Chapter One

Desmond shot up, panting heavily.

That dream had felt so real that Desmond could have sworn he felt the cool summer's breeze on Ezio's face, as the man pushed himself off the edge of Santa Maria dei Frari. With the wind howling past him, he dove down into the pile of golden hay, emerging while making sure no one saw him. How could that have felt so real...? How could he remember the texture of the fabric that Leonardo had been wearing that night as they shared a glass of wine, Ezio watching Leonardo's progress with plenty of interest in his invention? He could almost taste the bitter sweet red liquid in his mouth, recalling the tremendous hug Leonardo gave him once he knocked on the door. The friendly exchanged Italian words rang in his ears as he tried to collect himself. It had been all too real...

"Sorry to barge in on you like this, but it's getting late and we were..." Desmond looked up to see Rebecca sitting at the edge of his pathetic excuse of a bed, eyebrow raised. Her black hair was falling across her face, brown eyes filled with a subtle curiosity. He immediately noticed that he was sitting up crouched, in a defensive position. He wiped his hand across his face, instantly feeling the clamminess of his shaking hands. Desmond sighed and pulled his hand back away.

"Hey, you okay?" She looked worried and Desmond knew he didn't need to trouble her any further. He knew that they all had heavy burdens on their back, and he didn't exactly need to add to that overwhelming amount.

"Yeah, yeah. All good... Weird dreams, that's all," he flashed a quick smile, hoping she wouldn't see through him. It worked though as he slowly sat up, trying to loosen up.

"Alright. I'll let you get ready. See you in a few," and with a quick, pleasant smile, she walked away. Desmond took in a deep breath, looking down at his feet. It had to be a dream – what else could it be? The Bleeding Effect only happened when he was awake, as he had seen in the warehouse with Lucy. And as she had said, the hallucinations lasted less than thirty seconds, so he was in the clear. It was still striking him as bizarre, how they could transfer Ezio's abilities to him without a single glitch. Silently, he thanked them for getting out of Abstergo – or else he could have turned out like the forsaken subject sixteen. Slowly, he slid off the edge of the bed, pleased when he felt his sneakers and the hard wood flooring.

With a small glance at Lucy, he made his way down the steps, taking time not to upset the giant in the corner of the room. Although his attempt was to no avail.

"Ah! Good of you to join us," the voice called out, causing Desmond to roll his eyes. Couldn't the man just keep his trap shut whenever Desmond was up and out? Or did he always have to make a witty comment that Desmond didn't care for? He tried to tune him out as he looked over at Lucy, trying to meet her eyes to ask for help.

"Sorry, long night," he muttered, replying because he knew if he didn't say anything, Shaun would be on him faster than a wolf on a suddenly exposed rabbit.

"What a professional, professional approach!"

"Leave him alone," Rebecca interjected, tossing Shaun a dirty look over her shoulder. Desmond had to smile a tiny bit – he liked Rebecca's spunk and the fact she wasn't dead after seven whole years with the guy. But of course, this didn't shut him up.

"Well, you'll forgive me if I want to get some actual work done. Hmm, madness, isn't it?" He laughed sarcastically, returning the look right back his colleague. Rebecca sneered and turned around, typing furiously away at her Baby's control panel.

"Shaun! Please, that's enough," Lucy snapped, standing out her seat with a swift grace. Desmond thanked her internally, and made a mental note to do it aloud some other day.

"Alright!" Shaun replied with his hands up in a mock defeat. It just didn't click with Desmond how Lucy could tame the beast, yet no one else could. Although, Desmond assumed Shaun drew the line of obeying Lucy at the simple commend of fetching a glass of water, or some other menial task Shaun believed he could spend his time better on.

"Ready, Desmond?" Rebecca asked cheerily, ignoring Shaun's palpable distaste like Shaun himself would ignore Desmond on a good day.

"Uh... Yeah." Desmond mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, trying to break free of his dreams of Ezio and enter the real world- only to dive headfirst back into his unsettling subconscious in a few moments. He made his way over to the Animus and collapsed into it with a sigh. No one told him that being a science project would take so much energy.

