A/N: Last chapter was quite short and this one is quite short as well, because I had no idea what to put inside here. I think this was like the second worst chapter I've written…so please excuse the blunt, straight to the point sentences, that seemed to have no detail at all. Plus it's a really REALLY bad ending

WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS A LOAD OF CRAP! AND IT'S NOT ONE OF MY BEST IN MY BOOK! ALSO NOT BETA'D

Disclaimer: -_-;….I shouldn't have to say anything on this part

OoOoOo

"Where are we headed exactly?"

"To San Gimignano. They have a nice tailor shop there and I need my clothes to get altered." Amalia felt her blood run cold at the mentioning of the name. She shouldn't be afraid to go back there because she knew that the co-conspirators were in Firenze, but something uneasy was settling in her stomach.

What if he had gone back to his house for someone unknown reason? Then she would have the potential risk of bumping into him. She now regretted ever agreeing to go with Amanzio on this little trip of his. Mario had forced her to do work while she stayed at the villa, but he also sent her on little trips as well, saying that exercise will help her clear her mind.

If she could do a face palm at the moment, she would. "Come Amalia. It is only a day's ride." She glared at him from her position on the horse. "Yeah, well I'd rather be back in my room than doing this."

"Mario insisted that you come along." Amanzio said, pushing part of his bangs out of his face. For a thief he was pretty cute. Not that she was saying that thieves are all ugly. But most of them were. "And why would he say something like that?" She questioned, eyebrows now raised at how ridiculous that sounded.

"Because…"Amanzio trailed off. "He told me that you must get over a certain man and that this little trip would help you."

"I never said anything about trying to get over a certain man!" Amalia screeched, utterly horrified that Mario would come to a conclusion like that without consulting her first. "From what he has told me, you seemed pretty banged up over Ezio's departure."

"Claudia." She growled, clenching her fists. "I swear that girls mouth is like diarrhea. She just keeps running her mouth." Amalia paused to fix her hood so that it was covering her face again. "What else have you heard?" She asked trying to get the information out of him. "Well. It seems that you have fallen in love with a man whore."

"Who said anything about falling in love. I NEVER said that. Who said that?" Amanzio let out a deep laugh not even trying to cover up how much he loved making her squirm on her horse. "You know…" He started placing a finger under his chin. "If you ever do need someone to—"

"No!" She yelled, crossing her arms.

"But you didn't let me finish."

"I didn't need you to. I already know what you were going to say. I'm not having sex with you." She huffed.

"Who said anything about sex? I never said that." He wiggled his eyebrows making Amalia shiver. "Don't ever do that again, or I'll cut your balls off."

"Wouldn't you just love to touch them!" Amalia smiled sheepishly at their silly banter. Their meaningless flirts and teasing reminded her of Ezio and her arguing whenever they had the chance. They would always say one thing and it ended up being something about sex in the end. It was just easy to flirt and have fun with Ezio because he always played along and went with it. Now that it was Amanzio, that she was flirting with, she felt like he was a replacement for Ezio.

They even had the same 'zio' at the end of their name. Both were very good looking, both were assassins…well as close as a thief gets to an assassins, and they both were a flirt. Her eyes widened. "Oh god. He is a replacement."

"Who's a replacement?"

"You!" Amalia said pointing at him. "You and Ezio are similar in so many ways that it's starting to creep me out."

"Does that mean that I'll get something tonight."

"NO!" If she could smack Amanzio right now she would have but the fact that they were on horses and moving at that, she wouldn't dare try and reach over to smack him. She didn't want to risk falling off of the horse and getting trampled by it. That would definitely not be a pretty sight.

"So tell me Amalia. How did you come to like Sir Ezio?"

"You're pushing it Amanzio." Amalia said, nettled at his persistency.

"Sorry." He mumbled, holding back a smile that was about to creep unto his face.

"How much more longer till we get there and find a place to stay." Amanzio shrugged getting her a little bit annoyed. The man had dragged her all the way out here, and didn't even know how far until they reached. "What a great guide you are..." She mumbled scratching the back of her head. "I was never asked to be a guide to anyone. I'm just going to take care of business. Now that Francesco and Vieri are gone, it's easier to visit the town without too much trouble."

"Does that mean that you'll be trading more with this town now that their no longer corrupt?"

"Depends on what Mario would want. I'm sure that he will begin once our town gets up and running again because as you can see, at the moment, the town's not in the best of shape."

"So then why don't we make a little money while we're they so that we can renovate some of the buildings in the town?" She suggested, smirking at what she had in mind.

"And what do you have in mind?" Amanzio asked, turning to stare at her. "Well, I was thinking that we…rob."

He sat there in silence, not exactly sure on what he should say to that. "What! It's like San Gimignano will be giving back to the town from all the destruction and stress that they put us through when Vieri and his father were in charge."

"We are not those type of thieves, but we are more civilized." She snorted at his comment shaking her head. "I'm pretty sure that killing people to get rid of corrupt leaders is civilized."

