A/N: Hey guys, sorry it's been forever since I've updated. This one has been particularly hard to do! Especially since I've been writing three of these chapters at once. But, here it is~

Please remember that any and all ideas are welcome! You can post it in the reviews or you can drop me a message. thank you!

AC:III October 30th! (MY BIRTHDAY. 3)

Nights in Italy were just as active as the days, though the crowd was slightly different. The people who walked the street after the sun went down were not those running chores or trying to get to work. The night time consisted of mostly men who travel to bars to gamble, drink, or just have a little fun with the courtesans. Afterwords, stumbling home in the dark to return to their day jobs or their families.

But those who lurk in the shadows, working for the light, thrive in the night. Doing missions and tasks that would require them to move when the light from the sun disappeared and the shadows grew. For the assassins, this meant long nights of sitting alone, watching a target, waiting to strike.

And sleeping during the day.

Nino headed back to the hideout, returning from assissting Ezio. He met up with Enrico, who seemed to have been waiting for him. He approached him and walked past, trying not to draw unwanted attention.

Enrico caught on and followed beside him.

"Safety and peace, Enrico." Nino said quietly, nodding just a little.

Enrico nodded back, holding a book and a stack of papers in his arms. He seemed to be thinking deeply about something, "On you as well, brother."

Nino kept his gaze ahead of them as they walked back to the hideout. The street dipped down just in front of them, the top of the door visible over the peoples head, "You seem distracted." Nino pointed out.

Enrico glanced sideways at him, "I have discovered something about our enemy. Something that could be of use to our cause."

Nino turned too and met his gaze. He nodded, "We will talk inside." He looked up as they were in front of the door. They both stopped and just stared at it.

The door was ajar.

The early morning breeze blew past them, carrying voices of beggars and woman passing by. Mens' hardy laughs could be heard some distance away. All the sounds were innocent. Tiber island was a safe place for the assassins hideout, for there were no guards around to arouse suspicion. The people who passed were all hard working people who lived on the island as well. Both Nino's and Enrico's thoughts immediately went on high alert as they stared at the opening the door held, though neithers' face showed any sign of distress.

After several long seconds, they pushed the door open and walked inside. The place was dark, as if no one had been there all night, which no one had. As the two apprentices walked down the hall and entered the main room, they heard a strange sound reverberating through the hideout. It was a low rumbling that seemed to come from one of the other rooms. Nino and Enrico both looked at each other. After a few moment and a series of "You go" and "No, you go" stares, Nino sighed and offered to go first.

He lit one of the candelabras in the corner of the room and picked it up, carrying it with him into the other room. He illuminated the area where all of their armor stood but saw nothing. Enrico tapped his shoulder and pointed towards the couch and the fireplace as they heard the rumbling again. Nino raised an eyebrow and headed towards the sound. Lighting the wood in the fireplace, he turned back to the couch, the sound obvious as he set the candelabra down.

Nino kicked the couch to wake up a sleepy figure laying on it. The figure jumped up and sat straight up, his hood flying off, "Who'ssthere?" he slurred. The fireplace illuminated his face to show it was Augusto.

Enrico sighed as he sat his papers down and lit some candles in the room, "Augusto, what are you doing?"

Augusto rubbed his head and pulled his hood back up. He yawned loudly before answering, "Uh, sleeping..?" he said, unsure if he should have.

Nino smacked the side of Augustos' head as Enrico went on, "Idiot! How long have you been here?" he asked, his arms folded and the scowl clear on his scarred lips.

Augusto rubbed his head where Nino hit him and shrugged, "I don't know, a couple hours?"

"So you've been sleeping down here, in the dark, with the front door opened to the street, for a couple hours?"

"Yeah." Augusto answered right away. He looked away for a moment, realizing what he had said, and stood up quickly, "W-Wait... the door was open?" he asked in a panic.

Nino and Enrico both sighed and just shook their heads, "You're just lucky it was us that came back first and not Ezio." Nino told him, "I just saw him and he was in a bad enough mood already."

Augusto sighed and sat back down and seemed to relax, "Then what are we worried for? Nothing happened, I'm still alive, and no guards or any thieves got in."

