#just remember that hallucinations made by the apple are so real that al mualim’s clones could damage altaïr if they hit him

[teecupangel]

I’m desperately need your thoughts on a possible idea but I’m not sure if I wanna commit. Desmond somehow finds his way to Altairs time, specifically right before Abbas begins his takeover and Des manages to save Sef and Malik. Fast forward to everyone’s return, Maria and Darim are like oh my god you’re alive and Altair is like oh my god *blushing*

Obviously Maria is cool with a third (inspired by Maria/Giovanni/Des). Altair is still in love with her but a different love than what’s going on with Des, and Sef and Darim don’t know how to cope that their father is in love and actively having sex with a man significantly younger than they are.

Bonus idea* this is the same universe as your The Relentless Pleasurable Suffering of Desmond Miles on AO3 and Darim is just ranting about everything and Sef is just sweating in the background while Des stares at him from across the yard.

Let’s set up the AC setting first, since you wish to set this after Darim assassinated Genghis Khan, we’ll have to deal with the following:

Desmond’s place in Masyaf while Altaïr and the others are away

How Abbas’ coup affects the Levantine Brotherhood as a whole

Now, we can just chuck Desmond right as Abbas finalizes the details of his coup. However, in this scenario, Abbas’ influence had been festering for a very long time now.

For his coup to be successful, he must ensure that Altaïr and his allies would be discredited to some degree beforehand.

And he has a good idea on how to do it: Altaïr’s Apple and history.

The Apple is self-explanatory at this point and I do enjoy making use of it in some of my fics, like in The Second where Abbas pretty much outright states that Altaïr is hoarding the Apple’s secret for himself.

So let’s focus on how Abbas could push others to his side by using Altaïr’s history. His main points would be:

He went rogue before and assassinated people without the permission of a Rafiq or Al Mualim (an oversimplification of what happened in Altaïr’s Chronicles)

He had failed a very important mission that led to the death of a brother and it’s only by Al Mualim’s mercy that he wasn’t killed for his failure (AC1)

He killed Al Mualim without real proof of his treachery (AC1 - this would gain him the support of those who still believed Al Mualim did nothing wrong)

He spent years away from Masyaf when he should be there, being the mentor they needed during a time of change (End of Bloodlines when he joined Maria in her travels)

Abbas would also whisper poisoned words to the Assassins who feel that their work isn’t being valued enough as the Levantine Brotherhood is structured more on the side of meritocracy. Also, at this point, there are many Assassins who are too young to remember Malik as one of the more promising Assassins in the field before Jerusalem happened. These ones would be those weak in spirit that Abbas could whisper about how Malik became the acting mentor because of his close friendship with Altaïr. Why else would they choose such a man as Malik instead of other Assassins to act as the mentor, considering what he ‘lacks’? It doesn’t matter that Malik has done more for the Brotherhood than most of them. It doesn’t matter that he has lost so much for the Brotherhood.

What mattered was that Malik is stuck taking care of what should have been Altaïr’s job high up the office while Abbas was the one on the grounds, having enough time to observe which Assassin could be turned to his side.

What about Sef then? Sef has a very deliberating factor against him. He’s Altaïr’s son. Considering his age and his current position in the Brotherhood by the time his family left for Genghis Khan, we would be around 19~20 years old when he took the role of Malik’s second-in-command. Whether this is an official position or does not matter. Sef’s high standing in the Brotherhood could be taken as another evidence of why Altaïr doesn’t deserve to be the mentor: nepotism and favoritism. If we include the idea that Malik and Sef were having an affair like in The Relentless Pleasurable Suffering of Desmond Miles, you bet there are going to be rumors about their secret affair as well which will make some of the more conservative Assassins balk.

Abbas might even stoke the flames himself.

The main reason why I spent time dealing with all that setup is that I promise that Desmond managed to save Sef and Malik (and their allies including Rauf because it’s implied his ‘sickness’ had been orchestrated by Abbas) because he immediately went to Masyaf the moment he got kicked into this time period. Desmond easily got into Malik’s office thanks to the ‘borrowed’ Assassin robes he got from the nearest bureau he found before making the trip to Masyaf and he tries to play it off like he had been made aware of a coup.

Malik isn’t stupid. He knows Desmond is not saying everything he knows but he cannot dismiss his claims as well. But, if what Desmond is saying is true, then he needs to see what can be done first.

In this case, nothing could be done.

Abbas’ claws had dug too deep into the very foundation of Masyaf itself at this point. Desmond was simply too late and the tides of change are already on their way.

What they are left with is to either hold their ground or go with the tides.

Malik chooses the later. Because he believed that Altaïr will be able to turn the tides once he returned.

Also, he cannot… he will not risk the lives of their remaining allies and their families just on the chance that they can survive the tides.

Especially his new born son and…

Sef…

(Sidenote: in this scenario, let’s make Malik’s wife his beard who knows about the affair. Hell, let’s make them each other’s beard. Malik and Sef are having an affair and they married two women who loved one another. They planned for their children to all grow up as siblings.)

So Malik gets their allies out of Masyaf. Send some of them faraway missions. Get their families to leave Masyaf to ‘visit’ relatives. Rauf’s declining health got him to send him and his family somewhere else with an explanation of ‘there’s a doctor there who might be able to help’.

Of course, Abbas isn’t stupid. He sees this happening and knows something’s up. He’s not sure just how much Malik knows but he is sure Malik knows something.

So he accelerates the timetable.

This makes it easier for Malik to see his moves though. It comes to a head where both of them tipped their hands: Abbas arranged a late meeting at night. The following dawn, Malik and Sef’s family leaves Masyaf (together with Sef).

