(This is a very, short, very bitty chapter, please do not get lost. It's a sort of cause and effect kind of chapter.)

A week and a half passed by, the world continuing as normal as if his life had not been shaken, his father wore a sombre expression almost all the time, Devrim stayed by his side, talking to him, feeding him and at one point helping him to bathe. The Turk smiled sadly at him but other than that behaved like he wasn't talking to an empty shell, kissing his face when they were alone and holding him close. A familiar scene from thirteen years ago in Venice. People talked about him, he could hear them, 'how is he', 'has he said anything' and 'he looks so miserable' were the most frequent. His father had hoped he would snap out of it after they had buried Matteo – no, not his brother – that charred corpse. He kept hold of his brother's ring, gripped tightly in his palm night and day; had he slept at all? He really couldn't tell, he wasn't even sure what day it was.

"Any change?" Devrim looked up from the lifeless eyes of his lover to Ezio, poor man looked exhausted, "Nothing...I even tried shaking him and yelling but I get no response, he sometimes gets up by himself and does his own thing but even then...nothing." It was breaking his heart to see, "He followed me to the market yesterday, no words or interest in anything around him; like a lost lamb. He was even climbing with me on the rooftops, I thought he was coming back!"

He was running around? That meant that, "...Giovanni." Ezio called out. His son's eyes flitted to him and it was then that the man knew his child was fully aware of his surroundings. "When he was a child, after his mother died, Giovanni would not speak to anyone, he functioned but stayed silent and almost unresponsive...he shuts out the world and builds walls around himself."

Devrim looked at Giovanni with surprise, when had he come out of shock? Was this what he was to expect from now on? "How did you get him to talk again?"

"A horse kicked out at Matteo and Giovanni seemed to wake up, running for help and then talking to his brother the entire time he was out. I think he was so frightened of losing someone else that he decided he would rather live life than observe it. He just needs to find that will again." It would happen, it might take a while but his children always bounced back, Giovanni was strong, he had been through worse – someone had cut his throat and he had lived! "You are a good friend to him, Devrim, I can see why Matteo would be jealous enough to fight with you – Do not look so surprised, I know...knew..." That hurt to say, "I knew Matteo inside and out, always had to have Giovanni by his side even if Giovanni did not want to do what he was doing. He used to scare off anyone who got too friendly with his brother...probably why Giovanni is shy. He would never have hit you that hard on purpose, he was not a bad kid."

"I know that, mentor, he was protecting Giovanni and he was quick to help me. I am just sorry I could not save him, I wish I had seen the bastards that threw that bomb." No one knew who was responsible for the attack, only that it was most likely someone trying to destroy the evidence Devrim had, the year he had spent collecting information and stealing those documents was for nothing. The evidence burned or at the bottom of the sea. "We will get the bastard that killed him."

00

Another two days past, Devrim trying harder and harder to get a verbal reaction from Giovanni, something more than the occasional nod and sleeping close to him at night. Every time the Turk had thought he'd gotten somewhere with his lover something happened to set them back. He had never felt so helpless before, he could not fix this, Giovanni would not let him help this! And he could not watch the lifeless doll the Italian had become. Leaving Giovanni in the library, Devrim headed up the stairs and opened the bomb making cabinet, it would distract him for now.

"You look depressed, oğlum," Devrim couldn't believe he did not even notice his father sat next to the cabinet at the table, fiddling with a new casing. Was he really that distracted? "It must be hard seeing him like that, especially as you have been together for so little time...you have been trying so hard with him but you look exhausted, Dev." Yusuf swore as he accidentally pricked his finger on a caltrop, "Maybe you should let someone else babysit him, you will only slow down your own recovery if you overwork yourself."

"He does not need a babysitter, he is worth every bit of trouble but..." He sighed loudly, dragging out a few ingredients, "I do not think I can...maybe I jumped into a relationship too quickly? I do not know what drew me to him, maybe the way he looked at me or just...sometimes it is nice to feel needed, right?"

"Are you saying you regret sleeping with him? Because when I walked in on you two; I saw the heartache on your face at his misery, I also saw you rolling around in agony after climbing that tower with him, are you saying you did that for your own benefit? If you regretted whatever it is you feel for him you would not spend every second with him trying to heal him."

"...Why are you always so right?"

Yusuf shrugged, "I am your father, I know you and pretty much everything else in the world. Devrim, just because something is hard does not mean you should give up...Do not leave something you want for the wrong reasons."

