(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))
Desmond had heard but didn't make any movement about it.
"If you're talking about that creepy old lady at the front desk, then I wouldn't worry about it. There isn't much she can do to us anyway, since she's too chicken." He continued his clean up even as his heart clenched in his chest. There wasn't too many 'she' that Emir could have been referring to, and more of them weren't something an abstergo subject should know about. He couldn't rule anything out, he'd just keep an eye on the guy and see if his suspicions help. Throwing the last of the trash away he looked at the other who seemed to have relaxed by the window, a quick eagle vision didn't help. Emir was several colors at the same time, a dull red, a calming blue, some flakes of gold. It was confusing and so not helpful. Ezio wasn't being much help either with his attempt to vouch for Yusef despite the man being dead for 500 years and is currently a ghost of himself in his descendent. He pushed the other away and tried to right himself mentally.
"You're in no condition to go anywhere, take the night and rest. You were skittish enough when we bumped into each other, no need to get antsy right now."
Cabal was ready to pounce. Pounce at Desmond, pounce out the window to climb away... he was ready to disappear without notice. Listening to Desmond talk, he was sure he suspected something. He didn't let his guard down. The sweat on his face was pretty clear - fight or flight.
Cabal processed what Desmond said and tried to calm himself down. "It looks like Desmond is still seeking peace. Good. Good call. Very diplomatic," he thought to himself. He couldn't have asked for a better outcome. He saw how valuable Desmond was - it was too early to lose him again. Cabal noticed Desmond however was still staring at him. Probably sizing him up to see if he could take him on should the need arises. He did his best to speak more calmly. "What do we do about the bed? There is only one, Desmond."
Desmond hummed as he looked at the bed and shrugged. "You take the bed, you'll need it more considering what you've been through, and I'm used to sleeping in weird places. Comes with the job. I'll just take one of the pillows or something."
Comes with the job, sure, if you counted sleeping in trucks and caves. No wonder Shaun was always so adamant about getting proper bedding. He didn't mind, if he did sleep it wasn't much. All his ancestors were light sleepers and more often then not were used to small amounts of sleep on missions. Altair was the king of power napping. Most of his night would probably be online, scanning Eva, or other such chatter about himself or Emir.
Cabal wanted to lower Desmond's guard down again. He didn't like the idea of him constantly being on full alert. It could impede his plans later. "When was the last time you've had a good night's sleep on a real bed, Desmond?" He asked. Kane was hoping Desmond would change his mind about leaving him the bed - he'd rather not fall asleep too much. Cabal had felt a "piece" of him was missing - most likely, it was the blade Emir trained with, being raised as an assassin.
Desmond sighed; it looked like Emir had caught onto him being nervous about the slip up. He tried to stay relaxed, Emir wasn't in any shape to take him on if he was dumb enough to do it. Desmond was 'loaded' with weapons if he wanted to and could blow the place up, not that he wanted to in the slightest. The red was worrisome but maybe it was from the bleeding effect? Then again there was no way in hell Yusef would betray Ezio.
"Let's see...the last time I slept in a proper bed was... maybe around August 2012?"
It was an honest answer, no point in lying to the man about something like that. He was interested to see the others reaction to that info. "Believe me, your going to need it more if your body isn't already screaming at you. The animus might knock you out but its not any real rest and the mental fatigue will get to you."
Cabal stuttered. "A-Animus... right."
He didn't know what to do. He really needed to keep an eye on Desmond tonight without alerting him. Whoever managed to sleep first would lose this fight. Kane decided there was no way around it; he'd also be honest and confront him head on with pure guts, rather than beat around the bush any further. It's just crazy enough, it might work. "Desmond..." He forced himself to ask. "Can you please take the bed? I don't mind sharing. But it's my utmost request that you rest up." He decided to sell the idea the best he could. "For Yusef." He hoped his words would reach Ezio.
