A/N: Hi everyone! Sorry for the hiatus. I haven't been able to get on a computer in so long. I'll try to add a few more to keep ya'll occupied! Oh and this chapter is to introduce more of the Assassin stuff. :D

It was late afternoon when I woke up in my bed, alone. Did Romano carry me up here? Where was he? The last thing I remember was... I burried my face in the pillows, blushing. "Oh... I can't believe I got that carried away! Damn damn damn!" I groaned in embarrassment. Just then, someone walked out of the doorway to my bathroom.

"Hehe~ Was it really that bad, mia bellezza?" Romano teased me. I peeked out to find that he was only wearing a towel around his waist. Water glistened on his smooth skin. It made him look like some god from one Greece's fairytale books. Of course, I had no intention of telling him that. "No," I mumbled, "You were amazing, but..." I frowned. It was way too soon. You shouldn't just jump right into things with someone that's actually important to you. I learned that the hard way.

Interupting my thoughts, he plops down beside me and grins. "Don't worry, no one will know. Especially not the Tomato Bastard!"

"Th-that's not-!" He steals a kiss and hops back on his feet. I pout as I get untangled from the blankets. Luckily, I'm wearing a nightgown. 'I don't remember putting this on...' I think to myself. Oh well. I'm thankful that I'm not naked.

"Romano. Enough playing around. It's time to get down to business. We were attacked, and I'm going to find out why," I told him. The smile on his face disappeared at once. It was a shame for our fun to stop, but that's how it had to be. My Brothers were not themselves and were not abiding by our sacred Creed. That was nothing to take lightly. I quickly got dressed and went downstairs, thinking of what to do the whole time. Where to start... Toris walked over to me, quietly as he could, "Anya, would you like me to get the key?" he asked knowingly. It had been so very long since I'd used it. I hoped that it was in good condition along with what it guarded. "Yes, Toris, that would be great. Thank you," I mused. Elizaveta raised an eyebrow in surprise. "I'm shocked you let him even suggest such a thing. You usually go into a rage if anyone so much as mentions the key," she whispers. Romano looks at me with a very confused expression. 'You'll see' my gaze says. It's not just the Italians that have precious things hidden within their secret guilds. And not so many as I have. Maybe a few that are more dangerous by far.

Toris comes back holding a silver key with a small spike on the handle. The Lithuanian hands me the key carefully and backs away. It was only a matter of time before I had to do this again. Of course, I never thought that it would be under such strange circumstances as this. I motion for everyone to follow me as I walk over to a large painting of Anastasia Romonov. "You wouldn't know it by looking, but this is a doorway to my most treasured posessions," I spoke softly. Everyone stayed quiet as I punctured my thumb on the small spike and inserted it into one of the holes in the frame of the painting. 'One... two... three..' I thought as I turned the key to the left. Any more or less and the doorway would not open. Plus, it has a DNA scanner that I had put in so that only I could access the room.

"Please do not touch anything once you enter. Most of these things are quite old," I caution as I duck my head into a cobblestone room.

It opened up into a miniature museum of a sort. My personal collection of artifacts. They all gasped at the same time. Aaaand... "Merda Santo! That's Ezio Auditore's armor!" Romano shouted as he studied the worn, grey armor. It was one of the best I had. Elizaveta murmured, "And that must be one of Edward Kenway's hidden blades." My smirk said it all. I knew that what I had was very hard to come by. That's precisely why I had to have it.

"It's Nikolai Orelov's Berdan rifle!" Eduard said in amazement. He was ever the scholar, so it wasn't very surprising that he knew exactly what that gun was. "Yes... He was a distant relative of mine," I mused. It was something I still had mixed feelings about. The Assassin's weren't saints of course, but... I shook my head to clear the thoughts. Looking around the room, I noticed Toris was staring at something rather interesting. "Lithuania, what interests you so about that wheel?" I demanded. He spun around and looked at me with wide eyes.

"Well?" I prompted.

