Open Sea 2 months out 1511

Giovanni stared at his lover's back for a long moment as he checked the papers as usual and a disturbing thought crossed his mind; were they lover's? It had been almost a week since they'd had sex and Devrim seemed to have lost interest in him...was that all the assassin had wanted?

No, Devrim had wanted to help him, had taken so much time in pursuing him that in a mere month Giovanni was in such adoration of the man that it hurt! And in the last three weeks he had shared more of himself than he ever had with anyone else. "I heard one of the sailors say we would arrive in about a week. Hard to believe it has been two months..." He saw Devrim glance at him for a brief moment and a tight smile was given. Why did those eyes look so guilty? "Devrim, have I done something to upset you?"

"Hayir!" In a blink the Turk was in front of him, hands holding his face gently and that – it was a fake one – smile he had been using was in place. "I...I feel sick. I just do not want to make you ill if I have something," A kiss was placed on Giovanni's head and Devrim retreated back a couple of steps.

Sick? Really? He had hardly seen hide nor hair of the man in the last week and now that they were standing so close, he could see it. Devrim seemed pale, he didn't move with his usual grace, he had been sluggish and Giovanni couldn't recall seeing him eat, "What is wrong with you? It can not be the sea because we have been on this boat too long for that." Reaching for him the Italian began to worry, how had he not noticed sooner?

"I just need to rest." He avoided the man's touch, pretending not to have noticed and fell onto the bed. "Forgive me?"

"For being ill? Of course." He pretended not to notice the brush off but followed the other, sitting down beside him and undoing the robe clasps – another oddity, Devrim was fully dressed in full assassin regalia, minus weapons and belt, "You should not sleep in this."

Again Devrim was forced to brush off the unwanted touch, "I am cold...can you..." He thought hard for a moment, "Can you get me something to eat?"

"Sure, I will be right back." Again he was pretending nothing was wrong even though he had seen a bruise on the Turk's neck, in a place he would not have left one. He walked out of the cabin quickly, resting against the door after closing it and trying to calm the panic clawing in his gut, "Do not be stupid...He is not the type to...sleep with someone else." He said it to himself over and over until he had convinced himself it was nothing. A tap on his shoulder nearly made him jump, instead his instincts took over and he turned to defend himself. "Matteo, you scared me!"

The brother grinned merrily at the confession. "Pay attention then. Why are you talking to the door?"

"Pep talk to myself." Giovanni sighed and patted his brother's shoulder, "Do me a favour and keep an eye on Devrim. He is not feeling himself lately."

Matteo smirked, "He has others to feel himself for him." and with that Matteo stepped around his twin and entered their cabin. Giovanni stared at the closed door blankly, not sure what his brother had meant and feeling more dread than before.

00

Studying each other for what felt like hours, the two looked away, Devrim to the side and Matteo at the floor until he spoke, "Are you actually ill or are you just feeling guilty about what you did? Loss of appetite, lack of sleep and feeling sorry for yourself are all classic signs of regret and guilt – I hope you feel like you are dying. I hope what you said to me will eat you up inside for the rest of your life."

"You should not have opened yourself up for me...you feel lousy too I bet." Devrim deserved the unkind words, he had betrayed Giovanni's trust and Matteo had every right to be angry. "It was my decision to take it so far and it is not like you had nothing to do with the whole sordid affair!"

"You were not the one leaving with a limp." He stepped closer to the bed, ready to lay into the man until he saw him tense all over and grit his teeth. Matteo lost track of the argument at the look of distress and became worried, "You...really are sick. I thought it was a ploy to avoid my brother – Shit, this is not going to pass onto me is it?"

"It would be hilarious if you got sick too, would serve you right." The older assassin's breath was shallow and the insult didn't seem to have the usual bite to it. Not enough for the Italian to retaliate other than to stand above the man and contemplate him carefully, until Matteo leant over and let his left hand clutch around the rough fabric of Devrim's mocha coloured robe, "Do not do this, Matteo..." He went ignored and shut his eyes as he felt the fabric being pushed up to reveal his bare skin.

