Desmond and Altair listen in silence to the battle playing out somewhere above them. They're all the way down in the basement where Altair first saw Juno, and it's obvious that any help they could give would come too late. So all they can do is listen as Haytham is shot.
Altair curses quietly, and then speaks for the first time. "Connor," he says. "Tell me what's going on."
There's no answer for a long time, and when Connor finally answers, his voice is strained and raw. Desmond can't help but flinch, because he's only heard that tone once- when Connor and Haytham first came back to the 21st century, right before Connor lost control and ended up as a wolf. "He's not doing well," he says. "He needs to get out of here, now."
"Is he-" Edward's voice comes through, distorted by the technology and some unexpected emotion. "Is he going to make it?"
"Maybe." Connor growls in frustration. "I'm not a doctor."
"Then take him home," Altair says. "The rest of us will finish up here."
"Do you want me to come with?" Edward asks. "You sound… not good."
"I don't feel good," Connor admits. "But this is important-"
"I'll go," Ezio says. "Edward, you stay."
"But-"
"You're getting too upset," Ezio says quietly, and Desmond shakes his head. Being a Kenway seems very confusing, emotionally. "Don't worry. It'll be fine. Just go meet up with Altair and Desmond, I'll let you know when we're out."
So that's how Connor and Ezio end up on their way out of the building with a badly injured Haytham, while Desmond continues the search with Altair and Edward. The alarms are still going off all over the building, but none of the guards seem inclined to come down here. Of course, most of the doors they pass are level three security, and Desmond doubts the guards have clearance that high. Probably all the security down here is run off cameras and technology, not human beings.
Finally they get to a huge, empty room, and Altair stops in the doorway. "This is where I saw her the first time," he says.
"Why would she still be here?" Desmond asks.
"I don't think she would be," says Altair. "But we might as well…" he trails off as the lights flicker on and off around them. "Or on the other hand, she could just be waiting for us."
"I don't like the sound of that," Edward admits.
"Neither do I," says Altair, and moves forward. Desmond and Edward glance at one another and then hurry after him.
The only sound as they walk is their footsteps, and these are quiet and almost inaudible. Desmond keeps glancing over his shoulder; there's a weird feeling to the room that he can't quite put a name to but definitely doesn't like. The hair on the back of his neck stands on end, and he can almost feel an invisible pair of eyes on him.
"You came back," a voice says abruptly. It's a cold, female voice and at the sound of it, Desmond feels his stomach clench with nerves. He can't actually remember the day Juno killed him, but it's clear that some part of his body does, and it wants to get away from her. "And you brought friends."
She's standing between the three of them and the only computer in the room that Desmond can see, transparent and ghostly and lit with a golden glow that's almost but not quite the same as the light from the apple.
"That's her?" Edward asks. "Juno?"
Altair nods, and Juno gives him the same look most people would save for particularly annoying bugs. Maybe a mosquito or a gnat. "You have no business here," she says. "And you bore me."
"Hey!"
"Ignore her," Altair says, and after a few more grumbled complaints, Edward falls silent.
Desmond shifts uncomfortably as Juno turns her eyes on him. Altair's saying something, but he barely hears the words. Every cell in his body is screaming at him to run, and it's only through a supreme effort of will that he stops himself from bolting. He can't stop the apple from responding to his panic, though, Without any conscious effort on his part, the by now familiar golden lines burst into being all over his skin, drawing themselves onto his body in a process that should be painful but somehow feels almost comforting.
"They brought you back," Juno says, ignoring Altair. "But they brought you back wrong."
"I'm fine," Desmond mutters.
"They brought you back broken," Juno says. "You forget that my people were the ones that invented the apple. I know what you've been through." As she says this, she steps very close to Desmond. "The darkness. How long were you dead? How long did they leave you there?"
"Shut up," Desmond says, but it's halfhearted; at her words, he can feel the memory of the darkness rushing up to swallow him. "You killed me. It's your fault."
"I guess it is,' Juno says, and she's still smiling. "I bet you'd like revenge, wouldn't you? You'd like to kill me. That's what you all came here for, after all. But I promise you, whatever plan you have, it's not going to work."
"We'll find a way," Altair says, but Juno barely spares him a glance.
"You have a pretty good mastery of the apple, don't you Desmond?" Juno asks. The way she says his name sends chills up his spine. "I mean, you'd have to. How long did you live with your mind joined to one? Too long, I'm sure. But it's not all bad news." And she takes another step forward and whispers, "The only thing that can kill me the way I am now is the apple, and you're the only one with the mastery to wield it like that."
Desmond curls his hands into fists, and feels the apple's power surge within him. At that moment he wants nothing more than to let the power go, kill Juno, just make her go away.
She laughs. "But of course, you're only human." She steps back, her tone suddenly dismissive. "You're too weak to survive the process. Mentally, I mean. Physically you'd be fine, but you would spend the rest of your life in that darkness."
He remembers the emptiness, the loneliness, the hopelessness of knowing that the entire world is nothing but darkness. He remembers being so lost in the pain and the loss that he couldn't even hold onto his own name. He remembers all this, and feels the terror rise higher within him.
"And that's why I'll always be safe," Juno says. "I know you'll never be able to face that again. You will never have the strength to kill me."
"Don't listen," Altair says. "She's never told us the truth."
"I-" Desmond shakes his head. He can't bear to face the darkness again, but even more than that, he can't stand the thought of living in a world that still has her in it. "You're wrong."
And the apple's light explodes out of him, a wall of pure, raw power so primal and uncontrollable it physically hurts. Desmond opens his mouth to scream as the darkness comes rushing up to claim him.
-/-
As the number of essays I have to do before the end of the semester increases, the amount of chapters I end with killing/almost killing characters also increases. Honestly it's lucky this story is going to be done before finals start, or it would probably end in a massacre.