/AN

Well here's another one. Sorry it's a bit shorter than normal but I've been a bit busy with three essays for school. It was not fun and i still have two to go. Anyone want to help? I'm kidding, I'm sure i would just get into trouble. But... nope, can't do it

Well i hope you all enjoy another chapter of this fine story.

Chapter 12: Into Rome We Go

It had taken close to a month before Altair finally saw the ancient walls of Rome come into view. Sneaking past Borgia patrols and bandits hadn't been easy and after Monteriggioni's fall it was best if he kept a low profile so mainly hid from the passing patrols as any sign of assassinations would be like lighting a fire in a pitch black cave. There had been no news from any of the other Assassins in the last couple of days and he hadn't heard about any news from Ezio or Harry since he last saw them in Monteriggioni, although in the current times no news was probably for the best.

From the looks of it, the attempt that Ezio made on Rodrigo Borgia's life had made the Templar Grandmaster more paranoid then he had been previously as security looks as if it had been increased considerable. Archers now patrolling the wall, soldiers guarding the gates and searching people and carts before the gates even opened before quickly closing so no one could sneak in unannounced and some of the damaged section had been repair though looked as if it was a hastily done.

Altair spent nearly twenty minutes wondering how he could possibly get inside the city without the alarm being raised when he remembered the people in this time wouldn't be on the lookout for the Master Assassin Altair, so theoretically he could just walk through the gates. He had already hidden his robes in his magical bag a day or two after he had left Monteriggioni so he would be less likely to be noticed. After he had removed his hidden blades, placed them into his bag and checked his sword was to ensure he could use it in a moment's notice, he mounted his horse and made his way to the road before slowly walking towards the soldiers at the gate.

"Halt! Please dismount your horse for inspection." A soldier called out as he rode up to the gate. Altair nodded before dismounting and handing the reins to another nearby soldier who took the horse aside and searched the bags of supplies that Altair had gathered for the journey. Nothing incriminating, just some food and water for the journey

"Who are you and what is your business in Rome?" The Soldier asked.

"My name is Malik Al-Sayf and I have journeyed from Acre to visit family who live in Rome." Altair said having thought of a cover story on the ride to the gates and offering his friend Malik's name in place of his own. The Guard turned to another guard who was holding a list obviously checking his names against known Assassins before looking up and shook his head to show the name wasn't on it.

"Captain, Nothing suspicious found in our search. Just fresh food and water." The guard who searched his horse said as he brought the horse back and offered the reins to Altair who took them with a thanks.

"Very well, you're all clear Malik and you're free to move on. Welcome to Rome and enjoy your stay with your family. OPEN THE GATES!" The Guard called out to the gatehouse and the gates slowly opened. Altair nodded and remounted his horse and rode inside into what was obviously the rich part of Rome as the buildings were still in good condition and people were wearing nicely designed cloths and jewellery

"Now… time to find those two reckless relatives of mine." Altair thought as he began his search through the ancient city.

After four hours with no luck Altair was starting to think they weren't in the city yet. No one had talked about an Assassins but he had learnt a great deal of information about activity in the city. Senators complaining about how the Senate very rarely gets any actual work done, a French army in the countryside going against a group of mercenaries, the peoples disdain of the Borgia's influence. Altair had almost given up hope of finding any information of his fellow Assassins when a large explosion was heard nearby and Altair turned sharply to find a nearby Borgia tower was on fire.

"If that was Harry there would be a dragon flying overhead or nearby… That's Ezio." Altair thought with a smirk as he spurred his horse faster to get to the area quickly and finally saw Ezio with Machiavelli at a nearby stable. Now that the Borgia's influence in the area was weakened after the destruction of the tower the shopkeepers and the stablemen were bravely returning to their businesses and from the looks of it Ezio was handing the man a pouch of coins that could be used to repair any damages.

"Thank you, Thank you my friend for this generosity. Please, you and you're friend take my best horses. I insist." The stableman said in complete happiness.

"Thank you and it was nothing." Ezio said as the man retrieved the two horses and lead them to Ezio and Machiavelli.

"You've been here how long and already causing trouble that would get us caught." Altair said as he rode up to join the two.

"Altair! You're a sight for sore eyes. Glad to see you're still alive, I'd feared the worse as we hadn't heard from you in some time." Ezio said happily and gave Altair a hug once he demounted his horse.

"It took me some time to sneak through Italy and into Rome. The Borgia's influence is causing trouble for us all. Have you heard from Harry?" Altair asked making Ezio sigh.

"No I haven't, Not since the Villa attack, no signs of Sparth either." Ezio said

"Hopefully he's still ok." Altair said.

"Indeed, now would you care to join us? We were just heading for the Assassin Hideout in the city." Ezio asked as he mounted his horse, Machiavelli already waiting.

