The wolf has waited a long time for this, but it's good at waiting. Better than the man that shares its head, better than the eagle or the bear. It's good at waiting, and it's strong, and now it has the body all to itself.
It's good, but the wolf has other concerns now. It's hungry, and tired of pacing the cramped room, and wary of the humans and their always present stench. The wolf should have left when it first woke up, and it doesn't know why it hasn't.
But it's still here, following the one human that the wolf knows it can trust. There's no reason to trust the man, but the wolf doesn't leave his side. The others, though… even if something keeps telling him they're good, the wolf stays wary and tense around all of them. The friendly feelings are just strong enough to keep it from lashing out at any of them, but it still doesn't want them close.
The wolf is asleep when someone settles onto the ground next to it, but the smell is familiar and it doesn't mind if this human is here. It doesn't even mind when the man starts to speak, because the words don't mean anything to it anyway.
"Hello. Connor. Ah-" The human coughs and goes on. "I mean, if there's anything left of you in there. I'm not sure anymore, but I'm going to explain what we're about to do, just in case. It's hard, though, because… I'm not good at admitting I was wrong. And I made a huge mistake when I let you keep drinking the tea. I should have stopped you, but I thought finding Washington's apple was important enough to risk it."
The wolf opens its eyes and finds the human staring straight at it, still speaking. "I was wrong. You're my son, and my first priority should have been to protect you. It's too late to go back and fix the mistakes I made, but I'm going to make it up to you now." He strokes the wolf absentmindedly behind the ears, and it leans into the touch slightly. "I'm going into your mind. Hopefully I'll find you there, and if I do, I swear I'll bring you back out."
"Are you ready, Haytham?" It's a new voice, and the wolf tenses, growls a little, but doesn't make a move.
"Yes."
And suddenly the room is full of golden light that smells like death and makes the wolf's fur stand on end. It jumps to up, but almost instantly sways as something stirs at the back of it's mind, and-
It blacks out.
In the darkness of his own mind, Connor takes a deep breath and lets it out shakily. For the first time in he doesn't know how long, the wolf is down and he has room to breathe. He sees nothing, hears nothing, feels nothing. He's not in a real place and he knows it- it's just a construct of his mind, a hiding place slowly being eroded as the wolf's control grows stronger.
He's going to die soon, and he knows it. This slow erasure isn't the way he wanted to go. Not that he's thought about his own death much. It's always seemed too distant to worry about, but Connor's sort of had the idea that he'd go out in a blaze of glory, fighting for a cause.
Looks like that's not going to happen.
In any other circumstance, Connor would have stood strong and stayed stoic. But this horrible, quiet death is no one's fault but his own, and there's no one around to see as he buries his face in his hands.
"Giving up already?"
"Dad?" Connor jumps to his feet, hardly daring to believe his own ears. The blackness is still impenetrable, but he knows what he heard. "What are you doing here?"
"Well-" something bumps against him and Connor feels a hand on his shoulder. It's something solid in the darkness and he can't pretend it doesn't come with a sense of relief. "The others are getting a little concerned about the wolf in the apartment that keeps growling at them. So I said I'd come get you out."
Haytham's tone is light, but that's what tells Connor something is wrong. He's never that upbeat in the middle of a crisis. "I'm sorry," Connor says. "You told me the tea was a bad idea the first time you heard about it but I kept using it, and now-"
"Connor!" Haytham says, and suddenly Connor can feel the hand on his shoulder pulling him closer, and another on the back of his head. When Haytham speaks again, his voice is a lot quieter, but a lot closer, too. Connor still can't see him, but they're so close he can picture Haytham standing right there, and it's a relief to know there's something solid in the world. "It's my fault too. I could have stopped you."
"Yea, right," Connor says.
"Really?" Haytham sighs. "We're arguing this now? Look, I came to get you out and that's what I'm going to do. As long as you make me a promise."
"What?"
"No more powers," Haytham says. "Not ever. No more wolf, or eagle, or bear. I'm going to drag you back into control, but they're all going to be waiting there, for the rest of your life, hoping you'll give them a chance to take over. Promise me that you'll never give them that chance."
"I swear," Connor says. "I promise."
It's like the words have some kind of power- instantly, the world starts to shake, and a golden light, the apple's light, is shining from everywhere and nowhere. Connor can see Haytham now, staring at him with a fierce protectiveness that he never expected to see from his father. And maybe that's what does it- in the safety of his own mind, Connor lets go and for the first time in decades, allows himself to cry. Haytham folds him into a hug that's somehow both awkward and real. "Thank you," Connor whispers, and hugs back. He doesn't let go for a long time, not even when the return of normal sound and natural light tells him he's back in the real world.
After a while, Haytham takes a half step back. "Are you alright?" he asks, and Connor nods.
After that, everyone else crowds around him, ready to welcome him back (or make snarky comments, in Shaun's case: "Well at least we won't have to worry about the shedding now"). It's a little overwhelming to have them all pressing in around him, even with Desmond gone, apparently to get Edward. After a few seconds, Connor breaks away from the crowd to talk to Ezio.
"Hey," he says. "Take my apple." The words come out all in a rush, because Connor knows he needs to do this now. The tea got harder to control after he had Washington's apple. He promised Haytham that he's going to stay in control from now on, and that's going to be easier without the apple.
"What?"
"It's hurting me, and it would help you," Connor says. He's already drawing the apple out of himself, the same way he saw Ezio do it in Abstergo when he gave Desmond's apple back to him. "You need it to understand everyone, right?"
"Yes," Ezio says, "But-"
It's too late. Before he can even get the argument out, Connor's balancing the golden sphere in his palm, arm held as far away from his body as he can manage. "Here." Ezio holds his hands out and Connor drops the apple into it. "It's yours now."
The whole room watches as the apple shimmers and vanishes like a mirage, and golden lines start to work their way up Ezio's arms and onto the rest of his body. Ezio curls his hands into fists, watching as the lines slowly fade. "Thanks," he says, testing the word out, deliberately enunciating the English word. Then, with more confidence- "It's good to have you back."
So they're all standing there, five assassins (and one templar), a brotherhood, when there's a sudden flash of golden light and a group of people, two men supporting a woman, fall into the twenty first century.
"Desmond?" Rebecca gasps.
"Edward-" Altair starts.
"We need a doctor," Edward says, his voice thick with emotion. "Or medicine, or something. Now!"
And that's one good thing about this group, Connor decides as they all move into action. Everything is crazy all of the time, and he's seen more impossible things in his lifetime than anyone should have to experience. But on the other hand, less than an hour ago he was trapped in his own mind while a wolf controlled his body. Now he's yesterday's news.
There's always some new crises.