Disclaimer: Assassin's Creed and the knowledge of medicinal herbs do not belong to me. They belong to Ubisoft and Wikipedia, respectively. And that is oh-so-depressing to me. Oh-so depressing. Emphasis on 'depressing'. This may be applied to previous and future chapters. Depressingly.

Warning: This is a warning. Not a spoiler, I'm not going to say what happens in the chapter, just that it's possibly M-rated. You have been warned.

A few days had passed since Leonardo's birthday, and he was finding it very odd that Jacqueline and Ezio weren't talking to each other. They always bickered and fought, no matter where, when or over what. Leonardo remembered once, when he convinced them to go to church with him on one Sunday, that they were attracting attention because Jacque thought the church looked pretty, and Ezio thought it looked depressing. He had to apologize to the priest at the end of the mass.

These past few days, however, they didn't speak a word to each other, and avoided being in the same room. Jacqueline was still taking care of Ezio's foot, which was almost healed, but did it swiftly and without looking him in the eye. He managed a quiet 'thank you', she nodded, and that was it.

Today, Leonardo was talking to Ezio about the codex pages, and how he found them very entertaining to decipher, when Jacqueline entered the room holding a spoon and her other hand under it, so it wouldn't drop on the floor.

"Leo, Anna taught me to make this sauce with milk, can you try it and tell me wha—" she stopped when she saw Ezio, who started fidgeting with the codex pages, trying to look busy.

Leonardo stepped forward, and accepted the spoon into his mouth.

"…maybe a bit more salt." He said, licking his lips. She went back to the kitchen and Leonardo turned to Ezio. "What is going on between you two?" he snatched the codex pages back, forcing Ezio to look up at him.

"Nothing…" he whined. Whined.

"You don't even look at each other, how can nothing be wrong!" Leonardo frowned at his friend and stepped in his way as he tried to leave the room.

"It's just…I…cazzo, Leonardo, why did you have to ask me? Why didn't you ask her?" Ezio slumped on the couch.

"Because this is my house, and I do what I want here, and I want to know what's going on with the people who live with me!" Leonardo sat on his chair and crossed his arms.

"Well…my room's a mess…she fell and…I may have…she was…and then I…"

Leonardo put his elbow on the table next to him and rested his chin on his hand.

"But I didn't want to…well…I did…but I didn't know…and then…"

"What happened?" Leonardo tried again.

"She tripped…"

"Yes…?"

"And she fell…"

"Naturally…"

"shefellonmeandIkissedher"

Leonardo paused. Maybe he hadn't understood since Ezio was talking so fast.

"Let's try this again…" he sighed. "She tripped."

Ezio nodded.

"And she fell…?"

"On…me…"

"And you…?"

"I may have…well…she was so close, and…"

"You kissed her?" Leonardo finished for him. Ezio nodded.

"So?"

"What do you mean, 'so'?" Ezio shouted.

"You kiss at least five women a day. What's wrong with Jacque?" Leonardo made himself comfortable on his chair.

"Well, firstly, she lives here, the women I kiss don't." Ezio stated matter-of-factly.

"I think it's because you like her." Leonardo said dismissively and turned to his sketches.

"I…DO…NOT!" Ezio roared and stormed out of the house.

"You step foot out of this house and you can kiss your free treatment goodbye." Jacqueline was leaning her shoulder on the kitchen doorframe, casually stirring a pot in her arms. Leonardo looked back and forth between them. Jacqueline was still stirring her pot lazily, while Ezio looked tense. He finally gave up and marched back in, throwing himself on the couch. Jacque didn't even acknowledge anything, she simply turned away and disappeared in the kitchen.

Leonardo looked back at Ezio and smirked.

"You like her."

"No, I don't."

"You never obey anything anyone says."

"I'm injured."

"Your foot isn't broken, it's barely swollen anymore. That never stopped you from going out."

"Well…I…"

"Like her." Leonardo finished.

"Say that one more time, Leonardo, and I'll find some other genius to translate the codex pages."

"You can try…" Leonardo chuckled. "But the first step is denial…"

"Leo? I'm thinking about buying a new bed, what do you think?"

