Finally. I'm so glad I'm done with this chapter.

Enjoy!

Before sleep could completely take Desmond as his mind faded in and out of consciousness he was suddenly shaken awake by Ezio halting apruptly as if startled.

Desmond weakly turned his head to where the noise that startled the two Master Assassins had come from to see Vidic standing in the hallway, pointing a weapon at them.

So he was still alive. he thought dejected.

"How are you alive?" Altair wanted to know. "I checked your pulse, you were dead!"

"Oh, yes. This body was strong and easy to handle. It is a shame that you damaged it. Now I have to find a new one." there was a disturbing expression on the old man's face. Desmond couldn't name it at all.

What is that bastard talking about? It doesn't make sense. Desmond's tired mind raced with questions, trying to find the most logical solution. But there was no time to find one as that psycho still pointed a weapon at them and he was pretty sure that the two time travelling Assassins didn't have one on them.

Desmond squeezed his limbs around Ezio's body as much as he could to signal him to move. Fortunately the man understood and the two men bolted around a corner before the shot rang through the white walls. Desmond squeezed his eyes shut, the dizziness returning from moving so fast as he was lowered to the ground again, his mind now more lucid again. He turned his head when he heard someone cursing beside him.

"Merda! Why did you not use the orb on him again?" Ezio spat at the Syrian, cursing while pressing a hand to his side where blood soaked his white clothes.

"It's not as easy to use the Apple as you may think." Altair spat back angrily as he tried to stop the blood as best as he could.

"E-Ezio." his voice was a rasping sound. Shit! Shit! What am I gonna do? His mind panicked and it must have shown on his face as a bloody hand came up to cup his cheek.

"It is alright, tesoro. This is nothing, I had worse." the Italian gave him a smile that was supposed to be reassuring but looked more pained than anything else.

They heard more footsteps approaching.

"We need to hurry!" Altair guided Desmond on his back before giving Ezio one more stern look. "Can you run?"

"Of course." the heavy accented voice was stained but determined. He pulled himself up before they continued down the corridor.

They didn't come far horever when another few pair of footsteps could be heard. They were approaching fast and the trio was moving too slow. At this rate they will never escape this building alive.

Ezio suddenly stopped, grapping the other's attention who also stopped to see what's wrong.

"I will only slow you down. I will stay and provide you with as much time as I can manage."

Desmond's eyes went wide. He couldn't really voice out his complaint right now so he only stared into the chocolate brown that stared back at him. An apology. Then that brown snapped up at the other Assassin with urgency and determination.

Altair nodded at the Italian before shifting so that he got a better hold on Desmond and without a glance back he started running again, leaving behind an injured Ezio.

"W-Wait!" Desmond started to struggle on the other's back to let him down. They couldn't leave Ezio behind!

"Desmond, stop!" Altair snapped at him. He was on edge with trying to get them out of this alive.

But Ezio will... he'll die! Not even Ezio can handle that many Templars and they have guns! Ezio was injured, too! His whole body hurt as he struggled against the hold the other Assassin had on him but this pain was nothing compared to the ache in his heart when he thought of losing Ezio. I don't want to leave here if it means Ezio will die!

"Desmond!" he warned before not being able to run further with the younger man struggeling so much so he set him down. "Ezio stayed behind so that we could escape! Do not let his sacrifice be in vain! We came here for you!" he tried to reason with Desmond. Time was running out.

"But..." he knew he should listen to the older man. He knew and yet...

"You Assassins are so annoying. I'm fed up with your games. How about you hand over the Apple and I will gift you with a quick death."

Their heads snapped in direction of the angry voice. Vidic!

"The other one even stayed behind to provide you with time and here you are, wasting the life that was sacrificed for you. Tz tz." He chided at them.

So Ezio is... Desmond didn't dare finish the thought.

"Hand over the Apple or I will shoot the boy." he warned with one hand pointing a gun at Desmond and the other stretched out, waiting impatiently.

