It took Desmond several minutes more to fully pull himself together, but even then he didn't pull away from Altair, and the other man made no move to remove him. They had ended up on the floor, Desmond in Altair's lap and Ezio and Connor on either side of the Syrian. Desmond had tucked his face away in the Syrian's neck and was happily breathing in his scent of hay and sandal wood as they sat in comfortable silence.

"What happened tesoro?" Ezio asked finally, breaking the silence as he ran his hand up Desmond's back.

"Nat, came up with a few theories of what happened when we touched the Apple. Of why you appeared to us when we so clearly did not appear to any of you. She said it means you can stay, that you don't have to go back to your times." Desmond muttered, barely peaking out from where he was hiding in his Syrian Soulmates embrace.

"We had no intention of leaving you, Desmond. We could've told you that." Connor said simply.

Desmond knows that what he said was true and that he was trying to comfort him by saying it, but if they had been plucked from time as Desmond had originally thought they wouldn't have had a choice but to go back. They were major historical figure heads and his ancestors, Desmond and his brothers couldn't exist if they'd been dragged through time. However, instead of focusing on that, Desmond decided to focus on the feeling of his three soulmates around him. Eventually he was able to pull back a bit from Altair and dry his eyes completely even as Ezio buried his face into his shoulder while ruffling his hair.

"Feeling better habibi?" Altair asked, Des spotting a slight smile from under the Arab man's hood as he nodded, "Good, now how about we get in some training, sometimes it can help clear the head after dealing with something stressful."

Desmond laughed slightly, but agreed. He needed the training and learning from his soulmates was the best thing he could think of. They were three men who changed the brotherhood throughout history if anyone could help him become a proper assassin quickly it was these three masters and he would eagerly learn from them, even if it meant he'd regret it later when his body was sore and tired.

Several hours of training later had Desmond panting and covered in sweat. He had just been pinned by Connor after another sparring match that had ended with Desmond on his ass every time when the training room doors opened to reveal Rebecca striding in with a tray of food.

"Hey boys, why don't you take a break and have something to eat and drink. We may have the End of the World approaching but that's no excuse to kill yourselves with training." Becca called with a grin. Desmond sighed in relief under Connor making the Native chuckle under his breath before getting off the smaller man. Connor helped Des to his feet and they both joined Ezio and Altair beside Becca as she held the tray for them. She had bottles of Gatorade and several sandwiches on it which made Desmond practically bow down and worship her right there.

"You are a life saver Becca." Desmond praised tiredly.

"I know Des, it's okay to bow before me." Rebecca joked with a grin.

He took a sandwich and one of the bottles of Gatorade, most likely provided by Nat since she knew his favorite flavor, and took a large gulp of the drink.

"What is this drink?" Ezio asked as he took a sip of a red colored Gatorade.

"It's a sport drink called Gatorade. It was created to help replenish electrolytes that are spent during long amounts of hard exertion." Desmond explained as Rebecca nodded.

"Electrolytes?" Altair said questioningly.

"Electrolytes are things spent from your body during exercise and this drink helps you replenish them so it doesn't over exert your body." Rebecca explained.

The three men nodded in understanding as they enjoyed the food and drink.

"So how's Nat's ideas with your baby coming along?" Desmond asked as he was on his second sandwich.

"Well with me, Duncan and her all working on it we're making major headway. Not sure entirely what Natalie's thinking yet, but we're working well together to get where she's wanting I'm thinking. Here soon we should be able to take away the side effects of the Animus entirely, making it much safer to use." Rebecca replied.

"Will I have to go back in it?" Desmond asked, making his three soulmates tense at the prospect.

"I'm not sure, but I don't think so. I think what Natalie is aiming for is to use your blood to be able to bring up digital memories through the Animus so that you never have to be put back in the chair again, but I'm not entirely sure we'll have to see what happens when we're finished." Rebecca replied honestly.

Desmond visibly relaxed, while Connor and Ezio pressed closer to him from either side, making Rebecca smile at them kindly.

