![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Title: The Road
Fandom: Assassin’s Creed II
Pairing: Ezio/ Leonardo
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Ezio discovers that there are consequences to his actions, and the road to redemption is never easy.
This story continues on from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kissmytypos’s fic, “Good Intentions”, which can be read here.
A/N: My sincere thanks tokissmytypos for permission to write the sequel, and espereth for patiently beta’ing this chapter.
Chapter Two.
1
“I see the assassin was busy last night,” Rosa remarked lightly, as she traced a finger over Ezio’s belt clasp. Her hands slid over the crimson sash at his waist to give the ends a teasing tug.
Ezio shrugged, shaking away the nagging effects of the wine from the previous night. “What can I say? The girls at Sister Teodora’s are very…accommodating,” he replied, spreading his hands and grinning. Rosa’s interest in how his previous night had gone was disconcerting, and he was dismayed at how his attempts to flirt with her were thwarted by this new curiosity.
“Hmm, no doubt, but I did not mean the girls. I meant with Leonardo,” she said, tightening the sash suddenly.
With a short gasp at the constriction, Ezio pulled his sash back irritably. “What are you talking about?”
“I saw what you did,” Rosa said slyly. “Antonio had me drop by Leonardo’s to bring him a gift in return for his…designs.”
“I did not notice you.”
“No thief announces their presence like a gaudy stage actor. Besides, I did not stay long. Now stop changing the subject, I saw you wearing the mask from Carnivale. Have you told—”
“He asked me to wear it. To humor him.”
Rosa rolled her eyes. “I suppose you kissed him to humor him, as well.”
“He kissed me. Of his own volition. I did nothing to incite him.” Ezio folded his arms over his chest, wondering just how much Rosa had seen. Her pleased expression was beginning to unnerve him more than her temperamental moods.
“Yes, yes, clearly he took the initiative. I forget the great Ezio Auditore has plenty of aplomb in seducing women but none when seducing a man. Except one.” Rosa gave him a small, relieved smile. “So, of course you have told him by now.”
“Told him what?”
“That it was you that night, at Carnivale? His ‘mystery man’?”
The words formed on Ezio’s tongue, when there was a faint rustling in the alleyway where they spoke and the sound of things clattering to the ground. Rosa’s hand snapped immediately to her dagger and Ezio’s to his throwing knife.
Rosa squinted into the distance. “…Leonardo?”
“Ah, Rosa. Hello,” replied the stooping figure conversationally, gathering the supplies that had dropped. Brushes and tubes of paint littered the ground in front of him.
“What are you doing here?” Ezio asked, raising a brow.
Leonardo glanced briefly at him and dropped his gaze just as quickly. “Antonio asked me to pick up several items.” There was a faint tremor in his voice as he mumbled something about having to finish commissions, and he hurried away.
A perplexed look crossed Rosa’s face as she watched Leonardo disappear into the crowd. “Why does he run like a frightened mouse?”
Ezio cleared his throat as he shifted uneasily in place.
“Oh,” she said simply, hands falling slack to her side, as the dawn of realization lit her face. A string of muttered curses that sounded very much like bastardo and cretino tumbled forth. “You,” she spat, “did not tell him.” Rosa planted her hands on her hips.
“Do you think he heard us?” Ezio began cautiously.
The thief drummed her fingers against her hip, thinking. “Well, he knows now, if he did not know before,” she said slowly, a line of worry creasing her brow.
This was another development he did not need, but at the same time, he felt an uncomfortable sense of relief. Ezio closed his eyes as he tried to take a calming breath. “How could this happen?”
Rosa drew herself to her full height. “How could this happen? You should have told him from the start! He should not have heard it from me,” she said, jabbing her finger into Ezio’s chest. “I told you before. Leonardo is not one of your whores. He—”
“I know. I know,” Ezio said, sitting down a bench, his head in his hands. He raked a hand through his hair helplessly.
“You know, and still you sit here! Aren’t you going to go after him?” Rosa asked, incredulously.