"As much as the reunion is nice, it will not take long for Borgia troops to begin hunting the one responsible for the tower attack. We must move." Machiavelli said quickly. Altair nodded and remounted his horse and the three set off. They made their way through the city make small talk before Machiavelli started on Ezio again.

"Fine, let us talk openly… Rodrigo Borgia's death would not have solved anything." Ezio stated.

"I am inclined to disagree." Machiavelli said unhappily.

"Look at this city." Ezio said gesturing around him. "The centre of Borgia and Templar power, killing one man will not change anything, we need to take away the source of their power. Destroying the faith of those loyal to them, showing people they don't need to fear them and teaching the people to stand up against the tyrants." Ezio argued.

"I have to agree with Ezio. The Templars are a like a Hydra, you cut off one head more will take its place. Even if you kill the Hydra another will take its place further down the lineyou have to destroy the image of the Templars so other will not take up its cause." Altair added.

"Are you two suggesting we appeal to the people? Relying on the people is like building on sand, it is not a simple thing and if the sand gives way, the building can collapse." Machiavelli said.

"You are wrong. Our belief in humanity rests at the heart of the Assassin Brotherhood." Ezio said just as someone ran up next to him and stole his a pouch off his belt. The bad news was it was his magical pouch and held quite a few items. Machiavelli not knowing its importance and thinking it was a simple coin purse laughed at his misfortune.

"He must be from your inner circle. Go, get back what has been stolen." Machiavelli said as Ezio grumbled and dismounted and ran after the thief. Machiavelli called out that they would be at the Campidoglio and Ezio waved a hand to show he had heard before disappearing into the crowd.

=-= T.I.T.P.P.F =-=

Machiavelli and Altair were waiting for Ezio to find them after he had gone after the thief and were simply talking while they waited. They only had to wait half an hour before Ezio re-joined the two

"Did you reclaim what was stolen?" Machiavelli asked as he saw Ezio approach.

"I did." Ezio said as he showed the pouch was once again on his belt.

"A small victory." Machiavelli said condescendingly.

"They add up, and in time with some work we will have a dozen more." Ezio argued back trying to get Machiavelli see his point of view.

"And in time, Cesare's gaze will return to Rome and we will be broken once more. That is not the sort of attention we need with these small victories. I'm done talking about this for now, my contact should have been here by now. He was meant to intercept an important letter from a Borgia courier." Machiavelli said with a frown. He sighed before turning and mounting his horse with Altair and Ezio following suit. They rode to the Colosseum quickly and found Machiavelli's contact had been caught by three Borgia guards. He had his hands up in a submissive tone trying to convince them they were wrong and he wasn't trying to steal anything. Ezio and Altair rode ahead quicker and jumped off their horses while plunging their hidden blades into the guards the jumped on. The last turned quickly to see the new threat and charged them but was easily dispatch with a slash of Ezio blade making the guard drop with a wound from hip to shoulder from the sword. Machiavelli rode up and dismounted and turned to the contact.

"Thank you." The contact said.

"Where is it?" Machiavelli asked in a no nonsense voice. The contact pointed to a man in red cloths nearby.

"The Courier still has the letter." The contact said as the courier made a break for it.

"Ezio, stop him." Machiavelli said as Ezio broke into a run after the courier. "Find me at the Baths!" Ezio heard Machiavelli call after him.

=-= T.I.T.P.P.F =-=

Once again Altair and Machiavelli were waiting on Ezio only this time he was gone for much longer than expected, it had been nearly an hour and a half and Machiavelli was becoming impatient.

"Where is he? It should not have taken this long to catch the courier. Ezio should have been here long ag…" Machiavelli was saying but was cut off as they saw a sewer hatch open and Ezio climb out of it. "Ezio, what took you so long?" Machiavelli asked once Ezio joined them.

"I made it to the baths but was attacked by men in wolf outfits." Ezio said and Machiavelli made a noise of understanding.

"The Followers of Romulus, The band of false-pagans have been terrorising the city for months and driving people into the arms of the church." Machiavelli explained.

"Quite convenient for them." Ezio replied.

"Exactly, I believe they have Borgia support, but proof remains scarce. That is why the letter is so important." Machiavelli said prompting Ezio to show letter he retrieved.

"I managed to acquire it before my run in with my new friends. I hope you can break the cipher." Ezio said as he handed it over. Machiavelli took one look at it and swore.

"This one was supposed to be legible. We have a copy of the code sheet but it looks as if they encrypted it in a new code. Unless we get a copy of the new code sheet we have nothing." Machiavelli said passing the letter back to Ezio.

"Sometimes logic is not the best way to win a war. You said we have allies in the city, take us to them." Altair said. Machiavelli nodded and beckoned them to follow.

