Free as an Eagle

Summary: And alternative to the start of Assassin's Creed Revelations - what if Ezio hadn't escaped? Oneshot.

Pairing: N/A

Disclaimer: Ubisoft own all of Assassin's Creed and its characters! If I owned it there would be much more Ezio and less Altaïr and Connor.

Rated: T

Extra Info: MORE ANGST! MORE DEATH (like Leap of Faith)! MORE EZIO! MORE ASSASSIN'S CREED! *Fangirls over Ezio* I used quotes from the book for the speech (up until "Now!"), which belongs to Oliver Bowden.

Songs: General AC music - Iron (c) Woodkid, the usual (c) Jesper Kyd and Lorne Balfe, and Leap of Faith + Final Judgement (c) Future World Music.

The Templar captain smirked as the arrow hit the Assassin's right shoulder. His smug smile turned into a snarl of anger as the enemy simply pulled the arrow out and began to fight back.

His hidden blades whirled and sliced, cutting open the captain's men in red rainbows. He also put to use their weapons: pikes turned on their owners, embedding the selves in unguarded stomachs, and maybe an axehead went in another man's face.

The Templar captain suppressed a roar of anger as his men were felled in quick succession by the old lion. He was almost tempted to go down there himself, to finish the job while the Assassin was occupied.

He was bemused when the man turned, staring off at something that wasn't there. He seemed distracted, as if maybe a figure was there, an entity only visible to himself.

Then he seemed to shake himself out of his reverie, retaliating yet again. The captain could only grin coldly when one of his own men's weapon snapped off the Assassin's hidden blade, and suddenly he was on the floor, a hundred halberds aimed at his immobile body.

The Assassin was dragged unceremoniously from his cell, his upper arms gripped tightly by Templars. The captain's smirk was answered by an icy stare, before Ezio shook himself free. The captain's men inched forwards, brandishing halberds.

"You are a tenacious man, Ezio," he said softly. "To come all this way for a glimpse inside Altaïr's castle. It shows heart." He paused, gesturing for his men to still. "But you're an old hound now. Better to put you out of your misery, than see you whimper to a sad end."

Ezio moved and faced the man determinedly. The halberdmen raised their weapons.

"Any last words before I kill you?" the Assassin asked. The captain laughed.

"I wonder how long it will take for the buzzards to pick your bones clean, as your body dangles from these parapets?"

"There's an eagle up there somewhere," Ezio replied. "He'll keep the buzzards away."

"A lot of good that'll do you. Come forward or are you afraid to die? You wouldn't want to have to be dragged to your death, would you?

The Assassin moved slowly forwards on his own accord.

"That's good," the captain acknowledged.

Ezio moved out onto a projecting wooden platform. He watched something, moving about the sky. But there was nothing. Not an eagle, buzzard or anything else. The Templar captain gave another triumphant smirk.

Ezio seemed to look to the right, at another wooden protrusion, yet again gazing at something nobody else could see. The captain frowned. Then Ezio turned away again.

The captain approached, holding a noose. The Assassin looked at it blankly.

"No eagle here that I can see," the captain smirked. "I wager it'll take the buzzards no more than three days."

"I'll let you know," the Assassin replied evenly. The captain, his gesture almost tender, placed the noose around Ezio's neck, tightening it.

"Now!" he shouted, ready to shove Ezio over the edge into oblivion.

Ezio tried to ram the man with his elbow, to shove him into the halberdmen, but this was expected. His elbow was caught, his arms restrained by ready Templars. The captain chuckled almost pityingly.

"Dear Ezio, did you really think I did not expect some sort of resilience?" he murmured, before gesturing to his men. Hands hit the Assassin's back, hard, and he could not help stumbling forwards.

Over the edge.

He caught a last glimpse of the eagle, free, wheeling high in the sky. He had a momentary though of what it would be like to be free, without a care in the world, no duties to fulfil. After all, he had been born into this life. He hadn't asked for it, hadn't wanted it.

And as the noose steadily tightened, pressing into his fingertips and throat as he strived to loosen the pressure with his hands, Ezio realised something.

He had failed.

The Templar captain watched, a wide, cruel smile splitting his face as he watched the helpless Assassin, who could not escape his fate this time.

Then Ezio Auditore da Firenze, the Master Assassin, the Mentor, was no more.