AC: Memories within a Memory

(EDIT: Made some grammar changes and such)

Author's Note: Last story of the series.
                                                    

Assassin's Crack: Memories within a Memory

Click clack click clack..... the sound of Lucy's heels on the cold smooth floor was the only sound that emanated the hallway which led to Desmond's apartment-like room. Her face was filled with concern not with herself, but with Desmond and the others.

"So," She thought to herself, closing her eyes as she closed her fist and raised it to the door. "It came to this. I finally know why Altair and Ezio..." Lucy stopped and opened her eyes, listening to the conversation that was being held by the four men.

"Ezio," The voice belonged to Altair. "Why do you keep eating those?"

"Because," Ezio said through a mouthful of some sort of food. "They're good without being too hot."

"Ugh," Lucy grimaced. That voice belonged to that Mercer creep. "Ezio, just watching you shovel that crap in your mouth makes me lose my appetite." Clacking of utensils. So, maybe that freak was a bit of a human after all.

"Ezio, please save some of those for the rest of us." Desmond! Lucy's heart fluttered. Oh God, she was hoping he was in another Animus session.

Guess there's no way out of it.

Lucy knocked on the door. "It's Lucy." Was all the woman said. Sound of footsteps.

Unlocking of the door.

Opening of the door.

Desmond's face appeared, his eyes lit up as he saw Lucy. "Lucy!" He said, gesturing her inside. "Come in." Lucy stepped inside and waved to Altair and Ezio.

Not to Alex Mercer though. But the man didn't seem to care, so it was alright.

Lucy looked at Desmond and frowned. Sensing her discomfort, Desmond's face went from welcoming to concerned. "Lucy? Something wrong?" He asked. Lucy nodded.

"Can we go somewhere?" Lucy said. "It's about...." Her eyes darted to Altair and Ezio. Both assassin's caught the quick stare and frowned. Ezio slowly chewed on the Hot & Spicy Cheez-Its. Altair looked away and offered Mercer a yogurt. The man took it and crushed it, yogurt splashing on their unimpressed faces. Desmond nodded and followed Lucy out of the room.

They were outside. Lucy walked at a slow pace and looked at Desmond. "Desmond, there's something I need to tell you." She said a quietly as possible, so as to make sure that neither Altair, Ezio, or Mercer could be within listening range.

Or spying range.

Lucy took a deep breath. It was shaky. Something wasn't right.

Lucy... Desmond thought.

When she collected her thoughts, and her breath, she looked at Desmond, her eyes were on the brink of tears.

"Desmond, I think I know why Altair and Ezio appeared out of nowhere." Desmond blinked and looked at Lucy. "Wait," He said. "You do?"

"Yes, but this...this could only be a guess, nothing more."

"It'd must be a pretty good guess, the reason why you're crying." Desmond said, wiping the escaped tear that was falling down Lucy's cheek. Her lowered lip started to quiver and snatched up her tablet that was hooked unto her pants.

She started to write. And write furiously. "Desmond, please bear with me." Lucy said as she furiously wrote on the tablet. "I can't do this. I can't talk about it. I'm so sorry Desmond." Desmond frowned and took the tablet as she was finished. Lucy couldn't look.

She turned away as Desmond muttered the words she wrote down.

Lucy covered her ears, shaking her head.

Before I start, remember that there's always a time and place for everything. "Meeting" your ancestors was not one of them.

"Meeting? Hey, why is that in quotations?" Desmond said, looking at Lucy.

She was gone.

I know you've grown attached to them, very attached. I've seen you laughing, having your good and bad times together. You always got along with them, and I'm glad that you enjoyed yourself in the trap that is called Abstergo.

But now I have to tell you the truth. If you continue with this, there's a pretty good chance that they will be exposed to Abstergo. Now, even though...even...well, they still have their memories, and that will prove to be a fatal flaw.

"Flaw...?" He scrolled down to read more.

Remember when I told you the side effects of too much exposure to the Animus? Hallucinations being one of the most important ones. Desmond, you have been exposed way too much to account for, and you've been dreaming of Ezio and Altair, haven't you? Desmond, I know you have. Please don't lie.

Desmond's jaw dropped. How did she...? He did dream of Ezio and Altair. His ancestors were in the air, the Leap of Faith they were doing. But he wasn't. He just stood there, his feet couldn't move. They were glued to the ground. Oh, how he wished he could be free with his ancestors!

Your dreams...I believed that your occurring dreams of them has been so severe that they...materialized.

