Chapter Text
You sigh, annoyed. A neglected bowl of cereal is sat on the desk next to your laptop, rapidly going soggy. You rub at your eyes, glaring at the lines of code on the screen and huff, leaning back on your perch.
It had taken you a solid two days to get as far past this particular firewall as you were currently and you still weren't any closer to the information you needed. The animus had been running into some technical problems of late, and despite her initial protests, Rebecca now admitted she had no idea how to fix it; something Shaun saw fit to bring up at every opportunity. Ass. That was when you had the genius idea of hacking into one of Abstergo's beyond supremely secret servers and... “Obtaining” their most recent Animus blueprints and diagnostics programs. This was where your problems had started. Hacking was your job in that merry little band of Assassins, whether it be into Abstergo to take information or into private servers to manipulate security systems, and you enjoyed it. Mostly.
With nothing to do until the Animus was up and running again, Desmond and Rebecca had gone topside to hunt for some more supplies. Having to constantly stay underground made opportunities to restock few and far between, not to mention the fact that according to the ever pleasant Papa Miles (currently off on an adventure of his own), you had to find somewhere different to buy supplies from each time, so whoever went could be gone for a day or four. You had no idea where the two of them were headed this time, but they left not long after you began the laborious task of hacking Abstergo, leaving you alone in that creepy, glowing cave with an oddly silent Shaun. Great.
It’s not that you didn’t like the man, quite the contrary actually, he always had something interesting to say, and he was a usually a silent worker, luckily for you sharing a space with him. However, your frequent banter had a habit of getting in the way of work, and with no Rebecca to scold him, you had worried he would be insufferable.
For the most part you had tried to ignore him and lose yourself in task at hand. A task which was proving to be more trouble than it was worth in your humble opinion, but you continued nonetheless. As if he sensed your need for peace, Shaun had left you alone in the beginning. It was a relief, almost as much as it was a surprise. He continued silently with his own work at the station across from yours. But, as the hours passed rapidly by, your fingers never slowing their pace as they raced across the keyboard, you could sense he was becoming more and more...worried? Agitated? More… something, by your ceaseless working. You kept feeling his eyes on you, turning to see him open his book at a random page or something equally as obvious as screaming “I wasn’t staring at you, I promise!”.
He even suggested in an oddly not Shaun tone that you take a break and get some rest, at one point. Not trusting that your voice wouldn’t betray just how tired you actually were, you looked away from the screen briefly to glare at him, and that was that. Instead, he took it upon himself to deposit meals on your desk, something he normally had kittens whenever you did. Countless times you had spurred him into a rant sounding something like "How many times have I told you not to eat at the desk... you could spill it and everything would be lost... why are you laughing this is not funny... take your bowl of instant disappointment and eat it away from the valuable information." You never would understand how he could be so adverse to the wonders of instant ramen, but after many an hour spent debating the topic you had both reluctantly agreed to disagree.
So, that was how you came to be where you were; sighing with exasperation, bowl of chocolaty cereal mush abandoned next to you, and tired eyes screaming for a moment’s respite. You heard Shaun approach you from behind, and felt as he rested one of his hands on the back of your stool. "How’s it going?" He asked, somewhat tentatively, narrowed eyes scanning your face like the data analyst he was.
"How’s it going? Oh just peachy," You deadpan, turning your head to look up at him. You were aware in the moment that your comment possibly came out sharper than you meant it to but couldn’t bring yourself to care. "No really, this is a walk in the park." He raised his eyebrows at you, taking a few steps back, hands raised in surrender. "Sorry..." You say, sighing again and realising for the first time just how tired you actually are.
"Its fine," he says, smirk evident on his voice. You watch him as he retreats back to his work station, picking up a book and flicking idly through it. Of course he’s still smirking. Ass.
You shake your head in exasperation and turn back to the computer. The sooner you get this done the sooner you can sleep.
**
You furiously typed in more code, hit the enter key with possibly a little more gusto than necessary and... Yes! After roughly 8 more hours of two steps forward, one step back with only a brief break to wolf down a sandwich and a cup of coffee; you finally managed to get past the security and into the Abstergo database. You jumped up to stand at the computer, barely registering your stool toppling backwards and clattering on the stone floor.
“Jesus Christ!” Shaun jumped, having been fully immersed in his reading up until that point. “What the bloody hell was-”
You cut him off with a shush and a vague wave of a hand over your shoulder. He scoffs, dropping his book onto his workbench and shuffles over, thinking that maybe after all this time you’d finally lost it. The biting retort he had been readying gets caught in his throat, though, as he watches you taking files from Abstergo and transferring them to your own hard drive, working as best you could to cover your tracks as you went. A renewed adrenaline rush fuelling you, the last steps of the process flew by and in half an hour you were finished. You look to Shaun who had been watching over your shoulder and give him a triumphant little smirk, one which he returns with ease. For a few moments you stay like that, watching each other before Shaun clears his throat awkwardly.
“Well done,” he says, gesturing to the computer and, while he sounds like he means it, you can sense the sarcastic ass breaching the horizon. “Maybe now you can take a break and stop that incessant typing. You know I’m a light sleeper, I’ve hardly got any shut eye at all.” Yep. There it is.
You stick your tongue out at him and close the laptop screen, stretching. “At least I’ve been getting work done and not just… reading.” You reply, smirking again. “Are you gonna call Becca and let her know the good news or am I?” His eyes narrow at the rasp in your voice, and you see him shake his head a little.
“I will... You look awful, get some sleep.” He states as he takes his phone from his pocket, purposely avoiding looking you in the eyes. You nod and stand up, rolling your shoulders. You both walk away from your work stations by the ever-present glowing gate and down towards the bottom the cave, where he leaves you with an awkward goodnight, heading up towards the entrance so that he can call the others.