September

-/-

He sees her on a street corner not three blocks from the Abstergo building.

For a long moment, Haytham just stares at Juno, half afraid he's just seeing things. They've been looking for her for very nearly nine months now, and here she is, standing in a crowd of other pedestrians waiting to cross the street. Finally, after a pause that goes on far too long, Haytham remembers that she's perfectly capable of turning around and seeing him. He steps casually into cover, and observes her more casually. It's all he can do not to stare like an imbecile, but he manages, somehow.

If he hadn't spent so much of the last nine months looking for Juno, Haytham's fairly sure he wouldn't have recognized her. She looks different. Human, ordinary, smaller and decidedly less otherworldly than when he had last set eyes on her. She's dressed well, in clothes that are both well-made and (in Haytham's extremely limited knowledge of woman's clothing) fashionable. Only her face is the same, cold and stern and haughty. And the eyes- they're just as mad as ever, burning with the light of some intense purpose Haytham can't begin to comprehend.

And she's not alone. Haytham doesn't make the connection until Juno leans over to say something to the man next to her, but when he turns to answer, Haytham gets a good look at the man's face, and recognizes it. His name's John… something or other. Some nobody from Abstergo's IT department that Haytham has spoken to a grand total of once.

There had been some kind of problem with his computer, and John had come up to fix the damned machine. He'd been rude and snide the entire time, and Haytham's natural reaction had been to respond with sarcasm and barely disguised insults. It was only the arrival of Rebecca- entirely by coincidence, to pick up a document from someone a few desks over- and her significant 'shut up, you're still undercover' look that stopped the conversation from ending in blows.

Apart from the obvious horror that there are people in the world insane enough to deal with Juno, Haytham is weirdly satisfied with the validation that the man really is an asshole. Rebecca's been teasing him nonstop over getting so worked up, but if John's working with Juno, disliking the man is practically a requirement.

The light changes, and Juno disappears with John across the street and around a corner. Haytham doesn't bother following. He knows where John works, after all, and trailing them now will only raise suspicions. For the moment there are other, better, avenues of investigation.

It's Sunday, a day off work that could not have been more perfectly timed. He spends most of it researching John, looking him up on google and searching for any signs of what might have driven him to Juno. At first, there's nothing. John looks entirely normal on paper, a perfectly ordinary man with a perfectly ordinary past. He was born and raised in Montreal, the only child of a father that had died five years ago (cancer) and a mother that had moved away to live with a sister an hour or two away. He has a degree in computer sciences, a work history that seems entirely real, even a membership at a gym somewhere that apparently hasn't been used more than half a dozen times in the past year. There's no sign of any criminal or violent leanings, no history of insanity, nothing at all to connect him to Juno. Haytham is just starting to get frustrated when he finally gets lucky.

There's a police report from the end of July with John's name on it, and until Haytham actually opens the file and reads through the details. To his disappointment, it's nothing criminal, nothing that could point back to Juno, just an accident report about a van he'd been driving somewhere just outside the edge of the city. He curses, slams a hand down on his desk, and stands abruptly enough to send his chair toppling to the ground.

One of his neighbors bangs on the wall, shouting at him to keep it down. Haytham considers shouting back- he's been kept up more than one night by the sounds of that particular neighbor and his overly enthusiastic girlfriend- but before he can say a word there's a quieter knock on the apartment door, and Rebecca lets herself in.

"Why do you bother knocking if you're just going to walk in?" Haytham demands.

"Just a bad habit," Rebecca says cheerfully, absolutely unmoved by his less than polite tone. "You didn't have to give me a key." She crosses the room, leans over his desk to study the still open laptop. "What's wrong, and what does it have to do with two month old accident reports?"

"The van was driven by one of Juno's associates," Haytham says. "I've been trying to get something on him all day, and some pointless car wreck is the best I can do."

"Since when does Juno have associates?" Rebecca asks.

"Since this morning," Haytham answers, grimly. "I saw them together."

"You-" Rebecca takes her eyes off the laptop screen long enough to gape at him. "Did you tell anyone?"

"Not yet."

"Hmm," Rebecca says, and turns back to the screen. It's a thoughtful sound, not an angry one. "I don't think this is pointless."

"Pretty sure it is," Haytham says. Then, because Rebecca is a smarter woman than he deserves, he asks, "Why do you think it isn't?"

