On the weekend Altair went up to Massachusetts to check on Connor. Haytham couldn't afford to have Altair on retainer but they'd worked out a deal. He'd spent nearly a month with Connor at first and now he just stopped by now and then so the little Devil boy didn't bleed Haytham's bank account dry to be taught properly.

Haytham welcomed Altair in when he arrived and Connor was at least not shy around him anymore. It had taken Altair a solid week for the kid to even warm up to him. As usual Haytham had the house staff out for the times Altair visited, and also left to go work somewhere else. There was no Mrs. Kenway. Connor's mother, like many mothers of Devils, was dead. Unlike most mothers of Devils it wasn't because of Connor being a Devil. Rather a hate crime against her for being First Nation.

Sometimes Altair didn't know how humans were still even in existence when they hated themselves so much. Devils didn't usually fight one another. They were a rare breed anyway and having to kill each other was always a loss. Every time a Devil died the funerals were always attended by crowds, even if the other Devils had never known the one who'd died. It was one of them, and they deserved the respect and peace to be buried amid their own kind. Rashid's funeral had been attended by a hundred Devils, even by the ones who'd put him down when he'd gone Wight.

"So, show me," Altair said to Connor once they were alone. Connor nodded and looked across the room. A moment passed and then he teleported with a crack like thunder. Most Devils had a primary and a secondary part of their pacts. The primary required the blood price, the secondary didn't. The secondary wasn't without its price, but it wasn't as extreme as a blood price. Altair's primary was obviously the shapeshifting, but his secondary was much more subtle. It was just his ability to memorize and replicate other people's mannerisms. The price was his social anxiety and general shut in nature since before puberty he'd been the exact opposite.

Other Devil's had flashier secondaries. Connor's secondary ability was the teleport, and the price was that it was loud and was only useful at about twenty feet. It complimented his primary pact to be able to go invisible. Both were useful in getting around easier. Poor Connor's blood price was mostly just obnoxious than anything else, sort of like Altair's. He needed to hallucinate in some way. Sleeping usually did the trick since that was all REM sleep and dreams were. Drugs would also do the trick, but Haytham had been very vocally against it when Altair had brought it up.

That hadn't stopped Altair from buying a few shrooms from one of the local drug dealers and making Connor fulfill his blood price that way. Mainly so he'd know what he was getting into if he couldn't take a full hour to fall into REM sleep and dream. Also let him explain exactly what Connor should take if he needed to complete his blood price quickly. Only down side was the kid was a complete lightweight. Was also sort of an upside since it meant Connor didn't need a lot, just enough to start hallucinating.

"Very good," Altair said approvingly. "You found your absolute range like we talked about?"

"Yeap," Connor said, "and I can guesstimate where it is pretty easily."

"Good. How much you bothering your old man with it?"

"Not a lot," but by Connor's little grin Altair knew he was lying.

"Yeah, sure," Altair said. "And how about your invisibility? You able to control it better?"

Connor nodded vigorously, "I don't do it spontaneously anymore… for the most part. When I panic I do sometimes, or even I get super emotional or stressed out."

"You'll learn control," Altair said. "It takes time. All Devils took time to master their pacts."

"Even you?" Connor asked coming back over and sitting with Altair.

"Especially me. I'd sometimes come home from school looking like one of the other kids there." And while he didn't tell Connor he also often just spontaneously took on aspects of the people he was sleeping with during and after sex when he was younger. That hadn't happened in nearly two decades. Hadn't made it any less freaky or had made Rauf laugh at him any less when suddenly there were two of them. Back then Rauf had been more of a narcissistic asshole and had finished anyway.

Being a teenage Devil who could shape shift had been super weird.

Connor laughed, "Really?"

"Yeap. And changing back was always weird or awkward," because lying didn't always work. If the person you were lying to you knew it was a lie it worked about fifty percent of the time. If the person wanted to believe the lie it usually did work. His mom always knew he was lying, so it barely ever worked. Oddly enough lying to animals also worked, every time. Altair didn't like lying to animals though. It felt wrong to him.

"I bet."

"But you'll learn real control. We all do. Its learn control, or die," he reminded Connor who swallowed uncomfortably, the light mood darkened a bit.

"My dad says we shouldn't have to be afraid of dying young," Connor said.

"We shouldn't," Altair agreed. "But what your dad wants and what's reality are two very different things."

"But he's trying to get that bill through."

