Well, I'm really pleased with how this one turned out! Please enjoy :)

SOME QUICK TRANSLATIONS:
Poi misonometterlo doveil solenon splende: Then I'll put this where the sun doesn't shine.
Ladro Bello: Handsome thief.

March 26h, 1500. Rome.

Bartolomeo had thought it best to bring a shovel. He'd kept it close by for the time in which they had dawdled in going to fetch the Piece of Eden, sitting with it between his knees for the most part as Machiavelli took himself off to some dreary scholar hole and studied the book from the future at great length. He sat alone in the Assassin's hall, huffing impatiently.

'Please stop that,' Pantasilea said from her armchair beside the fire, looking up from the tedious embroidery in her lap that she was secretly glad to be distracted from. 'Before I take that shovel of yours and beat you over the head with it.'

Bartolomeo growled in response, hefting the handle up into his grasp and waving the metal end at her threateningly. 'Poi misonometterlo doveil solenon splende.'
Pantasilea smiled coyly. 'I should like to see you try.'

In one of the guest rooms, Amy busied herself. Having had nothing to do, and with Maria having not called on her to resume her duty as a false courtesan, she had found a maid and offered her services. The grateful servant had given Amy a cloth, and asked her if she would mind dusting the guest rooms, since they hadn't been used in a while. Amy's mind wondered while she industrially wiped a bedpost, thinking that maybe, if she got this cleaned, perhaps her and Rory could take up lodgings in this room…

She knew he had been listening. While La Volpe had been teaching Rory as best he could how to sneak and eavesdrop, Amy had been taught to listen out for the creaks in the floorboards and the slight wheeze of breathing. It had been difficult at first, but once Maria had sat her down in a quiet room and instructed her to simply listen, Amy had found herself picking up on sounds she would have never heard otherwise – such as the sound of the breeze or the gentle murmur of voices through the walls. She didn't like to brag, but well. Call her Super Sneak Pond.

She hummed gently, raising the tone as loud as she dared. If Rory was nearby, he'd know. When the door creaked open, and footsteps stole into the room, Amy's world suddenly focused on the shining bed post. The door creaked shut, and she was really beginning to enjoy this when Rory walked straight into the wardrobe.

' – OW!'

Amy rolled her eyes, turning as she folded her arms over her chest and glared at her husband, who was hopping on one foot and grumbling in pain.

'That was smooth.' She commented. Rory shot her a sour look.

'Yeah, well, you try trying to be a thief. Volpe wants me climbing. Amy, he wants to make me climb…'

'I thought the whole climbing on the roofs business was an Assassin job.'

'The thieves do it too,' Rory informed her glumly. 'A couple of them hang out on the roof tops, in case the Assassins need them. He wants me to go with the next shift.' He groaned, putting his face in his hands. Amy tutted softly, stepping forward and rubbing Rory's arms.

'There there,' she said, smiling to herself. 'If it helps…you're the best looking thief.' Rory perked up at once, looking interested as Amy strung her arms around his neck and smiled coyly at him.

'Yeah?'

'Mmm-hmm.'

'Well –' Rory replied in turn, his hands going around her waist and stepping closer. 'You're the best looking courtesan in all of Rome.'

All he got in reply was a frosty silence.

'Er, wait. That came out wrong.'

Amy laughed, and kissed him. Rory kissed her back, and with the both of them pleased to be reunited again, they were stepping back towards the bed –

'So you have been to all the brothels?'

Amy screamed, and Rory jumped away from her and wheeled around – La Volpe was leaning against the wall by the open door, eyeing them with one slickly raised eyebrow. He watched them both, like a fox watching two terrified rabbits, and when they said nothing at all he raised himself up from the wall and beckoned lazily to Rory.

'Come. You have some buildings to climb, ladro bello.' It took a moment for the TARDIS to provide the translation, and Amy's face went bright red. La Volpe smirked at her as he flowed from the room, a mortified looking Rory lagging behind as he shot Amy a desperate look, who shook her head frantically at him, one hand clapped over her mouth. Rory stumbled out after La Volpe, and Amy slammed the door before resuming dusting vigorously, trying to delete that hideous occurrence out of her memory.

The Doctor had sat quietly all the while.

He'd not left the room that they had all last met, holding the crumpled up note in his hands that had been left by someone not him but him all the same. He held it so tightly that he almost ripped it in his fingertips, leaving dirty smudges on it.

