I woke up. Altaïr was immediately beside me. Rebecca and Shaun and William pressed for details of the memories, of Clay, of everything that happened. I just shook my head. I had no words right now.
Altaïr lifted me from the Animus and pushed his way through the crowd surrounding me.
I had no words.
My visions of shadows had dwindled after my impromptu visit into my own head. I still felt a bit off; confused because of what happened with Clay. More like what didn't happen with Clay.
Altaïr coddled me until I was coherent and then resumed his usual blank stare that he used around the others.
Lucy was truly dead. I'd killed her moments before blacking out. Altaïr had leapt to my aid, grabbing myself and the Apple before we hit the ground.
They burned her body in the temple.
I turned around in the cramped space given to me in the back of the van and curled closer to Altaïr, tucking my head under his chin.
I didn't feel as though we were any closer to defeating the Templars than we were when Altaïr first joined us. I still didn't know what to do or how to stop this. I'd found an Apple, yes, but what good would that do me?
My face was tilted upwards, my eyes met Altaïr's.
"We will find a way."
He always seemed to know what to do, even if he truly didn't. He's so confident. I envy him.
"You have an Apple now. We just need to take out the head of the Templars and then attack the body."
I sighed. "That could take years though. It will take years. What about Masyaf? What about Malik? They need your help still."
"They can wait, Desmond. I've told you this. I told them I'd be away for a long time, helping our brothers fight the Templars. That's exactly what I'm doing."
I blinked. It made sense now. What I'd relived of him leaving Masyaf to go aid the brotherhood in other parts of the world, it wasn't him going to Europe. It was him coming to me.
"We found out where each of the Board of Directors resides, now we just need to strike at them."
I mulled this new information over in my head before responding.
"But once we kill one, won't the others realize what is happening and go into hiding?"
"That is why we are going to split up and take out each head separately but in unison."
I nodded slightly and leaned in, kissing his scarred lip gently.
"So..." I trailed off, not wanting to admit my weakness, my fear of being separated from him. I'd gotten too used to Altaïr's presence, it had been hard enough when I was trapped in my mind, but having Clay there made it better.
Altaïr raised a hand and caressed my cheek.
"I know, Desmond. You will be fine. You are strong. We will see each other again."
"But will you be okay though? You still aren't completely familiar with this time yet."
I could feel the warmth of his breath slide across my forehead as he exhaled, sighing heavily. I knew that this whole situation was stressing him out. I kissed him once more, cupping his face in my hands, I rubbed my thumb across his cheeks in what I hoped was a soothing way.
"I have learned quite a lot so far. I can use a gun almost as well as Shaun, I can drive a car decently enough."
I snorted as I recalled Altaïr's attempts to learn how to drive. I still prefered the thought of him on a motorcycle, I also think he would have had an easier time with it too.
Altaïr bit down softly on my lip, "punishing" me for my laughter at his many failed attempts.
"I suppose it would be fun to drive a bike again, though." I mused aloud to my companion.
Altaïr made a noise of agreement and nuzzled my cheek with his own.
"So when are we all to split up?"
"In a few days."
I froze and just stared at him, terrified that I'd be going in alone to kill a man in just a few days. That my friends would be alone too and that we might not all make it out alive. That they might be joining Lucy in the afterlife.
"Altaïr..." I trailed off, unsure of what I was going to say next.
"I-I love you."
I blurted it out so quickly I wasn't quite sure of what exactly I'd said, but I did know that I meant every word of the mess that just tumbled out from between my lips.
Altaïr just smiled and rubbed my back.
"In truth, for a chance to be by your side I would willingly storm the gates of hell itself."
It was a promise that I wouldn't be alone again.
It took me longer than I expected to infiltrate the building. I couldn't afford to kill any guards to make my journey easier since the missing patrols would quickly be noticed.
I had my hidden blade along with a few guns and throwing knives and had to rely on my skills to carry me through to my objective.
Moving as quickly as I dared through the lobby and into the elevator, I tried not to be nervous. I tried not to stand out.
Altaïr and I had the most risk due to my face being so well known and wanted by Abstergo. They still wanted me back. And who is to say that they wouldn't mistake Altaïr for myself?
I made it upstairs and entered the first bathroom I saw.
Making a rapid sweep of the stalls to ensure that they were all void of other people, I entered the air vent and began my long journey.
