(Events take place around the time of the Firestorm crisis of Tiberian Sun, simultaneously with the events of Syndicate in the Assassins Creed timeline.
WW2 Eva: Red Alert 2's Lt. Eva.
Cabal and Kane are currently interchangeable.
Desmond: Desmond Files (f-list))
Cabal was struggling to maintain his composure. Sofia? Was she related to the person he was sharing a body with? Or...
Kane remembered. "Animus..." He accidentally muttered. It seemed as if his trains of thought were crossing into each other without warning. He wondered if Desmond caught that. Kane wasn't sure if Desmond could recognize anything about him that resembled who he originally was at the now-destroyed Abstergo facility.
He had to think fast on his feet - based on what he saw, this welcoming behavior wasn't the same Desmond he saw back there. Is Desmond going through the same struggle with his body? He couldn't say. Back at the lab it didn't seem like it. He wondered if a plausible outcome could come from this. If he played his cards right, he could find out more about the Assassins Brotherhood Desmond had hailed from.
Desmond didn't see anything wrong with the man next to him. Yes, he was awkward in his body and he seemed to be a bit off but the animus will do that to a person. He was able to reign in Ezio a little bit to get the man to stop chatting as much, he subtly put the illusion around them both. It was easy with his arm still wrapped around the others shoulder, they were still hiding from the satellite watching them and he didn't want Eva seeing him with anyone. They needed a place to crash till Eva stopped her scan and he let the others know what was going on. His accent had lessened with Ezio pulling back however there was still enough left from his excitement to still be heard, Desmond was happy to meet another animus subject who was still alive! Hopefully, this guy wasn't too crazy that they could help each other. Right now he could speak himself even if he did sound italian.
"Si, Animus. The machina the Templars had you in. Do you remember it? Do you know yourself?" Desmond walked the two of them towards a motel. Not a lot of tech, bad conditions all around and lots of shady people. They could crash and get this guy some food.
Kane followed along into the motel, albeit a bit confused. "Tem...plars...?" Kane was for the most part now able to impose his thoughts on the body he was housed in. He tried to recall everything he had looked up on Abstergo and Desmond during their initial encounter in cyberspace.
Cabal started to think to himself. 'Thats right,' he remembered, 'Desmond was in the middle of a mission for his Assassins group when I met him. He was most likely the one behind that explosion then.' He realized this man was capable and more importantly, VERY dangerous - especially if he hadn't been caught yet.
Kane had to play along. "A little bit, but it's hazy, my friend." He had no trouble summoning the warmth needed for his tone to keep this conversation comfortable. "Where am I?" He asked.
Desmond led them to the hotel, he dropped the illusion in the lobby seeing as it was empty, there were no cameras and the receptionist was in the back. He tapped the bell and quickly payed for a room, credit card curtesy of all internet uses. Basically the Templars were paying for it from personal accounts that were being laundered to begin with. He thanked the receptionist and took the key to their room, quickly sweeping the place with a look and letting the guy find a seat while he unplugged everything just in case. He didn't feel anything else electrical in the room that needed to be addressed. He turned to the guy again,
"Si... um... yea Templars. Do you remember them? They owned the building you were being held in. Your in New York right now, crummy side of town right behind the business district. Seems like your mostly in there, thats good." With some more time the italian accent was fading to the point of it not being particularly noticeable unless you happened to recognize the accent but Desmond was speaking for himself which was good.
"Do you remember your name? Sorry for calling you Yusef before, you just look so much like him I couldn't help it."
Cabal had looked up as much info as he can about his current body before contacting Oxanna, so he was ready with an answer. "I'm... Emir," he responded hesitantly. "I'm not sure why I resemble this Yusef you speak of. Was that what they were testing on me? Am I related to this Yusef person?" His Turkish accent was showing.
Cabal realized if he stayed in this body for too long, he might forget his original mission. He suddenly felt a jolt of urgency and fear from within him. He had to quickly find a way to reconnect with Oxanna. The Montauk was on its way for him, after all. He looked around. From his bed, Nothing to use for a terminal. "Do I have a family I should contact...?" He tried to use Desmond to find out more about how to discretely connect with NOD again without alerting GDI.