"And what do you think would happen if Devils were made to register our powers?" Altair asked. "How many would lie? Our pacts make us a threat to national and world security. We all have god-like powers. Yours is fairly benign and can be countered with some IR capabilities since you can make your body invisible, not your heat signature. But someone like me? I could look like the president. I could mimic his voice, his manners, his subtle actions no one notices. And there would be no way they'd ever know. I'd be able to lie to them constantly, 'I'm not a Devil' is all I'd have to say, to anyone, or 'there are no Devils here', then I could sleep and in the morning look like the president again.

"And we're fairly tame Devils," Altair continued. "What about the Devils who can control fire? Or the ones who can fly? Or the ones who can bend metal? Or I've heard of one who can walk through walls as their secondary ability, and I don't even know their primary. They all become threat vectors once the government and the public realizes just the sort of power we actually have.

"The bill your father is making is nice in theory. Register Devils, get them known so they can be protected properly by the government and so they know who and what they're dealing with if one of us ever go Wight. But in the end we'll all lie about the extent of our powers, tame them so they aren't so powerful. And of course there are amp Devils. Have I told you about those?"

"No," Connor said with a shake of the head.

"They're Devils whose entire pact is to amplify the pacts of other Devils," Altair said. "Very rare. But I know two, one who hasn't enacted his pact in over a decade, and the other does when he wants to. They can give Devils Wight abilities without them going Wight when their pacts are enacted, just by being near other Devils, or after touching them."

"That sounds scary," Connor said.

"It is," Altair said. A Devil's worst nightmare was going Wight and most wanted nothing to do with amps. They were pariahs even among their own kind. Desmond was an amp, but he swore he'd never enact his pact after he'd gotten his brother killed the last time he did. The man who'd left Altair was the other amp he knew. They used their pact like a weapon, flushing Devils out when they made him angry, or wanted to make a point.

That was what had made Altair leave them. He'd seen what they did to other Devils, and they were so powerful they could bring out the latent aspects of humans, giving them nearly demonic power. Altair had been a scared kid back then. Barely a kid really. He'd been in his mid twenties before it'd become too much. Didn't matter they promised to never influence Altair, watching them ruin other Devils and twist humans for so long was enough to make him run.

"But amps would never reveal themselves to the government. Someone that could make us stronger? They'd be wiped out, or forcibly sterilized. Not that that would help."

"Cause Devilism is random?" Connor supplied.

"Exactly. Devils make Devils most of the time, but humans also make Devils. Amps don't make more amps, they just make more Devils. Regular Devils and humans also make amps. But they'd still try to kill them which would lead the amps to need to protect themselves. How do you think they'd do that?"

Connor thought a moment and Altair let him work it out himself. Most Devils came to this realization at one time or another when they learned about amps. It was usually around the time that laws involving Devil restrictions came up for a vote. Most of the time the bills were so unconstitutional and inhumane they never got onto the Congress floor. That and there were people like Altair pumping money into the State Building with lobbyists to keep bullshit laws from hurting Devils even more than they already did. Altair had to spend his wealth on something, and he put about a third of it into fighting for Devil equality. He did so quietly, through human mouths that could never be traced back to him. Other Devils who could did the same.

"They'd enact their pacts," Connor eventually concluded. "That'd cause normal Devils to become more powerful, gain Wight abilities, and maybe lose control. They'd seek out the amp doing it to them to make them stop. The amp would stop in exchange for protection."

"Bingo," Altair said. "That was how a lot of old polytheistic religions happened. Amps gathered followers, forged them into gods, and the humans worshiped us. Then that Jewish bastard came along and ruined everything for us and we became pagan and deserving of death."

"Was Jesus a Devil?" Connor asked.

Altair made a face, "I honestly don't know. Never met him. My grandfather thought he was. He preached all about love and acceptance and borderline anarchy, performed miracles, and in general acted very Devil-like."

"What do you think?"

"Honestly?" Connor nodded. "I think Jesus wasn't just one man. But a bunch of Devils, Jesus did have twelve acolytes and thirteen Devils is more than enough to account for his ability to perform so many different 'miracles'."

"Are they possible?"

"Yes," Altair said seriously.

"Wow," Connor said after a beat. "There's a lot I don't know."

"That's okay. I'll keep you on track."

Connor frowned at him, "You're just here because my father pays you to be," Connor said.

"Yeah but my heart's in a good place."

"Sure it is."

"I don't need to explain myself to you kid. My money serves more than just my greed and doesn't all just go into my pocket."