"Look at the date," Rebecca says. "That's the day Juno almost killed Shaun and Ezio."

"Oh," Haytham says, and in the next second they're both leaning over the desk, studying the report with new intensity. "You're right."

"Of course I am," Rebecca says. "And there's more. You haven't been to the lake where it all went down, but I have, and that road's the quickest way back to the city. He could have been there that day. With Juno."

Haytham straightens and heads for the door.

"Where are you going?" Rebecca calls after him.

"Police station," Haytham says. "I have some questions that need answering."

-/-

"I remember that one, yea. Nasty accident, couldn't believe anyone survived it."

Haytham nods at the man, and waits for something more substantial to come out of the officer's mouth. This is the policeman that had been first on the scene the day of John's accident, an obvious gossip that had needed absolutely no encouragement to talk when Haytham and Rebecca corner him on his way home after his shift. "But he did survive," he prompts.

"Oh yea," the man says. "Miracle, that's what I call it. The van was a heap of scrap metal, but no casualties. Almost enough to make you believe in a higher power, am I right?"

"Right," Haytham says, tersely. Regardless of his own feelings on religion and faith, the last thing he wants is anyone connecting Juno to godhood. She does enough of that on her own. "But did you notice anything unusual?"

"Besides three people walking away from a crash like that?"

"Yes," Haytham says. "Besides that."

"Hang on," Rebecca interrupts. "Three people?"

The officer shrugs and nods. "Husband, wife, and daughter, I guess."

So John hadn't been alone during the accident. Haytham shares a grim, knowing look with Rebecca.

"And they all walked away without a scratch?" Haytham asks, returning his attention to the man.

"Didn't say that," the man says. "The woman had a lot of blood on her, but I think she'd been hurt already. There were bandages on her arm."

Shaun had shot Juno in the arm.

"And the girl…" the man's face goes distant, like he's considering how best to explain. "I don't know. She didn't look all there, if that makes any sense. I thought at the time she might have a concussion from the crash but… it might have been something else. She just seemed really confused, that's all."

"Thank you," Haytham says, and turns to walk away. He starts to speak in a low voice to Rebecca as soon as he judges they're far enough away. "The woman's obviously Juno, and if they took Minerva that must have been the kid."

Rebecca nods. "Shaun and Ezio both said she started seizing when Juno interrupted the process. She might have brain damage or something. It could explain why she looked confused." She shakes her head. "But what confuses me is why they'd take her at all, instead of just killing her."

"I don't-"

"Hey!" the officer calls suddenly, and both of them look back at him. "I just remembered something else weird. I didn't think much about it until just now, but it's pretty unusual, I guess."

"What?"

"Bird feathers," the man says. "Hawk, maybe? Or an owl? Eagle, maybe?" He frowns. "I don't know anything about birds, but there were feathers all over the accident scene."

"Thank you," Rebecca says, sweetly, and this time they manage to walk away without being called back. They split up at the end of the block, Rebecca headed back to her apartment to call the others, and Haytham out to the junkyard to see if the wrecked van will tell them anything more.

It's a long walk out, back Haytham doesn't own a car and has a healthy dislike of public transportation. He spends much of the walk considering all the things he hopes to find there, and dismissing each one in turn as unlikely in the extreme. Still, he has to try, and when he gets to the junkyard he ducks through a deserted side entrance and goes looking for John's van.

He finds it near the back of the yard, twisted and smashed so thoroughly that Haytham has to admit the police officer had been right. That three people could walk away from this alive and relatively unhurt is, in fact, a miracle. As if Juno needs one of those.

He goes over every inch of the van, as carefully as possible, but finds nothing. Someone- John or Juno or maybe the police- have already been here, and taken everything of value. Haytham is about to give up and walk away when he hears an unexpected voice behind him. It sounds rough and hoarse, like the speaker doesn't have the chance to speak much.

"The girl got away."

Haytham doesn't turn around, doesn't make any move to indicate he's at all alarmed. "Did she?" he asks.

"She obviously wasn't working with the other two," the stranger goes on. "And we thought we'd get her away from them." He gives a rough laugh. "She didn't see us as rescuers, I guess. Bit and scratched and clawed like a wild thing, and then ran off. Haven't been able to find her since."

"And why are you telling me all this?" Haytham asks, still making a show of studying the van.

