Ugh! So sorry, guys, but my Internet was down for the longest time. This is the first time I've been able to get on in a month . I'm really sorry about the wait, guys, honestly. With that said, please enjoy this new chapter.

Desi woke up from a decent sleep, stretching. Shaun was already gone, but that was normal. Since he has began sleeping in the same bed as her, she had gone to sleep with his warm, solid, calming presence on the other side of the bed and had woken up alone. She didn't mind; she understood why he did it that way. He got earlier than Lucy and went to his room to change into his actual clothes so no one caught him leaving her room in his pajamas. Things would be assumed and who knew what Lucy would do if she suspected that Shaun and Desi were sleeping together. Desi laughed quietly at the mental image of Lucy harping on the two of them as she shouted about the risks to their objectivity and the mission and blah blah blah.

Desi got out of bed, showered, got dressed, and walked down towards the sanctuary. As she neared the entrance she heard hushed voices hissing at each other, arguing. She paused, trying to make out the words. It sounded like Shaun was arguing with one of the girls, but Desi couldn't make out which one. She sighed, gathering herself, and then stepped quickly into the sanctuary, making sure her shoes tapped audibly on the floor.

"Hey, Rebecca," she said cheerfully. The dark-haired technician smiled.

"Hey, Des," she answered, waving. Desi waved back and turned towards the kitchenette as Shaun and Lucy exited. Neither looked happy, but Desi took the apologetic shrug Rebecca directed at Shaun to mean that he had lost the argument, whatever it may have been.

"Morning, guys," Desi said quietly as Shaun and Lucy walked in her direction to take their seats at their stations. Lucy smiled and waved as she walked by, but Shaun only looked away angrily. Desi grabbed his arm and pulled him to a stop. He turned to face her. His blue eyes were stormy and his expression was not inviting.

"Hey," she said softly, "what happened? What's wrong?"

Shaun glared into the distance over her shoulder. After a moment he closed his eyes and shook his head. "I'll tell you later."

Desi gave a long look. "No, Shaun. I want to know now."

Shaun finally made eye contact with her. "I will tell you, I promise, but later. Let's do what we have to do today and then we can talk, alright? Now go get something to eat." His voice was soft, and his eyes looked straight into Desi's. Finally she nodded.

"Alright. As long as you promise to tell me." She let go of his arm and he walked towards his tack board. She followed him with her eyes a moment before she went into the kitchenette and grabbed an apple. She came back out and bit into the fruit, leaning in the doorway to watch everyone. Lucy was presumably working to get into Abstergo's database. Shaun was probably corresponding with one or two of the field teams. Becca was most likely trying to unencrypted more of the data files. Desi wondered about the future. Where would everyone go when this was all over?

Shaun would probably buy himself a nice flat in London and become a history professor again.

Lucy would finally find herself a nice guy she deserved and settle down and have the most adorable kids and do what she wanted.

Becca would finally go home and see her family and dog again and get back into snowboarding.

But what would I do? Desi thought about the Bleeding Effect, how she could lose touch with reality for ten minutes at a time, how, even though Shaun kept her company, she still sometimes had nightmares, how all of that was only getting worse. She thought of Subject 16. The realization was gut-wrenching.

She probably wouldn't be around to see the end.

Desi eyed the Animus resentfully. That would be the thing to take her away from her life. The machine that was necessary to the survival of Earth was also the machine that was taking her mind away from her. It wasn't fair, but she understood why it was, in some light, okay.

Does the good of the few outweigh the good of the many?

The answer, of course, was no. If one person dying would save a planet, that one person was to die without looking back. He or she was to throw himself or herself off the cliff and sacrifice everything. Except that with the Bleeding Effect, throwing yourself off the cliff was more like falling and sliding down the rock face. It was a slow, agonizing process that took time, slowly stealing parts of you away until you weren't you anymore.

"Hey, Des," Rebecca said, ripping her attention to the here and now. "Are you done with that apple or are you going to eat the core, too?" Her laughing tone was so at odds with what Desi felt right now, but she smiled anyway.

"Yeah. I'll throw it away and then we can get started." She tossed the core of the apple into the trash in the kitchenette and walked over the Animus. She laid down on the red cushions and watched Rebecca sick the needle into her arm. She was out in seconds.

…

…

…

Desi came out slowly, her mind still clinging to Firenze. Flashes of stone buildings and brightly dressed pedestrians flashed in her vision, and her ears caught the sounds of talking crowds and doctors calling for the ill.

"Perche deve essere per le strade cosi forte?" she asked to no one in particular. When everything went silent she looked around hurriedly.