"Desmond," Lucy had made her way over to his side at the Animus. She looked down at him with concern, her blue eyes full of anxiety. "Are you sure you're okay?" She whispered.

Desmond felt the concern radiating from her, but he couldn't bear to stall their project anymore. However much he hated being a guinea pig, he hated Abstergo and the Templars more. Fighting off a little post-Animus sickness was nothing compared to what he would inflict on Warren Vidic once given the chance- and that chance would never come unless he got in the god forsaken machine.

"I'm fine, Lucy. Just tired." Desmond mustered up the most convincing smile he could.

Lucy's breathless laugh was one of relief.

"I'm glad," She smiled. "I know this is difficult, but it means so much to Shaun and Rebecca- and me." She touched his arm lightly before turning away and settling behind her desk again.

Desmond heard an obnoxiously loud sigh from across the room.

"Can we get on with this, please?" Shaun huffed, not happy in the slightest. "I mean, I know little boo boos need kissing, but if we stop, drop, and roll every time a butterfly lands on Desmond's sleeve, we're going to be kissing boo boos in an apocalyptic wasteland created by Warren Vidic and his merry men."

Desmond rolled his eyes.

"Why would Vidic want to rule an apocalyptic wasteland? Hell, the world is a steaming pile of shit- I'm surprised he wants to rule it at all."

"That's what the Apple is for, you ignorant child. If I can read between your ever so subtle lines, you're saying that humanity is full of toddlers who can't tie their own shoelaces. Well, don't shit rainbows or anything, but I agree with you. Humanity is a gelatinous mass of eyeballs and dick-waving contests. Fun stuff, huh?

But, your little mind can handle only so much at once, evidently. Warren Vidic will not be the one "running the world" as you said so eloquently. He's just a pawn- Well, to be fair, a knight. (Yes, I note the irony.) He doesn't do the grunt work, and he's allowed to work with someone as important as you-" Shaun's voice was dripping heavily with sarcasm at this point. "-but he's still only upper-middle class in the gated community that is Abstergo. His house is near the mansion, but you can only get a good view of the inside with binoculars."

"Well, it would only make sense that he tries to work his way into that mansion. Kiss a few asses, sell a few people out. Vidic doesn't seem like a puppet - he knows what he's doing. He probably has a plan to get to into the mansion." Desmond responded, playing along with Shaun's lame metaphor. He failed to notice the surprised look that Lucy gave Rebecca, as the girls witnessed an almost civilized conversation between the two who were usually bickering like an old married couple.

"You know him better than I do," Shaun reminded Desmond, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "It wouldn't surprise me, though- in corporations like that, the top spot is always a coveted one. I wouldn't be surprised if their leader had hits in the double digits placed on him. Of course, said hits would not be completed by assassins, but by assassin wanna bees, the hitmen. Ugh, hit men, with their leather gloves and silenced weapons. Their trench coats and dark sunglasses. No subtlety, no substance. How I hate hit men. From their wonky fedoras to their shiny black-"

"Shaun!" Rebecca said his name sharply, effectively putting an end to his rant. "Sorry guys," She said, turning to Lucy and Desmond. "Shaun has this odd issue with hit men. I mean, we're all on the same side of the fence, you know? No matter what Shaun says about hit men, they at least take the notice off the real threats- us. When we kill, no one knows. When they kill, it's headline national news. Think about it this way- we are the valedictorians of the graduating class. The hit men all finished at the bottom of the class, the muscle heads who find slapping each other's asses with a towel funny. Yeah, sure, they may have attended a few classes during the year, and hell, maybe they even listened to a few lessons- but they still failed the exam, and they still suck at applying their skills to the real world. Who says the smart ones never get ahead?" She finished with a smirk, brown eyes sparkling.

Desmond shook his head, grinning in spite of himself. Here they were, hiding from people who wanted to take over the world, and possibly the only hope against said diabolical people, and yet they were discussing hit men with metaphors- in earnest, no less.

"Okay, hate to break up the friendship circle, but we've really got to get going." Lucy informed the group from behind her desk, typing away at her computer.

"Buzz kill," Rebecca muttered while she entered a few things into the Animus. After a few tweaks, she opened her arms with a flourish. "All systems are go, captain."

