#whether this is claydes or just bromance is up to you

[teecupangel]

Reading a new fanfic on AO3, do you have any plot idea's for both Desmond and Clay being transported to renaissance italy and saving the auditore? (fic name is 'we were born for this' des/ezio, and some clay and federico bromance, it's so good, lots of angst but also some funny moments and clay helping desmond heal, i would recommend!)

The fic in question: We Were Born For This by the wonderful @saberamane. It's truly a great read and I second the recommendation!

For Desmond not leaving the Farm and the ramifications of what that entails + Clay helping Desmond heal, you might be interested in this idea.

Now, this ask specified Desmond and Clay being transported to Renaissance Italy and saving the Auditore so let’s set that up.

Everything up to AC3 remains the same but, this time, when Desmond dies, he gets transported to the Gray.

Clay is already there and this seemed to be some kind of twisted reward from Juno as ‘gratitude’ for playing their part.

Desmond is the one who accepted his fate, Clay will be the one who goes ‘fuck that shit’ and starts trying to connect with the Gray.

Technobabble that Desmond won’t understand but Clay’s main point is that this isn’t magic. The Gray is based on tech they may not understand but that meant they just need to understand it.

His plan was simply to be able to do what Juno had done and connect to the real world via the POE… or the Animus perhaps… although Clay is thinking Juno was connecting to the memory of the POE in the Animus-(“Uh, Clay, dumb it down?”“Juno’s using the Calculations to predict our actions and left voicemails that sounds like she’s talking to us using the POEs so we can get them when we’re in the Animus.”)

Now, this can go either:

Clay accidentally fucked the Gray and it threw the two of them out and into Renaissance Italy

Clay accidentally opened a line of communication with a POE BUT it’s the wrong time period and POE: The Shroud that Giovanni was going to hide. Now the Shroud thing will be complicated because there is an Isu conscience already there so we’ll have to include him in the plot. Also, this meant that they won’t be physically there and will primarily use the Shroud to talk to Giovanni and the Auditores. Of course, we can bypass that by having Giovanni get Ezio’s Apple earlier then use the Apple to create holograms for Clay and Desmond (kinda like the drone holograms in Zero Eclipse).

Whichever plot you decide to go for, it would be Desmond who decides to save the Auditores. Clay agrees because he wants to fuck up the Isu’s plans.

Unorganized ideas:

Clay is in it to fuck shit up. The fate of the world? Assassins versus Templars? They don’t really matter all that much to him. He’s too broken to care about such things. Destroying the Isus’ carefully laid out plans though… that helps him focus. That keeps the madness at bay.

On the other hand, Clay definitely does everything to help and save Desmond. As far as he’s concerned, it’s him and Desmond against the world.

Desmond doesn’t believe Clay truly doesn't care about the world or the Assassins. He thinks Clay is only saying that to not be reminded of how he had to die to save the world and about Juno’s manipulation. Desmond doesn’t buy it. Clay tells him that Desmond just wants to believe Clay's a good person but he's not. Whoever is right is up to you.

Also, Desmond definitely has a soft spot for Ezio. He wants to save the Auditores because he believes he knows them and loves them even.

Clay is helping for two different reasons: 1) It’s what Desmond wants and 2) He’s doing it for Ezio. While his synchronization with Ezio wasn’t as high as Desmond, he still believes he knew Ezio. Perhaps not as closely as Desmond (and he believes that Desmond cares for Ezio too much that it's detrimental to Desmond himself) but he does care for Ezio. (“Like a distant cousin”“Just say brother, Clay.”“Second-cousin… twice removed.”“Do you even understand how that works???”)

Giovanni would see them as two Assassins who had gone rogue with Desmond being the ‘mentor’ to Clay’s ‘acolyte’. Giovanni is sure their Brotherhood isn’t a good one if Clay’s trash-talking of William Miles is any indication.

When the whole Desmond may be Altaïr’s descendant blows up, Clay milks it before Desmond could try to say no. Just full-on “Yes! That’s right! This is Desmond Miles, great great great… great?… grandson! Some even say he’s the second coming of Altaïr!” “No, they don’t, CLAY!”

Clay lives for the chaos. Desmond just wants to save people and the Templars.

Maria is actually the one who sees that Clay thrives in chaos because he hates the silence. To be more exact, the silence reminds him of the bedroom in the Animus Room where he slowly lost his mind.

When Clay loses himself to the Bleed, Desmond is the only one who can snap him out of it. They were worried that staying in Renaissance Italy would make Clay’s Bleed worse, especially as they near the day of the execution, but it actually has the opposite effect on him. The longer they stay in Renaissance Italy, the fewer episodes Clay has.

Desmond thinks that having an actual support system (him and the Auditores) is helping. Clay thinks it’s because his mind is adapting to the time period and the fact that his Bleed is of Ezio and Ezio is right there is keeping him stable. (“So it is because you have a support system!” “It’s because Ezio’s there.” “To help you! To be your friend!”)