"How are we supposed to find one kid in a city this size?" Desmond asks. Because this isn't the biggest city he's ever been in, but there's still over a million people and Minerva is just one person.

He's perched on a rooftop tall enough to see much of the surrounding area with his wings folded tight against his back (and wow it feels strange to fly as a human again), staring hopelessly around at the city below him.

"There's six of us doing nothing but looking for her." Altair's voice is scratchy through the earpiece Desmond wears- with so many of them in town now, it's the best way for all of them to keep in contact- but still audible. "And Haytham and Rebecca have their eyes open as well."

"There's almost two million people just in the city," Desmond argues. "And there's no reason to assume she's even here."

"Then we'll start with the city and if she's not here, we'll move on."

Desmond sighs. This is not the first day they've spent fruitlessly searching for Minerva, and he highly doubts it will be the last. He sighs, loudly enough to be heard over the earpiece.

"Desmond," Altair says, warningly. "Do I have to remind you that when I found you, you were alone on the streets of a city much larger than this one? I found you, and we'll find Minerva. Now-"

"Hang on."

"Desmond," Altair sighs. "I know how you feel about this, but-"

Only no, Altair doesn't understand, because he can't know how reluctant Desmond is to see Minerva again. He knows they owe her, more than he could ever repay. But… honestly, the woman had always given him the creeps. She's a couple million years old and glows. It's freaky, and Desmond really wishes he wouldn't have to see her again. Ever. Only it looks like that isn't going to happen, because…

Because-

"I think I found her," he says.

"Seriously?" Ezio's voice bursts over the com, reminding Desmond that he and Altair aren't the only ones that can hear the conversation.

"I think so," Desmond says. "Hang on. I'm…" he sighs, and goes on reluctantly. "Going to go talk to her."

Desmond falls as far as he can before spreading his wings to slow the descent into something more like a glide. He's still several floors above the ground, far enough that anyone on the streets will barely even notice his shadow as he passes them by. When he passes a low enough building he pulls in his wings, landing in a tight roll and climbing the rest of the way down, pausing only long enough to pull on the hoodie he's been holding onto so that he won't draw unnecessary attention. All this takes barely thirty seconds, but when Desmond looks around in eagle vision again, the golden girl is gone.

He curses to himself and picks a direction at random. She can't have gone far.

Ezio and Altair are shouting at him through his earpiece, and it's enough of a distraction that Desmond pulls it off and stuffs it in his jacket pocket. With his full attention back on finding Minerva, it doesn't take as long as he's expecting to find her. She glows in eagle vision, telling Desmond he has the right person even as the details of her appearance make him hesitate.

This is the first time he's seen Minerva in the full light of day, and she looks... small. Helpless and a little confused, and too human entirely. For the first time, he understands a little of why Shaun and Ezio have been so worried about her. She doesn't look anything like the powerful first civilization woman that had saved Desmond's life less than a year ago. He frowns and hurries after her, trying to ignore the twist of guilt in his stomach for not listening to everyone else when they talked about how much help Minerva needs.

She's walking a little way ahead of him, but slowly, on shaky feet. It looks like she's drunk or ill, and Desmond feels himself speed up almost unconsciously, until he can reach out and put his hand on her shoulder. She jumps, and makes a startled noise like a squeak. Her head whips around to stare at him, eyes wide eyed and scared. She looks like she's going to run, or cry- Desmond can see her eyes start to crinkle up in misery, can hear her breath go short and fast in fear.

"Hey," he says softly, crouching in front of her so they're on the same level. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"I don't-" her voice shakes, and her eyes won't focus directly on him. They flick to his face, then down and away, and back again. She hugs herself and shudders, a body wrenching movement forceful enough to almost knock her off her feet. Her shoulder under Desmond's hand is cold and bony and thin. Silently, he vows to apologize to everyone involved for not taking them seriously. Minerva isn't at all like the person he remembers. Right now she's just a kid and she needs them.

She tries to twist away and Desmond grabs her by the wrist, not hard, just enough to stop her from going. "Minerva," he says. "What-" he frowns. "Do you remember me?" She hesitates, eyes searching his face with a kind of distant concentration. She shakes her head, before flinching back and nodding a little hesitantly.

"I think so," she says. "Um… maybe?" She digs the heel of her hand into her forehead, like she's trying to keep… something from pouring out. Thoughts? Memories? Herself? Desmond is reminded unhappily of his encounters with the bleeding effect, and wonders just what had happened when Juno interrupted Minerva's rebirth. She'd obviously come back too young, but maybe her mind was not as whole as it could have been. "Sorry."

"That's okay," Desmond says. Minerva pulls her arm out of his grasp and takes a hesitant step or two backward. Desmond lets it happen, knowing she has enough space to run now if she wants to, but not willing to risk scaring her.

She shakes her head, brow furrowed in obvious concentration. "The last guy acted nice too," she says. "But he wasn't."

"What last guy?" Desmond asks.