I checked my watch, I had 15 minutes before I was expected to pull the trigger. And I still didn't know how I'd make it when I got to the higher floors. I knew that the vents also had cameras once I got higher up.
I'd have to time it so that once I reached the top security area, that I set off the alarms and bolted for my target.
How I'd escape? Still working on that.
I paused in my slow progress forward and rested my forehead against the cool and dusty metal of the vent.
Only a few minutes left before I was racing against time. I hoped that Altaïr was okay. That Shaun and Rebecca and my father had made it inside their designated buildings. That they all had a better plan than I did.
We had all been given a few days to scope our our city and to find information on our target. But I'd never been a good assassin, even though everyone expected me to be.
I'd floundered. I barely found any intel, I couldn't find the correct building and had figured it out only hours before the plan was supposed to start.
And now here I was, in a vent with a half-baked plan about to go on a suicide mission to save humanity.
I took a breath of the musty air and darted forward, moving as fast as my body would allow in the cramped space. There was a few second delay before alarms started blaring all around me, amplified by the vent.
Upon the first opening I came upon, I kicked the vent and dropped down into the hall. I looked around quickly trying to get my bearing before dashing forward, trying to beat the security guards that were surely on their way to my location already.
My breath was coming in pants, my legs burning from the exertion as I followed the signs leading to the executive offices.
I kicked open the door only to be met with a gun to the face.
I wheeled backwards and dropped to the floor, kicking at the persons feet.
They jumped back, avoiding the blow but couldn't dodge the throwing knife that was soon embedded in their thigh.
I threw another knife, it clipped off the side of the gun and landed somewhere across the room.
We stared each other down, daring the other to make a move. The alarms blared around us, warning me to act quickly else I be killed before my mission was complete.
I activated the Apple and watched the man's eyes go wide in realization.
That he couldn't do anything to stop his fate.
My knife entered his neck and a bullet entered my side.
I cried out. Security had finally got here, but not before I had killed my target and I got wounded.
I threw my last knife, killing the guard in the doorway, and glanced around the room, looking for a solution.
I was bleeding out quickly, there was no way to make an escape unnoticed with this much blood. Too high to jump out the window, the vents are probably still being monitored.
Ripping the nice business suit from my targets body, I pressed it to my side and picked up his briefcase and laptop. I strode from the room like I had a purpose and prayed.
"There's a man attacking everyone someone call security!"
I put a frantic look on my face, which really wasn't that hard to do in my current situation, and moved to the elevator, crying out with the remaining people on the floor.
"He attacked me! Someone stop him! He's going to kill everyone else if we don't leave!"
The crowd continued to grow as employees swarmed around the elevators and the stairs, trying to escape the "murderer" who was on the floor with them.
Once I got back to the first floor and exited the elevator with a crowd of employees surrounding me, I bolted.
Nobody questioned me, there were others who were running too, I'd set off a few bombs in the lower levels of the facility so everyone was frightened. I was just one of many fleeing.
I ran. I ran and ran until I returned to my safehouse. I patched myself up and then continued to run. Found a bike and started to make my way to the meeting point we'd established before splitting up.
I prayed for everyone's safety. Now I just hoped that someone had prayed for mine.
A/N: Late update again, sorry guys :( Things have been hard for me lately, I put in my two weeks notice at work just for us to go on strike... I really need my last two weeks of pay so I can afford to go to college, but oh well... I work at Market Basket, so if anyone is interested in supporting us, please go sign the petition or if you live in the area, please boycott the stores. We don't have a union so it's kinda risky right now, we are protesting the firing of our CEO and we want him back. He's been really good to us: giving us profit-sharing, bonuses, and keeping prices low for customers (Like, realllly low. Go look at the circular online if you want to see what I mean).
But again, thank you for sticking with my through my sporadic updates. Reviews are always welcome and I DO try my best to personally reply to every review I get through a PM. I know that Raindropdew, Hack Generation, Fayefox and the dark euphie all commented recently and I never had a chance to write back. I apologize. But I do really try to reply. I do appreciate your review and I love reading your reactions.
Thank you again! And if you want to talk to me, then follow me on twitter under Lycoris1305. I don't post much, but if you have questions, then ask me there and I'll reply pretty quickly. Faster than I do here since there's a word limit there xD
