"Huh," Ezio says when the story is over. Desmond waits for him to say more, but he doesn't.

"So-"

"Yea."

If Desmond had been in a body of his own, he would have been fidgeting at this point. Or pacing. It didn't feel right to just sit there and wait for Ezio to decide how he was going to react. Normally Ezio would have been on his feet as well- Desmond can feel the twitchiness in the back of his mind, but he knows Ezio doesn't quite feel comfortable with sharing a body yet. He doesn't know how to act yet, but he'll get over it. "Do you want to say something, maybe?" Desmond asks.

"Sorry," says Ezio. "I was just thinking that I expected to spend the night with a beautiful and talented woman, and instead I end up having a conversation like this."

It could have sounded angry, but Ezio's laughing. "You're not a woman, are you?"

"No!" he protests.

"That's disappointing," Ezio says. Or tries to say. Even if it's all in his head, he's having trouble getting the words out. And maybe it's catching, because Desmond can't quite stop himself from laughing as well. It's a funny feeling, two people laughing inside the same head. It's never happened with Altair before. The Syrian doesn't laugh much.

"What were you going to do even if I was a woman?" he manages to say at last. "We only have one body between us."

"I'd think of something."

It was going about as well as Desmond could have hoped for. Considering that he and Altair had met right after Abstergo security nearly killed him definitely helped put this encounter into perspective. And Ezio hasn't gone crazy, which is good. And while Desmond can definitely feel him itching to bug Desmond about his idol, Altair, but so far he's restrained himself. All he's really done is make dirty joke, and Desmond can cope with that. Last month, he was a bartender in New York.

"So what happens now?" Ezio asks.

"No idea."

"Aren't you supposed to be from the future?"

"Well, yea," saysDesmond. "But nobody ever tells me anything. I guess just... keep doing normal stuff? Oh, and, um- be careful around the apple, because I really don't need you and Altair both stuck in my head at the same time."

"So," Ezio says, and Desmond almost laughs again because he's trying so hard to be casual. "About Altair-"

And that's when the cannonball comes crashing through the wall.

Up until that exact moment, Ezio's been sitting on the bed, abruptly self conscious of the extra person in his brain, but now he doesn't hesitate for a second as he reacts, jumping off the bed just in time, instincts breaking through to save him. And then there's no more time for questions or jokes, because the villa is under attack.

Ezio runs, and Desmond runs with him. It's different, and that surprises him. All this time he's been working against Ezio, hiding himself, holding back. Now they work together, both of them in absolute unison. And they run faster, fight harder, than they ever have before. For a moment, even amid the chaos and destruction, it feels perfect. Desmond knows exactly what Ezio's planning as soon as his ancestor decides. He's been in the animus too long not to know, and so when they move, they move together. For a while, they're powerful.

And then, suddenly- it's not enough. Because as Cesare Borgia stands in the villa's gates and swears to bring blood and fire down on them, they're too far away. They can't get there in time. And he has the apple-

They can only watch as Mario Auditore falls down dead.

They're on the ground, somehow. They've fallen, and there are new injuries that aren't going to heal quickly, if they get the chance to heal it all.

"Come on," Desmond says. "You need to get out of here."

"I know," says Ezio. But he glances over his shoulder anyway as they run. Desmond doesn't say anything. They both know this will probably be the last time they will ever see the villa.

And then Desmond is abruptly pulled from the animus. He comes out shaking, adrenaline running through his body to match the panic in his mind. Lucy's standing there, hands on her hips. "So, when you promised to say something if anything exciting happened-"

"Oh." He sits up, tries to breathe slowly. "Right. What did you see?"

"Nothing," says Lucy. "I told you, we don't have any of the monitoring equipment set up in here. That's why you were supposed to come up for air if anything happened."

"Well, uh-" he shrugs. "Cesare Borgia has the apple, but unless you want to hear about what Ezio and Caterina Sforza got up to-"

"Not really, no," Lucy says. "Next time you promise you'll say something?"

"Yea," Desmond says. He's still reeling from everything that's just happened, five hundred years ago, but he offers a smile anyway, hoping it looks genuine. "Forgive me?"

She hesitates, then smiles back.

"If you two will stop flirting, back there," Shaun calls from the front of the truck. "We're here."

"...where's here?" Desmond asks, glancing between Lucy and Shaun. He feels abruptly nervous about not knowing where they're headed. In all the excitement of the animus, he's almost forgotten that one of them is a traitor. Now he remembers, and wonders what- or who- will be waiting outside.

Shaun doesn't answer, but Altiar, still pressed up against a corner of the cramped van, does. "You're not going to like it much," he says. "It's not the templars."

"What is it?" he asks, and then realizes Lucy's looking at him. "I mean- where. Where is it? Where are we?"

"It's just time," Altair says. "Five hundred years later-"

"Monteriggioni," says Lucy.