A/N: Well now! Hi guys! If you're reading this, this is not a drill! This is the real deal! That's right, I'm updating this old fic. To tell you the truth, I think about these apprentices so much that it hurts. And now, I've finally sat myself down and decided to bring this back. I totally gave everyone a concrete personality and look. There may be some inconsistencies with what I've already written, but trust me, it's better this way. At any rate, here we go!

Trigger warning: Suicide mention

The way of the assassin is one caked in the blood of enemies. One must harden themselves and not let their emotions guide their actions. For a long time, this kept women from joining in the battle. But, in modern times, things have changed and more and more women are proving themselves, not only valuable to the order, but often times more useful than their male counterparts. Any woman can now join the brotherhood should they prove themselves in combat.

But not every female assassin turns out to be great.

Annetta Abete, the lady of our story, aspired to do so much more for her home and her country. She truly believed in what Ezio stood for and fought her way to the top to join him. She thought she knew just how to get his attention, as she often knew with men of Italy. But, challenging the guards proved to be a worse idea than she had thought.

Threatening the guards through letters, stealing their money, or even just breaking their hearts backfired when they came to her home and tried to threaten her family. Even though her brothers were able to chase them off, it didn't help her when they found her in the street. They had cornered her, weakened her until they had almost won, until a figure dropped down form the rooftops and took them out in one fell swoop. Annetta had been able to hold her own against them, but was thankful for the man who saved her.

"The liberation of Rome has begun!" He said, offering a hand to help her back onto her feet.

Since that day, she has happily followed him. She works together with the other recruits, despite the frustration, to bring a better future to Rome.

The apprentices all hung around the desk in the front of the hideout, silent. Ezio had called them all for a meeting, as well as Machievelli, Claudia, and La Volpe. The recruits had heard they were planning a new attack, but weren't exactly needed just yet. So, they stayed patient until that time.

Nino sat in the chair behind the desk, his feet propped up and his arms crossed. Enrico stood behind him, flipping through the pages of a book. Annetta was sitting on the edge of the desk, adjusting her hidden blade and bracer. Augusto and Tullio stood in front of the desk, looking at Nino.

"Do you suppose he thinks he's better than us?" Tullio whispered to Augusto.

"Maybe better than you," Augusto told him matter-of-factly.

Tullio glared at him, "How dare you! I could take him down! If I really wanted to!"

Augusto gave a hard laugh, "That's pretty funny. Idiots."

"You know I can hear you, right?" Nino sighed, looking at the two of them, "You have to know that. You're standing right there."

Tullio pointed at Nino, "You sit there, stone-faced, and expect me to just take that?! Never! No one is as emotionally dead as you, Nino!" Nino didn't say anything, just continued to stare at Tullio until he made some sort of point. Tullio jumped up onto the desk, scaring Annetta and making her jump off, "I'll show you! You've got to have some sort of emotional weak point!"

"Idiot!" Annetta yelled as she stood back up, "I could have taken my finger off just then!"

Tullio smirked, leaning over to her, "Aww, did the princess break a nail? How unfortunate."

Annetta was ready to climb the desk and tackle him when suddenly he flew back towards Augusto, who stepped out of the way and let him hit the floor. She looked over to see Enrico brushing cover of his book and sighing.

"Don't you ever shut up?" he asked Tullio.

Tullio rubbed his head, glaring over the desk at Enrico, "Don't start with me, you librarian!"he yelled.

Augusto sighed, shaking his head, "Why must I be stuck dealing with such children." Nino and Enrico just sighed along with him.

Tullio jumped back to his feet and pointed at Nino, "I mean it, Nino! It's not healthy to be so emotionless! Bottling things up, like you do!"

"Who says I'm bottling things up?"

Tullio gave a frustrated look, "You have to be! You do more than any of us, you see so much more!"

Annetta looked at Nino, "You do tend to keep to yourself most, Nino," she pointed out, leaning against the desk.

Nino sighed, "Is there any point to all of this, Tullio?"

Tullio folded his arms. He thought for a moment, trying to figure out what his point was. He smack his fist into his palm and grinned, "We're going to make you smile." The others looked confused, as if they hadn't heard him right. Tullio put his hands on his hips, "That's right! There is something that makes you happy and I intend to figure out what that is!" He pointed to the others then, "Everyone find something that you think will make Nino smile and come back here. We'll have our little show later to see if anyone is right."

"What if the master needs us?"

"He won't," Nino said. He waved his hand at them, "Go on. Try me. I dare you."

Everyone was quiet for a moment, then Tullio smirked, "You're gonna regret this!" he turned and ran up the stairs and out the door. Annetta and Augusto followed behind him.

Enrico set his book down on the desk and looked at Nino, "Are you sure about this, Nino?"

Nino waved his hand dismissively at him, "What's the worst that could happen?

Some hours later...

The meeting had long since ended and Ezio had wanted to take the day to personally train the apprentices. When he saw only Nino remained, he was concerned, but then immediately curious about Tullio's wager. So, he decided to wait it out and see what happened.

"It is no use, Mentor. I assure you they won't find something," Nino tried to tell him. He was back behind the desk, waiting for the others. Ezio had pulled a chair over beside him, looking more than a little amused.

"I think this will be good for you, Nino," Ezio smiled, "It is good to find someway to relax now and then."