The door began opening and Matteo shoved the robe back down, jumping back a fair distance and masking his face with indifference in time for Giovanni to walk in. It wouldn't take long for him to notice the tension in the room and after seeing a sweet glance pass between the two, Matteo felt suddenly sick himself and left without so much as a word – his brother was so in love with Devrim that he couldn't stand to see them.

Devrim saw the look in Matteo's eyes and felt another stab of guilt. Or it may have been Giovanni encouraging him to sit up that caused the pangs of pain to shoot through him, whichever it was he suddenly really didn't want to eat.

Giovanni wasn't going to take no for an answer, "Devrim, you need to eat...please, for me? I do not want you getting too weak to fight this." He twisted a few dark strands of hair in his fingers and tucked them behind Devrim's ear, "I wish you had said something sooner."

Unable to answer him, Devrim forced a smile and took a bite out of the bread he'd been offered. There were other things but he didn't think he could stomach anything else at that moment in time, hopefully this would appease Giovanni enough to lose the sad eyed looks. Every bite was making him nauseous though and every caress from gentle fingers making him dizzy. What he would give to just blurt out what he had done! He didn't want to ruin the twin's bond with each other or lose Giovanni's trust – why couldn't he just have kept his mouth shut and left Matteo in that boat like a fool?

Laying on his side, back to the Italian, Devrim curled up a little as the queasiness washed over him in waves. "Can you leave me alone, please..."

"...Sure..." Giovanni kissed Devrim's cheek before leaving reluctantly, a sinking feeling settling within him.

00

Being sent away had been painful but seeing Devrim walking through the galley halls only an hour later and then seeing Matteo beckon the man into a different cabin was even more so. What was happening? When had they begun spending time together and why wasn't he invited? He wasn't mad, he had seen the men in secluded corners, whispering to each other and often grasping at clothing, their faces close. The day after he and Devrim slept together was when it started to happen – it was like the Turk had moved on. That was impossible he thought, Matteo liked women, he had never hinted at finding men attractive or even jokingly flirted with one. He was straighter than...than anything straight Giovanni could think of!

With his ear pressed to the cabin door like a suspicious wife, Giovanni listened for anything to even hint at what the two were doing. The sea and creaking of old wood made it hard to hear but...was that...was that Devrim's groan? He had to be imagining it, his mind wild with paranoia and he forced himself away from the door; bumping a young lady as he did so, "Mi dispace! I was not paying attention."

"Matteo, you never came to my room the other night," The blonde woman pouted as she walked her finger's up Giovanni's chest, "Were you with your new lover? I know you said you wanted to mess around but you move on so fast." The assassin sighed to himself, how often was he cornered by his brother's lovers thinking he was his twin? "Who has had you distracted this week, Matteo?"

"Actually," He edged away from the pretty girl and then noticed something about her. His eyes drawn to the bruise on her neck, the same place as Devrim's – so it was Matteo that left love bites on the right side of the neck, close to the shoulder. "My name is Giovanni and Matteo is my twin brother...in fact." He glared at the door, "He is in here." and he knocked on the door harder than intended before storming off to the deck to cool off.

Still trying to convince himself that he was over thinking things – Matteo was straight and Devrim was not the type of man to cheat! Devrim would not hurt him like this, he would not lead him on and use him like a toy, he had been gentle and patient and...and there was a perfectly reasonable answer as to why the two were sneaking around behind his back and why the Turk looked so damn guilty all the time.

00

Another tense day passed between the three where Devrim stayed in bed after Giovanni blackmailed him into eating before skulking away by himself, leaving Matteo lounging in his hammock. Upon his return Giovanni was shocked to see Devrim doubled up in pain on the floor, Matteo at his side holding his hair back and rubbing his back in circles firmly, as the Turk heaved into a pail. Matteo looked up and gave him a helpless shrug of the shoulders, "I do not think he should be eating solids..."

Giovanni took his brother's place in supporting Devrim, "We need a doctor; his skin is burning."