It had been a week since Ezio's foot was healed, and he was off doing missions like no tomorrow. Jacqueline was enjoying the rare quiet in the house drinking the freshly squeezed orange juice she made with Leonardo, when she brought up the subject.

"I think you should be as comfortable as you possibly can, since you only have a room to yourself. Why did you not tell me this sooner?" Leonardo put his glass on the table.

"Nonsense, I wouldn't let you pay for me. We both know that I make more than you." She paused. "No offense, mon chér."

"None taken." He chuckled. "But would you reconsider? I feel like I owe you so much, you have helped me on so many occasions when I was sick, and now Ezio…" He noticed she tensed up at the mention of the assassin. "Who, speaking of which…"

"Don't, Leonardo." She sipped her juice. "I'm aware that you have spoken with Ezio, but I won't tolerate it."

"Alright…" Leonardo grinned.

They were strolling down the street to a shop Leonardo knew to buy the new bed Jacqueline wanted. They entered, and Leonardo searched the shelves for a new blanket. He liked to cuddle on the sofa with a warm cup of coffee on cold nights before he went to sleep, and his current blanket was short off its end.

"I need it soft." Jacqueline was saying to the salesman. "I'm talking marshmallow kind of soft. Lay me down and let me just sink in. That's what I'm talking about." The salesman chuckled and assured her that for any friend of Leonardo, he'd make the finest bed. They agreed on the size, and on a few bed clothing, and Jacqueline paid.

"He said it would be ready in a week." She was saying to a happy new blanket owner, aka Leonardo, who was clutching the basket containing said blanket.

"That's not long. Will they bring the mattress to the house?" he asked.

"Oh, not just the mattress, the wooden part of the bed too, I asked for a bigger one." Jacqueline smiled.

"I think I can sell that bed, then…" Leonardo unlocked the door to his home when they arrived, and let the customers waiting outside enter. Since Jacqueline started working at his home, word of his work spread around faster, too. The rest of the day, Leonardo made visiting appointments for paintings and Jacqueline tended to her patients.

A few days later, late at night, Leonardo and Jacqueline were enjoying their nightly drink before bed when Ezio came in. He looked like he had jumped into the canals again. And smelled so, too. Leonardo watched as he simply dragged himself across the living room without even acknowledging them, and let himself fall on the sofa, face down. Leonardo looked at Jacqueline, concerned, and she shrugged.

"Ezio?" Leonardo called, standing up.

"Hrrrmph." Was the answer, muffled on the couch cushions.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"m'hr"

"What?"

Ezio turned his head to the side, but didn't open his eyes.

"I'm hurt." He turned his head again to smother his face in the couch. Jacqueline was immediately kneeling at his side, poking and prodding at Ezio, while he tried to push her away.

"Talk to me, Ezio, I can't guess where you're hurt."

"Everything hurts." Came the muffled and slightly angered response.

Jacqueline sighed and stood up.

"He must have had a hard day, just muscle cramps." She answered Leonardo's questioning look. "I'll prepare a bath with a few salts, can you get him upstairs and help him when I finish?"

Leonardo nodded and sat back on his chair, listening to Ezio groan and moan in pain while Jacqueline heated up some water and took it upstairs. When she went up with a small collection of vials, he forcefully made Ezio stand up and helped him up the stairs. When they entered the bathroom, Jacqueline was stirring the steaming water with her hand. The heavy scent of herbs and oils unclogged their noses as they breathed. Jacqueline added one last vial of white liquid into the water, clouding it. She left the bathroom and closed the door behind her. Leonardo helped Ezio unclothe himself and step into the water.

"He looks spent." Leonardo told a waiting Jacqueline as he closed the door behind him.

"Is he in the water?" she asked. When Leonardo nodded, she reached for the doorknob.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Maybe I can help by activating his pressure spots."

Leonardo grinned slyly at her.

"You make a comment, and I will hurt you." She said as she entered the bathroom.

Leonardo chuckled and retired to his room until tomorrow.

