First, I'd like to thank everyone who reviewedand added this story to their favorites and alert lists. It's always a confidence booster when I see those emails in my inbox.
Also, I would like to thank There She Goes And Shes Comin for being the awesome and helpful editor that he is!
So as always, I look forward to your reviews!

This is a fan fiction, all themes and character belong to Ubisoft. No copy-write infringement intended.


Chapter 2 – Knowing Your Drinks

Lucy shifted nervously from foot to foot as she waited for Nathan to rejoin her in the alleyway. She knew that this was dangerous but she had to know. She had to know if he was really here to help her or if he was ordered to keep an eye on her. And if he was ordered to watch her, was he with the Order or with the Templars? She had to know, it had been plaguing her for the past five months. But now… now she was starting to regret this decision. The alleyway behind the bar would have been pitch black if it were not for the lamps marking the back-doors to the various businesses. Anyone could be lurking in the shadows, and 'anyone' could include Templar agents. Lucy couldn't help but glance up at the taller structures that were several blocks down. Her eyes fell onto the general location of Abstergo's Italian headquarters. She could've been so easily followed. Damn, this was slowly beginning to seem like the worst idea ever.

"Sorry for the wait. The newbie messed up the house special." Nathan said softly, announcing his presence and making Lucy jump. "Here," he held out a styrofoam cup, "hot coca. It's a bit chilly out here." She nodded, warily taking the offered drink. "So…what is it you wanted to talk about?"

She glanced at him from the corner of her eye before diverting her gaze when she realized he was doing the same. Lucy took a deep breath, finding and steadying her resolve. "Français?" she asked quietly. Nathan was silent for several long moments and her nervousness began to creep back up.

"Oui, well enough." He finally replied.

"Uh…I…" she felt herself begin to lose her nerve. It didn't help that he was staring directly at her, no doubt studying her as she to shuffle nervously. "Why are you here?"

"To support you. Help you, if needed." He said; Lucy could have sworn that she heard concern in his voice. "Why do you ask?"

Lucy looked at him, trying to figure out exactly what she should say next. Two years on her own had made her incredibly wary and suspicious of people, especially those claiming to be a part of the Order. Granted, Nathan was the first one to do so, but Lucy knew she had to keep her guard up, constantly be on her toes. She had spent a large portion of her life preparing to infiltrate Abstergo and there was no room for error. Not when there was so much on the line. "Because I need to know if I can trust you." she whispered, looking away from him, staring at the small styrofoam cup in her hands. The silence was agonizing. Lucy could feel Nathan staring at her and she fought the urge to not look back at him.

"I can understand." Nathan sighed, "I'm sure after being more or less isolated would make anyone question someone who just suddenly shows up, out of the blue." She nodded and couldn't help but feel a little ashamed. "But I know I can trust you."

Lucy's head snapped up and she stared at him wide-eyed. "W-what?" This man had to be crazy, out of his mind. She could barely trust him, but he knew he could trust her? After only five months?

"I trust you. I know I can, without a doubt." Nathan's smile was incredibly gentle and she couldn't stop the blood rushing to her face. "I know that it'll take some time for you trust me, but…just know that I'm here for you. Like Ibn-La'Ahad once said, 'we place faith in ourselves.' So I'll place faith, and trust, in you." He placed a hand on her back, causing her to flinch and tense as he gently rubbed it, trying to offer some comfort to her. "Don't ever doubt that Lucy. Don't ever doubt that."

She couldn't help the shiver that ran down her spine. His hand… it felt so warm. Lucy looked away from him, very aware now of the blush staining her checks. "I… won't Nathan…" She pulled away and handed back the styrofoam cup. "Sorry, not in the mood for cocoa." Lucy muttered.

He laughed and took the cup back without hesitation, "Won't accept any drink that isn't made in front of you still, huh?"

She frowned at him, "I'd rather be cautious than drugged or dead." He laughed again and Lucy felt her blush deepen.


Desmond was grateful when Vidic growled at him to get out of the Animus. Desmond wondered if the old man was still sour about getting hit in the head with a pillow. Though Vidic had set himself up for that though; he shouldn't have stood over the bed like a complete creeper. It was a natural reaction for Desmond. Hell, he did it to Shaun, had even done it to his father, when they tried to wake him up before his alarm clock went off. Desmond watched as the doctor stormed off through the larger doorway before turning his attention to Lucy.

"So, feel like telling me who put the stick up his ass?" Desmond asked as leaned against the side of the Animus.

"We have a deadline. One week. Well…six days now." She answered.

"And I take it you can't talk about it?" He sighed as she shook her head. "Great. Being held hostage by a crazy scientists, forced to spend all day in a crazy ass machine and no one will or can tell me what you're looking for and why." He let out a small noise of frustration.

