3 months later

"You're really hanging it all up? For me?"

Elsa walks into the study, wrapping her arms around Ares. They stand in the middle of the room, Ares staring at his brotherhood armor and cloak, now hanging inside glass cases. His sword hangs on a rack, the silver-plated steel glowing red from the fireplace.

Ares, giving a kiss to her arms wrapped around his neck, her cold skin a nice counterbalance to the heat of the fire, "Of course."

"When do you plan to tell your brother?"

"...Today"

"How will he take your retirement?"

Ares finally slips off his hidden blade, and shuts the glass door, the single blade resting in the center of it all. He walks away from the case and sits down on a couch, "Umm... He'll take it well... I'm sure."

Elsa follows him to the couch, she sits on his lap, and wraps herself around him once again, "Liar, now how will he really take it?"

Ares, putting his hands on her hips, "I don't know to be honest, he's my brother... So if it's what I want... He should be okay with my choice, right?"

Elsa, placing a small kiss on his cheek, "I'm sure he will." She begins to play with his short dark hair, "I'm really glad I found you in my dungeon."

Ares can't help but to smile like an idiot, glad to see she can still cheer him up, even now, "Yeah, the dungeon was really fun, meeting a beautiful queen was just a bonus."

Elsa giggles and slaps him in the chest, "And to think it's only been three months."

"Yeah, it's been great falling in lov..." Ares stops himself from completing the sentence.

Elsa's eyes widen, a large smile appearing on her face, "What was that? You were saying something?"

"Uhh... nothing."

"Liar! It started with an L."

Ares mind begins to race, Alright Ares, you do love her, you can say this, no problem.

"I lo... I lov... I lov...ike you?"

Elsa, in a playfully sarcastic tone, begins to tease him, "Wow Ares, that's impressive. Your feelings for me are so strong you had to make up a new word? How do you pronounce that exactly?"

Ares embarrassed, buries his face into Elsa's chest, "You know what I mean."

She rests her head on top of his, "I do, but it doesn't count, I'm very fond of you too, but I won't be the first to say it."

"Okay okay." Ares looks up at Elsa, locking eyes, "Elsa, I lov..."

Ares is once again interrupted, but this time by a knock on the door, his brother's voice on the other side, "Ares? You wanted to see me."

Ares, slow to reply, "Uh yeah, give me a sec."

Elsa gets up off Ares' lap, and gives him one last kiss on the lips, "Good luck with Bryn, if it goes well, meet me and Anna down at the garden, we'll all go out to town and get some lunch."

"It won't go well, but okay."

Elsa wraps her hand around the doorknob, but stops and turns around before opening the door. Ares lifts his eyes to hers and stares into them one last time, a look of empathy on her face. Nothing more is said. She opens the door, and greets Bryn as she exits the room, closing the door behind her.

Bryn is the first to speak, not noticing the glass case on the other side of the room, "So... You wanted to talk to me?"

"Yeah, take a seat," the older one says as he still sits on the couch.

Bryn leans on a bookshelf and crosses his arms, "No, I'm good, and I know why you wanted to talk to me."

Ares, surprised, springs off the couch, "Fuck, look Bryn I'm sorry!"

Bryn cutting him off, now just as confused as his brother, "Sorry? Why would you be sorry? You were going to tell me that we're finally leaving... right?"

"No Bryn... It's actually the opposite..." Ares looks away, and immediately jerks his head in the other direction when he looks towards the case.

"What the fuck do you mean!? You promised me we'd leave when you felt better, it's been three fucking months! You don't even wear your gear anymore, instead you hang it up like you're Ezio fucking Auditore! Look at yourself!"

Ares looks down, wearing a purple silk shirt with his sleeves rolled up, his shirt tucked into his pants, "I think I look nice."

"You look like a fucking fool! That's not you! Did you forget about Hans and his brothers? About Alex? About Mom?!"

"Of course I didn't forget!"

"Then why don't you want to bring them justice?"

"Justice, or revenge Bryn?!"

"It doesn't matter! Alex would have wanted us to go! Are you really going to give it all up for a girl!?"

Ares' voice wavers, his anger subsiding, "For once, she's someone I don't have to save, she's saving me... from a life I don't want anymore... I love her Bryn, why can't you just be happy for me?"

"You go balls deep into the queen and all of a sudden you think you're a king."

Before Bryn can say anything else, Ares' fist connects with his jaw. Bryn falls to the floor, his own blood smearing across the wood.

Ares stands over him, pointing his finger down as if it were a sword, "Don't you ever talk about her like that again!"

Bryn lays on the floor, looking up at his brother with hatred on his face, wiping the blood running from his mouth.

Ares breaks the silence, "Nothing to say huh?"

As he turns to walk away, Bryn springs up off the floor, tackling his brother from behind, ramming him up against the wooden door. He repeatedly delivers punches to Ares' sides. "Fuck you! I'm your brother! Family comes first, not some damn girl!"

Ares delivers an elbow to Bryn's face, causing Bryn to stumble back, "Maybe one day I want her to become family! You want Hans so bad! Go fucking get him! You don't need me, you're not a child anymore."

Bryn walks over to the window and opens it, "Fine, I don't need you, I never did."

Ares, frustrated, rubs his eyes, "Bryn, take the door like a fucking normal person."

As Bryn steps out onto the windowsill, "No fuck that, if you want to be normal, fine, but I'm still an Assassin."

Bryn looks out, scanning the rooftops for the most efficient path down. He nearly makes the jump when he sees men wearing all-black scaling the building. What the fuck? Before his brain can process what's happening a hand appears in-between his feet, causing him to lose balance and fall back into the room.

The hand climbs into the room, revealing a bearded man donned in all black armor. He yells to his companions, "I found one of the brotherhood's assassins, I'll finish him off, you six go take care of the bitch and her sister."

Bryn lays on the floor once again, looking up at the man, he notices the Templar's Cross on his armor.

The man places his foot on Bryn's chest, not allowing him to get up, "The Templar Order will be the fall to your kind Assassin."

Bryn draws his hidden blade and rams it through the man's leg, he lets out a cry of pain as he looks up to see Ares standing there.

"You fucked up." Ares pushes the Templar backwards, sending him flying out the window.

Ares, offering his hand out to Bryn, "C'mon, we have to get to Elsa and Anna before they do."

Bryn pushes Ares' hand away, getting up on his own, "Let's go," as he sprints out of the door.