Assassin's Creed II characters and references © Ubisoft
Kiara and all other OCs © me

I'm only writing this for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. I make no profit from this.

I stood in the center of a dark room, my hands bound and hung above my head. My lip was split from where I had been hit, and the blood on my chin had dried some time ago. A fire behind me was the only source of light, and I could clearly see the different instruments of torture scattered around the room. Branding irons, whips with pieces of metal tied to the ends, knives, spikes, clubs, even a rack loomed in the shadows.

I was terrified.

Getting caught by the guards had not been on my to-do list; I had been careless. I could only pray that Fredrico had returned to the Palazzo Auditore, and that he and his family were riding to safety. Deep down, I knew it wouldn't take much to get information out of me. I was only a young girl, not even a full adult, and if someone were to recognize me, they would be ruthless. Horrible possibilities ran through my mind, each worse than the last, and I prayed for some kind of miracle to get me out of here!

The sound of heavy footsteps broke me from my thoughts and I started to shake out of pure terror. The door opened and three men entered; a caped man I realized must be Borgia, a burley man with a sinister air about him, and Uberto. Judging by the furious look in the latter's beady eyes; he already knew who I was and what I had done. The fat man stormed forward and slapped me across the face.

"You dirty little whore," he hissed, "I should have you killed!"

"Cursing the girl will not remedy the situation, Uberto." Borgia said sternly, "My sources say the Auditores have made it out of Florence. What will you do?"

I ducked my head so the men wouldn't see the look of relief on my face. Thank God.

Uberto grabbed my shirt and jerked me forward. "Where are they going?"

I had enough courage left in me to growl at him. "Even if I knew, do you think I'd tell you?"

"You lie,"

I spat in his face, which earned me yet another slap. This time one of his rings cut my cheek.

Uberto turned to the third man, wiping at his face with his sleeve. "Ugo! Make her talk and report back to us!"

The two men left the room, leaving me with my torturer. Ugo gave me an ugly grin that showed off the gaps where his teeth used to be and walked over.

"It's been a while since I've had a chance at such a pretty girl like you," he said, looking me up and down. He reached forward and grabbed my chin. "I don't think we're in any hurry,"

Ugo leaned forward and the thought of his disgusting lips touching mine made me want to throw up right there, but he didn't get the chance. I saw a flash of silver and the man howled in pain as a small knife embedded itself into his back. He whipped around with a curse, but there was no one to be seen. Even I didn't know where the knife had come from.

Ugo yanked the small knife from his back with a snarl and threw it to the ground.

"Who's there?"

Silence.

The burly man took a few tentative steps away from me, obviously unnerved, and his hand went to nasty looking knife on is belt.

"Try to hide from me will ya?" He muttered, "I'll—urk!"

Whatever Ugo had to say was ended as another knife embedded itself in his throat. He dropped to his knees, gasping and gargling sickly for a moment before he fell face down on the floor.

Before I could even comprehend what had just happened, a hooded figure materialized silently from the shadows. The red and white robes billowed as he walked towards me, only pausing to retrieve his blades and a set of keys from the dead man. As he straightened again, the hood lifted up enough for me to see the man's face.

"Giovanni!" I gasped, remembering just in time to keep my voice down.

The Assassin quickly stroke over to me and unlocked the shackles that held my wrists. "You are lucky to be alive, Kiara."

I rubbed my wrists, not sure how to reply, but I was relieved that he had come to get me. Giovanni lifted my chin and frowned as he looked at my face. If he had been imposing before, the man was downright scary now. His eyes were barely visible in the shadow of his hood, and he was wearing numerous weapons, all of which I was sure he could use expertly. The deadly aura that radiated from Giovanni could have terrified any sane person, and to be perfectly truthful, it was scaring me.

Giovanni pulled a curved knife from his boot and handed it to me. "You might need this. Let's go."

He grabbed my wrist and pulled me out of the room. We ran down the hallways, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't be as quiet as Giovanni. The man not only possessed the ability to be freakishly silent, but he also heard the incoming guards long before me and we were able to avoid them. I was totally lost, but Giovanni seemed to know where he was going. We had to do a little bit of climbing to get over the outer wall, but we managed to escape that horrible place without being seen.

All at once Giovanni stopped and ducked into the shadows, shoving me ahead of him. We held our breath as Borgia and Uberto walked by, talking in low tones.

"Damn you, Uberto," Giovanni whispered.