Lucy frowned at him, "I am not crazy."

"I never said you were, just the old man and your boss." She gave him a disapproving look before she returned to typing up whatever it was she was typing. "So I'm stuck here for another six days, at least."

"Don't start counting them down. They may decide you're a valuable subject." Lucy whispered, not looking up from her work.

"I hope not." He muttered. And I don't plan on staying here for more than six days, and neither should you Lucy. "Well, besides laying in the Animus and sleep in a bed, anything else I can do during my down time?"

She paused from her work and looked at him for a moment, as if he grew another head almost. "Uh.. If you wanna know more about Abstergo, take a look at the computer. The telecommunications stuff is particularly interesting."

"Let me rephrase that, is there anything productive I can do?" Lucy blinked, looking taken back a bit. "Sorry, I'm not a big fan of standing about and being idle."

"And bartending is productive?" she teased.

Desmond laughed, "Sure it is! It keeps my hands busy, and trust me, it can get pretty challenging when it hits two in the morning."

"I'm sure mixing a martini is not that complex." Lucy scoffed.

"You'd be surprised. With my line of work, you're expected to know every type of drink out there, new and old. And you haven't been to the bar on a full house night, trying to make twenty well drinks on top of making another twenty call drinks. The Pen & Ink is a quiet bar in comparison to most music bars, but the weekends can get pretty crazy."

"Well drinks? Call drinks?" she asked with confusion.

"Well drinks are drinks that aren't mixed with brand name products, the less expensive liquors. That's what the speed rack is made up of all that. There's a really easy saying to remember the order they're placed in the rack-"

"Alright! Alright! I get it! I don't shit about bartending." Lucy cried, throwing her hands up in defeat and effectively stopping Desmond from giving her a complete schooling on the subject.

"I could teach you." Desmond offered, chuckling, "You know, after you guys get whatever you need from my head. In fact, we could have a little celebratory drink after all this."

"You think that's a good idea Nath- Desmond" Lucy flushed and Desmond couldn't help but laugh. It seemed like she was still use to calling him by his alias. Not that he could blame her; he was sure he would be doing the same if the situation was reverse.

"I'm sure it'll be okay. It's not like we're going to get shit-faced drunk and wreck the place." He chuckled, "How about I give you a list of stuff we're gonna need?"

"I'm going to be afraid of how much this is going to cost, aren't I?"

"Don't worry! I'm free to go in six days, right?" Lucy slowly nodded, "I'll need to stop by work to pick up my last paycheck before I skip this place. I'll be sure to pay you back before I do."

She regarded him for a moment, no doubt unsure if he was serious about giving her a written encrypted message in a Templar headquarters. "Fine." She opened up her email account, not even bothering to make an effort to try and be discreet while she typed in her password. "Go ahead and type up everything we'll need for drinks. I'll email it to myself when you're done."

He nodded and thanked her; working quickly, he opened a second window and rapidly typed an email to Shaun and Rebecca's spam account.

On the ground, Maria is fine. Is there still no word from George Sr.?

Desmond sent it without hesitation, quickly deleting it from Lucy's sent folder before closing the window. He took his time typing up the liquors that he needed, along with the mixers. "Do you want me to write up the best place to get a deal on all this?"

"I'm sure I can remember the name of a liquor store, Desmond." Lucy said sounding a little offended.

"I'm sure you can. You'll want to go to Axel's and tell Horace that Nathan sent you. He'll give you a discount." Desmond instructed. "And next door, at Marcy's, you'll be able to find all the mixers without too much trouble." Lucy didn't inquire who these people really were but just nodded and sent the email to herself. She shooed him away, informing him that she still had some work to do and that he should consider getting some rest. Desmond sighed and made his way back to the deceptively creepy bedroom.

Might as well work out a bit. Can't get too soft.


She was at the bar, in her usual seat at the counter. She looked around and found to find the bar empty. Save for Desmond. He was all the way at the other end of the bar counter. She watched him as he slowly prepared some sort of drink. He never looked at her once, his eyes remained on his work. She wanted to wave at him or say something, but she couldn't move, couldn't find her voice. She looked down at her hands. A soft 'clink' caught her attention and she looked up to discover a cocktail in front of her. A Maiden's Blush. Her head snapped over to Desmond's direction. His back was turned to her. Was he… was he leaving?

"Lucy…"

Lucy jolted herself awake, nearly falling out of her computer chair. She swore when she realized that she knocked over her bowl and that it had shattered once it made contact with the floor. She quickly went to the kitchen to grab the broom and dustpan. Lucy tried to ignore how hot her face felt. What the hell was that all about? For as long as she could remember, she had never had a dream like that. And she had never, ever, had a dream involving Desmond. But one thing she knew, she shouldn't be having dreams about her teammates. Especially ones that confused the hell out of her. She growled in frustration as some of the shards refused to stay in the dustpan.

