When Layla has read through the whole of Desmond's email, twice, she dashes off to find Bayek. She explains as quickly as she can, rushing the words out, and he nods once. "You're sure Desmond has Juno covered with his ancestor?" he asks.
"That's what he said in the email," Layla tells him.
"Then there's no reason we shouldn't do what he says and go rescue her captives in the future." He sighed and leaned back slightly, rubbing at his face. "We should tell Berg before we leave, though. We need someone to watch over things here until we get back, and it is his daughter."
"He'll be devastated," Layla says.
"He still deserves to know."
"Alright," Layla says. "Do you want to tell him, or should I?"
"I will," Berg says. "I understand what it's like to have a child in danger, and I might be able to tell him in a way that's less…" He hesitated.
"Less likely to make him insist on coming with us and rescuing her himself?" Layla asks.
"Exactly," Bayek says, with a hint of a grin. "I'll do that now. Get Senu ready and we'll leave as soon as I get back."
She murmurs an assent, and heads outside to call Senu back from where she's been hunting.
It takes a little bit of effort to coax the bird inside—Senu is in an unusually playful mood, and seems to be enjoying the breeze. It's an unusually warm day for September, and the sun makes the breeze pleasant instead of chilly. Layla lets Senu take her time coming down, thinking that Bayek will probably take some time to explain everything to Berg, and when the eagle is ready she brings her back into the warehouse.
Berg and Bayek are both waiting for her upstairs, Berg looking absolutely livid, and Bayek looks exasperated bordering on annoyed. "Berg has made a decision," Bayek says. "I don't think it's the right decision, but we've agreed to leave it up to you to decide."
"Me?" Layla asks. "Why?"
"Because it's only fair," Berg says. "The two of us almost came to blows over it, and asking a mutually trusted third person to decide seems like a better idea than fighting each other."
"Well alright," Layla says. She's oddly flattered that they trust her that much. "What am I supposed to be deciding?"
"When you and Bayek have rescued my daughter, I want you to bring her back here."
"Oh my God," Layla says, staring at him. "Why?"
Bayek nods, and spreads his arms in a 'see what I mean?' kind of gesture. "Its not exactly unsafe here," he says. "But there's still some risk to being surrounded by so many Assassins and Templars—if I had somewhere else that I could bring Khemu, and know that he would be safe and cared for, I would do it. Your daughter doesn't need to be dragged five years into the past, away from her mother."
"Juno's just kidnapped her," Berg says flatly. I think it's pretty difficult to argue that she's safe where she is. And if Juno has her, we don't even know where Helmi is."
Layla assumes that must be Elina's mother. And he does have a point—things aren't exactly safe there for her. She chews it over, then nods. "Alright," she says. "I think you have a point."
"You'll bring her back?" Berg asks.
"I think… it's probably safer," Layla admits.
"Do you promise?" Berg presses.
"I promise," Layla says. She glances at Bayek. "Are you okay with that?"
"I don't… agree that it's the safest place," Bayek says. "But we agreed it would be up to you, Layla. So we'll bring her here. As long as she agrees, alright Berg?"
"Just bring her." Berg says. "Bring her."
-/-
When they arrive in 2017, the Temple is pretty much how Layla remembers it from her visit there in 2012. Almost five years ago to the day, although to her it's been less than a month.
She suddenly feels very tired. When all this is over, they're going to have to go on a very long vacation somewhere.
Next to her, Bayek whispers something to Senu, and lifts his arm as Senu takes off. Layla waits quietly, watching Bayek's expression seem to lose focus as his vision switches to whatever Senu is seeing. When he finally blinks and refocuses, he catches Layla's eye and puts a finger to his lips. She nods and follows him as he skirts around the edge of the Temple to get to a small patch of bushes a short distance away. "Half a dozen guards," he whispers to her. The closest two are right over there, by where we were standing." He points, and Layla nods when she manages to catch a glimpse.
"And are William and Elina actually inside?" she asks, careful to keep her voice low.
"Inside and alive," he says. "I can't tell they're hurt or restrained, but they're definitely in there."
"Well," Layla says. "That's something. What do we do now?"
Bayek thinks about it. "Well," he says at last. "We are expected."
"So you're saying—what, that we just walk up to them and say hey, we're here for your prisoners?" She nods back to the two guards that are visible from their hiding place. "We could take them out, and work our way through the rest of the cave from there."
"That's a possibility," Bayek says slowly. "But I'm concerned that if these are Juno's people, they're only doing this because she's forcing them to do it. I don't want to kill people that can't control themselves."
"We could try taking them out without killing them," Layla points out. "Just handing ourselves over doesn't seem like the greatest idea. Or—you don't think we could sneak in?"
"There's only one way into the Temple," Bayek says. "And they know that—they're keeping a good watch. Besides, even if we could get in ourselves, and even if William is in good enough shape after being captured to sneak back out with us afterward, I doubt Berg's daughter will be up to it."
Layla thinks about that, about the fact that they have captives (one of them a child) to worry about, and then, reluctantly, realizes that Bayke's probably right about this. If they take her approach, and Juno's people spot them, it could turn into a full out fight—and she's not sure she trusts them not to kill their captives or use them as a bargaining chip. At least this way does get them closer to the Temple.
"Alright," she says. "We do it your way. But if they look like they're going to attack us… we are going to fight back, right?"
"Of course," Bayek agrees.
"Great," Layla mutters. "Perfect, just fantastic. On three?"
