Desmond has taken to climbing up the side of buildings when no one else is around. Altair and Ezio both tell him to stay inside, because he's supposed to be dead, because if anyone sees him, there's a chance it could get back to Abstergo, and- apparently- that would be bad. He's had it all explained to him, but it doesn't really mean anything yet. And he suspects they have another reason for wanting him inside.
They don't trust him.
It takes him a while to notice, because he doesn't have any other relationships to compare these to. He eventually figures it out by watching the way the other two act around each other and seeing that it's different from the way they treat him. There's a hesitation that shouldn't be there, a reluctance to leave him alone.
And they never, ever talk about the other two. About Connor and Haytham, the two assassins (no, Desmond has to remind himself, an assassin and a templar- but aren't the templars supposed to be the bad guys?) he accidentally sent away when he first woke up. He feels sick every time he thinks about it, to be honest, because all of them risked a lot to save him, and he paid them back with… this.
They want him inside, and Desmond does his best to respect that- he owes them a lot, and it's the least he can do. On the other hand, he's going stir crazy stuck inside, and climbing is the only thing that helps. There's something deep inside him that just clicks when he heads for the roof, something he thinks might be leftover from his old life. It's the only thing that gives him that feeling, so no matter how bad he feels about lying to Altair and Ezio, he keeps climbing.
One Tuesday, he finds himself on the apartment's roof, watching the neighborhood as a light rain turns into a downpour. He should be inside, but he can't really bring himself to care. So he just sits there, lost in thought, until someone abruptly sits down next to him.
"I thought I'd find you up here," Altair says.
"I'm sorry," Desmond says. "I know I'm supposed to be inside, but-"
"It's pouring out," Altair says. "I highly doubt anyone's watching."
"Oh." They sit in silence for a while, then Desmond says- "I'm sorry."
"I just told you it's alright," Altair says.
"Not that," Desmond says. "Everything. I know…" he hesitates. "I know I'm not the person you want me to be. I came back wrong." He doesn't have memories. Any memories. There are some things he woke up knowing. Basic things, things any child would know. How to talk, walk, eat- nothing personal. Everything he knows about himself is what other people have told him. "You brought me back because you thought I could help," Desmond says. "But I only made everything harder for you."
"It's-" Altair's expression is inscrutable. Then he shakes his head. "No."
"No… what?"
"We're not doing this," Altair says. "Alright? We didn't come get you because we wanted to use you. Is that really what you think?"
"Of course." Desmond wipes the water off his face, but the rain is coming down so hard by now that the gesture is basically pointless. "I know that what you're trying to do is important, I understand that." He's heard the story. He knows that the entire world is at stake. There's a crazy woman from millions of years ago, somewhere out there, plotting to steal the free will of every human alive. "I should be able to help. I would have been able to help, but instead I died, and now that I'm back…"
"Desmond," Altair says, and now he sounds almost annoyed. "We didn't ask for this, and I'm not going to lie to you. Yes, we were expecting something else when we went after you, but that is not your fault. We would have come for you anyway. We're family."
"Family," Desmond echoes the word, knowing the meaning but not understanding it. Sounds in his mouth that he has no connection to. There are a lot of words like that. Love, hate, loss, anger, hope, death… he knows he's alive, physically, but without these connections, without words to describe what makes him human, Desmond feels more like a ghost than a real person.
He thought that knowing his story would give him these connections, but even when Altair tells him who he is, he feels… nothing.
Family.
He doesn't feel nothing now. Sitting on the roof with Altair in the pouring rain, the word means something to him.
"Come on," Altair says, when they've been silent for a while. "Let's go back inside."
"No," Desmond says. "Wait. I need to tell you something."
"What?"
"It's about Connor and Haytham," Desmond says. "They're not dead."
Right away, without even looking at Altair, Desmond knows he's done wrong. He should have said something earlier, because that's what normal people do when they know someone who is apparently dead is really alive. He can't even explain to himself why he held back, only that until now, the moment hasn't felt right.
But when Altair does speak, his words are not the ones Desmond expects. There's no blame or anger in them at all. "Then what happened to them?"
"I sent them away," Desmond says. "They're in another universe."
"Another-" Altair shakes his head and sighs. "It doesn't matter. We're going to get them back."