Altair only hesitated a second before approaching the man with the Apple. He couldn't see Desmond's panicked eyes snapping up at him, following his movements in a daze before bolting forward to grap into the man to pull him out of the way. It was too late. Desmond flinched when the shot fell and Altair sank to his knee, holding his leg.

"See? That was not so difficult now was it?" Vidic rolled the orb in his hand with a satisfied smile.

Desmond watched the gun being pointed at Altair and he squeezed his eyes shut as he knew what was to come. He didn't want to see it. He didn't care about himself but he couldn't watch the other man die. Tears escaped his closed eyes.

"Altair." he wailed. If this was a dream he wanted to wake up. Wake up! He felt a rough hand grap his own and squeeze tightly. It was meant to calm him but there was no way to calm or reassure him now. Desmond wished they had just killed him the past days in that steril white room where he screamed for mercy. This was the worst torture he had to go through.

He didn't even register the shot anymore but he knew what he would see would he open his eyes now. The hand in his own had gone limp before it slid out of his hold. So he just sat there with his eyes closed, waiting for the inevitable as silent tears rolled down his face.

He jerked awake, panting heavily and the images of the dream still dancing in his vision as a rough but gentle hand in his hair and a pair of lips against his forehead tried to calm him down. His vision was blurry from tears and he squeezed his eyes shut to clear them out.

"Sshh. It is alright, Desmond. You are safe."

An Italian voice found its way through his dream dazed mind as he blinked several times to adjust his vision. His heart started to speed up even more than it already was from the nightmare when he looked into the brown eyes of Ezio, very much alive. His breathing only increased, close to hyperventilating. He found himself in the Italian's arms, his hands rubbing soothing circles on his back as he tried to calm the youngest man down.

"E-Ezio." Desmond breathed out, still not believing that it had only been a dream. His tears wouldn't stop but he didn't care anyway. His arms wrapped around the other man's neck tightly.

When he finally calmed down they released each other from the embrace.

"Trust me, tesoro mio. You are safe." Ezio's smile was blinding to his tired eyes.

Was it true? This wasn't another dream? Not like the ones he had back in his cell, either? Was it really over?

The door to his room opened and Desmond almost expected Vidic to walk in but instead he looked into another face he so desperately wanted to see again. It felt like it had been months since he last saw them. Maybe it really had been months, he couldn't tell.

Altair closed the door behind him and Desmond only now noticed that he held a glas of water that was already held to his lips in the next second.

"How do you feel?" Altair asked as he sat down on the bed, the mattress creaking with the added weight. Ezio in turn got up from the bed to give them some space and instead settled on a chair beside them.

As Desmond was gulping down the refreshing liquid he coughed from being too eager. When his first attempt to speak failed he wet his chapped lips and tried again.

"Better... I think..." He wasn't sure. He was tired mostly.

"We had you take some medicine for the pain and the fever." Altair explained while continuing to carress his cheek where Ezio had stopped.

Fever? He didn't remember that.

"How long... was I out?"

"Since the night we got you out it as been almost a week. You had high fever which finally broke yesterday."

Desmond nodded absentmindly. He couldn't shake the images of that nightmare from his mind.

"Vidic... is he...?" he wanted, no, needed to know.

"If you are referring to the man that looked like he was the Head Templar then yes, he is dead like the others that were exposed to the Apple. I have checked his pulse to make sure." Altair answered. Desmond let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in relieve.

"Have the others said when I'm to go back into the Animus?" he really didn't want to go back in there and by the way the two Master Assassins features darkened they didn't like it either. But what choice did they have.

"You only just woke up, Desmond." Ezio looked baffled.

"You will not go back into that machine." the Syrian's sudden commanding tone took Desmond aback. His features immidiately softened though and he let out a sigh. "We will talk about this when you are feeling better." he made sure his tone signaled the younger that they were not going to talk about this further right now.

Both Assassins got up to leave and were already out the door when a woman's voice could be heard.

"He's awake? Can I talk to him for a bit?" it was Rebecca's voice. There was silence. Ezio and Altair were probably not too happy to deprive Desmond more of his much needed rest.

