A/N: Mild yaoi in this chapter, don't like, don't read. It's as simple as that. :|

Summer school for the rest of the week, so if I don't get up the next chapter today, it will probably have to wait until Saturday, depending on how exhausted I am with words. Mi dispiace in advance!

Enjoy~! also, listened to "You Raise Me Up" by Celtic Woman for the last half of my typing of this, so |D;


"Giovanni, amico, they have set fire to your palazzo!" La Volpe cried. The assassin tried to sit up, wincing at the movement, but Lorenzo and Maria restrained him, pushing him back down as he groaned.

"Where are my brothers and sister?"

"I do not know. I think inside. Templars have surrounded the building."

"Templars?" the middle Auditore son asked, confused.

"Guards, of the nasty kind!"

"I'm coming with you," Ezio stated, heading to the door.

"I will accompany you also. I have the supplies to treat burns," the artisan murmured, grabbing a small bag and tying it to his belt.

"Father, stay," Ezio growled warningly. Giovanni narrowed his eyes and settled back, furious that he was helpless when his family needed him. "Let's go." They left, running along the streets until they reached the blazing building.

"Can you fight? I'll go in," La Volpe shouted, to be heard over the crackling of flames.

"Not with a sword, no. And I know my own home perfectly well. I'll go in."

"Fine. But be quick!"

"Already gone," Ezio called back, diving in through the burning doorway moments before it fell in on itself. Leonardo watched the house with worry as La Volpe engaged with the guards.


"Federico?" A cough. "Petruccio?" Another cough. "Claudia?" A third cough. Ezio ceased his calls for a moment and let the coughs wracking through his body run their course.

"Ezio?" came the faint call from upstairs. The young noble raced up the stairs.

"Federico?" he asked, coughing.

"Over here, Ezio!" his older brother called, coming closer to him through the suffocating smoke.

"Where is Petruccio?"

"Right here!" their youngest brother replied.

"I've got him. His room went up in flames right after I got him out." Ezio saw the silhouette of his brothers, with Petruccio weakly clinging to Federico's shoulders.

"And Claudia?"

"The guards have her, outside," Federico replied, brow drawn.

"La Volpe will get her," Ezio answered, with feeling. "Annetta and the others?"

"Safe. The kitchens were late to catch fire."

"Good. Let's get out of here," Ezio called over the crackling flames, coughing.

"M-my feathers!" Petruccio cried, his eyes shut tight.

"Merda. Brother, get Petruccio out of here. I'll find the feathers," Ezio decided, turning to go down-stairs.

"B-be safe…" their little brother murmured, the sound almost lost among the flames.

"Ezio, if it's between you and the feathers, you had better choose yourself. We can replace some feathers – sorry Petruccio – but we cannot replace you." Federico's eyes shone with worry, thrown into sharp relief by the encroaching flames.

"I will. Now go!" Ezio cried, pushing his brother to a balcony near an adjacent roof. He turned and ran back downstairs, where there was so much smoke it nearly choked him where he stood. He glanced around the dining room, so burned that all that was left of the furniture were glowing embers. The box was not there, and so he moved to the den, dodging falling debris. He spotted the box and grabbed it, ignoring how its warmth burned his ungloved hand. Clutching it close, he bent double and merely coughed, unable to move as the need to expel foreign particles from his lungs became too great.

He wondered suddenly if he was going to go down with his smoldering home. The doorways had long collapsed, and so had many of the walls. Ezio was nearly on his knees, coughing, tears streaming from his eyes.


"Wh-where is he?" Petruccio whimpered, coughing feebly and clutching Leonardo's cape like it was a lifeline, staring into the burning house, his lips quivering. La Volpe had rescued Claudia, who had been unconscious, running the guards through with his blade. She was lying on the ground near Leonardo, while the thief master chased off the rest of the Templars.

"It's been too long," Federico whispered, his rasp belying how fearful he really was. Had he just condemned his little brother to a burning death? It was a failure on his part, to protect him. "I'm going back in." His tone allowed no room for argument, and he jogged forward, finding a blown-out window to jump through, rolling as he landed. La Volpe – now finished with the guards, was attempting to open up the main doorway, kicking away debris.


"Ezio?" Federico called, listening intently. A round of coughs – growing weaker by the moment, the oldest Auditore son realized fearfully – answered him, coming from the den. Federico pushed forward, his stomach a cold knot of anxiety, and he shoved a beam of fallen wood away, stumbling into the room. He spotted his younger brother, crouched, leaning heavily against a table, clutching the box of feathers and coughing. Federico rushed over, sliding Ezio's arm over his shoulder and his own around his brother's waist. "Come on Ezio, hang in there. My fratinello better not give up on me." He stood, nearly holding up Ezio and pulling him through the house, to the main door.

