Chapter 16: Desmond

Waking up, I wanted instantly to go right back to the blissfulness of unconsciousness. I felt like I had been hit by a Mack truck and then an International, just for good measure. My head pounded and to top it all off, I had cotton mouth from hell.

"Ugh." I rolled onto my side and instantly regretted it. My stomach turned and I felt the acid that was in my gut bubble up. I quickly sat up, grabbed a garbage can and threw up into it. The acid burned my throat and tongue. I now just wanted to die.

"Morning to you too, Des."

I looked up to see Altair leaning against the door frame of the room I was in. His amber eyes smiling as I relieved the acid out of my stomach. Just kill me. "How long..." I couldn't even finish what I wanted to say before a fresh wave of nausea took over me. I hung my head between my knees.

"How long were you out? Bout a week and two days. We have been away from Abstergo now for three days." He walked into the room and held out a glass of water. "Wash your mouth out. Don't drink any of it at first or it's going to come back up."

I took the glass into my shaky hands. I took a mouthful, gargled and spit it into the trash can. "Lucy?" My throat was raw. It hurt to talk.

"I'm sorry, Des. She didn't make it." Sitting down next to me, he placed a comforting hand on my back. "I didn't know until we escaped."

The memory came rushing back. The Animus, the remaining memories, the Apple. Juno. "Oh God! I did it. I killed her!" I felt the bile come up again, but there was nothing there this time. All I could do was dry heave and cry. I had killed the one person that had stuck her neck out for me, and I thought I was falling in love with.

Altair sat there, rubbing small circles on my back as the heaves finally eased and the tears slowed. "Who all is left?"

"Shaun, Becca, Ezio, myself and Alanna, but she is kind out of commission for the time being." He dropped his arm and stood. "We have a new team mate. Her name is Jenna Paris, and she was friends with Lucy. She wants to meet you."

I looked up at him. "Where are we?"

"Ezio's place in Florence. We are safe for right now." He picked up some clothes and laid them on the bed next to me. "When you are up to it, take a shower. It will make you feel better. I will let them know you are awake. Becca will be glad and so will your dad. We have been keeping him updated on your progress."

My dad, William. The head of the Farm. "Has he been here?"

The older assassin shook his head no. "Not yet. He also does not know about us, the Apple, or most of the events that happened at the compound. All he knows is what we have told him. There has been a leak of information. We know where the leak is, but do not know how far it has traveled. All information has been kept need to know. Right now, he does not need to know everything."

I nodded. I really didn't want him to know everything. How do you explain to your father that you killed one of your own people and was being controlled by something not from this world? Also, I really had nothing to say to the old bastard.

I heard the door softly shut as he left my room. Standing slowly, I looked around the room I was in. It was decorated in old world Italian. A bathroom was to my left. Grabbing the clothes Altair had left for me, I made my way to the smaller room. Closing the door, I began to take off the old clothes that I knew I had been wearing for awhile.

Throwing them into a corner, I turned on the water and made it a comfortable temperature. I climbed in, and let the water beat my back. It was comforting and I let it relax the muscles in my back. I was stiff, sore and still slightly queasy. No food for a week will do that to a person.

I don't know how long I stood under that water, but a knock sounded on the bathroom door. "Hey Des, it's Alanna. Hurry up. I have some food for you. It will help your stomach. Altair said you were a bit sick."

I reached down and turned the water off. "I'll be out in a minute." Grabbing a towel, I quickly dried off and threw on the sweats and t-shirt I was given.

I walked out of the bathroom, finishing up drying my hair. Alanna looked up from the chair she occupied and smiled at me. Her hair was pulled back from her face into a messy ponytail. She wore an oversized t-shirt and a pair of black shorts. "Good to see you awake. I was afraid we were going to loose you when they told me you were still asleep."

She stood and gave me a hug, which I returned. "Altair said you were down and out. What happened?"

She shrugged and sat back down, but her movements were stiff. "I kind of blew up a car, but did not get far enough from the blast. It took me out with it. I still have some burns on my back that have not fully healed and muscles that have not knitted back together. I will be fine in a few days."

I arched an eyebrow. She just sat there and told me she had blown herself up like it was an everyday thing. I don't think I will ever get used to that. "So, how long were you out?"

"Two days. I was surprised at that. Normally I heal very quickly, but I guess I can not heal everything in record time. Altair is driving me nuts in thinking I am some china doll that will break if he is not careful." She scrunched up her nose. "I had to threaten to pin him to a wall just to come and bring you food." She pointed to the end table next to the bed. "It's chicken broth and crackers. You do not want anything heavy yet. It will come back up. There is a cup of green tea as well. I find that helps an upset stomach."