"Great! I won't be long, promise!" she said without waiting for a reply. Desmond could only imagine their faces right now and he couldn't help but smile at that.

"Hey, what are you smiling to yourself about?" she wanted to know as she closed the door behind her and sat down on the bed where the other two had been sitting a while ago.

"Because you're probably the only one who can talk back to those two and not be killed."

She smiled sweetly back at him but it quickly gave way to a sad expression.

"Are you still in pain?"

"Everything's stiff and throbbing mostly. Exactly what kind of drugs did you give me?"

"When... I saw your injuries as Ezio was holding your unconscious body in his arms like your were dead I told Shaun to get the strongest stuff he could find so... don't ask me." she smiled sadly.

"Thanks, I guess." he laughed as best as he could with how powerless he felt. "I asked those two just now but didn't really get an answer when I asked when I'm going back in the Animus."

Rebecca's face fell at the question. Great, he was awake for a few minutes and already made the three most important people in his life sad. Way to go Desmond.

"Des. We're all not too eager to let you back in after... you know. But it were the two big guys that stood up to Will and told him he'd have to get through them first if he wanted you in the Animus." she happily told him.

He cringed at the mention of his father but he also felt warmth spread through his chest at the thought of the two Master Assassins standing up for him.

"Des, believe it or not but they care for you. Deeply. Ezio had not left your side for longer than maybe ten minutes since we got you back and Altair made sure no one bothered you while you slept. Gods, he was ready to strangle Shaun when he wanted to see if you were awake enough to eat."

"Who doesn't want to strangle Shaun?" he joked.

"Glad you're feeling better." she laughed. "But you get what I mean. Give it some thought and maybe talk to them about it. You may regret it if you don't."

He'd never seen Becca this serious before.

"Are you speaking from experience?"

"Yeah..." she fell silent long enough for him to think she wouldn't go deeper into detail. But she continued in the end. "He was a field Assassin. I was scared he didn't feel the same way. Someday, a report said he had died on a mission and I regretted to never have told him. I still do."

"I'm sorry." he didn't know what else to say. This was the first time Rebecca was talking about her personal life with him but it also made him happy to know she trusted him enough to tell this story.

"Don't be." she smiled again. "I think Altair will strangle me if I stay here any longer. Get some rest and don't stress yourself out over what I just said. Just give it a thought."

"Okay." he'll probably still stress himself out over it though.

Even though he was tired as hell sleep didn't come for an hour or so. There was too much to think about. And he realized too late that Rebecca had tactfully avoided his question when he asked about him going back into the Animus.

"Damn." he cursed at himself for not noticing.

Well, he was going to find out soon enough.

After he had woken up the next day to his bladder screaming at him, he quickly realized it was not an easy task to do with only your thumbs. The cast around his fingers mostly covered his entire right hand and the bandage around his stump was also big enough to render the rest of his fingers useless.

He'd love to have a shower now but without help that would be impossible so he just stared at the shower and then at his bandaged hands before deciding to go back to bed to rest some more until he came up with an idea on how to get dressed.

Not long after he made himself comfortable under the blanket to stare at the ceiling the two time travelling men marched in. One with a bowl of soup in hand.

Ezio sat down on the bed to hold out the soup.

"Rebecca made this. It's not much but it is better than the things I have seen you normally eat."

"Thanks." he just now realized how hungry he was as he sat himself up with some help and thankfully took the bowl. The smell made his mouth water.

Becca is the best. He thought with a smile. His smile turned into a frown when he remembered that he couldn't hold the spoon with those hands.

As if reading this mind Ezio took hold of the spoon, dipped it into the soup and guided it to Desmond's lips, who gratefully took it without commenting on it.

With the Italian feeding him and Altair sitting silently in the chair beside the bed, reading some kind of notes Desmond thought that now was probably the best time to bring up the things he wanted to talk about. Though he was currently distracted by the fact that those two looked ridiculously hot in modern clothes. Altair was wearing a dark gray long-sleeved shirt with a closed collar you could pull up like a scarf. His sleeves were pulled up a bit even though it was pretty cold already. Both of them were wearing loose jeans that still fit their muscular legs perfectly. Ezio wore a white shirt with a collar quite similar to the one he had always worn back in his time to let his necklace show only with a red light-checked hooded jacket on top which made it look like a two-piece.

