This thought came to me when I was at a Nickelback concert yesterday (may 21, 2010). XD Pairing are Alt/Mal, Des/Shaun, Ezio/Leo, Rebecca/Lucy, and any other ones I may throw at you in the near future. ^^;

Hope you like it!

Ignore the fail lyrics randomly pulled out of my ass during the writing process. D:

Disclaimer: Assassin's Creed © Ubisoft, random song lyrics © me

Act I

"This is our last show and we're opening for another band. Opening! Do you know how unethical this is?" raged a tall man with blond hair.

"You know what? I don't care and neither should you. We can't be a good band if we're only in it for the money. I say, good riddance," another man spoke up, this one with short, brown hair.

"I second that. I just wanna get over with this tour and go back home," pitched in the third, who was bald.

"What are you all going to do after this?" This man was different than the others. He had no piercings and did have skin-tight clothing on. He wore a simple, sophisticated, black suit.

The one with the short brown hair stood up and looked at the man in the suit. He offered him a small smile and said, "I dunno, Des, but we'll be okay. You're a great manager and it was a pleasure working with you." The men shook hands and then the band made their way on stage.

Desmond Miles, the bands manager - and one of the best out there - watched as his friends went up on stage. It was true, you can't have a band if you're not in it for the music. Their songs weren't very good and they knew it. Desmond was to become a new band's manager, the very band that they were opening for. He still hadn't met them yet, but he had heard some of their songs; they were a real band.

They played three songs and the crowd quieted in anticipation. The blond haired member walked up to the microphone and said, "It's been a pleasure playing for you all, but I'm afraid it's time that we go. So, scream till your lungs bleed for Live. By. The. CREED!"

The crowd roared and Desmond could feel the vibrations of the sound going through his body. They must be pretty amazing to get this kind of greeting, Desmond thought to himself as his band of late exited and the stage crew went to set up for Live by the Creed's performance.

Desmond stood, talking to his band members and friends, until h heard a familiar voice.

"Are you guys ready for this?" A thick accent that was unmistakably Italian rang through the air.

Desmond shifted his gaze up and the sight startled him out of words. He stood there gaping like a fish, making his band snigger at him, until he found his voice again. "Ezio?" he called out over the volume of the crowd.

A brunette man around Desmond's aged turned at the sound of his name being called. His eyes lit up instantly when he noticed the caller. "Desmond! What are you doing here?" he greeted and he ran up and pulled the man into a bear-hug.

"Uh, I'd like to ask you the same thing," Desmond gasp from the strength of it until he was released.

"My band's playing tonight. Altaïr! Come see who I found!" From around the corner appeared another man about the same age. His eyes were a slate-grey and his brunette hair was cut short, unlike Ezio who had his in a loose ponytail.

"Desmond? Why are you here?" Altaïr asked out of surprise before he smirked. "Or, did you come to admit your our number one fan?"

"Uh, no, I'm actually their manager," Desmond replied, still very confused, as he pointed at the three men behind him.

"So, I guess that makes you our manager now, huh?" came another voice.

Desmond looked around Altaïr and saw another familiar face. "You're here too, Malik?"

Malik nodded and crossed his arms with an eye brow cocked at the confused manager. Through Malik's sleeveless shirt, a scar was visible on his left arm from where he almost lost it in a car accident. "You don't know do you?" Malik asked.

"Don't know what?" Desmond replied.

"We're Live by the Creed, Desmond. That's our band."

Desmond looked over at the owner of the new voice and visibly flinched. "Shaun," he called out after a moment.

Shaun shook his head and walked up to the other members of the band. "They're ready for us. Let's get going."

~.~

From Desmond's seat backstage he could see all of the band. Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad and Ezio Auditore, his cousins, Malik Al-Sayf, Altaïr's best friend, and Shaun Hastings, a boy Desmond had a quite the past with. Not much of that past was filled with pleasant memories for either of them.

"You gonna be okay, Des?" the brunette member of his band asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," he replied. The brunette nodded and the three of them left for their homes.

Desmond sighed to himself. "How could I have been so blind as to not notice this?" he asked himself out loud.

"It's not your fault," came a female voice from behind him.

Desmond slowly turned around, not in the least bit surprised to see the woman now that he me the band. "You're here to now, huh, Lucy?" Desmond asked when she walked up to him.

She, Lucy Stillman, nodded and held out her VIP badge. "You're the only one that drifted away from us, Desmond. You didn't know about the band because of Shaun."

"Ezio mention he had a successful band one. Never told me the name, though."

Lucy smiled down at him. "Like I said, it's because of Shaun. If he told you the name, you'd look it up and find him in it."

"And this is a better way to find out?" Desmond asked, annoyed by the situation.

"You were never supposed to become their manager. But," she paused for a moment to shoot Desmond a knowing look. "Fate works in tricky ways."

Desmond glanced up at her then went back to watching the show. "I have no idea what you're talking about." His voice was flat and with out feeling.

