It was all anticlimactic, from there. They had no more need for Desmond, with the location of the Apple revealed. They had to get to Rome -- namely, the Santa Maria Aracoeli -- as soon as possible, but they could hardly leave Desmond behind. Lucy pulled all her threads with the higher-up Assassins, viciously arguing until they agreed to take in Desmond while Lucy and her team went on to investigate the Vault. They picked him up in a nondescript van, some miles away from Monteriggioni.
Desmond was pale, unconscious, still strapped to the Animus 2.0 as he was loaded onto the vehicle. To Shaun, it seemed to him like he was already dead, and that bloody chair was his coffin. For all intents and purposes, considering Desmond's fractured and deteriorated state, it might as well have been deemed his deathbed.
"We have to go," Rebecca said softly, tugging his arm. Shaun had been staring at the empty space where the van had been minutes prior -- it had driven off, away, into the distance. Subject 17, or what was left of him, was no longer there.
"Yeah," Shaun said. "Duty calls."
Lucy said nothing, taking the wheel. They drove off, too.
It was laughable, really, what happened when they got to the vault under Santa Maria Aracoeli. It was all going well - Shaun had figured out the spoken password, 72, given Desmond's earlier remarks about the cryptic messages Ezio had left on the wall of the Villa Auditore. They had made their way down, discovering no enemies, no hidden traps. All the torture they'd put Desmond through had seemed like it had a meaning, the three of them feeling the excitement of being so close to the Apple, to being one step ahead of the Templars.
Until they were faced by a dead end. Only a descendant of the mixture of Those Who Came Before and a human could activate the steps leading to the Apple, and no amount of teamwork amongst the three of them allowed them to reach the middle platform, where the Apple sat. Shaun couldn't help it: he laughed. He laughed himself to tears. So much sacrifice to get so close, only to be thwarted by something so stupid.
They made their way out, and Shaun couldn't remember if they'd argued or yelled at each other, or simply walked in silence. They were still ahead of the Templars, who did not know the location of the Apple -- but, surely, they were not far behind. Who knew if they'd already captured a Subject 18 to continue with their experimentations? They had no inside men left, insofar as he was aware. What were they going to do now?
Go back to work, it seemed. Headquarters called Shaun back, to stay off the field and return to doing reconnoissance and support behind the scenes. Lucy was sent on another mission, perhaps an infiltration like her last job. Rebecca was given a team of engineers to construct a more efficient, less harmful version of the Animus. Were they going to stick more people inside that death machine?, Shaun thought, disgusted. How long was this going to go on? It was all futile. It was all futile.
And so they were separated. Shaun later learned by digging through some databases that Abstergo had indeed caught a new labrat, an unfortunate descendant of Ezio from a bastard line. The assassins, he read, were on the move to recover him, to use him to get the Apple. Was that it, then? Had Desmond so simply and so stupidly died, only to be replaced? Was that the fate of all those who walked in the shadows?
Shaun had nothing left to cry. He laughed.
And then, exactly a month after parting with Desmond, Shaun found him again.
--
A/N: You all are amazing <3 Thank you so much for still reading despite me deviating from the prompt and throwing ball after curve ball of angst at you ;; This story is almost finished! I predict another part or two :D
Fill [8/?]
Desmond was pale, unconscious, still strapped to the Animus 2.0 as he was loaded onto the vehicle. To Shaun, it seemed to him like he was already dead, and that bloody chair was his coffin. For all intents and purposes, considering Desmond's fractured and deteriorated state, it might as well have been deemed his deathbed.
"We have to go," Rebecca said softly, tugging his arm. Shaun had been staring at the empty space where the van had been minutes prior -- it had driven off, away, into the distance. Subject 17, or what was left of him, was no longer there.
"Yeah," Shaun said. "Duty calls."
Lucy said nothing, taking the wheel. They drove off, too.
It was laughable, really, what happened when they got to the vault under Santa Maria Aracoeli. It was all going well - Shaun had figured out the spoken password, 72, given Desmond's earlier remarks about the cryptic messages Ezio had left on the wall of the Villa Auditore. They had made their way down, discovering no enemies, no hidden traps. All the torture they'd put Desmond through had seemed like it had a meaning, the three of them feeling the excitement of being so close to the Apple, to being one step ahead of the Templars.
Until they were faced by a dead end. Only a descendant of the mixture of Those Who Came Before and a human could activate the steps leading to the Apple, and no amount of teamwork amongst the three of them allowed them to reach the middle platform, where the Apple sat. Shaun couldn't help it: he laughed. He laughed himself to tears. So much sacrifice to get so close, only to be thwarted by something so stupid.
They made their way out, and Shaun couldn't remember if they'd argued or yelled at each other, or simply walked in silence. They were still ahead of the Templars, who did not know the location of the Apple -- but, surely, they were not far behind. Who knew if they'd already captured a Subject 18 to continue with their experimentations? They had no inside men left, insofar as he was aware. What were they going to do now?
Go back to work, it seemed. Headquarters called Shaun back, to stay off the field and return to doing reconnoissance and support behind the scenes. Lucy was sent on another mission, perhaps an infiltration like her last job. Rebecca was given a team of engineers to construct a more efficient, less harmful version of the Animus. Were they going to stick more people inside that death machine?, Shaun thought, disgusted. How long was this going to go on? It was all futile. It was all futile.
And so they were separated. Shaun later learned by digging through some databases that Abstergo had indeed caught a new labrat, an unfortunate descendant of Ezio from a bastard line. The assassins, he read, were on the move to recover him, to use him to get the Apple. Was that it, then? Had Desmond so simply and so stupidly died, only to be replaced? Was that the fate of all those who walked in the shadows?
Shaun had nothing left to cry. He laughed.
And then, exactly a month after parting with Desmond, Shaun found him again.
--
A/N: You all are amazing <3 Thank you so much for still reading despite me deviating from the prompt and throwing ball after curve ball of angst at you ;; This story is almost finished! I predict another part or two :D