"Cosa? Qual e il problema?" she demanded. She noted their faces. The dark-haired girl looked on sadly, her eyes teary. The man had a pained expression, as though he was injured. The blonde woman looked determined, even if she was trembling.

"Desi," the blonde girl said, rising from her chair and crossing the room. A flash of recognition hit Ezio as he looked around; this was his uncle's sanctuary in Monteriggioni! What were these people doing here?

Because you're here with Shaun, Rebecca, and Lucy, Desi told herself, holding on to reality for a second, before she slipped away.

"Desi, what year is it?" the blonde asked, getting eye level with Ezio. He glared at her; his English was terrible.

"What?" he asked. The blonde looked up when the man called her name.

"Lucy, let me try," he said and walked quickly to stand in front of Ezio. He bent and looked Ezio in the eye.

"Desmond, I know you're in there. I know that Ezio was straight than a pole when it came to his love life. I'm hoping that what I'm about to do will shock you into yourself. Just don't kill me when you come back." Ezio stared at the man in confusion.

"What are -" Ezio's eyes widened as the man's lips found his own. Che cosa sta acca-?

And suddenly she was Desi again, not Ezio or anyone else, and Shaun was kissing her in front of Lucy and Rebecca and what was going on?

Desi reflexively jumped back, almost falling off the Animus.

"What?" she demanded, automatically touching the back of her left hand to the side of he mouth. "What is this?"

Shaun jerked upright and took a step back, his cheeks flaring. "I had to bring you out somehow!" he said defensively. Lucy watched on with shocked silence while Rebecca was smiling.

"Well, that was interesting," she said, and winked at Desi. Desi nearly died.

Lucy cleared her throat. "Come on, guys. Let's eat dinner and unwind. We need it."

Desi agreed.

…

…

"I'm going to bed," Desi announced at two-thirty in the morning. Shaun glanced at Rebecca and nodded.

"I think I'll go, too. Good night, Rebecca," he said.

"'Night, Becca!"

"'Night, guys," Rebecca said, glancing at Desi. Desi went to her room and changed into her pajamas, a long-sleeved shirt and shorts. She crawled into bed and laid on her right side, away from the rest of the bed. In a few minutes, the door opened, and Shaun stepped into the room.

"Hey," Desi said, rolling over onto her back. Shaun smiled and crawled into bed with Desi, being very mindful of propriety.

"You promised, remember?"

"What are you talking about?" Shaun asked, looking at her.

"You promised to tell me what you and Lucy were arguing about earlier."

Shaun's face adopted an uncomfortable look. "I'm leaving. Tomorrow."

Desi bolted upright and faced Shaun, panicked. "What? Why?"

Shaun sat up, too, looking angry and sad. "I have to meet one of the field teams. I'm the one they're used to communicating with, so I have to go. I'll only be gone a day or two, maybe three."

Desi sat in silence, her hands in her lap, for a long while, her head down, thinking. Without Shaun, the nightmares would come back, and that was almost more than she could take, even for one day.

"Desmond-" Shaun started, but Desi threw her arms around his neck tightly.

"Don't go," she said quietly, her head flashing with images from the nightmares she had before. "Don't do it."

Shaun placed his hands on Desi's back holding her to him. "I wish I didn't have to, Desmond, I really do, but I have to go. I'm sorry." Desi could hear the truthfulness and regret in his voice. She knew he wanted to stay. She needed him to. He was helping her stay. He helped keep the Bleeding Effect from taking her away from herself. Without him…

Desi sighed shakily and shifted, laying down with her head in Shaun's lap.

"If you're leaving tomorrow, I get to sleep here," she said stubbornly. She felt Shaun sigh in exasperation, and in a few minutes he laid down on his back to sleep. Desi moved up and laid her head on his chest, her right hand next to her face. Shaun absently stroked her hair, and in a few minutes, she drifted into an uneasy sleep.

…

Shaun

Shaun laid there listening to Desmond's even breathing. Her head was a warm, comforting weight on his chest. She shifted, and Shaun raised his head to look at her. She had drawn her right hand into a loose fist in front of her mouth, her thumb resting on her slightly-parted lips. Small feminine snores escaped from them. She was adorable.

Shaun laid his head down, slowly stroking her hair, and slid into a deep sleep.

…

When Shaun woke, he knew immediately that something was wrong. Desmond's beside clock told him that it was 4:03 a.m.. He felt around on the table for his glasses and slid them on. He looked at the empty bed and the dark room and tried to put the pieces together. All at once he jerked his head to his right hard enough to cause pain.

The bed was empty.

Desmond was gone.