Hey all! Back again with another chapter, because I couldn't get the plot out of my head, and decided to just keep on writing :3

Anyways, the plot will begin to pick up from here, if anyone caught the little hint in the previous chapter, message me, and– if you are correct– I will grant you 10 internets!

Read and Review, don't be shy :)

Rebecca hurriedly scrambled through the dismantling process. Her fingers interwoven into the vast tangle of cords, plucking them out skillfully with practiced hands. She took just enough time to ensure she had wrapped them in such a way, that they wouldn't be tangled the next time she plugged them in. She stood, dusting her knees off, and scampering to the Animus. She grabbed a small screwdriver held between her teeth, moving in behind the Animus to unscrew a small panel that housed several removable components, and the other ends of the wires. She grunted slightly as she tugged the last stubborn cable, wrapping it around itself in a neat loop, tying off the end before tossing it into a bin with the other components.

She pushed against the Animus, trying to start it rolling across the floor, however, to no surprise, it was more than a little too heavy for her.

She glanced over her shoulder to Desmond's sleeping bag.

Shit, Desmond could sleep through an air raid!

The black underwear lay in stark contrast against the moonlight white sheets. Lucy's face burned under Shaun scrutiny. Her fingers fiddled with the covers she held over her.

"So, you have absolutely no excuse? Nothing to offer, no 'oh, I must have taken them by mistake, and then accidentally broke my bed when I jumped on it'." He glared down at her, his face a mix of disgust and shock.

"I am appalled that you of all people would do this, Lucy. I thought the 'team leader' was supposed to be the responsible one– not the one fucking people hard enough to break the bloody bed!"

Lucy chewed at the welt in her mouth, feeling the agitation rise up again.

So much for being relaxed

"Shaun…" she murmured.

He raised an eyebrow, "Oh, ready to give a confessional, yeah?"

She huffed, "No, not really. I… I just don't…" her eyes flitted about as she searched for words.

"Don't what? Did he render you speechless or something?"

Lucy glared at him, "No…" she said quietly, "I was going to say that it was a um… technique to get him to stay… in this time period…?"

Shaun shook his head incredulously, "I can't believe that you actually justified this," he gestured to the broken bed, "as some sort of sordid therapy technique!"

Lucy sighed, falling back to lay down, pulling the covers over her face. "Shaun, why don't you just leave?" came her muffled reply.

"Oh, sure. You know, Rebecca's gonna love this… she's been pestering me for days now about–"

Lucy scrambled out from under the covers, "No! No way are you telling her Shaun– I'd never hear the end of it!"

"Well, guess you should have thought about that before you banged him, yeah?" He turned to leave, a smug grin across his features.

"Shaun…" Lucy's tone was dangerously low, "if you tell her, or anyone else–"

"Like who? The statues? In case you forgot, we are alone here!"

Lucy's glare didn't waver, "I'll tell William you've been stealing supplies that are vital for the team."

"Are you talking about your bloody yogurts?" He covered his face with his hands, "God, I knew I should never have offered one to Rebecca!" He dragged his hands from his face, replacing his glasses, "You're kidding me right? For starters, you already blackmailed me once with them, to go fetch more–"

"Which you dropped. I've still yet to actually eat one…" Lucy smiled.

Shaun's face twitched slightly, "…And second, you can't seriously put yogurt under the category of vital supplies. You're the only one who eats them!"

"So, you wouldn't care if I told William that you've been justifying your stealing by writing of the supplies, as in your opinion, unessential?"

Shaun squirmed at the cool challenging tone her words had. "… Still, I should hardly think that eating one or two yogurts from a COMMUNAL SUPPLY would fall under the category of stealing!"

Lucy simpered, I've got him now

"No Shaun, stealing is stealing, you of all people should know that a rule is a rule; you can't defend stealing. Even in this case, you did take something that didn't belong to you, and had," she paused, "special value to some parties?"

Shaun's shoulders sank, "How do I get into the bleeding situations?" he muttered dejectedly.

"Now Shaun, as long as you keep your mouth shut about what happened, you have nothing to be afraid of." She watched him stand there for a moment, "If you don't mind, I'm trying to get back to sleep."

