Chapter Fourteen: Veritas Dig

"Where have you been?" Connor pointed at Desmond accusingly, eyes lit with a fiery anger fueled by a sense of betrayal. "You left. Again. Are you going to be of any help or are you going to continue to be useless to us here?"

Desmond crossed his arms, choosing not to rise to the defense. He had arrived back in the Colonies a few days ago, but had been forced to travel the distance from Boston to homestead alone while heavy spring storms thundered down on him. Altair had found him when he was almost to the homestead and Desmond had given a brief excuse as to why he had been gone, but intentionally left out his trip to Istanbul. He had been hopeful of Istanbul being a sign of his survival and he knew Altair and Ezio had thought the same. He didn't want to lower their hopes, so had decided he wouldn't inform them.

"Altair tells me you were forced to team with Haytham." Desmond stated factually, getting straight to the point. "And will have to again."

"What does it matter to you?" Connor spat, glaring at Desmond.

Altair faced Desmond. "We'll be riding for New York as soon as this storm passes."

"If it passes." Ezio added gruffly.

"I will ride alone." Connor informed them, giving both the Mentors warning glances. "I have been doing fine without your aid."

"Fine." Desmond didn't want to argue. "I'm here for only one reason anyways. Helping you isn't it. If you want to work alone, do it. You don't need our help. While you're off doing that, we'll make sure the Aquila is in top condition and keep our eyes on Washington. Sound good? Good."

Desmond turned on his heel. "I'm getting changed into some dry clothes and then getting some sleep. Don't bother waking me if you leave."

He missed the face Connor pulled as he left the room.

"You were rather harsh on him, don't you think?" Ezio asked as the three made their way to the harbor where the Aquila waited the following day. Repairs were still underway from when Connor had sailed the ship to the Caribbean.

"He did this on his own before." Desmond stated. "That's what our records say anyways. He doesn't need my help. Neither did either of you. I was just sort of there to learn, though mostly to get Apples of Eden and things like that. I wasn't of any use. Being here doesn't make me of use either, even with my training. I just want to get this mission done with and call it good."

"Why the sudden urgency?" Altair questioned.

"We're running out of time."

"We know that." Ezio snapped. "But something's different. You're hiding something. What?"

Desmond knew they were seeing through him, but he refused to tell them the truth.

"Being in my time...it sort of drove home how much we need to get this done. Our numbers are dropping by the day and, even if we manage to save the world, I'm not sure we'll be able to save it from the Templars too. I don't want to see my time...controlled."

He knew they didn't buy his words, but they didn't push the subject.

"He must of gone to Istanbul." It was the only conclusion Altair could think of and, by the dismal look to cross Ezio's features, the Italian had thought the same. "I saw the way he was moving through the trees earlier. He had forgotten how briefly, but picked it up too fast. He's been practicing on rooftops. I could tell."

"So he went..." Ezio shot back the whiskey, feeling it burn his throat. "And now he has nothing to look forward to...and neither do we."

"He doesn't want us to know." Altair paced the kitchen. "No doubt because he worries it will bother us. I suggest we keep our knowledge of this to ourselves."

"So then we're all keeping secrets from each other?" Ezio glared at the Syrian.

"It would trouble him if he knew the truth."

They stared at one another and Ezio knew what Altair was thinking.

There was only one ending to this. If Desmond had his way, he'd return to Istanbul and they would have records of it, but there weren't any, which meant he didn't return to Istanbul when he completed his task. Thus, either he failed...or he died.

Neither spoke this conclusion aloud because neither wanted to accept it as true.

"Bad news!" Ezio rushed into the parlor and both Altair and Desmond rose to their feet. "Washington is intending to launch an attack on Connor's people. We must hurry!"

Desmond was already rushing past Ezio. "Altair, ride to Washington and see if you can't convince him otherwise. Ezio, track down Connor and inform him before Haytham does. I'll ride to the village and see if I can't warn them."

Ezio and Altair exchanged a quick glance at Desmond's taking charge, but made no attempt to argue.

"I'm ponying a horse." Desmond said as he saddled up his mount. "It's a long ride."

"Sound plan." Altair tossed a saddle onto his steed. "We'll meet you back at Washington's camp when this is done with."

"Fair." Desmond tied the extra horse's lead rope to his saddle before mounting. "Safety and peace, brothers."

It wasn't until he was well on his way that Desmond realized he'd spoken his farewell in Turkish.

These last few chapters seem really difficult to write, so I'll apologize now if they seem a bit flat and boring. I'm sorry. :( I'll try to make the coming chapters a little more interesting...try being the key word. I'll also apologize for how short this last chapter is. I couldn't think of any way to extend it without making it a whole chapter longer. :(

Ah, well. Worse things have happened. :D

And ponying is where you lead an extra horse along with the one you're riding in case I didn't make that clear. XD