She shrugs, stumbles farther away. "Dunno," she says. "Some guy with different color eyes. He pretended to be nice but he wasn't. And you- I don't know!"

Desmond stares at her, mouth open, utterly at a loss as to what to do or say next. People pass them without slowing, occasionally looking disapprovingly down at them as Minerva gets more upset. He's still just staring when he hears heavy footsteps running up behind him, and suddenly Ezio is squatting on the ground next to him. The man had obviously flown there- his wings are out of sight but he hasn't bothered to clean the fresh blood from where his scars have reopened and then closed again on his back. Desmond takes half a second to wonder how he'd found them, but maybe it's not that much of a mystery. He'd known the general area where Desmond had started looking for Minerva. It can't have been that hard. Ezio's breathing heavily, and looks first at Desmond and then at Minerva.

"Hello," he says.

And it's amazing, the way her whole face seems to change. She sucks in a startled, surprised breath, and smiles. For a second there's no sign of confusion or worry on her face, just trust and relieved surprise. Then she launches herself at Ezio, who catches her and folds her into his arms. She fits there like she was made for his embrace, and it looks like she has absolutely no plans to move in the foreseeable future.

-/-

"What was that back there?" Desmond asks, when the three of them have gone a few blocks. Ezio is still holding Minerva, carefully and gently like she might break. In the brief time it's taken them to go half a mile, she's managed to fall asleep in his arms. "She wouldn't even talk to me, but she won't let go of you."

Ezio shrugs, but there's a thoughtful expression on his face. "I think there's a reason Shaun and I had to be bonded before we could bring Minerva back. With her, it's like… I don't know. It's not exactly the same as Shaun because with him I just need to be close to him all the time. But with her it's more complicated. I want her to be safe, you know? And then when I see her there's just this… this feeling, like…" he shakes his head, makes a disgusted noise. "It's like she's actually mine, Desmond. What am I supposed to do with that?"

And maybe other people would tell Ezio that all this is weird, and that he should get himself as far away from Minerva and Shaun as possible. But this family is different, and so Desmond actually thinks his answer through before saying anything. "Maybe you should just go with it," he says. "You saw her, didn't you? Before you showed up? She's messed up, Ezio. I don't know what happened when she came back but she didn't come back all the way."

"I know," Ezio says softly.

"She's not going to last without you and Shaun," Desmond says. "She'll run again, and it's only a matter of time before someone nasty finds her. I mean, an eight year old girl with a screwed up brain living on the streets doesn't exactly have the best life expectancy. Before you came she was talking about some guy with different colored eyes that was bothering her a while ago-"

He looks over at Ezio in time to see his arms tighten around Minerva and his eyes narrow. "John's heterochromatic," he says. "He and Juno must have been looking for her before Juno died."

"Figures," Desmond says. They turn down a side road and duck into one of the safe houses they've set up over the past few weeks, as they come to realize there's no realistic chance of leaving the city in the near future. This is one of the more barren ones, nothing but a small main room and a couple of skimpy bedrooms. Shaun and Connor are both there when Desmond and Ezio return with Minerva, but it's Shaun that jumps to his feet first. He hesitates as he approaches, then gently puts a hand to her head and brushes her hair away. Ezio says something too quietly for Desmond to hear, and Shaun replies at the same volume.

Minerva stirs a little, looking up at Ezio through squinty, sleepy eyes. He murmurs something and points her at Shaun. She turns her head toward him and smiles. One hand lets go of Ezio long enough to touch Shaun- cautiously, like she's not quite sure he's real.

Desmond crosses to the other side of the room, where Connor is watching the scene unfolding in front of them with a curious expression, head tilted to one side and eyes half narrowed. "I can't decide," he says thoughtfully. "If this is good or bad."

"Good, I think," Desmond says when he's given this some thought. "They all look… I don't know. Happy."

"For now," Connor says. "What happens when she gets back to her old self? That's going to be harder for them now that they've been happy."

"I don't think she can go back to who she used to be," Desmond says, ignoring the unusually high amount of cynicism. "Look at her- the person she used to be just isn't there anymore."

Connor makes a noise of exasperation. "Well, in that case she'll fit right in," he says. "It's not like anything that happens with us makes sense anymore."

And his tone as he says this is bitter and just… off. Desmond's been watching Shaun and Ezio with Minerva during this conversation, but he turns sharply now to study Connor instead. He's never been able to read the man well, though, and Connor's face is even more impassive than usual today.

"What's wrong with you?" he demands.

"Nothing," Connor says. "I thought you didn't like her either."

"I'm reconsidering," Desmond says. "What's your excuse?"

Connor grinds his teeth so hard Desmond can actually hear them rubbing together. "Every time we think we have things figured out, something happens to change everything. If it's not time travel or wings, it's reincarnation. Things only ever get less sane and I keep wondering how bad it's going to be six months from now, or a year, and it seems like no one else is even thinking about that."

"Wait, what-"

"I'm going out," Connor growls, and he's through the door and gone before Desmond can say another word.