Disclaimer: I own neither Prototype nor Assassin's Creed. Shame, that.

A/N: So, here's my take on a crossover between these two amazing games. I sincerely hope I do not disappoint. Please enjoy!

"We need your help. We know you've got men in the area." Smiles over their glasses, only skin deep.

"They are busy looking for the runner." A shrug.

"In a way, ours is a runner as well… just of a different sort. He's vital, and he's hiding in that city." The glass is put on the table softly. Controlled irritation.

"My men have a job to do-"

"And they can do both at the same time. Argue all you want, General, but you don't have a choice." The smiles were gone now, replaced by glares, a silent vying for dominance.

"Who the hell are you to tell me what to do?" A fist hits the table.

"I think you know who we are… what we are… and you'll know exactly what we're capable of to get what we want." The glint of metal, flashing off a ring engraved with a cross.

"…" The smiles are back now, all too happy.

"Good. Get it done, and you'll be rewarded. We need him alive and in one piece, General. We'll be expecting your reports… Good day."

When they leave, he shatters the glass against the door.

Desmond brought his arm up to wipe at his face. He grimaced at the streak of brown and red left on the once white sweater. It was stained all over from dirt, soot, and blood. Movement caught his eye, and he jerked back to dodge the wild swing.

"Fuck!"

Desmond swings his leg forward towards the other's knees, causing the infected person to fall. Desmond hovered for a second, watching as the person- creature- struggled to regain his bearings. For a moment, Desmond considered finishing the job…

He groaned, turned and bolted, dodging the other infected people, as well as the odd panicked civilian. The backpack thumped heavily against his back, filled to bursting with water, non-perishable food, and whatever else he could find in the ransacked corner store. Desmond rounded a corner and pulled up short, looking in dismay at the havoc before him. Cars piled up on the small road, and where there weren't burning cars there were throngs of infected, and a couple of those were burning as well. An irritated groan escaped him and quickly he looked for another way out.

'Fuck, fuck, fuck, why the hell did I volunteer to do this!' Desmond absentmindedly fixed his hood, keeping it secured over his head. Seeing no other way, Desmond took off at a sprint towards one of the cars, scrambling up it and the building it was up against, and slowly he began to climb up the side of the building. He winced as the rough bricks bit into his hands but kept climbing.

By the time Desmond reached the top, his hands felt raw and his arms and lungs burned. He scrambled over the edge of the building and glanced down at the chaos below. From up high, it was easier to see the gore that painted the streets, and the screams and inhuman cries of rage floated up to him as fast as the smell of death, and Desmond felt sick.

"Hey! You shouldn't be up here!"

Desmond whirled, pressing his back against the stone between him and a four story drop. Before him stood six soldiers, dressed in black, bulky clothing and loaded down with considerably terrifying looking weapons.

"Wh-what…?"

"You heard me! Get out of here, now!"

"Where am I supposed to go? I'm just trying to get home, please-!" Desmond raised his arms up in alarm as the soldier swung up his gun. He wished he could see the man's expression, but the mask covered his entire face, making him look emotionless and alien. Desmond got ready to run, but he knew he wouldn't get far enough away to escape a dozen bullets. Another soldier walked up next to the second, and what he said next scared Desmond even more.

"Hey, wait a second… Isn't that…?" He was fishing out a paper from his jacket. Desmond inched to the side as subtly as he could. A third soldier spoke up.

"Yeah, that's him! He's the second mark!"

Desmond bolted, sprinting left towards the adjacent building, behind he could hear the shouts of the soldiers as they scrambled after him. Dust flew up sharply to the right of his foot and he flinched at the gun's report.

"Stop it you idiot! Orders say he needs to be in one piece!"

The rest of the conversation was lost to him as he darted over the rooftop A/C units and slid under the billboards. He jumped onto a lower building and over the ledge, scaling down the side faster than he'd ever done before. 'Thank god I learned this from Ezio,' Desmond thought as he rapidly dropped down the side of the building. He hit the ground running, losing the soldiers in the crowd.

Little did he know that the entire exchange had been watched.

