Thanks to all those who reviewed! And so many sweet comments about Momma Leo! I'm glad you like him, and now here's more to the story.

Thanks again to all the reviewers on the last two chapters! That's thanks to :

ardx, darkduchess1, Deaths-Glance, deathskeith, Emera-chan, Evilness, Fallen-Petal-94, FEARMEfrancis, Gord and V, guest, HikariNoTenshi-San, HumanElement, KNDfreak, MEM-SEV, Mine6Chan, Namless Daydreamer, Peace of pie, person, Shooting Stars, annnddd Sophie Aiyana.

If I missed anyone, I officially owe you a baby polar bear. =D

- Love from HA15

Hurriedly placing his art supplies on the grass and arranging them so they would not topple, Leonardo walked swiftly to the wall of the training ring.

"Ezio, if you spar with one of the other boys I will patch Nando's injury and return him to you shortly," the artist said, making a worried noise when he saw the blood. Leonardo moved to enter the training ring, but was stopped by Nando's cry before he could.

"I'm not allowed to let you help me!" Nando said, waving his arms defensively.

There was a pause; the air suddenly tasting stale and heavy.

"Not… allowed…?" Leonardo murmured. With slow and deliberate movements, the artist looked to Ezio with questioning eyes.

It took all of Ezio's years as an assassin not to flinch like a beaten pup when those blue eyes focused on him.

After a long moment, Leonardo shook his head and turned back to the young assassino.

"Don't be silly, of course I will bandage your injuries! You're bleeding and I will not leave you this way, no matter what words you say. Sit down and let me fetch my bandages."

"Mam - I mean, Maestro Da Vinci –"

"Sit. I will return uno momento."

"But I-I –"

"Sit, Nando."

"Leonardo," Ezio began, "I have told the boys that they cannot –"

"Ezio." The tone was sharp and flat – a clear warning.

Ezio found his lips shutting the moment blue eyes and a freckled face turned to stare at him again. Their gazes held until the heat in those blue eyes made Ezio eventually look away in defeat.

Nodding to himself, Leonardo turned back to Nando with a smile. "Now then, sit. I will return."

The boy did as ordered, looking at the Master Assassin and his Mamma curiously before hurriedly looking away again. Behind them, Dasten audibly whispered, "Did Maestro Ezio just lose a fight with Mamma Leo?"

The blond artist returned a few minutes later and Rinaldo took the load of supplies from his arms, laying them out on the bench atop which Nando was sitting. Leonardo immediately went to work, swiping at the blood and doing his best to clean the boy up.

Leonardo murmured to himself as he worked, his voice low yet soothing. It took a few long minutes, yet no-one spoke a word or dared interrupt him from his mothering actions.

"A cloth to clean the blood… disinfectant to protect it from infection… salve to prevent scarring … and…"

Then, unexpected by all, Leonardo in and kissed the boy's tanned chest right above the injury.

"And a kiss to make everything better," the blond man proclaimed. The young apprentice flushed pink from his ears down to his exposed chest.

Nando shyly tucked a stray piece of hair out of his eyes and muttered an awed (albeit embarrassed) "Grazie." Yet as he spoke, he felt an uncomfortable heat prickle at his back, and he turned over his shoulders only to freeze in place.

Three sets of hardened eyes, the eyes of assassins who had killed many men, starred pointedly at the boy. The jealousy coming off his comrades was so tangible that Nando quickly swallowed a lump in his throat and turned to face the front, ignoring the glares he was receiving.

At the same time, Leonardo felt heat prickle up his spine, and only when he realized it wasn't going away did he glance over his own shoulder. His heart stuttered and his whole body flushed upon seeing Ezio's golden eyes pinned on him.

Those eyes, so bright and rare, seem to stare into Leonardo's very core. The assassin's chest was rising and falling with each inhale, tanned skin stretching across broad muscles. His chest was glittering with sweat, making the dark chocolate of his hair stick to his shoulders and the nape of a strong neck.

Leonardo found the artistic, logical part of his mind supplying that (A) He had not drawn Ezio without a shirt since the assassin had been just over the age of 20 and (B) For a man now twice that age, Ezio's build was the epitome of masculinity – all thick muscle and chest hair and broad shoulders. He would be a wondrous subject for Leonardo's sketches.

Yet a rapidly increasing part of Leonardo's brain could only supply:

… Oh Mio Dios… magnifico…

His blue eyes travelled the length of Ezio's frame without his consent, taking in the broad chest and defined abs that should have been a sin on a man Ezio's age. His eyes then took noted the way dark chest hair narrowed into a seductive trail leading down, down, down... until it disappeared under a line of brown cloth.

That cloth makes up his pants, his mind supplied. Ah, yes, Ezio's pants.

His brain began whirring back to life as he realized he was staring at Ezio's pants, his dearest friend's pants! Embarrassed he hurriedly looked up and felt heat shoot straight into his groin.

Golden eyes, half-lidded and intense as any predator's, were still gazing down at Leonardo. He'd seen the way Leonardo had been looking at him!

Desire rolled through Leonardo at having those eyes focused so intently on him, and he hurriedly looked back to Nando, trying to ignore the thrumming in his chest.

"Boys," Ezio drawled from behind him, the husky tenor making Leonardo bite his lip. "Go inside. Now."

"Che, why?" Vanze asked, scoffing at the request.

Ezio turned eagle-like eyes onto the apprentices, making them quickly stand at attention.

"Do it. Don't ask why."

The boys exchanged worried glances. Nando jumped up before shuffling to join his companions. Leonardo tried to smile reassuringly at the young assassinos although his own heart felt like it would burst out of his chest.

"Don't worry, boys. I think I know what Ezio has to say. Go inside; it will be alright."

"…are you sure?" Dasten muttered quietly, looking at Ezio's intense gaze before having to look back to the dirt.

"Si si, " Leonardo chuckled, feeling a little calmer as the boys nervous expressions. He knew Ezio would not hurt him and a sense of protectiveness overtook him when he saw the boys' expressions.

The words left Leonardo's lips before he could think twice -

"Head inside, boys. Your Mamma and Papà just need to discuss some things in private for uno momento."

Ezio's intense gaze wavered at the exact moment Leonardo's own blue one went wide at what he'd just uttered.

"Papà?" Ezio repeated in confusion.

The eyes of his four young students went wide with terror.

Leonardo swallowed a growing lump in his throat, and admitted in a panic, "Si, if I am their Madre it is only fitting that you are their Padre, no? You founded this Fratellanza di Assassinos, so you are its founding father and are therefore theirs as well."

"You - espere un seguno, they call you 'Madre'?" Ezio said.

The four apprentices had never run so fast out of the courtyard.

Leonardo chuckled nervously at their retreating forms before turning back to the Auditore man and nodding.

"They call me Mamma actually. It was upon my request. 'Madre' is too formal for my liking and I actually –"

Hot, scarred lips suddenly sealed Leonardo's' own and effectively shut down whatever he had been about to say. A slick tongue, well versed in pleasure, danced with Leonardo's own, tasting every crevice of his mouth and teasing the other to play.

Leonardo gasped when the kiss was broken and the same lips and tongue settled on his neck, licking and suckling at the skin with a fierce passion. A sharp bite to the neck made Leonardo throw his head back, moaning loudly.

Hehehe. **cheeky smile**