A/N; Victory helped me decide, yay! I'm not completely sure on what to say so I'm kind of iffy, but I'll try to make this as long as possible! Read and review!

Chapter 4: the truth

The next day everybody was still traumatized about what happened. Simon, Alvin, Brittany, and Jeanette stayed home from school, but Theodore and Eleanor decided to go to school because in cooking they are making a delicious dish. "At least you can pull yourself together" Simon commented to Theodore before he left for school.

"I can't possibly miss cooking Simon! I have to!" Theo said in a part excited/part unsure voice.

"Well, ok" Simon replied nervously. He was unsure if those men had other people out to get them.

"Ok. Bye Simon, Alvin, Dave! See you after school!" Theodore called out. He was trying to be strong but he was still afraid that more people will try to kill him. Yet he decided to go anyway with Ellie anyways.

As Theodore made his way to the Chipette's house to pick up Ellie he noticed Ezio walking about 30 feet in front of him on the other side of the street. He wanted to catch up to him. He wanted to be Ezio's friend but he would pass Eleanor's house so he decided against it.

He walked up to Miss Miller's house and rang the doorbell and waited for five seconds before the door opened. "Hi Theo" Jeanette said in a sleepy voice.

"Hi! Is Ellie ready?" Theodore asked in a happy tone. The tired Jeanette just nodded and left the door cracked to go get her sister. A minute later a green-clad Chippete came to the door and smiled happily. They just stood there looking into each others eyes. But then Brittany broke their trance "Guys your going to be late!" she exclaimed.

"Ok!" the two at the door chimed. They then ran off closing the door behind them. As they ran they started running out of breath so they slowed down to a walk. "Theodore?" Eleanor asked.

"Yes?" he replied.

"Umm... are you scared because of last night?" the little Chipette asked.

"Ya, a little. How can I not be? We almost died! But I wonder who saved us" he said with a shaky voice.

"And what was he wearing? His face looked like a skull!" Eleanor added shaking at the image.

"I don't know, but Simon did some research on what he said. Remember when he said to call him 'giustizia e giudizio'? Well it took a while but we found out that it means 'justice and judgment' in Italian" Theodore explained it like it was out-of-this-world. Eleanor just looked at him questionably thinking about what he said. The two walked in silence.

When they were passing a drug store they heard someone yell their names. The two looked at each other curiously. They looked back and saw Brittany running after them. When she caught up she was breathing heavily and supporting herself with her hands on her knees. "I remembered I had a………. exam" she said between breaths. Theodore and Eleanor knew she just wanted to be with her boyfriend, Alex.

"Ok" they replied doubtingly. Brittany glared at the two for a second then stood up straight and kept walking. Eleanor just rolled her eyes and followed he sister. It didn't take long to reach the school, but they got there two minutes before the bell. "Close call" Brittany said under her breath. She had her first, second, fourth and sixth periods with Alex. He glanced back at her and shot her a smile; she smiled back and mouthed 'I love you'. He mouthed back 'I love you too' and gave her one last smile before looking back at the teacher. God I love him, Brittany thought to herself.

Halfway into class she started to daydream about Alex. He was sitting in an open field. The sun was full and bright with no clouds in sight. Tall flowers surrounded him and close by was a tree with its fall leaves on its branches. The sun was gleaming off his face; he smiled and showed his perfect, white teeth. He picked up a guitar and started playing a song. But when he started singing she heard Alvin's voice. But it wasn't the words to any song she knew, actually, it wasn't a song at all.

"BRITTANY" Alvin said nearly yelling trying to break her from her trance. She blinked and looked around, then at Alvin. He shot up an eyebrow and quietly said "remember what happened last time?" she did, last time she got caught daydreaming she got detention. She looked forward trying to concentrate.

For the rest of the day she couldn't help but think of the night before. She was almost positive it was a dream. But it seemed so real. She thought about the gun pointing at Simon and how all she could do was bury her face into Alvin's chest and cry. She also thought about the guy that saved them and the mask he wore. Why would he wear a mask, she asked herself. As she was thinking about last night, or the dream, or whatever it was, she heard a familiar voice, but she couldn't distinguish it. "I'm sorry Ezio, what was that?" the teacher asked politely.

