For some reason, the first thing in his mind- after the shock- is anger. They'd made a deal. He'd promised to stay out of Haytham's head as much as he can, and he's held up his end of that deal. And he's assumed it works both ways. But here's Haytham, all of a sudden, going out of his way to search him out.
And here he is, falling off the edge of a skyscraper in downtown Manhattan like an idiot. He's going to die. After months in the animus, after four different ancestors, he steps too far back and falls off a building. And that's how he's going to die.
"Desmond!" Rebecca yells into his earpiece. "Parachute!"
He instantly feels about twenty times more stupid, and yanks the cord for the parachute. He hears the fabric open behind him, and he instantly goes from helpless free fall to a more controlled glide. He even makes it to the intended roof, although he comes in a little low, slamming into the building so that he's only hanging onto the roof with his arms. He hauls himself up and sits for a second, panting and untangling himself from the parachute cords.
"What are you doing?" Haytham demands, and Desmond scowls.
"Trying not to die," he says. "Why are you in my head?"
"...I need your help," Haytham admits.
"Does this really seem like the best time?" Desmond growls. He gets to his feet, trying to focus on going after the battery without thinking too loudly about anything he doesn't want his ancestor knowing about. It's probably a lost cause at this point, because for whatever reason, he's synchronizing with Haytham as well as he ever could with any of his other ancestors.
Haytham doesn't say anything, but Desmond can feel him poking through memories. "Can you not?" he snaps. "Look, I'm right in the middle of something. When you're done, we talk about whatever you're here for."
Inside, the battery is exactly where it's supposed to be. It actually seems a little too easy.
"Behind you," Haytham says, and Desmond spins around just in time to block a punch from a blond man who's suddenly appeared there. The man staggers back, and Desmond takes the opportunity to smash the glass surrounding the battery. Haytham sighs loudly, and says, "Behind you again."
"Yea, I got it," says Desmond, and slams into the stranger's head with the hand holding the battery. He falls, and Desmond runs for it before he can get up, or Haytham can complain again. "Okay," he says. "Last time you were in here, you didn't like it anymore than I did. You have until I get out of here to explain what changed. Talk."
It would have been easier to just go through Haytham's memories, and probably faster, but he's not in the mood to make things easier for Haytham. So he listens while Haytham explains the dreams. Then, he explains the dream of his father. His voice stays steady and emotionless throughout, but Desmond can feel the emotions churning under the calm demeanor- worry, guilt, fear, sadness- they're not the emotions he's been expecting at all.
"So," Haytham says. "Can you help?"
They're back at street level by now, ducking through alleys and side streets, following the directions Rebecca's feeding through Desmond's earpiece to get back to the van. "No," Desmond says. "The first dreams sound like they're a side effect of the apple, but the last one sounds like it was just a dream."
"It wasn't a dream," Haytham says. "It's not that hard to tell the difference."
"Look," Desmond says. "I get that you have issues with your dad, or something. But there's only five of us connected by the animus. Me, you, Altair, Ezio, and-" he stops abruptly, because he hasn't mentioned Connor yet, and he's pretty sure Haytham hasn't dug deep enough into his own memories to find out about him.
Luckily, Haytham doesn't even notice the slipup. "The first time we met, you said the... animus connects you to your ancestors. And the apple connects us to each other. My father's your ancestor- why is this impossible?"
"Because I've never been through his memories," Desmond says. "I never even heard his name before today."
Haytham doesn't say anything, but suddenly his head is pounding, and Haytham is pulling away from him, disappointed and angry. Their synchronization drops quickly, and Desmond can only guess how angry and disappointed Haytham must be for that to happen. It's as bad as the first time, and he has to stop and lean against a wall, panting for breath. He stays there for several seconds, until the pain abruptly peaks and then fades away completely, taking Haytham with it.
Desmond can't help but feel a little bad about not being able to help. But he's pretty sure that Haytham's dream must have been a normal one, because there's no way for another ancestor to suddenly connect to them.
Then again, until Connor, he would have thought the animus was the only way to add another ancestor. But Altair and the apple had proved him wrong there...
He makes it back to the van with no more complications, where his dad, Shaun, and Rebecca are waiting. Altair took himself and Ezio back to their own times before the group left the temple, so Desmond doesn't really expect to see them waiting there. He's still disappointed, though. If there's ever a time he could use some advice, it would be now.
"Are you alright?" his dad asks as Desmond climbs into the back of the van.
"Fine," Desmond says. "Why?"
"You fell off the top of the building," William says.
"I still made it." Desmond looks out the window as Shaun starts the van up.
"Barely," William points out. "And I notice you had some company up there."
For a second, Desmond thinks that- somehow- his father is talking about Haytham. He's got his denials and excuses half ready when he realizes he's talking about the blond man in the room with the battery. "Oh," he says. "Right. Who was that guy?"
"Daniel Cross," William explains. "A very dangerous man."
"Not all there in the head," Shaun adds.
"Oh," says Desmond, because it seems like they're all expecting something to be said.
"You're sure you're alright?" William asks, after only the barest second of hesitation. Desmond looks away from the window, right at his father, and he's surprised to see a hint of concern on his face.
"Yea," he says. Then- "Thanks."
William quickly covers the concern with a scowl. "Just be more careful next time," he says.
"Sure, dad," Desmond says. But he's smiling.
-/-
So, so many problems with Haytham... I have no idea where he's going to end up by the end of this, so I don't want to put in too much foreshadowing in any particular direction, but I don't want to put in too little either... it's very complicated. Clearly I just need to get my act together and decide what to do with him.