Amanzio stopped his horse, pursing his lips in thought. "What do you think Mario would say if we came back with a massive load of money? Do you honestly think he would approve?"

"I'm pretty sure that he would be happy that this town no longer looks like shit." He sighed not really happy with where she was trying to go with this. Of course he would like to see the town back up and running, but it would be a dishonorable way to gain the smiles back on the citizens faces from how their homes no longer looked terrible and poverty stricken. "I don't know…" He trailed off, scratching under his chin.

"How about I do all the dirty work while you turn your back and pretend like you have no idea what is going on."

"Then I would feel guilty at the fact that I let you get away with something like that." She pouted at the fact that she couldn't get away with anything while talking to Amanzio. "Fine." She said, annoyed that she couldn't win this fight. "Good." A smile crept across his face and Amalia had the urge to smack him. 'Don't worry.' She said in her head. 'I'll just do it when you're not around.'

OoOoOo

It felt like she was just here yesterday. Even though she hadn't been back here in the past two years, she felt familiarity wash over her. The buildings were still tall as ever and people bustled through the streets moving past her quickly to get towards the market. A smile spread unto her face as she watched a family of three walking towards the market hand in hand, afraid that if they let go they might lose each other.

For some strange reason Ezio leaving hit her like a brick, but she pushed those thoughts away telling, herself that she wouldn't think about him while she was staying at the villa. Well technically she wasn't at the villa, but she was trying to make the rules apply for anywhere she went. Amalia was pretty sure that when Ezio comes back, if he ever does, that the hard work that she had put into forgetting about her feelings for him would disappear once she sees his face.

"Amalia! Hello." A hand waved in front of her face snapping her out of her reverie. "Yes!" She answered, no longer distracted by her thoughts. "I was just telling you that I found a nice inn nearby that we can stay at for the night." She nodded her head, glad that she didn't have to sleep on the streets that night. Amanzio jogged on ahead of her and she did just the same to keep up pace with him. Before long he had stopped at an inn nearby a nice fountain in the center of the square.

"An elderly man told me about a place called Antonio's inn, and I figured that If I should believe anybody about good inns, it should be an elderly man." Amanzio chuckled at his own attempt at a joke to lighten up the mood, but that name sent her brain into motion. She remembered the time that her, and Demarco had gone out practically the entire day and he had said that he needed to stop at his friend Antonio's shop. Maybe it wasn't the same Antonio, but upon closer inspection of her surroundings, she confirmed that her suspicions were right.

It didn't matter that she had been in the back entrance of the business. She distinctly remembered that this was the same area that she had been in before. "Are you going to come inside with me, or stand outside here like an idiot?" Amanzio teased, opening the door for her to walk in. Amalia didn't pay attention to the man's comments, but she thought that maybe she could bribe Antonio and see what exactly Demarco was up to.

The inside of the inn had a homey feel to it and she felt comfortable just looking at it. There were fairly nice seats set about the open space where anyone could lounge and a counter in the back where she assumed you got your keys to your room and paid for it. "Hello and welcome to my inn. My name is Antonio and we have plenty of spare rooms to give out."

The welcoming had been very warm, despite how fake it was, but she didn't like the smile that was on the man's face. Even though he was facing Amanzio talking, his eyes had been on her body the entire time he had welcomed the both of them in…well more her than Amanzio.

"How many rooms?" The man asked, eyes never leaving hers. "One room please, with two beds." The man nodded finally breaking eye contact with her and handing the man a room key with a small number etched into the side. Amanzio handed the florins over to the man and he dropped the key into his palm. "Come on Amalia. We've got to get going before the shop closes." Amanzio asked the man where his room was before he headed off in that direction leaving her and that man inside the same room.

"So you're name's Amalia?" He asked, eyes squinting at her. "Yeah and your name's Antonio." They both glared at each other for quite some time before the man finally broke the tension. "I've heard much about you…" He trailed off leaving Amalia curious as ever. "From who?" She asked, arms now crossed across her chest. "Demarco." Her breathing hitched a bit, but she didn't visibly show that she was shaking inside. "Oh really now!" She said a smile spreading across her face.

"I see he still is angry about what happened, huh."

The man nodded stiffly. "But if he knew where I was, why didn't he try anything, hmmm." She pushed, knowing that she was about to cross the line somewhere. "Why don't' you ask him yourself." Antonio knocked on the wall behind him, and the door opened to reveal Demarco.

Amalia gasped, clearly shocked at him standing there. She had to admit that he looked stunning in that dark brown tunic that he was wearing, but she shook those thoughts out of her head as she realized the situation that she was in right now.

"Amalia Salvatore De Luca!" He announced, smiling and shaking his head. "I've heard much about you in the past two years that you were gone…" She took a step back as he walked around the counter to stand in front of her. "I thought that you were in Firenze?" She asked, mentally stabbing Amanzio and Mario for forcing her to come here. She knew that she was going to bump into him. That uneasy feeling that was settling in the bottom of her stomach had been right the entire time.

