The day was turning colder, but their luck was holding out for at least the time being. Desmond had been keeping watch as Isabella collected the information that they needed about the manhunt for them. With her hair tucked up into a beanie, a gray hoodie he managed to swipe from an unlocked car at an apartment complex, and a fake deeper voice, she had been able to pass off as a teenage boy.
Giving the clerk a nod, and walking out, she joined him on the side of the convenient store. "So, anything?" he asked rubbing his hands together.
Pressing a coffee into his hands, he relished the warmth that flowed into his frozen palms. "Well, the noise has calmed down because the cops believed we moved on."
Giving a sigh of relief, he actually smiled. "So how did you find that out?" He asked as they walked behind the building to a parking lot, then towards some tracks they lay just beyond that. The night before they had found an abandoned railroad junction station that had gotten them out of the elements.
"I asked about it. Told the clerk that I was worried about the safety of my mother with two killers on the loose. He then proceeded to tell me about what he had heard from a few cops that were his regulars. At least if we keep our heads down, and not stir up trouble, we should be able to get out of this alive." She brought the disposable cup to her lips, and took a tentative sip from the hot brew. "We need to get to a power source though. At least get a charge on the phone."
With a nod, he agreed. "How much you have left?" Desmond knew they were running low on cash, and if they used any type of plastic, they were going to be caught for sure.
Isabella stuck her hand into the baggy pockets of her jacket, and pulled out a wad of cash. "Probably about twenty bucks, give or take a few dollars. What about you?" And then shoved the money back into her pocket.
He reached into his pocket, felt around, and pulled out a few dollars. "Maybe six, seven. Not much."
"Well, I have that prepaid card in the car, but that means we need to get to it. It has three hundred on it. That's enough to get us out of town, but if they're still in that area, we're either going to have to fight, or run again." A few curse words left her lips, and he couldn't help but smile at her language. "I am really, really getting sick of running."
"Well, at least this time we're not getting arrows hurled at us." He tried to make light of the situation, and she took the bait.
Shrugging, Isabella took another drink of her coffee. "That may be true, but I would take that over the freezing ass weather here any day of the week."
Nudging her with his hip, he laughed lightly. "You southern people and your aversion to cold. I was born in this shit. Nothing like waking up and training in snow that you could get lost in."
"Yeah shut up. I don't very much like the snow, but I will deal with it when I have to. I was born in Alabama, ya damn northerner." She stuck her tongue out at him as they approached the tracks. No train could be seen nor heard, so they walked down them for a bit.
He was glad the playfulness was back in her voice and actions. The fight they had in the culvert pipe was the largest they had ever had, and frankly, it rattled him to the core. He never wanted to fight with her, but between the stressfulness of their situation, and his inability to get them out safely had caused him to lash out at her, and her towards him. Personally, she was the one that kept the others at bay, and made him feel sane when he knew that was a contradiction to the truth. He was going to spend what time he had before he completely went under with her, and their son.
"Des." He heard her call his name, and turning his head, he looked down at her. "You still with me?" There was a look of concern on her face, and he couldn't honestly fault her for it. Since his flip out the other day, she had been watching him closer than normal.
"Yeah, just thinking. I'm fine." Desmond nodded, and took a drink of the now lukewarm coffee in his hand.
"Good." She gave a curt nod, and then smiled. "Just wanted to make sure you were here and not on some beach without me."
A song that he had heard while bartending a few years before. "Wishing I was knee deep in the water somewhere. Got the blue sky breeze and it don't seem fair. Only worry in the world is the tide gonna reach my chair. Sunrise there's a fire in the sky. Never been so happy. Never felt so high, and I think I might have found me my own kind of paradise." He began to sing, rather badly, getting her to laugh at his attempt at the song.
Then, to his surprise, she sang another part. "Wrote a note, said be back in a minute. Bought a boat and sailed off in it. Don't think anybody's gonna miss me anyway. Mind on a permanent vacation. The ocean is my only medication. Wishin' my condition ain't ever gonna go away."
Her singing was better than his by far, but singers they were not. He laughed at her for joining along in his antics. They finished the song as they walked along the railway, letting the world take a back burner for a minute. It felt good just to goof off for a few minutes and pretend that their lives weren't hanging in the balance.
Once back at shack, they took a seat. "Alright, now we need to figure out what out next step is going to be?" Desmond leaned back against the metal side, and looked over at Isabella. "Do we try for the car, or not?"
She looked to be in deep thought for a minute, until she nodded once. "We at least need the bag that's in the trunk. With it, we can get the hell out of town, scrap this damn mission, and get away with our lives intact. Then, the next time I see your father, I'm really going to give him a piece of my mind."
Grinning, he threw her one of the last granola bars. "Why not do it over the phone? Easier than trying to track his ass down. Safer that way too. At least you might get a few words in before he decides to go ballistic on you."
