Chapter Text
**'Error 295'**
You sighed as you glared at the computer screen, quietly hissing and thinking it was mocking you as the same message popped up again. Grabbing the can of energy drink that was next to you on the desk, you growled as you found it was empty, before crushing it and tossing it into the bin next to you.
*Click*
Your eyes flickered to where the noise came from before letting out an exasperated groan, turning back to your keyboard and began typing frantically yet again.
*Click*
You were becoming more and more agitated as you hit the enter key, the error message popping up and taunting you for what felt like the umpteenth time tonight.
*Click*
"Will you please stop that Miles!! Can't you see I'm trying to concentrate?! You'll go blind if you keep playing with it like that you know."
Slamming your fists on the desk, you turned and glared at Desmond who was sat at the opposite desk, long legs propped up on the edge of it and flicking out his hidden blade.
"I'm just so booooored. Maybe you should come and play with it, might help your stress levels."
Scowling as he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, you turned back to your computer, and rammed in yet another USB quite forcefully.
"Hmmph, tempting, but I think I'll pass thank you."
You brought up another programme when the files had finally loaded, your fingers frantically running over the keys like a woman possessed.
*Click*
"Miles!!!!"
"C'mon (name), just gimmie the keys to your motorbike, I'll get out your hair for a bit. And don't call me Miles, you know I hate it."
Grumbling to yourself as you got up and walked over to the small tabletop fridge over in the corner, you pulled out another can of energy drink and took a deep gulp before turning back to Desmond with an irritated glare.
"Fabulous idea, only one small problem. Did you forget the entirety of Abstergo is looking for you? Miles?"
You smirked as he winced at you calling him that again, licking your finger and drawing a number one in the air. Slumping back down at your desk, you rubbed your temples hard as the blue screen flickered at you, wracking your brain to remember the code you had written a few weeks before.
Without your notes it was extremely difficult to hack into the Animus, but when William called and said he needed your help immediately with something, you had jumped on your bike and made your way over here quickly, not even thinking about bringing them with you.
"Suppose you have a point. But come on, surely it's not that hard to do, whatever it is your doing, aren't you some kind of computer genius?"
"You think it's easy trying to get two people synched into the same memory at the exact same time?! If you think you can do it, be my guest."
Your face twisted in horror as you threw your arms around your monitor in protection, when you saw Desmond get up and crack his knuckles, advancing towards you with a wicked grin.
"I was kidding! Don't you dare touch my computer!"
You breathed a sigh of relief when Rebecca and Shaun walked in, carrying several bags of delicious smelling Chinese food.
"What's going on?"
Shaun looked at you, quite amused at seeing you grasping hold of your computer as if your life depended on it, while dropping the bag he was carrying on the nearby counter. Realising you most likely looked like an idiot, you let go and cleared your throat, making your way over to rummage through one of the bags to find your chow mein.
"About time you got back, I'm not here to babysit."
Desmond scowled at you as he pulled a seat up next to you, before grabbing out his own food, and tucking in as if he hadn't eaten in months.
"Well we had to be careful, Abstergo could be anywhere, plus Shaun drives like a little old woman."
You burst out laughing as Rebecca grinned at her own joke, poking Shaun in the ribs as he pouted at being made fun of.
"You can never be too careful, that's what I always say! How's the code coming along (name)?"
Grimacing as you poked at your chow mein with your chopsticks, your appetite suddenly leaving you at the thought that you might actually fail at something for the first time since you joined the assassins.
"Not good. They've put up new encryption that's blocking everything I try, if I just had my ledger, I could break through it."
"It's too dangerous (name) can't risk you going back home, you know Abstergo are watching your apartment. We'll have a bash together after we've finished dinner."
You managed to scrape together a smile as Rebecca tried to lift your spirits a bit, feebly picking at your noodles as you went into your own little world, trying to remember the damned sequence that would achieve your goal.
Chewing on your pencil as you tapped your fingers on the pad of notes that you and Rebecca had done earlier, you scrunched your face up and scribbled out a chunk of numbers that was obviously wrong. Taking another swig out of the can sat on the desk, you threw the pad on top of the keyboard and let out an exasperated sigh.
"Don't you ever sleep?"
Your eyes flicked up to the clock on the wall, slightly shocked to see it was just after half three in the morning. Not even bothering to turn around, you pushed the pad to one side and pulled the keyboard onto your legs as you brought your knees up to your chest.
"No Miles I don't, especially when I've got a lot of work to do."
"Not surprised when you keep chugging all that energy drink, I'm amazed you've not got the shakes."
Glancing at all the empty cans littered over your desk and typing with one hand, you raised your right one behind you, holding it completely steady for a moment before dropping it to continue with your work.
"Nope, never have. Just like the taste of it. Oh for the love of god!!"
**'Error 295'**
You smashed your hands on the keyboard as the infernal message pinged up again, turning your head slightly as you heard Desmond dragging his feet to stand behind you. Your breath stuck in your throat as he leaned over you and began pressing a few keys, turning your head slightly to notice that he wasn't wearing anything apart from thin grey jogging bottoms. You bit your bottom lip and fixed your gaze on the tattoos on his arm as he typed, trying to control the fluster that threatened to raise up your face.
**'Code Accepted. Ready for synchronization'**
Doing a double take at the screen, your mouth dropped as you saw the message flicker up, your words strangling in your throat as Desmond chuckled behind you.
"Wait... wha... how??!!"
"Can't be around you geeks for so long and not pick up a few things."
You turned around still completely aghast at what he had just done, the blush that you managed to control now furiously rising over your face as you looked at him, your concentration going straight out the window. Desmond smirked as he saw your eyes flicker over him, folding his arms as he propped himself up against the nearby wall.