Desmond rifled through some drawers till he came out with some pamphlets for local take out. By the looks of Emir he was going to need some good food. He noticed the accent change but didn't make a comment since he did just trigger a bleed in the man. He should settle soon depending on how long they had kept him in the machine.
"Emir, its a good name. Yea your related to Yusef, they wanted information on him and they used your relation to him to get what they wanted. Hopefully they didn't keep you in there too long, it make you go crazy... I don't know if you have any family to be honest, there are so many subjects being used that its hard for us to keep track. They use all kinds of excuses to get family to agree too. Calling family might put them at risk, but it'll help ground you so you don't slip like before. Tell you what, lets get some food and you can take a shower and change. If you remember who to call then you can give it shot tomorrow."
Hopefully Eva wouldn't be looking anymore by then. He was able to connect to the wifi and call in an order for delivery, online ordering was amazing. He could make sure Eva couldn't find his signal since he could easily bounce it all over the damn world and fake his location if necessary. Clothes would be different, he'd have to go and get something while Emir was in the shower.
Cabal dried his wet hair as he stepped out of the shower, towel around his waist. He was told food would be arriving soon. Food... what was that like? He felt his body depraved of any nourishment it needed to survive. Thirst, hunger... it started hitting him that he hasn't been properly fed for days in this body. Could that be the reason for the hallucinations?
Kane felt weird having hair. Even weirder, having a -normal-, nonmutated body. He figured this skin would erode around Tiberium in a matter of seconds. "So fragile," he whispered to himself, staring at his arm.
Desmond came back soon after Kane had finished his shower with a few plastic bags, some of which smelled very good; he was also now sporting the same white hoodie from back at abstergo which he hadn't been wearing when he found Kane. He set them down on the small table while tossing the other bag onto the bed next to the other. "They should fit, hopefully I didn't go too big when I grabbed those. Also please don't complain about my fashion sense too much I already know it sucks." He started to take out the various containers of food, it was a good amount. Gotta love Chinese take out. He had ordered a variety of thing, pasta, rice, veggies, a bit of everything since he wasn't sure what the other liked or needed to help recover. Small amounts of everything would be good for now, he didn't want to overfeed the guy either.
"I grabbed a bunch of different things since I wasn't sure what you liked. But if I'm right, then your probably too hungry to care at the moment. Take your time eating and changing, your defiantly need a break."
Was he coddling the guy? He didn't think so, actually allot of what he was doing was stuff he wished the others on the team had done for him when he was using the animus so much. So he figured it was a good place to start, being what he had needed back then.
Cabal didn't pay attention to any of that; halfway through Desmond's garbled explanation, Kane was already nose-deep in food, gobbling everything he could find in the bags that were brought in.
"I'm sorry," he muffled, "did you say something?" He didn't even hear half of all that. His body was practically reacting all on its own.
There was just one problem with all this endearing hunger: he forgot he only had a bath towel on. And it was barely covering him. The pyramid of food was doing a better job concealing his junk than the towel.
Desmond blinked as the other dove at the food, well at least he had been right about that. He waved the other off. "Don't worry about, we can talk later if you want. Cothes are on the bed when your ready to change."
Even if there was some 500 hundred year difference between Emir and Yusef it seemed some habits were hard to shake. Mainly Yusef massive stomach after a day of running around the city, but Desmond didn't mind. The guy needed to eat and he'd likely pass out soon enough, hopefully no bleeding effect or nightmares. He stretched himself out before opening the second bag of food and eating a bit out of it. He had experimented with food a bit since coming back, he just had to make sure his body didn't flat out reject it. Learning more about the human body helped helped him allot in that regard.
Caba; couldn't tell if his behavior was influenced by the needs of his own new body, or the instincts of its supposed ancestor. All he knew was that there was food to be consumed in order to remain alive.
Feeling full, he got up, hand still on his towel knot, and walked towards the other bag of clothes.
"Erm... thank you... Desmond."
It felt weird to say that name once again. There was a strange pain associated with it - the feeling of repulsion. Desmond had wanted to escape him so badly the first time they met. Now he couldn't ask to get any more closer if he tried. They were bonded through history - perhaps the strongest of all human bonds. He grabbed the clothes and went to change in the bathroom.
