(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 didn't expect to be pushed off so suddenly and was going to ask what was wrong when he heard the other freaking out. He watched the other closely, Emir was probably bleeding right now and very badly. He was clutching his head and yelling, he seemed to have lost track of who and where he was, even the why. He was commenting on a weak body, so dysphoria also. Maybe it wasn't a specific bleed of an ancestor, but both bleeding each other at the same time? He couldn't be sure without getting more details about who and what Emir saw in the animus but first he'd have to calm the other down before he tried to hurt himself to called too much attention from the neighbors. Emir was watching him with avid attention like he was seeing something else, hallucinations, fantastic. First Desmond gave the man some space, moving slowly so as to not startle Emir.

He kept his voice low and even, "Hey, its ok. IT looks like your having a bleeding affect episode. It'll pass soon, I promise. I can help, will you let me."

He took a small step forward to try and gauge the others reaction. He wasn't sure if Emir could understand him right now, didn't know what he was seeing. Maybe if the TV came on or something it would be distracting enough to snap him back to now?

Kane gasped a few more times, writhing hands still clutching his chest hard, before succumbing to the bleed. The seizure had finally taken its course, and his brain couldn't wrestle with the reality that was forcing itself upon him anymore - for all intents and purposes, he was simply "not there" anymore.

Kane looked around him. For an odd reason, he was able to recognize this place and time immediately, as he did the man next to him. He realized he was no longer viewing life as his own anymore, but was now a bystander in someone else's. Driven by words not his own, he couldn't help but witness the dialog that unfolded between Yusef and Ezio.

HIPPODROME OF CONSTANTINOPLE

Imperial District, Ottoman Empire - Constantinople

1511

"Un momento," Ezio exclaimed to him underground. "We're supposed to return to the palace. This was not our intended mission."

"Saçmalık!" Yusuf rejected. "The Şehzade is safe. As far as I'm concerned, we already fulfilled our mission. This Obelisk was underneath our noses the entire time - was it the Greeks? The Romans? What were they thinking, hiding this behind an entire army?!"

Kane could barely follow the conversation, until he recognized some of the writing on the towering monument. Ignoring Yusef and Ezio's banter, he did his best to discern the runes etched on the base of the Obelisk.

He could see the words. He could read them. But what confused him was the meaning - it spoke of something in the future, not the past. With how conflicted his thoughts formerly were, his groggy state made it difficult to remember or focus, but the headache and pain were all but gone. He started to calm down as he rejoined the conversation.

"Is this Latin? Ezio, show me your fancy work."

Kane looked where Yusef did - staring at Ezio's frame, looking up at the monument. He felt a deep affinity for him, most likely Yusef Tazim's. What made things worse for Kane was the separation of time and space between Emir and his ancestor's loved ones. This must be the pain of having, and losing family.

Kane couldn't help but keep staring at Ezio. His eyes couldn't get enough of him, like looking at a full moon in its splendor on a starless, breezy night. He wondered if this was his own emotion, having lived vicariously through pure humans, or if it was entirely what Yusef felt at the time. All he could know for sure was the deep heartache of wanting more of it, but not having enough of it.

.

.

Kane found himself staring at Desmond, in the exact same relative positions Yusef and Ezio were in.

Desmond was looking up, out the window, as he gazed up at him. Kane was sitting on the ground, hugging his knees, looking up at him. It took him a second to realize he was still in Emir's body.

Desmond looked at at Emir now that he felt the other calm down. The man had receded into himself and had curled up to wait out the bleed wether he knew it or not. Desmond waited near him, not sure how to act as a comfort without triggering the other more. He did however hear what Emir was saying when he wasn't completely shut down and he remembered that moment, that mission with the other. He had really liked Yusef himself and not just as Ezio. Yusef of friendly, deadly and best of all knew how to not take himself seriously while still joking and bringing light to the assassins there despite their situation. He gathered up a water bottle and some of the painkillers, Emir would need them once he came back. The bleed itself hadn't been too long but long enough to be worrying. He carefully crouched down when he saw Emir looking at him steadily if a bit haggard.

"Hey, looks like you're back. I was starting to get worried."

He offered the painkillers and water, not wanted to overexert the other too much. He might have been physically fine but Desmond knew how much a bleeding episode could take out of you and given what he just saw the other was going to be wiped out.

Kane reached out one hand to try and grab the plastic cup. It slipped right through his fingers as it fell and spilt on his bare toes.

A chortle escaped him as he did his best to mask a cry, hugging his own knees even tighter.

Suddenly, after a moment of silence, he slammed his fist on the wall behind him and whisked the few pills out of Desmond's hand, before swallowing them with a forced gulp. He was staring at nothing, but his anger began to show. It was the arrival of the storm after the calm.

Kane leaned forward and used a hand to get up, feeling for the table next to him to try and pull himself off the ground. He struggled to feel his very weak legs, most probably exhausted from the experience.