Why didn't she just listen to that feeling and just head back to the villa when she had the chance? Now she was stuck here, no where to go because she was sure that Demarco was going to do something to her for the trouble that she had caused.

"Who said anything about me being in Firenze?" Demarco said arms spread wide as if he was waiting for a hug. "Ahhh." He voiced, hand rubbing his chin as if realization hit him. "You're an Assassin aren't you? No one else knew of my whereabouts except Antonio."

"You shouldn't assume things like that Demarco. It makes an ass out of just you." Demarco growled at her comment and grabbed her by the collar, slamming her into the nearest wall. "It was you and that man who killed Vieri and Francesco huh! Jacopo told me everything that had happened, but I didn't believe him that a worthless weakling like you could do anything. Probably hiding behind that man I see."

Amalia spit in his face while trying to squirm out of his vice grip. "Ezio has nothing to do with this," She screamed finally able to get out of Demarco's grip. "Besides, as we speak Ezio's hunting down all the co-conspirators that were on the list, and yours just happens to be on the list, so I might as well do this one for him." Amalia unsheathed a hidden blade from her boot and flashed it in front of him, grinning at the surprised look that was on his face.

"Oh we'll see about that."

OoOoOo

"Dammit." She cursed gripping her right arm that had a huge gash on the inside. She had let her guard down when Amanzio had called her name, and Demarco had taken that opportunity to cut her. When he did, he had left the building yelling that he would meet her again when the time came. Of course Amalia had tried to get up and go after him, but the burning pain in her arm was unbearable and she sat there, almost close to tears.

Amanzio had picked her up and guided her outside of the city towards a horse, saying that she should get back to the villa so that her wound could be taken care of. He had never told her why she should head back there instead of staying their to get her wound treated, but she didn't question it as she made her horse go at top speed so that she could get back sooner than later. The wound could become potentially infected, so as a precaution she took off her cloak and then her tunic, leaving a white long sleeved shirt on her body. Taking the white sleeved long shirt, she peeled it back making sure to avoid the gash and pressed the tunic into her wound.

As she looked up from her tending to her wound, she saw the gates of Monteriggioni in the background. "How long was I riding for?" She asked. Usually it would take much longer to get to the city, but it had only taken her a short amount of time. As the gates came closer and closer, she felt herself getting a little light headed from the loss of blood. Her vision started to falter, but she shook her head trying to get rid of the double images.

The horse stopped suddenly, jolting her forward and she saw that it stopped in front of the gates. "Oh yeah...That's right. The horse won't go into the city. Awesome…" She mumbled, un-mounting the horse. As soon as her feet touched the ground, her knees buckled, and she cried out as she landed on her injured arm. "Cazzo…(Fuck)." She picked herself right back up, and walked through the streets looking for one of those doctors.

"Just great!" She yelled, standing in front of the doctor's shop that was closed. "How am I supposed to get treated now." Amalia grumbled, and continued to put pressure on her arm as she walked towards the villa, going up the steps as slowly as she could. It was hard enough walking because she felt weak, but the steps just killed her. As she got closer to the villa, she felt that she couldn't stand up anymore and she was reduced to lying in front of the villa, wishing that the pain would just go away.

She cursed out Demarco in her head and swore that if she ever saw that man's face again, she would slice it up without a second thought. "Amalia!" A voice called. Her head turned in the direction of the voice and she was surprised to see Ezio standing their, shock written all over his face. "Oh mio dio (Oh my god)!"

Ezio raced over and dropped down to his knees so that he could cradle her head in his lap. "What happened?" He asked, removing her hand from clutching unto her wound. "Demarco…"

"What!" He shouted. "I thought that he was still in Firenze?"

"Well apparently not. But could we not talk about this now and just get me to a doctor or something, because this gash feels like it's ripping my insides out."

"Okay…" His voice sounded a little shaky, as he picked her up, bringing her into the villa.

"Claudia! I need you." Ezio shouted. His sister came rushing out of the room next door to them, horror written on her face as she saw Amalia in his arms. "Oh mio dio. What happened! Is she alright!"

"I don't know, but the cut seems very deep. I need you to take care of her, while I go fetch Uncle Mario." He placed Amalia down on her bed, making her wonder how she didn't notice that they were walking why Claudia was frantically asking questions.

"Amalia…I'm going to need you to stay calm, because this will surely hurt." Claudia warned her, as she removed the pieces of clothing that were in the way.

"Just do it!" She yelled.

Without warning Claudia placed a cloth on her cut making it sting worse than it had before. She clenched her teeth as a wave of pain washed over her. How much she wished she could really just stab Demarco now. "What the hell is on that cloth!" She screamed, gripping unto her sleeve tightly.

"It's water."

"WATER!"

How could water hurt so damn much at a time like this.