Giving a snort, Isabella broke off a piece of the bar, and popped it into her mouth. "Oh don't underestimate my ability to find someone. Hell hath no fury like a woman pissed." Her lips pulled up in a twisted smirk, causing him to roll his eyes.
"I'll remember that for future reference." These were the times he enjoyed, but the light tapping in the back of his head signaled that the perpetual headache was trying to make itself known, breaking the spell that they had created around them.
Bringing his hand up to his temple, the slow circular motion in that area helped a bit, but it would only last for a time. The voices returned, causing him to close his eyes tight, trying to will them away, but he knew it wasn't going to happen. It was either distraction, or ride out the bleed. That was the part he wished would stop. He could tolerate listening to Altair and Ezio bicker about something, or Clay's cackling, and Connor's inability to settle in one place too long, but the other voices were something else. A massive jumble of sounds, screams, and calls for the dead swirled in his head like a vortex.
He didn't know when it happened, but Isabella had joined him on the ground, her body pressed up against his side, and her head resting on his chest, brought him from the darkness that threatened to swallow him once more. His left hand rested on her arm as hers were wrapped around his mid-section, just sitting there silently, waiting for him to make the first move.
"It happened again." Desmond finally spoke, his words quiet, and his hand began to absently run up and down her covered arm.
"I know." Was her response. Anymore she took the episodes in stride, because he always came out, but in the back of her mind, he knew, she feared that he wouldn't.
"They're getting worse." His voice was barely over a whisper, and the words were raw with emotion.
A sigh, and she held him tighter. "I know, but we'll figure something out. I'm sure of it."
"How can you be sure?" He wanted to push her away, save her the pain of watching him spiral into the pit of madness that was going to come.
"Because if we can find a way to save you, then surely we can do the same for me." She looked up at him, tears in her eyes. "It started again a few months ago. Seeing things that weren't there. Hearing voices of the people that have long been dead. Feeling blood on my hands that I never spilt. I didn't share it with anyone because I was afraid that my parents would take Collin from me."
He sat up a little straighter, and his eyes widened at her admission. "Isabella, why didn't you say anything?"
"Because I didn't want you to worry about me. I can control it for the most part, and the visions are minimum. It's the voices that gets to me the most." She shook her head side to side, and he could hear the fear in her voice. She was afraid that she was going to lose their son. She was stronger than he was by far. "But once I knew what you were going through, I knew you were worse than I was, and I swore I had to be strong for the both of us."
And it all began to make sense now. In the beginning, she told him she didn't have any side effects from the Animus because of they didn't go as hard on her as they did him. But she had lied. The way she would never talk about her time in the "care" of Abstergo, or the way she would sometimes wander off by herself. At first it hurt that she didn't tell him, but now he understood. She didn't tell anyone, and it had been her crutch to bear alone.
"You and I are going to get through this. We're going to be alright, and we're going to make it home." He held her close, and told himself that he was going to fulfill that promise, no matter how many people stood in his way.
*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*
Rebecca cried happily as the first ping came up on the trace she had placed on Isabella's phone. They had managed to turn it back on. "Shaun! Shaun wake up!" She called her partner's name, waking him from the dead.
"Wha…what?" he called out in alarm, coming off the bed swiftly, hair askew, and eyes wide.
"I found them!" She bounced slightly on the bed. "I found Isabella's phone! They must have gotten it to power back on." Pulling up another screen, she typed furiously, sending out a message, hoping to receive a message from them in return.
Shaun took that time to sit on the bed next to her, sliding his glasses back onto his face, and look at the screen. "Where are they?"
Clicking on the map, she pointed to the small red dot. "This is the tower their signal pinged off of. The call was about a minute long, and gave me the time to trace it. It puts them in a one mile radius of that tower. If we can get over to there, we might be able to find them." The day was starting to look up.
Then Mr. Doom and Gloom had to speak. "And what happens if we get there, it's a ploy by Abstergo to get us to come out in the open? Huh? Did you think about that?"
Shooting him a glare, she spun the computer around to show him the message she had just received. It was a picture of a coffee shop on the other side of town. One that she knew well from her time as a courier. "That shop is in the mile radius. All we have to do is get over there, scout the area, and hopefully they'll be there. If not, we keep going. Simple as that."
Huffing, he got up off the bed. "So when do you plan on doing this since you seem ready to leave now?" A yawn escaped his lips and he stretched.
"I'm ready now." Getting up, she grabbed her bag, and slung it over her shoulder. "Whenever you're ready."
Grumbling something about having to pee, he walked over towards the bathroom, and slammed the door. Rebecca just rolled her eyes, and waited for his return. Taking that time, she looked around the room. Everything they had was already in the truck of their car, and ready to roll. Just like every assassin, they packed light and was ready to leave at a moment's notice. It was just something that she was used to.