When Ezio raised an amused eyebrow at him as he caught Desmond eying the two from head to toe with what might be considered a languishing gaze, he blushed and reminded himself that he had planned to talk.

"Hey... uhm..." he started, his hands itching under the bandages. "I... wanted to talk to you two about something."

"Is this about you going back into that Animus?" Altair asked while Ezio continued to feed Desmond with a strangely content smile on his lips.

"Well... yes, that too..."

"You will not go back in. We will use the Apple instead." he stated as he placed whatever he was reading on the desk to give Desmond his full attention.

"What? The Apple? How?"

"We will use the Apple to receive the information you would get through that machine." he said it as if it were an obvious thing to do.

"No, but... wait, you used the Apple back at Abstergo?"

"Why are you surprised? I used the Apple before, you remember?"

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean it's safe to use. Anyway, we don't even know if it will help us at all." Desmond argued.

"Then we will try."

And with that the topic was done for Altair but Ezio was looking strangely at him as he put the now empty bowl to the side.

"That was not all you wanted to talk about, was it?"

Desmond's pulse immidiately quickened.

"Well, you know... uhm..."

Come on, Desmond! he encouraged himself. His eyes wandered through the room, trying to look everywhere but the two men.

"When... I ran. I mean before I ran, that thing between Shaun and me. I mean... did you understand?"

He constantly tumbled over his words. Ezio raised a confused eyebrow at him.

"Ah." He could almost see the light bulb above Ezio's head. "Maybe?" Desmond almost winced as the Italian had a mischievous sparkle in his eyes. "I wonder who it was that you were talking about?" Ezio teased as he leaned his head to the side and into his hand as his elbow supported him on his leg.

"That's... I mean... that was... about..." Desmond swallowed hard. "Forget it. It's not important." a defeated sigh escaped him and he could've slapped himself for backing out at the last second.

"Is it not?" Ezio's strong voice had him look up at the Italian. "Do you not feel the undeniable need to see that person? To see them smile? Do your fingers not itch with the urge to touch them? Are those feelings not important to you?"

Desmond had been so entranced with the other's voice and glowing eyes he almost flinched when the rough hand came up to carress his cheek. Even when Ezio's face came closer with every word that escaped his scarred lips, Desmond could not avert his eyes.

"I..." he forgot what he wanted to say.

"Do you not want to tell them how precious they are, that they matter? That you would give the world to them if you had the power? Do your lips not tingle when they are not locked with theirs?

They were so close Desmond could feel the other man's breath on his lips and he resisted the urge to wet his own to get rid of this tingling sensation. He couldn't think. All his mind consisted of was - Kiss me! Kiss me! - and when he couldn't fight that longing anymore, he finally managed to swallow past that lump in his throat.

"I do." he breathed out.

And appearently that was the right thing to do because finally, finally he felt the lips he had craved for so long capture his own in a kiss that was far more than just a simple kiss. It was their frustration, longing and love all poured into this one kiss that had both of them breatheless by the time they parted for the need of air. Desmond was denied such luxury however as another pair of lips conquered his mouth.

"Did this answer all your questions, Desmond?" Ezio asked with a satisfied smile playing about his lips though his eyes told him he'd be glad to give more if more convincing was needed.

Desmond only nodded, not trusting his voice just yet as he whiped at his chin with the back of his hand where a string of saliva had escaped his mouth from the intensity of the kiss.

"When you were captured... we feared for the worst." Ezio kept stroking Desmond's cheek while gazing into his eyes like he'd wanted to get lost in them. "I still remember the moment I saw my family hang and I will not lose you, too."

"Sorry." Desmond hung his head in shame. "For running away and for making you worry."

