The bagman's quaking at the fingers
The hand-off glance a little lingers
A well-dressed man in the crosshairs
A shot rings out from somewhere upstairs-The Perfect Crime
"Altair." The man in question turns, hands stuffed into his pockets and posture seemingly relaxed. A smirk comes to his mouth as another man steps out of a car, head of messy black hair easily recognizable.
"Malik, nice to see you." Altair dips his head once, looking down at the shorter male as he pulls a sour looking face. Malik takes out a pack of cigarettes, sliding one into his mouth one handed, quickly lighting the white tube of tobacco. He doesn't offer one out of kindness, glowering lightly over the dully glowing orange ball on the end. Altair waits for the snippy response.
"Idiot, how long does it take to warn a person?" They begin walking down the sidewalk, away from prying ears. Altair relaxes somewhat, knowing that his men are well hidden, all thanks to the man standing beside him.
He laughs shortly, quickly snatching the pack of cigarettes from Malik's pocket, earning him a sidelong glare. "I had to get him alone." Malik takes a long drag of the cigarette, letting the smoke loose with a loud sigh. He clears his throat, flicking the butt onto the ground to crush with his boot.
"So you...slept with him."
"Yes."
Altair doesn't miss the frown on his friend's face, but Malik quickly changes his expression; the man rolls his dark eyes, chewing on the inside of his mouth. "Does he understand what's going to happen?"
The mafia leader flicks his own butt to one side, ignoring the still glowing stick in favour of giving Malik a lewd smile. "I think I drove the point home."
The other man flushes and a strangled noise leaves his mouth. He growls and punches Altair with enough force to put him off balance. "Idiot, even if you are my boss, you still act like a child."
Leonardo glowers at himself in the bathroom, lightly touching a bruise (bite mark...) on his neck. He chews on his lip, flushing as he remembers rough fingers on his skin and teeth marking everything. With a groan, the former artists runs his hands through his sex tangled hair, glaring daggers at his ragged looking reflection. "Great Leonardo, you really area whore now." The blond sinks to the dirty bathroom floor, stretching his legs out in front of him.
What would Ezio think? Another growl leaves Leonardo's mouth and he shakes his head to clear any thoughts of the Auditore out of his brilliant mind.
"There is going to be an ambush later tonight, stay out of sight until I come to get you."
Leonardo blinks, eyebrows furrowing as the man's voice echoed in his head. Wait...he said something about the Auditore...and something about being on good terms with them. An ambush...wait...The blond stripper is pulled out of his thoughts by a man quickly pushing open the door. Leonardo's head snaps up, apology quickly dying on his lips as he sees the expression on Desmond's face.
"What's wrong?" He tries to stand quickly but the high-heeled boots make it hard for him to balance. Blue-green eyes widen when the bartender wordlessly pulls out a handgun; a small noise leaves the blond's mouth as Desmond shoots him a quick glance.
"Don't worry, it's not for you." The darker haired male cocks the gun, his other hand blindly reaching into his pants pocket to retreve a disposable cell. A short, low beep comes from the phone; Desmond instantly answers, his normally easy-going demeanor turning reserved. "...yeah...of course..." The young man glances quickly at the confused blond, giving him a short smile of comfort before returning his attention to the person on the other end. "Yeah, see you." His thumb presses the end button, and a short sigh leaves his lips.
Desmond turns his full attention to Leonardo, lazily putting the phone back into his black dress pants pocket. The gun rests heavily in his other hand, but the bartender offers a grin. "So I bet you're wondering what's going on right?"
Leonardo gulps and nods, sinking to the ground with wide eyes. His heart thrums against his breast bone as he stares up at the young man he had once thought of as lazy. Desmond pauses before locking the door behind him; sinking down beside the blond, the bartender leans his head against the dirty bathroom wall. He closes his eyes before speaking. "Well...okay, so I saw you...met Altair-" Leonardo flushed, hands tightening into fists on the floor. "Well he's sorta...my boss I guess you could say? Really we're cousins, but anyway...The Company is on good terms with the Auditore and since you're important to the Auditore's underboss...he asked for Altair's help."
