with long blonde hair popping up from behind the counter had Desmond grinning. The woman stared at him with a set of dark gray eyes that almost appeared like storm clouds and a bright smile spread across her face.
"Well I'll be a Templar, Desmond Miles, you bastard what the hell are you doing here?" The woman demanded, standing up to her full height and moving out from behind the bar.
"Templar my ass, you are far too much of a lover of Assassinations to ever be anything but an Assassin." Desmond replied jokingly, taking a step forward and pulling the woman into his arms, "It's good to see you Natalie."
Natalie hugged him back, before pulling back still with a grin on her face. She then seemed to notice the three men standing behind Desmond and tensed slightly.
"Relax Nat, they are with me. They are fellow Assassin's. I don't know if you've heard any news from my father or what Lucy told him, but-"
"Oh so these are the three time-traveling Assassin's that William has been bitching about." Natalie interrupted immediately relaxing and grinning at the men, "Well anyone who pisses Bill off and takes care of my boy here is more then welcome."
"Your boy?" Altair asked, sounding less then pleased by Natalie's possessive claim of him.
"Chill there lover boy, you may carry his name, but this man here is as much mine as he is yours if not more so." Natalie replied, seriously before breaking out into a grin again, "Now who's hungry?"
The sound of Desmond's stomach growling answered her question and made the blonde laugh loudly.
"Always were easy to read Des." She said nodding towards a set of double doors off to the side of the bar. All four men followed after her as she pushed through the doors and Desmond was greeted by the wonderful sight of a large kitchen.
"So I'm guessing Lucy told my father about the names?" Desmond asked a bit anxiously. He had never told Natalie about the names in fear his father might somehow squeeze it out of her.
"Yeah, he flipped his shit too. Apparently having three male soul mates was the straw that broke the camels back. He went on a full on ranting rampage to me and several other younger Assassins who were in the area at the time about how we all needed to find spouses that could help us produce the future generations and not be a disappointment like you." Natalie replied as she weaved through the kitchen and stopped at one of the many stoves in there to pull out pots, "Nearly decked his ass when he called you a disappointment, actually did when his insults of you got derogatory. Asshole learned real fast that I may not be a master, but I could fuck his shit up without breaking a sweat."
Desmond laughed at her last statement, before he lifted himself onto one of the metal counters across from the stove. Altair and Connor immediately flocked to either side of him while Ezio stood back examining the kitchen curiously.
"Of course, you got the privilege of knocking my father out before I did, bitch." Desmond said with a grin.
"What can I say, I don't let that jackass talk shit about my favorite boy." Natalie said, grinning as she moved to a nearby walk in cooler, before she came out with some kind of meat and several other ingredients.
"Desmond, is this the friend you mentioned?" Altair inquired, sounding almost a bit jealous.
"Yeah, although speaking in Arabic isn't going to save you from her, she speaks several different languages." Desmond replied with a grin.
"Not limited to Arabic, Italian, Spanish, Mandarin, Greek as well as Latin, Japanese, Russian and several dead languages." Natalie replied, making all three men look at her surprised.
"You speak Italian, bella?" Ezio asked, with a grin, easily slipping to his mother tongue.
"Yes I do indeed Signore. And don't let Dessy over there hear you call too many women that, he can be the jealous kind." Natalie replied as she began making some sort of sauce in the pot she had.
"NAT!" Desmond exclaimed, trying to fight the blush he could feel rising in his cheeks.
"Oh is he now?" Ezio said with a mischievous grin that made Desmond bury his face in his hands.
Desmond could practically hear the evil grin spreading across the blonde's face at Ezio's question.
"Oh yeah, Desmond used to get overly jealous when we were teens. I was the only one besides his brothers who really defended him and had his back so if anyone talked to me or flirted he got super jealous." Natalie replied. Desmond groaned in embarrassment. He was starting to rethink his idea of coming to see her and wanted nothing more than to leave.
"Brothers?" Connor said curiously.
