Romano had to admit he was happy to be away from the guards and rules at the Castel. He was also surprised how quickly the guards fled from the area once the Borgia's flags were purged from the tower. Obviously, he was a fool to put any trust in them. The nation couldn't admit he was moved when Ezio used his own money to renovate the shops nearby.

"Do you still hold any doubts to my abilities, Lovino?"

Before Romano can come up with a snide comment, a few masculine voices came from a distance cursing in Italian. As the two came close to the source they were able to make out what the voices were saying.

"Put down the sword, stupida ragazza and come with us. We promise not to hurt you too much." A guard ordered.

"You have to take me by force, Borgia's dogs." The girl stood alone surrounded by four guards. Ezio immediately leapt into action, stabbing a blade from his wrist into the neck of one the guards. While one was distracted by the sudden death of his ally he was stabbed by the girl. While the two fought Romano froze where he stood, these guards maybe "bad guys" to Ezio, but they were still his people.

"Grazie, signore." The women did a small bow. "I won't forget this."

Ezio placed an hand on her shoulder. "The liberation of Roma has begun, we need everyone we can get."

The women nodded quickly. "I will do what I can to help." Ezio whispered something in her ear before she nodded again and strode off in a specific direction.

Romano couldn't take his gaze off the bodies of the fallen soldiers. They were his people, yet he let them die. "We need to get out of here before more guards show up." The nation murmured an agreement then followed the assassin.

After a few moments walking in silence Ezio spoke up. "The people are displeased with the Borgia, but when they speak out, they are arrested and killed."

"She must've broke the law somehow." The nation attempted to reason. "Either way, I cannot condone the killing of any of my people."

Ezio sighed. "I do not enjoy killing. But as you've seen those soldiers are suppressing the people, your people. When they see the Borgia's towers go up in flames, then they see a chance to stand up against the Boriga's corruption."

The assassin lend a comforting hand on the nation's shoulder. "I lost my fair share of loved ones to the corruption and greed in Pope's inner circle, Lovino."

Romano remained silent for a moment before he suddenly scoffed lightly, keeping his gaze at his feet. "Don't call me Lovino, that's just an alias. Most people close to me get to call me Romano." A small smile formed under the assassin's cowl.

Italy covered his small body with Romano's dark green cloak the older nation used when he came to Rome. He had waited to make sure to attempt his escape when the guards were switching posts. Italy couldn't keep himself from trembling, he was naturally a cowardly nation and he didn't want to think what they will do to punish him if he's caught.

maybe this wasn't the best idea... No! he needed to make sure his brother is safe.

he crept through the darkening halls, careful to not run into anyone. His feet made nearly imperceptible noises when they touched the floor that made Italy flinched slightly. The guards at the only entrance, and exit, of the Castel stood at attention, now all Italy had to do was wait until it was time to change shifts and hope there was an opening for him to escape.

Meanwhile, he needs to make sure he doesn't lose his courage and run back to his room.

"Isn't the night guards supposed to be here to relieve us of our duty?" One guard growled. The others agreed with curt nods, they were quickly losing patience.

"Our shift is up, whether or not they decide to arrive is their problem." Another finally said before relaxing his position and striding off, followed soon by the others.

As soon as the entrance was clear, Italy took his chance. He quickly blended in with the cardinals walking on the bridge. Italy breath a sigh of relief, Romano was going to be so proud of him! If he's still okay, that is...

That last thought pushed the little Italian into a run.

Much to his annoyance, Romano once again had to be blindfolded while Ezio took them to their hideout as to not give away to their location. The master assassin might trust the nation, but there was always the risk Romano might change his mind about aiding them. "Are we almost there yet?" Romano snapped, tired of being carried like a child.

"Si." Romano heard a door opened and shut. His blindfold was removed. "My brothers and sisters will be glad to know you're on our side."

The nation grumbled something about "not having much of a choice." Romano was actually surprised that the assassin's hideout was actually in such good shape, he expected something more... barbaric. Two men and one female greeted them, all three bowing respectfully towards Ezio, the female was the one the master assassin had rescued earlier in clothes more appropriate for an assassin.

"Saluti maestro." The taller male greeted. "Machiavelli has been awaiting your return."

"I suppose I shouldn't keep him waiting any longer. Grazie." Ezio dismissed his recruits.

Machiavelli was gazing into a brazier, lost in his scholarly mind when approaching footsteps caught his attention. "Ezio." His eyes fell upon the small figure following him closely. "And I see you brought your little... nation." The doubt in his face clear as day.

"Che? What do you want to prove I'm South Italy, bastardo?" Romano questioned harshly.

"For someone who is as old as you claim to be, you seem very childish." The politician replied coolly.

Red tinted the nation's face. "At least I don't threaten to drop children in canals! Especially when that child is your country!"

"Well, you're not exactly a child, are you?" Machiavelli retorted. "Unless you're actually just an ordinary child?"

The master assassin sighed, this wasn't exactly how he planned for this meeting to go.

Night descended upon Rome and Italy was started to get nervous, maybe he should've thought this through before running off again since last time it didn't work so well. The Italian was walking past an alley when a hand grabbed him, any scream that would've escaped his mouth was silenced by a petite hand.

A feminine voice shushed him. "Please don't scream, my name is Bianca." she turned the Italian around to face her, he could some of her soft features in the dimming light and her curly, dark hair as she kneeled to his level. "You're Feliciano, Lovino's brother, yes?"

Italy nodded hesitantly, less terrified now that he knew his attacker was a pretty lady. "Do you know where my fratello is? Is he okay?"

"Si, he's alright. I could take you to him." Italy nodded eagerly at the offer, he decided he like this lady, she was much better than the one named Ezio. She smiled at him. "Okay, follow me-"

"Bianca?" Italy tilted his head, puzzled by her abrupt look of shock. Blood began to drip from the corner of her mouth. "B-Bianca?" She was shoved roughly away and Italy saw a crimson-soaked blade unsheathe itself from her back.

Another hooded figure seemed to give her a look of disdain, the blade retracted into his wrist. His clothes was different from the other assassins Italy has seen, his gray hood was connected to a cloak. "That was a close one." His gaze fell on Italy. "We can't have both of you fall into the assassin's hands, can we?"

It was the same voice talking to Cesare from earlier. Italy managed a step back, he never been so terrified in his life. One of his people was killed right in front of him! Before Italy could get the courage to run, he was grabbed roughly by the man. "There was another, I'm sure he's on his way to his friends. You'll make perfect bait."

An: HA! I haven't died yet! Anyways, I decided to update finally ^~^ I noticed I made a few mistakes in the past chapters, so I should go and fix them one day. I kind of left off at a cliffhanger, cuz that's just how I do. Also the bad guy is not an OC, I guess he doesn't really belong here at this time, but this is AU! so yeah... whatever. If you hadn't figured out, I'm making this up as I go.

And disregard me saying this takes place in 1502 or whatever, after much thought I might ending up diverging so far from Brotherhood that it wouldn't even make sense according to the storyline. Oh, also I know Ezio hardly says anything when he firsts recruits an assassin, I just thought he should like ya know, tell them where to apply to assassin positions or something. All assassin recruits are named after the recruits I got when I played brotherhood by the way. I'm not a fan of OCs, they're usually a deal breaker for me when reading stories unless they're absolutely necessary.

Translations:

stupida ragazza: stupid girl

signore: mister

Saluti maestro: greetings master

I'm too lazy to do the translations I already did the past chapters, all of these I got from google translate.

Hetalia and Assassin's Creed belong to their respective owners.

Thank you all so much for the reviews, favs and follows, I love you all!