Lucy sighed, but her smile was still on her face. "You will eventually, Des."

Desmond began to block her out and actually listen to their songs. They rhythm was amazing, catchy and beautiful in many ways. The words were metaphorical and like real poems, real works of art. This is what all bands should be like, Desmond thought to himself, completely caught up in the music.

You're crazy if you think

That you can come at me,

You're just the spider in the web, I'm the wind in the trees.

Untouchable

Unreachable

Baby, you can't hurt me no more.

Desmond watched closely and Ezio sang those words and wondered if they were hypothetical or if they were based off of a real experience. One thing that he did mention to Desmond was that every song was written by their bass player, and that was Shaun. Malik played the drums, Altaïr was lead guitar as was Ezio who also sang most of the songs.

When intermission came, Desmond rose to greet the members. Ezio smiled and clapped him on the back. "What did you think?" he asked with a haughty laugh.

"The music's really good. Not that I'd expect any less," Desmond smiled crookedly at his cousin.

His eyes moved up and examined the rest of the band. Shaun was sitting in a chair, his eyes closed, and propping his feet up on the ledge and resting while he was given time. Altaïr stood near Malik, drinking from a water bottle as they spoke amongst themselves. Desmond made a mental note as to how close they were standing - their bodies were almost pressed together.

When Ezio led him even farther backstage, he turned and asked, "What's up with Altaïr and Malik?"

"So you noticed, huh? They're trying to keep it under the radar, but it's not working very well. They two of them are lovers," Ezio explained.

Desmond stuttered and gaped at his cousin. "Are you serious?" he exclaimed.

"As a heart attack."

"Why didn't he ever tell me? Does he think I'll judge him or something? He should know by now that I don't care about that stuff."

Ezio shook his head and shrugged. "No, you know how he is. The rest of us found out by accident. He's not one to blatantly tell people that he's seeing someone."

"That's true," sighed Desmond.

Suddenly the crowd roared to life again and Ezio gleamed. "That's my queue! See ya in a bit!" he called over his shoulder as he ran back on stage.

~.~

The concert's after party was amazing, for someone who liked that kind of stuff. Desmond stayed for a half hour, drinking with Altaïr and catching up a bit, and he noticed that Shaun was no where in sight. He excused himself mostly to get away from the noise and crowds, but also because he had unfinished business to attend to.

A year had passed since they last talked and it didn't look Shaun had moved on any more than Desmond had.

The party was being held in the community center and there were plenty of rooms around the building where the British man could have been hiding. Finally, he found him in an old resource room that had been holding old books given up by the surrounding schools. Just as Desmond suspected, Shaun had his nose buried in one.

"What are you reading this time?" Desmond asked casually, trying to start the conversation off in a light mood.

Shaun turned and glared at Desmond before looking back at the book. So much for that idea, Desmond mentally sighed to himself.

Desmond sat near Shaun and picked up the first book he saw. He flipped through the pages idly just for something to do. He looked up and took in Shaun's appearance and how it had changed in a year.

His orange hair was combed up to the top of his head like a mini mow hawk, and he wore a white dress shirt underneath a blue sweater vest. His jeans were tight, very dark, and worn looking and he wore a pair of black converse. He had three hoops in both his ears and three studs above that. There was a silver ring protruding from his lip, thick, metallic rings on all of his fingers, and leather bracelets on his wrists.

Shaun had always been the bookworm type, so it was no surprise that he was the "punk-nerd" of the band, but the piercings were different. He never pictured Shaun as the type to do that to himself, but he did admit that man looked good in them.

"Hamlet," Shaun mumbled, breaking the silence and startling Desmond from his observations.

"W-what?" he stuttered lamely.

"You asked what I was reading. I'm reading Hamlet," Shaun replied, he voice calm and monotone.

"Oh." They were silent for a moment, neither paying any attention to their books. "How have you been?" he asked finally.

"Fine." Desmond glanced at Shaun who's face was expressionless. "I can imagine you've been doing better than fine, Mr. Band Manager."

Desmond frowned and shut the book he had been looking through. "I've been taking it a day at a time."

Shaun glanced at Desmond and grumbled, "And why would that be?"

"I've never forgiven myself for my actions before. I can imagine you haven't either, right?" Shaun's lack of a response was all Desmond needed to confirm his suspicions. He turned, giving the brit his full attention. "I'll make it up to you someday. Please allow me hat much."

Shaun looked up from his copy of Hamlet and measured Desmond with a steady gaze. "Very well," he gave in. "But you're on thin ice."

Desmond smiled and sat back down, able to read a book in silence knowing that his life had just changed drastically for the better.

Yay prologues~! 3 that's not too short, is it? If you want it long, just ask~! XD

Leave me a review, please! I love getting your alerts from favs and watching, but comments are my fuel for writing. So, please, Dio Mio, leave me some pretty lame-ass comments or something? Anything will do. ^^;