Desmond flushed a bit, he wasn't sure what to think of Emir right now and the guy was being insistent. On one hand, sharing the bed might help keep the bleed down, or it might make it worse. Ezio sure as hell wanted to hop into bed with his old friend but Desmond wanted to keep some distance in their respective timelines. Before he knew what was going on he was already sitting on one side of the bed. DAMN IT, EZIO!
"If I didn't know any better I'd say you were trying to get in my pants." He tried to laugh it off and play it cool. He took a breath and started to pull his jacket off, making sure to dismiss the data for his hidden blade while the fabric was covered. IF he was going to share a bed with someone suspicious he might as well make sure they couldn't stab him with his own knife. He pulled off his shoes too and set them aside with the jacket, keeping everything else on. He had to admit, it did feel nice to be on a real bed after so long. He didn't really want to get under the covers though and he was currently berating Ezio in his head and making the man swear to no funny business even if Ezio claimed that getting laid would be good for him.
Kane felt a huge amount of relief. He was worried Desmond would turn confrontational, especially after that last slip-up. The more trusting Desmond became, the more it hurt his heart - is Kane truly that untrustworthy under his own skin? Did he literally need to become someone else to be trusted? The pain reminded him of his Tiberium calling - these are not his people. This is why he trusted no one, and was treated in kind. Nevertheless, Kane figured out partially his attraction to Desmond - it reminded him of a much younger (and still alive) Anton Slavik. Still ideal, still hopeful, untainted by the harsh, cold heart pangs of war. Kane sat down on the same edge of the bed as Desmond. He wanted to tell Desmond about Anton, but only Emir could talk. "Thank you... my friend." The words rang very strangely to him.
Desmond sighed and turned to Emir, he could feel the sadness radiating off of him. Another similarity between him and Yusef, they bother were very expressive. "Sorry, I don't mean to make things awkward. Its just that your the first subject I've met who isn't dead or crazy, I owe it to those guys to help any subjects I can find. People who can relate to what we've been through. I'm probrably not doing so great but I want to help."
It wasn't that Emir was suspicion as a person, but considering what happened with Cross... he would rather not have a repeated incident. So far other then that one hint and the confusion eagle vision, there wasn't anything suspicious. But it was also the nature of the game now, things had come so far from Yusef and Ezio's time. He wanted to give Emir a chance and not doubt the first person who could understand him. Plus, he knew Emir would need help just like he had needed. And like his Clay helped him, he'd help Emir.
Cabal hesitated to continue this conversation. It was hard for him to keep up with everything only Emir knew, but not him. His hesitation made it hard to access the memories he needed to remain focused on Desmond's words.
"S-subject...? Oh... Abstergo. Right."
Kane was worried Desmond would notice his alternating shifts in personality and tone. It was hard enough to adjust with Cabal, now he has to deal with Emir's muscle memory as well, and that included his voice. This was the main reason why his conversations via Emir's body were so choppy and short. That last mess-up happened because Kane had forgotten for a minute who and where he truly was.
"Alright," he whispered, "...do you promise we leave tomorrow?" His accent fluctuated very briefly.
Desmond kept an eye on Emir, looking for any bleed. He would slip a bit, accent coming out, spacing out a bit, confusion. It was all normal for a subject as far as Desmond knew, nothing to worry about there.
He nodded to the other, "That was the plan from the start right? See if you can remember any family you want to find then move to someplace safer. From what I could tell earlier the Templars are too busy with the wreckage to worry about an escaped subject, but tomorrow, the farther we can get the better. Right now, I need to make sure you alright enough to make the trip."
CabalD felt another fresh emotional punch in the gut, as he realized he couldn't remember if Emir had anyone to contact prior to being an Abstergo subject. Fortunately for him, Desmond didn't know this information, so they were pretty much at a stalemate concerning Emir's memories. With Yusef and Ezio involved, that stalemate was in a perfect deadlock - it would no longer be important for him to maintain "Emir" forever.
"What if I cannot remember who to contact? What if I HAVE no family?"