A hand grapped his chin gently to turn his face towards the Syrian, who leaned in to bring their foreheads together.

"It does not matter, habibi. What matters is that you are safe now."

Desmond let out a sigh of conent as he closed his eyes. When was the last time he had felt like this? Most of his life he'd been running, fighting. There were still some matters that he needed answers to but that could wait at least one more day.

Altair pulled back and Desmond's eyes widened when he saw the Assassin undress until a very well built and very naked Master Assassin stood before him. He gaped when Ezio did the same.

Isn't this escalating a bit quickly? he asked himself in a slight panic before Altair pulled back the blanket and expactantly waited for Desmond to make some room.

"What I would give to know what kind of inapropriate thought is going through your pretty head." Ezio smirked down at him as he started to crawl onto the bed, too.

Desmond didn't think any more blood could gather in his cheeks as he reluctantly made room for the two Assassins. "Not my fault you're suddenly stripping down to nothing in front of me." he grumbled out. "What're you doing anyway?"

"What do you think?" came the Italian's voice now from behind him.

"You can't be thinking about sleeping? It's the middle of the day!" he tried to reason as he looked down at Altair. The Syrian had made himself comfortable by now with his hands behind his head and merely shrugged his shoulder as an answer.

"Just sleep, habibi." the Syrian said with a low voice as he curled one arm around Desmond's naked waist to pull him down against his chest.

Desmond huffed while trying to awkwardly get comfortable against the muscled chest.

"You didn't have to go completely naked though." he murmured but knew they heard him by the hint of a smile on Altair's tired face and the fibrations of a chuckle at his back as the Italian pressed against him, his arms around the smaller man's chest.

Sleep came surprisingly fast as he revelled in the warmth of two strong bodies pressed against him.

"Shit." he cursed after he had practically sprinted into the bathroom to not let the two Assassins know of his little problem. It was no surprise he's wake up with a hard-on when sleeping skin to skin with two naked guys he'd been lusting over for far too long.

Now how was he going to take care of it? His hands were useless.

I can't even jerk off like this. He whined inwardly as he stood half naked in the bathroom. This is just sad.

He jumped when there was a knock on the door and he prayed to all the gods that whoever it was, they would not come in. Most locks on the doors in this building were quite old and mostly broken.

"Desmond? Are you alright?" it was Altair's accented voice that sounded concerned.

"I'm coming in." he announced.

"No!" but the other was already closing the door behind him. Desmond didn't dare turn around.

"I thought you might need help. I also brought this just in case you wanted to take a shower." he held up a small plastic bag and a rubber band, probably to make the case on his hand waterproof.

"I... uh... yes."

Knowing that there was nothing he could say to make the man leave he accepted his fate.

Fortunately, the small shock from before and his nervousity calmed his little problem down fast enough so that he was able to turn towards the other as Altair pulled the plastic carefully over Desmond's hand and secured it around his wrist with the rubber band. He was glad the older man had at least the decency to put some pants on before coming in.

"What about this?" Desmond aksed while holding up his now four-fingered and bandaged hand.

"We will clean it afterwards. It is fine if the bandages get wet." the other explained as they made their way to the shower and Altair took off his pants again before pulling the smaller man back by hooking a finger into the waistband of his underwear as Desmond was about to enter the shower.

"Are you planning to shower like this?" an amused grin pulled at his lips as he slid the piece of cloth down Desmond's tense legs. Desmond sucked in a breath when the other's fingers brushed against his skin.

They entered the shower, Desmond consciously with his back to the other man as he waited for the water to hit his skin. He tensed when a hand started to wash his back but quickly got used to the slow rythmic motion. Altair seemed to want to take his time and it quickly started to feel like a massage.

"Tell me about yourself."

Desmond was so lost to the blissful feeling of the other's hands running so gently over his body that he almost jumped at the sudden request. Now that Desmond thought about it, he may know a lot about these two but they knew almost nothing about his life. He didn't even know where to start.

"What do you want to know?"

"How did you become an Assassin?"