Just then, the door opened and the others began filing in with their own armfulls of items. They all gathered around the desk and smirked, looking at Nino. Ezio tried to keep himself from laughing out loud.

"Are you ready for this?" Tullio asked, "We have all prepared something that you are sure going to love."

Nino sighed, sitting forward and dropping his arms, "Let's get this over with then."

Tullio stepped forward first. He held out what looked like a knife and unwrapped it, setting it on the desk in front of him. Enrico and Ezio both leaned forward. The handle was carved into a strange set of round shapes, while the blade looked to be sharper than anything. It looked like it had never been used. The whole knife seemed to be almost as long as a short sword, but the handle was too small.

"What... is that?" Enrico asked, confused."

"That is the sharpest blade you will ever see," Tullio grinned, "It was sharpened to its sharpest point and blessed in the rivers of Jerusalem. It is a guaranteed kill every time and will make you feel like a god."

"But... it's never even been used."

Tullio hesitated, "It's a family heirloom, I admit. My grandfather claimed to have found it sticking out of the chest of the blacksmith who forged it, but who can be sure?"

Nino sighed, "Next."

Tullio glared at him and took the knife back. Ezio laughed as Enrico stepped forward and cleared his throat, "I'm sure I've got something a bit more exciting than some unused, and probably dull knife," before Tullio could protest, Enrico opened a book he held and showed them a picture of a bird. Everyone was gathered around the desk, inspecting the picture, "Now, this is a Yellowhammer. It is a species of passerine bird that is native to Europe. Unlike most species, it is partially-migratory and thus flies pretty far south for its mating season. It is also known to have one of the prettiest calls you'll hear. Something like..." he thought for a second and whistled the call of the bird he was describing. Everyone looked surprised, but mostly impressed. They turned their attention to Nino who just looked bored.

"Uh huh. Next."

Enrico closed the book in a huff and stepped back as Annetta moved into view, "First off, it is an honor to have you join us, Mentor," she said sweetly to Ezio, who merely smiled back at her, "But I have-"

"Next."

Annetta blinked, surprised, "Wha- you didn't even give me a chance to show it!"

Nino sighed, "You're flirting threw it off. Next."

Annetta, Enrico, and Tullio stood back, looking defeated, as Augusto stepped forward with a smirk on his face. He shrugged, "See, Nino, I know something these knuckleheads down," he set two huge jugs down on the desk, Ezio blinking at them, "and thats that you are a drinker."

Nino sighed, leaning forward, "Finally, someone who gets it." he grabbed one of the jugs and took a long swig from it. Augusto looked back at the others and gave a thumbs up and a cocky smile. They shot him a glare. Before anyone could say anything, Nino set the jug back down, empty and let out a sigh, "Oooh! That is some strong stuff."

Augusto smiled a little, "The barmaiden at the pub in town owed me a favor. This is the strongest ale they make at the vineyard... And you just drank it all." he blinked as he watched Nino down the other jug as well. Nino stood and walked around the desk to him. He put his arm around Augusto's shoulders.

"Y'know... s'funny thing." Nino said, slurring quite a bit, "Never felt more alive than when I stood atop the Collorseum."

"Er, the Colosseum?"

"S'what I said," Nino held the jug in his fist and jabbed and Augusto's chest, "'Get down from there, you crazy' an... 'Stop! Thief!'" It was quiet for a moment, then Nino bust out laughing, a kind of scary sounding cackle. Everyone jumped a little at the sound, stepping back from him. Augusto looked more than a little uncomfortable.

He turned then, pulling Augusto with him, almost knocking him over, as he pointed at the others "You know Tulli there. You know I love that guy, but he so stupid. I can't even."

Ezio covered his mouth to hide his laughter as Nino went on, "Enrico 'der don't know I took his favorite book and gave it to some beggar las' week."

Enrico blinked as Tullio glared at him, "You blamed me for it! I told you it wasn't me! I deserve an apology!"

"He just called you stupid," Annetta pointed out to him.

"'Netta," Nino slurred, pointing at her, "'Netta 'Netta 'Netta... she's a whore."

"WHAT?!"

The guys all started laughing harder than they thought they could. Nino let Augusto go and stumbled over to Annetta. He held his arms out, "'Eeyyy... no hard feelings? S'right?"

Annetta glared at him and punched him as hard as she could in the stomach, crumpling right into the ground. She huffed and turned away, walking out of the room. Nino laid on the ground, hugging the jug to himself.

"Nino?" Enrico and Tullio walked over, standing over him. Augusto folded his arms, Ezio standing as well.

Nino hid his face in his hood and just started to sob hard, "Sometimes I wish I would have jumped... Maybe I'dve been okay."

"Alright, I think that's enough for today," Ezio helped Nino up and looked at the others, "First thing tomorrow its back to training for the rest of you. I have a feeling Nino is going to be out of commission for a while." Nino dropped the jug as he slumped against Ezio, who helped him into the side room and onto the couch in front of the fireplace.

Enrico looked at Augusto, "How did you know he's such a heavy drinker?"

Augusto folded his arms, "I've seen him at the taverns. But, he's never drunk so much, least not as much as I've ever seen."

Tullio folded his arms, deep in thought, "Do you think Annetta is really a whore?"

Augusto and Enrico looked at him. They exchanged a weird look before walking out of the hideout together. Tullio blinked, "Hey! It was just a question!" he sighed and ran after them.

Nothing is true. Everything is permitted.