"What the hell do you think you're doing here?" Ezio was watching Jacqueline drag a stool closer to the tub. She sat behind his head.

"Sit up." She said curtly.

"Jacque…" he was shushed and told to sit up again. He did so, and thanked whatever she put in the water made it whitish, therefore not see-through. He soon relaxed when he felt her press one single finger into the back of his neck. She randomly pressed her fingers to different spots on his back and neck, and soon, all the tension he felt was gone.

"What is this?" he managed to ask when she pulled his shoulders and made him lie back on the tub.

"Pressure spots." She answered. Still that dry tone.

"Look, Jacque, I'm…" he took a deep breath. "I'm really sorry about…" he gestured around. "You know…"

He waited for an answer but got none. The fingers on his shoulders softened, and he found it much more relaxing than the hard poking.

"What happened to you?" she asked, her voice now back to her normal tone, instead of the curt harshness she'd been using to talk to him these past few weeks.

"My mind was somewhere else." He explained, sliding down a little in the water to rest his head on the edge of the tub. "I was careless, and almost failed the mission."

"You have to be more careful." She said as she continued massaging his shoulders. She had poured some oils in the water, making his skin slick.

"I normally am." Ezio sighed and fidgeted with the washcloth on the edge of the tub. He hated scrubbing himself. As if reading his thoughts, Jacqueline took it from him, and dipped it in the water. Bringing it up to his shoulder, she squeezed it, making the water run down his chest. He relished in the warm feeling of the water tickling his skin.

Jacqueline kept rubbing the cloth in smooth circles on Ezio's shoulder, and noticed he closed his eyes and hummed at the touch. She lowered her eyes again to his broad, tan shoulders, then to his muscular chest, then down to the water's edge. She shifted and started massaging his other shoulder. The whitish water contrasted with his dark skin as it ran down his chest. She bent a little bit forward and started softly rubbing it, feeling the muscles under the cloth ripple and relax.

Ezio felt something tickle his ear, but didn't open his eyes. He smelled fresh herbs, not the ones that were in his bath, those were heavy and stifling, no. He recognized it as Jacqueline's smell. What was tickling his ear was her hair. Why she never wore it up like all the other girls was beyond him, but it fit her. He opened his eyes and turned his head to the left to look at her.

"Jacque?" she straightened up and looked at him. "The water's getting a bit cold. If you don't mind, I'd like to…" she nodded and left the bathroom.

When he came out, he had a towel around his waist. He walked down the hall, and saw Jacqueline's door was open. He peeked inside her room as he passed it. It seemed she had a new bed. Turning the other way, he entered his own and closed the door behind him. He put on a large pair of cotton trousers and tied them around his waist. He exited his room again and walked forward right into Jacqueline.

"Oh, scusi." He steadied the pile of books in her arms.

Letting Ezio take the books from her, she led him into her room and pointed to a desk at the corner. She noticed he hadn't dried himself properly, the small beads of water running down his turned back. She watched as one particularly large bead ran all the way down his spine, and was absorbed by his pants. When he turned around, his chest wasn't much different. Tsking, she took her own towel from her closet and dabbed at his chest.

"You get sick and I'm the one stuck taking care of you."

"Why is your towel fluffier and softer than mine?" he chuckled, sending deep vibrations from his chest to Jacqueline's arms.

"Because you're so rough." She said back.

"I happen to be very sensitive." He answered in mock hurt.

"Yes, and I'm the queen of France."

"You sure do have a bed big enough for a queen…" Ezio stepped out of her reach and padded to the bed.

"And you're barefoot." She huffed. "Do you want to get sick?" she walked around him and finished drying his back.

"Of course not. But I know that if I do, you'll give me those wonderful mind doping medicines." Ezio grinned and ran his hand over the bed.

Jacqueline scoffed and threw the towel in a basket with her dirty clothes in the corner of the room. When she turned Ezio was face down on her mattress, humming in approval.

"What? No! Get off my bed!" she slapped Ezio's shoulder.

"Don't be rough with me, I'm very, very tired." He rolled around and looked at Jacqueline with a grin. She frowned.

"Then go sleep."

