Freedom was a funny thing. It was something that was taken for granted by all, but for some, who had been a prisoner for so long, Desmond really didn't know how to interact with the populous and frankly, that scared him more than going up against ten well-armed Abstergo guards. Sitting on a park bench, watching the people mill about their everyday lives was something that he wasn't used to. Rebecca sat next to him, and sighed.
"You know, if you jump at every shadow and stranger they're going to pick up on your actions faster. You need to chill out, Desmond." She shook her head, and he watched her dark hair dance across her narrow features.
It had been over a year since he had seen her last. Well, a year for her. More like seven years for him. With the traveling between the past and the present, it made him appreciate his friends and limited family even more. The being captured not once, but twice, really made him place them more in his life than anything.
His arms rested on his bent knees, hands hanging between his legs. Turning his head to look at her, he spoke. "I know, but damn, being here has me twitchier than a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs."
Laughter spilled from her lips, and a few tears came from her eyes from the laughter. "Oh that's a good one! Long tailed cat!" Wiping her eyes, Rebecca leaned back against the bench. "You just need to chill. Maybe take a shot of something strong before you come out in public. That or a valium. That might help."
Desmond snorted and leaned back as well. "Oh yeah, let's have me high as hell, or drunk interacting with people. I would spill my guts bigger than shit. Hate to say it, but I'm a complete lightweight when it comes to alcohol, and I don't take any type of drugs. Unless they're like antibiotics." Which was the truth. He may have been a bartender, but that was one thing that he never did was drink. Didn't like the feeling, and with him in hiding, he didn't need to be saying things that didn't need to be said.
"Whatever." Waving him off, she pulled out a tablet and handed it to him. "You know who that is, don't you?"
Looking at the man on the screen, he seemed familiar, at least in a few features, but no, he didn't know his name. "Nope, you wanna fill me in?"
"The name is Edward Kenway, father to Haytham, and grandfather to Connor. Abstergo began to go through his memories looking for something. It was called the Observatory. A powerful Precursor creation, that with one drop of blood, it can watch that person from any distance." Reaching over, she pushed the screen over and revealed a few more pictures. One was a young man, maybe his age, or a bit older, blue eyes, mousey brown hair that stuck up everywhere, and a face that made him seem likable. The kind of guy he tried to steer clear of. They always seemed to have trouble follow them, and he had enough of that.
"And I'm going to take a shot in the dark that this is your inside man." His dad had briefed him on a few things, but Desmond also knew that his dad liked to keep things to himself. Same old song and dance.
"Yep. His name is Jack Winslow, age 27. They chose him because he had a great adaption rate with the subject's memories, and he was no way connected to any faction. Well, he wasn't until he started working for them. Kind of got roped into it, but he turned out to be fairly good at the job. A bit on the jumpy side, but not a bad guy to have around." She then pointed to another picture. This time a female. "That's Melanie Lemay. She's what you would call the project manager of the sample seventeen project. Now, we have no clue what she knows about the company as a whole, but she is well liked inside, and is generally a nice person. From what I've gathered that is."
He wasn't completely grasping why he was sent here, and not someone else. Someone a little less on Abstergo's wanted list. "Now, what do I have to do with all of this? I mean, I wasn't really told much except to come up here and talk to the guy. Find out what he knows."
Rebecca took the tablet back, and slipped it into her bag. "Juno showed up here three days ago, right inside their computer network. No one knows what she was looking for, or who, but we're willing to bet that she is looking for you."
"She's got a hard on to kill me, I'll say that." Thinking back on the last time he saw her left him feeling cold, and his left hand ached. Just the thought of when he touched that orb left him in a near panic attack. The way the thing began to suck the life right from him, and replace it with a fire that was hell bent on consuming him from the inside out. It was not the most pleasant memory he had in his head, and frankly, he had a lot of them that weren't even his.
The memories set off something in his brain, a safeguard mode, per say, and he could feel his feet moving on their own volition. To where, he wasn't aware, but it had put him in a flight mode. He had to get away. Had to run. To escape the pain, the nightmare, the reality of it all. Until something hit him across the abdomen, knocking him from his mindless stroll, and straight onto his backside.
Returning to his senses once more, and his eyes began to focus, he looked into the emerald green eyes of Isabella. "You alright?" She asked with concern in her voice. That was the one thing that he loved about her was there was never pity, only concern.
Shaking his head, he tried to make sense of what just happened. "Where the hell am I?" He asked as he looked around, not recognizing anything.
Holding out her hand, he took it and she helped haul him to his feet. "About a mile from where you started. Luckily I was on my way back from meeting with Shaun when I heard Rebecca calling your name. Gave chase and finally got you to run into a bike rack." Giving a small cockeyed smile, she took his arm and wrapped hers around it. "You were acting like a damned zombie, and not the 'eat your brains' type. The 'mindless wander' type."
