Chapter Nine, Not Exactly a Horror Movie

Shaun watched it all happen in a very, very slow motion.

One moment, Desmond was upright, questioning what exactly was before him and the choice of the doctor's words – and then suddenly he was running for the door, eyes filled with a lucid panic. Shaun moved, as if to catch up with him, but suddenly the injury in his thigh made itself very apparent and he crumpled to floor, accidently pulling Lucy down with him who had appeared at the last second. Falling, the blonde had tried to steady herself and instead grabbed Shaun's cigarette burnt arm, earning a very loud howl from the historian on impulse. Glasses sliding off his nose, he looked up to see an alert guard grab Desmond's wrist, yank him back and toss him to the floor in a cruel manner. He could almost hear the sounds of bone cracking and smashing as he saw the mix of agony and sorrow on Desmond's face – he had actually thought he had a chance to escape.

"Very good, Jimmy." Vidic smiled and turned back to Shaun, who was slowly getting back up with Lucy's help. Once he got back on his feet, he watched helplessly as the man tossed Desmond over his shoulder and carried him over to the giant machine called the Animus. Without much hesitance, the bulky guard tossed the man onto the lowly humming machine.

"Careful now! You break it, you buy it," Vidic growled, crossing his arms over his chest, watching Shaun out of the corner of his eye.

For a moment, Shaun felt like Desmond had gotten what he deserved. Had he actually planned to leave Shaun at Abstergo, all by himself? Sure, he would have been able to escape, but it might have been a bit more difficult with only one person helping. Shaun stole a glance at Lucy, who was biting her lip as she watched Vidic command Jimmy to lay Desmond correctly, so he could connect properly to the Animus. Shaun knew how that thing worked – but he wondered how Desmond played into all of this. The Third Crusade and the twelfth century?

"Lucy, take Shaun back into their room – I'll present him with his test in there," Vidic smiled, adjusting his blood red tie as he watched his assistant. She nodded and slowly helped Shaun back to the room, waiting for the perfect moment. The door shut behind them automatically and Lucy helped Shaun into the nearby chair.

"Shaun, what the hell?" Lucy whispered in a dangerous tone, causing Shaun to flinch slightly before he regained his composure.

"How would I have known that was the Desmond you had been looking out for? What do you-"

"Rebecca must be going insane back at the stronghold!" She cut the historian off, lips pressed into a tight frown. Shaun didn't like how close she was to his face, that he had nowhere else to stare except into her worried, light blue eyes. That a loose strand of blonde hair was pulling his attention away only slightly. Sighing heavily, knowing she was breaking the man's personal space, she pulled away and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"What do you expect me to do about it? I'm stuck here, Luce, there's nothing I can do," Shaun scowled, clenching his fists tightly.

"Well Christ, you're an Assassin for crying out loud, you should be able to get out of here. Or at least wait for Desmond's back up-"

"Back up? What the fuck? I thought he was completely alone. What's a man in isolation doing with back up?"

"Sooner or later, the Assassins that watch him from afar will notice he's missing. They'll find him, they know who's been after him for the past few weeks," she made sure her back was to the camera, that they couldn't read their lips or hear their exchanged words.

"Lucy... do you really think it's safe to talk like this? I mean, Desmond and I had to cover up our conversation by - ... Er," Shaun suddenly trailed off, not exactly wanting to share the memories he had just created on the bed behind them.

"Shaun, what are you talking about...?" She raised an eyebrow, a strange curiosity shining in her eye. "What kind of cover up? And it's fine like this and besides, I can always go in and nab the footage. But... what do you mean... ?"

"It's, uh, nothing... I'm pretty sure Vidic threw out the footage," he coughed awkwardly, trying to direct his gaze somewhere else. Lucy just nodded as if she understood and like a sister, she could tell he didn't want to talk about it.

"So... How did you not know it was him?" Lucy asked in a weak disbelief, raising an eyebrow. Shaun sighed, thankful that she had leaned off the subject and he could distract her with something else.

"He... said he was Desmond Greene," Shaun mumbled, feeling embarrassment flush his face. Shaun Hastings usually didn't make stupid mistakes.

"I see," Lucy crossed her arms over her plain white blouse, still frowning slightly. "And... what was that all about? Blabbing to them about Eagle Vision!" Shaun sighed in frustration, mentally kicking himself for that one.