"Yeah Dylan and Duncan, Des is the baby but always seemed to be the one William came down on the hardest. Dylan's the perfect Assassin in William's opinion and feels the need to impress it on his two younger sons." Natalie replied. Normally Desmond would've probably snapped at anyone who shared information like this without his permission, but it was Natalie and she wasn't telling just anyone she was telling his soul mates.
"Can we please stop talking about my life and have you focus on feeding me instead?" Desmond demanded, dropping his hands from his face. "Of course not Dessy, when am I ever gonna get the chance to embarrass the hell out of you to your soul mates ever again?" Natalie replied, ever the little devil that she was.
Desmond glared at her back though his glare held no true anger, simply annoyance. However, before he could say anything else to the devilish imp in disguise, the kitchen doors banged open and all five of them turned to look at the doorway. Desmond's eyes widened as two men with messy brown hair and dark eyes stalked in and over to near Ezio. They both stared at Desmond with cold gazes and the younger man could practically feel Connor and Altair tense in preparation for an attack.
"Speak of the Devils and they shall appear." Natalie said, turning to the men with a grin.
"The only Devil here is you Natalie Azrael and you know it." One of the men replied, not taking his eyes off Desmond.
"True as that may be, every Devil has her lackeys and since you mostly answer to my orders on missions that makes you my lackeys." Natalie shot back, turning back to her pot.
Neither men responded to her, just kept staring at Desmond, causing the three men around Desmond to tense further and practically kick into protection mode. Desmond heard Ezio's hidden blades slip from their sheathes, but never got the chance to stop the Italian. Instead it was Natalie who swiftly stepped back into the path of Ezio and grinned between all the men.
"Boys I suggest you introduce yourself to Dessy's boys before they decide to take you out in fear of you being a threat to him." Natalie suggested as she looked to the other two men, "Because if blood gets in my kitchen it will be you two who clean it up."
Saying what she needed to say, Natalie stepped back to her pot and the two men relaxed their stances.
"Well if the jackass hadn't come to see you before us we wouldn't be acting this way." The second man said with a slight pout.
"Yeah you would think as his brother's he'd come to see us first." The first said still staring at Desmond. The brother comment instantly caught the three Assassin's attention and Ezio sheathed his blades.
"So you are Desmond's brothers?" Connor asked in surprise.
"Yes, I'm Dylan and this is Duncan." The first man replied, "Now Desmond are you gonna get your ass over here and say hello or do we have to fight our way through your body guards."
That statement was all Desmond needed to snap out of his daze and he was almost instantly off the counter and throwing his arms around both his brothers. He hadn't seen them in little less than a decade and he had missed them far more then he thought he was capable of. He felt his brothers instantly embrace him back tightly and may have heard Natalie 'awwwwwing' in the back ground, but chose to ignore her. After a moment he pulled back and grinned at his brothers both of them grinning back.
"How you been little brother?" Duncan asked ruffling his hair a bit.
"Been better as of recently, better than about three months ago." Desmond replied.
"We heard about your capture in Abstergo, Duncan and I wanted to go in to get you, but Dad denied us. He even went so far as to put us on lockdown in the barracks." Dylan replied.
"Bastard wouldn't even tell us what they were doing to you in there." Duncan growled.
"Slowly making me lose my mind." Desmond replied with a bored expression. He didn't like talking about the bleeding effect, but his brothers as well as Natalie needed to know.
"Yeah, he wouldn't tell us, but no one can keep any of our little devils informers from keeping her in the loop of what had been going on with you. Most days I think Natalie scares the others more then dad does." Dylan replied shaking his head.
"How are you doing by the way, Natalie told us you were now going into the Animus Becca built. We heard about the effects it can have." Duncan inquired, making Desmond smile slightly.
Desmond really didn't want to tell them how bad it was. In fact the only ones who knew were Altair, Connor and Ezio, but these were his brothers and Natalie. As much as he didn't want to worry them, they would only worry more because they could see through his bullshit like they were human lie detectors. Then again now that he thought about it, it wasn't nearly as bad as it was before the arrival of the three men behind him. He hadn't seen a single ghostly image since the last day in Italy and the last night in Italy had been the last time he'd had any type of nightmares. Even though it had only been a couple days, it was still odd considering he'd gone from having several symptoms of the bleeding effect to absolutely none almost instantly.