“What good would it do now?” he said, barely repressing a glower, though his shoulders hunched forward in resignation.
Rosa stared back, unfazed. “Perhaps you can still salvage this if you explain it to him.”
2
“Leonardo.”
Ezio rapped twice on the door of the workshop, an action he had always associated with comfort, instead of the dread that plagued him now. “I need to speak with you.”
The slow scrape of a chair against wood. Measured shuffling. As Leonardo appeared at the doorway, Ezio caught the faint trace of wine on his breath.
“Ah, Ezio. Come in, come in.” Leonardo stifled a soft, hiccupping breath as he pulled a cushioned chair towards Ezio. “My apologies, I am ill-equipped to entertain you—you’ve caught me in the middle of painting a commission. But have no fear, you are always welcome here.”
Despite his even tone, the multitude of words could not hide the telltale swelling under his eyes, and Ezio inhaled slowly, resisting the urge to take Leonardo into his arms to comfort him. With a sweeping glance of the workshop, he discovered yet another open wine bottle. A twinge of guilty worry struck him, as he wondered how much alcohol Leonardo had had, especially since his friend tended to forego nourishment when creative impulse consumed him.
Leonardo busied himself at a table, pushing stacks of paper and old canvases aside. “I have some wine left over from the other night, and perhaps some fruit, if I could just find them. Would you like—”
Resting his hand gently on the hilt of his sword for courage, Ezio cleared his throat. “Leonardo. We need to talk.”
The artist froze, and his steady stream of words halted. “Fine. You wish to talk, we are talking.”
Never before had the struggle for words been more difficult. “About what Rosa said.”
“She must have been mistaken.” Leonardo looked at Ezio searchingly.
“She was not.”
A long silence. Leonardo only continued to stare at him. Discomfited by how quiet it was, Ezio stepped towards him, placing a hand on his shoulder, but it was shrugged off forcefully.
“I had my suspicions, but for them to actually be…and to think, I tortured myself so, thinking I had forced my feelings upon you, when the one doing the actual forcing was…” Leonardo met Ezio’s gaze, his eyes narrowed, as if studying the assassin.
“Ezio,” he said, his watchful look unwavering, “were you ever going to tell me it was you?”
The pause that followed was damning. “Ah,” Leonardo nodded. “I see.”
“Leonardo, I was going to—”
“Going to what, continue lying to me? Is that what friends do, Ezio? Lie to each other? Or is deception just another tenet of your creed?”
Ezio drew in a sharp breath, wincing from the insult to his reason for being. From the stricken look on Leonardo’s face, it seemed he had realized his mistake.
Leonardo opened his mouth as if in apology, but no words came, and he turned, his cape whirling about him. “Leave. I have nothing more to say to you.”
“When will I see you again?” Panic surged within Ezio—he still had Codex pages to decipher, designs yet uncrafted—followed by overwhelming shame, at his first thought having been for material gain instead of Leonardo’s well being.
Leonardo was silent for a moment. “Perhaps it is better if you do not,” he said quietly.
Ezio gritted his teeth. “So. This is what our friendship means to you.” He ground the words out bitterly, abhorring their hypocritical edge.
“In that case, we have very different views on what our friendship entails, don’t we?” Leonardo responded dryly, as he glared over his shoulder.
Words of retaliation sprang to mind, but when Ezio opened his mouth to say something, anything, nothing came. So he did what he was best at, what every assassin excelled at.
He ran.
(tbc - Chapter Three.)
Fandom: Assassin’s Creed II
Pairing: Ezio/ Leonardo
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Ezio discovers that there are consequences to his actions, and the road to redemption is never easy.
This story continues on from
kissmytypos’s fic, “Good Intentions”, which can be read here.A/N: My sincere thanks to
kissmytypos for permission to write the sequel, and espereth for patiently beta’ing this chapter.“I see the assassin was busy last night,” Rosa remarked lightly, as she traced a finger over Ezio’s belt clasp. Her hands slid over the crimson sash at his waist to give the ends a teasing tug.
