Chapter Seventy-Seven: What do we Have Here?
AN: I'm finally back and I'm here to say that I'm finally going to finish the story.
I know it's been awhile, but as I've promised in the past I will finish this story. It may have taken me awhile but now that I have time to focus on the small things in life again, I want to finish a project that I loved dearly from my past.
I have every chapter to the end planned out, with detailed notes, so I can write with ease.
I want to thank everyone who continued to read the story and even reread it and sent me messages. They all made me so happy to know that my story could still touch people's hearts, even tho I had left it. I never thought that the story would mean much to people, I first initially wrote it for myself. I didn't think that many people would like it because there's a lot of stories pretty similar in idea.
There's not much I'm really proud about, but I'm proud that the story still means something to others. Thank you.
Let's finish this story!
What happened last:
-Connie had a bad dream and talked to Rebecca.
-She's ignoring the necklace.
-Lucy got her to try and help with the assassin cause
-We learn about Gavin Oswell, the current Leader/Head of Abstergo aka Templars
-Vidic drew connections between Connie's parent's death, and the necklace. (He doesn't know it's the necklace though, he just knows it's related to Connie time traveling somehow.)
Connie sat in the big open space of the office warehouse they were in. Rebecca was busy on her computer maintaining the animus to work its best. Shaun was busy doing something too, but he wouldn't give her the light of day to even tell her what. Lucy was doing something on her computer too, but Connie didn't really care what the heck she was doing either. They were working like a well-oiled machine, and she had no place to contribute.
It seemed that the only people really doing something productive were Desmond, and Rebecca.
She forgot to mention she wasn't doing anything either. She was just drinking coffee and watching everyone else. After all what could she do?
Soon she knew Desmond would take one of his breaks, as they had discussed earlier, they would be doing a little training in the open space of the warehouse. There were quite a few shipping containers, and it almost seemed like the perfect obstacle course to practice on.
As it was explained to her earlier by Lucy; Desmond was essentially training to be an assassin with his new ancestor's memories. 'Skill retention' is what she called it. It was interesting in the fact that she found out it was another descendant of Altair. It was truly interesting to think about, but also a little heart wrenching.
Shaking off the thought, she took another gulp of her coffee from the couch she was chilling on.
Too much had changed recently, and while no one cared that she was the only one just sitting there, she really couldn't help but feel useless at every possible moment. Which is why she was looking forward to training later, and what she could learn. At least she would get moving then.
It was then that she noticed they were getting Desmond out of the Animus.
"Everything Alright?" questioned Desmond as he slowly sat up.
"Better than alright, you're making amazing progress." Said Lucy with a smile.
"…Amazing's quite a strong word," muttered Shaun from his desk.
"Then why are we stopping?" questioned Desmond.
"Prolonged exposure to the Animus can have… side effects," stated Rebecca not making eye contact as she fiddled with the machine.
"Ha, awesome." Joked Desmond, just another negative to his situation. He never got a break did he?
Lucy quickly cut in. "It's nothing to worry about, you haven't shown any symptoms yet."
"Symptoms, what symptoms?" questioned Desmond. He had heard of the bleeding effect… but was there something he didn't know yet?
"Degradation of cognition, temporal hallucinations, multiple-awareness issues, over lapping realities…" Answered Rebecca, she stopped when she saw his face.
Damn thought Connie, that's rough. They didn't tell him this stuff before…?
"So what you're saying is…" he had to stop himself, of course they wouldn't tell him the full story from the beginning. What did he expect?
Those symptoms sounded exactly like what happened to him at Abstergo.
"What we're saying Desmond, is if you're not careful, you may not need the Animus to visit with your ancestors" Finished Shaun.
"We have safeguards Desmond, this won't happen to you I promise. We're being careful with you." Cut in Lucy, trying to ease his mind.
"I hope so." Said Desmond.
"Anyway, I was hoping we could test out your skill retention, see if you've picked up some of Ezio's abilities." said Lucy, changing the subject.
"I'm game," responded Desmond, quickly following after Lucy as she left to the bigger area of the warehouse. Lucy motioned for Connie to follow, and she quickly got up to follow as well. This was what she was waiting for after all.
They walked down the hall with the elevators, before proceeding down a metal stair case to the bigger area.
Using a key card, Lucy got a big gate to open before telling the both to 'come on' as she led the way.
"Abstergo's out there looking for us. They're better funded and better equipped, so it's only a matter of time before they find us."
"Great," muttered Connie, it's only a matter of time huh? Lucy ignored her comment while Desmond laughed a little.