"Honestly, if you had asked me that about two days ago, I'd have told you I was going bat shit crazy, but now..." Desmond faded off on his reply trying to come up with a reason why the bleeding effect seemed to have just vanished over one night.
"Now, what?" Duncan asked sounding anxious.
"Now there's nothing. I haven't seen any ghostly images in over two days, haven't had any nightmares while I've slept and there hasn't been any time I wasn't absolutely sure of who I am." Desmond replied in confusion, "I know that probably sounds odd, but considering I went from having all of those things almost on an hourly basis for the last month, as well as nightmares every time I slept it's extremely confusing."
His brothers nodded slightly seeming confused for a moment before looking past their younger brother to the men behind him. Desmond immediately saw the question in their eyes, then saw them look back at him.
"And who are they? We were told you only had Becca, the Brit and Lucy in your cell?" Dylan inquired.
"Remember your fathers freak out a few days ago about Desmond and some sudden arrivals in his cell?" Natalie asked, before Desmond could answer. Both his brothers nodded and Desmond quickly retreated back to Altair and Connor. He had never told his brother's he was gay or about the names and like with their father, he feared their reactions. He probably feared their reactions more then William's.
"Good then you heard about how they were basically time travelers possibly dragged here by the Apple Desmond retrieved?" She asked, receiving another nod.
"You also remember how William was freaking out and telling all of us to make sure to find someone who could give us all little assassins?" Another nod.
"This is those three men and also Desmond's soul mates. I haven't gotten their names yet, but if either of you flip your shit on Desmond, you can bet your ass that all three of them will not hesitate to defend him."
Silence filled the kitchen as Natalie nonchalantly continued mixing the sauce she was making. Desmond glanced at his brothers worriedly, but instead found Ezio's back directly in front of him, while Altair and Connor wrapped an arm around his waist.
"Wow easy there." Dylan said calmly, clearly noticing the protective stances the three men had taken, "We would never react like William would. We love Des for who he is, we're just surprised to discover he doesn't have just one, but three soul mates."
"Exactly, we didn't even know he ever got his name let alone three of them." Duncan replied. Immediately all three men relaxed, but Altair and Connor did not release him.
"Why didn't you ever tell us, Des?" Duncan asked as Ezio stepped back a bit. The Italian seemed to become extremely curious about what Natalie was making and moved closer to her side to inspect it.
Desmond fidgeted slightly at the question, feeling extremely stupid now for having feared his brothers reactions. However, he could easily chalk that up to the fear of his father's reaction.
"I guess I was so afraid of what William would do if he found out that I was too afraid to tell either of you." Desmond replied.
"The names we can understand, but clearly Nat already knew about your sexual orientation." Dylan said accusingly.
"Hey that one isn't his fault its yours. You boys aren't perceptive enough to pick up on the small signs like I did." Natalie defended him immediately, looking over her shoulder before returning to letting Ezio try the sauce. Desmond pointed to Natalie as agreement before receiving an accepting nod from his brothers.
"Alright so what are you cooking for lunch Nat?" Dylan asked walking up to the woman's other side.
"Spaghetti, I figured we had an Italian in my kitchen so I'm making Italian. Later I'll make an Arab dish or something and so on." Natalie replied. It was clear she already knew Desmond had come to her for a place to stay and not just a place to get away.
"Sauce needs to sit for a bit boys to make the spices really get cooked in so why don't we go down stairs." Natalie suggested pulling out her iPod and setting an alarm on it.
"Down stairs?" Connor asked curiously obviously confused since they had already come down a set of stairs to get into the bar.
"Oh honey, if you think my bar only had one basement level, I'm gonna have to teach you some things." Natalie replied sweetly, before leading the way out of the kitchen.
Dylan and Duncan followed behind her with Desmond quickly trailing after his older brothers. They weren't much taller then him, but standing next to them after all these years he still felt like the baby out of them. He heard the other three follow after him and the whole group followed Natalie through the bar and into a good sized office. Desmond leaned against the wall as she fiddled with a metal filing cabinet before it slid to the side with a slight hissing noise to reveal an opening with a set of spiraling stairs.