"Alright," he knew Connor didn't believe him. That was okay. The kid didn't know everything. Didn't need to know everything. Altair wasn't here to be a saint either. He was here to train Connor and make sure nothing went wrong. "What's it like?" he asked.

"What's what like?"

"Being around an amp?"

"Terrifying," Altair said. "It's like you've lost control. Your body isn't your own. The one I knew did it to me a few times to make me learn, he taught me. I couldn't control my shifting."

"What do you mean?"

"So you know my price," Connor nodded. "Under an amp, there is no price," Connor's eyes widened. "And no limit. Shifting a lot in a short time can leave me tired. But amped? I could continuously change my face and then go back to my own without needing to pay my price. And sometimes I'm not perfect or being in a girl's body is hard. Amped up I didn't feel like myself wearing someone else's face. It felt like I was that person and Altair was just controlling from the background. It was terrifying, to not be myself and no control over it. You don't want to meet an amp, Connor, trust me."

Even as he said that he couldn't help but think of the two he knew. He was close to them both. One used his pact like a weapon and the other was one of the most mellow and gentle Devils he'd ever met. He'd slept with them both two. Sort of awkward when he thought about it.

"Do amps have prices? You're making them sound like gods," Connor said.

"They do. But they're like most Devils and don't share their prices with others. The only reason you know mine is cause I'm your teacher. Otherwise you won't know other Devil's pacts. Its rude to ask, so if you ever meet another Devil, don't."

"You know other peoples' though," Connor said.

"I do. People I'm close friends with-

"You have friends?"

Altair chuckled, "Hard to believe huh? But yes, I do. The ones I trust know my pact, and I know theirs. Word of advice, never tell someone you pact who won't tell you theres."

"You sound like that happened to you," Connor said.

Altair gave him an even look, "Pacts are power," he said. "Once you know a Devil's pact you can manipulate them, bend them to your will. In mythology speaking a demon's name gives you power over them. In reality its our pact."

"What do you mean?"

"They can deny you your blood price. For some devils that's a death sentence. For you its an inconvenience. For someone like me? I'll die if they don't let me pay my price. It'd be a slow death. All they'd have to do is cut me off from another human. A human cannot sin alone, it's impossible. I've tried. To sin is to exist with other humans. Eventually, being awake for so long, I'd go crazy, and then eventually kill myself."

Connor's eyes were huge. "How long have you been awake in one go?"

"Six days," Altair said. "Don't ask why, I won't tell you," he added, seeing the question about to burst out of Connor. "Now, enough of the oral lesson today. Lets work on your spacial visibility control," and Altair got up from the couch. Connor jumped up. "If you can go invisible you should be able to go partially invisible, or control what part you want invisible. That's what we'll work on today, and what I want you to practice while I'm gone."

"How do I do that?" Connor asked.

"Make yourself invisible."

"But-

"Don't worry, we'll make you visible before I leave."

That didn't make Connor any happier. "My dad says you're going to turn me into an addict."

"After you've learned control you can never use your pact again if you want. Some Devils go their entire lives without using their pacts after puberty when they first learn to use them. If you don't learn control you're going to go invisible at random all your life. You might even teleport randomly. Like you said, you still go invisible under emotional discourse or stress. You want that all your life?"

Connor looked down, "No," he admitted.

"Now go invisible."

Connor hesitated and then phased out of existence. He had a strong type of invisibility. Connor could make both himself and anything touching him invisible. It wasn't simple light bending either like Altair had seen in other Devils who could make themselves invisible but couldn't invisible their clothes. Connor was invisible and was intangible. You could still see him in infrared but you couldn't touch him. His atoms were split apart just enough to turn him into something humans couldn't see or touch. It was almost like he was phasing. He was limited by the solid world around him though.

Altair hated to think what Connor could become if he knew the full extent of his abilities. Altair could see them but he kept Connor slightly in the dark about just what the nature of his powers were. Either he'd become afraid of himself, like Adha, or he'd trust the wrong Devil and that Devil would abuse him. Altair had seen both. Adha was a wonder, like Connor, but she was so scared. Altair had trusted Him too much with what he was. Altair had been manipulated and abused by Him, coerced into using his pact in ways he wouldn't, or do things that still left bad tastes in his mouth. He didn't want that to happen to Connor. He was a good kid, he didn't deserve to be taken advantage of by the next Devil he met. Altair planned on keeping tabs on Connor as he grew up even once the job was done. Once he was old enough he'd tell Connor the rest of his pact.