"Lucy, come on. They wouldn't have kept me alive otherwise. And it just-"

"You'd better be saying it stumbled out, Shaun. Do you want to compromise the Brotherhood? You're lucky he didn't just kill you on the spot – he knows Assassins have Eagle Vision!" Lucy spat, her eyes full of anger but Shaun saw what she was hiding. Fear that her cover would be blown, that both of them might just be taken out by one of the oversized body guards that protected Warren Vidic. Shaun didn't reply as he finally looked away, feeling an instant guilt weigh down on his shoulders. But it quickly disintegrated with the next question Lucy asked.

"How did... you two end up together? I mean, I heard a little of it..."

Shaun felt his cheeks redden and once again, he felt embarrassed. As he closed his eyes and remained motionless, unspeaking, Lucy nodded slowly, as if she understood. Before she could ask him in more detail, the door slid open and Vidic was holding a small white cup. Irritation was written across his face as he leaned against the wall.

"Well, Lucy? What seems to be taking you so long? I only wanted you to settle him down and then get back out into the lab to start up the Animus. What seems to be the problem?" He sipped at his coffee, narrowing his eyes at Shaun, who rolled his eyes, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.

"I was asking him some questions, Vidic," Lucy replied in her professional, business like tone. It was in complete contrast to how she had been speaking with Shaun. For a moment, he felt like a child; scolded by his mother for stepping out of line. But he was not a child, he was a mature individual who knew how to get himself out of tricky situations. He was an Assassin, for crying out loud. He didn't land his position by faffing about and cheerily eating doughnuts all day. No, he had gone through the hard, nitty gritty training of an Assassin. Similar to what the Assassins years back did, but a little easier on his physique. One on one, he could take. Two on one, bring it. But when he started to lose control of his senses, get distracted or had three massive attackers on him, he was lost. There was only so much he could do, what with spending more time with his beloved, exquisite, thick books rather than the local gym.

"Oh? What a professional approach, Lucy. We've already asked him questions and-"

"Just the bare minimum! I was figuring out more information than what you barely scratched the surface on!" Lucy snapped and Shaun had to bite back a laugh. She really was quite the Leader of Assassins in the area and Shaun admired her for that. Tough and not willing to back down from a challenge, Lucy Stillman was definitely one of the very few Shaun Hastings could respect.

"Well, this will tell us everything we need to know," Vidic dangled a piece of paper in front of his assistant and hostage, eyes sparkling with interest. Lucy tried to focus on the words but with Vidic moving it back and forth, they were only a blur. Even with his glasses on, Shaun couldn't make out the words until Vidic placed it on the desk and handed the man a pencil. Lucy looked from the paper to her superior with an eyebrow raised, fear in her chest.

"What is it...?" She looked at the grey haired man with curiosity, then back to the paper which Shaun started to observe.

"'What is Warren Vidic's favourite colour?'" Shaun read with disbelief. There was no joke – it was written in front of him with four multiple answers. It was like he was back in high school, taking a pop quiz that his tedious teacher would hand out every Friday. Lucy's jaw fell open with disbelief. Shaun looked up at Vidic, a smile on his lips. "Are you kidding me? A simple multiple choice question quiz and I'm out of here?"

Then it was Vidic's turn to smile. "Out of here? Whoever said that, Shaun? I'm very interested in what you said earlier about Eagle Vision. You are a gem and a smart man would be stupid in giving that up. I may have my blunders every once and a while, but I won't let this get past me. Just so I know you're not faking..." He looked down at Shaun and set his mug down on the desk, a silence lingering in the air.

"What?" Shaun asked as he slowly picked up the pencil, glad that the burn wasn't on his writing side.

"Just to make sure you're not selling us any bullshit... Get one question wrong and we'll... for lack of a better phrase, kill you," he laughed, clasping a hand on the man's shoulder. Suddenly, Shaun felt his mind go blank and everything around him fell apart. With a heavy lump in his throat, he looked over at the paper, hoping to see the different array of colours he would see on his texts back at the stronghold.

Instead, he was met with a plain black and white sheet of paper, void of any lively colours.


A/N: Whew! I got that done fast. And I think that's the last you'll see for a very, very, long time. I just... kind of lost all inspiration in this story and I had to really, really, force myself to write this chapter. It's small and it's barely anything and for that, I apologise. I just... sat down and thought about this story. And I thought, where the hell is this going? I'm trying hard to do well but, I just feel like I'm not meeting expectations. It's slowly loosing its quality and I'm upset about that. I'm trying, I really am.

So, while I wait for the inspiration to hit me like a brick to the head, you guys will just have to wait. Sorry! I hope you at least semi-enjoyed this. :)