"Run away rogues first." Natalie said waving her hand at Desmond.
"Hey, I came back!" He said indignantly.
"Yes and you didn't go straight to the farm you ran to me, now get to stepping princess." She shot back with a smirk. Desmond shook his head at her teasing and quickly lead the others down the stair case.
It easily led a good five stories below ground with the occasional lantern lighting the way. He jumped off the final three steps to the cement ground below and looked around the brightly lit hall. The hall way was long with several other hallways and doors branching off from it and the walls were painted a grayish white color. Desmond stepped aside as Natalie came down right behind him and she quickly led the way down the hall before taking one of the other halls that branched off it.
"Alright boys listen up!" She called, referring to the three Assassins now shuffling behind Desmond, "This hall is the major hall you four will be using, the double doors at the end lead to the training room, plenty of equipment and stuff for both parkour and weapons training."
Natalie then turned to a door to her left; their right; and slid it open with a flourish, allowing it to disappear into the wall. Desmond and the other three peeked inside and noticed it was a decent size kitchen with a table that could seat at least six people in one part of it.
"Kitchen obviously, I'll have the boys there stalk it before the bar opens this evening, but its open to all of you use it as you see fit its stocked with cooking utensils and such so as long as you clean up after yourselves you won't hear me bitching." She said with a pointed look at Desmond who just smirked at her, "Now on too the rec room."
She left the door to the kitchen open and quickly hurried to the next one down before sliding it open as well. The Rec Room was the equivalent of a living room, had a large T.V. hanging on the wall with a simple entertainment center under it that held several different consoles and a cable box on it. A large sofa sat in front of it with a coffee table between it and the entertainment center. At the other end of the room away from the couch was a set of desks in either corner with two brand new laptops and desk chairs.
"Rec Room, the cable box does work all the way down here because, well, I'm awesome that's how and the internet works like a charm not to mention you are connected to my own private network that is constantly bouncing off IP addresses like we're a bunch of drug dealers." Natalie stated, getting snorts of amusement from all three Miles brothers. She then moved across the hall and pushed open one of the five doors that lined it.
"All the doors on this side are bedrooms large enough to fit a king size bed into each." She said sliding the open.
Inside, like she'd said, there was a large king size bed against one wall in the corner with a set of white sheets and a plain black duvet comforter. A dresser sat against the far right wall right next to a door that could be the closet. A second door was closer to the far right corner on the wall the headboard of the bed was pressed against.
"Not anything super fancy, I house Assassins not Kings, but the closet is the door next to the dresser and the other leads to a private bathroom. You four are welcome to fight over who gets which room, but for the most part they are all the same in size and style." Natalie instructed and slid the door shut, before turning to them, "Any questions?"
Desmond glanced back at the three men behind him, watching as they shook their heads. He had been here once as a kid a long time ago. He'd gotten lost and he couldn't remember it being this clean and well kept. Natalie had certainly turned this place around for the better and clearly took pride in the safe haven that her ancestors had created centuries ago.
"So we get this Hall or Wing or whatever to ourselves?" Desmond asked.
"Yep, I don't have anyone else down here currently since every one mostly stays on the Farm, so you guys got lucky and got the Hall closest to the stairs." Natalie replied, "Now you four settle in, the boys and me are gonna go back up stairs finish setting a few things up for tonight and by then I should be bringing down dinner."
Desmond nodded and waved as she hooked her arms through each of his brothers own and dragged them back down the hall. Once she was out of sight he turned to the four.
"I'm gonna have to properly introduce you three to them over dinner, but for now we should settle in. I don't know about you guys but I could use a shower." Desmond said, turning to slide open the door to the bedroom they still stood in front of.
"Shower?" Connor asked curiously, making Desmond chuckle a bit.
"Here I'll show you guys since I'm sure all the bathrooms are the same." He said, stepping inside and waving them in as he headed for the bathroom door. The bathroom, like all the rooms down in the Catacombs was simple and nothing special. It had a shower, sink and toilet along with any basic product anyone would need for hygiene.
