[A/N]: Thanks for reading! Feedback is always welcome!

Side note: This last weekend I met the voice of Ezio (Roger Craig Smith) at a convention! He's super cool and funny and nice (I know, I'm gushing). Oddly enough, his personality reminds me of that of my old high school biology teacher.

Chapter 63

Maffeo took a dagger from a nearby table to fend off his intruders, but when he turned to face them, Ezio had already reached him. Ezio tackled him and both men went tumbling to the ground. Ezio managed to get Maffeo pinned on his back and held both his arms down. Rosa, who had been close behind, pried the weapon away from Maffeo and held it to his neck.

"That wasn't a wise idea," Ezio growled at him.

Maffeo spat. "Go to hell! Tu e la tua puttana."

"Un momento, mio caro," Rosa told Ezio, "I'm going to break his arm."

"Let's give him a chance to talk first. If he's stubborn, you can have the honor."

She agreed, and he turned back to Maffeo.

"What do the Templars want with that workshop?" Ezio demanded.

Maffeo scoffed. "Do you Assassins think you're the only ones interested in Maestro da Vinci?"

Merda, thought Ezio. His suspicion was confirmed; Leonardo had been made a target. Still, he kept a stern face as he corrected Maffeo.

"I am no Assassin, but I do have an interest in Maestro da Vinci. I also don't have any qualms about killing Templars, so you'd better tell me what YOUR interest is."

"If you have an interest in him, then you know he is a genius. The Templars have need of a genius at the moment."

"For what purpose?"

"That would be telling," Maffeo flashed a sinister grin.

"Sì, it would. Rosa?"

The thief got up and Ezio released Maffeo's right arm, shifting his own weight onto Maffeo's chest and other arm while Rosa grabbed the right arm and began to put pressure on the elbow.

"I think telling would be a good idea," Ezio suggested as the man gritted his teeth. "My shoulder has a permanent bruise from her fist, and she likes me."

"He THINKS I like him."

Ezio rolled his eyes. "I am certain she doesn't like YOU," he told Maffeo.

Just before they were certain his arm would snap, he gave in. "To – to help them study it!" he yelled desperately.

Rosa let up. "Study what?"

"Something that they found…or at least that they're going to find."

"What is it?" Ezio asked.

"I don't know," he confessed, then noticed as Rosa glared at him. "No, I swear! They wouldn't tell me. I don't know exactly what it is, but I know they want him to help them use it."

"He's telling the truth," Rosa decided. "He knows better than to keep information from us again."

"Then get up," he commanded to Maffeo, dragging him to his feet. "I should kill you here, but you're going to deliver a message for me. Leonardo da Vinci is a friend of ours, and he's no longer in Venezia. You're wasting your time. We have spies watching over his workshop now, and his assistants have no useful information for you, as I'm sure you've discovered. End your search for him in this city, or our next meeting won't be as pleasant as this one."

He threw Maffeo forward, and the latter ran off.

They turned to the bruised man on the chair.

"Ludovico?" Rosa asked.

"S-sì," the young man managed. They removed his restraints and dragged him to his feet and outside the building.

"If anyone asks, you drank too much wine," Ezio advised him. He nodded as well as he could.

As they made their way back, Ludovico spoke again.

"Thank you for finding me. I didn't tell him anything, I promise. I wouldn't betray Leonardo. He's a good man."

They got him back to the workshop, where some of the other assistants were able to give him some medical care. Ezio found some medicine from a local doctor as well. As dawn approached, he and Rosa made their way back to the Palazzo.