His concern was partially honest. It's true, Kane never truly felt a real connection to this planet, not even to his own followers. Rarely did some of NOD rise to the occasion and earn his trust. But he knew he would always attract the worst of humanity towards him for his ambitions and goals. He couldn't let his guard down for Desmond either, as pure-hearted as the assassin was.
"If worst comes to worst... could you help me?"
Desmond could tell the other was hurting, family was always important. It was support, it was healing, it was drive. Without it people got lost and with an animus subject it bled to everyone the ancestor knew, people you realize are dead for centuries. It HURT. He reached over and grabbed the others hand from across the bed trying to help him calm down.
"If you can't remember then I'll help you find them, if we can't find them we'll find you a place. If you want to remain with the assassins or not then we can find something that works for you. Either way your not alone... Literally, I don't think Ezio is going to let me walk away from this." He muttered about damn clingy bastards.
Cabal bit his lip. 'This is too much,' he thought. All his life, he knew nothing but the pangs of war and betrayal. This is legitimately the first time he was ever shown kindness from someone that considered themselves his equal in life.
"I..." his words were very troubled. "I... I want to join the Assassins. Ag... again. I feel it. I can feel the ancestor calling."
He found himself shivering, hugging himself, hot tears streaming down his face.
"Centuries of duty call on me. I... I have nowhere else to go."
Kane couldn't believe his own cries. He was pushing himself farther and farther from his own personal goals. He knew he wouldn't forget, but the feeling of belonging was addicting. Very addicting. It overcame all his desires to trample over the rest of the world. Over GDI. Over the traitors that backstabbed him.
Kane was never going to forget. But he found himself pining for the taste of it... family.
Desmond didn't expect Emir to break suddenly like this. He was across the bed in a secondhand wrapping his arms around the other man, the italian accent coming back a bit as both he and Ezio sought to comfort the other. Rubbing circles in his back and trying to keep the other from falling apart.
"Easy there, you don't have to join up right away. Your still pretty frayed and you need to settle. IT might take awhile, I'm not saying I wouldn't be happy with you joining. I'd be ecstatic, but I also want you to be able to think straight. Just because Yusef did it doesn't mean you have to, You have a choice in this."
He held on tight, as long as Emir would need it. But after all of this there was no way the other man wouldn't be exhausted. Part of him was thrilled to have Emir join the Assassins, and part of him wanted to keep Emir as far away from the very thing that caused Desmond's own death.
Kane's stress had kept his body tense and antsy for a good while now. The unease was horrible, but it was also very familiar. He was used to this. "I've been here before," he'd tell himself every time he faced betrayal, defeat and even death itself. "I survived this," he'd remind himself. It almost felt normal for him.
But all of that changed in an instant. All of it was gone, as soon as Desmond touched him with his hand. An extremely unfamiliar, yet very desirable calm washed over him all of a sudden, as Desmond embraced him to try and calm his fears down. The relief continued to fill his heart, his insides, washing through his human veins, and he found himself clutching his own chest from fear of his own ventricles exploding with this addicting sensation of...
His eyes widened. He began to breathe faster. That's impossible. There's no way. There's no way he's earned that from any other creature on the planet. Loyalty, fear, respect, yes. Those. But not... that. Without thinking, he shoved Desmond away and got up from the bed.
"No," he shrieked, grappling his own head with agony, "it can't be!" Tone and accent be damned, he let it all out. "Who are you?!" he cried. "What the hell am I doing here? This isn't where I'm supposed to be!"
More of the addicting emotions. More loss of control. It was that damned warmth, that damned... humanity shown to him that was causing it. That had to be it!
Kane wrestled with his conflicting thoughts, still clutching his own skull in pain. "I've been trapped! I cannot stay trapped like this. Curse this feeble and weak-"
He cut himself short, letting go of his head to stare at Desmond again. He was still gasping for air. But what he saw wasn't Desmond. He saw a cloaked figure in his place. Red around the waist. Blood red, the garment looked. It pierced his eyes.
"What's happening to me?!"
(Things are heating up! What do you think will happen next? Tune in next chapter!)