A/N: This is something that just came to me after reading like 50 AC fanfictions and listening to sad music, so it was typed quickly. I apologize for any grammar mistakes or odd diction since I'm still getting used to writing stories and this was the first fanfiction I've ever made. It's tragic and kinda bittersweet. Sorry ;-; I also apologize that Lucy and Rebecca don't get much attention here. And yeah I was kinda crying the whole time I was writing this ;-; It was so dramatic and sad in my head, but I don't know if I managed to capture all that emotion here.
Characters not owned by me. Desmond, Shaun, Lucy, and Rebecca all belong to Ubisoft.
"Desmond?! Desmond!" Shaun screamed his friend's name as he ran through the fire that had engulfed their safe house. He was panicking, frantic, trying to find his friend. That twat better be alright! He thought as he ran as fast as his legs could carry him. Lucy and Rebecca were right behind him screaming Desmond's name. None of them knew how the fire started or who started it. They were just concerned for their friend's safety. They could hardly see where they were going as they dodged pieces of the building that were falling due to the fire and were blinded by the thick smoke. Shaun rounded a corner and stopped dead in his tracks as the sight before him greeted him. Rebecca and Lucy nearly ran into him as they rounded the corner just seconds after him.
"What the hell, Shaun? What's wrong? What're you staring at?" Rebecca asked in a hurry, impatient to find their teammate. Shaun's eyes slowly grew wider and wider with his jaw dropped open as he continued to stare horrified. Lucy turned her head to see what Shaun was staring at and her heart nearly stopped. Rebecca noticed her reaction and turned her head as well and she felt her heart sink. There, in front of the three of them, lay Desmond with a wood plank stabbed through his chest, bleeding out on the ground.
Shaun's jaw tightly clenched as he finally managed to force his body forward towards Desmond. Tears began to form in Lucy's eyes and she stared in horror at her friend and Rebecca had to take a step back to keep her balance and not collapse to the ground. As Shaun neared Desmond, he noticed Desmond's eyes were half lidded and blinking lazily as he tried to stay awake. He was gasping for air as the wood was lodged in his left lung.
"Desmond! Look at me!" Shaun yelled over the roar of the fire for his friend and teammate to obey him. Desmond's eyes slowly found Shaun's and he smiled at him in the most heartbreaking of ways. "That's right, just focus on me. We're going to get you out of here." Shaun tried to reassure him as he picked Desmond up by his shoulders and moved him into his lap, supporting his head in one hand. "You're going to be alright, I promise." Shaun felt a lump begin to form in his throat as he looked at the plank in his friend's chest. Tears began to burn his eyes as he came to the realization there was no way Desmond was going to make it.
"Shaun…" Desmond managed to say his friend's name weakly and he felt tears begin to burn his own eyes. "It's alright. Get Lucy and-" he paused to cough up some blood. "-and Rebecca out of here. Leave me and just get out of here." He coughed up some more blood as Shaun shook his head, not wanting to believe what he was saying.
"You twat! What the hell are you saying?!" Shaun covered up his fear for Desmond's life with anger and continued trying to help him up. "Lucy! Rebecca! Help me!" He looked at his teammates but they just shook their heads with helpless looks on their faces.
"Shaun… it's alright. I won't… make it anyway." Desmond smiled sadly at Shaun again. Tears began to fall down Shaun's face as he looked at Desmond.
"No! I won't leave you!" Shaun's voice cracked as he tried to choke down his tears.
"You have to!" Desmond shouted angrily and impatiently at Shaun and began to cough up more blood, more violently. Shaun's eyes grew wide at the sight of all the blood Desmond was coughing up. "You'll just risk your life for nothing… I'm not gonna make it, Shaun… I'm glad I met you all." Desmond looked at Lucy and Rebecca, then at Shaun. I'm glad… I met you, Shaun. Thank you for… everything." Desmond was panting, trying to breathe as he spoke his last words. Shaun felt his heart split in two as he realized he was hearing his friend's dying words.
"I'm glad I met you too, Desmond." He smiled sadly at his friend and Desmond smiled back. "I'm sorry I was so mean to you; I had to reason to be." Shaun confessed to his friend. "I'm sorry I always gave you a hard time and I'm sorry I never told you how I really felt."
"Why are you saying… all this?" Desmond asked his friend, his voice nearly failing him.
"Because I know that if I never I never apologized to you, it would haunt me forever. I know that if I never confessed my love for you, I'd always be haunted by your face. I love you, Desmond. And I am so bloody sorry I never told you before." Shaun's voice started to waver and his body began to shake. "I love you so much, Desmond, and I'm hate that you'll never know just how much I really do love you."