"We need to be ready for them when they do. Desmond, I want you to activate the warehouse defense system. I'll let you figure out how to reach the sensors." Said Lucy, motioning up to the red lights in the rafters of the warehouse. Those must be the sensors.
"Good luck," laughed Connie, walking over to one of the storage containers and taking a seat to get a good view. This was definitely something she had no interest in, let alone can possibly do.
"Well, I better get started." Stated Desmond, quickly running over to the mountain of containers. Looked like he was going to use them to get up to the rafters, they were stacked pretty high after all. Connie could only shake her head in astonishment.
Lucy came to sit beside Connie then, also watching as Desmond proceeded through the warehouse.
"This warehouse has a pretty complex security system, why is that?" asked Connie as the two watched Desmond quickly and effectively activate them from below.
"This warehouse is government owned, they stored weapons here, but most things have been removed. Abstergo can't snoop into government facilities easily, so it was the perfect cover."
"Hmm, there aren't any Templar's in the government?" asked Connie, she found that a little hard to believe.
"I'm sure that there are, but they're not going to blow their cover just to find us faster." Stated Lucy, she sounded confident in her assessment, but things never worked out like you thought. Connie had learned that the hard way when it concerned Abstergo.
"Um hey guys, I'm seeing stuff." Called Desmond from above. He could see bluish figures in his vision, and the room had gotten darker.
"Do the hallucinations last for more than 30 second?" asked Lucy.
"… No."
"Then it's nothing to worry about, it will pass." Called Lucy, reassuring Desmond as much as she could. Desmond shrugged after a moment, there was nothing else he could do, and he had to trust her.
Getting up then, Connie decided to have a look around the warehouse. She quickly started with walking the perimeter, checking where all the garage openings were, the windows, and anything else of note.
She could hear Desmond and Lucy talking about subject 16, the bleeding effect, why Italy was important, something about the codex and a vault… honestly it was a lot to take in.
She had no idea all of these things were happening in the world, she had been so secluded from most things. To learn that there were many Pieces of Eden around the world, and that the Templars wanted to use them to control the world had been a shock before. But the more she learned, the more she realised how insane all of this really was.
How could there be a war like this, which had lasted so many centuries? How did the world not know about all this? The answer was simple, the Templars had the power to keep it hidden.
All those conspiracy theorist really knew what was up huh?
Still walking around, she decided to check some of the storage containers. What she found inside was boxes of ammo. They looked to be old, so perhaps it was ammo for old guns and equipment.
Moving on a little excited at what she'd find, she continued to open containers. She felt like a kid in a candy store.
Hmm, why hadn't she searched before? She could have armed herself nicely for any possible threat that could come. She'd do just that she decided. She didn't think they'd stop her from being prepared.
She quickly found a gun box that contained a nice set. It had a rifle in good condition along with its ammo and accessories. In the same box was also a simple Glock, a Glock 19 if she wasn't mistaken. She felt like she had just opened a treasure chest.
Smiling, she pulled out the rifle before bringing the stock to her shoulder and looking through the scope. This was perfect for her she thought with a smile. It wasn't fancy, but it was perfect for her.
Putting it away in the gun box again, she quickly locked it before bringing it back with her. She was sure no one would miss it.
Coming back to Lucy's side, she noticed Desmond was almost done, he only had one more sensor left.
"What's that?" questioned Lucy, her eyes narrowed in on the obvious gun box.
"Just a little insurance. I don't think I have the skills to take on Abstergo… so I helped myself to some weapons to at least defend myself." Said Connie, trying to justify her find. She wasn't going to put it back.
There was also no way she could do this training Desmond was doing. Why had they even suggested it to her earlier? Desmond was literally jumping from rafter to rafter up there… not many people could do that.
Lucy could only chuckle at Connie's answer, shaking her head.
"I'm not stopping you. That actually might be handy. Our team doesn't really have members that are good marksmen at the moment." She remarked arms crossed. She already knew Connie was good with guns, she saw exactly what her and Altair had been doing in the past. But that was all thanks to Vidic's snooping.
Connie only smiled at her response before replying with "perfect".
At that point Desmond had finished and come back. Lucy began to tell him he was making amazing progress, and that he had gained most of Ezio's skills. They might be finished in but a few days if even that.
When Desmond took notice of Connie's gun box, he only started laughing.
Apparently no one here was surprised.
"Alright, let's head back and get some rest." Called Lucy already walking back to their office space.
Abstergo
Vidic was at his desk, finishing his report on the matter of Connie and Desmond. The report was on possible future actions to get back their property and assets.