He nods, and she counts to three—mostly to work up her own courage—and the two of them stand and walk directly to the Temple entrance. There are two of Juno's people here, both of them with the same blank look Layla had seen (and felt on herself) in Masyaf when Juno started taking control of people.
She and Bayek stop in front of the two guards, and Layla lets herself take a closer look. Neither of them is visibly armed, but Layla doesn't think it takes a gun to be deadly when you're not in control of yourself—these people don't need weapons, they are weapons, and Juno can wield them however she wants. Layla wonders how many other time periods Juno has managed to sneak into without them knowing about it, and how many mind wiped servants she has in different parts of history, messing up the timeline, insinuating themselves into all kinds of places they shouldn't be.
Bayek clears his throat and looks at Layla. She remembers with a start that this isn't their hideout, and the people here aren't going to have translators for his Egyptian. So she's going to have to do the talking. "We're here for your prisoners," she announces.
"These the two we've been waiting for?" the one whispers to the other.
"Think so," says the second. "Looks like them."
They both face Layla for a second, expressions blank-Layla can't help but shiver slightly.
The second one turns back to his friend, keeping one unblinking eye on Layla and Bayek as he says, "Well you saw the picture She left. Are these the people we're waiting for?"
"I think so."
"Then we have to take them inside," the second one says. "She said we had to."
"Well we can't argue with Her, can we?"
The two guards turn move to stand on either side of Layla and Bayek, and escort them down, through the hidden cave entrance, into the Temple. There are a few other guards down here—Layla counts four of them—and they all stop what they're doing to watch Layla and Bayek as they're walked down and inside.
"There," one of the guards escorting them says, nodding sharply toward a back corner. Layla recognizes William at once, although he looks dirtier and a bit bloodier than he had the last time she'd seen him. He's clearly exhausted, but still sitting stiffly upright, positioned in such a way that Layla has to look twice before she can spot Elina wedged into a corner behind him.
"Layla," Bayek says abruptly, as they're allowed to step closer. "I just thought of something."
His tone, and the urgency in it, almost makes Layla stop dead in her tracks. She's still waiting for the other shoe to drop, and maybe Bayek's spotted whatever that other shoe is going to be. "What?"
"There's nothing to stop Juno from using the apple on William or Elina."
"No," Layla protests, even as a cold kind of chill runs through her. That's not fair at all. "Do you think she would?"
"Why not?" Bayek says. "It would give her a huge advantage to have some of her people embedded with us."
"How do we check?" Layla asks.
He doesn't answer, not really, he just says, "Stay on your guard," and leaves it at that.
"Go on," one of their guards says. "She said you were supposed to come here for the prisoners. So go get them already."
Layla takes a deep breath and steps forward—Bayek stays where he is—until William looks up at her with a start.
He looks reassuringly un-mind controlled. Unlike the guards she's seen here so far, or any of the other mind controlled people she's seen in other places, William's eyes are attentive and focus on her easily. "Layla," he says, with a hint of his old self assuredness. "You weren't exactly the person I was expecting to see here."
"Well, here I am," she says. "And I brought Bayek."
"I see," William says. "How's Desmond?"
"He's doing fine," she says. She can hardly believe they're here, having this conversation in the Grand Temple where his son had almost died, while Juno's mind controlled servants stand guard around them. "How are you and…?" she nods at the little girl behind him.
"More than ready to leave," he says.
"Then let's go," she says, glancing back behind her. Is it her imagination, or are the six guards creeping closer? She shifts uneasily, watching as William gently shakes Elina awake. She leans against his side once she's on her feet, looking at Bayek and Layla through wide, scared eyes.
"They're friends of your father," William tells her quietly. "Not like the other people here, okay? And we're going to get out of here."
Layla hears footsteps, and when she turns the guards are definitely closer. She catches Bayek's eye and he nods before turning around, positioning himself so they're back to back. No surprises.
"Are they going to let us go?" Elina asks. Layla has to strain to hear her, she's so quiet.
"Probably not," William says. "But even if they try to stop us, we're leaving now." He puts his hands on her shoulders and maneuvers her into the space between the three adults. Bayek nods approvingly, and then beckons them forward.
As soon as they take one step toward the entrance, the guards move.
"You were supposed to come for the prisoners," one of them announces. He looks genuinely sorry for the words coming out of his mouth, not that it does them any good. "But she also said that none of you was actually supposed to leave."
Layla tenses, readying herself for a fight.
"Don't let them get to Elina," Bayek says, and then Juno's people are on top of them, fighting like wild things, fierce and angry, almost suicidal in the risks they take. They push and shove at her until she's cut off from the group, fighting two at once, and for a minute she thinks this is going to be it—then William snatches a knife from Bayek and throws it at one of the men Layla's fighting. He goes down dead, and Layla takes care of the other one quickly. There's only two more left on their feet by that point, both fighting William, so she runs over to help him while Bayek picks Elina up and rushes her to safety.
The last two guards fall, and Layla stands in a puddle of blood, hands on her knees, panting and trying not to look too closely. Her breath comes back slowly, and when she can eventually stand up, she sees William standing there, watching her, slowly wiping the blood off a knife.
Layla swallows and straightens up. "Bayek thinks you and Elina might be mind controlled," she says. "Are you?"
William scowls, so deeply offended that Layla has to laugh. "No," he says. "Now let's get out of this damn cave."
He stows the knife away with a quick flourish that Layla can't quite track, and leads the way out of the cave, into the sunlight where Bayek and Elina are waiting for them.
-/-
Ugh I'm so bad at fight scenes. xD Sorry if that was a let down!
Next chapter: Desmond and Ezio vs Juno. :)