"I don't know really what happened. One minute I was talking to Rebecca about what had been going on, then I wake up right here. I was thinking about the Grand Temple, then nothing. Like I went on autopilot." That was disturbing in its own right. Granted he may talk to his dead ancestors like they were real live people, but he had never once just shut down.
"Maybe you're not ready to be out in the field yet. It's only been a little over a week since you've been back in the States, and a little over three weeks since you've been free. Maybe you should go back home and be with Collin until you're better." Translation: You're losing your mind and you could endanger everyone on the mission, or at least that's what he was hearing.
Pulling his arm free, Desmond shot a heated look at her. "I'm fine. Look, it was a one-time thing. Come out and say it if you don't think I should be here. I'm an adult, not some child you have to pussy foot around." It was beginning to piss him off that they all thought that he was a child who couldn't think for himself.
And just as fast as he pulled his arm away at first, she was back on it, but glared up at him. "Now is not the time to be fighting. At least not out in public. If you want to scream and cuss at me later, fine, but wait until we're in the car, and not out in the open." Then she reached up and pulled the ball cap that he was wearing lower with a small grin. "And it was me that drug you up here. If I thought you were a danger, I would've told your dad where he could stuff it."
"Isabella," Desmond couldn't help but sigh, "you're something else."
Her grin got a little cockier, which made him roll his eyes heavenward. "You know you love it." And he had to admit that he did. She challenged him to think for himself, but he still jumped to conclusions.
"Where's Becca?" His eyes darted around, trying to see the dark haired woman, but saw only people milling about in their own little worlds.
They began to walk. "Left. They were leaving the city tonight. We have a date with Mr. Winslow, and then we too, are leaving."
He wasn't overly thrilled with being in an Abstergo occupied city, but at least he had someone watching his back. "You know where we're going?" He asked as they walked down a tree lined path towards a car lot, and hoped that's where they had parked the small compact car they brought.
"Yup." Giving a small nod, then he felt a shiver run through her. "Damn it's cold here."
Chuckling, Desmond wrapped his arm around her. "It's not that bad. Try living in New York in the dead of winter, or on the Farm."
Giving an unladylike snort, Isabella blew into her hands, trying to warm them up. "Well, this born and bred southern lady prefers weather that doesn't involve snot-icicles hanging off the end of my nose, thank you very much." Her slight southern draw came out, which most of the time she tried to hide. He didn't know why she did, because he liked the accent, and had told her as much.
The statement made him chuckle. "Fine, after this I say we drop off the face of the earth and hide away on some remote deserted island for a few years. Just you, me and Collin. That way you have your warmth and I can get away from everyone."
"Oh?" She looked up at him and batted her big green eyes. "You, me and alone time. That sounds absolutely…." But her words dropped off as they came up onto the parking lot and saw Abstergo agents crawling all around. "Shit."
*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*
"Everyone get your shit, and move. We have only about an hour until they get here." William marched into the room, empty bag in his hand. Damien raised his head from the novel he had been reading to look at his once friend.
"What's going on?" He asked as he closed the book carefully and stood, feeling his knees protest from sitting too long.
"Abstergo is on their way here. Morgan just called to inform me that they caught sight of us leaving the city a few days ago. Since they have info on most of the safe houses from the memories they took from me, it was only going to be a matter of time before they found their way here." William began to throw clothes into the bag, along with a few odds and ends. "I want to be out of here in ten minutes."
Giving a small nod, he grabbed the bag he had never unpacked and threw his book into it. "Seth!" He called out to his son, and a second later his red capped head poked around the corner. "Get the car started. We're heading home." With a nod, Seth disappeared once more. "Where are you heading?"
William shrugged. "To the Farm most likely. Rebecca and Shaun should be on their way there tonight. That way I can get their briefing, and then wait for Desmond's report. Once I have all of that, I can figure out what to do next. I also need to touch base with the others in the field. Find out the movements of Abstergo, and how close they are to finding any of us."
Since his family had been dragged deeper into this conflict, Damien was worried about their safety. He knew Sarah, Isabella, and Desmond would guard Collin with her life, but if Abstergo found out anything about who his parents were, they knew there would be a fight to get ahold of him. There was no way in hell that he was going to let those bastards have his grandson. Not as long as he took breaths.
"You had better keep me informed this time. I will not lose another member of my family to you keeping secrets from me. Do you hear that, William?" His feet stopped right in front of the senior Miles.
There was no response, but a small incline of his salt and pepper head was enough to know that he understood. So with that confirmed, he turned around, grabbed his bag and headed outside. Seth and Tori stood near the two cars, arguing quietly as the normally did. "Dad, Tori wants to come with us, but I told her no." Seth crossed his arms over his chest, glaring daggers at the woman who was once his girlfriend.