"Happy?" Connor's voice asked.

"A little. Show me your head."

"You know I can't become visible without filling my blood price," Connor huffed.

"You don't know what you're capable of. And you aren't becoming visible. You're making your head visible. Now try."

"How?"

"How do you make yourself visible?"

"I dunno. It just happens."

"Think about it," Altair sat back down, looking at where Connor's voice was coming from, about where his head should be. "You've come far but this is the next step. Your pact is a part of you and you are a part of it, but it does not control you. You are the master of your pact and the only balance is your blood price. Now think about it, and try. You aren't getting any of the drugs I brought until you've made some sort of progress or attempt."

"Prick," Connor grumbled.

"So I've been told. Would having to perform for your father be a better motivator?" Altair asked mildly. He wasn't an idiot after all. He'd been around the house. He'd seen Connor's many sports trophies and academic awards. He aimed to please. Maybe he didn't care about performing for Altair, but his father?

Connor's room had no sports memorabilia in it at all, nor did it have lots of study material or difficult subjects. Rather he had animal posters on his walls and collected Star Wars toys and he had a shelf full of books on animals and national parks. The kid had a damn tent in the backyard and Altair had spied him, more than once, on his phone looking up information about the best sort of outdoor dogs. The kid screamed antisocial crunchy kid who liked animals and going hiking. Yet things like sports and school were important to Haytham so Connor did those to make his father happy.

For Altair Connor was only doing out of force but for Haytham Connor would do things he thought was impossible. Altair wasn't sure if it was out of a mutual love, or some sort of fucked up relationship. Altair liked to think it was the former, otherwise Haytham, wouldn't have looked for someone like Altair to train his son. He'd have just let Connor self destruct.

"What?" Connor asked. Altair didn't know how the kid had so many academic awards. He was dumb as a box of rocks when it came to people. Maybe he was just book smart the same way Altair was social smart.

Altair would figure out how to fill his price later. Wouldn't be hard. He shifted, his hair lengthening and graying, his features aged fifteen years and he became broader. Every detail down to the whirl of his fingerprints and the unique pattern of the iris changed. Haytham didn't fit well in his clothes though. He was older, fatter, filled out his clothes badly. "Do as he says, son," Altair said in a perfect replication of Haytham's voice down to the British accent. Accents were Altair's specialty and were part of his secondary ability along with the memory.

Connor said nothing for a moment. "Stop that," he said and if Altair didn't know better the kid sounded like he was about to have a break down. "Don't… don't look like my dad!"

"Or what?" Altair asked, dropping the accent so Connor knew full well that the Haytham looking man wasn't actually his father.

"He makes me nervous about my powers," Connor said. "I always… always fuck them up when he's watching."

Altair internally rolled his eyes. Kid tried too hard to please and when he wasn't good at something right away it made him fail. "Fine," Altair shifted again. This time he just turned into Malik because they had a similar build and because he was going to need this skin soon anyway.

"Who's that?"

"An asshole I have to work with," Altair said with Malik's wicked mouth, letting Malik's accent roll around in his mouth. Malik would have kittens if he knew Altair used his body so casually. Guy needed to get over Altair. They were never going to work out, no matter how many times he texted Altair.

"Oh-

"Don't ask who. I'm not telling you," Altair said.

Connor frowned. "Okay. Isn't this inconvenient for you?"

"Not really," he said with a shrug. "I can fix it when I go home."

"How?"

"You know how."

"Yeah but isn't that-

"Connor, you're dodging my request. Make your face visible," Malik's voice could be a lash and Altair knew how to manipulate a body like Malik's. For Altair Malik was a comfortable pair of jeans, a bit worn at the hems but sturdy and didn't rip or tear easily. Not as comfortable as his own skin but since they were so similar it was an easier transition than his normal female skins his jobs seemed to be calling for so much recently.

"I don't know how-

"Then figure it out. You're a smart boy. Then we can show your father how much progress you've made. You don't want your father to be paying me so much for nothing do you? Especially when all I do with it is pay people to fight his bill."

"You what?"

"Make your head visible."

Connor's head abruptly appeared and he looked a mix of confused and angry. "You're fighting my dad's bill?" he demanded.

Malik's mouth didn't really smile. It sort of smirked, showed a hint of amusement, usually at someone else's expense, but it was serviceable. "Yes."

"What… but why?"

