The only thing Altaïr could feel was the familiar ache in his legs and arms from running. He could have teleported, materializing out of nowhere, but tonight he wanted the old comfort of pain with him. He could not stand looking behind him. He could not go back to him. It would kill him.

So he ran.

He could hear Ezio crying for him, mewling like a kitten. It slashed his heart to bits. He knew the cause of Ezio's pain was his own self, and he felt he could not live with it.

So he ran.

He could have run with the thought of Ezio's smiling face burned into his mind. But he chose not the smiling ezio, but the crying Ezio's face. He carved the image into his brain so that he would never forget the pain he had caused him. It was getting darker. The air was becoming colder the closer he got to the city. Florence. "iFirenze/i Ezio Auditore de iFirenze./i His homeland...Ezio..." Altaïr stopped and doubled over, panting. As he straightened up, he looked over the city, then back to the distance he had covered. Lightning flashed in the sky.

And so he ran.

Back to Ezio.

"Altaïr... did I make you unhappy? Do you not want me?"

Ezio sat on a rock that overlooked the valley that evedentally led to the horizon that carried the moon on its shoulders. He shivered as the cold night air brushed against his body. He pulled his hood back up to keep out the chills. Hugging hisself, he looked up at the disk that shone fully in the sky.

"Brother Moon, what did I do wrong?"

Brother Moon did not answer. Instead, he seemed to answer his question by sommoning clouds to cover hisself.

"Oh, It's okay. I cover myself up, too. But you shouldn't. You're too beautiful to do that. I'm jealous. Maybe if I was as handsome as you..."

Ezio ran his fingers along his cheek, and accidentally touched the freshly made cut in his skin. He pulled his hand away quickly with a sharp intake of breath as it burned and stung.

"Ouch!"

He exhaled deeply.

It started to drizzle.

"Nevermind. I wouldn't want to rain on everyone. Then ieveryone/i would get mad at me..."

He thought about Altaïr and how he had made the incision without mercy. He didn't think it was an accident anymore...

It thundered in the distance.

"No, I didn't mean it like that... It's just... I have a lot of problems..."

Lightning split the sky in four pieces. Ezio yelped and fell backwards off of the rock he had previously been sitting on.

"Mmmm... I wish I was as powerful as you, too. But I'm not..."

Thunder banged right overtop of where Ezio laid; it rang in his ears for too long. Ezio did not like bad weather. Or loud noises. A combination of both was the poison that killed the dumb rat.

It started to pour bucketfulls of water directly on Ezio's thin clothing, soaking through as quickly as if nothing was there. He shivered and curled into a ball, sniffing. The rain was making him too cold; he would most likely get sick, but he didn't care.

Closing his eyes, he tried to sleep.

"Ezio... Ezio! Get up! ...Hey, Ezio! Hurry! There's a really bad storm coming!"

Ezio cracked open his eyes and saw, in disbelief, Altaïr shaking him to get up.

"A...Altaïr?"

"No, your mom! Yes! Now get up or we're going to die!"

"What?"

Ezio couldn't move, he was frozen solid. He was terrified.

"Altaïr, I'm stuck! I can't move! What if I'll never be able to move again?"

"Fuck this!"

Altaïr tried to pull Ezio up by the arms, but the ounding rain mixed with hail and the strong winds blew him back down.

"Damn it! Excuse me, please!"

Altaïr picked him up and ran as fast as he could towards the city. Ezio shivered with both cold and the butterflies that blossomed in his stomach. He threw his arms around Altaïr's neck and hugged him closer.

"Thank you!" He called into the night sky.

"What did you say?" Altaïr yelled back at him, trying to make himself heard over the howling wind and beating rain.

"Nothing..." Ezio yelled back, laughing.

"You are a fucking idiot, laughing at a time like this!"

Ezio smiled to himself, but quickly became serious once again.

"Altaïr, are you sure you can carry me?"

"..Y-Yes! ...ah!"

Altaïr stumbled.

"...Uh...no. Put me down and run back alone. I can deal with this."

"Ha! If only my conscience would allow that!"

Ezio pounded on his back.

"Altaïr, I command you put me down at once!" he screamed.

"No! I won't!"

Ezio tried to kick him, but he just threw him over his shoulder and lugged him like a dead corpse.

"Altaïr!" Ezio whined. "Don't do this!"

"I will- ahhh!"

He wasn't looking at the ground and fell into a giant gaping hole that had been covered with leaves and grass. They both tumbled down inside Mother Earth until Altaïr hit his head on a rock that protruded from the side of the hole and fell to the ground, unconcious. Ezio fell on top of him, his back hitting the ground first, which knocked the wind out of him.

Exhausted and unable to do anything, he blacked out.

The leaves rustled as the sillouette of a man brushed them aside with one hand.

"Well, look at this. I caught myself two assassins. Lovely. Let's hope they don't kill me, haha!" he said, laughing humorlessly.

He jumped down in the hole and threw them both out, he himself following.

Ezio woke up in total silence. He did not hear a sinngle sound, save for the fingling of metal on metal as he sat up, hand on his head.

"Ugh, what... where am I?"

The dim light made it hard to see much but the outlines of things.

He looked around and saw Altaïr laying next to him. His clothes were laying next to his body, stained with blood, and his head was wrapped in bandages. Despite being worried, Ezio was able to look over his body. Lean and toned, not an ounce of fat in sight. He didn't look any further down below his belly button, that would be invading his privacy. He mockingly held up a hand in front of his face and closed an eyelid, smiling. He did not smile when he saw the scar that led from his left hip to the tip of his right shoulder blade. It looked newer than all of the others he seemed to have accumulated over the various fights and skirmishes.

Ezio crawled closer to him, running a thick finger across his broken skin. It felt too smooth to be that old, but smooth enough to say it had been there for a maximum of only four weeks. Disturbed, Ezio laid down beside him, putting an arm over top of Altaïr's torso and resting his head in the space between his scapula and neck.

Breathing in deeply, he smelled that musky odor that belonged only to men mixed with his own special scent... it was not replaceable. Ezio knew he would never forget that smell.

The seeming tent bursted into white as the flap was lifted.

"Hmmm... what're you doing there?"

Ezio scrambled away from Altaïr as fast as he could, embarrassed he had been caught in the act.

"Checking... his bandages?"

The man laughed.

"Sure. Anyways, I have food-"

"FOOD. FOOD IS GOOD. I'D LOVE SOME FOOD."

The man laughed again.

"You all eat almost nothing. Or that's what it looks like to me. Come on out. Your boyfriend is under the spell of sleep. He most likely suffered a concussion."

Ezio shivered at the word 'boyfriend.' Was Altaïr his boyfriend? He didn't know. He did know he wanted food.

"Um... uh... excuse me, but... if you don't mind, may I ask: What is your name?"

The man leaned in and extended his hand.

"Ratohnhaké:ton. But most call me Connor Kenway. So can you."

"Nice to meet you, Connor. Thank you."