Desmond followed Lucy up to the main room, carrying Ree in his arms. The little boy had refused to let go of him after wrapping his arms around Desmond's neck.
"These are Shaun Hastings and Rebecca Crane. I hear you know Shaun already. So you should have no problem getting along with his snark." Lucy introduced before sitting down at a computer and bringing up a loading screen.
"Hey," a female with black hair greeted him behind a red chair. "Nice to meet you at last Desmond. Lucy has been telling us all about your progress."
"You must be Rebecca Crane. It's nice to meet you." Desmond held out a hand, balancing Ree around his waist. "You've already met Ree."
"Yeah, he's a real quiet kid." She did not shake his hand, working on the red chair instead. Desmond's eyebrows pulled together in confusion before looking down at the boy in his arms.
"Is there something wrong with your instincts or are you a beta on hormone suppressants?" Desmond asked suddenly surprising everyone in the room, except Ree. "What? Did you really think I was an Assassin that hadn't presented any Alpha, Beta or Omega symptoms? I presented as an Omega when I was 17. I know that's kind of late, but being on the Farm, I wasn't around any Alphas until I left. I met James Potter after I ran away. He had lost his mate to childbirth and needed a young omega to watch his son, who was only two at the time. I needed a job and I had just presented. He helped keep the other Alphas away from me when I had my first heat."
He shifted Ree on his hip and cuddled to boy closer. Ree smiled and hugged Desmond's neck a little tighter. Shaun smiled at the two, with Ree's dark hair and large eyes; he looked just like Desmond's son.
"When James died, I tried to take in Ree, but the law wouldn't let me. What system was going to give an unbound Omega a child? And I was on the run, I couldn't subject a child to that. And they'd be looking for me if I kidnapped a child. Ree went to his Aunt and Uncle. When I saw him again, he was seven. He didn't look seven, still doesn't. His family had been abusing him. I couldn't leave him there.
"I had been training since I left the Farm. An Assassin found me after I ran. He didn't want to leave me on my own without training, so he took me in for a while. It was him who directed me to James and had me presenting. I convinced Ree's Family to give him to me and to tell anyone who asked that he ran away."
Desmond turned to the red chair and shook his head.
"I don't need the Animus to learn any skills, I've been training since I was 16. Spar with me if you don't believe me."
Shaun spoke up after Desmond finished, stepping closer to the pair. Desmond snarled slightly as the Beta stepped closer before backing up.
"If you've been training for that long, why didn't you even try to escape?" the Englishman snarked. Desmond snarled a little, stepping back a little more and hiding Ree behind his back.
"Vidic threatened Ree. Told me that someone was picking him up right then. I could have left any time that I wanted but leaving Ree there was out of the question. I couldn't leave my child in that place."
Lucy looked between Ree and Desmond before nodding slightly.
"Well that the training explains why I found you in the rafters one morning but that still doesn't explain why you didn't ask me if there was a young boy in the building. I would have told you if there was a boy there." She scowled him.
Ree scowled at the three in front of them. He opened his mouth and couldn't keep his words to himself.
"You all have presented as either Alphas or Betas and you don't want to take care of Omegas? I presented when I was 6, it's why Uncle Vernon didn't like me. He had been taking suppressants since my aunt had Dudley and it messed up his instincts." Ree whispered into Desmond's collar. The older Omega nodded.
"How long have you been on suppressants?" Desmond's eyes flickered from one face to another, not sure he wanted to know the answer.
The team looked at each other before turning back to Desmond. It didn't seem like any of them wanted to answer. Desmond waited, his foot tapping in irritation. Finally Rebecca spoke.
"I've been on suppressants for about two years straight, Shaun has been on his longer. I don't know about Lucy. " Desmond's eyes widened and he looked between the three in shock.
"Get me a laptop," he finally stuttered out. "Now."
He set Ree down gently when Rebecca handed him a computer.
"It's safe to use, I followed the instructions on how to make it safe to a t." She explained, grinning. Desmond scowled and handed it back to her.
"I need a fresh computer, preferably one that hasn't been altered. I know how to hide what I'm doing, and James showed me how to get in contact with the right people. Now, I'll ask again. Get me a laptop."
Ree backed up slightly at Desmond's growing ire. He didn't want to be on the wrong side of his 'mothers' anger. His gaze flickered from one face to another, noting the irritation that passed from one to the next.
Desmond knew he was on thin ice, but leaving an Omega without their suppressants in a team of Betas and Alphas that had been on suppressants long enough to dull their instincts was dangerous. Desmond was an Omega for a reason; his instincts made him crave being looked after. These idiots wouldn't be able to do that.
Shaun growled at Desmond's demand and had Ree scurrying out of the room in fear.
"Know you're place Omega. You listen to what we tell you without complaint or there will be consequences and you will not like them." Shaun bared his teeth and growled some more. He was trying to exert his Alpha presence on Desmond but Desmond scoffed at him.