"We have a few allies, the three most notable are the Thieves Guild, Mercenaries and The Courtesans. We also have an ally in the Papal Army who I'll introduce to you once we return to the hideout. And lastly I'll introduce you to the Assassin I've been working with since I returned to Rome. I'm not much of a leader I see myself as a philosopher so I've had them running the main duties of the Brotherhood." Machiavelli explained as they come to a small structure with two metal gates on it. "We recently begun travelling via the old tunnels that run under Rome. It is probably the best way to avoid the guards as they avoid them. Unfortunately most of the entrances are broken and need repairing if we are to use them." Machiavelli said as he opened the gate and climbed down into the tunnel followed closely by Ezio and Altair. It took them nearly half an hour of travelling via the tunnels to get to the Assassin's Hideout on Tiber Island. It was a good thing that Machiavelli had obviously memorised the tunnels as there were so many off shoots going to other entrances that it would have been very easy to get lost down there.

Finally they climbed out through the entrance into the Hideout. The hideout was set out professionally, cabinets holding maps, blueprints and plans, boards with important information and targets on the walls and decorative items to make it more comfortable then the storeroom that it obviously had been in the past. Machiavelli walked up to a man in an military officers outfit and the two greeted as old friends before he turned to Ezio and Altair.

"Ah Sir Ezio, a pleasure. Fabio Orsini, at your service. I've heard a great deal about you from my cousin Bartolomeo D'Alviano. I'm afraid i have not had the pleasure of meeting your friend." Fabio said with a respectful bow to Ezio before looking at Altair curiously.

"This is a fellow Assassin and a dear friend of mine, Altair. He is visited Italy from The Levantine Brotherhood." Ezio said. The three had agreed to keep the true nature of what happened to themselves and involve as few people as possible.

"Ahh, well welcome to Italy. I do hope you are enjoying your visit." Fabio asked Ezio.

"There were a few rough patches but has been more than adequate." Altair said referencing the Villa attack.

"Fabio has lent us this unused storeroom on Tiber Island, i know you are used to better accommodations in Toscana..." Machiavelli explained but was cut off by Ezio.

"It is perfect." Ezio said gesturing around him.

"Good, Then I am off to begin preparations for Romagna. Today, Cesare commands my men but soon, I hope, they will be free." Fabio said with another bow before he left the hideout.

"Now I will introduce you to our final ally before we began planning our assault on the Borgia. Fair warning, he is a little eccentric." Machiavelli said as he lead the two to another room and let them inside and saw another Assassin looking away from them and looking through a cabinet.

"Mentor... Allow me to introduce two our best Assassins, Ezio and Altair." Machiavelli said and the three saw him look up but not turn and give a laugh.

"Where the hell have you two been?" Harry said as he turned and looked at his two relative that he hadn't seen in over a month.

"HARRY?!" Ezio and Altair said in complete surprise.

"You three know each other?" Machiavelli asked in surprise.

"He was with us at the villa, you had just left when Altair come running in trying to kill him. What happened to you Harry, last i saw you were being held hostage by Cesare and were escaping on your dragon's back when he got shot in the stomach and landed a distance away. Speaking of which, where is the lizard, He didn't get captured by The Borgia did he?" Ezio explained and asked and started yelling when something landed on his back and started licking him. He threw his hands up to get whatever it was off and felt whatever it was jump off him and glide to Harry. Finally he saw a very small Sparth clinging onto Harry's back with his tail wrapped around Harry's stomach.

"Why is Sparth so small?" Altair asked curiously as he took in the small dragon and ignored Ezio's complaining in the background.

"Thanks to Sparth being a Royal Dragon he has more magic then regular dragons. As such he can alter his size to his usual adult size or the size of a child. Which made carrying him with me as i apparated across Italy much easier." Harry explained as Sparth moved from Harry's back to his desk and sat down and Altair and Ezio could see the bandage around his chest.

"OK next question. How did he get hurt, wouldn't his scales protect him from the bullets they were using?" Ezio asked after cleaning his face from the dragon slobber.

"Ahhh." Harry said before grabbing his chair and pulling it over to the cabinet that Sparth had been lying on top of before they entered. He climbed up and ran his hand across the top and made a lot of white and gold items fly off the top. Ezio bent down and picked one up and recognised it as a Dragon scale.

"Ever couple of years Dragons will shed their scales so that damaged and worn scales will shed so that new scales can grow. That being said, Sparth's chest was very, very vulnerable during the attack and a simple bullet can easily piece and cause damage. I hope that answers Araytigre's comments nicely." Harry said explaining and moving his chair again. The other understood but were confused about the final comment.

"Who?" Altair asked

"Nevermind... simple fourth wall breaking." Harry said as he moved Sparth off the centre of his desk and onto a side as he unrolled a map of Rome on his desk.

