Claudia was jittery with excitement. She was in the next competition. Well, Mario signed her up, with the excuse that if she didn't get herself out there now then no one would come near her or her depression. Well, she didn't want to turn into Ezio either. In fact, she didn't even know what happened while she was at school yesterday to convince Ezio to go today. And he wouldn't tell her. Oh well.

She her gym clothes on ahead of time, but continued to wear all black and a "utility belt" with multi-colorful, paper ninja stars hanging off of them. For an added effect, she even dug up an old balaclava from Mario's closet. So black tank top, black gym shorts... yup, she looked the part alright. And so she strided towards the gym to get back to her spot (which she had saved since she got into school).

Sure enough, Malik was there as well. There's a reason she didn't completely throw a hissy fit when Mario signed her up for Capture the Flag, and that's because she knew that Malik would also be on her team. And there he was, just wearing a black tee shirt and sweat pants and calling it a day. Or that was it when he came in, she knew. It seemed someone got him to put those two black dash marks on his cheeks (whatever they're called) that she sees a lot on football players.

Bounding up to him, she smiled. "How do I look?"

It's hard for her to tell what was cuter, the look he gave her, or the way he laughed. Man, she just loved his laugh. "I didn't think you owned a ski mask."

"Yeah... well, I'm borrowing my uncle's," she said dumbly. Ugh, he's just so witting! And I'm just... not witty! She thought. "So how many competitions did you sign up for?"

"Just this one," Malik answered, "one of the guys on student council talked me into the Tower Defense game."

You know the best part about Capture the Flag? The way they set up. Ezio and Federico both told her how they stand mats up as barriers and obstacles, but she didn't think they were serious. But here it was, foldable mats propped up and held in place by weights. On the opposite sides of the gym were flags (one red, the other white) propped up in the holes of traffic cones. There were also two blue ducktape boxes on the floor on the opposite sides, which she assumed were the jails.

One of the student council members, a senior named Theodora, announced the start of the game. And Claudia took a moment to examine her team as well as her opponants. Now aside from her and Malik, they had the star player of the football team (Bartolomeo), Altair, some other senior who seemed to know Malik, and that Rosa girl. On the other team was Veiri, Duccio, a Junior girl with black hair, Cesare, Micheletto, and once more Robert.

That's right, Robert apparently signed up for all the competitions. The concept made her nervous.

And she was the only Freshman playing. That made her even more so.

The game began at the sound of a whistle.

Claudia swallowed and glanced to the bleachers, where her brother was sitting. He was watching her. Forcing her nervousness down, she looked to the other side of the court, and before she even realized it, she was running towards the red flag.

Sure it probably wasn't smart. Correction, it wasn't smart, no questions. So why did she even move? No plan, not paying attention, speed was the only thing in mind. And damn she was very well aware she was going too fast.

The flag was in a safe zone, marked by the blue ducktape. And she leapt for it, diving right in. And there she laid, panting, a hand on her ankle. She looked up to see Duccio being the one gripping her, and she kicked his hand away. It looked like she made it into the safe zone, but she glanced over to the gym teacher, La Volpe, to be sure. He gave her a thumbs up and she let her head fall back in dizzy relief. She was safe in enemy territory.

She then started to get up, and felt a spark of pain in her ankle. All she could let out was a hissing breath. No, she could complain later, she couldn't really let the team down. More people were trying to get to the safe zone now. So maybe she wouldn't have to run it. So she sat there dumbly as she watched one person after another get tagged out until that Rosa girl made it across.

"Hey, you ran like a maniac," the Junior said with a smirk. "Like watching a headless chicken."

Claudia smiled weakly and rubbed her neck. "Well... you know..."

Rosa pulled the flag from the cone, it's pole was about as long as her arm and the flag was a square a bit wider than her back. She got ready to run, seeming to watch as their teammates continued to try getting in.

She was a bit surprised with one case in particular. In which Altair ran right into Maria, who was trying to get at their flag. He knocked her clean off her feet and he fell on top of her. Of course, he disengadged himself from her quickly, and she scuffled to the "jail" to wait until she was tagged back. And then there was another that occured shortly after. In which Malik was running for the safe zone, but Claudia could see Robert charging after him. There was no way he'd make it. And Malik didn't even see that speeding French student coming at him.

"Malik!" She shouted with hopes of alerting him. But this turning into nothing but a distraction. Malik did hear her, and he looked to the side where Robert was coming from. It didn't make a difference. Neither had the chance to slow down, so Robert ended up knocking Malik right over, easily disbalanced by his lack of an arm's weight and support. The one he did have available reached and tried to grip for something as he fell, taking hold of Robert's sleeve and pulling him down with him. Without that arm breaking his fall, she watched him hit the gym flour shoulder first before his head snapped sideways and touched second. Robert was luckier, as he fell on his knees.

La Volpe called a time out then and walked in to see how badly Malik was hurt. It's funny, she didn't think he'd like it very much when he saw both teams swarming. And Malik at first didn't even respond, no, for almost a minute he seemed flat out unconscious. But he started coming back after that. Altair and Malik's friend, Jabal as Altair called him, both pulled Malik up and were starting to take him to the nurse. But Claudia decided to join as well with the excuse that she might have sprained her ankle.

She sat on the cot while Malfatto was checking Malik's head. There she watched, as did Jabal and Altair. Though Malfatto at some point shooed them away. Of course, with the experienced nurse busy, Claudia was stuck with Seraffo, who made her feel uneasy. That guy was just such a nut job. Well at least he knew how to splint an ankle.

Turned out the concussion was something to keep an eye on. Of course, Malik was hardly listening when it was mentioned that he'd be excused from homework until further notice. He was just kind of dazed.

"I hope he's got somewhere to stay for the night," Malfatto added, typing on the computer. He glanced Claudia's way and said, "You know you can leave now."

"Is Malik going to be okay," she asked.

Malfatto sighed. "I'm sure he will. Now if you don't have any problems them leave."

Claudia nodded and got up and casted Malik another glance before entering the hallway and sitting on the bench outside. She could go back inside later.

Remember children, a concussion is serious business. When dealing with someone with a concussion, it is probably best to have them seen at an emergency room and listen to all the advice the doctor give you on how to care for them. In this case, listen to your nurse, he'll probably know what's going on better than you.

Ezio: 4 Desmond: 1 Shaun K.I.A Rebecca: K.I.A Lucy: K.I.A Bartolomeo: 3 Altair: 4 Antonio K.I.A Theodora: K.I.A Rosa: K.I.A

Mr. Tazim: 6 Mario: K.I.A Machiavelli: 2 Mr. Miles: K.I.A. La Volpe: 5 Mr. Mualim: K.I.A Ms. Paola: 1

Maria: 1 Vieri: K.I.A Cesare: 2 Lucrezia K.I.A Micheletto: K.I.A Abbas: K.I.A Robert: 5 Caha K.I.A Cadin K.I.A Lanz K.I.A

Mr. Shahkulu: 4 Mr. Borgia: 1 Mr. Croix K.I.A Mr. Vidic: 3 Malfatto: K.I.A Seraffo: K.I.A Carnefice K.I.A