Cara slumped into her chair after Giovanni and Federico left. She couldn't begrudge the older Assassin his many questions; in fact she would do the exact same if she was in his shoes. She must have satisfied his suspicions enough because a few hours later he stood from his chair, and, with a nod to her, Giovanni turned and left the room with Federico in tow, though not without the young man throwing a wink over his shoulder to the exhausted woman.

She managed to spin the tale of how her group of Assassins operated in complete secrecy, so much so that they went to great lengths to hide their identities and didn't bother with trying to have any semblance of a normal life. The secrecy around her group was most likely why Giovanni and his associates had no information on her.

When Giovanni asked about how she had gotten her injuries she responded with the full truth. She told him how her group's location had been compromised, and, while most were able to escape, she and her closest friend stayed behind to destroy any sensitive information that could not be taken, only for their safehouse to explode into flames. Cara claimed that after the explosion, her memories failed her, and she had no idea how she ended up in the alley Giovanni found her in.

When she had finished her story, the older Assassin had not been satisfied until he had her repeat it forwards and backwards and every other conceivable way until he seemed content enough to allow her to live, for now anyways.

Leonardo approached her still sitting in the chair by the window, lost in thought. She hadn't noticed his return, a little too focused on Giovanni's questions;the young artist startled her out of her thoughts by clapping his hand on her shoulder, "Hold your head up, high, my friend. You accomplished the goal you have been striving for this past week, and you handled Messere Auditore's interrogation well!"

Cara couldn't help the grim smile that crossed her lips, "What about you, Leonardo? Do you believe me to be a danger?"

Leonardo remained silent for a moment as he carefully considered her words. It was only a moment but his silence seemed to last an eternity before he turned his eyes back to meet hers. The artist knelt next to her chair to be more at her eye level as he spoke.

"I believe you are honest in your intent. You hide part of your story and hope no one notices, the why of it I cannot even begin to fathom, but my instinct tells me you mean no harm to myself or the Auditore family."

She couldn't help but be surprised by his words. He was much more intuitive than she gave him credit for originally, something she will make sure to not overlook again. She would be lying if she said she wasn't touched by his words. She had his trust, and now she would rather die than break it.

She cleared her throat, briskly wiped her eyes (no, she was not crying, thank you very much), and moved to stand. Leo leapt up from where he was crouched next to her chair and offered her his arm. Cara took his arm with an amused smile and allowed him to help her up to her feet.

Another week passed with Cara gaining more and more strength in her legs with the help of Leonardo. She can now climb up and down stairs and walk circuits around her room, and today Leonardo promised to take her out to the market to gather ingredients for dinner and perhaps a new dress or two.

Despite Cara's pleas to not bother with something like that when he could save his hard earned money for something more useful, the man stubbornly dismissed her concern with a grin and a gentle wave of his hand, "Don't worry, my last patrons were quite generous!"

He used his paintbrush to motion to the dress Cara currently wore, a simple grey dress he had purchased after Messere Auditore had entrusted her into Leonardo's care. "Besides, you will need more than just the one dress. See it as payment for holding the basket as I wander the market!"

Cara rolled her eyes as her own grin broke across her lips, while she was concerned about Leonardo spending his money on her, she couldn't deny him anything. It was wholly unfair how much he reminded her of her fallen brother.

"What is it?"

Cara's eyes snapped back to Leonardo curiously. His eyes peeked around the canvas he was working on, she could tell he was concerned and confused her more. "What do you mean?"

To her amusement she once more found a paintbrush aimed in her direction as Leonardo motioned towards her face.

"Your face."

She felt her eyebrow raise, "My face?"

"For just a moment, there seemed to be a bit of sorrow. Is all well?"

The chuckle that left Cara's throat surprised both her and Leonardo. Her laugh faded though a smile still remained on her lips, "All is well, Leonardo. You remind me of my brother, that's all."

If she didn't have his full attention before, she certainly did now. Leonardo set down his brush and quickly walked over to where Cara sat, pulling out his own chair to settle in. His eyes were alight with curiosity as he made himself comfortable.

"You have a brother?"

"Had," she whispered as her smile faded, "unfortunately, the life of an Assassin tends to be a short one."

Leonardo's hand moved to clasp her shoulder, "I'm sorry, my friend."

