An: the Templars might control the guard captains and dictate their orders but the individual low ranked guards still have free-will. Technically if they don't mind the consequences they can still disobey orders.
"The woman has done nothing wrong." Alessandro said.
"Does it matter?" One of the senior guards said with a hint of glee.
Alessandro shifted so his back was to the woman and he was facing his fellow guards. She wasn't a threat anyway.
"Yes it does, we are supposed to protect the civilians not harass them!" Alessandro said. His parents had brought him up right and he wasn't able to just stand aside when such abuse of station occurred.
He took another cautious step between them, one hand by the hilt of his sword and the other in front of him imploringly.
"Just…" Alessandro trailed off.
He was getting nowhere and he was very much afraid that they would turn on him at any moment.
"We only want to have a little fun," the patrol leader said lewdly. The expression on his face let Alessandro know exactly what he meant by 'a little fun'.
Alessandro took another shaky step making his stance clear.
"Stand aside." His patrol leader said, now with a hint of violence in his tone.
Alessandro gulped audibly and shuffled back towards the lady a few inches before holding his ground once more. He couldn't just stand aside. But he knew realistically there wasn't much he could do. He didn't have any real training really.
If he drew his sword he was going to die, he knew.
One of the guards tried to push him out of the way but he managed to hold his ground.
The guards' expressions darkened.
And suddenly he realized that this was the reason his father had been so against his joining the guards. Why his mother had been so sad about it. He had thought it had been an honourable choice.
To protect others... They had known somehow he would stand up for his beliefs. He couldn't let them down.
His resolve strengthened he turned to the patrol meaning to say something more.
But the words died in his throat as the leader slowly pushed aside his cloak and reached for his sword. Letting Alessandro know in no uncertain terms what would happen if he kept this stance.
The young guard had never killed anyone before.
He had never even been in a fight outside the sparring ring and those hardly counted.
He had never even drawn blood against an opponent.
The young guard glanced over his shoulder quickly.
He saw the young lady, likely younger than him by the looks of it, back pressed up against the wall and obviously shaking with fear.
Their eyes met for a moment and he could see dismay warring with hope. She didn't want him to die here, he knew instinctively. But she didn't want to die either.
Alessandro turned back around.
He couldn't win, he knew.
But maybe she could still escape with a little help. Alessandro's body shook as he drew his own sword from its battered sheathe.
He now knew there was no going back.
He was going to die.
He remembered all too clearly how much it had hurt when someone had gotten inside his guard in the ring and sliced his arm.
He remembered the stitches and the doctor.
That evil evil doctor.
The sharp pain and blood dripping down his arm. It had been the first time he felt real fear. Because the look in the other guards face had said he hadn't wanted to stop there.
He knew there would be no timely interruption from the captain this time.
His blade shook in front of him but he didn't back down.
•_•
Ezio stood on the rooftop looking at the scene below.
It had been the woman's screams that had brought him here. But it was the actions of an individual that made him pause.
This was new.
The guard was obviously much younger than his fellows, of which were likely twice his age. The young man was quite obviously afraid.
Always, the threat of violence had been enough to cow the younger guards into standing down before.
This one was different.
The assassin watched from his perch, thankful that guards never seemed to look up.
Ezio could see flaws in the young man's stance and if he could see them, so could the other guards.
He saw the young guard glance down at his forearm. Remembering and old wound perhaps? Ezio thought to himself. It was becoming increasingly obvious that this was the boy's first real fight.
The assassin turned ideas over in his mind as he waited.
He knew that if he killed all the guards but one that he would inadvertently mark the guard as an ally to the assassins and he would face a much worse execution.
But he didn't want the guard to die in this fight either.
So he would have to bide his time.
•_•
Alessandro blocked the first strike against him, bracing his feet against the ground. He turned brought his blade back suddenly as if the guard had overwhelmed his strength, but it was only a trick to unbalance his opponent.
The guard took a stumbling step forward and Alessandro stepped past, pivoting his body and striking at the unprotected back.
The guard fell and didn't move again.
Alessandro froze in shock. He had just…
He was brought out of his stupor by sharp pain. Someone had sunk their dagger into his shoulder and he could feel it hit bone.
The agony dropped him to his knees but Alessandro still had the presence of mind to hold on to his sword.