Shaun removed himself from the bathroom a few minutes later, looking a little more put together than before he walked in. "I believe I'm ready to leave now." He ran his fingers through his hair, and grabbed the winter coat that was slung over the back of the chair.
Inclining her head, Rebecca led the way out to the car, and went to get behind the wheel until he cleared his throat. "What?" she asked, with a hint of annoyance in her voice.
"Have you slept at all?" he asked calmly.
Thinking about the seven cups of coffee, and the five hour energy she had over the course of the night, she shrugged sheepishly. "I'm good. I've got enough caffeine flowing through me to keep me away until tomorrow."
Giving an exasperated sigh, Shaun held out his hand. "Give me the keys, and I'll drive. You can give me directions. I would much rather get there in one piece than to have you fall asleep behind the wheel and kill us both. I actually enjoy being alive."
"Oh lighten up! I'm not going to crash." She had gone longer without sleep, but from the look on his face, she knew he would challenge her until she agreed. So saving time, Rebecca pulled the keys from her pocket, walked over to him and none to gently slammed them into his hand. "You would think I don't know what I'm doing."
All the Brit did was shake his head, and took a seat behind the wheel of the late model sedan that they were currently driving. "Now, where am I heading?"
After giving him directions, they arrived at the coffee house without a problem. Exiting the car, she looked around, trying to see if there was anything out of the ordinary, but nothing stood out. But before she got two feet from the car, a teenager walked up to her, face covered by a gray hoodie, and thick winter coat. "Hey, can I bum a ride?" the kid asked.
But before either could respond, the teen raised their face and Rebecca smiled slyly. Isabella's emerald green eyes looked back at her. "Sure. You have anyone else?" she asked, and Isabella shook her head.
"Nope. I just need a ride to the tracks a few blocks down the street." Her eyes darted off to a car that was parked not five down from her.
Picking up on what she was saying, or not saying, in this case, Rebecca pointed to the car. "Get in. I'm sure we have the time."
"Thanks." And she got into the back seat. Once all the doors were shut, Isabella spoke in her normal voice. "Desmond's hiding out a few blocks from here. I told him I would come up because I can hide better than he can right now." Pointing to her clothes. "The silver car five down have been looking for me and him. They have been circling the area for the last twenty minutes. I guess calling out was the mistake."
"That it was. Why did you make the call so long? Send text messages next time." Shaun huffed as he started the car once more. "Who did you call?"
Leaning forward, she sighed in content as the warm air hit her in the face. "My dad. He's hold up at a place not far from the US/Canadian border with my brother. I had to let him know I was alright, and good thing I did. He was on his way up here to find me. I am so going to get chewed out when I see him next."
Looking back at her, Rebecca knew they were a tight family. "Well, honestly if you hadn't of done that, I wouldn't have been able to find you. We had to ditch our phones."
"I should've ditched this one, but it was the only way to keep in contact. Or at least have everyone's numbers." She kept her eyes on the silver sedan, but her grip on the front seats tightened. "Shaun, you need to move."
Both of them looked at the car as well to see two men get out and head their way. "Oh bloody hell." He groaned, and threw the car into drive, pulling out slowly, hoping to not draw attention.
But as Rebecca watched, they must have seen who they were, because their hands began to reach for what she could only figure was a gun. "Shaun, floor it!" She yelled as the sun glinted off the metal of the slide.
Not asking for any explanation, Shaun nailed the gas, and shots rang out behind them as they passed the agents. Glass shattered as the bullet hit the back window, blowing it out, showering Isabella with the shards. The other woman cried out as a few of the shards cut into her exposed skin. More shots were fired as they flew past them, and tires could be heard squealing, as the car began to follow.
"Hold on!" The Brit yelled as he took a corner swiftly, and Rebecca could feel the car rise up into the driver's side as it careened around the turn. But what happened next was something they didn't expect, but should have. The car, instead of coming back onto its tires, rolled.
Holding on as hard as she could, and closing her eyes, all she heard was the crunching of metal as the car rolled a few times, and a pained cry as the car settled on its top. Slowly, she opened her eyes to see Shaun looking at her. Fear shown on his face, as he hung upside down in the seatbelt.
"Isabella?" Rebecca managed to choke out.
"I'm here." Came a strained voice from behind her seat. "I need to take care of these guys." And the sound of glass crunching signaled that the woman was crawling out the window.
Reaching over and releasing her belt with one good hand because every time she tried to move the other, pain ripped through her body. Once she heard the click, she went limp upon impact with the ground. "We have to get out of this car."
Shaun followed suit, and was behind her as they crawled out the side window onto the street. She was thankful that it was late evening, and not many people were out. Grabbing their bags from the car, Rebecca followed Shaun into the nearby alley.