"Because Devil registration is a terrible idea. It'd lead to wars and hate crimes on a scale we can't even imagine. It'd turn into the Cold War all over again," Altair pushed himself to his feet. Malik had a different center of balance than he was used to, his legs were shorter, though he was the same height as Altair. And it wasn't like walking in a girl's body either.

"Look at you though," Altair came up to Connor and poked his cheek. "You're visible," he smiled at Connor and then abruptly shifted into Haytham. "I'm so proud of you," he said in Haytham's accent and ruffled Connor's hair a bit.

Connor stared up at Altair like it was the first time he'd ever really seen Altair. Or maybe like he finally realized the capacity of what Devils were capable of. What sort of control they could exert over their pact. That this was why people feared them, why people had worshiped them. Altair had gone from Malik to Haytham in less than a few seconds, face and body shifting in rapid order. Usually he shifted slowly. Normal humans thought that was impressive but only Devils could appreciate the mastery of enacting their pact in a snap decision like he'd just done.

Altair let himself melt back into Malik and he saw Connor watching every moment. "I'd say take a picture, but I'd have to confiscate your phone, kid," Altair said with Malik's smirk.

"Wow," Connor said softly. Altair laughed his own laugh through Malik's mouth, which was more of an amused scoff. Malik did a fully body laugh when he laughed, the only 'cute' aspect about him as far as Altair was concerned.

"See why its important to control your pact?" Malik asked. Connor nodded. "Good," he went back over to his bag and pulled out a small bakery box. "Do it again and we're all done, you can pretend to be normal."

"I hate when you say that," Connor said sourly.

"Thems the breaks, kid," Altair said. "Now go invisible." Connor scowled at Altair a little before his head disappeared. "Make your left arm appear."

"My left, or your left?"

Altair chuckled, "Your left." Connor did nothing for a little bit, Altair just waited patiently. "When you do it this time try to remember the feeling of it so you can practice it tonight before you go to bed."

"Okay," Connor's voice said. Then, at once, a thirteen year old's arm appeared out of thin air right in front of Altair, bobbing a little bit. "There, I did it, can I be visible now?"

"Yes," Altair said sitting down on the couch again and opened the cardboard box. Inside were two muffins. "One for you," he put it in the floating hand. "One for me," he took the other.

"These aren't drugs," Connor said suspiciously.

"I prefer my weed to be easy to take. I honestly hate smoking," Altair said. "Bad for the lungs," he took a bite of the muffin. "Pot muffin. You should learn to make them."

"I'm not going to learn to make pot muffins," Connor said.

"Eat your damn muffin kid," Altair said. The muffin was lifted up to Connor's head and disappeared into thin air in a few bites. "Easier to hide drugs from your old man and everyone else if they're in food. Since you're going to need them, I suggest learning to make them. And don't skimp on the weed, get good stuff so you only need one. Like this one."

"I don't feel anything yet," Connor said.

"You will. A friend of mine likes this strain. So it comes recommended." Connor sat, Altair knew because the arm moved around. It was so weird watching a fucking arm just bob around even though it was attached to a body. "They call it Lavender. The bud is purple, super weird."

"You're weird."

"Says the Devil who can teleport and disappear."

"You can look like my dad. That's so weird."

"I can look like anyone, which is why your dad's an idiot."

"About the bill?"

"Mhm! But lets not talk about it more. With any luck, like the rest of the bills like it that have come up the past few decades it'll be laughed off the Congress floor." He ate the rest of his muffin.

Connor showed signs of being affected quicker than Altair. His eyes grew a bit unfocused and then like they were peeling back a film the rest of Connor appeared. "I don't like this feeling, Altair," Connor said.

"Just until you can learn control kid. Then you never have to do this again if you don't want. Though I think you'd prefer this over to the sleep meds I could get ahold of. Now that stuff will give you a habit. Better to take something like weed than get a prescription pill addiction."

"Yeah," Connor nodded weakly.

Altair turned on the TV and the two of them watched cartoons in silence while they rode out their trip. Altair didn't like drugs either really but he always tripped with Connor. Mainly so the kid didn't feel so uncomfortable by being high alone. Altair's intention wasn't to make Connor ill at ease in his body. He wanted Connor to feel comfortable in his own skin the way some Devils never did. So Altair tripped with him so he wasn't alone.

Haytham came back as they were coming down. "What's going on in here? Altair, I pay you to train my son not watch cartoons," he snapped.