We waited until the voices had died away before slipping away and down the Florentine streets. Once we were a safe distance away from the prison, Giovanni motioned for me to climb to the roofs; we were running short on time. I stuck the knife in the back of my belt and began my ascent with my Assassin companion right behind me. We were soon running across the rooftops that were lit by moonlight. I could barely keep up with Giovanni, and he had to catch my arm more than once when I came close to biffing it on the shingles. I just wanted to get as far away from the prison as I could, and my heart would jump into my throat at every suspicious sound.

All at once Giovanni shot ahead of me to jump across a distressingly large gap between buildings and I gasped when I saw he wasn't going to reach the other roof. He had not been aiming for the roof, however, and landed solidly on some scaffolding I had not seen before. He turned to me, his hand outstretched, and I had no time to even wonder if this was a good idea or not.

I jumped and landed solidly against Giovanni, but what neither of us had realized was that the scaffolding was unstable. No sooner had my feet touched the wood than it collapsed with a horrendous crash, pulling us down with it. Pain shot through my back and side as I landed hard, and more planks rained down on me.

I was stunned for a few moments, but then I started to force myself out of the rubble. I had several scrapes and bruises, but it didn't feel like I had broken anything. A groan to one side of me caught my attention and I pushed a few planks aside to see Giovanni gripping his knee and hissing in pain.

"What was that?"

"Over there!"

The shouts of guards spurred me into action and I scrambled over to Giovanni. I surprised him by helping him up and then supporting him as we hurried down the street. Perhaps it was the adrenaline, but Giovanni didn't seem that heavy even though he was leaning most of his weight on me.

We rushed through the streets as fast as Giovanni could manage until we had returned to the Palazzo Auditore. Storm and Giovanni's horse were waiting in the shadows and I was grateful that Storm had calmed down enough to where he would allow someone to ride him.

Once he was close enough, Giovanni clambered onto his horse with a grimace and reached into a small leather pack that was attached to the saddle.

"Here," he threw a wad of dark fabric at me, "put this on."

I caught what turned out to be a cape with a hood, and I did as Giovanni told me. Once the dark hood covered my face, I climbed up on Storm and we galloped away. I saw Giovanni glance back at his home, and I could see the sadness on his face. My heart clenched painfully for him, but there was nothing we could do anymore.

We wound through the dark streets until the large houses gave way to rolling countryside. I had ridden a few times before, but never this fast, and I had to grip the saddle with one hand to keep from bouncing off. Giovanni led the way, but I found myself struggling to hold Storm back. The horse saw our escape as a race, and he wanted to win. It would have been cool to see just how fast Storm could run, but that would have to come later.

It seemed like forever, but the wagon and the rest of the family came into sight at the top of a small knoll. All at once, Giovanni reined his horse to a stop under the black shadow of a tree. Once I managed to do the same with Storm, I turned to him.

"Giovanni?"

The man breathed out a heavy sigh from under his hood. "My children…they do not know,"

I had pretty much gathered that by this point, but I kept my mouth shut. This was not going to be easy for anyone. After a moment, Giovanni took a deep breath and urged his horse forward. I followed him quietly, suddenly feeling like an outsider.

Ezio and Federico came up to us as we approached, and I kept my hood on to cover my battered face. Federico reached us first and gave Giovanni a helpless look before addressing me.

"Kiara, are you alright? Did they hurt you?"

I gave him the best reassuring grin I could muster, even though there was no true feeling behind it. "Not too bad."

Federico frowned, reaching for my hood and tugging it down before I could stop him. He took one look at me and the utter remorse that crossed his face made me feel bad for him.

"Dio mio, how many times did those bastardi hit you?"

"It wasn't your fault, Federico. I should have been more careful."

Ezio came up and his brow furrowed when he saw me, but he turned to Giovanni, who had been sitting silently on his horse.

"Padre, what is going on? Why did we have to run?"

Giovanni's voice was quiet as he answered. "I am an Assassin."

"Papá," Claudia spoke up from the wagon, "you're not making any sense."

Giovanni motioned for all of us to continue down the road as he spoke, pushing his hood back. "Do you remember the stories I used to tell you when you were young? About the hooded men who fought a secret war? Those were not stories, but real events that happened to real people. Some of them even happened to me. The Assassin Order has dedicated itself to fighting those who would see the entire human race enslaved."

"Who are they, papá?" Petruccio asked.

Giovanni's eyes tightened, "The Templars. They long for power more than anything in the world, and will stop at nothing to get it."

"But why are they after us?" Federico asked, "I thought Uberto was your friend,"

"I thought so too, son. But when I was in Rome, I discovered a conspiracy that I fear leads all the way to the Pope."

"That's why you were in Roma?" Ezio spoke up now, his voice taking on an accusing tone, "Have all of your trips been for this Assassin business? When exactly were you planning on telling us?"