"… never were asleep."

"What was that?"

"I…er… said I'll never eat another yogurt again…" Shaun shook his head as he traipsed out the door.

"Good night Shaun!" came Lucy's cheery reply.

"Right…" he murmured, slinking back down towards the Sanctuary.

Now what the hell am I going to explain what that noise was to Rebecca?

"Desmond? Desmond wake u–" Rebecca had been nudging his sleeping bag, finally ripping back the cover when he remained unresponsive.

"Um, it was books– er… a bookcase toppling over." Shaun ran one hand over the back of his head, "She was looking for a book in her room, and apparently the whole thing came down.

"That woman needs to take a break for once! Doesn't she know people are trying to sleep down here?!" Rebecca huffed as she settled herself back into her sleeping bag. "It's two thirty in the morning for fuck's sake!"

"Goodnight to you to then." Shaun muttered, slipping into his own sleeping bag, and removing his glasses. He placed them gingerly on the ledge behind him, and deciding they were well out of harm's way, he closed his eyes.

Desmond staggered over to his own sleeping bag, dragging it over to its proper place. He sank down, tugging the thin fabric around himself.

That was pretty damn close. How the hell did Lucy explain that to Shaun though? No way he could miss a fucking broken bed in the middle of the room!

He closed his eyes and focused on trying to ignore the pain throbbing behind his eyes.

Something still doesn't feel right with her. I don't even know what… Fuck, I don't even know what I'm saying! She's fine. I guess it's normal to feel… I dunno, different, after sleeping with someone? Why am I even questioning it? Can't I just be happy with the fact that we finally had sex in a bedroom?

Desmond rolled onto his side, his brow furrowed in consternation.

I would really like to know just what happened after I left that room. Gotta remember to ask Lucy tomorrow about that.

Lucy woke with a start. She had had horrible nightmares again. She closed her eyes for a moment, holding her hands over her face trying to scrub away the fear. In her dream, Lucy stood helpless– held by faceless men in uniforms. She watched as a lone man shot all three of her friends. The man's face was shrouded, hidden in shadows away from the bright lights making her squint. They held her, dragging her closer so she could inspect the bodies. Suddenly she found herself being flung down to the bodies, landing with a sickening wet thump as she collided with Desmond's body.

She fought the urge to gag, remembering watching horrified, as they handed her a gun, telling her to shoot the bodies again. Lucy had expected herself to refuse, struggle, or plead, but strangely she calmly obeyed, placing her finger on the trigger, pulling it back several times lodging bullets into the corpses before being instructed to place the muzzle to her temple.

Lucy swung her legs over the side of her bed, wiping her forehead with the back of her forearm. She took a moment to calm her rapid heartbeat, spending several depth breaths of the slightly musty air.

She solemnly rose to her feet, picking up her clothes methodically. She dressed in silence, savoring the last few minutes she had to herself. After securing her hair into her trademark bun, she trotted down the stairs, anxious to get another day over with.

Desmond leaned comfortably against their makeshift dining table, a mug of coffee in hand. His head turned at the sound of footsteps, and he gave Lucy an easy smile once she met his gaze.

He held out a mug for her, "Morning, Lucy."

Lucy made a noncommittal grunt. She grabbed the coffee eagerly sniffing it with gusto. Her hand tried in vain to rub the puffiness from her eyes.

"Didn't sleep well Luce?" Desmond inquired, his face concerned.

She grimaced as she took a sip of her lukewarm coffee, "You could say that."

Desmond looked down at his feet, not sure whether she was in the mood to hear about how well he had slept for once.

Noticing Desmond had grown silent, Lucy's mouth tilted into a smile, "Although," she leaned closer, "I'm not sure sleeping on the bed was the best of ideas after the shape you left in." she whispered.

Desmond smirked, talking a deep sip of his own coffee, draining it, and setting down the empty mug with a dull thud.

"Easy on the china there, Desmond. It's not like we have warehouses to spare you know."

"Yeah, especially since Shaun never washed anything when it's his shift." Rebecca chuckled, helping herself to another cup.

