assassin's creed imagines

Out of Time | Jacob Frye

SONG RECOMMENDATION: farewell by lorne balfe

WARNING: This imagine contains spoilers for the Jack the Ripper DLC. Please don't read unless you wish to get spoiled! This is also a PSA that Jacob is 40 years old in this imagine :) Also yes, the song recommendation above is from AC3's soundtrack, but I felt it fit the mood for this chapter so just ignore the game it came from lol

———————

"I always hated asylums."

Your voice was a whisper compared to the echoes of the screams bouncing off the walls, and Evie's scoff joined the noises as she glanced back at you from her crouched position in front of you. She was kneeling over a blood stain on the floor, another one of the Ripper's victims that turned out to not be lucky enough to escape. "They crawled over to the wall and bled out here. What a monster, watching an innocent's life fade from their eyes." Evie muttered to herself, her blue/green eyes scanning over the stains and drag marks that led to the wall. "He's here, Evie. We'll find him, this is all going to end tonight." You attempted to reassure her that Jack would meet the end of her blade yet also mentally praying Jacob was stowed somewhere around here as well. After he disappeared a month ago without a trace, you called Evie back to London to tell her the news and ask for her help in killing Jack and finding Jacob (alive, hopefully). "I hope you're right, Y/N." She stood up and turned to you, a mix of sorrow and fear swirling in her eyes. You could only nod as a reply, Evie circled around you to look at the next message Jack left her.

"The basement, that's where he wants us to go." Evie blurted, her eyes squinting as she read the hidden message in Eagle Vision. "Of course it's in the basement." You muttered under your breath, seeing Evie glance over at you as she walked past and headed out of the room presumably towards the basement. You and Evie worked your way through the halls and towards the basement stairs, running into a few escaped inmates from the asylum on the way. Taking them down with ease, you both eventually found the pathway down and stopped at the top of the stairs. "We will find him, Y/N." Evie could see the emotion clearly painted on your face, the worry for Jacob overtook your usually reserved features before you could keep it from appearing. She placed a gentle hand on your shoulder, nodding softly as if she was trying to believe the words herself. "I know. I just hope we find him alive." You didn't really look at Evie, opting to turn your attention to the stairs and taking note of how dark the entrance was. Evie didn't say anything to comfort you or try to make you feel better, even she had no clue what was down there besides Jack.

She removed her hand from your shoulder and threw her hood over her brown locks, crouching down and making her way down the stairs slowly. You didn't put on your hood like the older Frye twin, instead you crouched down behind her and followed her down the dark stairway. Not even the sounds of your footsteps could be heard as you both made the descent down to the dark basement. The light of the asylum quickly turned into torches along the old and crumbling walls, an orange glow painting the walls and casting shadows onto the floor. "God, I hate this. Why a basement? Why couldn't it have been somewhere nice and well lit? Not covered in cobwebs and-" Your mumbling was cut off when Evie abruptly stopped walking and turned back to glare at you, signaling you to stop talking and just follow her. Giving her an apologetic smile, she turned back around with a huff and stepped down the last few stairs of the spiral staircase. A cell sat to your left, your curiosity got the better of you and you peered into the cell through the barred up window.

A body sat slumped against the wall, leaning over as if the person was near death and out of energy. It was a man, that much you could tell in the dim light. He wore black and red robes, catching a glimpse of brown hair that was once probably slicked back but had a few strands hanging down into their face. "Oh my god." You muttered as your hands clasped around the bars of the cell window, your mind recognizing just exactly who the man was. "Evie, we found him." You turned to look at her, a hopeful smile on your face and your eyes sparkling in the dim light of the basement. "Not so fast." An ominous voice echoed off the dark walls, grabbing both of your attentions immediately. You both knew who it was and Evie quickly turned back to you, placing her hands on your shoulders. "Get the door open, I'll deal with Jack." She didn't give you time to respond before she threw back her hood and waltzed into the other room where the Ripper was waiting. You debated about going to help her but you knew she would be mad if by the time she got back this cell door wasn't open, plus you knew without a doubt Evie could handle herself. You pulled on the handle, the barred window, tried to kick down the door with your foot, ramming into it with your shoulder, but nothing worked. Jack had to have a set of keys on him, or at least that's what you hoped and prayed for.