"Because, Haytham," the man says, and Haytham can't stop the way his whole body goes stiff with surprise when he hears his name. "It seemed as good an excuse as any to talk to you again."

Haytham turns around, hidden blade at the ready, wings hidden but still tense, ready to burst free at the slightest thought. He has no idea who he's going to see, or which reaction would be more appropriate. But then he sees the face of the stranger- only not a stranger, no- and all thoughts of fight and flight vanish completely.

"You," he says, and that's the only word he can manage through the sudden choking shock forcing his voice away.

"Yea," the man says, offering a crooked, sincere smile. "Me."

-/-

Altair is on the road only minutes after he gets Rebecca's call. Connor argues with him all the way to the car, but Altair ignores him. It's true that he's angry right now, so angry that he's not even thinking straight. But it also doesn't matter. In the past nine months, they've seen Juno a grand total of three times. Once on the day she killed Desmond, once on the day she tried to kill Ezio and Shaun, and then again this morning. This time, Altair is determined to make sure the death that follows is hers.

"I'm coming with you, at least," Connor insists.

"Absolutely not," Altair says. "We know Juno has allies now. This could all be a trap, and if it is that means there could be more of them coming this way. Shaun's not a fighter, and Ezio's injury isn't completely healed yet. You know he'll only make it worse if he has to fight now."

"Fine," Connor says. "But don't do anything stupid."

"I'm not a stupid man, Connor," Altair says. "I don't do stupid things."

"Not usually," Connor agrees. "Not until Desmond died."

And although Altair would never admit it to anyone else, he knows Connor is right. On the half hour drive into the city, he acknowledges that truth, considers the consequences, and decides they are not important. There's a reason he insisted on coming alone, and it's not the one he'd given Connor. The truth is, he is ready to die today if it means bringing Juno down with him. She's taken Desmond- taken his son- away from him. Now it's finally time for this to end.

He has no particular plan when he gets to Montreal, no idea of where to go or look, so he wanders down streets and allies for what feels like hours, searching for any sign of Juno. But there is nothing, not for hours and hours on end.

In the end he calls Rebecca, asks if she knows John's address.

"Yea," she says. "I can text it to you. Are you going to confront him?"

"No," Altair says. "Yes. I don't know."

"You sound-"

"I'm fine," Altair says. "But this is the closest we've come to Juno all year. If we don't act quickly, we could- we will lose her."

"Altair…" Rebecca takes a deep breath, scratchy and distorted over the phone's speaker. He waits, with less patience than usual for her to gather her thoughts. But when she finally speaks, all she says is "be careful".

Altair makes no promises, does not even reply, only hangs up and- when he's memorized the promised address- switches off his phone. He wants no more judgments, no more cautions or words of warning. All he wants is revenge.

He ditches the car a quarter mile away and finishes the approach on foot. It's only luck (good or bad) that sees him arrive at the end of the street just as John walks out his front door. Altair knows him by the flash of red in his eagle vision, and suddenly he's angry. Furious, dangerously so. He's too angry to think straight, and he charges straight at John with no thought for the consequences. He only cares that John works for or with Juno. He doesn't even stop to think that John could tell him where Juno is. Right now, Altair wants blood, and the need for it falls across his mind and drops like a haze across his eyes. He is an assassin chasing his victim, an eagle hunting his prey. There is nothing but instinct at this moment, no awareness of anything in the world but John.

He's one block away, still behind John and still unseen, when something small and heavy slams into the side of his head. Years of experience keep Altair from crying out, but the surprise knocks him off his feet and he falls, hard, his head hitting the sidewalk with a crack that makes his ears ring. Desperately, he flicks his eyes upward to John, but the man has his nose buried in his phone and doesn't even notice. He just keeps walking away, finally vanishing around a corner and out of sight.

And all the time he is watching John vanish, Altair is still fighting against the thing that had landed on his head. It's a bird- an eagle- all claws and beak and screeching anger in his ear. Altair, inarticulate with rage, shouts in response and draws out his hidden blade.

The bird shrieks and flies away, landing on a branch at around face level. Altair growls, surges upward to his feet, and moves to strike. The bird spreads its wings and shrieks a second time as its whole body seems to spasm and change. This time, Altair stops dead in his tracks, all anger abruptly and totally gone. For a moment there is shock, and then nothing but a kind of numb amazement as his mind tries and fails to process what his eyes are showing him.