"Oh, that's very amusing Rebecca, very mature as well." Shaun's brow furrowed in annoyance, "I'll have you know I leave them in the sink, so they can soak. God knows that's the only way to get the rings off of them, especially since you are so partial to letting them lay around with just enough coffee to leave the bloody rings!"

Shaun slumped onto his stool, occupying himself with his latest database entry to prevent himself from becoming increasingly frustrated with Rebecca's antics.

Rebecca simply shrugged, and sauntered over to her desk, plunking herself down enthusiastically.

Lucy sat down in her chair, placing her mug onto the desk before turning on her computer. It flickered to life, pinging softly as it loaded several emails sent during the night. She followed the cursor with her eyes, clicking on the first of several in her inbox.

Lucy,

I appreciate your reply, and am glad to hear all is well with you. Perhaps you all should take a few minutes to go take a quick run outside, (at night, of course). I was wondering recently if you have any new updates of POE retrieval status, we don't really have many teams to send out, however the quicker the better, for many obvious reasons.

Keep up the good work– I know you will keep the team encouraged; it's going to be a hell of a time these next few weeks.

–William

Lucy's eyes flicked over the email, returning back to the home page. As she scanned the next few, deleting a few without even reading them.

Junk.

Her eyes scanned the page, satisfied, she moved the cursor to close the page when her peripheral vision noticed two new mail icons enext to her spam folder.

Lucy sighed, not wanting to let any emails pile up, she clicked on the folder. As the page opened, her breath caught in her throat as her eyes fell over the jumble of words.

To: Lucy Stillman

From: Wellness dAting and Relaxation, Virginia, ID4 I7C.

Nervous enErgy got you dEpresseD? yoU should aPply for online DAting! hoTt mEn in youR area! thIs iS no joke– aWesome dates, hOt Nights! orDEr youR free trIal ruN today and Get the sex you've imagIned having. hundreds oF clients are readY tO let yoU REad their stories– you're in FOr a tReat. Get datEs Today by signing up aT .com. special offer code Given here: MyIntimiteSIdeS. jOin today aNd get laid!

Lucy struggled to calm her breathing, her eyes darting around, trying to assure herself that the other group members remained unaware of her actions.

She clicked on the next one.

To: Lucy Stillman

From: Ridiculous enErgy proteiN.

drooPing eyes? Really OVer tirEd all tHe tIMe? Try neW ridiculous eneRgy prOtein for resultz iN the lonG run!

Lucy felt her blood run cold as she read the two messages, her lips numb as they shaped out the occasional word. Attempting to act casual, she stretched, and rolled her shoulders back, yawning slightly in the early morning. Rebecca turned in her chair, giving Lucy a quick smile.

Lucy returned the gesture, however, she was certain she must have looked like someone suffering from indigestion rather than smiling.

She chewed the inside of her lip, wincing as her teeth once gain found the painful welt.

That doesn't seem to be getting any smaller.

She was about to type a reply, when she noticed Rebecca walking towards her.

Shit!

Lucy quickly minimized the page, swiveling a pen casually in her hand as she waited for Rebecca to reach the desk.

"Hey."

"Hi Rebecca. What can I do for you?"

Rebecca smiled, "Well, actually, it's more like what can I do for you, Lucy. Your computer needs some updates. I've been able to keep them all under one master surveillance program, but I think just to be extra safe, I want to install the same program on every computer."

"Just how long will this update take, Rebecca?" Shaun inquired from across the room.

"Coupla' hours, max."

"Fantastic," he spat, "You know, my work requires me to– you know… WORK! I can't just sit around all day and play solitaire like some people. "

"Hey! I'm the one who's keeping Abstergo off of our asses, Shaun." Her face darkening in frustration, "If it wasn't for my programs, we'd probably be dead by now– you should be thanking me for keeping us as airtight as possible!"

Shaun sighed, relinquishing his computer. Rebecca crossed the room, swiping it from his hands, and returning back to her own desk. She pulled out a few looped cords from a crate, and began plugging them into Shaun's laptop and her own.

"This'll fix any possible holes in our communication system."