"Yes, ma'am." Desmond mumbled with a sloppy salute, before climbing into the slightly glowing contraption.

Rebecca keyed in a few more codes, and Desmond sunk into the deepest part of his sub conscious.

Arrows whizzed past Ezio's head as he ducked and swerved, trying to escape the rooftop guard he had cockily ignored just a few moments previous.

"Bastardo!" The guard yelled, his voice carrying on the wind, reaching Ezio's ears loud and clear. Ezio smiled to himself as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop, the shingles clattering under his heavy sprint. An arrow flew past his ear, ruffling his hood. Lowering his head, he pushed himself faster, harder. His heart was pounding in his ears, and his mouth was dry. He was nearing the canal- he could jump off the building, and hide under the water's surface until the guard gave up, swore, and returned to his post.

With just one more building to clear before he was home free, Ezio felt his foot strike an upturned shingle he hadn't noticed. He twisted awkwardly, trying to regain his balance. He stumbled for a few steps, until, right before the end of the roof, he righted himself, and was leaping through the air to the other side of the alley.

With a quick "thank you" to whoever was looking out for him today, he clamoured onto the last roof before the canal, perhaps a little less gracefully than he was used to doing. He sprinted across, hearing his pursuer's cries growing fainter and fainter. With a triumphant grin, Ezio turned around right at the edge of the roof, to smirk at the guard who had started to slow down a few buildings ago. Evidently, however, the guard had stopped to regain the accuracy of his bow that he lost during a sprint. The arrow flew from his bow, piercing the air. Ezio had no time to respond, no time to just walk off the back of the building into the water. His smirk was wiped clean away as the arrow burrowed into his shoulder, right between his chest plate and spaulders. Blood spurted from the wound, the arrow comfortable situated in his muscle.

"Cazzo...!" He hissed, gritting his teeth. The guard was now sprinting full out, trying to reach his injured prey.

Bracing himself, Ezio yanked the arrow out of his shoulder, feeling the blood soak his robes. "You porco figa!" He yelled at the guard, putting pressure on his wound.

As the guard gained on him, Ezio knew he had to get to either a doctor or Leonardo's - now. With a venomous "fotitti!" he jumped off the building, into the canal.

Desmond woke with a shout, feeling something embedded in his shoulder.

"Ah! Fuck!" He cried out, bringing his arm to see what had happened.

"Desmond! What happened?" Rebecca exclaimed, right at his side.

"Something's in my shoulder! Can't you see it?" Desmond exclaimed, groaning, feeling the blood pouring through his fingers.

Lucy, Rebecca and Shaun exchanged wide eyed glances, while Desmond continued to writhe in the chair.

"Desmond, there's nothing in your shoulder." Lucy said quietly over his extremely loud yelling.

"What?" Desmond exclaimed, squeezing his eyes shut. "There's something in my fucking shoulder!"

Shaun was across the room now, staring at Desmond intently.

"No there's not." Shaun informed him, and leaned forward to grab Desmond's hand away from his "wound".

"What the fuck are you doing?" Desmond asked, opening his eyes to stare at Shaun with shocked eyes.

"Look," Shaun commanded him, nodding toward his shoulder, which was indeed, blood and wound free.

Desmond glanced toward his shoulder, and his mouth fell open.

"What the fuck?

A/N: Alright, so this is brilliantmemories talkin' here folks. This is gonna be a collaberation with googleit6, another fantastic writer and my best friend. We've been playing around with this idea for a while and we thought, heck, before I move - let's get a collab done! So... we kind of started it and who knows where it'll go? Well, we kind of will. Sort of. Maybe. Yes! Just a little... Anyways! We'll be chipping away at this and we wanted to know what you guys thought of it. So, review! Review, review and review!

Heyo! This is googleit6 talking. The lovely brilliantmemories and I have, as you can see, been working on a fun little collab. We've certainly had some entertaining conversations about the plot of this story, and, if I do say so myself, some pretty damn funny shennanigans will be had. Just to let you know, there's a line break where the authors switch. Can you guess what part brilliantmemories wrote? Cause I'm not telling! I kid, I kid. She wrote the first part, and I wrote the second.

Hope you guys enjoy our collab!