"Well, as you may already know my dad is the Mentor so I grew up on a farm together with a few other Assassins under my father's training." he glanced back over his shoulder in a silent question and the nod he received told him to continue. "I ran away when I was a teenager though."

"Why?"

"I couldn't take it anymore. The training was hard and no matter how hard I tried it was never enough for him. Back then I didn't believe all these things about Assassins and Templars. I wanted nothing to do with it."

"I do not know what your father is capable of as a Mentor but I do not like him."

Desmond chuckled at this. Not that it was a surprise. Altair Ibn-La'Ahad didn't like many people and William was not a person that was easy to warm up to.

Desmond tried to ignore the rough hands slowly sliding down his lower back, over his hips and along his legs in favor of continuing his story.

He gulped.

"I-it's not like we are on terribly bad terms. It's just that for a long time I thought he was crazy and we just mostly don't agree on things."

Altair let out a sympathetic hum.

"After I ran away I worked here and there and got myself an apartment until Abstergo found me a few years later and... well, that's where the story with the Animus started."

"Have you ever regretted leaving the farm?" his voice was suddenly sensually deep and right beside Desmond's ear, sending a tingling sensation through his entire body and ended in his groin. The taller body was now pressed against his back as its hands snaked around his torso to continue cleaning. The hardness pressing into his lower back made it obvious that Desmond was not the only one affected.

"Yes." he swallowed hard. The hands moving over his chest too erotic to ignore as they not so accidentally grazed one of his nipples from time to time. "I f-felt pathetic for being captured so easily and regretted not believing dad. Same when I ran out because I was too scared to tell you guys that I... cared about you two. I felt that it was my own fault and I deserved what-"

He was suddenly spun around and pressed against the wall. The other had a finger under his chin to make sure the smaller man would look into his eyes.

"You have nothing to feel guilty about, Desmond. You are not pathetic. You could not have known about the consequences of a decision you made years ago. And I have seen many men break by the hands of Templars." His body pressed closer to Desmond's, chests touching and the smaller couldn't hold back the groan that escaped him when their half hard members touched. "I am proud of you and if you think you are not worth anything, remember that you mean the world to us, habibi."

Desmond couldn't have commented on it even if he knew how as the hand on his chin now cupped his cheek while the other hand ran determinedly down his chest and rough fingers slid across his already hardening sensitive flesh before closing around it. Desmond gasped.

"W-wait!"

"Sshh. It's alright, habibi. Just relax." he whispered against the other's lips before claiming them in a heated kiss.

Desmond's knees trembled and his heart beat like crazy as the hand on his cock loosened in order to close around both their members again. He broke the kiss to throw his head back against the wall, not caring about the water hitting his face when a rough thump rubbed over the head of his erection, drawing an almost startled moan from his throat that echoed off the bathroom walls.

Their hips were grinding against each other and fingers roamed across the other's body in order to feel as much as possible.

The Syrian's mouth had long since found its way to Desmond's neck, placing a few butterfly kisses there before sucking harder on the heated flesh to leave his mark. The breath brushing against his wet skin threatened to burn him and the places the man's lips were locked onto burned and tingled, the sensation spreading through his chest downwards to gather in his stomach.

The intense pleasure that surged through his body made him dizzy.

"A-Altair. I'm-" his breathless warning was cut off when a pair of lips was pressed against his own once more and a tongue explored everywhere it could reach, successfully swallowing Desmond's next moan as he arched his back and spent himself into the other's hand and their stomachs with the taller man following right after.

The evidence was quickly washed away while both of them still catched their breath and Desmond could have melted right then by the way the older man gazed down at him like he was the most precious thing in the world.

Without another word but one more lazy kiss shared between them they got out of the shower and Altair helped him get dressed before Desmond finally broke the silence.

"Sorry."

The older man only looked at him in question.

"For being all awkward... I guess. I mean about... uhm... us." he nervously shifted from one foot to the other.

"What excatly do you mean?"

"Well, I get nervous easily and awkward. I'm not used to... this. I never had time for relationships and with all this shit happening never thought it would actually happen. I feel..." he paused.