"MATERIALIZED?!" Oh shove that. Both of them felt real, acted like normal people, and not some of that psyched up crap he had in his dreams.

You might not believe it. I don't blame you, but it might be the only answer has to how they got into your room in the first place.

"Crack an' fries."

But, I do believe that your dreams of Altair and Ezio has spilled out, and now they're here! In 2012! I know, amazing, and I was thrilled to have them here. Altair and Ezio were both fun to talk to, despite the disgusting innuendos that Ezio kept bringing to me. Anyways, it was fun, really, it was.

Now, there are two things you can do about this:

1.) If you don't believe what I just said, erase this. Now.

He didn't believe it. Not one bit. But he kept reading. He felt something spill down his cheek. Desmond licked it.

A tear?

2.) If you do, there are two choices you can pick of:

A.) Tell them that they're just fragments of your dreams, memories. Tell them the truth. Of course, the downside of telling them would be that they would be absolutely heartbroken. They might realize this and embrace the truth. The will disappear and maybe never come back.

B.) Don't tell them. But if they stay too long, Abstergo will eventually find out Desmond. Even though they're just memories, they can still recollect what they lived through.

Desmond, I'm so sorry I couldn't talk to you about this. Believe me, I don't want them to go. But you must follow one or the other. Either you let Vidic get his hands on them, or you let them go.

Either way, it won't be easy.

Desmond looked at the message over and over. Re-read it and scanned through it.

"No, no, no, no..." Desmond whispered, his vision growing blurry, feelings were getting to them. Why is he feeling sad? After all, they were just memories.

Memories that interacted with him.

Memories that laughed with him.

Memories that fought with him.

Memories that loved him.

Memories that cared...

Tears spilled down his cheeks, Desmond choked back a sob and tried to wipe the essence of sadness away. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop the rampage of emotions that took over him. His legs felt shaky, he dropped on his knees to the ground. Shoulders shaking from the sobbing that came from the man.

Desmond's sobs grew into uncontrollable crying.

"You do know those are Flaming Hot Cheetos, right?"

"...."

"...."

"I'll get the milk..."

Ezio's junk food obsession...

"CRACK AN' FRIES!!"

The time they all got high, and the first time they met...

"STOP! I DIDN'T KNOW I WAS..."

"LAC- THE FRIGGIN'-TOSE INTOLERANT!"

Ezio's lactose-intolerancy...

"NOW I HAVE TO EAT PLASTIC CRAP FOR THE NEXT 6 DAAAAAAAAAAAAYS!!!!!!"

Steak and eggs....

All were good times with them were the best days of his life. Though he didn't go into detail about their lives, Desmond, Ezio, and Altair pretty much knew all about each other.

They were related, anyways.

Desmond stopped shaking and collected himself, his masculinity regenerating. He stood up and reluctantly erased the message. He wiped the tears and mucus away with his sleeve, his eyes were red from the sobbing.

Let them go, or let them be exposed.

Huh, some choices she left me with.

Desmond walked slowly to the front door of his room and grabbed the doorknob.

They were just memories, huh? Memories with feeling, memories with compassion, love, hate, and a surprisingly great sense of humor.

Memories that he loved. He wasn't going to give them up, in fact, he was going to keep them right here.

Memories...they were his memories. To keep forever.

Desmond opened the door and smiled. Ezio stood up and Altair followed. The Italian hugged him and the Arabian patted him on the back.

"Desmond!" Ezio exclaimed as he let go of the man. "Alex hopped out the window. He's gone." Ezio tilted his head as he stared into Desmond's red eyes.

"You okay? Looks like you've been crying."

Altair smiled sincerely.

Their faces, so happy. Memorabiliaic faces...

"I-I'm just..." He looked at their faces and smiled. Such gentle faces. Faces that belonged a real family.

His family.

Desmond grabbed both the assassins and pulled them to him, hugging them tightly.

Memories...

"I'm just so glad that you guys are here..."

"We are too." Ezio and Altair said softly, embracing their descendant.

He knew what to do. His memories of his ancestors were great, the only escape from the grip of Abstergo, from the industry, from reality. His memories were his...

To keep forever.

Memories...

His to cherish, not even the Animus could track it down, not Vidic, not anyone.

Because they were his. His memories, and his ancestors' memories.

Their memories, together, it couldn't be unlocked.

Their memories, within his.

Memories within a memory.


How sweet.


End of Assassin's Crack. I hope you enjoyed it.