"And he can not even support himself – I know, I have eyes and I have been trying to help him whilst he moaned and rolled around in agony for the last hour! Where were you? I could hardly leave him alone like this!" There was a surgeon on-board the ship luckily but there was no way the older twin would leave the man alone in such a state, "I will be right back - "

"No!" The twins paused at Devrim's order, "I think it is as you said...I should not eat anything solid for a few days...I just need water and rest." He leaned against Giovanni heavily, "Surgeon will say the same thing." he tried to get up but nothing was responding or everything weighed too much for him to lift. Two sets of arms helped him stand on unsteady feet and practically carried him to the bed, hands then worked on divesting him of his robes and making him comfortable. Giovanni stared at the bruise on his neck, brighter because of the sickly pallor Devrim's sweat soaked skin had taken. Worst of all he could feel golden eyes watching him, he just knew they were waiting for a reaction and it made his skin crawl.

For the Turk it was a little disorientating to see two exactly identical faces looking down at him with the exact same concerned expressions, "Gigi..." His hand rested against the Italian's chest and held onto the shirt with what little strength he had held on, "The papers...they have to get to my..." Trailing off Devrim saw the little crinkle between the man's eyes and let his silver eyes slide to the other twin – who was he holding onto?

Giovanni glared darkly at Matteo, conveying his displeasure as plainly as if he had shouted before hissing out, "What have you done?" Giovanni's hand grabbed the darker one in his shirt, thumb caressing it gently even as his temper flared; he would never know how Devrim always picked him out of the two, he said they looked different but even in this fevered state he got it right. "Are you really this selfish? Do you realise what will happen if he dies? Look what you did to him and do not dare deny it, brother, that is your signet ring practically embossed on his skin!"

Whilst they had been undressing him, Giovanni had been shocked to see the massive expanse of a heavy, black bruise swallowing the usually tanned stomach. And then the perfect impression of their family's crest in the centre of it all; Matteo always wore his ring.

"I did not mean to hit him that hard – I took him to the surgeon yesterday and he gave Devrim something to stop the bleeding inside, then that dumb blonde knocked on the door and started giving me lip until the surgeon kicked us all out...I thought that would be the end of it."

The younger Auditore was having trouble with what he was hearing, getting angrier with every word out of Matteo's mouth, "You hit him hard enough to cause internal bleeding? All this time you knew and let him suffer with it?"

"I did not know until yesterday because he did not want to cause a fight between us!" He shouted back.

"So the fact that you two were - " And that was all Matteo heard because Giovanni had reached the loudest he could go, mouth moving but nothing coming out as old damage to his vocal chords strained to work. It took a moment for the younger to notice he wasn't actually making any noise, baring his teeth Giovanni stared at the wounded Turk until he could feel the constriction in his throat loosen, "Tell me what happened."

00

Open Sea one week ago 1511

What was going on? Matteo knew about him and Giovanni? Giovanni had sworn blind that no one knew about his sexual preference other than a close family friend, Matteo had always seemed so oblivious to them but it made sense... All the times Matteo had found their hiding spots and joined them, how he always seemed to walk in and interrupt them – he had never shown any interest before! And here he was, purring into Devrim's ear and sat in his lap offering his body like a seasoned whore. "I say..." His hands wrapped around Matteo's upper arms and he leaned his face a little closer, "Get the fuck away from me before I break your nose." And pushed him away, "If I wanted you I would have pursued you – what do you think you are doing? What about your brother!" Devrim got out of the boat in a hurry, Matteo following him without hesitation and cutting him up before he could storm off.

"We look exactly the same! What is the problem? Or do you like that my brother is inexperienced and troubled?" A fist came flying toward his jaw and he grabbed it easily, "I can pretend to be just like him for you." The Turk snarled at him, a flurry of foreign words spilling forth as they stepped away from each other, "I have no idea what you just said but I hope it was not about my family."