Enrico just shook his head, "The thieves are on our side and the guards don't come on Tiber Island." He turned away and started to organize the papers he had been carrying.

Augusto raised his hands, "Even more reason to relax!"

"Why are you sleeping here anyway?" Nino wondered, 'Don't you have your own place?"

Augusto waved his hand in front of him, "Nah, I lost my place. The guards around the Vatican play a mean game of cards. I lost my place and all of my money."

Enrico was reading something on the page he held. After a moment, he straightened up and gave Augusto a weird look, "You lost your home playing cards? How in the hell do you manage that?"

Augusto looked away, feeling a bit insulted, "Those guards are real hustlers. I was doing really well until they backed me into a corner and forced me to put up all I had."

"But your house?"

Augusto waved his hand again, not saying any more on it. Nino just looked at Enrico, "What was it you discovered?"

Enrico sighed and brought the papers over to the two of them, "I have discovered that the Templars are having just as much trouble with money as the rest of us. An inside resource tells me that, every now and then, a huge sum of Florins is taken out of the main bank account for the Templar army forces. They've had a lot of drawbacks and have even had to fire some guards." he explained. He showed them a paper that had names of guards that had been let go, "That's why Tiber Island has no guards."

"So, the money just disappears?" Nino asked. When Enrico nodded, he added, "Where could all of that be going?" Enrico shrugged and looked down at his papers again.

"Maybe their gambling it away like me." Augusto joked. Enrico and Nino just looked at him as he went on, "But that can't be it. They always win." he sighed and shook his head.

Enrico held his hand up, "You may not be too far off. Maybe they win against you because you suck."

"Hey!"

Enrico ignored him, "Maybe they find people who aren't as bad and actually are a challenge. So much, that-"

"-That they have to keep taking money from the main account!" Nino finished his statement, "Enrico, that's brilliant."

"So what?" Augusto stood and looked at them, folding his arms, "Okay, maybe the guards at the Vatican are completely cash crazy, but what does that have to do with us?"

Enrico grinned, "If we can hustle enough money out of them, then they will have to fire even more guards. Less guards in Rome means more opportunities for us."

Nino nodded in agreement, but Augusto didn't seem very convinced, "But, how are we going to do that?" he questioned, "Surely I can't trick them. I really am not that good."

"And we can't tell the master, lest he become aware of your habits." Nino pointed out to Augusto, "I am against gambling."

"I don't know how to play card games." Enrico said, shuffling some papers on the table, "So, we just have to find someone who can play and play well."

The front door opened and closed then, the sound echoing and reaching them. The light footsteps that stepped with a click of the heel made the three men smile. Then turned and looked at the doorway as the figure and source of the noise appeared.

"Man, those guards have really become gamble crazy." Annetta said, pulling her hood down to fix her hair, "They will bet on anything... What?" she eyed the three of them and their "we're-a-genius" smile suspiciously, "Why are you just staring like that?"

Enrico stepped closer and smiled at her, "Annetta, dear. We need your help with something."

Annetta dropped her arms and narrowed her eyes at him. Augusto just laughed and stepped closer too, more amused by this. Nino just folded his arms and watched.

Some hours later... Just before sunset...

The Vatican was an immense area that seemed to be a small town in and of itself. Cardinals and priests who lived there walked its streets all day, passing guard after guard after guard. It may have been the most heavily guarded area in Rome, more so than the banks or marketplace. With so many guards, many of the people refused to even give the area a second glance, let alone try and sneak in. Because of this, many of the guards slacked off just enough.

In front of the bridge leading in, a small group of guards gathered on most nights to try and swindle money from the people who passed. After a couple hours, people stayed away, not willing to be roped in.

"This is stupid." Annetta whispered to Nino, both standing in the shadow of a building, the darkness growing thicker as the sun set further down.

Nino's head reflected the light from the buildings as he peaked around the corner, "It will be over quickly. Come on." He waved his hand up at the rooftops, watching as two dark figures took their positions on buildings on either side of the bridge.

"Moment of truth for us," Enrico said to himself as he watched the guards on the bridge.

"Man," Augusto sat back on the roof, "I wish I was the one down there." he sighed.

