It's not Haytham's first time breaking into Abstergo. It's a lot easier now than it was the time he had to plant fake papers for Altair before he was hired. Breaking into anywhere is easier the second time, but there's also a general atmosphere of chaos that wasn't there before. "Guards aren't even in place," he scoffs as he, Connor, and Ezio avoid the cameras and make it inside.
"You sound disappointed," Ezio says.
"I don't like it when things go too smoothly," Haytham says. "It just means something's going to go wrong later."
"I wouldn't worry about that," Ezio says. "Have you heard our plan? It will be a miracle if nothing horrible happens."
"Let's just get this over with," Connor says, and the three of them hurry downwards.
Abstergo has a lot of basements. Layers and layers of basements, and at the bottom- cryo chambers, all filled with bodies. It takes a while to circumvent the increasingly harsh layers of security to get there, but it's not enough to keep two master assassins and a templar grandmaster out. When they finally reach the very lowest layer, though, Haytham almost wishes they hadn't made it. It's dark, small, cramped, and filled with see through tubes, each one holding a human body.
"Why would anyone do that?" Connor breathes, staring at the nearest tube.
"It preserves the body," Ezio says. "Abstergo collects people with interesting ancestors. Just in case. Where do you think they get what they need for their 'sample 17' project?"
"Remember those files Altair found when he did his hacking?" Haytham adds. "The information was all in there." He looks over at Ezio. "Is this going to work?"
"It has to," Ezio says.
"So you have no idea," Haytham says flatly.
"Look," Ezio growls. "You didn't see what I saw in the apple. He's suffering in there, and I'm not leaving him there any longer than I have to. His body is here, his mind-"
"What's left of it," Haytham interrupts.
"Is in the apple," Ezio says loudly, ignoring said interruption. "All we need to do is reunite them, and we get Desmond back."
"We have to try," Connor says, and Haytham sighs. Honestly, he's still not convinced that this will work. It's a little late for second thoughts now, though.
"Alright," he says. "Ezio- do your part."
They find the tube with Desmond's body near the back of the room, and Ezio sits down next to it, leaning against the wall and closing his eyes. He looks for all the world like an old man stopping for a rest, but Haytham knows he's trying to focus on getting the apple to do something very difficult.
Haytham and Connor stand guard. For a few minutes, they do so in silence, then Connor asks, "Do you ever think you might want an apple?"
Haytham laughs. "No. They're nothing but trouble."
Connor nods, and glances behind him at Ezio. "I agree," he says.
They don't speak again, and Ezio stays completely silent as well. After a while, Haytham turns around to ask if the Italian's made any progress, but stops abruptly before he can get a word out. For a while, he's been aware of the apple's light growing behind him, but that's become so commonplace, he barely notices.
But this… what he sees behind him is nothing he's ever seen before. Ezio still sits on the floor, and Desmond is still in his tube. But between them, connected to both by tendrils of brilliant golden light, is the apple. Sort of. Instead of being housed inside a metal case, the apple is made of nothing but light- the same kind as the golden light.
Connor sees him shift, and turns around. "What-"
As though his word is a trigger, the apple abruptly explodes in a soundless eruption of light. Haytham staggers back a few steps, shielding his eyes from the sudden assault. The light lasts no longer than a second or two, but even after that's gone, Haytham's blinking and trying to clear his vision for another full minute.
There's a crater in the floor, and both Ezio and Desmond- free of the destroyed remnants of the cryo tube- are lying inside it. Neither of them is moving, but Haytham can see slight movements that tells him they're both breathing.
"They're alive," Connor says, like he can't believe it.
"But maybe not for much longer." Haytham can hear footsteps coming down the stairs behind them. A lot of footsteps. "Someone must have seen that." He growls to himself, and readies his weapons. Security cameras are not his favorite twenty first century invention.
"That's what we're here for," Connor says, and takes his place next to Haytham, waiting for the first of the footsteps to arrive.
-/-
Plan part 2- Ezio gives the apple back to Desmond