"I said he was eccentric." Machiavelli said.

"You don't need to tell us that, we found out when we met." Altair said as Harry clicked his fingers and three chairs appeared.

"Ok... here's the rundown. Things are not going well at the moment. The three factions busy with their own problems and as such are causing us problems. The Courtesans Brothel, The Blooming Rose is run by a women named Madam Solari. The Courtesans main duty was to supply us with information that they managed to get out of senators, guards and other dignitaries that visited the Brothel. In the beginning things were going well. We had a steady supply of information and we were able to put it into effect. Unfortunately, Solari has become lazy as of late and spends her time attending parties and some rumours have been heard that she is taking bribes from Templar clergymen about our movements and so we've had to distance ourselves from the courtesans. Something i hope to rectify at a later date as wars are won with information." Harry said as he conjured a rose icon and placed it where the Blooming Rose was in Rome.

"If there are rumours of her taking bribes why haven't we done anything about it?" Ezio asked.

"Like i said, we've got too many problems and not enough resources. I don't have the man power to watch her to confirm the rumours so all we could do was to distance ourselves." Harry explained.

"Next is the Thieves Guild. Pretty basic, they rob the guards and make lives difficult for them. They're also responsible for stealing any important documents from any Borgia couriers they come across in and around Rome but things have become difficult since the Borgia recruited The Cento Occhi. Who better to deliver documents and avoid bandits then more bandits. Cesare is holding a dagger to the leaders throat after they attacked a Borgia convey a few weeks back. That being said, they still loyal to Cesare as he pays too well and it doesn't help that they and the thieves we employ have been against each other for years. So we've been losing thieves and the odd thing is about a week after the Villa attack the thieves started distancing themselves from us. Less contact and holding onto any documents they do manage to acquire. I've tried to arrange a meeting with their leadership but they haven't returned any messages I've sent." Harry explained as he conjured a dagger icon and placed it where the thieves hideout was.

"Do you want me to go meet them, I've been on good terms with most of the thieves guilds in Italy and could assist with arranging a meeting between the thieves and ourselves." Ezio offered hoping it was one of the Thieves he was familiar with.

"I was going to have you mending relations with all factions, you have the most experience with the people from here so figured a familiar face would be best." Harry replied and Ezio nodded in response.

"Finally we have The Mercenaries. Our relations with the mercenaries are actually good at this time. Their main job is help us fight our battles as we have very few Assassins and to harass guards. Unfortunately it seems as if Cesare has made a deal with the French as they have a battalion of soldiers here fighting the mercenaries on one side with The Borgia attacking the other side from a nearby Borgia tower the two forces have pushed the mercenaries into a corner they cannot get out of." Harry explained as he placed a sword icon he conjured on the map.

"What are our options." Altair asked after a while of studying the map and going over what he had been told.

"I want Ezio to visit each faction and offer any assistance he can. Visit the mercenaries first, they are in the most dire situation compared to the others even if you have to take out one faction to do it the mercenaries can get some wiggle room to focus on one faction. I'd recommend the Borgia tower, Not only is it the weakest of the two factions it would significantly reduce Borgia influence in the area, which we are striving for. Then it's your choice, Thieves or Courtesans. Talk with the Thieves leadership and do whatever is asked... within reason. As for the courtesans try to get Solari back on course, we need information or we're blind. If you have to replace her.. preferable with someone who is loyal to the Brotherhood and not to whoever has the biggest coin purse but this is the worst case scenario option." Harry told Ezio who nodded in understanding before he turned to Altair.

"Altair, i have a more important job for you. I'm sure you noticed when you came in we have very few Assassin's. The few Assassin's we do have are running other jobs i have them on so I'm putting you on Assassination work for the foreseeable future. Outside is a board next to a cabinet, The board has names on it of all known Templar operatives in Rome who are causing us trouble. The Cabinet has files with their information in them, last sighting, known accomplices and places they frequent. I'm afraid it's not much and you'll have to collect any other needed information. Remove these operatives and we can breathe easier. If you can get a high ranked target that would be great but any Templar deaths will be much appreciated." Harry explained.

"I have one last question thought before we break." Ezio said after a moment silence.

"Shoot." Harry said.

"How are you Mentor?" Ezio asked making Harry sigh and point to Machiavelli.

"Ask him, i was against it but no one else would take up the position." Harry said

"It seemed like a good idea at the time." Machiavelli said making all four share a laugh before they bowed to each other and went their separate ways.

/AN

And I'm done with this one. Hope you all did enjoy and can't wait for the next. Now if you all don't mind i need to write an essay about Italian Asylum Seeker polices for my Human Rights class. Wish me luck, i'll need it

So finally favourite, follow and Review and you will have another chapter soon.

Till Next Time Folks