Desmond walked over to the shower and slid the door open. He turned to the other three as they hovered in the door and quickly pointed to the knobs.
"These, control the temperature, the one on the left is hot the one on the right is cold." He said turning them and stepping back as the water shot out of the shower head. The three Assassins watched intently, knowing how faucets worked, but wanting to learn about the shower none the less.
"This is shampoo," Desmond said picking up a bottle of hair product, "It's for your hair and this one is for your body. Cleans you up and makes you smell better. Once you've rinsed off the shampoo and body wash just turn the knobs the opposite direction you did before and you're good to go. I'm pretty sure towels will be under the sinks in the cabinets or in the closet in the rooms."
The three nodded silently before seeming to catch on that Desmond was suggesting they go do just that and began to leave. Desmond shut the bathroom door behind them and checked for a towel under the sink, which he found, and got undressed. Once he had set the temperature of the shower properly, he quickly got in and washed up. It felt absolutely amazing and relaxing to get clean after not being able to properly shower in over five days. Once he felt clean again, he shut the shower off and got out while wrapping the towel around his waist. He grabbed his bag off the floor and walked back into the bedroom to find Duncan in there dropping some sweat pants and a tank top on the bed.
"The Devil thought you and the others could use some pajamas so she's having me and Dylan lend some of ours to you guys." Duncan said noticing the questioning gaze in his younger brothers gaze.
"Appreciate it." Desmond replied with a smile before dropping his bag on the bed beside the clothes.
"You really do have their names. Never heard of someone who has more than one name having all the names in one place." Duncan said thoughtfully, his eyes on the names on Desmond's chest.
Desmond unconsciously put one hand over the names as he pulled some extra boxers from his bag. It was strange letting others know about the names after hiding them for so long and it was even stranger to have people see them.
"Is it a bad thing to have them in the same place?" Desmond asked his brows furrowing as he looked at his brother.
"Of course not, just never heard of it. Most of the time the placement of your Soul Mates name on your body signifies how they will be a strength to you in your life. Natalie knows more about them then I do, girl is practically obsessed with learning things, especially anything to do with Soul Mates and the names on our bodies." Duncan replied with a smile, "I think it has to do with the fact she still hasn't gotten hers."
"She doesn't have hers still?" Desmond asked in shock. Natalie had always talked about getting her Soul Mates name when they were kids, always dreaming about what the name would be and where it would be on her body.
"Not that I know of, if she has she has never told anyone." Duncan replied, frowning a bit, "Then again she might tell you if she has or not. We don't ask out of worry we might upset her if she hasn't."
"So you're throwing me under the bus?"
"No I'm saying that she will be more willing to say whether she has it or not to her best friend after he's been gone for almost a decade."
Desmond rolled his eyes. Duncan was as close to Natalie as he was if not more so since his brother had been here during the nine years of absence. However, he was curious about it. He had no doubt that Natalie would keep silent if she didn't have hers yet, but she would tell him if he asked her. Deciding he'd ask her later, probably some time after dinner, he stared at his brother expectantly.
"What?" Duncan asked confused.
"Leave. I may be gay, but that doesn't mean I'm willing to dress in front of my own brother." Desmond said flatly. Duncan barked out a laugh as he headed for the door.
"Don't worry as your brother I don't want to see any of that anyway!" Duncan called back before sliding the door shut behind him.
Desmond shook his head and dropped the towel in a laundry basket by the door before slipping into the boxers and sweat pants. He contemplated putting on the black tank top his brother had left, but decided he'd just nap for a bit before dinner and put it on before going to eat. Setting his bag and the shirt on the dresser, Desmond collapsed on the bed with a sigh, burying his head under a soft pillow. After he'd slept off the jet lag he'd spent a little less then twenty-four hours wide awake worrying over coming to South Dakota, now he just wanted to get some sleep before enjoying some time with his brothers and childhood friend. 'Maybe coming back here wasn't such a bad thing after all...' Desmond thought to himself as he slipped off into a dreamless nap.
Desmond was slowly pulled from his nap as he heard the sound of Dylan calling his name through the door.
