Arriving in Brooklyn was never something Desmond had to worry about.

While Altaïr was able to that Fast Forwarding Memory thing, so long as Desmond was next to a train, bus, car, or physically standing next to or nearby plane, boat, or multi-structural vehicle he could fast travel. It wasn't always safe, since it meant there was a chance that someone could see him disappearing into thin air, but in Manhattan, so long as you didn't catch people's attention, they didn't give a shit.

From the homeless people that gathered under bridges, families walking in Central Park or on sidewalks, people wearing all different clothing on every corner-

There was such a visual feast for the eyes at any given moment that people rarely took notice of a lone stranger suddenly disappearing at the top of a building or in a back alley. Why should they?

Even so, there was always a chance that someone could be watching, and Desmond hadn't managed to stay hidden from Assassin and Templar eyes for so long by not being cautious. There was a second way to get around via teleporting, but it was a bit tricky, as there had to be an exact copy of a marking on the place where he was going. Or there had to be someone/thing there that would serve as an anchor.

"The best way to get around is by horse." Altaïr lectures. "They're steady companions, wise fighters, and should you take care of them, they'll in turn take care of you."

For whatever reason, Desmond and Altaïr rarely ever read the notes in front of them on screen when they fast traveled and preferred to talk to each other instead. Ah, well. They'd learn it eventually.

'Is that why you swear by صديق being the best horse ever?' Desmond asks as he sits down in lotus position, pulling out a map of Manhattan and Brooklyn, and focuses on the apartment block labeled 'Eli'.

Which was really cute, but if he was reading the notes he wouldn't need to use anything that could possibly be used as evidence, but that's fine.

"Obviously." Altaïr retorts. "And don't think I haven't noticed you just grabbing any random horse to hide when you need to suddenly travel far distances, either."

Desmond shrugs at Altaïr's jab and concentrates on the spot he wants to go, imagining sitting on the roof and recalling all the little details that he could, holding the image in his head.

With a sharp 'pop' noise and a metallic tinkle, Desmond had left the island of Manhattan for it's sister Brooklyn. Tucking his maps back in his backpack, Desmond made sure his grappling hook was well connected to the ledge before rappelling down the side of the roof, making his way down to Elijah's window. 'I never tried to hide the face that I travel by horse, I just think it would be nice to get around using a motorcycle. Much faster.'

Altaïr scoffs in disbelief but goes silent once Desmond makes it to Elijah's room, the fourth window on the row of the eighth floor, Elijah had decorated the outside of his window frame with spaceships and stars so Desmond would see it. Following the protocol they set up, Desmond knocks once on the glass, three times on the frame, once on the pane, then twice on the glass again.

There was a rustling behind the cobalt black out curtains, a thud then they were thrown open to reveal Elijah, whose blue-brown eyes glowed with excitement. "Dad! You're here!"

Desmond smiles widely at Elijah, hopping into the room from the window and unlatching his grappling hook just in time as Elijah's patience runs out and he full on tackles his Dad. Elijah wore a huge happy smile as Desmond's arms tightened around his waist. "I stayed in my room all morning waiting for you and Daddy. What took you so long?"

Desmond presses a kiss to Elijah's head, then mentally steps aside so Altaïr can do the same, giving him a second squeeze before setting Elijah down. "Sorry for the wait, Eli. We had a few incidents at the bar again."

Elijah scrunches up his nose, his long black braids swinging as he asks- "Was it Alex again?"

Before Desmond can respond, Altaïr takes control to answer a hissed, "Yes. And your Dad was too nice to just throw him out on his ass like I suggested."

Desmond rolls his eyes, feeling Altaïr separate from him, his entire body feeling kinda floaty as their mass was split into two, irritated with doing the body-switch with Altaïr. If he was going to get bitchy then he could be in his own body. They were used to the body-switch and body-separation technique. After all, it was how he was even able to use his own body, having practiced taking control of Altaïr for years before he was even comfortable enough to walk as a toddler. It took too many embarrassing years for him to figure out what the buttons and controls were to move his body. "Your Daddy is just fed up with him is all-Alex isn't that bad, just intense is all."

Elijah pouts, "If he keeps you from coming here on time, then he's just as bad as Daddy says he is!"

Ignoring Altaïr's smugness, Desmond picks Elijah into his arms before sitting on his bed tiredly, "Enough about Alex. What've you been up to, Buddy?"

Elijah's eyes light up and he lets the topic pass as he launches into his own tale. "Well, yesterday Aunt Cara took Mira, Laila, me, and Hassan to the park and I caught a whole slug!"