Alex Mercer's eyes narrowed. He followed the retreating form with his eyes. BLACKWATCH wanted him, but for what he didn't know. Alex jerked his head back to the soldiers and cursed. They had already radioed in their findings and were receiving orders. Alex huffed in irritation, lifted a leg, and stepped off the building. Time for damage control… he would find out about the stranger later.

Desmond trudged up to the apartment room slowly, feeling exhausted from his sprint. The building was only a few blocks from where he'd met the soldiers, but he thought he lost them in the chaos. He fished out his key and opened the door, kicking it in nonchalantly. The room's one visible occupant jumped up and cursed.

"Ack! What the hell- … Desmond you look like shit."

"Thanks Rebecca, really." He walked into the kitchen, ignoring her glares from over the monitor of her computer. She rolled her eyes.

"Anytime," and Rebecca was back to typing away. Desmond hazarded a glance at the ANIMUS, or 'Baby.' It looked like it was undergoing several improvements, having been damaged on the drive to Manhattan, but it looked nowhere near completion. Desmond sighed and began to put away the supplies he brought.

"Grabbed you some batteries and a liter of coolant."

"… Just a liter?" Rebecca looked disappointed. Desmond threw up his hands in exasperation.

"Do you think its easy running with thirty pounds of stuff on your back? Or maybe climbing up a building? Dodging people and monsters and bullets…" Desmond trailed off, putting his hands to his eyes. Immediately he felt guilty about yelling at Rebecca. A glance at her face showed that she was clearly unimpressed.

"What the bloody hell are you going about this time? You better not be having another vivid hallucination, mate, because if you start spewing flirty Italian at me again you're going to get knocked out." Shaun made his presence known in his usual, Desmond thought, dick-ish manner. Desmond blushed and scowled.

"I thought we weren't going to talk about that."

"We aren't; I'm giving you fair warning. Conversation is over- there, see? Brilliant." Shaun went to the kitchen, inspecting the goods. "Thanks for the tea, too."

"Yeah, yeah. Where's Lucy?" Desmond peeled off his dirty hoodie, grimacing as the sweat made it difficult. He held the thing at arm's length, looking at it helplessly.

"Here I am. Put that straight into the washer, I think." Lucy came in through the front door, holding her satellite phone. "It seems the others are doing well, though not as much is going on out there. The guys tell me that the templars haven't made too much of a move yet. I think they're busy searching for the pieces of Eden… We didn't lose any more." Simultaneous sighs of relief filled the air. Desmond scratched the back of his head, debating whether or not to tell the others about his run-in, then shrugged, deciding not to worry them.

"I'm gonna hop in the shower guys."

"Kay," Rebecca responded. The other two simply waved him off.

Alex landed outside of a small building, taking care not to damage the car out front. It was a quieter part of Manhattan, located far in the safe zone. After the military had left, Alex had gone around Manhattan, destroying hives on the southern end and pushing the infection north. It had taken the better part of the last four years, but there was now only a small line of bleed over between infected and non-infected zones of the city. A line of obstacles, mostly discarded tanks placed by Alex himself, kept the two populations as segregated as possible. With the occasional food drops, people were able to live relatively happily inside the safe zone, though none were allowed to leave.

Alex made sure no one was watching and entered the building. He climbed up the stairs to the top level, knocked, and let himself in.

"Alex! I was wondering when you would be back. Were you out… hunting?" Dana smiled softly. It was a genuine smile, however strained it seemed. Alex shook his head. He walked towards the back room, where Dana worked. The walls were covered in papers, newspaper clippings and pictures, anything that had survived from Dana's hiding place four years back. Alex quickly scanned them all, but found nothing.

"Alex? What's wrong?"

"Hm… I saw BLACKWATCH today, Dana," Alex murmured, turning to look her in the eye. Her own eyes widened in shock.

"What? After so long, they're still here? I thought you- I mean…" Dana chewed her lip, uncomfortable. Alex sighed.

"I didn't kill them all. After the Supreme Hunter, I didn't really have a reason. They were pulling out, and I knew all I needed to about… me, about my past. I suspected some of them might have hung back around here, but…" Alex trailed off, his gaze traveling back to the clippings once more.

