Edward's not having a good week.
Actually, he's pretty sure this might be the worst week he's ever had, and he's had some pretty bad ones. Maybe, when he gets out of here, he'll stop by a tavern, get himself some drinks, and maybe the whole thing won't look quite as bad.
If he gets out of here.
"You'll get out fine," Altair snaps in his head. "Calm down."
Edward's spent the last week waiting for Connor to wake up (and, come to think of it, that's probably something he should probably mention to Altair when they have a second where he's not dying). Just today, after finally getting inside the Observatory he's been chasing after for years, he was betrayed by Roberts and trapped in the place. Now he's treading water in an ancient, hidden building, hoping there's a way out of this. He's really not in the mood to listen to Altair telling him to calm down, and he very nearly says it out loud before forcing himself to swallow the words down. Judging by the man's tone, and how distracted he seems right now, he's probably not going to listen anyway.
So instead, Edward takes half a second to dig through Altair's recent memories, which turns out to be a good thing. It looks like he's having an even worse week than Edward. "What are you even doing in the animus right now?" he asks. "Shouldn't you be getting out of the building before John tells security to go after you, or something?"
"Yes," Altair says. He sounds like he's only half paying attention. Edward guesses that the other man is probably more interested in figuring out how to get out of Abstergo alive than in this conversation. Which is only fair, because Edward is more interested in figuring out how to get out of the Observatory than in this conversation. "But if something goes wrong, I may have to leave town for a while, and if that happens, I need you to let the others know what happened."
"Alright." Edward heaves himself out of the water and onto a nearby pillar. He doesn't see any way out of the place yet, but he's not going to just stay still and wait to die. He'll find something if he looks for long enough. "I'll tell them if I see them first." Not that he thinks for a second that Altair's going to have trouble getting out, not based on what he's seen from the man. He's halfway up the wall at this point, trying to make a tricky jump, when he suddenly remembers that he has news too. "Oh, hey-"
But it's too late. Message delivered, Altair logs out of the animus, leaving Edward alone in his head. Edward sighs and finishes, even though he knows there's no one around to listen. "…Haytham and Connor are here too, by the way. And Connor's… not doing so well."
Nothing he can do about it now, so Edward keeps climbing until he finds a way out of the Observatory. That's the good news. The bad news is that by this point he's exhausted, and when he gets back to the beach he's about ready to drop. And Roberts is waiting for him there with a loaded gun and a smile that makes Edward want to punch him.
"Roberts!" he yells, as soon as he's within earshot. It's mostly just frustration and anger, though. There's nothing he wants to say to the man that he couldn't say better with his blades.
"Kenway." Robert's smile only grows wider. "I'm glad to see you're still alive. It would be difficult to collect the bounty on your head if you were already dead."
The situation doesn't look good. He's surrounded, too tired to put up a decent fight, and Roberts doesn't look like he's going to give him the chance, anyway. That's when one of Roberts' men lets out a blood curdling scream, and everyone standing on the beach- Edward, Roberts, every last sailor- turns to stare as a wolf leaps at the man and tears out his throat.
After that, it's chaos. Connor rips through the sailors like some sort of monster (Edward makes a mental note to never make this comparison out loud), and Haytham- while a lot more subtle than his son- proves to be just as deadly. Edward tries his best to help, but he can barely stay on his own feet. Before he knows it, Roberts and most of his men are on the run, and Haytham's at his side to keep him from falling. "What just happened?" Edward asks.
"Long story," Haytham says. "Connor woke up. Finally." He casts a glance over at Connor, who's human again, but looking shaky and pale. "We heard something about Roberts going after the bounty on your head and came to see if you needed help."
"Well, you know. I could have taken them if I had to."
"Of course," Haytham says dryly. "Now let's get moving, unless you want them to take your ship."
"Hang on," Edward interrupts. "We have other problems." As quickly as he can, he explains what he learned from Altair. "He's in trouble," he finishes. "I mean, I'm sure he can take care of himself, but…"
"But it's about time we get back there anyway," Haytham says, nodding. "But I'm not sure how we can do that."
"I have an apple."
Edward and Haytham turn to look at Connor, who's standing several feet away, examining one of the bodies. "You've had it for a few days," Haytham says dismissively. "And you've been unconscious most of that time."
"Also kind of insane," Edward says.
Haytham shoots him a 'why would you say that' look and then turns back to Connor. "Nobody learns how to use the apples that quickly."
"But this is an emergency," Connor argues. "The apples have always been the most responsive when we absolutely need them."
"I'm just not sure you're up to it," Haytham says.
Connor gives him a long, flat stare, but doesn't speak. Instead, he starts to glow. Edward watches with interest, because he hasn't much of the apple at work before. It starts out slowly, then abruptly climaxes into something so bright Edward has to close his eyes and turn away. When the light fades, and he can look back, Haytham and Connor are gone.
For a long moment, he stares at the place where they were, feeling disturbingly alone. "Good luck," he says aloud, and turns to look for a way off the island.