A guard got around him and he heard a scream.
He looked up from the ground to see the guard had his hands around the woman's neck. With the rest of his strength he drove his blade upwards and into the guard. He didn't hit anything immediately fatal he knew as the guard dropped to his knees and turned to him.
He turned back around and saw nothing except his death in the eyes of the man in front of him.
Alessandro could do no more he knew.
The young guard hunched over and closed his eyes, waiting for the final blow to come.
For the pain and then death.
•_•
Ezio had waited longer enough.
The wounds the young man had received should be more than enough to convince anyone that he had run afoul of the assassins and had miraculously survived.
Ezio's throwing knives found the majority of the remaining guards before he dropped to the ground. His sword was out and had decapitated the last guard before he could finish the injured man on the ground.
He could recruit the woman but he was wary of the guard still. There was a difference between standing up for someone and out and out assassination after all. And his actions pointed more to honour and assassination wasn't exactly the most honourable way to finish an opponent.
As the girl ran off to the hideout he turned to the shaking man on the ground.
Obviously, the boy was still waiting for the final blow and too scared to realize the scuffle had ended.
He couldn't just leave him here, he thought with a sigh.
That would be too cruel and he knew the area around was not very keen on the guards. Though the fight had driven everyone away for now, they'd come back eventually. Ezio winced at what might happen to a wounded man wearing the guards uniform in these parts.
The assassin kneeled down in front of the man ready to react to anything.
When nothing happened he reached out to clasp his shoulder gently.
•_•
Alessandro jumped as someone grabbed him. He was about to pull away when he realized that the hand was just laying there, not restraining him.
Frightened, he looked up at whoever it was.
A man in a white outfit was the last thing he expected, but as the stranger made no threatening movements he relaxed enough to take in other details.
He could see concern and worry on the mysterious hooded man's face.
Alessandro glanced down embarrassed as he realized there were tears running down his face.
But the man didn't mock him for it.
Alessandro could hear him moving closer and his body tensed. But the figure only draped an arm over his shoulders, careful of the knife still in there and put a hand over the one currently braced against the ground.
After a moment Alessandro leaned into the other man, seeking some reprieve from recent events.
"Relax amico, you're not alone." The voice reassured.
Alessandro found his terror lessening but the pain increasing as his body finally registered that the fight was over.
He spared a grateful glance towards whoever this man was. Alessandro wasn't an idiot, he knew he would be dead right now if it hadn't been for him.
•_•
Ezio saw the boy glance up at him again briefly.
He could tell that the man was quite shaken by what had happened and even now was still afraid. But he could also see that he was grateful for the help and likely for the support as well.
The assassin sent what he hoped was a reassuring expression back.
"Let's get you to a doctor, si?" He said gently.
He frowned at the man's increase in fear before realizing the problem, just because the doctors took an oath to do no harm didn't mean they had to be gentle.
It didn't help that the guards were so little loved among the general population.
He guessed that a previous experience had led the man to fear them.
"Relax, I will take you to a good doctor." Ezio said, trying to be reassuring. "Can you stand?" He asked.
The man nodded his head and rose slowly to his feet, alhough he remained slightly bent over in pain. Ezio put an arm around his waist as the assassin didn't want to jostle the boy's shoulder.
Slowly they made their way to one of the doctors set up in an obscure little corner, the kind more frequented by the assassins then the general populace. His presence alone should be enough to make the doctor play nice, even though it was a guard he was being asked to heal.
As soon as they came in sight Ezio could feel the hesitation in the guard's step. The closer they got the more reluctant the man became and by the time they reached the doctor Ezio was all but dragging the kid along.
•_•
Alessandro reluctance increased with every step closer to the doctor. He knew he needed the medical aid but he also feared the pain that he was sure would be involved.
He didn't even hear the conversation taking place as he was too busy trying not to panic.
•_•
"Relax," Ezio told him.
He could see the boy trying to block everything out in an attempt to not panic.
Ezio steered him to the bed the doctor had indicated, glad that this was one of the actual shops and not just a stand. He needed to get the young guard's attention focused on something besides whatever was going through his head right now.
•_•
Alessandro sat on the edge of the bed. He was glad the man hadn't just dumped him off with the doctor, he probably would have just snuck away otherwise.
•_•
Ezio crouched in front of the guard.