The bird has become a man, ghostly and half transparent but very real and very familiar. "Des-" he swallows hard, past the lump in his throat, and tries again. "Desmond?"

Desmond nods, and presses his hand to his face as his shoulders shake with some uncontrollable emotion. He tries to speak but can't manage to get even a single word out, and Altair doesn't hesitate in stepping forward and gathering his son into his arms. Desmond doesn't resist, burying his face in Altair shoulder and seeking comfort in a way he hasn't since he was a child.

When they have both managed to gather their wits a little, Altair draws back a little and studies every inch of Desmond's face. He looks almost the same as he had that day (when he'd died) in the temple, only a little more worn and a little more tired, and there's something indefinably avian about him, as though Altair is still seeing traces of the eagle Desmond had been mere minutes ago. And of course he's only half visible, even if he does feel perfectly solid under Altair's hands.

"You're alive," Altair says.

"Yea," Desmond says, and his voice sounds like it hasn't been used much recently. "Not exactly human, but…" he shrugs. "Yea, alive."

"You never- Desmond, you should have said something."

"I couldn't," Desmond protests. "Doing this-" and he gestures to his human body- "Isn't easy." As if in confirmation, his form flickers and almost vanishes, like a signal drowned in a storm. "It took months to learn and by then you were travelling, most of the time I didn't know where you were and I was so scared of what you would say when you saw that I couldn't- I couldn't…"

"I would say that I'm so glad you're alive," Altair says. "And I don't care about anything else. I just don't understand. How-?"

"Minerva," Desmond says, and Altair feels a guilty twist in his gut at the memory of what had happened to her less than a half an hour's drive from here. "She saved me."

"Another debt we owe her," Altair says, when what he means that this is another way they've failed her. She's been helping them since Altair had first grown his wings, and they had never even known. Worse, when she had come to them for help in return, they had failed her, gotten her killed or kidnapped or something else.

"What?" Desmond asks, but Altair shakes his head. He doesn't want to talk about Minerva now, not during what should be a happy time.

"Nothing," he says. "Why did you..?" and he touches a hand to the side of his head, where he'd hit his head when Desmond knocked him to the ground.

"Sorry," Desmond says. "I didn't know how else to stop you. I didn't want you to hurt yourself like you did in California."

When he'd acted out of stubbornness and stupidity, and fallen, and (so he'd thought) imagined Desmond's voice. "You were really there?" he asks.

"Yea," Desmond says. "But back then I was just learning how to look human again. I couldn't hold it more than thirty seconds or so, and it's dangerous to push it too far." He shrugs. "You had that same look on your face, like you don't care what happens to you anymore."

"I didn't," Altair agrees. "I do now."

Desmond gives Altair an almost accusing look. "I finally found you again, and here you are on some kind of stupid suicide mission?" He breaks eye contact with Altair, glances at the corner where John had vanished. "Who was that guy, anyway?"

"I'll… explain later," Altair says. "It's a long story and there's so much to talk about. I have questions for you, too-"

"And I'll answer them," Desmond says. "But not now." He flickers again, and this time Altair notices a look of pain cross his face, and he remembers what Desmond had said about it being dangerous to keep to a human form for too long.

"Do what you need to," he says. "I'll be here when you need me. Always."

Desmond vanishes, and for half a heartbeat Altair feels the familiar ache of his loss start to take hold of him again. Then the eagle cries out and flaps its wings, and a moment later it has come to rest on his shoulder, heavy and sharp but reassuring. And Altair laughs out loud, a deep and joyful laugh that would have convinced anyone passing by that he is a madman. It doesn't matter, though, because for the first time in nine months, the world is a place worth living in again.

He's been falling since Desmond died, with no solid ground under his feet to support him and no safety net to catch him. But now, finally, he's landed. And everything's alright, because he doesn't care if Desmond is human or bird or something in between. He's alive, and that's what matters.

-/-

And... that's the end of Free Fall! And yes, I am fully aware that there are still issues that need resolving. The thing is, this was always going to be a trilogy, and this was always going to where the split happened. Part three will hopefully tie up everything that needs tying up, and should be posted relatively soon. I want to do some plotting and figure out details before I post the first chapter, so that might take some time. But anyway, watch out for that when it comes!

Oh! And I would be very curious to know if anyone knows who Haytham was talking to at the end of his bit. I feel like it's really obvious, but I'm the one writing it so I'm a little biased.