A/N: Sorry for the late update! I have been really busy the past two weeks, with theater and some other stuff. Thank you so much for the reviews, as usual they make my day.

Faustina followed Claudio into the Trastavere. Off to the side of a small square, a few thieves were crouched around a corner. They were peering at a man lurking in the shadow of a tumbled-down building. The man was out of the place in the dingy neighborhood, dressed in a finely-tailored suit and seeming to have a polished look, akin to Cesare or any of the other politicians and nobles that crowded the finer parts of Roma. It was too far to see his face, but one of the thieves muttered "That's Machiavelli, the traitorous bastard."

Machiavelli…? The name meant nothing to her, but he certainly appeared to be some sort of noble. Nobles weren't her territory. "Is he allied with the assassins?"

A somber-looking thief who looked a lot like an older version of Claudio nodded grimly, saying "Or at least he is supposed to be."

The noble- Machiavelli- looked like he was expecting someone. He was ill at ease, throwing glances over his shoulder and shifting his weight from foot to foot.

A young guard slipped away from his fellows on patrol and sidled over to Machiavelli, making sure to check the other guard's attention was elsewhere before getting close to the politician.

From a tall building opposite where the thieves stood, a flash of white caught Faustina's attention. The sun was already beginning its downward creep towards the ground, and the shadows were long, but she could just make out the form of the assassin, Ezio, staring down at his supposed ally. Beside him another figure, obscured completely, but she would be willing to bet it was La Volpe.

Faustina considered the situation. According to Officer Viscardi, it was most likely the guard was treacherous and La Volpe's suspicions misplaced. The thief leader had reputation for being paranoid. Anyone in that business would have had to have survived innumerable attacks, and had a right to be cautious. A scheme began to form in her mind, and it made her slightly uneasy. It seemed so easy to use someone's paranoia against them… and she knew paranoia was one of her worst flaws.

The guard reached into his belt, pulling something out and surreptitiously slipping it to Machiavelli. She tensed, suspicions confirmed. No doubt this was the list of Templar agents Officer Viscardi had been so worried about. What if it listed her name? She had to stop him, had to steal the list back, anything to get it out of the assassins' hands. The panic constricted into an aching feeling in her chest, and she had to fight down the urge to run, to instead force her mind to plan.

The little detail it had been the guard giving something to Machiavelli could easily be lost in the heat of the moment, and even if the others had noticed it she could rationalize she thought Machiavelli had something to give the guard as well. Assassins' secrets, thieves' secrets. La Volpe was already convinced this man was a traitor, and it was always easier to accept the word of someone who was agreeing with you.

With the distraction, she could pickpocket Machiavelli and destroy his list.

"He's going to give something to the guard!" she hissed. "We should attack now!"

The man who was clearly related to Claudio shot her a suspicious look. "If we attack those guards, the others will come to his aid."

"There are more than enough of us," another of the thieves spoke up. "I say we attack."

"Right," Faustina sprang forward, not giving them any more time to debate. The other thieves followed, quickly outpacing her. Good. She didn't want to draw the Auditore's attention to herself, or become embroiled in the fight. She had to get that list.

Three guards stood between the thieves and the clandestine meeting. Claudio, having rushed out ahead of the others, dealt the first one a blow across the chest with his knife, his inhibitions of the previous night vanished in the excitement of battle. The middle guard was quick to react, stabbing the point of his pike into Claudio's shoulder. The sharp point, backed by the heavier head, smashed into his arm with enough force to tear flesh from bone. He fell, dropped his knife to clutch at the horrific wound. The guard pulled his pike back to deliver a killing blow.

Plans of pickpocketting instantly forgotten, Faustina sprinted out ahead and dispatched the pike-wielding guard with a blade in the throat. He fell with a gurgling cry, but managed to smash his pike into her hand on his way down. She grimaced at the pain of bruised fingers, but didn't loosen her grip on her blade. The encounter with the Cento Occhi had taught her that.

The other thieves ran past her to finish off the third guard, and the youth who had been Machiavelli's informant was killed seconds later. More guards were appearing to take their comrade's places, rushing from their posts and patrols towards the commotion.

The thieves were quickly outnumbered three to one, and Faustina felt another stab of panic. She could very well die here at the hands of those were supposed to be her allies- though since she had killed their fellows, she doubted they would care even if they knew she was a Templar.

All remaining thoughts of the list were driven in favor of staying alive. She stood over Claudio, struck down the first guard, and then saw the other thieves were fleeing. She was driven back against the wall, away from Claudio, by two more guards, and finally just ducked between them and ran after the other thieves.

"Volpe! My son Claudio is injured!" it was the thief that had spoken earlier, shouting up to the spot where the two Assassin leaders were hiding.

Faustina paused by Claudio's father, and he gave her a hateful look, then resumed calling for help. Cesare would have struck the man down for daring to order him around, or insinuate that his life was worth risking for a common soldier. La Volpe had already proved to be different, yet it was surprising when the Auditore assassin jumped his vantage point to join the fight. La Volpe raced across the rooftops, quickly dispatching the archers that had been taking potshots at the fleeing thieves, before joining Ezio fighting the guards away from the Claudio.

In minutes the two had decimated the guards. La Volpe exchanged a few words with Ezio, then headed back towards the other thieves. The Auditore assassin beckoned Claudio to follow him.

"Ezio will help Claudio to our rendezvous point, Trimalchio," La Volpe assured Claudio's father, brushing past them. "It would be foolish to linger here any longer."