"Dinner's ready, so hurry to the kitchen Natalie will be bringing it down in a few minutes." Dylan called before his footsteps walked away. Desmond mumbled inaudibly to himself as he continued to pull his sleepy mind back to the waking world. As he did come back to consciousness he realized there was two heavy weights draped over his torso and fingers tangled in his hair. Instantly, Desmond was wide awake and his eyes snapped open as he tried to sit up.
"Calm habibi." Altair's voice instantly calmed him and he blinked his eyes.
Altair was sitting against the head board of the bed behind Desmond, his fingers running through the younger man's hair. The American then glanced down to find Ezio and Connor sleeping on either side of him, each of them with an arm draped over him while they slept. "When did you all get in here?" Desmond asked softly, looking to the Syrian.
"I think it was only a few moments after you fell asleep. We didn't want to wake you, so those two decided to rest as well. I'm keeping watch." Altair replied calmly, his fingers never stopping their motions nearly putting Desmond back to sleep.
"We're safe here Altair, you don't have to keep watch while we rest that's what Natalie's bar is for. As for resting why didn't they go to their own beds?"
Desmond was still fighting sleep as Altair smirked at him a bit. Did he say something strange?
"We just wanted to stay with you, habibi." Altair replied. Desmond frowned a bit, but didn't argue his response, that is until he realized he'd asked a pretty stupid question. They were his soul mates it only made sense that they wanted to be in the same bed as him. However, at the same time, he really wished they would stop clinging to him. It was going to make it extremely hard to let them go when they had to go home if they kept giving him as much affection as they currently were. Shaking that thought from his head for now, Desmond looked down at the two beside him and shook them slightly.
Connor was the first awake, his head snapping up from where it had been resting against Desmond's chest and he blinked sleepily. Ezio came awake more slowly and didn't bother lifting his head from Desmond's arm, instead he simply yawned and pressed closer to the younger man. Neither man fully removed their arms from the younger man though and quickly settled back in beside him.
"Dinner's almost ready you two." Desmond said trying to slip free so he could go put a shirt on. Neither men allowed him to move, making Altair chuckle behind him. Sighing in defeat, Desmond fell back against Altair's legs and stared up at the Syrian, who smirked down at him with amusement.
"They are like dead weights." Desmond muttered, the arms around him tightening slightly as the two men made it clear they heard him.
After a few more minutes, Connor and Ezio finally sat up allowing Desmond to slip free and off the bed. All three men yawned and stretched where they were. After his muscles relaxed, Desmond went over to the dresser and pulled on the tank top before turning to the others.
"Hope you guys are hungry, because Natalie always makes enough to feed a small army." Desmond said nodding to the door as he headed for it. Altair was the first to catch up with him, closely followed by the other two. He led the way out of the room and over to the kitchen door which was wide open and had the sounds of his brother and Natalie moving around.
They walked in and he immediately noticed Natalie had changed from normal clothes into a pair of flannel pajama bottoms, a black hoodie and a pair of brightly colored socks on her feet. Her hood was pulled up as she was setting out plates at the table. Dylan was dressed in his own pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt while he wheeled one of the desk chairs from the rec room up to the table, while Duncan was finishing stocking up the kitchen dressed in nothing but a pair of pajama bottoms sitting low on his hips.
"None of you working tonight or something?" Desmond asked, looking at Natalie's attire curiously.
"Nope ma and pa has the bar tonight so I'm free to torture you with my presence all evening." She replied with a grin as she set glasses out while Dylan and Duncan took up some seats. Desmond rolled his eyes and took a seat beside Natalie while Altair, Connor and Ezio took the last three empty seats; Connor seated right beside him followed by Ezio and Altair seated beside Duncan.
Finally settled Desmond managed to see exactly how much Natalie had made for their small group of seven. She had made a large pot of noodles to go with the giant pot of spaghetti sauce along with a couple loafs of home made garlic bread. There was corn on the cob and what appeared to be some sort of cheesy Italian side dish that Desmond couldn't name and then two or three bottles of what appeared to be sparkling cider (Natalie may run a bar, but she very rarely allowed Alcohol with the meals she made herself).