Cara shrugged and tried to plaster a false smile on her lips, "What's done is done, no point in living in the past."

Leonardo looked like he wanted to say more, but Cara jumped to her feet and picked up the large basket by the door, "Should we go to the market now, my friend?"

The artist sighed as he stood up, "Of course, I'd hate to keep you from exploring the Firenze markets!"

Cara laughed as she took Leonardo's offered arm and followed him out the door of the workshop, pausing long enough for him to lock the door behind them before they set off down the street.

The market was a lively place with vendors calling out and showing off their wares, people wandering between stalls and in and out of shops, and children chasing each other as their parents shopped. Cara loved it. As a historian she could have only dreamed of seeing such a place nevermind walking through it.

Cara made sure to stay close to Leonardo, who seemed determined to visit each and every stall. Her basket grew heavier the longer they wandered and her still- healing legs began to shake, but, not wanting to cut the trip to the market short on her account, she kept silent as she followed behind the energetic artist in amusement as he bounced from one stall to the next.

Apparently, she wasn't as good at hiding her discomfort as she thought, as she found the basket plucked from her hands and a small bag of sweets taking its place. She blinked at the bag in confusion before looking back up to the grinning artist, "Go, rest your legs and enjoy some sweets!"

Before she could even open her mouth to protest and claim that she was fine, Leo gently nudged her towards a bench with a laugh, "I insist, my friend! If it makes you feel better, I need to meet with a...friend, and they are a little shy when it comes to meeting new people."

A smirk grew on her lips as he spoke about his friend in a fond tone that she heard in the voice of Lydia when her friend talked about her latest crush. She tilted her head back to look at her friend while keeping her voice low to avoid eavesdroppers.

"A 'friend', huh? You gotta introduce me to him sometime, when he's less shy."

She laughed when his face turned red and he nudged her shoulder again with a quiet, "I've no idea what you mean."

Cara took a seat on the bench with a relieved goan as her legs damn near gave out from under her. Leonardo, bless him, stayed to help her settle comfortably on the bench, fretting like a mother hen, to her great amusement. Finally, she gently swatted his hands away as she laughed, "Stop fretting and go meet your friend, I'll be fine on my own. And look," She waved the bag of sweets Leonardo had given to her, "I have something to occupy myself while you're away."

The young artist laughed as he straightened, "I shouldn't be long."

"Take your time, Leo, I'm in no hurry to go back just yet."

He nodded and gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze before disappearing into the crowd. The Assassin sighed as she leaned back against the wall and popped one of the sweets in her mouth.

Unfortunately, she didn't get the chance to savor it, since a blur of white and red dropped like a stone and vanished into a large bale of hay across from the bench Cara was sitting on. She rolled her eyes, knowing only one group of people would pull a stunt like that, and the shouts of guards getting closer only confirmed her suspicions.

It wasn't long before the guards appeared and began to search the area and it took even less time for one of the guards to notice her.

"Signora, did you happen to see a man wearing a distinctive robe and hood run by here?"

Cara adopted a surprised expression, "Robes and a hood? I'm afraid I haven't seen anything of the sort! Should I be concerned? Is he dangerous? Oh, I told my brother it wasn't a good day to go to the market! And now there's a dangerous lunatic running about!" Fake tears welled up in Cara's eyes as she placed a hand over her chest as she did her best to channel Mrs. Bennet from Pride and Prejudice in her acting, "My poor heart cannot handle the stress of this!"

Was she laying it on a little too thick? Perhaps.

Was it worth seeing the guard's expression turn from determined to confused to horrified at the sight of the tears leaving her eyes? Abso-fuckin-lutely!

The poor man excused himself quickly and gathered up the other guards to "continue the search" as he beat a hasty retreat.

Cara waited a few moments to make sure the guards were gone before she wiped her eyes and pushed herself to her feet. She made her way to the hay bale and cleared her throat, "They're gone, Auditore."

The pile of hay remained perfectly still for a moment before it shifted as a man clawed his way out. It was quite amusing to watch, but Cara took pity on him and held out her hand to him. He hesitated a moment before he took her hand and allowed her to help him to his feet. She yelped when the other Assassin pulled her into the nearby alley, out of sight of any potential passersby.