I smiled at her. "Thank you, and how do you know what helps an upset stomach? You don't get sick."

She chuckled. "Just because I am immortal, and do not fall ill, does not mean I do not get sick from eating certain foods. Chinese food upsets my stomach if I eat too much of it." She pulled her legs up into the chair with her. "Sit. Eat. I will keep you company if you would like."

I sat on the edge of the bed. "I would like that. You can tell me what had been going on."

"I think I can handle that." She wrapped her arms around her legs. "Where would you like me to start?"

"From the beginning." I picked up the spoon and began to eat the broth.

I listened to her tale. How they had used the Apple to take out a team of men, and how she blew herself up. I smiled at parts and laughed at others. She smiled along with me. It was nice to talk to her again. She was easy to speak to, and fun to laugh with. I had missed her. "Alanna!" I heard her name being called from the halls.
Rolling her gray eyes, she smiled at me. "I had better go before my warden comes and carries me back to my room." She stood and placed a kiss on the top of my head. "Finish that whole bowl and I will try to sneak you some vanilla gellato later."

Altair opened the door as she headed over to it. "You should be resting."

She touched his cheek. "Calm down, I was resting. I was just sitting there while Desmond ate and kept him company. I was not running a muck around the palazzo. You need to relax." Gliding past him, she sent me one last smile over her shoulder. "Get some rest, Des. I'll check on you later."

She rounded the doorway and out of sight, when Altair gave a death look. He was pretty much saying stay away, she was his. He followed after her. I just shook my head. I knew Alanna was unobtainable. She was always going to be Altair's. I knew that . Hell, everyone knew that.

I finished my broth and crackers in silence. It felt good to have a full belly and it not wanting to come back up for round two. I gathered my dishes and walked of the door to head downstairs. "Hey Des!"I turned to see Rebecca come walking out of a room. "I was just coming to check on you. I see you're feeling better?"

"Yeah a little. When your food is not clawing it's way out of your gut, it's great." I laughed a little.

"Well, that's good to hear. I guess it's now time for planning session. We were waiting to see if you would wake up before we started without you." She took my bowl and walked ahead of me. "That will at least get Jenna out of Ezio's ass for a few minutes. God, those two are unreal." She shook her head and lead me down the stairs.

"Ezio is with the new girl? Really?" I followed her into the kitchen.

She sat the bowl in the sink and snorted. "All she is is a stuck up little tart."

I laughed hard, but as I felt the queaziness come back, I toned it down. "It seems someone is jealous. What? Do you like Ezio?"

She looked at me like I had two heads. "No. I just don't want to see him get hurt. She is only after one thing."

I leaned against the counter. "And so is he most of the time. They are perfect for each other. I say let them get their rocks off, and then you go after him." I smirked at her.

"Ewe, no. I would rather sleep with Shaun than him." But I could tell she was lying about that. She liked the cocky Italian assassin. Most women did.

"Whatever you say, Becca." I pushed off the counter and headed into the living room. Ezio sat on the couch with I was guessing Jenna, watching a movie. "Hey."

Ezio turned his head and a wide smile broke out on his face. "Buon pomeriggio! (Good afternoon!) It is good to see you up and about. I thought you were going to sleep forever."

"Good to see you too, Ezio." I found a chair and sat down. "Whatcha watching?"

"I have no clue. Some Italian flick he wanted to see." Jenna smiled at the Italian. "I can not understand it. He has been translating for me."

"Italian is not that hard to learn. I learned really fast." I leaned forward and watched the two of them.

"Yeah, not all of us can have awesome ancestors like me giving you his memories in a machine." He scratched his head. "That just sounded creepy, didn't it?"

She laughed. "A little, but not many things about this freaks me out anymore." Standing up, Jenna looked at Ezio. "You two have some catching up. I will find you later. You still owe me a sparring session." With that, she walked away, hips swaying. I couldn't help but stare. The girl looked good.

"Hey, tongue in the mouth. Drool is not good for Italian marble. Makes it quite slick." Ezio leaned back on the couch. "Sleep well?"

"Not really. I feel like shit." I rubbed a hand over my face and to the back of my neck. It was still sore as hell and I really didn't want to be here. "That bed is calling my name, but I know how long I have been asleep for already."

He smiled kindly. "You'll feel better soon. Altair wanted to speak with you when you came downstairs. He is running around somewhere."

That brought me no comfort. I think he would rather kill me than deal with me. "Oh joy upon joys." I hung my head.

