Chapter 7:

In the end, the three assassins had to wait till nightfall, until they could move. Leonardo had wisely decided to scan the area, before they moved and he had reported that apparently all guards in Florence were on duty and searching for three men in white robes. Of course they could have just left their outfits in Leonardo's workshop, but it was not their way. One, they did not want to endanger Leonardo even more and two, they would definitely not leave their weapons behind. So, they had decided to hide upstairs and wait instead. It had not been pleasant for either of them.

From the looks of it, Ezio knew what he was doing. His steps were sure, yet mostly silent. He did not yet rival either Desmond or Altair, but then again, the two of them had more years of training than Ezio had.

"Where exactly are we heading?"

"Monteriggioni," was the short reply from the youngest assassin. Desmond had not expected much more, Ezio had to concentrate for what was second nature to himself already. One day, the Italian would become a true assassin, one who sought his rival, but until then, he still had much to learn.

The modern time traveller briefly glanced at Altair, who had moved away from their little group. It was better to keep an eye on the Syrian, before he did something rash or stupid.

Desmond's brown eyes gazed up at the cloudless sky. It was astonishing how different everything was. Here, there were no worries about global warming or too much pollution due to cars. Here, the night was clear and you were actually able to see the stars. He had always loved watching the stars, even when he was little, but especially when his father had smuggled him out at night, so that his mother would not catch them. In all honesty, Desmond suspected that his mother had indeed known that they were sneaking out, but had pretended not to notice anyway.

Another thought crossed his mind. Ezio's mother, sister and uncle would be in Monteriggioni. He wondered, how they would react to meeting him and Altair. He mused that Maria Auditore da Firenze would most likely still be traumatised about witnessing her husband's and sons' deaths. If she was even willing to talk to them, what would be close to a miracle, she would definitely not be the best choice for a conversation. Then again, Desmond knew how she must feel, he had lost a lot of people, who were dear to him. Perhaps all she needed was someone to talk, someone NOT her family.

And Claudia, Ezio's sister, she was another matter altogether. In all his time in the Animus, Desmond had never learnt to read her. She was a closed book to him. Granted, he knew when she was on the verge of getting angry and snappish – that was definitely an important skill – but that was about it. He just could not understand her and her ways... she was... strange.

But the real problem would undoubtedly be Mario Auditore. The man was suspicious and of course he wanted to protect his family. He would deem him and Altair intruders, someone he needed to keep a close eye on. It was hard to say if he too would believe their story, it would not be easy, especially since Altair had not written the codex pages in his time yet, they could not really prove it. Perhaps the armour the Syrian assassin was wearing, would be enough to convince Mario, after all, the exact same armour was hidden under the villa.

A movement in the corner of his eyes caught the modern assassin's attention and without thinking, he dashed forward and grabbed Ezio's arm, pulling the younger man behind a wall and not a second too late. A group of guards came patrolling the streets, two of them were holding lambs that casted threatening looking shadows and silhouettes on the street, the others were heavily armed. They were probably a testament to the commotion Altair had caused just yesterday.

"Friends of yours?" Ezio asked, but there was more amusement in his voice than anything else.

"You could say that, but I am not in the mood to talk to them right now," he shot right back. They could have easily taken down the group, they were two fully trained assassins and one talented novice after all, but they did not want to cause an unnecessary scene, especially not in the night, when hiding places were rare and they could not hide in a crowd.

"I think they are gone now," Ezio said after a while. It was clear that he was getting restless.

Desmond hummed, but stopped the younger man, when he started to move. With his eagle vision activated, he could easily make out Altair's form. The Syrian was perched on the roof of a nearby house and his eyes were fixed on something else. Desmond followed his gaze and was not surprised to see the guards still standing there, talking among each other. It was clear that they would not move for a while.

"Climb, we will use the roofs. Hopefully, they have not too many guards up there."
"We will kill them, if they have," Ezio's confidence was nice and the older assassin found himself nodding in agreement. He watched how the longer haired male skilfully started climbing the facade of a nearby house. Before he followed his ancestor, did he look in Altair's direction again. The Syrian had noticed their movement and was now more alert than before. He gave a brief nod, when he noticed Desmond's eyes on him, to signal that he understood the plan and then turned to meet them halfway.

"I cannot wait until we reach Monteriggioni," Desmond mumbled to himself. He was sick of running around, avoiding guards.

"Remember son, it could be worse," William's voice came over the speaker in his ear.

Desmond made a humming noise, before positioning his foot against the wall, his hands already grabbing onto a wooden plant that stood out just a little. "I will cheer up as soon as the Auditore name is cleared."
William made a thoughtful noise. "It cannot be THAT long. When I remember correctly, Ezio saved Lorenzo Medici and from then on, his name was cleared."

"I just hope it happens anytime soon, but since Altair and I are here..." he let out a sigh, "Some things might have changed."
"Yes, but you should not forsake hope," said the older man.

"I won't," he vowed, but did not say more. Ezio was in hearing distance again and he did not want for the Italian to think that he was insane. He needed the young Auditore to trust him, him and Altair.

"There you are, old man," teased Ezio, "and here I thought I had to carry you."

"I was just waiting for you to fall, so that I might catch you... novice," Desmond retorted. The easy joking was a good sign, even if it was still a long way to mutual trust. "Now come on, let's not waste more time."
"Agreed."