"The answer is 24" Ezio said again with a slight Italian accent.

"Right!" Miss Strake replied excitedly.

Brittany's eyes widened as a though entered her mind. They sound almost exact! I wonder... she was beginning to think that he some how was their savior. She discarded the thought thinking it was impossible. "Alright class, I'm going to give you a partner for the practice work!" the teacher said with excitement. After giving almost everyone a partner she turned to Brittany. "hmmmm, I'll give you…….. Ezio! He's new and you guys will be great friends!" Brittany looked at Alex and he gave her a worried look. She smiled as if to say 'its ok' then blew him a kiss. He gladly accepted the kiss with a smile, then turned to his partner.

She let out a sigh and grabbed her paper and a pencil and walked over to Ezio. Ezio was texting again and apparently didn't notice that the teacher gave him a partner. She hopped up on his desk making him jump a little. He didn't see that coming. His eyes widened a little when he saw who it was, but then quietly said "Hi".

"Hey!" she said in a nice tone.

"Sooooooooo?" he said in a confused tone, she realized he hadn't been paying attention at all.

"I'm your partner, we have to do this" she said holding up the paper.

"Ohhhhhhhh" he said punching himself mentally. Great, now she probably thinks you're an idiot! He said in his mind. "Sorry" he quietly said.

She looked at him and said "its ok, I barely pay attention too!" she said giggling. He laughed at her comment as well. She was actually starting to like him, he was nice, handsome, and didn't pay attention just like her. He was feeling the same exact way towards her. But they put those feelings to the side and started working. Ezio started zipping through the problems and was done in five minutes. Brittany looked at him in awe; she didn't expect him to be so smart. "Are you sure those are right?" she asked skeptically.

"He looked at her with a slight smile "maybe" he replied, he was obviously toying with her. She gave him a fake glare, then smiled. She copied the problems and put the pencil down.

"You're done already?" the teacher lady asked.

"Yep" Brittany replied with pride.

"Well ok, you can talk for the rest of the period"

"Ok, thank you" she replied happily. She looked at Ezio who was texting again. He's opening up a little, she thought. She noticed he was usually quiet and didn't talk much, but now he's laughing and smiling. She like the though of him being comfortable with her. And to tell the truth, she was getting comfortable with him too. "So" she said smiling, "are you from Italy?" he looked up at her and smiled.

"Good guess, yes I am" he replied.

"Why did you move here? I thought Italy was beautiful" she asked in a questioning tone. His smile faded and he looked down.

"Well," he started, "there were some... complications in Florence, I couldn't stay so I moved" he replied, voice trembling slightly. Brittany noticed this and a wave of guilt passed over her.

"I'm sorry' she said looking at the ground that happened to be the desk.

He smiled again and said with a sweet tone "Don't worry about it" she saw his smiled and smiled back. Yet she couldn't stop noticing how he kept saying 'I' as if he was saying just him. She couldn't help but wonder if he was by himself, the way he was talking made it sure seem like it.

Brittany glanced at the clock, 15 minutes, she thought. The two continued to talk and made the time fly by. Before they knew it they were heading to their last period of the day which they happen to have together. They took their seats right when they entered the classroom. "Okay students" Mr. Crawford announced "You will be changing seats today" Brittany frowned and looked at her boyfriend who sat next to her.

"I don't want to move" she said to him in a sad voice.

"Don't worry babe, we have three other periods to sit next to each other" he replied in a comforting tone. She smiled at him and moved to her new seat when her name was called. The last name called was Ezio's, and he happened to sit next to Brittany. "At least it's someone I know" he said under his breath. He smiled at her and sat down. The two happened to sit in the back so it was fairly easy to talk without being caught. "So where do you live?" Brittany asked to her newfound friend.

"Oh, um, I don't know the address or anything" he responded obviously hiding something. Brittany noticed a sad look on his face. She didn't like seeing him sad.