Desmond carefully watched as the other took the pills in anger after the water didn't quite work out. There was more for later if he wanted it but for now, its best not to let it simmer. Desmond was quickly under Emir when he started to get up, not wanting the other to collapse again after what happened. He led the other to the bed and helped get on before going and making sure the blinds were closed and the room was a bit darker, sometimes it helped to not look at bright lights. The only light on right now was the bathroom on and he had plugged everything else back in during the episode. Eva had moved out of the area and he wasn't too worried right now. He gently put a hand on Emir's forehead to try and take the mans temperature, he felt warm to the touch but that might have just been in comparison to Desmond. Internal thermometer said he wasn't running a fever, might have been just from the strain of things.

"Just take it easy for a bit, what you had was pretty bad. Just lay down for a bit and try to relax. Do you want some ice for your head?"

Kane had failed. Miserably.

Originally, he was to lay in bed monitoring Desmond's movements until it was safe to escape. Due to the immense exhaustion from the bleed, he ended up drifting into deep drowsiness instead. He tried to stay awake as he originally intended, but it was impossible. At any moment, his eyes were to fail him, and he would experience the balm for all hurt minds as his own, a deep sleep in the void, second only to eternal departure, death itself.

Desmond didn't have have to do much as Emir passed the hell out soon as he hit the bed. Not surprising but he had wished the other fell asleep under better circumstances. He signed and turned out the remaining lights, before pulling the covers from under Emir and pulling them over the other. He set an alarm for himself just in case and made a small plant out of data before setting it jest behind the curtain in the window. Security in disguise, if anyone suspicious came by it would alert him in addition to daylight and night time conditions. Mostly it was just supposed to let him know if things were looking bad.

With that in place, he got into bed too, under the covers so Emir wouldn't be pinned down and take it the wrong way when he woke up. He might be muddled and mistake it for a threat and react. Not what he wanted. He stayed close by, but not far. He really hoped Ezio didn't activate his cuddling mode but he wouldn't be surprised if he woke up spooning the other.

Kane woke up. No, not to reality. Unlike regular dreams, this was more of a vivid vision. He was fully aware he hadn't really woken up, yet he was able to discern his own thoughts and emotions clearly, as if he did.

He looked around. A dark, hollow emptiness. He turned around, nothing but infinite void. Was he dead? Of course not. That much he already knew.

"You've had a bit of fun with my boy, kanki. I'm talking to you."

He turned once more to find the man of the hour. Yusef Tazim, the ancestor he miraculously lived through while he was awake, presumably.

"Enjoying the gezi?" Yusef scoffed at Kane. The latter could feel some hostility in the air. They were both interrupted by a third, gentler voice, sharing the same accent as his ancestor.

"It's not his fault", Emir appeared and declared, pointing at the cloaked man in the dark garbs. "I saw what happened. He was only lost."

"This keltoş stole your identity. How could you let him do this?"

"I..." Kane was a bit shook by everything that had unfolded so far - he never got the chance to truly express himself over any of this, since the loss of his own physical body. "I am looking for something. Someone. I am simply a traveler. This isn't my destination, my brother." He opened his arms with an apologetic bow, taking a step back. "Forgive me."

"I forgive you," Emir spoke immediately. What both Yusef and Kane didn't know was how thankful Emir was for somehow being freed from Abstergo's clutches. He had been moved to multiple facilities across the world as a kidnapped test subject, with no course for escape. Somehow, Kane may have been involved in his freedom from the center.

In a flash, Kane had already appeared behind him in this vision, arms still open. As soon as Emir fully turned around, he was met with a deep embrace, the cloak engulfing him with an alien feeling of warmth he had never experienced before.

"Get a room," Yusef joked.

As soon as Emir moved his arms to return the embrace, Kane had already vanished in a slow, floating display of vanishing black feathers, with one landing in Emir's palm.

Kane wasn't gone. He had simply returned control of Emir's body back to him instead, taking a break from the action. All three recognized the trouble it caused for any one of them to try and fight the others too hard over this body.

Kane had decided to take a much needed break, and let Emir steer for a bit. There was more to humanity than what he knew. Perhaps he should trust in fate, as they do. Fate had betrayed Kane countless times, but it had not yet betrayed this new existence he found himself in.

The final black feather vanished as Emir clutched his fist.

"We will meet again."

Emir opened his eyes. It was truly him this time. No more dreaming, no more foreign thoughts.

His realization however was interrupted by a very interesting situation: he was heavily embracing Desmond in bed, sweat and all. His shirt was wrinkled over his pecs, and the covers seemed to have been furiously tossed away from the bed. He could feel his own breath as it bounced off Desmond's forehead, situated right in front of his lips. They were both sleeping on their sides, facing each other.

Emir stared once more into nothing, still holding on to Desmond, who was breathing into his chest and slowly waking up, then looked down at Desmond's hair. His instinct was to scream and jump from the bed but, considering everything that had just happened, that wasn't the case. Instead, he opted to gently release Desmond from his grasp, slowly sliding himself out of the bed from his own side without waking him up abruptly. Feeling his heel touch the ground, he slowly got up and walked to the window, and took a long gaze at the dawning sun.

He tugged his pants a bit up as he thanked the heavens for surviving Abstergo. It was a rough night.

Whew! How was that? Things are still getting steamier and steamier by the second~

Stay tuned for the next chapter!