The wall by the front door blew in, and Federico jumped back, pulling Ezio out of the way. La Volpe stood there, trying to see through the thick smoke. He heard Ezio's weak coughs, and rushed forward, supporting Ezio on the other side and helping Federico. The two pulled the middle Auditore away from the smoke and fire, through the broken wall.

The moment they reached relative safety, Ezio's legs gave out and he fell to his knees, coughs wracking his body as he clutched the box to his chest as if it was his only tie to reality.

Leonardo cried out in worry, running over to Ezio and dropping to his knees. "Ezio!" The young noble did not reply, putting a hand to the ground to keep from falling over.

"B-brother?" Petruccio whimpered, coming over and staring worriedly at his older brothers.

"Let's get back to my workshop," Leonardo murmured. "La Volpe, if you could carry Claudia? Federico, if you could help Petruccio? I'll help Ezio," the artist said, kneeling to get under Ezio's arm and help him stand. The young noble could barely keep his feet beneath him, his coughs shaking his young body. "Hang in there, caro mio," he murmured reassuringly, his brow furrowed in worry. "Don't you dare give up on me. I won't forgive you if you do." Ezio gasped for breath in the momentary rest that his coughing fit gave him.

"Never," he rasped, the sound itself giving off the indication of pain. The group headed back to Leonardo's home, singed, burned, and covered in soot. Federico, who was in the lead, opened the door. Maria rushed forward, her eyes wide in fear and worry as she fussed over each of her children before they had even gone in. When Leonardo pulled Ezio in – obviously the worst off of the Auditore children – Giovanni tried to sit up quickly, only to be roughly shoved back down by Lorenzo, who growled a low warning to his assassin. The banker looked something between furious and desperately worried. His gazed raked over his children, searching for injuries. Federico's clothes were singed, Petruccio was coughing lightly, and Claudia seemed mostly unhurt.

"What happened to Claudia?" Maria asked, fussing over her daughter.

"The Templars knocked her out and then carried her away, more than likely for a prize." Giovanni growled at La Volpe's words. "I got her back. Every man who touched her is dead, Giovanni," he added, hearing the banker's snarl. Giovanni relaxed slightly.

"And Ezio?" the wounded assassin asked, his gaze darkening as his second son was laid on the couch, barely responding except to curl up and cough.

"He was inside the longest, trapped while trying to find Petruccio's feathers," Federico answered, glancing at his younger brother.

"Why are those feathers so important?" La Volpe hissed to Giovanni, unheard by the rest except for Lorenzo, who seemed not to listen.

"It does not matter why. What matters is that Petruccio thinks them important and that Ezio retrieved them," Giovanni replied. La Volpe shrugged.


"Ezio…you seem to be having trouble breathing. Do you need any assistance?" Leonardo asked worriedly, crouched beside the couch as the young noble near coughed his lungs out. Ezio seemed to nod weakly, and Leonardo felt his heart clench in worry. Aware, but ignorant, of all the eyes on them, the artist bent down and waited for a cough to subside, parting Ezio's lips. He took a shallow breath, holding it, before he pushed it through the noble's lips. Ezio's chest rose, and fell just as rapidly, the air going into another round of coughs as Leonardo pulled away. The artist watched him worriedly, his heart twisting as the second Auditore son seemed to give up, lying limp against the couch as more feeble coughs shook him.

Giovanni had managed to stand and was leaning heavily on La Volpe, heading to the couch. Federico had brought a glass of water, and Petruccio was kneeling by the furniture.

"Pet—" Ezio rasped, interrupted by a dry cough.

"Brother?" the littlest Auditore seemed near tears. Ezio loosened his grip on the box of feathers and moved it closer to his little brother, who took it and clutched it close, barely keeping from crying. "I-I'm sorry…" he murmured.

"D…don't..be," Ezio murmured hoarsely, his eyes closing. The room was quiet, having strained to hear Ezio's words. Maria came out from the room where she had been watching over Claudia, unnerved by the silence.

"Fight, figlio mio…fight," Giovanni murmured, using La Volpe as a crutch. Ezio's weak coughs finally seemed to die out, and he was limp, relaxed on the couch, his chest barely rising. Leonardo was crouching by the couch, stroking Ezio's face and brushing his sweat-matted bangs from his forehead.

'Don't give up, caro mio, tesoro mio, amore mio. I need you – we need you – too much for you to stop fighting for a box of feathers. Save your family and me this avoidable grief. Please!' Leonardo thought silently, not noticing a knock at the door, as his furrowed brow and shining eyes – wet with unshed tears – were focused on Ezio.


I love revieewws. jsyk. . -shameless begging?-

amico mio - my friend

fratinello- little brother

caro mio- my dear

tesoro mio- my treasure (or something to that effect)

amore mio- my love