"What is your name, young man?" Ezio asked, starting with the easiest question.
•_•
"Alessandro," the guard answered, not wanting to give a family name. He didn't really know this man after all and his skill already proved he was a dangerous person to cross.
"I am Ezio Auditore." The man answered his unspoken question.
Alessandro jerked in recognition of the name. He knew that nobody would dare lie about that particular identity.
He gave the man a long look, studying all the details his pain rattled mind could take in.
He probably should have noticed it earlier. The white robes, the red sash. Nobody would dare counterfeit that uniform. The array of weapons, and he briefly wondered how the man came to need so many.
He had a hard time consolidating the stories he had heard with his experience of today.
The older guards believed the assassins were little more than glorified murders. But he had never been able to believe them, nobody was just one thing after all. The civilian accounts varied. To some he was a saviour and to others an angel of death.
Both accounts had agreed that they were skilled fighters.
He remembered the way the man had fought.
A dance of death, beautiful even in its violence.
Alessandro found himself slightly jealous.
He was not one to let other's opinions dictate how he acted. He didn't know this stranger. Yet. But he was determined to find out more before passing any judgement.
"Forgive me, could I ask a question?" He started uncertainly, wary of provoking the trained killer's wrath.
•_•
Ezio watched the man take in his appearance.
He knew the guards gossiped about him and that the stories they told were exaggerated… mostly. He wondered what conclusions this young man would come to. This Alessandro would put the pieces together. He was sure of it.
"You can ask, but I might not answer." Ezio replied warily.
And because he felt some protectiveness of this one, he added.
"Be careful of your questions." He warned.
The boy flinched as if struck and by his sudden intake of breath, it had hurt. Damn it, he hadn't meant to sound like he was threatening the boy.
"Be careful. I will not lie to you but you might not be ready for the answers to some of your questions." He explained.
Alessandro nodded as though he expected the answer.
This should prove interesting.
"You are an assassin." Alessandro said. It wasn't a question, the boy already knew the answer.
"Si," was the serious but honest reply.
"You have killed people."
That wasn't a question either but Ezio indulged him anyway. "Si, as you already know and as you have already seen." The assassin said softly.
"Why?"
Ah, an actual question this time.
An obvious and expected question, but a question none the less.
But the doctor came and interrupted them before he could answer. The bird masked man sent an irritated look at the assassin.
Ezio ignored him for the time being.
"Relax," he told Alessandro, having seen him regain his wariness. So it was the doctor that bothered him. Good to know. He found it funny that the healer inspired more fear in the young guard then the assassin in front of him. "All will be well." The assassin murmured.
•_•
Alessandro didn't know what to make of the assassin.
He was a killer.
But he had helped him, saved his life even. The assassin, Ezio he reminded himself, had even encouraged and comforted him while the doctor poked and prodded.
But as a guard he was supposed to stop the assassins; to kill them if he could.
He would have to think this through, properly, later. Right now he had a report to give.
He decided to use the excuse that the patrol had been ambushed by the followers of Romulus or whatever the wolf-men called themselves.
Hopefully then the guards would actually do something about them. He wouldn't have to say anything about what his fellow guards had been going to do. Let the families think they had died heroically instead of permanently stopped when they crossed the line. And he could keep the assassin out of it entirely, he owed the man that much at least.
Yes, that's what he would do Alessandro thought with satisfaction. Alessandro made his way slowly and rather painfully back towards the barracks.
•_•
Ezio followed the guard from the rooftops.
It wasn't hard. The man was slow and stiff with pain and he had to know what the guard would say to his superiors.
It had been a risk, giving his name.
But he thought he saw potential in this guard.
Perched on a roof in the shadow of a Borgia tower he eavesdropped shamelessly on the conversation before heading back to the hideout.
So the guard was going to blame the wolf-men cult. Ezio wondered if he knew he was doing the assassins a favour should his superiors actually do something about this. It didn't escape his notice that the story left his late comrades honour intact, or that he failed to mention anything about the assassins.
He could work with this.
~~~
Not sure where I'm actually going with this. I already have chapter 2 typed out but I'ss what the response is before I bother writing a bunch of chapters.
Might be a series of drabbles or might actually follow the plot depending on if people are actually gonna read it or if it's just there for my own entertainment.