Ezio laughed. "Don't worry. It's nothing bad. Go see him while he still has caffeine in his system. If you want to make a new friend, take him a cup of coffee. One cream, two sugars. He will drink it and be happy."

I turned my eyes on him. "Coffee?"

"That's all he ever drinks." He turned back to the TV. It was a dismissal.

Great. Just wake up, find out my world has flipped more than what is normally is and now, I think the oldest assassin here wants me dead. I was not having a good life.

I made my way to the kitchen, only to find Alanna standing there. She smiled at me, and I couldn't help but smile back. She had that way with me. "Good to see you again." She took a sip from the mug in her hand.

"You're in a good mood today." Grabbing a mug, I filled it with the black brew and added the cream and sugar like Ezio told me.

"I am usually in a good mood. Just when I have people chasing me and stuff, it tends to put a damper on that." She topped off her mug and set out to make a fresh pot. "Anyway, Altair is downstairs in the cellar with Shaun. It was the only safe place to set up the computers. Come on. I'll take you down there. I need to exercise anyway." She picked up her mug and walked out of the kitchen.

Down the hall and into the cellar, I heard Shaun's voice first. "There is no way I can get all of you to America. Not without raising red flags. Two, sure, but all eight of us? It can not be done."

"You have to make it happen. Break us up. Put us on different flights out of different cities, at different times. We have to get to New York." Altair growled at the red head.

"And you are asking to get murdered. Abstergo has their hands in everything including the government. There is no way to sneak you guys into the States without them knowing." Shaun's voice raised a bit.

Alanna shook her head and walked in. I followed behind. "Boys, would you please quit arguing? If you put half that energy from fighting into finding a solution, we would be sipping small cocktails on the next flight out of here." She walked up behind Shaun and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Just calm down."

He shook off her hand and glared at her. "I would be just peachy if this asshole would not keep bugging me every few minutes."

"Well if you you would put that big brain of yours to better use..." Altair glared at Shaun.

"Enough!" She glared at both of them. Turning towards Shaun. "Keep doing what you were doing. If you have to break us all up and send us to different airports near New York, then do it, but we have to get there." She then turned on Altair. "And you. Quit thinking you are high and mighty and running the show. You, novice, are beginning to grate on everyone's nerves. Stop it, or so help me I will take your ass out temporarily. Do you hear me?" Both nodded their heads. "Good, now play nice with Desmond while I go exercise."

She smiled at me, sent a fresh glare at the other two men and walked out, head held high. I smiled. "Wow, you are really a sucker for that woman." I looked at Altair.

"Mind your tongue, boy, or you will lose it." His eyes narrowed, sending a chill down my back.

I should have known better than to tease him, but I was not in my right mind. Come on. I was asleep for almost a week and a half and before that spent most of my waking time in the damn Animus. At least I was not hearing voices anymore. I held out the mug. "Coffee?"

He took the mug, eyed it and then took a sip. "Ezio tell you?"

I rubbed my neck and grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, how did you know?"

"Because that is the way he butters me up most of the time. But he brews an imported Turkish coffee. I guess he couldn't find it here. This will do though." The amber eyed assassin drank the coffee. "Now down to business."

I don't think I was going to like this. When he went into Grandmaster mode, people usually got hurt. At least that's what I could remember from his memories. "What are you going to do to me?"

He smiled. A slow, little smile that began to creep me out. "Oh nothing as of yet. I have to see of my theory is correct before I begin your training."

"Your theory? I think I will head upstairs now. Ezio is a tad bit saner than you. I like sane. Sane is nice." I slowly began to back towards the steps, when out of nowhere, a throwing knife embedded itself into the wooden frame of the door.

"You see, I have to know something. I have to know if you have been changed at all. Actually it has been bugging me since I woke up at Abstergo." He stopped next to me and poked my arm.

Pain ran up my arm ass the small cut he made with the knife opened. I looked at my arm wide eyed. It was not deep, just like a small scratch, but even that caused pain. "What the hell? Now I know you have gone mental."

He pulled the knife out of the wall, and placed it back with the others on his belt. "Can't go mental when I have been that way for years, Desmond." He brushed past me. "And it seems you will be that way. Welcome to the family, boy."

I looked down at my arm. In a matter of seconds, the small scratch had closed and all it was was a pick line. "What in the world? " I turned my eyes on his back. "Am I?"

"Yes, you are one of us now. Undying. Don't get used to the healing speed. It only lasts a few days. A week at most. I will go tell Alanna. Why do I have to be punished?" He shook his head, grabbed his coffee and walked out of the room.

Great! Could my life get any stranger? Oh, yes, yes it could and it was heading that way.