The guards were all talking very loud and joking around until they all spotted something. They stopped and turned. Approaching them was a young looking couple. The lady wore a long sleeved red frilled dress with a bow on the back, her blond hair hanging down in ringlets. The gentleman was bald, but had a thick brown mustache and dark suit. Their arms were laced together as they passed by, not looking at the guards.

"Hey! Little lady!" one of the guards yelled, "Wanna play with us for a little while?" the other guards laughed.

Annetta and Nino stopped. She laughed loud and looked up at Nino, "What do you think, dear?" she asked, "We have time before dinner."

Nino grinned from under his mustache and turned to the guards, "One game wouldn't hurt!" he said. They both laughed.

The guards exchanged looks and smirked as they set the table up, watching the young couple sit before them, "Make your bet, sir." one said as he sat across from them.

Nino smiled, "I'm feeling pretty confident." he took out a small pouch of gold florins and sat it on the table. He picked up the cards in front of him and smiled. Annetta looked at the cards too and forced a smile. They both thought the same thing, "We're screwed.."

Nino confidently played the cards, "How's that?" he asked.

The guards all laughed at them. The one at the table still smirked and laid his cards down, "Not even close! Highs over lows! I win." he laughed and took the small pouch.

Nino shrugged and stood, "Ah well. I guess I tried."

Annetta sighed, "I suppose we won't be going out tonight." she said. She started to stand when the guards grabbed her wrist.

"Why don't you play?" he asked her, "We'll throw in all the money we've got." he couldn't help but laugh at his joke. The others all joined in.

Annetta looked at Nino, who just nodded. She smiled, "I'm in." she said. The guard were still laughing as she sat back down. But, when she dropped a heavy sack on to the table, they all fell silent.

"That..."

"50,000f." Annetta smiled innocently, "I love a good gamble."

The guard couldn't see past the stars in his eyes, or rather florins. He grinned and tapped the cards "Tell you what, I'll let you shuffle and deal." the other guards all looked at him like he was nuts.

Annetta smiled, "Okay." she said. She picked the cards up delicately, dropping a couple. She quickly picked them up, ignoring the snickers from the crowd, and shuffled the cards. She flipped them over, spun the deck in her hands, and shot the cards from one hand to the other, like a pro card-shark. Silence fell over the crowd as she sat the deck down and dealt the cards.

"All done!"

The guard picked his cards up hesitantly, but then grinned. He slapped his hand on the table, "I'm going all in. 500,000f." he set his cards down, "Full house! Haha! Sorry little lady." he grabbed her bag, but Annetta stopped him and showed her hand.

"Royal flush." she said, a dark look in her eyes and a smirk playing on her lips, "I win."

All the blood washed from their faces as they realized what happened. As Annetta grabbed her sack and Nino pulled the cart away with their winnings, the guards merely watched. Before they got too far, the guards all jumped up, swords drawn.

"Hold on! You hustled us. Thats against Roman law!" one of them yelled. He raised his arm, ready to swing. Nino didnt turn to look at them. He just waved his hand. All the guards fell forward in a cloud of smoke.

"I take it back," Annetta said as they walked away, the guards still screaming, "This was fun."

"So you tricked them out of all their money?" Tullio asked after having heard the whole story.

When the group had returned to the hideout, Tullio and Ezio had been waiting. Neither one knew what to say when they saw all the money they had won.

Annetta laughed, "It was great! You should have seen their faces!" she still paraded around in her fancy red dress. Nino stood nearby, his arms folded. His lip was still red from where his fake mustache had been.

Enrico smiled and looked at Ezio, who seemed impressed himself, "With all of this money out of their pockets, we should see a lot less guards around the city."

Ezio nodded. He started to say something, but Augusto spoke first, "So do we get to keep the money?"

All eyes in the room turned to Ezio who stood, his arms behind his back, "We will keep a small fraction. But, that mone belongs to the people. So, we will give it back to them."

The recruits, especially Augusto, all seemed disappointed, but were still laughing and joyous from the adventure of swindling the guards at the Vatican. Augusto talked about doing it again, but Nino smacked his head again. All was at ease once again.

Nothing is true, everything is permitted.