6 Frail Thoughts

In 2.3 seconds, Alex had made it up the two flights of stairs, but stopped dead in his tracks with his hand hovering above the door handle. His gut told him something was up and he focused his hearing. Two voices, both females. They were arguing about something. A guy... He suddenly recognized one of the voices as the girl he'd rescued from Blackwatch yesterday. What was she doing up on the roof? He blinked. They were talking about him. It occurred to him that now would either be a good time as any to introduce himself, or it would be a horrible timing. He contemplated his choices, calculated the possible consequences, and realized he didn't care either way. What did it matter if they hated him? He could just rip them to shreds and wipe them from existence if they proved to be a problem. The decision was made, and he pushed down the handle and exited into the light of the dawning sun.

Two pair of eyes were immediately turned to him, and he looked right back at them. The deep gray ones carried an expression of tension and fear, but were quickly changed to relief as the recognition dawned upon her. The bright blue eyes wore a similar expression, but instead changed to distrust and fear. The blonde that they belonged to was ready to strike if anything at all didn't go according to her plans. He knew all too well what she was thinking in that moment. Ice blue eyes flickered to the raven head when he heard the fabric of her clothes shifting ever so slightly. She'd taken a step forward and her lip twitched before her mouth opened to speak.

"Hey dude! I've been looking for like- forever for you! I realized I never thanked you for saving me from those black-whatever-they-are, and-"

"Blackwatch" he interrupted. His voice were cold and hard, but he recognized the thin silver lining encasing his word. Whyever he'd put that in a sentence was beyond him, but he could guess it was either for the hope and admiration in the gray eyes that seemed to look into his very soul, or for the blue ones that threatened to lash out at him at any second.

"Blackwatch then, whatever- And I also just now realized I never asked for your name. Who are you?". The tone she used was meant to be friendly, but the underlying distrust was all too familiar to Alex to go unnoticed. He frowned at this and shut the door behind him, as if pointing out that they had nowhere to run. Why he did this was again beyond him. He seemed to have been out of his head for the majority of the last forty-eight hours, and the consequences of that could be fatal. Or at least they should be. The last time he'd been shot with a bullet, it tickled. Hurt, but not in a way that it should've done. He didn't fall to the ground, clutching his wound in unbearable pain. He wasn't like other people anymore. To walk away with barely a slight limp after being peppered with a hundred .223 caliber bullets wasn't normal. It was inhuman. He was inhuman...

The headache was sudden, and it made him flinch. He blinked and reached up to rub his temple while image after image flashed before his eyes. It wasn't like taking someone's memories, but the pain of the flashback was enough to distract his mind from the people before him. He didn't know how long it lasted, but when his vision cleared again, he met the gray eyes of the ravenhead. The expectation hadn't left them, and he sighed before answering her question; "Alex".

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[Desmond's P.O.V.]

He'd barely been up for a few minutes and he was already feeling dizzy. It bugged him more than it was an issue, since neither Lucy nor Rebecca was here to run the Animus. He rubbed his forehead while leaning on the table with his hand to keep his balance. The undeniable glance from the brit didn't exactly make it better. While Shaun was a real ass sometimes, Desmond knew all too well the meaning of that glance. He didn't know if he should be thankful or triggered that the words weren't spoken out loud. Probably both.

"Ever think about lying down, Desmond?".

And there the peace went to trash. He looked up at the brit and frowned in dislike. "Lie down and just wither away? Yea, that'd get much done" he said and dropped his gaze back down on the table. A news headline in big bold letters stating something about an outbreak caught his attention. He reached for the paper and picked it up to read the full article, but Shaun was quick to snag it away.

"Cause you're being so helpful, standing here n' thrashing my notes" he said, the usual sarcastic tone heavy in his voice. Desmond didn't fail to hear the underlying uneasiness though, and the way Shaun folded the newspaper to put it at a safe distance made him suspicious.

"Shaun" he demanded. "Where are we?". It was obvious something wasn't entirely right, and he wanted to find out what and why.

"As you were quite quick to comment when we arrived, we're in a basement, Desmond" came the Brit's brilliant response. He put way too much effort into pronouncing Desmond's name right and was suddenly very interested in an article he'd read at least twice already. The younger male frowned at this. He had known the other long enough to notice the signs. Shaun was generally good at covering things up, but the assassin-to-be had learned to see the details. His experience in the Animus had taught him at least that much.