"You have amazing Soulmates Desmond. And I don't mean just because they are three historical Master Assassin's. They really appear to care about you despite only meeting you recently. Not everyone can say that about their soulmate or mates." Rebecca said wistfully.

"I suppose you are right." Desmond agreed easily, smiling as he glanced at his three soulmates. He'd met many a person in his time as a bartender that would show up at the bars to drink away their problems. Many of them would even be drinking away their issues with a soulmate. So Desmond could see how he was lucky to have Soulmates that so easily accepted him and had little issue supporting his decisions throughout his life even if all of them weren't the best.

"I'm hoping one day I can be the same way with Shaun, but he's so snobby sometimes that it's hard to see it happening." Rebecca said softly, making him turn to her with a shocked look.

"You and Shaun are soulmates?" He asked, making her look at him again.

The small woman gave him a confused look, before seeming to realize what she'd said.

"I keep forgetting you haven't known us as long as Lucy has. Yes, Shaun and I are soulmates, but as you can see we butt heads far more then we get along most days, but I've learned it's just how he is. It took several years before I accepted what we were to each other and even longer for him to accept it, but we have. We won't be getting married any time soon, but we do care for each other." Becca explained with a smile.

"Well at least you two seem to get along okay, Shaun seems to have it out for me most days." Desmond replied jokingly.

"It's not that, he's worried about you. You have literally been tearing your mind apart just to get us information and he doesn't say it, but I think he saw your name on Ezio's chest and blurred it out so me and Lucy wouldn't. I think he knew and that's why he acts so harsh with you, because he doesn't want you to think he pitied for the hand you were dealt." She responded with a sad smile.

Desmond could see that. The Brit didn't exactly scream emotional, so it made sense that the man wouldn't just ask how something made Desmond feel let alone show that he actually felt sorry for him. It didn't matter to Desmond, he didn't know Shaun so he didn't expect them to be best friends, he had just been so tired after the days spent in the animus leading up to retrieving the Apple that when he rested he was finally sick of his attitude and how he was pushing him.

"Well that doesn't matter now I suppose. Nat has plans for the Animus and those three don't have to go anywhere so Shaun's attitude towards me doesn't really matter anymore. Maybe now me and him can at least get along a bit, I mean he has to be nice if he wants to be on those three's good sides enough to ask them questions about the brotherhood of their times." Desmond said finally with a smirk. Rebecca laughed in agreement and they moved on to discuss how Rebecca had been treated at the farm, before Desmond was pulled back to training and Becca returned to the other techies of the Sanctuary.

The next two days were spent in a routine. Desmond would wake up with his soulmates and go train early in the morning before they would all go to the kitchen, meeting his eldest brother in the kitchen before he would go upstairs to start working on the bar since Natalie was busy. Duncan, Becca, Shaun and Natalie along with Shay and Jacob as simple on lookers had been locked away for two days in the tech room in Natalie's hallway tinkering with the Animus. Desmond had helped Dylan take food to all of them during dinner and lunch times, but couldn't tell what they were trying to accomplish just yet. He could wait though, Natalie liked to monologue when she finally got something working the way she wanted, so he'd know when she was finished.

He was in the kitchen with his soulmates once again helping Dylan make lunch for all of them when the kitchen door suddenly slammed open, making the other three release their hidden blades and shoot to a fighting stance while Dylan and Desmond spun around, Dylan flipping the cutting knife in his hand while Desmond's own hidden blade released with one flick of his wrist. In the door way stood Natalie, her smile practically manic as she stared them down.
"We did it! We fixed the Animus!" Natalie exclaimed happily, before skipping to Desmond and grabbing his blade arm. The youngest Miles was unable to fight due to his shock as his best friend dragged him from the kitchen, his brother and soulmates following with their own air of confusion about them. It must have been a huge break through if Natalie was this excited that she didn't glare them all down for drawing weapons in her Sanctuary. This made Desmond silently wonder what the techies could've possibly done to the machine to make them all so excited, guess he'd get to find out.