Desmond continued to eat and gave Emir a smile as the guy headed into he bathroom to change. He cracked open a water bottle and set it on the table for the other, he didn't bother with it himself. "No problem, I'm just happy to meet someone who understands. I can't save everyone who went in the animus but I will help the ones I find."
Personal vendeta aside for animus subjects the other seemed to be doing pretty well so far safe for the first bleed he had triggered. Ezio was being very nosey but understood that the other needed to rest and he could catch up with Yusef later when Emir was more stable.
Cabal had finished changing. He reached out to open the bathroom door, right until a thought occurred to him. "I... haven't been treated this way at all. Was it the same for Emir, as well? Did he too live a life on the run, trusting no one?"
He could feel an alignment of his emotions with Emir's - even if he couldn't speak with him directly in his head. He opened the bathroom door and stepped out.
As Desmond walked past him, Kane lunged at him with both arms wide open... and hugged him. Hard. Kane seemed very confused as to why he was doing this. But he took it a step further and actually pecked Desmond's forehead, who seemed VERY shocked and confused at the rather emotional gesture.
Kane couldn't tell if this was something Emir, or perhaps "Yusef" had deeply wanted to do. But it was a deep urge within him, something to get out of his system. A feeling of eternal gratitude, indebtedness that he could never repay properly. This was definitely the result of a much longer bond than what their modern bodies had for the last few hours.
This must be the bleeding effect Desmond was talking about. Hot tears streamed down his face, and he could feel it. Centuries-old tears that never managed to shed when they should, now taking their course. His heart was beating, hot with several emotions - regret, pain, camaraderie, trust...
Yusef missed Ezio deeply. He was waiting for the chance to show it. Perhaps now, he could rest for a while, as his heartbeats began to calm down.
Desmond had been throwing out some of the empty food containers when Emir Suddenly hugged him tightly, he was shocked for a good few seconds before returning the hug. Who knows how long the guy had needed one, the kiss however made him blush a bit. Ok, that was probably Yusef right there. Ezio was more then happy to point that out.
He continued to hug the other and started to rub slow circles in the others back, as much as he wanted to accept Yusef's emotions they belonged for Ezio. Desmond and Emir technically had just met. But he was a bit hug deprived himself so he didn't say anything, better to let it all out now and maybe avoid sleep walking later on. He let the guy cry as much as he wanted, no room for shame here. They had all been through hell. He opted to not say anything, he was pretty sure Emir got the picture.
Cabal rubbed his eyes in an uncharacteristically sloppy fashion.
"Again... thank you. I think that one was from Yusef."
He choked a bit as he tried to form the words. He hadn't cried his heart out like that in like... well, never really. Just what exactly was Abstergo doing with its patients? Kane had to get to the bottom of this. Are they truly allies or foes?
"I'm going to need to move around at some point," he warned Desmond, showing some sincerity in his words. Kane didn't want to cling to the idea that they were destined to remain foes forever, even if Desmond believed that. "Got any ideas?"
Desmond patted Emir's back and gently gave the other some space from the hug but still stayed next to the other. He nodded in understanding, "Yea, seems like it. Its ok though. Better to get everything out now then to bottle it up, that goes for you too. Not just Yusef. Let me know if there's anything I can help with, I know I'm not the best at explaining things right off the bat."
He would have to check and see if Eva was still searching for them, If Emir needed some fresh air though then he would just have to make sure it was safe since he knew form experience that it wasn't good to keep people locked up when they already had issues with reality.
Cabal opened and looked out the window, then stared at the heavens. It was still daylight. He wondered if they were still being watched. The feeling of anxiety began to seep into his stomach, like a hollow emptiness that began to devour its surroundings. He couldn't think straight. He knew these were his own thoughts and concerns, not Emir's.
"Should we attempt to make a move soon? I mean, she could not follow us for THAT long, right...?"
Kane rested his hand on the windowsill, head still sticking out. He lowered his head for a second, realizing he had just made a big, big mistake, talking out of the blue about Eva. Emir wasn't supposed to know any of that - as far as Desmond was concerned, he simply dragged him to the hotel room for safety without explaining much.
Kane looked back and glared at Desmond, wondering for a split second if he had heard what he just muttered.
(Snap! How will Des react? Tune in next time!)