"I pretended to, but you won't let me."

"On your own bed…"

He ignored her and scooted farther up and to the middle of the bed and reached for a pillow. He put the softness under his head. Jacqueline watched all this with her hands on her hips.

"Are you comfortable enough your highness?" she asked.

"Yes, very, thank you." He said and closed his eyes. "You may leave."

"Alright then," she said. "But know that my boyfriend slept there with me last night…" she trailed off. Ezio scrambled out the bed and stepped back from it. Jacqueline quickly sat on it. "Ha."

"You lied." Ezio crossed his arms.

"So?" Jacqueline kicked her shoes off and scooted to the middle of the bed, where she sat hugging her pillow.

"You're not supposed to lie, Jacque." Ezio said in a tone a parent would use with their child.

"You lie all the time, Ezio."

"Yes, but it's part of my job. You, however, don't have to lie."

"And what are you going to do about it?" she raised an eyebrow defiantly.

"I'm going to teach you a lesson, ragazza." He reached forward and pulled her foot, making her fall backwards and slide to the edge of the bed. He started to tickle her, but she used her pillow as a shield.

"That's not fair." Ezio grunted and grabbed her pillow, throwing it in the direction of the hall. They jumped when they heard a slam. Looking towards the door, they saw that the pillow had hit the door and slammed it shut. "Now no one will hear you scream." Ezio turned back to her and continued assaulting her sides. She shrieked and scrambled to the other side of the bed, getting up and standing with her back to the opposite wall, making Ezio fall face forward into the mattress. "Get back here!" he crawled on the mattress and reached for her arm, but held his shoulder and hissed, slumping back to the bed.

"Ezio?" she stepped forward and crouched by the bed. He looked up at her and grinned.

"I must have sprained my shoulder when I threw that archer from the roof."

Jacqueline scoffed and rolled her eyes. Ezio rolled on his back and clutched his shoulder.

"Give." Jacqueline was standing, reaching for his arm. He hesitantly stretched and felt her grasp his wrist and forearm with both her hands. "Relax." She shook his arm. When he did, she pulled his arm up towards her and he felt more than heard the sickening 'pop' his shoulder made. At first it hurt like a bitch, but then he rolled it around and noticed the pain was gone.

"You're an angel, Jacque, grazie." He grinned at her. She sat on the bed next to his head and started prodding his shoulder.

"You need to start stretching."

"Excuse me?"

"You're hurting like this because you strained your muscles too much." She explained. "If you stretch before a mission, or in your case every morning, this won't happen."

"I see." Ezio looked at the ceiling in thought. "Why didn't you become a doctor?" he heard her sigh.

"I wanted to, but if they catch me using the stuff that I do, I'd be arrested." She explained, looking out the window, where the stars were twinkling.

"You'd still be arrested if anyone told the guards now." Ezio snorted. "I don't know how they didn't chase us when I brought them in your shop."

"That's because I take care of most of the guards' injuries." She looked at him. "Many of them caused by you."

"So that's why they always show up again! It's all your fault!" Ezio frowned. "And you're still taking care of them?"

"Of course I am. Don't look at me like that, Ezio, They pay me well, and even if I stopped, they'd just break in."

Ezio sighed and kept looking at the ceiling.

"I am sorry, about your shop." He mumbled.

"I know." She leaned back on her bed.

They laid there in silence, drifting in and out of their thoughts, until Jacqueline lifted herself on her elbows and looked down at Ezio.

"Aren't you going to sleep?"

"I was almost there." He mumbled with his eyes closed.

"You really think you're going to sleep here because my bed is better than yours, don't you?"

"No. I know so." He opened his eyes and grinned at her.

"Get out." She grinned back.

Ezio sat up and put his left hand on the other side of her legs, leaning on it and over Jacqueline.

"Make me."

Jacqueline leaned forward and put her face close to his.

"I could always poison you." She raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"You wouldn't."

"Oh, but I would."

They kept staring at each other. Ezio noticed how her dark brown eyes had a thin golden ring around them. He leaned forward a bit more and breathed in the scent of fresh herbs. Jacqueline licked her lips in nervousness at their closeness and Ezio's eyes zeroed in on them.