"What's wrong?" she asked in a caring voice.

"Nothing, don't worry about it" he said and smiled. He was faking the smile and she knew it.

"C'mon, tell me, I know something's wrong" she gave him a pleading look. He gave in and sighed.

"I…..I…. don't have a…. home..." he said the last words almost whispering. She gave him a look of shock, then of pity.

"Oh my god, are you serious?" she asked hoping he was kidding.

"No, I'm not. And I know what you're thinking, I have clean clothes and new stuff and a phone, to tell you the truth I have to steal these things. I don't want to but I didn't want anyone to know, people would laugh" he said to the shocked chipette. She saw that his eyes were tearing up. He wiped his eyes playing it off. "But don't worry about me, I'm fine" he said slightly smiling. He didn't want her to worry about him. He didn't even know why he told her. He felt safe talking to her.

"What about your family?" she asked.

"There……. Dead" he stated hesitantly. Before he could go on the bell rang.

"Meet me at the park, please" Brittany asked pleadingly. He nodded yes and gathered his things.

THE PARK

Ezio sat on a bench waiting for Brittany. He thought about what happened that day, and he couldn't help but acknowledge the fact that he grew feelings for the little chipette. Even though she's a chipmunk he still liked her. She was thoughtful, caring, and overall nice. She actually cares about me, that's the first person since, that day. He pushed the thought out of his mind, he didn't like thinking about it. He also noticed that he almost spilled everything to her, but he couldn't help it, he felt so secure with her. While he was lost in thought a sudden and familiar voice called to him. He looked over and saw the beautiful chipette on the bench right next to him. He smiled "hey" he said in an exaggerated cool tone.

She giggled, but then looked down. "Ok, so I didn't hear what you said after my last question. What did you say?" she looked at him with a sad face, he couldn't help but feel sad as well.

"I said that they" he gulped "are… dead" the last words were nearly inaudible. Her eyes widened and she walked to him and gave him a hug, he returned it and lost control of his emotions. He started to cry, he couldn't stop, and he didn't want to. He cried in her arms for a good 10 minutes, then pulled together and broke from the embrace. "They were killed by a gang. An evil gang called 'Crypta Costode Tutore' or the crypt keeper guardians, my brother made them angry. He bought heroine from them but didn't pay the full price. They tried to catch him but he ran away. They swore that they would kill our family. Every single person. And now I'm all that's left" he began crying again, but not as bad as the first time. "I have to protect myself, they came here after me. They found me in this city and tried to kill me, but I managed to get away. I killed three last night and..." he stopped immediately when he realized what he just said. Brittany took s step back to look in his eyes.

"w-what d-d-did you just s-say?" she asked with a shaky voice.

Ezio had the expression on his that just said 'oh fuck'. "Nothing!" he blurted, then got up and ran off. Oh my god! He thought, I told her! Damnit! I can't believe this. Nobody was supposed to know! He started beating himself mentally. He couldn't let anyone know, but now someone does. He has to leave, but now the Crypta Costode Tutore is after her and her friends and sisters. He was torn; he didn't know what to do.

Brittany sat in shock. I was right! It was him, she thought. She wanted to run after him, tell him its ok, but it was getting late and she needed to go home. She hesitantly got off the bench and walked home processing what had just happened.

Ezio stopped running when he rounded a corner into in ally where he kept his stuff. He sat down behind a dumpster. He loved Brittany, that's all he could say, not just feelings, love. And he just told her everything, even that he saved them and killed those people. The assassin code said that nobody was to know his identity and what he does, if that is broken, the person must be silenced, for good. But he couldn't kill Brittany, he loved her. Fuck the code, I brought them into this, I can't just leave them! I owe them something, and the least I can do is protect them. I'm no longer just an assassin; I'm a guardian to them. Even if it kills me...

A/N; holy shit! That took forever, and if you're wondering, yes, I did mean to say teacher lady lol. I didn't expect this to be emotional, it just kind of ended up that way, sorry, but please review! The pretty green button at the bottom is calling your name!