"And I have no desire to go with William. You can drop me off in Montgomery on your way through. From there I'll find a way to my grandmother's house. The Farm holds no good memories for me, and I wish to not go back there, ever." She looked from Seth to him, her face neutral like always, but there was something in her eyes that gave him pause of saying no as well. It was as if she was pleading with him in a way that wasn't openly showing anything.
So, Damien sighed. "Fine, but I refuse to drop you off just anywhere, Tori. I will drive you to your grandmother's. It's not that far out of the way."
And from the slack-jawed look he was receiving from Seth, which was not the answer his son thought he was going to give. "Oh you have got to be… Dad, come on! I've been stuck here with her now for two days. I've played nice, and now you want me to sit in car with her frigid ass for another God knows how many hours?"
One word shut him down quick. "Yes." He looked from his son, to Tori. "Get the bags in the car, and get ready because we need to leave in the next few minutes. I've wasted too much time with your caterwauling and whining. We are all in this together, whether we like it or not. Heaven knows this is not the place I really would like to be."
With a few groans from Seth, and a dead look from Tori, they set out to do what he requested while Damien walked back inside. William was grabbing the remaining things and making sure the door to Olivier's room was locked.
"Are you ready?" He asked as the other man picked up the bag once more.
With a nod of the head, the two men walked outside. "I'll call and check on my son on the way to the Farm. Hopefully they haven't been found yet."
Damien stopped in his tracks. "What do you mean found?" It sounded to him that William had sent them out once more.
The man didn't even miss a beat. "I sent them to talk to Jack Winslow, the man that has been helping us with Abstergo Entertainment. With Rebecca and Shaun being compromised, I needed someone to go up there to get the remaining information. I chose to send Desmond, but he refused to go without Isabella. Then it took your daughter talking to him to get him to go." He spoke as if it was just another day, but Damien felt his blood begin to boil.
"You do know that's my daughter. You know, the one that went through hell to go find your son. I told you that if it involved my children in any way that it was to be ran past me first. You've ignored that once again!" He wanted nothing more than to chain the bastard up and leave him there for the Templars to find at the time, but there was too much in William's head for them to get ahold of. So, doing what any good father would do to the person that had placed his children in danger, pulled back and caught the Grandmaster across the chin with one well-placed punch.
Blood poured from William's split lip as Damien shook out his throbbing hand. "What the hell was that for?" His words were garbled as he held onto his jaw. "Have you lost your mind, Damien?"
The Italian's shoulders heaved in anger, but he controlled his rage enough that he wouldn't punch him once more. "Do you ever stop and think before you order people around? Our children have a son together. Hell, Desmond didn't even know about Collin up until he popped back onto the radar two weeks ago. Now, you send them into a completely controlled city, and with both of them with high bounties on top their heads. I would have gone and gotten the information that you wanted."
Tori and Seth stood off a bit, both of their eyes wide as the two men squared off. "You have a lot of nerve. You trained them in this life. You knew from the beginning sacrificed were going to have to be made. I'm doing what needs to be done. You are just trying to bury your head in the sand."
That was the last straw. "I gave them the choice that I was denied. It's in their blood as much as it's in ours. At least they got to choose, unlike what you did to your son. Yeah, I talked to Rebecca and Shaun about what happened in the Temple. Desmond was nothing more than a tool to you since the day he was born. Another assassin for you to order around. If my children came to me and said that they were done, I would gladly help them hide for the remainder of my days, and then some. I really doubt you would do the same."
And without waiting for a response, Damien turned and headed for the car, leaving his once friend standing there, blood leaking from his mouth, and he felt no remorse for what he had just done. Looking at the two, he growled. "Get in the car if you're coming. Were out of here now."
*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*
Something stirred her awake. The remaining part of her at least. Since the sacrifice, Minerva had little strength left, and so she sat and waited for the right time. A surge of power came through the ancient temple, awaking her from her so called slumber. It was enough to tell her something was being planned. Juno was doing something, and knowing the woman the way she did, it was not going to be good.
But there was so little left of her. Too little to be of any force to stop her, but there was still hope. There was still enough power in the artifacts for her to get a message out. To communicate with the outside world, and warm someone of the dangers Juno possessed. There had to be someone, anyone that could stop the woman. But it had to be the right one. The right person, and that person was the one that she had been trying to save since the beginning of all of this.
Connecting to the computer that was now running, Minerva began to rummage through the old files and extend her reach just a bit farther. Into the connection that Juno had made between there and the other computers around the world. Shaking her head, she could feel the reach was far indeed, and there was not a corner of the globe that she had not started to corrupt with her poison.
Then she found it. The file that a company named Abstergo had on Desmond. It was lengthy and full of useless information, but she found what she was looking for. That he drew breaths and was on the Earth. Now, all she had to do was find him, and help him once more.