"Um…" Jacqueline leaned away. "It's late, and we probably should—"

"Yes, I'll—"

"Right."

They stood up and went to the door. Jacqueline opened it for him and he stepped outside.

"So…good night." He turned back to her.

"Doux rêves." She nodded at him.

He stepped forward and caressed her arm. She shivered under his touch. Ezio slid his arm down and held her waist, leaning forward and bending his head down. Jacqueline followed him with her eyes and craned her neck back to keep eye contact. Ezio tilted his head a bit to the side and closed the distance between them until his lips barely touched hers.

"May I?" he breathed. As an answer, Jacqueline stretched her neck and softly touched Ezio's lips with her own.

Ezio suckled on her upper lip and felt her nibble on his bottom one. He hugged her waist and stepped inside her room, closing the door behind him. Feeling her fingers tangle in his hair and softly tugging, he let her lead him back to her bed. When she stopped walking, she pushed her with his chest and made them fall on the soft mattress. She gasped softly in surprise and Ezio took that chance to slip his tongue in her mouth.

She tasted like she smelled. Fresh and clean, like mint and rosemary and saffron and many other things Ezio was sure were herbs and plants. Jacqueline, however, felt honey invade her mouth and she rubbed her tongue greedily to taste more of the sweet nectar. Ezio lifted his hand and fumbled with the knot on the front of her dress. That seemed to make Jacqueline come back to reality. She pushed lightly at Ezio's shoulders and broke the kiss, looking him in the eye. He leaned on his elbows, caging her underneath him.

"What?" he asked, afraid of having done something wrong.

"I know I can't ask you to be loyal to me." Jacqueline started, a serious look on her face. "But don't expect me to be, either."

Ezio pondered on her words and chose his carefully.

"Why would you think I won't be?"

She raised an eyebrow.

"I don't like it." He said.

"It's called compromise. You really expect me to keep living with you and know that the courtesans work for you, and not say anything?"

"I suppose you're right." He sighed. "I still don't like it, but you're right."

She hugged his leg with her own and softly made him roll around, switching their places and straddling him.

"Think of it this way." She said, leaning back and pulling the bow on her chest, untying her dress and letting it fall around her waist, her white shirt she wore underneath it un-crinkling and framing her torso. "You don't have to put up with the screams, and the tears, and the fights, and the raging fathers and everything else."

"That does sound good." Ezio ran his hands up her thighs and under her shirt. He caressed her soft, warm skin and pulled her down for another kiss. He rolled them over again and pushed her up the bed, so that their feet weren't dangling. When she slid up, the rest of her dress came off down her knees, and he pulled it away, throwing it in a random corner. He faltered and started at her.

"Is that my shirt?" he noticed it reached down her thighs.

"Mmhh…maybe…" she untied his pants.

"I want it back." He growled and leaned down to nip her neck.

"Nhh…" she squirmed. "Come and get it."

Ezio kicked his pants off and settled himself between her thighs. He ran his palms over them and pushed his shirt up and off her. He trailed his tongue over her neck and nipped at a pulse. Jacqueline hugged his neck and arched her back, dragging her nails over Ezio's skin. She felt his hardened muscles on her chest and stomach and purred in his ear, tugging at it with her teeth.

Ezio positioned himself at her entrance and looked at her. When she held his cheek and kissed him, he pushed forward into the wet heat, until he felt something in his way.

He froze.

"Jacque…I…" he looked at her with wide eyes. She was still a virgin? And here he thought they were merely playing! And anyway, he never had a virgin before, all the women that worked for Paola were already professionals, he didn't have a clue of what he should do, he heard it hurt for them and how was he going to—

"Never had a virgin before?" she asked him, smirking, though he could see the beads of sweat on her forehead. He shook his head. "Don't worry about it." He was going to protest and prepared to pull out, but she rolled her hips, making his moan. He looked at her for approval one more time and moved his own hips forward, breaking the barrier and sheathing himself fully inside. God, the tightness…

Jacqueline hugged him tightly and panted, biting down on his shoulder.