"...scared?"

"Yeah..." he hung his head, and he wondered where he had gotten this habit.

"Our circumstances are... unsual. This situation is new for you... as it is for us and trust me I was confused, I was scared but I had a long time to think things through."

They walked together to the sink, Altair carefully unwrapping the other's bandages as he spoke and Desmond listened.

"What may have been merely days, weeks or months for you were years for me. You are thinking that you will lose us after doing something wrong because you have told yourself that these feelings you hold are in vain for so long. You fear to loose the things you thought to never have. But is that not what makes it worth the risk? You strife for happiness because it is worth it even when it only lasts for a moment."

Desmond thought he had known the man quite well but now he was sure he knew not nearly enough. He didn't know the other could be so gentle and those words melted his heart in a way that he thought must be the way Ezio always woed the ladies.

"Becca said something similar when she told me to finally speak to you two."

He hissed in pain when Altair held the stump under the water and cleaned it carefully. Desmond catched the man eying the red, ugly looking patch of skin that once was his finger and wondered what he was thinking about as he seemed to be lost in thought. The finger was not cut of very cleanly. Even clean and without all the blood it still looked disgusting. Desmond couldn't look at it for long before a strange kind of dizziness started to overcome him.

"Ezio and I. We were both searching for you. Even though knowing what I had to leave behind, I made up my mind and came to this time to be by your side."

Altair's other hand came up to carress Desmond's cheek and Altair stopped his motions to lean down and lock their lips together in a chaste touch of lips before pulling away reluctantly.

"So do not think that there would be anything you could say or do that would make us leave you again."

At this point Desmond couldn't even descripe how much he loved these two. He had been so scared of loosing them, still was, but he shouldn't let that get in his way to be as close to them as possible for the time being because there was not much time left until the date the world was supposed to end.

"You really took your time." Ezio pouted at them as Desmond and Altair entered the bedroom. "Do not think you can have him all to yourself, old man." he said warningly to Altair.

"I'm barely older than you." the Syrian countered with his arms crossed over his chest.

Desmond chuckled so Ezio turned his attention to the younger Assassin, cupping the other's face with both hands.

"Are you alright, Desmond? I was worried when you suddenly ran out."

"I'm fine, Ezio, really."

And Desmond smiled. Really smiled. It was strange to genuinely smile instead of the half hearted smiles he showed most of the time.

Ezio's eyes went wide.

"Mio dio!" he whispered before turning to the oldest Assassin with accusing eyes. "What did you do to him, old man?"

Altair frowned.

"What are you talking about?"

Ezio didn't answer however. He instead growled out something unintelligibly before pressing his lips to the smaller man's and taking his lower lip between his teeth, eliciting a pained yelp from Desmond.

"Mi dispiace. That smile was just irresistable." the Italian grinned at him before his expression turned a bit more serious. "Rebecca was just here. Your father wishes to speak with you."

The younger man's face immidiately fell, much to Ezio's dismay. Desmond sighed.

"Well then let's not let him wait any longer."

The three of them marched down the stairs and into, what you might call a main hall to find only Shaun, Rebecca and William working there.

William Miles looked up from his paper he was reading to stare into Desmond's eyes, seemingly void of emotion but at a closer look one could see the man's eyes scanning over his son's body before they softened just a tad.

"Hello, son."

"Hey, dad."

Desmond shifted his weight a bit awkwardly. He hadn't seen his father since he had run away from the farm. They had talked with each other on the phone occassionally when Lucy had called him because of business with the brotherhood. It was mostly his father asking if he was doing fine because he knew that's what a father was supposed to ask in that situation.

"How do you feel?" the Mentor asked and Desmond thought this was the first time he ever experienced his father being concerned.

"My... hands still hurt quite a bit when Shaun's wonder drug wears off but otherwise I'm fine."

Inwardly he laughed at himself. He was not fine at all but it's not like whining in front of his dad would change anything.

William in turn raised a questioning eyebrow at the Brit. Shaun only shrugged innocently.