Lucy cast her attention back down to her laptop, hurriedly pulling her email screen back up, and typing a reply.

Getting close. Need more time. Security updates being implemented.

-L

She watched as the send icon filled up agonizingly slowly. She glanced at Rebecca, who was finishing with the last of the wires, setting the laptop down gently on her desk.

"Next!" she called, standing up from her chair to walk over to Lucy.

The soft ping of Lucy's computer relieved her; she let out a breath, and closed the email program.

"Here you go." She handed over her laptop.

"As soon as Shaun's is done, I'll do yours. Sorry it'll take some time– we only have one set of these cables."

Lucy waved her off, "Don't worry about it, I've got some other things I can take care of in the mean time."

Lucy stood, albeit shakily, from her chair, and walked over to their dining table. She grabbed a bottle of water, sipping on it intermittently as she wandered around the sanctuary.

Her outward appearance betrayed little of her inward struggle, as she paced around, examining the statues, all she felt was guilt. With the eyes of the Masters of old staring down at her, she felt tiny and weak. She sat down, her back to Altaïr's statue.

Maybe you can help me...

Fuck, I don't even know what to think anymore. The only reason why I agreed to this, was because Vidic agreed to help me. What the hell was I supposed to feel? Maybe if I hadn't been abandoned by everyone who loved me I–

"Hey– Luce?"

She snapped her head up, Rebecca was standing right in front of her.

"Oh– hey, I didn't see you…"

"Is everything o.k.? You seem tired, or something– I dunno." Rebecca sank to sit beside her.

Lucy smirked, "Well, I really didn't sleep too well last night, so I am tired."

Rebecca nodded in agreement.

The two sat in silence, after a while becoming uncomfortable in the fact that they both wanted to say something, but for some reason, weren't.

Shaun finally broke the silence, "Rebecca? Are you nearly– you're not even bloody doing anything! I thought you said you needed to fix my computer, not sit like a bump on a l–"

"Shaun, it's compiling, what do you want me to do," she stood, sprinting over to her desk, "sit on it until it hatches?"

Desmond snickered.

"Hey, I thought you were in the Animus, dammit! Is everyone trying to piss me off today?!"

"I'd say we've succeeded." Shaun sniggered, turning in his chair back to read the book on his desk.

Rebecca sighed, watching over Desmond as he legitimately entered the Animus, his feed jumping to life on her monitoring computer.

"Have a nice trip– bring me back an Apple this time, Des." Rebecca sighed, sitting down at her desk wearily.

Lucy stood, brushing the layer of dust she had sat on off of her butt. She placed her water bottle onto a desk, and strode over to the opening of the sanctuary.

"You guys want anything special? I'm making run into town for supplies. Tonight is my dinner night."

"What are we having?" Rebecca inquired hungrily.

"How can you talk about food, you literally just ate less than ten minutes ago!" Shaun quipped.

Lucy sighed, "I was planning on grabbing some fresh pasta from a little shop in town. Do you guys have any preferences?"

"Yes, I'd prefer if you get the pasta around dinner time, so it's not cold when I eat it." Shaun muttered.

"I'll have lasagna– but only if it's vegan!"

Lucy smiled, shaking her head, "Don't worry, I'll ask."

She turned her head before walking through the threshold, "Oh, and Shaun,"

He glanced over his shoulder.

"I'm getting a microwave in town. So you'll be happy to know we can re-heat stuff now."

"Which means frozen meals?" Rebecca's face lit up.

"Yep."

"Fuck yeah hungry man–" she paused, "or whatever the Italian version is!"

"A lady to the bitter end, that one is." Shaun sighed, turning back to his book.

Lucy rolled her eyes as she headed out.

A/N

OOoooooohhh! Those emails!

So mysterious... hmmmm...

To the first to figure out correctly what they said, and send me a pm, (or a lovely, lovely review with the answer in it), I will give 10 ADDITIONAL internets to, (if you caught the not so subtle plot clue in the previous chapter), and possibly, depending on suggestion, an opportunity to have something you want appear in the story!

Cough*likeshaunxrebecca*Cough

Stay lovely :P