"Jacque I'm sorry, I don—"

"Move." She interrupted him and clawed at his back, whining. "Please, Ezio, move."

He did so. At first he was hesitant, afraid to hurt Jacqueline, but when she stopped digging her nails in his back, he sped up a little bit. Jacqueline released his shoulder from her teeth and threw her head back. Ezio nibbled softly on her neck and felt it vibrate when she moaned. He kissed it. Then he kissed it again, making a trail of soft kisses up to the corner of her mouth. She turned her head and let him kiss her. The kiss got deeper, and Ezio felt her pulse violently around him. She broke the kiss and gasped out his name. Right then, he recognized the warm feeling in his stomach, and quickly pulled out. Jacqueline lowered her hand and started stroking him firmly, until he felt himself explode. He thrust into her hand until he was milked dry, then promptly collapsed on her.

They lay there, panting, Jacqueline using her clean hand to softly caress Ezio's hair. He closed his eyes and listened to her heartbeat under his ear. She shifted, and he saw her reaching next to the bed for her shirt. No, wait, his shirt. Whatever. She wiped her hand on it and pushed Ezio away, making him roll over on his back. She wiped her stomach, then Ezio's stomach, then threw the spoiled shirt in a random direction.

"That was my shirt." Ezio hugged her and let her claim his shoulder as her pillow.

"It still is…" she said. She sounded so tired…

"Jacque?"

"Hn?"

"About you being…well, that you never…I mean, that I was the first to…"

"Ezio." She interrupted him. He lifted his head and looked at her. "Sleep."

"Bu—" she kissed him and lay back down on his chest. He sighed and pulled the covers over them and hugged her close, drifting slowly off to sleep.

They were back to bickering again. The bliss.

Leonardo rubbed circles on his temples. He had woken up to the heavenly smell of pancakes, and followed the smell downstairs. When he entered the kitchen, Jacqueline and Ezio were all but throwing kitchen tools at each other.

"You stole that shirt, and you ruined it!" Ezio shouted at her.

"You have fifty shirts, and all of them look the same, get over it!" Jacqueline threw (not so gently) a few fruits on top of a pile of pancakes.

"Good morning…" Leonardo sat down by the table and accepted his plate and glass of milk before Jacqueline threw it at Ezio.

"Good morning, mon chér." She smiled sweetly at him, then turned back to yelling at Ezio. "And anyway, you didn't even miss that shirt until you looked closer!"

"And how close it was…" Ezio muttered and looked away.

"What are you complaining about?" Jacqueline took a step forward and narrowed her eyes at him.

"I'm complaining that you entered my room and you took a shirt without even telling me!" Ezio stepped closer too and hissed threateningly in her face.

"Do you even know how hard it was to find a clean shirt?" she jabbed her finger in his chest.

"Then why did you take it?" Ezio grabbed her hand and squeezed it angrily, making her flinch. Leonardo watched wide eyed. They never resorted to being physical.

"Let me go, you brute!"

"Answer me!" Ezio yanked at her arm when she tried to pull away.

"Ezio, that is enough!" Leonardo stood up. He gasped when Ezio whirled around and used Jacqueline's arm as a lever to throw her against the nearest wall. She thumped loudly against it, making the painting on it fall to the floor and break. "Ezio! What is this madness? What do you think you're—" he faltered when Ezio slammed his own body on Jacqueline's small one and they started…kissing wasn't really the word for it, more like trying to suck each other's soul out through the other's mouth.

Leonardo stood there, baffled.

"Did I hurt you?" Ezio asked softly when he pulled away. Jacqueline softly shook her head and smiled at him. He brushed his fingers through her hair and pushed a strand behind her ear.

Leonardo made a strange noise in the back of his throat. Probably choking on his own saliva.

"I believe we have some explaining to do." Ezio chuckled at the expression his friend had on his face.

"There's nothing to explain." Jacqueline snapped and went back to the sink. "We just had casual sex, nothing more." She ignored the gurgling sound Leonardo was making, and the foam dripping out of his mouth.

LOL, foam. Please review!