After those words of wisdom, Yusuf was called away and Devrim worked silently for a few hours, making enough to restock his little brothers and maybe a few spare. He knew he wanted Giovanni, the man with the sweetest smile and the brightest eyes, the man who cared for him the whole time he was ill and who lit up passionately as they shared their bodies. Ezio had said Giovanni would get better, Devrim just had to hold onto that...breaking apart because Giovanni was sad wasn't the right reason to leave. Hearing the stair's creak behind him, Devrim turned and almost dropped the bomb he was holding, "Gigi? What are you doing here?"

"Leading me to you." Behind the Italian was a very old acquaintance. "Your father is unavailable and this...alluringly quiet, little thing, has led me to you," the new assassin let the backs of his fingers brush against Giovanni's jaw, smiling as the Italian jerked his face away and Devrim stood suddenly, the stool he had been sitting on clattering to the floor.

"Keep your fucking hands off him, Irem. You should not even be in this district!" Giovanni looked perturbed, stepping closer to Devrim and wondering if he had been wrong to let this man follow him. "My father told you not to come back here."

The man shrugged, "I was sent by a lieutenant, your father will just have to like it." His brown eyes looked Giovanni up and down, a smug grin working its way on his face, "Are you worried I will upset your little boyfriend? Or are you still broken hearted because I fucked you and left – you just were not as good as I had hoped. How do you find him?" The question was directed at the Italian but Devrim bristled sharply.

"I apologise I was such a bad lay, Irem," Devrim put his hand over his heart and bowed slightly, "I was a silly, little sixteen year old boy who was too stupid to know when he was being taken advantage of. I am also sorry that my father beat the living day lights out of you because you were one 'no' away from rape. Now kindly fuck off and die." He made to walk by the man, sick of the sight of his first lover, only Irem grabbed his upper arm, "Get off me."

"I do not think I will." Devrim was certain the man would have said more, something that would hurt him but the assassin was yanked away violently, the hand that had been n Devrim's arm was grabbed and twisted awkwardly until it cracked. Giovanni ignored the pained yell as he shoved his victim down on the cabinet's table, the newly made bombs wobbling from the force.

0

"Ezio."

"I know, Yusuf, I know."

"He broke his arm, broke all five fingers and his elbow. I am certain that Irem deserved it but I can not let this slide, Ezio." The Ottoman Mentor rubbed his face in frustration, "I need to know I can trust your son, I can not have him here if he is unstable...my novices are here, my children are here."

"Giovanni would not hurt any of them!" Devrim piped up, "Irem was trying to get a reaction out of us, he grabbed me and Giovanni restrained him, it was a provoked attack!"

Yusuf held a hand up to silence the younger man, "Giovanni broke his fingers, that is not restraining, that is intent to cause suffering and I can not allow it."

Ezio then spoke up, his head in his hands as he tried to find a solution, "He has never done anything like this before, I can only put it down to him losing Matteo, seeing his brother's body like that has skewered his perception – Devrim is his only friend in a strange country and maybe he was frightened of someone else close to him getting hurt." Giovanni was sat at the desk in the library, Ezio knew the boy was listening to the three of them argue over what to do with him, "I will abide by your decisions, Yusuf, this is your brotherhood but please consider what he has been through."

Devrim grabbed his father's hand in both his and squeezed gently, knowing that Ezio's Turkish was not the best and that if he spoke fast enough his words would go over the man's head, "It was mostly my fault, if I had not become so hostile with Irem, if I had not foolishly bought up what Irem had done to earn my hate then this would not have happened. Giovanni was protecting me as I would have him...you would have done the same if it was mother. I am begging you, Baba, "He rested his forehead against his father's hand, still holding on desperately as he dropped to his knees, "Begging you on my knees to please not send him away or punish him severely – I will take the blame, I will take any punishment you see fit...please, Baba, please."

What was he supposed to do? Irem was demanding blood for the injury, however he did not want to punish the young Auditore knowing that he was not in his right mind, that he was protecting his son...that his son was on his knees begging. Devrim had never begged for anything in his life and it was painful to see. "...If something like this happens again then I will be forced to make him leave, I can understand why he did this, I can understand that he is acting on instinct as all reasonable thought seems to have left him...he needs to get some semblance of self control, I will explain to my lieutenant that Giovanni is grieving and that Irem was behaving inappropriately. I can only hope that will smooth things over." He considered Giovanni for a long moment and spoke up, "I want all of your weapons, you are not to carry any in this district until I can trust you again...Do you understand, Giovanni?"

