Edward doesn't find out Mary and Anne are imprisoned until it's almost too late to do anything about it. After the disaster at the Observatory, where Edward only just barely managed to avoid being captured himself (and only because Haytham and Connor turned up at the exact right moment), it took him ages to make his way to Tulum. It would probably have been easier to go somewhere else, but Edward knows it's where he needs to be. With Altair busy escaping Abstergo, the only assassins around are the ones from this century, and Edward finds himself with more and more questions all the time.

Maybe it's only natural. He's had both Altair and Desmond inside his head, the one for months now, the other for one slightly confusing day. He's seen the future through Ezio's eyes, and then there's every single moment he's spent with Haytham and Connor. He's heard their thoughts, seen the world from their point of view. It makes him think a little bit more about the assassin's creed he was so eager to dismiss when he first heard it.

When he finally reaches Tulum, though, he finds Ah Tabai on his way out, busily preparing to leave on a journey of his own. His face is grim, and he's clearly not in the mood for questions, so the only one Edward asks is, "What happened?"

Ah Tabai doesn't answer. Instead, he pauses and looks Edward over. "So," he says at last. "It seems you haven't been eaten by a demon after all."

"I-" this is such an uncharacteristic thing for the assassin to say that the only word Edward can force out is- "What?"

Ah Tabai beckons for Edward to follow him as he heads to the waterfront, where a ship is waiting. "Your legend has been growing," he says. "A few months ago I heard rumors that you could summon a wolf to fight at your side."

"A-" Oh, of course. Connor.

"And only a few days ago," Ah Tabai continues, "I spoke with a sailor who swore the wolf was actually a demon, and that instead of fighting for you, it devoured your soul and doomed you to an eternity of suffering at the hands of the devil."

"Oh," Edward says, and because the truth is that the wolf is actually his grandson, who hasn't been born yet, and who is sometimes a bear and sometimes an eagle and sometimes, on good days, a man… because of that, he says nothing else.

"Why are you here, Edward?" Ah Tabai asks.

"I have questions," says Edward. "And… an apology. When I first learned of your order, I made a lot of mistakes. But now-"

Ah Tabai holds up a hand. "Save your apologies," he says. "Actions speak louder than words, and-"

"And my actions haven't done me any favors, have they?" Edward interrupts.

"Well, no," Ah Tabai admits. "But I was going to say that you have a chance to show me that you have changed."

"You need a favor?" Edward asks.

"It's for Mary Read and Anne Bonny," Ah Tabai says. "They're being held captive in Kingston."

"And- I mean, I've known Mary for years, she's been in tighter places that prison. Why are we going in?"

"'We'," Ah Tabai repeats. "So you are coming with."

"Of course," Edward says. "But why-"

"Because a jailbreak is difficult when both the people trying to escape are pregnant."

"Pregnant," Edward repeats. "With- babies?"

"I had assumed you would be familiar with the concept," Ah Tabai says.

"Well, yea," Edward says. "I just… I'm trying to wrap my mind around the idea of Mary as somebody's mother."

Ah Tabai gives him a look that strongly suggests Edward shut his mouth, and- distracted by the news that the two women are both in prison and pregnant- actually does.

It's a trend that continues for most of the voyage to Kingston, and by the time they reach the prison, Edward's extremely worried about what they're going to find there. For all he knows, Mary and Anne could be dead already. Their execution dates are still a ways off, but there are lots of ways to die in prison other than a noose. And giving birth isn't easy even under the best of circumstances.

But what he finds, after sneaking into the prison, past what seems like an army of guards, is worse than anything he had imagined. In all his imaginings, he'd never pictured the women looking like this- thin, ill, and more or less helpless. Anne's about to go into labor, and Ah Tabai appears to lead her away, pausing only long enough to instruct Edward to follow him with Mary.

Which Edward fully intends to do, but it takes him longer than he would have liked to get her on her feet and moving. And as soon as they do, it hits him- Mary's not going to make it. She's panting and shaking just standing there, leaning on him, and Edward can tell, just by looking. She doesn't want to leave. Whatever happened here, whether it's the months of prison time or the loss of her child (Edward doesn't ask, but he can add two and two, and the baby isn't here)… Mary has no intention of leaving this place.

"Come on, Mary!" he says. "Don't give up on me now!"

"No, Edward…" She tries to push him away, but she has about as much strength as a kitten. "I'm not going to make it."

"You will," Edward says. "If you just try." He picks her up, and she weighs almost nothing. "You're getting out of this place if I have to carry you myself." She doesn't answer, so Edward goes on, filling the silence. "Don't leave me alone," he says. "Everyone I've ever trusted is dead, or gone. You're the only one I have left."

Mary tries to laugh, but it turns into a hacking cough that scares Edward more than a little. "What about your friends from the future?" she asks. "The ones you told me about?"

"Mary, those people are strange." His own attempt at laughter is hardly better than hers was. "I need you to help me deal with them."

"You'll do fine on your own," Mary says, and her eyes start to slide close. Edward can feel her slipping away, but before he has a chance to really panic, someone new comes running in, panting and covered in blood. For a second he stares at Edward, and Edward stares back. Even Mary opens her half closed eyes to see what's going on.

"Edward," says the new guy, and Edward squints at him, trying to place the voice.

"…Desmond?"

The man nods. "Yea... but, um..." he glances at Mary. "Altair sent me to get you back to 2013… Is this a bad time?"

"Kind of," Edward says. "I'm only trying to save her life."

"Oh." Desmond walks closer and reaches a hand out- then he pulls it back, wipes the blood from his hands. Edward glances past him and sees the dead bodies of half a dozen guards on the floor. He'd been careful to leave no trace on his way in, but standing here now with Mary in his arms, he's not sorry to see the bodies. Desmond holds out his hand, cleaner now, and presses it to Mary's forehead. "She's burning up," he says.

"I know."

"She's not going to make it," Desmond goes on. "She's sick and there's no medicine-"

"I know," Edward says. "But I have to try."

"Yea!" Desmond says. "I know, what I was going to say is that there's no medicine in this century."

Edward opens his mouth- closes it again. "You think there's stuff in the future that can help her?" he asks.

"I don't know," Desmond says. "But I think getting her out of this place is going to do more to help her than anything else we could possibly do."

"Okay," Edward says. "Do it. Please."