"But what? What happened out there? Were they after you?"

"They're always after me, but this time they found someone else. I think they're after him too, but I… failed to get why." Dana nodded, understanding this to mean that Alex had accidently killed them all.

"Former GENTEK employee?"

"No, I don't recognize him from any of the memories… and he was just a kid. 22, maybe 23 years old," Alex mused. Dana nodded, using a hand to push back her short hair out of her face.

"I don't remember anything about anyone from the stuff I got about GENTEK. Maybe he's here for something else?"

"What else could possibly be in this city?" Alex left the room, stalking out towards the window overlooking Manhattan. "Dana, I got a bad feeling, like something is starting all over again…"

"Well maybe you should leave it alone then," Dana suggested softly. Alex shook his head sharply, and rested an arm against the window. "Alex, if this doesn't have anything to do with us…"

"If BLACKWATCH is involved, we're going to get dragged into it. I'm still their runaway science project," Alex's eyes narrowed, and he breathed in deep to control his anger. Four years of practice had taught him to keep his temper under control, though it had been an uphill battle. It was no easy feat relearning the ethics of man, and he still had an easier time tossing them aside than bringing them into consideration. A hand on his arm jerked him out of his reverie.

"Alex, please… I know it isn't ideal, but for the past few years we've been living without real fear. Hell, I can go out shopping without one of those freaking zombies attacking me! You created real peace on this side of the barricade." Alex snorted at that. Dana frowned and held him tighter. "Don't throw this away. If this is our best shot at living, then let's not blow it." Dana held his gaze firmly, willing him to agree with her eyes. At long last, Alex looked away and sighed.

"No promises, but I'll try to stay out of it," Alex looked up in time to catch Dana's wide smile. He nearly fell in shock, seeing how much her face had brightened at his words, and once again he found himself faced with the unfathomable human nature.

"Thanks Alex!" Her arms were around him suddenly, hugging him close. Four years of prolonged close quarters and on occasion close contact had still not rid him of the flinch away from hugs, but Dana had long since gotten used to it. If nothing else, Alex's reaction time had improved, and he brought his arms up to hug his sister.

"Okay, okay. I'm going to go grab something to eat. You should do the same," Alex said, patting her back awkwardly. She nodded, the strain back in her smile, and pulled away.

"Right. See you tonight." Dana hopped back towards the kitchen. Alex tilted his head, bemused at her behavior, before opening the window and jumping towards the infected zone.

Desmond tapped his fingers against the binding of the book, not really reading it. It had been four days since his run in with the soldiers on the roof. The ANIMUS was still being worked on, and if Rebecca's cursing was anything to go by, it wasn't going well. Desmond sighed and set the book down.

"I'm going crazy."

"Bad choice of words, mate," Shaun mumbled as he flipped through a book on history. Desmond leveled a glare at the other man.

"I'm going stir crazy." Desmond flinched when the book on the historians' lap snapped closed, and Shaun reclined on the couch and shrugged.

"Well, Desmond, what am I supposed to do about that?" Desmond inwardly groaned. 'Great. Here we go.'

"I don't know, I just hate sitting here and waiting…"

"You hate sitting there and waiting? You? And what is it exactly that you think I do all the time, hm? While all the other actual assassins run about and do some good, I'm stuck in a room sitting and waiting and giving as much advice as I could conjure on the spot, being helpful from the sidelines-"

"… bad choice of words."

"Mate, your life is full of bad choices."

Desmond opened his mouth to retort when suddenly the door to the side room was thrown open.

"That's it, both of you take a walk!"

"W-what?" Desmond gaped at her. "Have you looked outside lately-!" Desmond barely dodged the modified hidden blade that was chucked at his head. Shaun was given a bit more of a warning when Lucy threw his small pistol at him.

"Get out and don't come back until you've worked this shit out!"

Shaun and Desmond then found themselves being summarily tossed out into the hallway with no way back into the apartment.

"… This is all your fault," Shaun grumbled. He threw on the grey jacket he'd managed to grab, tucking the pistol into an inner pocket.