Ezio shrugged, shaking away the nagging effects of the wine from the previous night. “What can I say? The girls at Sister Teodora’s are very…accommodating,” he replied, spreading his hands and grinning. Rosa’s interest in how his previous night had gone was disconcerting, and he was dismayed at how his attempts to flirt with her were thwarted by this new curiosity.
“Hmm, no doubt, but I did not mean the girls. I meant with Leonardo,” she said, tightening the sash suddenly.
With a short gasp at the constriction, Ezio pulled his sash back irritably. “What are you talking about?”
“I saw what you did,” Rosa said slyly. “Antonio had me drop by Leonardo’s to bring him a gift in return for his…designs.”
“I did not notice you.”
“No thief announces their presence like a gaudy stage actor. Besides, I did not stay long. Now stop changing the subject, I saw you wearing the mask from Carnivale. Have you told—”
“He asked me to wear it. To humor him.”
Rosa rolled her eyes. “I suppose you kissed him to humor him, as well.”
“He kissed me. Of his own volition. I did nothing to incite him.” Ezio folded his arms over his chest, wondering just how much Rosa had seen. Her pleased expression was beginning to unnerve him more than her temperamental moods.
“Yes, yes, clearly he took the initiative. I forget the great Ezio Auditore has plenty of aplomb in seducing women but none when seducing a man. Except one.” Rosa gave him a small, relieved smile. “So, of course you have told him by now.”
“Told him what?”
“That it was you that night, at Carnivale? His ‘mystery man’?”
The words formed on Ezio’s tongue, when there was a faint rustling in the alleyway where they spoke and the sound of things clattering to the ground. Rosa’s hand snapped immediately to her dagger and Ezio’s to his throwing knife.
Rosa squinted into the distance. “…Leonardo?”
“Ah, Rosa. Hello,” replied the stooping figure conversationally, gathering the supplies that had dropped. Brushes and tubes of paint littered the ground in front of him.
“What are you doing here?” Ezio asked, raising a brow.
Leonardo glanced briefly at him and dropped his gaze just as quickly. “Antonio asked me to pick up several items.” There was a faint tremor in his voice as he mumbled something about having to finish commissions, and he hurried away.
A perplexed look crossed Rosa’s face as she watched Leonardo disappear into the crowd. “Why does he run like a frightened mouse?”
Ezio cleared his throat as he shifted uneasily in place.
“Oh,” she said simply, hands falling slack to her side, as the dawn of realization lit her face. A string of muttered curses that sounded very much like bastardo and cretino tumbled forth. “You,” she spat, “did not tell him.” Rosa planted her hands on her hips.
“Do you think he heard us?” Ezio began cautiously.
The thief drummed her fingers against her hip, thinking. “Well, he knows now, if he did not know before,” she said slowly, a line of worry creasing her brow.
This was another development he did not need, but at the same time, he felt an uncomfortable sense of relief. Ezio closed his eyes as he tried to take a calming breath. “How could this happen?”
Rosa drew herself to her full height. “How could this happen? You should have told him from the start! He should not have heard it from me,” she said, jabbing her finger into Ezio’s chest. “I told you before. Leonardo is not one of your whores. He—”
“I know. I know,” Ezio said, sitting down a bench, his head in his hands. He raked a hand through his hair helplessly.
“You know, and still you sit here! Aren’t you going to go after him?” Rosa asked, incredulously.
“What good would it do now?” he said, barely repressing a glower, though his shoulders hunched forward in resignation.
Rosa stared back, unfazed. “Perhaps you can still salvage this if you explain it to him.”
“Leonardo.”
Ezio rapped twice on the door of the workshop, an action he had always associated with comfort, instead of the dread that plagued him now. “I need to speak with you.”
The slow scrape of a chair against wood. Measured shuffling. As Leonardo appeared at the doorway, Ezio caught the faint trace of wine on his breath.