Elijah wriggles out of Desmond's arms to rifle through a pile of brightly colored construction paper until he brings back a small stack and sits on the bed next to him. He holds up a picture of a bright yellow slug in a puddle of blue drawn with crayons, "I drew a picture of Sally the slug, see? And this is a picture of you, me, and Daddy-" Elijah holds up a picture he drew of himself in the middle with two blob figures wearing white hoods. "-that we made yesterday when Aunt Cara told us to draw our families."

Desmond holds the pictures carefully, tracing his hand over Elijah's depiction of their family, before setting it down in his lap.

"Mira 'n me had a rock-skipping contest too! I won of course." Elijah says proudly.

Desmond huffs a laugh, "Good job, Eli. Although, I'm surprised that Laila didn't join you guys."

Elijah's smile dims ans he kicks his feet, "...Laila's family came to pick her up while we were at the park. They all went home together, so Mira 'n me played by ourselves."

Desmond presses a kiss to the top of Elijah's head, "Well, I'm here now, aren't I?" He holds up Elijah's pictures. "And I was thinking this is some great art, Buddy. Whaddya say we hand it up on the wall?"

Elijah brightens, bouncing on the bed, "Yeah! I wanna put it up there!"

Snagging the tape Desmond kept in his backpack, he stuck some on the corners before handing the art pieces back to Elijah and lifting him up to the wall next to his bed. "Where should we put this piece, then?"

The wall to the side and behind Elijah's bed is covered in Elijah's drawings, his absolute favorites were in the small night stand next to his bed, the top covered in all the colorful rocks and pieces of string he'd picked up. Desmond lifts Elijah onto his shoulders, smiling as Altaïr pulls away from his mind to be fully present in the split-mass body, his body shimmering a slight silver. Elijah debates where to put the drawing, swinging his legs with excitement, then points to a space between a space between a drawing of a room full of plants and a picture of the three of them back when they first came to Manhattan the previous year in August. "Right here, Dad!"

Desmond dutifully tapes up the image with a smile as Altaïr rearranges the pictures around it so nothing would be covered by it. The picture hung proudly in the center of all the others, various pieces of snapshots from their older apartments and hidey-holes. More than 7 of the pieces featured a fourth blob with yellow for hair and a big cheesy grin.

"How's it look, Elijah?" Altaïr asks.

"Great!" Elijah extends his arms out to Altaïr, who easily obliges and holds him on his ghostly shoulders. "When is Uncle Clay coming back?"

Desmond shoots Altaïr a worried look, but Altaïr keeps his face hidden under his white cowl. Elijah yanks it off Altaïr's head and starts to trace the long scar on the back of his skull, still kicking his legs. "He started his training last year, right? He should be done by now!" Elijah pouts, laying his chin on Altaïr's head. "We haven't seen him in so long..."

"Clay has been unavailable these last five months." Desmond tells Elijah honestly, unwilling to keep him in the dark his Father Will Al Mualim the Mentor had, back when he and Altaïr had lived in their formative years with the man. "The last I heard from him, he'd told me he'd be going through his final training with Al Mualim, before undertaking his first mission."

Thankfully for Desmond, it's Altaïr who speaks, "He wouldn't tell us the mission, not over a phone line. Too risky. As for when we'll see him, he told he'd come visit once his mission was complete."

Desmond doesn't say anything. He knows just as well as Altaïr that, with the way the Order was run, your first mission could very well be your last. Death was considered an 'occupational hazard' by Al Mualim William the current Mentor, which mean that loved ones or close friends were usually the last ones to know about a death.

Yet another reason why so many people defected from the Order to the Brotherhood, or switched sides to the Templars altogether. Every single assassin that decided to associate with the Order, whether they were assassins the traditional sense or belief, was precious and should be trated with care.

Unfortunately, Al Mualim didn't agree.

"...we simply have to have faith, Elijah. Faith that he'll return to us safe and in one piece." Desmond says. Because what was the core of being an Assassin, truly, if it wasn't for their belief and faith in others?

Altaïr, reading his thoughts, nods silently. "It's not the skill or training that makes the assassin, but rather one's ideology."

Elijah wrinkled his nose, "I don't really get it, but what you're saying is as long as we believe in Uncle Clay, he'll come back?"

"No, Elijah. You have to believe in the hope that he will come back. That's all we can do. That doesn't mean he actually will. But it's all we have."

"I still don't get it." Elijah scowls, "But we basically won't see him for even longer. Great."

"Elijah-"

"I don't wanna hear it, Dad!" Elijah yells. "I wanna talk about something else!"

A sharp knock at the door, "Elijah!" It's the caretaker, Cara. "What's going on in there?!"

"Hello Cara!" Desmond calls out to her, "I was saying hello to Elijah, I'll be out in a minute."