*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*
Isabella watched from the roof of a three story building. Her body protested the climb, but it was the only place she could still see the men that hunted her, and hide at the same time. Her thigh was burning from the cut that was across it, and the minor scrapes that marred her face. Voices could be heard down below, and as she looked on, the men walked around the corner, guns in hand.
"Are you sure this is the way they came?" One of them asked the other, both watching the area.
"Pretty sure. The real question is, which one is it?" The second spoke as they came closer to her hiding place.
"Don't care. The first sighting I'm going to put a bullet through their fucking skull and call it a day." The first one spoke once more, and Isabella decided to dub him "Billy Badass" because most likely that's who he thought he was.
His partner spoke caution. "You know they're wanted alive right? If you bring them in dead, then that's what's going to happen to you."
"Whatever, let's just find the asshole, and get out of here. The police are only going to stay away for so long. Thought we were going to catch a break when that bastard flipped the car." Billy growled and his voice echoed off the building.
Sliding her hand into the side of her boot, she pulled out a throwing knife. The gun she had in her waistband only had a few shots left, and truth be told, she sucked at firearms. Knives on the other hand, that was something she could use. All the practice with Ezio and Desmond had honed her arm, and her aim was true.
A glint of red fabric caught her eye, but when she turned, nothing was there. Sounds of a busy market, like the ones she had seen in Venice or even Florence, could be heard. Taking a deep breath, because she knew that they weren't real, Isabella closed her eyes, counted to ten, and reopened them. The sounds were gone, along with the figure in red that was in her peripheral vision. Paola's memories still haunted her, from the time she was an assassin. Knowing she couldn't linger on the visions, she pushed them to the far back of her mind, and readied her blade.
They walked below her, their eyes scanning everywhere but up. Isabella climbed up onto the ledge, looking down at the men. The artic wind blew lightly, swirling a few pieces of trash around the alleyway below, causing her to readjust her angle for the throw. If the wind shifted slightly, her throw would not be true, and either merely wound her victim, or miss all together. So, judging her shot, the assassin took a deep breath, held it, and threw with all the strength she had.
The blade sailed silently through the air, but unfortunately, Billy moved at the last moment, causing the blade to slam into his shoulder and not dead center of his back. "Ah!" He screamed as she ducked back down behind the ledge, pulling out the second knife from her other boot. Those were the only two she had, and she knew the last one was going to have to be perfect.
Her ears picked up the sounds scuffling boots, and heavy breathing. In the confined space down below, the sounds echoed well off the brick sides of the building. Her lips quirked up into a smile when she heard Billy's voice. "When I find that bastard, I'm going to make them wish they were never born."
She could hear them moving, and searching everywhere for her, but right before she rose once more, a subtle noise stopped her. A call towards someone, and a few shots were fired, then silence greeted her ears. Daring to see who had taken care of the agents, Isabella raised her head up over the edge, and looked down. Desmond stood there, the men's dead bodies at his feet and his hidden blade extended.
Swiftly leaving the rooftops, she used the service ladder to the ground. "You know I had them." She ground out through clenched teeth. "I don't need to be protected."
His eyes met hers, but there was something off about them. There was an edge that was not normally in his chocolate orbs. It wasn't Desmond, but someone else. But as quickly as she saw it, it faded, replaced with a look of shock. "What the hell?" His eyes widened as he surveyed the carnage. "Did…did I do that?"
One of the men's throats were laid open, while the other was stabbed in the neck with the angle going upward to pierce the brain with the thin, sharp blade. Bending down to grab the guns, she spoke. "You don't remember doing this?" She asked.
He shook his head. "The last thing I remember was finding Rebecca and Shaun, and hearing them saying that you had taken off to deal with two armed agents. Then I come to."
For all of the times she knew Desmond, he had never blacked out on a kill. The bleed was truly getting worse. Now was not the time for him to see that she was worried for him. So putting on her best poker face, she met his gaze. "It's alright. The job was done, and we have a window to get out of here." Sliding the guns into her hoodie pocket, she began to rummage through their pockets, taking keys, and money. "At least we have a car now." Showing him the keys, she asked. "Do you remember where Shaun and Rebecca are?"
"Yeah, that I do remember." His eyes reverted to the dead bodies. "Fuck. We need to do something with them."
Her gaze flickered over to a dumpster nearby. "Let's just throw them in there, and get the hell out of here."
Desmond gave her a nod of agreement, and together they hauled the dead men into the dumpster, leaving them there for whoever found them, or until the trash was collected. Either way, it would give them enough time to escape the city, and be on their way back to the States.
Hello once again! Thank you Winter's Sentinel for the lovely review. I'm really glad you like my writing and story. That brought a smile to my face. Thank you to everyone that has been reading, and liking the story. That's what keeping me going. Well, that and a lot of caffeine! Oh, and extra brownie points if someone can identify the song Desmond and Isabella attempt to sing.