Devrim glared at him, it was better than beating him up and having to explain why there was a body in the water, "You are not the same, I can tell you apart at a glance as if you were not identical. And what kind of human being are you to say such things? Giovanni does have baggage but he does not carry it around like plague! He told me what happened...and I know exactly what the Diavolo he saw was." Watching the smug look slip from the man's face made the Turk carried on with more confidence, "And when we get to my home I will explain everything to him and he will begin to heal – You can not stand that you could not help him!"

"I am his brother...his twin..."

"He did not even tell you about him liking men! It is no wonder he does not trust you when you would go behind his back like this!"

Matteo couldn't say a thing, shocked at the outburst and how hard it hit him. He could see how triumphant the other man was at having defended Giovanni so ferociously, how he felt justified in hurting one brother for the other. "...Shut up." And he looked so dejected as he said it, all animosity gone, "Vanni may not have told me but I knew...I have known for so long and I let him think he had me fooled." He gave a dry chuckle, "Why would he keep secrets from me?"

Devrim couldn't believe his ears, "Why? Because you just tried to seduce his boyfriend! Why would he ever trust himself to a snake that ran away from him when he needed you! Do you not feel guilty for leaving him to die?"

"I...I was seven! I had to leave to get help!" Matteo couldn't stop himself from lashing out this time and connected a glancing blow to Devrim's jaw. Before anyone who had been watching the two figures could do a thing, they were throwing punches and rolling on the deck as they fought. "He would not say that to you!" Matteo's thumb dug into Devrim's neck, close to his shoulder – a pressure point that was sensitive when sucked on and painful when pressed hard enough to bruise. It gave him enough leverage to have the upper hand.

Devrim elbowed him in the ribs and rolled away, hunched low in preparation for the retaliation sure to come, "No, he did not say that but it hurt to hear – imagine what he would feel if he knew about this. We will get thrown off if we continue to fight...so let us call this a draw and never speak of it again."

Matteo hesitated, they were evenly matched and already sailors were beginning to gather at their disturbance. The Italian had only wanted to prove something to himself, wanted to know that he could put his mind at ease and things had escalated quickly out of control. "Agreed." They straightened themselves out of their fighting positions and merely tried to stare the other down, Devrim being the one to extend his hand in a peaceful gesture. Grudgingly, Matteo took it, yanking the other toward him and burying his fist into his stomach, "Never twist my brother's words again – not to hurt his family. Letting the Turk sink to his knees with a pained groan, Matteo stalked off.

00

Open Sea 1511

Giovanni's mouth hung open stupidly. His brother, his twin brother who was the straightest man he knew, who he grown up with and shared everything with, even putting up with getting in trouble because of him, had tried to seduce Devrim...because he wanted him for himself. Now Matteo took his things sometimes but this was ridiculous! "...Why?"

"Why what? Why did I never let you know I knew you hated sleeping with women, that I have seen you obsess of other men before? I wanted you to come to me and tell me...I would not have judged or been disgusted, I am your brother...you could trust me." Matteo had assumed the shock was that he had known since they were sixteen a secret Giovanni thought was so well under wraps but as the man lashed at him he realised he had assumed wrong.

If not for Devrim latching onto Giovanni's shirt with the hand not holding the Italian's, Matteo was certain he would be nursing a broken jaw, "Why the fuck were you trying to take him away from me? Are you loathe to see me happy?" Giovanni was unconsciously holding onto Devrim, knowing he should be taking care of the man and not having a fight with his so called brother, "You think you are better than me?"

Matteo threw his arms up in exasperation, "No! I had to make sure he wanted you for more than your looks! I was making sure he really cared about you and was not going to break your heart – I did not want him to use you and yes; it got out of control but I had to know he wanted you, all of you!"

"See, he was being sweet..." Devrim gave out a bitter laugh that turned into a choked sound as he coughed, every cough causing him pain as it agitated his stomach muscles and whatever was going on inside him. A sharp slap on his back helped clear the blockage making him cough, blood spattered across the white of Giovanni's shirt.

"Get the surgeon." was all the younger Auditore got out before the body he was holding began to convulse, "Get the damn surgeon and find out what he gave him! Go!"

(...so...feedback...anyone~?)