A grumble is heard outside outside the door, accompanied by heavy footsteps, then Cara leaves. Desmond frowns but quickly trades it in for a neutral expression. "Elijah, I know you're not happy about the situation, but that's all we can do right now." Elijah keeps scowling and Desmond sighs. "I'm going to go talk to Cara, Altaïr will stay with you."

Giving Elijah one more glance, Desmond walks out of the room with more poise than he actually feels. Cara is waiting for him at the bottom of the steps, her mouth pinched into a tight frown as she taps her foot impatiently. Desmond plasters on a smile and does his best to ignore the pit in his stomach, "Hello Cara. Did you need something?"

"I don't know, Eric, why the hell else would I be waiting for you, when I have better things to be doing?"

He doesn't flinch, he doesn't. "To enjoy my charming company...? I truly don't know what the problem might be. I've paid what owe for last week and I'm prepared to pay for this next week-"

"Oh, I'll take the money, but that isn't what this is about." Cara snaps.

"Then...what has you in such a foul mood?" He doesn't fidget as the aggrieved silence lingers on. Who'd have thought all that the assassin training would be useful in a situation like this?

"I wasn't able to get in tough with you on Thursday. All the other children's parents were able to pick up their children, but since you don't have a phone number, there was no way for me to reach you. Do you understand what you've cost me?"

"No..." Desmond replies warily, "However, I did inform you of this before I left Elijah in your care."

"I don't give a damn about your situation, your paranoia, or whatever else it is you have going on, Eric! I had a date planned on Thursday and because of whatever hang-ups you have, I was forced to cancel it and spend it here with your Elijah!"

Desmond straightens, eyes hardening, "Cara, I'm sorry that you missed your date but I hope you didn't treat Elijah any differently because of this."

"Oh, he was fucking fine and dandy." Cara hisses. "I gave him some pizza and made him stay in his room."

"I'll be checking with Elijah to see if you what you're saying is true. However, I warned you beforehand that I wouldn't always be available, I've paid your increasing fees without complaint. If this set up doesn't work, I'll take Elijah somewhere."

"Hmph, you don't need to do that, but you do need to get a phone. What if something happens?" Cara says with a scowl.

"Like you missing a date?" Desmond asks sarcastically. "Look, I pick up Elijahon Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. If that doesn't work, let me know and I'll take him somewhere else."

Desmond gives her a small irate nod and walks upstairs to Elijah and Altaïr, before he gives into his impulses and says something that he might regret. Elijah looks calmer, sitting in Altaïr's lap on his bed as he writes something down, Altaïr idly stroking his hand through dark curls.

Elijah's blue-brown eyes look aat Desmond once the door closes, "What did Aunt Cara say?"

Desmond has no doubt that Elijah was listening to try and catch the entire conversation, but he refuses to withhold information they way Al Mualim his Father William had. "Aunt Cara was upset she couldn't reach me and she had to miss her date on Thursday. Did she...treat you any differently because of it?"

Elijah wrinkles his nose, "No, She just ordered a pizza, turned on the TV and left." Elijah shrugs, "I was alone for the night and I didn't see her until I came back from school on Friday."

'Friday?!' Desmond thinks. 'What's her damn problem?! What if something happened?!'

"Elijah's smart." Altaïr says, and Elijah preens under the praise, "If anything would've happened, he would've called me and we would've have been at his side faster than he could start crying."

"Yeah, Dad, I'm super smart!" Elijah crows. "That's why the bad guys never find me when you have to fight them off!"

Desmond rubs at the back of his neck, "I know, I know. Doesn't stop me from worrying though." He kneels down, not getting on the bed because he still has his outdoor clothes on, and hugs Elijah tightly. Elijah hugs back, his fingers digging into Desmond's neck, and Altaïr leans down to hug them both, Desmond being partially lifted from his position by the strength of it. After a few minutes, Desmond pulls away to start peppering Elijah's face with kisses smiling as Elijah giggles-Altaïr drops a kiss on both of their heads with a fond smile.

Once their impromptu cuddle session ends, Desmond leans back with a smile. "Well, I'm staying with you until it's time for bed, then I'll be back tomorrow for the day as well. So, we'll do whatever it is you wanna do today."

Elijah smiles harder in return, kicking his legs and leaning into the shared embrace of Altaïr and Desmond, "Then I wanna go over to your apartment, and you can make breakfast."

Desmond laughs, eyes sparkling with affection, "Any requests?"

"New York cheesecake pancakes with lemon and strawberries." Elijah says without hesitation, "And scrambled veggie eggs! With cheese please!"

He feels rather than sees Altaïr give the other half of his mass back, feeling his organs shift oddly back into place, as he lifts Elijah into his lap. He sits cross-legged on the floor, his body starting to glow. "Of course, anything for you, my little miracle."