"Don't think I've ever seen you blush before (name)."
Quickly turning back to the screen, you took a deep breath and stared at what he had entered, trying to find your mistake instead of focusing on him.
"I'm not blushing, just a bit pissed with myself for making a schoolboy error."
"Sure you are... Noticed that you needed a 2 instead of the 1 then?"
Your eyes flicked to the top of the screen and saw that he had indeed changed your coding to allow for two people to enter the Animus instead of just the one. Turning back to him, you scowled as he was still smirking at you as he walked back over to you and pulled you up out of your chair.
"Now that's fixed, how about you have a nap? You look like shit and it's too quiet in there without you mumbling while you sleep."
"Geez Miles, make a girl feel special why don't you?"
You glared at him as you pulled out of his grasp, making your way down the corridor to your shared room and slumping ungraciously onto the sleeping bag next to the window. Staring at the concrete wall of the warehouse as Desmond followed you in and closed the door, you quietly cursed yourself for letting yourself get flustered around him earlier. Sure he was attractive, but he was an arrogant, spoilt idiot, dedicated as he was to the cause, you didn't think he was taking it seriously.
Turning over and trying to get comfortable on the hard floor as Desmond slumped on his own bag, you felt a pang of jealousy at his ability to fall asleep so quickly. You jumped up as you saw your phone light up beside you, grabbing it and silently opening the door as you answered it.
"William? I thought I would be the only one awake this time of night. What's up?"
"Its 4pm in Singapore. Have you fixed the Animus?"
You stared at the door to your room as you clicked it shut behind you, rubbing your forehead in slight guilt with what you were about to say.
"Of course I did, I'm astounded that you would think I hadn't."
"I knew I could count on you. Desmond, is he safe?"
"Yes, for now. It won't be long till they find us though."
"I know. My flights tomorrow, I'll be there soon."
Pressing the end call button, you softly snuck back in the room and slid back into the bag, pulling it tightly around you to stave away the cold. Your mind unintentionally flicked back to the image of Desmond as he stood in front of you half dressed, making you warm up instantly. You knew he had done it on purpose to make you blush, there's no chance in hell that the temperature in here would warrant wearing just jogging bottoms.
You squeezed your legs tightly together as the dull throbbing between them began to grow, cursing to yourself quietly growling at getting so wound up at the image of a man, who you thought was completely incompetent and definitely not your type.
"Damnit Miles, get out of my head..."
After shuffling about for about a minute, you finally managed to start drifting off to sleep, completely unaware that the man next to you had heard what you said, and was falling asleep with a smug grin on his face.
Clicking on the coffee machine, you stood rubbing the sleep out of your eyes before checking your watch for the time.
6: 53 am...
Wow, you must have been more tired than you thought, it had been a while since you had more than two hours sleep in one stint. You had never needed much rest, even as a child you were content with only having two or three naps a day. This was one of the reasons you had done so well at MIT, managing to get far more work done than the rest of your colleagues. Being so high in the ranks of the institution was one of the reasons William had recruited you into the Brotherhood, the others being your bloodline, and your infatuations with the Renaissance, and Colonial America.
You looked up as you saw Rebecca walk in groggily, nearly smacking Shaun in the face who was close behind her as she stretched out. Grabbing three mugs you started pouring the coffee, grinning as Rebecca slumped on the counter.
"I don't know how you do it (name), I've had six hours and I can barely function. What time did you go to bed?"
Chuckling as you slid two of the mugs across the counter to your half-dead colleagues, you perched yourself on the stool next to you, flicking through your notepad as you sipped your own coffee.
"A little after four. William called, he's on his way back today."
"Excellent, we better get cracking if we're to get everything ready before he gets here. The power is all up and running for the Animus, when you manage to get in."
Your eyes flicked up to Shaun when you realised he was talking to you looking slightly sheepish as you turned to your computer.
"Were in."
"You did it? Oh my god (name) you're brilliant!"
Rebecca jumped up to give you a quick hug, before darting over to your desk and flopping in the chair, eager to see what you had done.
"It wasn't me. Miles did it."
You jumped as you heard a smash, turning to see that Shaun had managed to knock his coffee onto the floor in his tired, surprised state. Throwing him a roll of paper towels, you turned back to Rebecca, whose face was also dropped in shock.
"Desmond?? But he doesn't know the first thing about computers, or coding!"
Shrugging your shoulders as you got up to refill your mug, you realised that you were still slightly annoyed that he had managed something that you couldn't.
"Dunno, he just said he'd picked up on a few things while watching me work. Good job he did, or we wouldn't be where we are now. Suppose I better get dressed, we've got an Animus to get into."
Shaun and Rebecca threw each other knowing glances and smirked as you left the room to get dressed, wondering how you could be so blind to the advances of the man you were about to go into the Animus with.
"Right, everything's set up. Desmond, you'll be going in as Connor, (name) we've located your Great, Great, Great, Great....."
"I think we get the gist, Shaun."
You giggled as you lay back next to Desmond, watching Shaun's face drop and fiddle with his glasses at Rebecca interrupting him.
"Ahem. As I was saying... Great-grandmother, Isabella Greene. She was at the homestead at the same time as Connor, if we got the year right."
"What do you mean if?!"
Rebecca sat down at her laptop next to you, putting in her earpiece and booting it back up.
"There's not a lot of information about her (name), we did the best we could. Fingers crossed we nailed it. Ready?"
"Ready"
You turned to look at Desmond as he spoke at the same time as you, throwing you a wink before turning away and closing his eyes. Closing your own with a huff, you turned your head and watched the swirls of light and images of broken glass behind your lids as you entered the Animus.