When he was done he headed for his meeting with Gavin Oswell. He had been working on it till the last possible moment, he couldn't miss anything he thought.
Walking briskly down the white halls of the building, he made his way to the elevator. He had to make his way up to Gavin's office. On his way, he was very satisfied that no one made eye contact with him, they simply stood aside and kept their heads lowered. They knew their place.
His thoughts drifted to his report as he moved onward.
He knew that Connie had to be in the future still, all clues pointed to that. It was also safe to assume that she was taking shelter with the Assassins much like Desmond.
His proposal was to get a task force together to find them quickly. They had no time to waste as their schedule had been put on hold since their escape from Abstergo.
He had not been impressed when he found out Lucy had betrayed them. He didn't think the girl brazen enough to pull off something like that. And yet, she had doctored the cameras and security systems in a way that had let them escape easily. He should have paid more attention… he wouldn't make that mistake again.
Not a moment later he was brought out of his thoughts as he was in front of the heads office. Knocking briefly, he waited for the affirmation that he could enter, before leisurely strolling into the room. Gavin was a man Vidic would never submit to, and the tension between the two would never dissipate because of this.
Walking up to Gavin's desk, he held eye contact the whole time before placing his report on the desk. They stared at each other for a moment, Gavin looking up from his desk with a smirk, and Vidic holding his gaze with a frown.
Always a smug bastard thought Vidic, narrowing his eyes when Gavin made no move for the report yet.
Gavin broke eye contact from his seat behind his desk before looking down at the files, hands folded in front of him. His smirk never left his lips as he finally began looking through the report. Vidic couldn't help but take note of the ring upon Gavin's finger. It was a rather bulky gold ring with the symbol of the Templars clearly shown on its front encrusted jewel.
The office had a cold chill, and the lack of proper lighting only added to this feeling. There was but one lamp on Gavin's desk that was on, the rest of the room was rather gloomy. It was late at night, so it couldn't be helped.
Vidic just continued to stand in front of the desk, waiting for his boss to finish reading. There was no chair for him to comfortably wait in.
Neither had spoken a word to the other after Vidic had entered the room. That was fine with Vidic, he never had the urge to force conversation with the man anyways. He only waited in silence.
"Hmm," came the thoughtful voice of Gavin before he looked up at Vidic once more.
"Fine job. I already received a report of the subject's whereabouts, but your assessment of using a special task force is correct." Said Gavin, before reaching for an envelope off to the side of his desk and handing it to Vidic.
"This is the information we have on the location, I'll leave it in your hands. Don't disappoint me again." Finished Gavin, leaning back in his chair before motioning for Vidic to leave.
Vidic was shocked momentarily by the information he was given, but quickly held his emotions at bay.
Nodding his head, Vidic swiftly turned on his spot before heading to the door to leave. He was rather happy it didn't take him long. He was surprised Gavin already knew where they were located, but that was to be expected. With all the connections Abstergo had, the Assassin's wouldn't be able to hide for long.
With the door shutting behind Vidic, he let out a breath before his thoughts went over his plan once more.
He knew they had to capture Connie and Desmond. So while most of the men he would use wouldn't have guns, he was also going to bring a special task force. These men were usually used when infiltrating a known Assassin hideout, with the intention to kill everyone.
Vidic pulled out his phone then, quickly emailing his subordinate to call the teams he needed to a meeting room. His plan was to give them their mission tonight so that they could begin their ambush tomorrow once everything was in order.
With the email sent, he entered the elevator on his way back to his office. It was close to the meeting room he had specified, so once preparations were complete he could head there and discuss the plan easily.
Once he was comfortable at his desk once more, he opened the envelop Gavin had given him.
Inside were satellite images of a warehouse 7 hours away, along with more detailed information of the terrain and such. They hadn't left the country, and were relatively close. Hiding in plain sight were they? He would make that a mistake they'd wish they never made.
Chuckling to himself, he couldn't help but be happy at their folly. They had made him look like an idiot with their escape, but they wouldn't be free for much longer.
AN: I hope you guys enjoyed, next chapter will be out soon. To those who have come back to read this story from the past, thank you. To those who are new readers, welcome!
ALSO- I have written a few 'What if' chapters that go with the story. These are Rated M for smut and I wanted to keep this story PG so they're in a separate story. Check it out if you enjoy some smut just like me. I couldn't help myself to write them... but I cant guarantee the quality :P
Write me if you liked the chapter! Comments are adored and much appreciated!