Just as he was about to open his mouth, the door creaked open. While Shaun whipped around and reached for his belt, ready to attack whatever would show up in the door, Desmond looked up from the table and rubbed his forehead with one hand. The high pitched creaking from the rusty hinges felt to his ears like razors cutting through cardboard, and an agonizing headache started to pound under his scalp. His vision had started to blur, so he had some difficulties to focus on whoever had entered. He did however hear Shaun breathe out and saw his tension ease up in the corner of his eye. It was probably just the girls coming back.

The world started spinning again and he cursed under his breath while leaning on the table for support. He heard Lucy and Shaun exchange a few words, but ignored them. His pounding head distracted him from most things around him, and he dropped his head to stare at an article between his hands. 'Manhattan in chaos'. Wasn't this the one he had wanted to read before? No, Shaun had put that one on the other end of the table. This was another one? It had to be, unless the brit kept extra copies of each article. And why would there be any reason for him to do that?

A voice in his head told him to straighten up - be prepared. He recognized it. He'd heard it before, long ago. It was in the Animus, back in ... back at Abstergo- The company that had caught and kidnapped him, put him in a strange machine and held him captive for months. He didn't remember-... Did he ever even eat..? Did they-

His thoughts were tumbling into a mess and he gave up trying to sort them out. He was feeling too dizzy to put any effort into it anyway. The voice spoke again though, louder this time, and he recalled a memory of a man a few years older than him; the same scar over the right side of his lips and light brown, almost golden eyes that burned with pride. White robes, a brown thick belt around his waist and a red strand of silk or some similar material wrapped under the belt and hanging down in the front and back. It suited him, Desmond realized.

'Fight', the voice told him. 'Fight and get up'.

Desmond couldn't make sense of the sentence. What did it mean? Fight what? Did it have any significance? He didn't know. He was growing tired and his fingertips were tingling, becoming numb. He heard Lucy's voice in his ear and caught himself almost leaning into it. In his current state, it was rather soothing. He hadn't actually heard what she said, but he allowed himself to be dragged to wherever she wanted to put him. He honestly didn't really care. For the moment, he was quite fine with lying down, and getting some sleep was a more than welcome thought.

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[Shaun's P.O.V.]

"Relax Shaun, it's just me" Lucy said as she let the door fall close behind her. Her tone was too tense for just getting back from shopping with her bestie. The corners of her mouth curled up slightly in a faint smile, and she didn't seem to want to make eye contact. He scowled at her while she put two more bags down among their packing, and she mirrored his expression before changing into one of concern.

"Becca infiltrating the templars' lair again?" he asked while keeping his gaze on her as she walked past him to check on Desmond. Shaun had to admit, he didn't look too good. She dismissed him with a snort and urged Desmond to sit back down on the mattress so she could check on his bandages, and he obliged without complaints. He was obviously not feeling well. At all. No way he'd let her push him around if he was in his right mindset. Or the mindset he'd seemed to have taken on during the last two days. Shaun knew at least that much about him. Lucy muttered while tending to him about how much of an idiot he was to have gotten up on his feet before healing properly. Not that Shaun didn't agree, but he didn't exactly see the point of scolding an unconscious man.

He exhaled and got back to the table to sort his notes. Desmond had shuffled them about while looking through what articles had caught his interest. What good did it do to keep information from him when it would only lead to him poking his nose where it shouldn't be? It was better to tell him the truth. He would stop being nosy and not go about his own plans to get gutted. That way they all could focus on their tasks without needing to go on a rescue mission and play hero every once in a while.

In his peripheral vision, he saw Lucy walk over to check on the Animus. When he focused on her, he noticed her movements were tense, giving him the impression that she was nervous. Had they encountered something out there? She had been angry with Desmond before she left, but not nervous. Did she find out about something and wasn't telling him? News about the chaotic streets in their vicinity?

Whatever had happened, he was about to find out as Rebecca appeared in the doorframe. Her face wore a smile, but her eyes reflected Lucy's nervous expression. After maybe a second of hesitation, she stepped to the side, and Shaun realized what had made the girls so nervous. Black leather jacket and dark blue jeans. It was the guy from earlier. Shaun had already decided he didn't like him. There was just something ... off about him. His cold blue gaze shifted to Desmond who had once again fallen asleep on the mattress on the floor. The brit straightened up and subconsciously took a step closer to place himself between his ally and the stranger.

Whatever Rebecca had planned from this point on, he didn't like it. Not one bit.