But he was careful not to smear the words.

'Do you ever sleep, my friend?'

The Doctor looked up from the note to see Leonardo in the doorway, absently rubbing the injury on his head, holding a bottle of wine and goblets in the other with his deft fingers. 'I bought you something to drink, and the offer of some company while you mull over our situation.'

'Offer accepted,' the Doctor beamed, patting the seat beside him. Leonardo smiled, sitting down beside the Doctor and pouring the wine. He glanced at the note as the sweet smell of the drink rose up around them, making the air somewhat muggy. Leonardo didn't look away from it, sighing as he set the bottle down on the table. 'Mio Dio,' he murmured. 'This…this is…'

'Dangerous?' The Doctor offered suddenly, looking wide eyed at Leonardo. Leonardo smiled sadly back at him, and offered a toast.

'To danger.'

The Doctor picked up his goblet. 'To anything but.'

The Doctor and Leonardo drank, the Doctor managing to hastily spit out his mouthful while Leonardo was absorbed in his own. He set his goblet down the same time he did, and mimicked a refreshing ah while grimacing to himself. Leonardo wiped his mouth with his thumb, and cleared his throat. 'What do you know?'

The Doctor rubbed his face. 'My handwriting, for one. That's…that's different.'

'Your handwriting changes per…what was it that you called it?'

'Regeneration. And only slightly. I can't place it.' The Doctor squinted uselessly at the note. 'Tenth. No, ninth. No, fifth. First? Oh, I don't know.' He growled, oblivious to the fact that Leonardo was watching him carefully. 'This is why they tell you, never become a paradox. It's complicated, its dull and it's much more trouble than its worth.'

They lapsed into silence. 'Anything else?' Leonardo asked hopefully.

The Doctor grimaced. 'Nothing.' He stated, and, as if he was annoyed at himself, threw the note away from him and onto the table, flinging himself back into his chair and entering a spectacular looking sulk. Leonardo frowned at him, clapping him on the shoulder.

'Do not loose heart, friend! We will solve this yet!'

'We're running out of time!' The Doctor suddenly barked. 'I'm a Time Lord and I can't find enough time! What's the point of it? What's the point of me when all I do is chase myself in circles?!' He demanded from himself.

Leonardo shut his mouth awkwardly as the Doctor shrunk into himself, spent. He was stuttering uselessly when the door opened: Ezio peered in and a few tried looking recruits made attempts to look past him and at the Doctor.

'Doctor – our contracts are fulfilled and our time yours. We should leave for the future at dawn.'

The Doctor looked up at him, his expression unreadable. 'I'll get the gang together then.' He said, his voice void of any real enthusiasm as he got out of his seat and stepping through the door, past Ezio and the recruits that scrambled to get out of his way. Ezio shooed them away, and stepped inside, shutting the door behind him. He and Leonardo remained silent as Ezio picked up the Doctor's abandoned goblet and swirled the wine inside.

'He is as lost as we,' Leonardo murmured to the question he was sure Ezio wasn't asking. Ezio stopped in rising the goblet to his lips, and eyed Leonardo over the rim of it.

'We are all lost.' He replied in kind. 'But, there is the hope that we have answers soon – as well as an advance on our fight with the Borgia.'

Leonardo smiled without much humour. 'We are old men, Ezio. What does soon mean to men like us?'

Ezio paused in sipping again. 'It means hope.' As Leonardo sighed and ran a hand through his hair, Ezio finally took a sip of the wine, only to draw back and frown at it when he detected a strange taste to it.

'Ah, hope.' Leonardo said sadly. 'Even the poorest of men have it. What is it to us?'

Ezio set the goblet down. 'For all the while we have hope and faith, my friend, we are richer than any man.' He walked towards the door, squeezing Leonardo's shoulder as he passed. 'Buona notte, il mio amico. Go to bed soon, and rest your head.'

'Mmm,' Leonardo made an uncommitted noise. 'I will when I have thought all there is to be thought.'

'You will be here forever.' Ezio told him as he opened the door.

'If forever is what it takes.' Leonardo said gently as the door closed. By himself, he smiled quietly before drawing his glass into his chest, resting his head on his fist and lapsing into the circles of his own mind.

WELL. Please feel free to review, I'm doing the updates as I read through them and correct myself here and there. Onwards! :)