She looked at the computer monitor and paused. Two messages were still displayed, one from Desmond and one from his father. William's message was filled with the usual instructions, telling her to keep an eye on the Templars' actives, send him status reports. But it surprised her when he offered to help extract her and Desmond from Abstergo's Italian Headquarters. Lucy was still trying to figure out how to reply to that.

And then there was Desmond's message hidden among the shopping list.

I'll be okay. Keep it up and stay safe. Don't do anything foolish.

A sigh left her as she thought about all the possible implications from that message. If he meant for her to continue on without him if something happened to him… she felt dread slowly fill her. Desmond couldn't think, believe that he would end up like Clay, could he? Lucy took a shuddery breath as she tried to steady her emotions. He had to know she was taking every precaution that she could, that she could get away without it being too suspicious. A glance at the clock told her it was well past midnight, almost one in fact. She shook her head and gathered the rest of the broken bowl.

The stress was beginning to catch up to her. It wasn't helping that she couldn't do her usual stress relieving routine. Not when her bartender was locked away. That had to explain why she had that she dreamed. Lucy tossed the shattered remains of the bowl in the trash bin and headed to the bathroom. She froze for a moment. Did she…did she just… did she really just think that? That Desmond was her bartender? Heat rushed back to her cheeks with a greater intensity then before. First dreaming of him and now she was starting to 'claim' him as hers? She turned the water on and splashed water on her face.

This was ridiculous! She had a job to focus on! Lucy forced herself to think back to Desmond's message. He had to not do anything foolish. Did that mean that Desmond already had a plan? Maybe it was already in the works? That could possibly explain why Desmond was now 'Subject 17'. And it could also explain why he had acted so strange all last week. She made a slight noise of frustration at the thought. If there was plan in the works already, why wasn't she informed of it? Was it because she of her current position? That she was supposed to be neither Templar nor Assassin on this assignment? Well, if this was some crazy plan that he cooked up, his father certainly wasn't in the loop. Or at least not to her knowledge. Lucy sighed, wondering if should send a message to Shaun and Rebecca. But it was possible Desmond already sent a message to them. God, this was mess. She still had to reply to William's message.

Lucy frowned as she thought of William Miles. The man had spent years practically grooming her for this assignment, keeping her essentially isolated from the Order. She never really trusted William, still didn't for that matter. Was he really willing to get a one up on the Templars that he would put his own son at risk? But then there was today's message offering to aid her and Desmond. Lucy just could never seem to read William. She always remembered him to be very stern; he probably still was. Desmond hardly seemed to come off the same way as his father did. But now that she thought about it, there would be moments where he did resemble his father. Mostly when she and Desmond would talk about her assignment or the unfortunate people who would become Abstergo's test subjects. Lucy's frown softened as thought about Desmond. His father she may never be able to trust, but she knew she could and would always trust Desmond, even with the headache that he was inadvertently causing her.

Turning off the faucet, she headed back to the computer. She sighed as she sat down and closed the window displaying Desmond's message. She had to type up a reply to William, at least to let him know not to send any help for now. The last thing Lucy and Desmond needed was some hastily put together rescue operation. The Templars would slaughter any Assassin that tried to set foot into that building.

William,

I've been ensuring that we are taking every precaution that we can. Even with the shortened deadline, I've been making sure that Desmond has limited exposure to the Animus. Desmond seems to already have a plan in motion, so I will have to get in contact with Shaun and Rebecca for further details. If either of us needs any aid in leaving our current location, I will have Desmond contact you first.

L. Stillman

She read it over before clicking the send button. She leaned back in her chair and tried to relax a little. Her memory though, had other things in mind and began replaying what little she remembered from her dream. Lucy felt herself frowned as she thought about it. The whole dream was puzzling to her. How Dream Desmond was completely on the other side of the bar and how he continued to stay on the other side of the bar. She didn't understand why she felt upset and disappointed. And then there was the cocktail that Dream Desmond had placed in front of her. She knew it was a 'Maiden's Blush'; she had recognized it by the colour and the way lemon slice was placed on the lip of the martini glass. Lucy felt herself blush. She couldn't believe that she remembered exactly how Desmond prepared his drinks.

"Stop thinking about it Lucy!" she growled to herself. "It's just a stupid dream! It doesn't mean anything." She shut off her computer and quickly moved herself to the bedroom, wrapping herself up in her mother's quilt. She slowly took deep breaths, trying to calm herself down and get emotions under control. A dream was not what she should be worried about. She needed to focus on the task at hand, and that was to get through Altaïr's memories and escape Abstergo. "This is going to be a long night." She groaned in the darkness, "A very long night."