Faustina looked around for Machiavelli, but the man had disappeared. Internally she cursed herself for getting distracted. If she did not get her hands on that list it might well mean the end of her and everyone she counted as an ally.

"I will follow that man," Faustina called to La Volpe, gesturing in the direction Machiavelli had disappeared to. "Find out if he is going to meet with any other people allied with the Templars."

La Volpe nodded, his thoughts seeming elsewhere, and disappeared into the shadows with his thieves.

(((((((((())))))))))

It took Faustina twenty minutes to figure out which route Machiavelli had taken, and follow him. She tailed him from the rooftops, careful to keep at a distance lest he notice any movement. Though the man appeared to be your average noble, he was an Assassin, and she had no reason to believe he couldn't perform the same tricks Ezio and La Volpe could.

She had just gotten up her courage enough to slink down to the streets and start to approach the noble, hoping to get the chance to pickpocket the list from him, when a loud commotion interrupted her concentration. A man sprung from a house, pursued by a woman wielding a fire poker and shouting obscenities. By the time she had dodged around the display, Machiavelli had disappeared once again.

Faustina searched the neighborhood for him until nightfall, without any success.

It was only then she remembered her appointment with Lucrezia Borgia.

One did not refuse an audience with one of the Borgias and come away unharmed, and one did not often outright ignore a request by a Borgia and escape with their lives. Faustina stopped dead, glancing at the sky. The last of the sun's light was just disappearing over the horizon. No hope of even being fashionably late.

Icy dread slithered its way into her stomach. The fact that she had just slighted one of the most powerful women in Roma, combined with the news that the assassins likely knew of her and many of the other Templars was enough to make her blood run cold. She was doomed, soon to be hunted by both sides.

The instinct to run, to flee as far as her legs would carry her flared within her for a moment. She quelled the instinct, and instead put her desperate energy to a different use. She scaled the nearest building easily, and ran across the roofs until she saw the outline of ruined Borgia tower on the skyline. The towers had been destroyed by the Assassins, but the Pope's funds were being directed elsewhere. There was no money to reestablish them as points of order in the city that grew more chaotic every day.

An Assassin-won tower was not the first place anyone after her would look, and the towers made good places to think, away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Apparently she was not the only one to come to this conclusion, because when she dropped down from the roof, there was a figure leaning against the half-destroyed railing. She stiffened.

"Volpe." Instantly suspicions whirled through her mind. Had he already looked at the list? Hopefully his enmity and mistrust of Machiavelli would keep him from finding out soon, but no doubt Ezio would relay him the information eventually.

He glanced back, regarding her tiredly. "Faustina." If he was surprised to find her there, his tone did not show it.

"Is Claudio alright?" it was the biggest fear her Assassin-loyal personality would have at that moment. Disconcertingly, she realized the concern did not have to be forced into her voice. She had actually come to care about the young thief.

"He'll live, thanks to Ezio," the thief leader sighed. "Whether or not he will make a full recovery, it is down to his own strength and the skill of the doctor who attended to him." She blinked at the raw note in his voice.

"Is there other troubles within the Assassin Order?" Faustina asked.

He cast her a wry look. "You already know too much, thanks to Claudio. No more than that, however. Ezio insists Machiavelli had not betrayed us, though god knows there is enough evidence to the contrary. However, he is a good man, and I owe him much. If he trust Machiavelli… so will I."

Faustina had to suppress a smile. La Volpe was tired, and exhaustion had much the same effect as liquor in loosening the tongue. "You can trust me with that piece of information. Even if I intended to do something with it, I haven't a clue who Machiavelli is."

La Volpe chuckled. "No doubt you will take it upon yourself to find out," he turned his gaze back to the city below. "What is troubling you?"

She straightened, and replied a bit too sharply "What?"

"You appear preoccupied," La Volpe replied.

Even with half of her mind convinced she would be dead before the next nightfall, the other half worked to use every crumb of opportunity to her advantage. "As you know, I have done a bit of work for the Borgia family before, as have most talented individuals," she said. "I was… called upon again today. A call which a refused."

"Ah," La Volpe nodded. "And you are afraid for your life."

"Wary, yes," Faustina replied. "As I have out my appearance of neutrality in jeopardy, and the guards might be looking for me specifically."

He turned back and gave her a long look. "You play a dangerous game. The best way to win such gambles is to cheat."

"Sound advice," she replied, uncertain at his meaning.

He laughed, and clambered over the railing. "Meet me tomorrow at Thieves' Guild." With those parting words, he climbed down and disappeared in the crowd below.

It was only a few minutes later she realized that perhaps he had meant good luck.

She brushed the riddle off, and refocused on her odds. Now that the initial terror had died down, she chided herself for assuming her chances so bad and letting fear cloud her reasoning. Lucrezia would have to be placated, not an easy task, but one that could be accomplished. As for the list… As for as she knew, the guards in on the conspiracy had been of common rank, probably without the means to dig deeply into the Templar ranks. If they had had access to Officer Viscardi's records, there was nothing there to indicate she was a Templar. They might have drawn that conclusion, but it was just as likely they had not. Until she got a look at the list herself, she would just have to continue on as usual.

With these things sorted out, there were other priorities to be arranged. Officer Viscardi needed to be informed the other traitor had been killed. She needed to find the list of Templar agents, and warn them if possible. A debt was owed to Lia, for the merchandise the Cento Occhi or La Volpe's thieves had probably stolen after they had finished fighting.

And she needed to begin slipping the poison to La Volpe.