Once hidden in the shadows of the alley, he pushed his hood back enough to reveal the grinning face of Federico.

"A pleasure to see you again, madonna!"

She rolled her eyes once more when the Assassin brushed a kiss on her hand, though her cheeks burned and she tried her best to keep the blush from appearing on her face. Something she failed miserably at judging by the smirk on Federico's lips.

She quickly extricated her hand from his, much to the amusement of her companion, and motioned to the alleyway entrance desperate to change the topic before he had the chance to say anything, "The hell did you do to rile up those guards?"

"Ah, well, I'm afraid I can't say at the moment, bella."

Before she could respond at the use of the nickname, she and Federico both froze at the sound of heavy clanking of the guards' armor as they doubled back, probably to check the area again. Just their luck.

Federico groaned when a quick look at their surroundings revealed a dead-end at the end of the alley and no way to climb the walls to escape by rooftop.

Fortunately, Cara had an idea.

Unfortunately, she knew she would never hear the end of it if it worked.

She quickly reached up and pushed his hood all the way down, his cry of protest suddenly cut off when Cara pushed him against the wall and pressed her body against his. She threw her arms around his neck to give the impression of a girl embracing her lover in secret while she used her cloak and skirts to hide his robes from view.

His breath caught in his throat when she moved her face very close to his to simulate a kiss so she could whisper, "Put your arms around my waist, quickly."

His hands snapped forward to rest on her hips just as a guard turned the corner.

A loud curse left the poor guard as he tripped over himself to back out of the alley, "Fuck! Get a fucking room, you shameless asshole!"

Cara let out a gasp and hid her face in Federico's robes, doing her best impression of a girl trying to hide at the shame of being caught, using the chance to subtly look over her shoulder as the red-faced guard stumbled out of sight. She waited once more as she listened to the sound of the guards moving away, hopefully giving up their pursuit.

She moved to step away only to be kept in place by his hold on her hips. Cara turned to face Federico with a raised eyebrow only to be met with his closed eyes and dazed expression.

Ah. She probably should have warned him of her plan.

A loud snap of her fingers near his face seemed to break him out of his daze and his hands quickly dropped from her hips as if touching her burned his hands. Cara had the feeling that the poor man wasn't used to being on the receiving end of such a sudden and forward advance.

'My bad.' She thought as she stepped away to give Federico room as she straightened her dress.

"My apologies, Messere Auditore, I should have warned you, but I'm afraid it was the only thing I could think of in the moment."

A bark of laughter escaped the other Assassin at her apology, "Oh, believe me, you have nothing to be sorry for!"

The suggestive tone in his voice had Cara's face turning red again much to her chagrin. She lived with Assassins that loved to boast of their exploits in great detail without reaction, so why was she blushing like a maiden just because of the tone he used?

She huffed and punched his arm, "You're an idiot."

Federico's laughter followed her as she spun on her heel and headed towards the entrance of the alley. Footsteps behind her told her that he was following her as she made her way back to the bench where she left the bag of sweets that Leonardo had given to her.

Before she could sit once more, Federico placed a hand on her arm to get her attention, keeping his grip loose so she could easily pull away if she wanted to. Smart. She sighed as she turned to face him.

"I'm afraid I have to leave, are you by yourself?"

'What a gentleman.' she mused to herself as she shook her head.

"No. Leonardo should be back soon, so you don't have to worry about little, ol' me."

A huff of laughter left him as he nodded, "Well, until next time, bella mia."

He turned and vanished into the crowded market as Cara scoffed loudly, "Unbelievable!"

"What's unbelievable?"

Cara's soul nearly left her body when the voice piped up from behind her only to recognize it as the voice of her friend. She tried to will away the blush from her cheeks as she turned to face Leonardo, something she failed at once again if his raised eyebrow and quirk of his lips was anything to go by. She cleared her throat as she walked by him to snatch the bag of sweets from the bench, "Nothing, Leo. I think I'm ready to head back."

She marched past her friend as he laughed and jogged to catch up with the flustered Assassin. He took her arm in his as he steered her in the opposite direction, "Wrong way."

The blush only darkened as her quiet, "Oh, shut up" was met with loud, jovial laughter as Leonardo led the way home.