"I'm sure you were informed that we won't use the Animus for now. I don't support using that dangerous artifact instead of the Animus but on the other hand I'm glad you can heal up and we could safe time.

"So, do we know what we're searching for at least?" Desmond asked.

"More or less. Some of our Assassins found a temple of sorts, an remnant of the First Civilization but it seems to be locked. We need a key."

"And as we know those guys the key could look like everything." he finished his father's sentence. It was true that the First Cilivization had a habit of making simple objects totally strange looking.

"Unfortunatelly, yes. But that is what we want the Apple to show us."

"The only question is, will it work?"

"If it doesn't we have no choice but to use the Animus again." William feel silent right after as the two time travelling Assassins stepped in front of Desmond, glaring at the Mentor with a warning that they will not let Desmond go back in.

"Okay." was all Desmond had to say. He wasn't surprised by his father's words. It was a fact that the Animus was, apart from the Apple, the only way to help them stop the catastrophe that stood before them. "What now?"

"I would have prefered you to rest up some more but we're running out of time, especially if the Apple won't work so we will test it out immidiately."

Desmond nodded as he followed his father, with his two lovers in tow.

The crew sat together on the table, each looking more uneasy than the other. There were, apart from from the usual team, other Assassins sitting on the table that Desmond hadn't seen before. Probably some high ranking guys.

"Let us hope this is not going to kill us all." one of the Assassins said with a gruff voice.

The Apple was placed on the table. Everyone looked expectantly at Desmond. He took a deep breathe before nervously reaching for the orb.

As soon as his skin touched the cold metal a bright light emerged from it and illuminated the entire room. Everyone held up their arms in order to shield their eyes.

When they all dared to look again the eyes of those that were not used to seeing First Civilization "magic" went wide. Where the Apple still emitted a faint light towards the ceiling was a picture or hologram floating before them. It was a small area that looked like a farm with a big house.

Desmond's eyes went wide and he let out a sound of surprise.

"I know that building!"

"You do?" his father raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah, that's uh... Davenport Manor or what's it called. I've seen it many times in Connor's memories."

"Appearently Connor lived there with a man named Achilles Davenport, who had been Mentor of the Colonial Brotherhood back then." Shaun, as always, had all information Desmond had gathered in the Animus memorized.

"Can we be sure that what we're searching for is actually there? It didn't show us any specific location of an item." William asked with a worried tone.

"Unfortunately not."

William heaved a big sigh before pinching the bridge of his nose because of the upcoming headache. He glanced at his son and when their eyes met he kept staring at Desmond as if heavily contemplating something before turning towards the rest of the group.

"Fine. We will immidiately depart and search that area thoroughly. Let us hope this is not a total waste of time."

With that everyone hurridly got ready to depart. They made their way to the aiport to take the earliest flight they could get.

The team consisted of Desmond, William, Shaun, two other Assassins and of course Ezio and Altair, because they would never let Desmond leave with the idiot Brit, his dad and two strangers alone.

At the airport Desmond kept glancing at his father while walking close behind him. It was on instinct. He didn't like places like these. Too much "security" managed by Abstergo around.

When they slowed down because they were waiting for their belongings to get checked, Desmond took the chance to talk to William.

"Earlier you... you were contemplating if we should take this risk or have me go back in the Animus, right?"

William only hummed to show him that he acknowledged what he said but not really agreeing. He didn't need to.

"Thanks for deciding that my life is worth the risk for you."

The older man stopped walking and turned towards his son. His old eyes held a strange sort of determination.

"You are my son. Your life is always worth more than anything to me, Desmond. It's just that this is not only about us. The existence of whole humanity is at stake. But I will not regret the choice I made, regardless if we find what we're searching for or not."

Desmond just stared at his father, speechless. He never even dreamed of hearing such words from his dad. He heavily gulped down the lump in his throat.

That dream-like moment was interrupted by an alarming sound setting off behind them. Desmond whirled around to see Ezio standing there, confused and surrounded by security aiming weapons at him.

Don't tell me...