Desmond's eyes grew wide but then he just smiled lovingly at Shaun. "I love you too, Shaun. I'm glad that… my feelings were returned." A single tear slid down Desmond's face as he looked into Shaun's eyes. Shaun leaned down and placed a passionate and loving kiss on Desmond's lips and Desmond kissed back with the last bit of strength he could muster up. When Shaun pulled away, he smiled at Desmond one more time and Desmond smiled back with all the love he held for the man reflecting off his eyes. "Goodbye, my love." He reached his hand up and stroked Shaun's cheek then his hand fell limp in Shaun's lap and his eyes slid shut as his head fell limp in Shaun's arms.
"Desmond?" Shaun asked, his voice wavering. "Desmond? Desmond?" He felt his heart shatter and tears began to run down his face like small waterfalls. "No! Wake up! Desmond, please! Wake up!" he began shouting and shaking his love's body. Lucy and Rebecca ran up to him and tried to hush him and pull Desmond's limp body out of his arms. "No! We can't just leave him here!" Shaun insisted and the girls gave up and helped Shaun carry Desmond's limp body out of the burning building.
By now, the building was near ready to collapse and finally did just after the team had escaped from it and into a nearby ally. It was night so it was hard to see, but the flames from the building illuminated the streets with a red and orange hue. Shaun cradled Desmond's lifeless body in his arms and bawled his eyes out with his face shoved between Desmond's neck and shoulder. His body wracked with loud sobs as he cried and Lucy and Rebecca could only watch him with tears in their own eyes.
"Desmond… I am so sorry. I am so, so sorry, my love." Shaun kept whispering apologies in his dead beloved's ear as he continued to hold him close. After a minute, he pulled out the wood plank from Desmond's chest and tossed it to the side and continued to hold Desmond.
"I know this isn't the best time, but we can't stay here. We need to move." Rebecca spoke up after a few minutes of Shaun's crying and the fire truck's sirens howling. Lucy nodded in agreement and went up to Shaun and spoke in a hushed tone. "We need to move, Shaun. Come on, I'll help you with Desmond." She offered kindly but Shaun shook his head.
"No, I can carry him." Shaun spoke after a moment. The three got up with Shaun carrying Desmond bridal style. They walked the short distance to a nearby empty field Lucy knew about that was actually for secretly burying dead assassins. Each grave marked with just a single flower. Different flowers for different meanings are on each grave.
"We should bury him here. He liked shade when outside, right?" Rebecca asked quietly and looked over to an area shaded by a few trees.
"Yes." Shaun replied quietly, exhaustion clear in his voice. He walked over to the area Rebecca was referring to and gently placed Desmond against one of the trees. There was a shovel nearby so Shaun picked it up and began quietly digging at the dirt near the tree, occasionally glancing at Desmond. Lucy and Rebecca watched him, knowing better than to disturb him. They continued like that in the silence of the night and under the full moon for a while until Shaun was done and threw the shovel aside. "Wanna help me?" Shaun asked the girls, walking over Desmond.
"Yeah." They both responded and got up from their spot toward Shaun and Desmond's body. Shaun placed one last kiss on Desmond's forehead.
"I love you." Shaun whispered to the lifeless body. They were all silent while picking him up and carefully lowering him into the shallow grave. Shaun began piling the dirt back into the grave covering up Desmond, covering up his face last, which broke Shaun's heart knowing that was the last time he would ever get to see his face. When he was done he placed the shovel back against the tree and immediately disappeared into the woods.
"Shaun? Where are you going?" Lucy called after him but he didn't respond or look back, just kept walking away and into the dark.
"He must be so broken…" Rebecca said looking in the direction Shaun disappeared to. "I had no idea they loved each other."
"Neither did they." Lucy added looking at the loose dirt that signified where Desmond was buried. They both stood in silence under the light of the full moon staring at where Desmond was buried, hearts heavy and torn and faces stained with dried tears. A few minutes later they heard rustling noises from where Shaun disappeared to and he reappeared holding something in his hands.
"What's that?" Rebecca asked Shaun curiously but quietly. Shaun placed a small white flower that was globe shaped and beautiful on top of Desmond's grave.
"It's an amaranth. I think white ones are hard to find, but I noticed them on our way here and thought they suited Desmond. They signify eternal love." Shaun said quietly and smiled lovingly but sadly at the flower on the grave.
"It's beautiful. Desmond would love it." Lucy said quietly.
"I thought so too." Shaun let a single tear fall from his eyes and it glistened in the moonlight. The three of them stood there in the dark, saying silent prayers and goodbyes one last time before turning around and leaving. "Goodbye, my love." Shaun said for the last time and turned around and walked away, not looking back at where Desmond lay lifeless under feet of dirt and the white amaranth.