"I've just spent the last week in Altair Ibn-La'Ahad's skin. He is the Alpha of all Alphas. His glare sent Omegas running to do his bidding, yours does nothing of the sort, moron." Desmond snapped. He stepped out of the way as Shaun came at him, fist raised. "I am not an object to be used or commanded. You will not treat me as such, am I understood?"
Shaun growled a little louder and tried to take another step toward Desmond but the Assassin preformed a perfect backflip, landing several feet away from the Historian.
"Now, if you lot don't mind, I'm going to find Ree." He quickly left, knowing his behavior would have James Potter rolling in his grave. He had always warned Desmond about pissing off an alpha, but the omega couldn't help it. Ree was his cub to protect and these morons were putting him in danger by taking the suppressants too often.
James had always warned him that he should only take the suppressants for two weeks straight, at most, and then have a few days to allow his body to become used to the change in hormone levels before continuing to take them.
Shaun and the others were clearly not doing that. They were putting him and Ree at risk by having them stay there. He needed to get them out of there now.
He was walking back toward the car when he almost ran into Ree. The little boy was coming toward the man room with a large black computer.
Desmond squatted down to Ree's eyelevel and smiled when the boy grinned at him mischievously.
"What have you got there, Buddy?" Desmond asked and took the computer when Ree offered it to him.
"I brought your laptop. The one you hid, that Dad gave you. I got it one day when they forgot about me." Ree looked down embarrassed of having to admit they wouldn't take care of him.
Desmond pulled the other omega into his arms and cuddled the boy. Ree sucked up the attention like a dry sponge, cuddling deeper into his 'mothers' arms.
"Thank you Ree. I'm sorry I asked him to look after you, I thought I could trust him with your safety, I was wrong." Desmond pulled back to look into Ree's eyes. "Forgive me?"
The little boy nodded instantly.
"We're getting out of here soon Ree, I promise. As soon as he can pick us up, we're gone." Ree nodded again and his eyes traveled to the other room. Desmond looked over and nodded slightly at Ree. "They shouldn't be a problem, we're under the protection of the Italian and English branches of the Order, we should be fine."
Ree nodded again and took Desmond's hand.
"I want to show you my hide-away." He informed the older omega, pulling on his hand impatiently.
Desmond smiled, it felt good to be back with his little boy.
-This is a Line Break-
Two days passed before Desmond received a reply back from the man he contacted. Ree had apparently been keeping the other man updated with the news around this bureau of the order. And the main branch was not happy.
The suppressants were for emergencies only, wasting them on everyday use was not something that was approved by any under the orders control, Doctor or otherwise. They had sent out an agent to survey Lucy's Team and had almost been intercepted by the American branch working in Italy. Only Ree's Godfather had managed to get the branch to allow the survey.
When Lucy got the news, she went from pissed to enraged to incensed faster than Ree could blink. She would rant aloud to anyone who would listen before screaming in frustration.
They had all stopped taking their suppressants and at one point Lucy had tried to make Desmond and Ree take some. All that had achieved was the two refusing to eat anything the others had made. Desmond did the cooking, and if he didn't, Ree snuck out to get take away.
With each hour that passed, the team grew tenser and tenser before finally snapping at each other and going their separate ways. Each slammed the door to their room and continued to yell at each other.
When they reached that level, Ree and Desmond would play games in the rafters of the storage area. Often it involved Ree hiding and Desmond having to find him in five minutes. They had gotten the number of minutes down to three when a shout was heard from below.
"Are the two cubs ready for the alpha wolf, or should the old soul return to the grim?" A familiar voice shouted.
Ree perked up from his spot a few meters in front of Desmond.
"The wolf is welcome says mama cub, baby cub is coming down." Desmond called back.
The two omegas descended quickly, Ree wasting no time to jump into the new mans arms.
Remus Lupin looked between the two and smiled softly. The two formally well-fed omegas were looking a little worse for ware. Desmond was skinnier than he had been when James had found him and Ree almost looked like he had when the Dursley's had him.
"You two need to get away from here if this is what is happening," were the next words to leave Remus' mouth as he watched them. Desmond nodded. He picked Ree up from where Remus had put the boy down.
"Any suggestions, Remy?" The omega asked, shifting his grip on the boy slightly.
"One," Remus looked between the two as he spoke. "I was given this a long time ago by a woman who told me that a friend of mine would need it one day. It looks like that day is today."
He pulled from his side bag a sphere that almost looked like Altair's Apple. Desmond looked at it for a moment before looking back up at Remus.
"I know what it is Desmond, I also know what it can do. The brotherhood is growing stronger again, or it will soon. Right now, I have to protect my family. Take it and be happy." Remus held out the apple and Ree raised his hand to take it.
Desmond smiled at the man before tightening his grip on Ree. He had a feeling this would be quite the adventure.
-This is a Line Break-
Until next time
Ren