"I recognize the design of it. Was it a gift from Alfred?" he asked quietly.

It hurt to admit it, but the oaf did happen to stumble upon something of worth, "Yes. That is the wheel to the Aquila."

I smiled and started to unlock an onyx colored chest, convinced that I'd done a good job showing off. As it so happened, this room was my pride and joy. I never got to show it off to anyone either. As I was unfolding my robes and checking my equipment, Ravis squeaked happily.

"It's! That's the armor of-!"

"Altair ibn'la Ahad," I interrupted a little peeved. It was hidden behind a statue of a certain assassin of French influence. And it was hidden on purpose. I guess the look on my face gave it away because Latvia ran and hid behind Elizaveta. Romano even backed up a few steps.

"Anya, your, er... aura," Hungary said gently.

"No one touch that armor. It is more valuable to me than my own life," Romano started to protest, but I kept going, "I have my reasons for protecting it so. Let's leave it at that, shall we?"

Everyone nodded and began to wander around the room. Now it was time to don the look of what I really was. A killer. I'd missed feeling the warmth of the leather on either arm that holstered my signature blades; the weight of a sword at my hip; the shick of cold metal on my fingers as I placed my pistols in their holsters. And, of course, I missed the shadow of my hood as I pulled it over my head.

~Romano~

Anya looked great in the Assassin white. I didn't notice that she had been wearing white leather pants before. 'Get ahold of yourself! This is no time for that! She's more dangerous than ever.' I thought. It paid to be cautious. I doubted that Anya would try to hurt me, but that nightmare that she had last night convinced me that she was very unstable right now. Instinctively, I felxed my arm where she had clawed me in her sleep.

The wound wasn't too deep, but there had still been a bit of blood. She'd mumbled something about her master and then started screaming. No matter how much I called her name and tried to wake her up, she didn't stop thrashing. Talk about scary as hell. What's worse is that I thought she was awake because her eyes were open. They were wild and desperate. So full of pain. What happened that made her break like that?

"Miss Elizaveta, it's time for us to leave. I beg you to take care of the Baltics while we're gone. I'll do my best to protect Russia," I say as I bow my head respectfully. I notice Anya shake her head and roll her eyes.

"I won't need protecting. It's the assholes that started this that need protection," she muttered.

Much to my surprise, the Hungarian agreed with her, "Anger set aflame like gasoline poured into hell. Heaven have mercy on those who crossed Anya Braginski."

Her words sent a shiver down my spine. The other countries told stories of Russian anger. I'd never actually expirienced it myself. For the moment, it wasn't directed at me. For the moment...

We all exited the artifact room and said our goodbyes. Anya led me to her garage where I expected to get into some standard car you'd see everywhere. Instead, I saw a black Lotus Elise in front of me. Subtlety was not her strong suit. Fantastic. It was head-on war then.

"Shouldn't we, you know, be a little more inconspicuous?" I asked.

"No. We're not going straight to them. We need a hideout and a plan. It's obvious they know where we are now. I've already made arrangements for my family to stay with someone else until I return," she said cooly.

"Who would that be?" I asked.

"...Someone that can't be found," she answers egnimatically.

She doesn't trust me. Old habits die hard after all. Once trained in certain ways, they'll never leave you. This might be a lot harder than I thought.

~Anya~

As I push my foot all the way down and race through the streets, my mind is racing. 'Where to start? Who can I trust? Should I go there?' The best lead I have is many miles away. About 45 hours away... It was bound to be a long trip. Plus, since I showed Romano my artifact room, he'd been acting strange.

"Won't Toni miss you?" I ask, trying to lighten the mood.

"I called him earlier. I told him I had some... important buisiness to do," he repiles looking at the buildings go by, "That idiot doesn't need to know where I am all the time."

He seems grouchy too. What in the world? I have a feeling we're being watched and it has something to do with my Italian's sudden bad mood. I tensed my muscles waiting for something bad to happen. A storm is about to break. And this time, it won't be water falling from the sky. This time, there will be blood.