Giovanni nodded, immediately removing his bracers, his daggers, sword, boot knives anything that was part of his arsenal went onto the table without hesitation. Willing to do anything Yusuf asked of him without question, he wanted to open his mouth and say he was sorry over and over, he wanted to make Devrim get up off the floor and he wanted his father not to look so conflicted. He couldn't though, so he sat silently.

00

Devrim watched Giovanni sit in front of his twin's grave with a horrid twist in his gut. Reminding himself that it was for the best, that he had done this for the right reasons and that he was not a terrible human being. Even as tears distorted his vision and silent sobs racked his body – he did it for the right reasons!

"Gio?" They had returned to Devrim's room after Giovanni had given up his weapons, both their fathers seemed disturbed by that night's events and both had left the two alone, perhaps to smooth over the mess or reflect on where they went wrong with their children. No sooner had the bedroom shut that Giovanni put his hands on the Turk's face and kissed him. It was hollow, devoid of any fire and Devrim was certain it tasted sad. And then his fingers were undoing clothing, feeling warm skin as he simulated what had usually been an alluring start to foreplay. "I...I can not do this, Gigi." He tried to hold onto the wandering hands, tried to turn away from the kisses, "Please, stop..."

The Italian wasn't listening, he walked them to the bed, sitting down on it and pulling Devrim down over him. Mouth systematically leaving marks on a dark neck, undoing his own clothing, "Giovanni I can not do this to you, you are not thinking properly...you are not even hard."

"It does not matter..." Devrim's eyes widened at the whisper, "You can still take me; I do not mind..."

Devrim shivered in repulsion, dead, golden eyes stared up at him with so much pain he couldn't stand it. "No." He pulled away, untangling himself from the Italian and backing towards the door, "I am sorry, I can not be your...I do not know, your replacement? I can not let you degrade yourself just to feel like you are complete again. I...I am not what you need and I..." He wasn't giving up on this man but he had to, if he played along then Giovanni would become dependant on him and maybe never get better. Would become more protective and dangerous unless he distanced himself. His father said to never give something up for the wrong reasons – he had to do this for all the right ones. "I do not need you any more. We can not be lovers any more because...I...have no interest – you are too broken for me."

He had not meant any of it, he would watch over Giovanni from afar but he could not become the man's crutch. And as the Italian sat in front of the grave like a statue, tears silently falling, looking every bit like a child who was lost, Devrim had to tell himself again that this was for Giovanni's own good. But what was to stop him from finding someone else to latch onto? He did not want to watch the other crash and burn.

Turning away and letting his feet lead him to his father's door, Devrim knocked and entered with his head hung low, "I want to return to Cyprus."

00

Ezio had taken Giovanni with him to Sofia's bookshop, after the fiasco the week before he had decided to keep an eye on his son, especially as Devrim seemed to have abandoned him. When he entered Sofia greeted him with her usual smile, "Ezio, I have not seen you for weeks – I finished the translations although I have had a very big distraction lately. And who is this?"

"This is my son." Ezio watched as the boy drifted to some of the shelves, seemingly ignoring them, "Forgive him, Sofia...He is not himself, he has not spoken to anyone in the last few weeks...he had a shock." He pulled his hood down and with a strained smile, shrugged. "He sees and hears you but at the same time...does not? You can speak to him but he will not reply verbally."

She nodded slightly, eyeing the hooded figure with great interest as Ezio explained away what she had thought was rudeness, "Was he on that ship, the one that exploded?" Ezio nodded, "I see, it was a guess but the timing of his silence and that accident coincide...I did not know you had children...does his mother know he is alive?" Did that mean he had a wife stashed away? If he was flirting with her and leading her on she would make him eat the books she had translated for him.

"Giovanni's mother died when he was seven...he lost his brother on that ship."

"Oh Ezio! I am so sorry, no wonder you have not been by!" Without thinking she hugged the man tight, drawing back she stroked his cheek gently, looking at the figure browsing her books, "Poor boy must be devastated...sit down, Ezio, I will make tea and you can go through the books." She let him go and gathered a few things scattered on her desk before turning to the younger man, "Would you like something, Giovanni?" she spoke to him softly, like she would with a small child. Giovanni turned his head and as if finally realising there was a lady present, pulled his hood back to his shoulders, nodding at her question. "Dio..." Sofia dropped everything in her arms and stared slack jawed at him, "You..." Looking from Giovanni to Ezio and to the doorway leading to a private room, Sofia could not control her mouth from making goldfish like movements.

Ezio stood from his chair and took hold of her shoulders, "What is it, Sofia? What is wrong?"

=]