All you could do was stand in front of the cell door and wait, hearing the grunts and shouts and taunts of Jack made you want to pull out your hair and scream. But you kept your calm and kept trying to see into the cell far enough to figure out if Jacob was still breathing. It was no use, the inside of the cell was too dark for you to see hardly anything except the outline of his body. It felt like you waited for hours before you heard the echoes of footsteps behind you, turning quickly to see Evie heading towards you with an object in her hands. She tossed the keys into your hands, almost fumbling and dropping them, before your eyes went wide as you watched her walk backwards into the room. "Get Jacob, I'll take care of the body." She told you and you certainly wasted no time to jam the key into the lock and wiggle it around before hearing a click, yanking the keys out and throwing them on the ground. Throwing open the cell door and grabbing a lantern from the ground, you slowly walked into the dark cell towards the back wall where Jacob sat slumped over. Your eyes watered and a single tear spilled over as you crossed the space, kneeling on the ground and setting the lantern besides him. "Oh god, please." You muttered as your cold hands slowly moved to his cheeks to lift his head up, seeing his eyes closed making your heart thunder in your chest.

"Jacob, please." Your voice cracked as you pleaded with him, hoping to get some sort of response from him. Your hands moved to the back of his head and gently moved it to rest in the crook of your neck, pulling his body closer and leaning your back against the wall for support. One hand was resting on his stubble covered cheek, the other wrapped around his shoulders and keeping him pulled against you to warm him up. You bent down enough to place your lips on his forehead, a simple gesture that held so much care and love and hope for him. You rocked back and forth ever so slightly, something that your mother used to do to you when you were young and had gotten hurt. Your thumb gently stroked over his cheek and felt the stubble lining his strong jaw, every little while you would move the strands of hair from his face, knowing how much he despised when his hair got in his eyes. You pulled his head back to look over the cuts and scrapes on his face but a pair of hazel eyes met yours, catching you off guard. "Jacob?" You whispered, he was quiet as his eyes rolled over your face slowly as if he was memorizing every detail so he wouldn't forget. "It's okay, it's over. I'm here, okay?" You brushed strands of hair out of his face again as tears brimmed in your eyes, all he could do was barely smile up at you.

"I-I-" He tried to say something but his voice was so broken from not using it in so long, figuring it was due to the lack of food and water he had access to over the last month. "You don't have to speak. Save your strength." You tried to calm him but he slowly shook his head, trying again in a desperate attempt to tell you something. "I love you." He whispered lowly but you clearly heard what he said. You could feel your heart going into overdrive, your eyes met with his hazel ones that sparkled even in the dimly lit cell. Your fingers grazed over his cheek and forehead to sooth him, the edges of your lips curved upwards into a small smile. "And I love you." The words were enough to make him crack a small smile even with all the pain he was in, hearing him let out a strangled wheeze as he craned his head up to get closer to rest his forehead against yours. Both your eyes closed and in that moment, your heart overflowed with love and warmth. The sounds of the asylum were drowned out as you pulled him closer, feeling the world shrink so that it was just the two of you and nobody else.

The rhythmical rising and falling of his chest was a comfort to you and calmed your nerves, every bone and muscle that was tense ever since you set foot in this place relaxed. It was peaceful when it was the two of you, but the creaking of the cell door pulled you back into reality as Evie stepped inside. She spotted her brother and you tangled against the wall, a faint smile resting on her lips as tears brimmed in her eyes at the sight that he was alive after a month of searching. She crossed the space easily in a few strides and kneeled on the other side of Jacob, trying to turn his head to look at his sister whom he loved dearly. "You don't need to strain yourself to see me, Jacob. I'm here." She assured him as her hand gently settled on his upper arm, he slowly turned back around to look at you again. A small smile settled on your lips as you gazed at him before glancing up at Evie once more, knowing deep within your heart that you would do anything for your family.

"Don't you worry Jacob, we're taking you home."

———————

i love that picture of beezlebum crumperthorn so much, he's such a mood