“Ah, Ezio. Come in, come in.” Leonardo stifled a soft, hiccupping breath as he pulled a cushioned chair towards Ezio. “My apologies, I am ill-equipped to entertain you—you’ve caught me in the middle of painting a commission. But have no fear, you are always welcome here.”
Despite his even tone, the multitude of words could not hide the telltale swelling under his eyes, and Ezio inhaled slowly, resisting the urge to take Leonardo into his arms to comfort him. With a sweeping glance of the workshop, he discovered yet another open wine bottle. A twinge of guilty worry struck him, as he wondered how much alcohol Leonardo had had, especially since his friend tended to forego nourishment when creative impulse consumed him.
Leonardo busied himself at a table, pushing stacks of paper and old canvases aside. “I have some wine left over from the other night, and perhaps some fruit, if I could just find them. Would you like—”
Resting his hand gently on the hilt of his sword for courage, Ezio cleared his throat. “Leonardo. We need to talk.”
The artist froze, and his steady stream of words halted. “Fine. You wish to talk, we are talking.”
Never before had the struggle for words been more difficult. “About what Rosa said.”
“She must have been mistaken.” Leonardo looked at Ezio searchingly.
“She was not.”
A long silence. Leonardo only continued to stare at him. Discomfited by how quiet it was, Ezio stepped towards him, placing a hand on his shoulder, but it was shrugged off forcefully.
“I had my suspicions, but for them to actually be…and to think, I tortured myself so, thinking I had forced my feelings upon you, when the one doing the actual forcing was…” Leonardo met Ezio’s gaze, his eyes narrowed, as if studying the assassin.
“Ezio,” he said, his watchful look unwavering, “were you ever going to tell me it was you?”
The pause that followed was damning. “Ah,” Leonardo nodded. “I see.”
“Leonardo, I was going to—”
“Going to what, continue lying to me? Is that what friends do, Ezio? Lie to each other? Or is deception just another tenet of your creed?”
Ezio drew in a sharp breath, wincing from the insult to his reason for being. From the stricken look on Leonardo’s face, it seemed he had realized his mistake.
Leonardo opened his mouth as if in apology, but no words came, and he turned, his cape whirling about him. “Leave. I have nothing more to say to you.”
“When will I see you again?” Panic surged within Ezio—he still had Codex pages to decipher, designs yet uncrafted—followed by overwhelming shame, at his first thought having been for material gain instead of Leonardo’s well being.
Leonardo was silent for a moment. “Perhaps it is better if you do not,” he said quietly.
Ezio gritted his teeth. “So. This is what our friendship means to you.” He ground the words out bitterly, abhorring their hypocritical edge.
“In that case, we have very different views on what our friendship entails, don’t we?” Leonardo responded dryly, as he glared over his shoulder.
Words of retaliation sprang to mind, but when Ezio opened his mouth to say something, anything, nothing came. So he did what he was best at, what every assassin excelled at.
He ran.
(tbc - Chapter Three.)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2011-10-16 10:57 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2011-10-17 05:42 am (UTC)From:I haven't seen many fics where they fight, so I was hoping the characterization was alright. As for resolution...that depends on Ezio and Leonardo. :] Thanks again!
no subject
Date: 2011-10-16 11:05 pm (UTC)From:Can't wait for the next chapter. <3
no subject
Date: 2011-10-17 05:34 am (UTC)From:Oh, Ezio. *shakes head*
no subject
Date: 2011-10-18 06:41 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2011-10-19 12:37 am (UTC)From:Thanks for reading!
no subject
Date: 2011-10-19 05:12 am (UTC)From:I love how you go more into dept where the emotions are concerned.
And how Leonardo gets angry at him instead of being like "Oh sure, let's make out again." Haha! I do hope for a happy ending though!
So please write morrrrrrrrrrrrre!!!!!!!!
no subject
Date: 2011-10-20 04:13 am (UTC)From:Thank you for stopping by and commenting!