So Abbas makes his move. No fancy false charges. No assassination attempts.

He and his coconspirators take Masyaf.

Of course, with such a blatant takeover, there are more Assassins who would not like this. Not enough to push them back as Malik had made sure the ones they are sure are allied with them were far away in Masyaf already.

(It would be later on that Altaïr would ask him why he did not simply do the opposite. Why not have Abbas’ allies be the ones sent away from Masyaf. To that, Malik would answer, “To contain a festering wound, you cut off the limb before it infests the rest of the body. Masyaf’s wound has festered far too long to be saved. Not by me.”)

And Malik was the only person truly loyal to Altaïr left in Masyaf. Everybody else was either on Abbas’ side or those who didn’t care either way.

Just as Malik planned.

Because this way, Abbas would have a prize. Abbas’ anger and thirst for vengeance would be quenched even for just a bit.

And…

Malik was betting that his death would be enough for Altaïr’s eyes to finally be opened. For Altaïr to finally do what he should have done all those years ago when Abbas used the Apple during the burning of Al Mualim’s body.

For Altaïr to finally let go of his childhood hope that Abbas would finally see the truth and they could reconcile their shattered friendship.

Even if it wasn’t…

Malik was betting that Sef would avenge his death.

And that’s when Desmond comes in and saves him. Malik is unsure how Desmond was there when he specifically ordered Desmond to ride to Alamut to tell the Assassins there about Abbas’ plans and to ask for sanctuary for their allies.

Desmond did that… by sending a pigeon then keeping an eye on things in Masyaf all in an effort to find a good time to assassinate Abbas (didn’t work. Abbas had become too paranoid because of all the moves Malik had made).

Malik is the one who stops Desmond from killing anyone, tells him that doing so would further fracture the Brotherhood.

So they run.

They meet up with their allies in Alamut and that’s where they stay, sending pigeons to all the bureaus and other Brotherhoods about what has happened in Masyaf.

(And on this part a scene between Malik and Sef concerning Malik’s plan and Sef chewing him out for it)

And it’s in Alamut that Altaïr and the others go to after their mission was done.

Just enough time has passed that Desmond was able to store the important memories in the memory seals in Alamut for Altaïr to watch.

No matter what questions they ask Desmond, he refuses to answer any of their questions.

Because he wants to tell Altaïr first.

He wants Altaïr to be the one to know who he truly is.

More than anything, he wants Altaïr to be the one to decide his fate in this world he finds himself in.

Unorganized Notes:

We can go either way with how this pairing would work. Either we make this full on Altaïr/Desmond/Maria where Desmond becomes both of their lovers or this is more of a case of Desmond being Altaïr’s lover and having a close friendship with Maria.

If you prefer for Desmond to be Altaïr’s lover alone, it could be that Altaïr and Maria’s relationship had changed. They still love one another but they feel no urge for anything physical anymore. But Altaïr felt it once more for Desmond.

In this scenario, Altaïr and Desmond would start their relationship only when Maria gives her blessing. Before that, there’s gonna be pining on both sides that everyone could see.

Once they start their relationship, it’s gonna be tricky because Altaïr wouldn’t want to hide Desmond at all while Desmond would want to hide their relationship because he knows Abbas could use their relationship to further smear Altaïr’s reputation.

And that is when Altaïr decides to do what he had always been planning to do: retire.

There will be the 12th-century version of “Oh god, he’s finally having his midlife crisis” outrage, and the fact that Altaïr is doing this AFTER Abbas’ coup will be fanning the flames even more.

So they make a compromise that Altaïr will retire once they get Masyaf back but he also makes preparations for his final contribution: to push the Brotherhood back to the shadows.

At that point, the plot can either: focus on the plans to get Masyaf back or on Altaïr and Desmond’s developing relationship. (Pick one and the other one will become the background setup, kinda like plot B)

Darim and Sef would have an awkward relationship with Desmond. Darim more awkward than Sef as Sef would play off the awkwardness by joking “should we call you ‘father’ as well?”

Sef is honestly ‘oh okay’ son in this scenario because he is in a similar situation with Malik.

Oh yeah, Altaïr and Maria knew about their relationship BEFORE they went to assassinate Genghis Khan. They were just waiting for Sef and Malik to fess up.

They still gave them hell and Altaïr enjoyed giving the shovel talk to Malik just for the hell of it.

Malik turned the table on him later on by saying that, since Desmond is technically an orphan (“He’s an adult, Malik.” “Who needs someone to keep an eye on him and it’s certainly not going to be you. How much have you spent on the gifts you’ve given him this past month, hm?”), he gave Altaïr the shovel talk as well since he is the ‘adult’ (“Again, he’s an adult as well”) who had worked closely with Desmond the most.

I do have the habit of making Darim have a crush on Desmond so if you want Darim to be super awkward, make him have a crush on his father’s lover. XD

Darim ranting about Altaïr and Desmond’s relationship to Sef is funnier when you remember Darim knows Sef and Malik are secretly lovers. Darim had assisted Sef more than once in making sure Altaïr didn’t know about it so he’s ranting to Sef knowing Sef can relate to Desmond more than anyone in Alamut. He’s doing it on purpose to make his little brother squirm.

Maria would definitely have tea parties with Malik and Desmond. Desmond dubbed it the “Altaïr Support Club” and the name stuck.

If Maria is part of the pairings, pegging will be involved. Desmond would definitely be the most bottom of the three of them and there will definitely be scenes where Maria or Altaïr watches Desmond getting the life fucked out of him.

Also…………… kinky sex making use of the Apple’s hallucinations and mind control capabilities.