Rosa cursed as yet another one of her boot buckles snapped off. She moved herself to an unused corner of the busy Venetian walkway and crouched down, fixing the piece of footwear irritably.

It was nearly noon, and she had been walking around all day. Rosa didn't like it one bit- she wanted to go back to the Thieves' guild, where she belonged. But after it had been made clear she'd been there for quite a while, her brothers became suspicious of her. After all, Ezio never did stay at the guild for long- he always seemed to have somewhere else to be…

And where that somewhere else was, Rosa had no clue.

So she stood back up, brushing off the heavy noblemans clothes and continued her aimless wandering. She hated the hood- it made it near impossible to see anything. She made a point to ask Ezio how he functioned with it, but that would have to be something for later. She passed several posters nailed to everything that didn't fly off with the wind- all of them announcing the reward for Ezio's (now her) capture. And the former thief couldn't help shuddering when she passed the heralds, who took the liberty of informing the populace of the Assassin's hideous crimes. Bastards; all of them, she thought bitterly…but inside- that's what she'd always loved about working with a group of thieves. She remained anonymous. Apparently, Ezio had no such luxury. Probably thanks to his own ego, she mused.

Finally tired of walking, Rosa reckoned it was time for a short break. She parked her now giant-like body on the end of a bench and relaxed, drumming her fingers casually on the stone.

"What now…?" She asked herself dryly, only wishing she knew the answer.

Apparently, she'd never heard the phrase 'careful what you wish for'.

"That hood…Does that look familiar to you?" The curious remark of a distant guard hardly captured her attention, as she never wore a hood.

"And that cloak…horribly unfashionable," another voice snickered.

"I've seen him somewhere before…" The voices grew closer, and suddenly Rosa realized they were talking about her.

"Excuse us, signore!" She immediately stood from the bench and began shuffling off in her too-tight boots, desperate to get away. Rosa had never been caught before, and she wasn't about to start now.

"We just want to talk!" The guards persisted, and from the edges of her senses she could tell they were picking up their pace.

Rosa swallowed, cursing again. If she stopped and allowed them to see her face, no doubt they would put two and two together, thanks to those posters. But if she broke into a run they would pursue immediately, probably with backup. And while fighting in this ridiculous body was hardly appealing, free-running in it sounded just plain repulsive.

But in the end, Rosa decided it'd be better just to live with the discomfort than not live at all.

She broke into a run.

"That's him! Get him!"

Swords unsheathed and the footsteps picked up, but Rosa was gone by then. Luckily, she knew these streets inside out- she took a sharp turn into an alleyway, where she knew a ladder waited at the far end. However there was one thing she hadn't counted on…

After she had rounded the corner she tried to continue down the alley, but something yanked her back. Faintly, she heard an odd ripping noise.

"What the hell?" She hissed, whirling around.

She blinked twice upon finding the source of the problem. The long brown cloak covering her left flank had been skewered by a nail jutting out of the alley wall. Rosa tugged at it, trying to rip the fabric to get free, but the cloak was clearly made of tougher stuff.

She was stuck.

"Curse that idiot and his frilly clothes!" She shrieked, clawing at the nail in pure rage. She swore she'd kill him when she got out of this one. In the mean time however, those armored footsteps were getting louder…

Finally, Rosa decided she'd had enough. She yanked one of Ezio's daggers from his sash and sliced the tip of the cloak clean off, leaving a very untidy edge in the garment. Growling, she stormed off, sprinting down the alley.

"There! I see him!" Unfortunately, prying herself off the wall had cost her valuable seconds as by now the guards had caught up and were about a hair's breadth behind her.

The alley was narrow, so the patrol was forced to chase her in single file, but she'd wasted too much time already, and she couldn't run nearly as fast with all the weight she wasn't used to.

So when the guard hurled himself at her in full force, she went down like a rock.

"Argh!" She yelled, thrashing about under the man like a fish out of water, "Get off me!"

"Capitano! I got him!" The guard reported breathlessly, using every ounce of his strength to keep Rosa pinned down.

This is not going to happen, Rosa despaired inwardly, not like this!

Then she remembered the devices strapped to her wrists… In the few seconds she had before the rest of the patrol caught up, she eyed them suspiciously. She also found, after a short, split-second test, that Ezio was much stronger than herself. He probably was capable of throwing this guy off.

Struggling, she managed to get one arm free- she rolled to one side, taking the guard with her. In an attempt to regain control, he grabbed her wrists- which is when she activated the blades.

The guard screamed in pain as the blades cut through the arteries on his arms, spurting blood everywhere. Rosa took the opportunity to sink another blade into his chest, finishing him off.