"Jeez, Nat make any more and we could feed the entirety of the customers in your bar tonight." Desmond joked, receiving a playful punch in the arm.
"Shut up and start serving up some food for yourself Des." She shot back, serving up some noodles before passing it over to him. He grinned at the blonde beside him and did as she instructed allowing silence to fall while they all served up their plates.
After they were served Natalie wasted no time getting Desmond to introduce the three men at the table with him and quickly went into a tale about what happened after he'd left the farm. Duncan and Dylan often asked questions about any stories he might have for the bars he'd worked at since he was eighteen and Natalie occasionally had to shush them so that Desmond could continue speaking. By the time he got to his time being captured by Abstergo, most of them had finished eating and were picking at the last bit off food on their plates. Natalie was sipping at her glass of sparkling cider and Desmond was taking his last bit of bread as he shrugged.
"And you guys already know about my time at Abstergo at least the gist of it anyway." Desmond said after he swallowed.
"Sounds like you've had quite an adventure for the last nine years little brother." Dylan said with a smirk of amusement.
"Okay since I'm obviously the older brother who doesn't give a shit how much you glare at me and my curiosity can possibly get me killed if I don't indulge it, I gotta ask." Duncan said, looking at Desmond as the younger man raised an eyebrow at him, "How many lovers did you have?"
Natalie choked as the question made her chuckle while drinking and Desmond stared at his brother wide eyed, all the while Dylan was laughing his head off and patting Natalie's back to help her from choking. Duncan smirked behind his hand clearly amused by all the reactions he was getting by his question and watching his youngest brother while he sputtered.
"W-why the hell would you wanna know that?!" Desmond asked, his cheeks growing hot in embarrassment. He couldn't turn to Natalie for help, since she was still trying not to die beside him, so he quickly glanced over at the three men beside him only to meet curious gazes. Oh, god he hoped they didn't want him to answer as well.
"Do tell, tesoro." Ezio said setting his elbow on the table so he could set his chin in his head while he smirked at the younger man.
"That- I- DAMMIT DUNCAN!" Desmond exclaimed as he chucked a piece of leftover bread at his older brother's head. Duncan easily caught it and bit into the bread, while Desmond tried to make his embarrassment appear to be anger, but failed miserably.
"So are you going to answer, little brother?" Duncan asked, still smirking.
"That's my business and none of yours, you pain in the ass." Desmond shot back, refusing to acknowledge the three men beside him as he crossed his arms.
"Alright then are you a top or bottom then?" Duncan asked.
Desmond once again sputtered at his brother's questioning while Natalie now joined Dylan in his howling laughter at Desmond's embarrassment.
"That's none of your business either and like I would tell my brother that!" Desmond exclaimed in frustration.
"Well then how about telling us, habibi." The sound of Altair's calm voice made the American tense, before glancing down the table at the Syrian.
"Perhaps we should wait for that answer when we are able to get him alone." Connor said, with a slightly teasing smile. Desmond's face grew even hotter as Duncan now joined the other two table occupants in laughter at his brother's expression. He could tell he was gapping at the three men as they all seemed to now be having a silent conversation on how to get the answer out of him. It wasn't until Natalie leaned over and patted his head that he could pull his attention away.
"Don't worry Dessy, you can always run and hide in my room like when we were in High School." Natalie teased, making him slam his forehead against the table in embarrassment. Did he think this was a good idea, he was wrong. This reunion was a horrible, horrible idea and he was now paying the embarrassing price for it.
However, even as those thoughts crossed his mind, Desmond had no intention of leaving or getting angry at any of them. He'd missed his brothers and Natalie. He'd missed the teasing, the joking, and the way they acted as if they were just a normal little family instead of a bunch of Assassins. He smiled to himself as the others around him laughed at his expense and couldn't help closing his eyes and just listening to the sounds of laughter from the three most important people he'd been forced to leave behind nine years ago. Nope, Desmond wouldn't trade this moment for anything not even to save himself the embarrassment. He'd take it all in stride and enjoy their company without complaint, and he'd do it with a secret smile on his face.