"Oh shut up." Desmond adjusted his jacket and leaned against the wall. Shaun shrugged and began walking.

"May as well take a walk while we're out here. I don't want to sit in front of that door all day looking like a kicked puppy," Shaun called back. Desmond's eye twitched. That had been exactly what he planned to do. Groaning, he pushed off the wall and followed the grinning Shaun out of the hallway.

Desmond finished buckling on the hidden blade as they stepped out, experimentally drawing it, and then sheathing it once more. The weight was reassuring on his arm. He hazarded a glance outside. Only a handful of infected were milling about, and none of them looked incredibly crazed. Desmond had a feeling that would change once he stepped out, but they were sparse enough that it would be easy to run past.

"How about the park?"

"Yeah, I guess. Sounds as good a place to go as any. How far away are we?"

"Um…" Desmond thought back to his previous exploring of the area. "Few blocks, I think. That way." He pointed. "The car barricade runs through it, beginning about another three blocks that way." Desmond moved his arm, pointing south, to their right. Shaun nodded.

"Right. Off we go, then?"

"… guess I'll go first," Desmond muttered. He reached back and brought up his hood, watching as Shaun did the same. "We're gonna go straight forward two blocks, then left and straight again. There's an obstacle a little ways up, but we can get around that way." With that, Desmond opened the door and started jogging forward. Shaun kept pace a little ways away, breathing in the chill air. Immediately the infected began to amble towards them in their usual uncoordinated gait, but both assassins moved just out of their reach as they made their way towards the park.

A few minutes later, they spotted their destination. Most of the trees had long since died, their withered skeletons left as testaments to what was once a beautiful park. Desmond had never been here before, but he had seen pictures. He let out a breath, relieved that they had made it safe, only to freeze in fear. Something was walking right through their path. It was huge, easily three feet taller than either man, and it was on all fours. Desmond thought it looked kind of human, but the grotesquely disfigured hands and feet, complete with claws, disabused him of that notion. He heard Shaun take a reflexive step back as he spotted it too. Desmond slowly moved backwards, trying to keep his breathing under control.

"Freeze!" Desmond whirled around and felt his stomach drop. Advancing on them, guns drawn, were the same soldiers from before, or at least they were from the same faction. Shaun turned a panicked gaze to Desmond, and saw the recognition scrawled on his face.

"… Mate, might there be something you're not telling me," Shaun whispered harshly, gazing sharply between the monster and the soldiers.

"I don't think now is the time," Desmond grated out, panic filling his lungs.

"Don't move, and don't speak! You're coming with us!" The soldiers were less than a few feet away. Desmond turned and made a frantic motion with his arms.

"What's wrong with you idiots, don't you see it!" Desmond yell-whispered and indicated behind him.

"Oh shit."

At Shaun's words, the assassin looked up and met the intense gaze of the monster. He felt all the blood in his body go ice cold.

"On the ground- Shit! What the fuck is that thing doing here?" The soldiers had finally spotted the monster. They raised their guns, lining up their sights with it. As if on cue, the monster roared and began charging at them. Desmond hurriedly yanked Shaun aside, pulling them both out of the middle of the street as the bullets began flying. They fell to the ground in a heap, blindly scooting backwards until their backs were against the wall. The monster was barely fazed by the bullets and within seconds of their retreat it was on the first soldier, tearing him to pieces. Desmond watched in horror, his mind barely processing the pained screams of the man that suddenly, horrifically, stopped.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit…" Shaun mumbled next to him. The soldiers were still firing frantically, backing up to keep their distance. Another solder was quickly taken by the monster, but rather than watch his death, Desmond stood up, yanking Shaun up as well.

"They're killing each other; we gotta make a run for it!" Desmond pulled him in the direction of the park, and they began jogging. Suddenly there were yells, orders being shouted. Desmond turned mid-stride, and saw the grenade launcher as it was fired. It hit the monster squarely, but the blast sent shrapnel and chunks of cement flying into the air. Desmond closed his eyes, barely heard himself screaming, and suddenly he was airborne.

Well, there's chapter one. Please let me know what you think! I really appreciate the feedback. :)