Giovanni looked so remorseful that I felt bad for him. "I should have told you long ago, Ezio, and not waited until all of this came undone. I did not think I would be found out this quickly."

"Wait, you knew this would happen?"

"Not the way it did, and not this soon." Giovanni suddenly looked weary, "It doesn't matter now."

Suddenly Claudia cried out, pointing back down the road, "Papá!"

We all turned to look back and my heart leapt into my throat when I saw a mass of about ten soldiers thundering in our direction. How did they find us?

Giovanni turned his horse around, his face set like stone.

"Federico, Ezio, we must distract them."

The two brothers paled, but they nodded.

"Giovanni…no, please."

Giovanni looked over to Maria, who had tears in her eyes. He urged his horse over to the wagon and leaned over to kiss her gently.

"Keep them safe, and don't look back."

Maria took a deep breath to steady herself. "Come back to us,"

Giovanni gave her a smile, but I wasn't sure he felt as confident as he looked. "We will."

With that he spurred his horse forward with Ezio and Federico right behind him, kicking up a cloud of dust. We all watched with a sinking feeling as the three men took off to fight our pursuers. I heard Petruccio sniff and the scared, helpless look on his face made me want to hold him and tell him everything was going to be alright. But no one knew if that was true.

A tear rolled down Maria's cheek, but she put on a brave face and snapped the reins with a sharp shout. The two horses leapt forward and we took off as fast as we could. I crouched over Storm's neck, hiding my tears in his mane as it whipped across my face.

Please…come back.

Giovanni's mind raced as he and his sons rushed down the road. They could not take the entire troop head on, it would just be suicide. They needed to distract them and draw their attention away from the rest of the family. The man looked over at Federico and Ezio, who rode alongside him bravely; even though he knew they were scared.

Giovanni now regretted keeping his secret from his children, but he had not left his sons completely unprepared. For the last couple years he had trained them to fight with their fists and with a sword, and both had excelled in each area.

"There they are!"

Giovanni's jaw tightened when he heard the shout, but he steeled himself. If they could draw the soldiers off the road and get them to spread out instead of being in a tight cluster, the men would be easier to pick off.

The three continued their headlong dash, only swerving off the road when Giovanni was sure that the soldiers would follow.

"Scatter!" He shouted over his shoulder to Ezio and Federico, "Do as I do!"

The young men peeled off in separated directions, confusing the soldiers and causing them to split up. Giovanni yanked sharply at the reins, and his horse swerved abruptly and almost came to a stop, just as he had been trained to do. The man who had been right behind him shot by, and Giovanni slashed him across the throat as he did. Now back in motion, the Assassin parried an incoming blow from the next soldier's sword and used his momentum to run the man through.

Now with a brief moment, Giovanni looked over to where his eldest son had gone. Federico's strikes were rushed, but he was defending himself well, and it seemed as if he had managed to even cut down a soldier.

Three down.

Giovanni had no more time to watch as the next fight came to him. This man showed more experience and the two exchanged fast and furious blows until a slip in concentration allowed the older man to catch his opponent between the ribs with his blade.

A pained cry from Ezio sent Giovanni's heart into his throat and he looked around frantically until he found his younger son. Ezio's right sleeve was torn and bloody, but the injury seemed to be minor as he fought back. A wild back-swipe from Ezio's sword caught the soldier in the neck and the man tumbled to the ground.

Relieved for the moment, Giovanni grabbed a throwing knife and flung it at one of the remaining soldiers who was attacking Federico, catching the man expertly in the back.

Then it was over. The only sounds to be heard now were heavy breathing from both men and horses. Giovanni looked over the bodies lying on the ground and his brow furrowed. Hadn't there been more? Suddenly his eyes widened in horror and he spurred his horse back to the road.

"Father! What is it?" Federico shouted as he and Ezio followed.

"It's the other men! They've gone after the rest of the family!"

Padre - Father
Papá - Dad (or a more informal version of padre)
Roma - Rome

A/N – Had enough suspense yet? I know I'm enjoying myself. XD

Sorry for a short chapter, but I couldn't get it to stretch out any longer. *fail* Oh well, the next chapter will have some more meat to it, I promise.

So, cat's out of the bag. Giovanni's an Assassin and everyone's in some pretty serious trouble. What happens next? Stay tuned to find out!

I got some pretty good reviews the last time around. Maybe I should leave you guys hanging more often. ;P *sends virtual hugs to everyone who reviewed* You have no idea how happy your feedback makes me, keep it coming!

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~TKD Dragon