Leap of Faith - Assassins Creed X National Treasure - Reader Insert Fanfiction

Chapter 20

You and Riley sit at the table in his quarters. The cipher pages are on the table between you. You've been reading off words out of a super thick dictionary, trying to help him break the cipher.

"Crepuscular," you say, "Means relating to twilight."

Riley puzzles over the pages and says, "Nope, don't fit."

"Bother." You mutter, running your finger down the page to the next word.

This continues for a few more hours until you and him decide to take a break.

"What was Ben thinking?" Riley asks, setting his glasses on the table, and running a hand over his face. "Does he *want* to give the Templars the upper hand?"

"I honestly don't know," You say, sliding your hand under his. "I know he's a smart guy, but, I have no idea if he's actually a Templar, or if he's being coerced," You sigh, "I thought I had succeeded in taking down Lamina. Next time, I'm finishing the job." 

"You'll get her next time. I just hope I don't have to fight Ben," He says, interlacing his fingers with yours. "He's my friend. I've known him for years, I helped him find treasure. You know, before the Charlotte," he sighs, "Still can't believe I was helping the Templars in more ways than one." 

"You didn't know about the war. It's not your fault, babe."

Riley makes an uncomfortable sound.

"Something wrong?"

"Now I'm wondering. All those times I did tech support, and fended off cyber attacks. Since I now know it was the Assassin's cyber decision that was doing it...how many Assassins died by my hand?"

Tears rim his eyes.

Good grief, he's really feeling this way.

"You were part of the cyber division, protecting the system from attacks, right? Like you weren't launching an attack or anything?"

"No, I defended the Absturgo systems, but I also attempted to break into the Assassin's systems, several times." 

You get off the bench and go around to his side, taking a seat next to him. You wrap your arms around him, in a hug. 

He leans into you, resting his head on your shoulder. He slips his arm around your waist, holding you close. 

"It's just, you know what I did. How can I live with myself?" He asks, lowering his voice.

You rest your chin on his head and begin to gently stroke his back. 

"You strive to make things better for tomorrow. You remember what you did, so you don't repeat it, but you don't let it define, or the guilt, control you." You say, trying your hardest not to sound like an internet collection of quotes posting.

"So by helping the Assassins and by upholding my oaths, I'm striving for a better tomorrow?"

"Let's go with that."

There's a moment of silence, then you say, "Riley, I love you."

"I love you too Y/N, and thank you for being there for me."

"You're welcome, and I'll do my best to be there for you." 

"I'll do my best too." He says, wiping his eyes with his free hand.

You move your head, he raises, so now you're looking each other in the eyes. Your noses nearly touching. 

A blush line forms across his cheeks.

"I'm sorry." You say.

"About what?" His eyebrows raise slightly, and a smile starts to form.

"This is a serious situation. And I want to kiss you. It'll pass if I just ignore it."