She climbed to her feet shakily and pressed onward to the ladder. She made it just as the patrol caught up to the body she'd left behind.

Rosa reflected on the events that had just transpired on her way to the guild, which she decided she would never leave again unless she knew where she was going. If this was what Ezio's life was like constantly, she decided she was incredibly fortunate not to be him.

Rosa was relieved to find herself waiting at Seta's gates. At the sight of her, Ezio's eyes went wide and he gasped. Rosa didn't blame him- she was smothered with blood.

"Nice of you to tell me you're wanted across the entire city, idiota," She muttered, brushing past the immobilized thief.

"My cape!" Ezio cried out in despair, "My beautiful cloak! What have you done to it?"

Rosa blinked. Then she turned stupidly to stare at her left flank- indeed, the fabric was mangled and torn every which way- hardly what it looked like when she'd received it this morning. Quickly, her embarrassment turned to anger:

"Surely even you can figure out that if you wear expensive clothing while assassinating, something is going to get ruined!" She sputtered.

Ezio shook his head sadly, "…You have no class, Rosa. I have an appearance to keep up! You are going to ruin my reputation!"

"Yes, because there's an awful lot to ruin," She replied flatly.

"Nevermind, nevermind," Ezio groaned and turned to walk up the stairs, motioning for Rosa to follow, "I'll just have to replace the cloak later."

The two climbed to the second floor and headed into Rosa's room, making sure they were alone before continuing the conversation.

"So, what have you been doing all day?" Ezio asked her anxiously, "I don't usually get that dirty…"

"I didn't do anything," Rosa shrugged, "Some people on the street recognized you. There was a chase, in which your stupid dress nearly got me caught."

"robe," Ezio corrected through gritted teeth.

"Anyway, I wanted to ask you when I returned;" Rosa continued, serious now, "Where are you supposed to be today? Where I am I supposed to be going?"

Ezio raised an eyebrow, "I am an Assassin. What do you think you should be doing?"

Rosa shook her head, "I wasn't cut out for this, bastardo. I don't like it one little bit. I want to go back to cutting purses and running rooftops."

"You think this is any easier for me?" Ezio sighed wistfully, "I was taught my entire childhood that stealing is wrong. Especially when these people have done nothing to deserve such misfortune."

"Nonsense," Rosa snorted, "It's easy for you- you've been spoiled since you were born."

For the second time that day, the two sat in miserable silence. After a fair amount of moping and sighing, Ezio gave in.

"Look," he said, glancing up at Rosa with tired green eyes, "There's a pigeon coop south of the San Marco docks. Do you know where it is?"

Rosa nodded uncertainly.

"Go to it," Ezio continued, "Inside you'll find a speckled white bird with a red ribbon on its ankle. Pick it up and read the message attached- that will tell you what I was supposed to do today."

"Why don't you just tell me now?" Rosa suggested.

"Because I don't know." He replied honestly.

"So, everyday is an adventure with you?" Ezio now knew what it felt like to be on the receiving end of one of his famed skeptic glares. He laughed lightly.

"I suppose," he nodded, "Better than here. Don't you ever get bored of such routine?"

Rosa shrugged, "Routine is alright with me if it means survival. Although if you're getting bored, I'm sure Antonio and I could arrange something…" She smiled mischievously.

"No, thank you," Ezio raised his palms in defense, "At least stealing is something I learned to do when I was a teenager. You don't know the first thing about assassination, do you, Rosa?"

Rosa frowned, "What do you have to know? You find the guy, stab him, and run off, no?"

"It's a bit more complicated than that," he chuckled, "though you seem to grasp the concept."

"I'll just find the easiest job there," Rosa rolled her eyes, "It can't be that hard."

"I'll hold you to that," Ezio grinned, "Now, I'd like to show you how to use my little friends here, so you don't end up getting me killed."

It took a while for her to get used to having so many extra weapons in such accessible places, but soon Rosa found she rather liked it. As she and Ezio parted, she even felt somewhere that, perhaps, being the Assassin wasn't as horrible as she'd first figured.

Rosa headed down to the docks to search for the pigeon coop, and Ezio went off with a group of thieves to the old hideout to clean out anything they might've left during the transition. Neither could be less suited for the jobs at hand, so it was clear this would be the biggest test of improvision either had faced in a long time…

AN- last update in a while, sorry ^^; ... The holiday of Sukkot starts up again Wednesday evening, and I don't want to rush any of my work (or it'll turn out quite illiterate...). Next update will be either saturday or sunday night, hopefully.

Thank you for your patience and support!

-iguana