Desmond checks his cell phone's clock, scarred side of his mouth turning downward for a moment until a strained sigh travels out of his throat. He stands and glances down at Leonardo; the gun loosely hangs at his side, and the young man taps it against his thigh as dark eyes flicker from the blond's face to the door. "Alright...I'm gonna leave you here but you have to keep out of sight until Altair comes to get you got it? You remember what he looks like right?" Leonardo flushes as Desmond gives him a knowing look; the stripper nods slowly, mind slowly processing the new information given to him.
The bartender nods shortly and slips out of the bathroom. Leonardo hears a muffled conversation before a gunshot goes off
Altair hisses as he holds his gun tightly to himself. Bullets streak past, hitting the wall he was behind, chipping off plaster and causing plumes of dust to erupt from the cracks. The man looks up, seeing his cousin fire off a few rounds then ducking down behind an over turned table. "You're sure Cesare fled?" Desmond looks up and nods soundlessly, not flinching as a bullet flies straight over his head.
A growl leaves Altair's mouth; he turns and takes deadly aim on one of the Borgia soldiers, smiling grimly to himself as the man falls with a thud. "He's in the bathroom; remember that the Auditore want him in one piece!" Altair snorts to himself, breaking out into a sprint, dodging bullets while he runs through the heart of the battle.
He lifts a hand, finger pumping the trigger, causing the Borgia soldiers to fall and groan as the bullets ripped through their flesh. He grunts in pain as one grazes his shoulder; teeth clenched in pain, Altair ducks behind a stage, emptying his gun into the three men that had been foolish enough to chase after him.
Blood and brain matter splatter the floor as a bullet rips through their skulls. Altair turns away, walking calmly toward the back rooms where he remembered the 'private' bathrooms for the workers were.
He presses an ear against the thin door, quietly assessing if there is anyone in the room besides the blond stripper. He opens the door, watching as the blond man looks up from having his face buried in his knees. Blue-green eyes widen and the skinny man stands shakily, quickly moving to the Company's boss. "Come." Altair turns, glancing left to right to make sure there aren't any 'pests' that need to be taken care of.
"Wait." The man turns at the soft command, his expression blank as the stripper meets his eyes. Teeth gnaw at a plush bottom lip, and Altair watches the action with intense golden eyes. The blond furrows his eyebrows and a frown graces his mouth. "Have you...killed Cesare?" Altair can see that, although the Borgia underboss humiliated this man, he was appalled at the idea of violence against his fellow man. An inaudible scoff falls from his lips and he turns, grabbing the stripper's dainty wrist.
"No. He fled like a roach."
They move into the main section of the club; Altair feels the man beside him tense at the scene of death. The coppery smell of blood assaults their noses, causing the stripper to gag silently.
He scans the room, watching as his own men search the bodies of the Borgia soldiers for any information of Cesare's destination. Desmond walks up to them, running a hand through his shortly cropped hair, letting his hand flop to his side. Altair raises an eyebrow in a silent question; a sigh comes from his cousin, and a frown drags down the bartender's mouth. "Nothing." He says, turning to the stripper. A soft smile replaces the frown, and a hand falls to rest on the blond's shoulder. "But, I'm glad to see that you're okay Leonardo."
Altair glances to the other man, watching as Leonardo relaxes slightly at seeing that the young man was unharmed. Blue-green eyes glance to the bodies littering the ground, and the colour drains from his face. "Was this all really necessary?" The question is directed toward him as Leonardo turns fully to him. Fingers tighten lightly around the blond's wrist, and Altair can see the man clench his teeth in pain.
"War is necessary to bring peace." Leonardo opens his mouth to say more, but Altair turns away, releasing his wrist. "Desmond, take him to headquarters; get him something more appropriate to wear." He ignored the glare that the blond gave him.
Meh, I don't really like the ending of this chapter...buut more Altair/Leonardo interaction; They're gonna bump heads more on the issue of violence. Don't worry, Ezio will make his fabulous appearance again soon. haha Please review and tell me what you think!