Altair looked up at Haytham with Malik's unamused face. He then shifted into Haytham. "Altair I don't pay you nearly enough to make sure my son doesn't get himself killed by bigots and specists who'd love to take a bat to his head for how he was born if they found out he was a Devil. I'm so sorry I'm so ungrateful you're keeping my son safe when I can't," Altair mimicked Haytham perfectly. Haytham was pale with horror and humiliation when Altair was done. "We done here?" he continued.

"You're watching cartoons. I don't see how this is a good use of my money!"

Altair grunted as he got up. "Connor," he said and the kid looked at him. He shifted back into Malik. "I'm leaving now. Practice what we did today before you go to bed so when you wake up you'll be visible. I expect you to have it mostly mastered by next week like you learned with your teleportation."

Connor licked his lips. "Okay, Altair," he said.

"Great. See you next week, kid. Haytham," he nodded at the furious senator and stepped around him. "I'll send you an invoice," he said nicely and Haytham just glared at him. Altair saw himself out and went out to his rental car. He had to drive back to Boston and catch his flight back home to New York City.

He dug around in his jacket pocket and pulled out his cell phone and hit number four on his speed dial. Desmond picked up on the fifth ring.

"You're actually calling me on the phone? I'm in shock and awe," Desmond said sarcastically.

"Yeah, hi," Altair said, no accent and it made Malik's voice sound dead.

There was an eerie silence on the other end of the phone and he was sure Desmond was freaking out. He didn't know Malik, had never spoken to him, didn't know the sound of his voice at all. This strange voice was calling from Altair's phone. Desmond didn't give out his number to people. He was freakishly paranoid about being found out to be a Devil, and even worse, an amp. Not even other Devils liked amps and every Devil had heard at least one rumor of an amp being tracked down and killed just for the potential of hurting the Devil population in a given area. When an amp wasn't in control they were vulnerable and easy pickings. Altair had never actually known of a report of an amp hunt in truth and as far as he knew they were just rumor.

"Who is this? How did you get this number? Where's Aleck?" Aleck, like a smart aleck. Desmond had thought it was soooooo clever.

"He's dead," Altair said through Malik's mouth. Malik had a wait to make the hair stand up on the back of your neck and as a contract killer he had a sort of finality to his words when he told someone the person was dead.

"Wh-what?" Desmond choked.

Altair smiled and shifted back into his own skin once more. "You know you're so gullible Dessy," he teased and turned the car on.

"Altair!" Desmond cried. "You fucking sonuvabitch!"

"Glad to know you would have missed me so much. Or maybe just missed the paycheck," he smirked as he put the car into drive and made his way out of Haytham's driveway towards the road.

"Fuck you. You scared the fuck out of me!"

"I needed an easy lie, and you believe anything you're told."

"I do not," Desmond said sourly as Altair turned onto the road.

"You immediately believed I was dead by a voice you didn't know that somehow had my phone and could access it. You're like the most gullible person I know."

"Its possible. Who was that anyway?"

"An associate," was all Altair said.

"Pft, fine, whatever. At least you aren't calling me for sex again. It's getting harder for me to explain to my girlfriend why we sometimes have a threesome with the Arab guy she still doesn't know the name of. Do you know how awkward that is."

"Not my problem to explain to your girlfriend your my booty call."

"Fuck off. I'm not a booty call."

"So if I'd called up saying it was me and needed to fill my blood price you'd have said no?" Desmond didn't answer that. "You're a booty call."

"I hate you so much sometimes, bro."

"And my money. I know. You really hate the money."

"Y-you know it isn't just about that."

"I know," Altair said, somewhat reserved now.

"You already on your way back home?"

"Yes."

Desmond hesitated, sighed. "Lucy says you should come over for dinner. She still thinks its weird you've come over like half a dozen times this year, not even really talked, and then leave when we're done. She wants to see you."

"I don't do shit like that."

"As I've tried to explain to her."

"She know?"

"You're you? No. She doesn't even… know about me," Desmond had a wince in his voice. "Pretend to think about it? She might start saying no."

"I'll just wear your face next time for the first half-

"Fuck no you will not!" Desmond roared.

Altair chuckled. "Text me if you need me, or you have another job." That was as good as a goodbye as Desmond would get. He caught Desmond's mumbled 'goodbye' as he turned his phone off. By now he'd gotten onto the highway and was on his way to Boston. He'd be there in an hour or so and be just in time to wait for his flight back home.