Chapter Text
Claudia was going to die.
She had barely been mourning her mother’s passing for a week when some leftover Borgia followers kidnapped her in a moment of distraction. She knew she hadn’t been at her best but even on a good day she wouldn’t have been able to fight off eight grown men armed to the teeth. Even if she would have been given the time to prepare.
But she hadn’t been able to prepare herself and they had gotten the jump on her. How, she didn’t know as they had found a window where she had suddenly found herself alone.
She could only hope that her kicking and screaming had attracted someone’s attention to the point that word would get to her brother. Or any of the others. To anyone really, who would be willing to help.
As it was, she was being dragged along while various aches made themselves known in her body. She had been kicked and punched for fighting and talking back to those that thought themselves superior to her. They had torn up her robes as well in their scuffle, causing ribbons of cloth to hinder her movements in an annoying way but at least she was still mostly decent.
Not that it was of any help to her. These men didn’t listen to her and reveled in causing her misery while they dragged her to wherever it was that they wanted her. No one had approached them yet and it was with dread that she noticed that they were heading towards some of the more accessible tunnels down an alley. Once down there no one would hear her if no one passed by them by chance and knowing how infrequently these tunnels were used…no, she couldn’t let them drag her down there.
She found fresh vigor in her fight. “Bastardo!,” she cursed as she threw a leg up and kicked one of the guards in the head, knocking off the helmet.
“Why you littl-“
Claudia spat into his face and managed to free one of her hands, landing a satisfying punch when one of the others grabbed her by the neck and slammed her to the ground, all the air leaving her lungs at once. She wheezed, trying to get up again when a kick collided with her side.
“Sporca puttana,” the spat on man cursed down at her and lifted his leg to stomp on her head which Claudia desperately tried to protect with her arms. “You think you can fight? Hah, women don’t fight, they obey,” he sneered, kicking her head once more as the other’s kept a tight wall around them, egging the man on. He lifted his heavy leg again. “And when I’m done with you, you would wish y-”
The man crumbled to the ground as someone jumped him from above, wet gurgling coming from his throat as he tried to breath. “W-wh…,” his voice weakly pattered off as the entire group fell silent and stared at the new person.
Claudia slowly peeked through her aching arms, spotting a man in what seemed to be a grey assassin garb standing over the dying guard. He moved the moment one of the other Borgia men lifted a sword.
The man swept through the Borgia like he had a personal vendetta against them. He dodged each attack as if he was only dancing, while his attacks found their true marks swiftly. One after another the men fell do the dagger the man wielded, until at last, only three were left and kept close to each other, clearly startled at the turn of events.
Claudia moved to sit up but winced at the pain lacing up her side and neck, freezing in position as she rode out the pain. Her savior was quiet while the remaining three Borgia took to taunting him, the waver of fear clear in their voices despite the big words.
There was a moment of quiet until suddenly the man feigned an attack, only for him to use the momentum of the others defense to roll over the Borgia’s back, slicing the throat of another before stabbing the one he had rolled over in the back.
The third attacked with a shout of anger, her savior barely dodging the sword. The man’s dagger was still stuck in the back of the other man but he didn’t let that deter him. In a swift move he grabbed the attacking sword with his bare hand and kicked the Borgia away. The newly acquired sword was twirled once and before the Borgia couldn’t regain his balance he had his own sword in his chest, falling over with labored breath. He died two breaths later.
Claudia stared at the fallen man in awe before slowly looking up to watch her saviors’ eyes snap to her face. Not that she could clearly see them, the man had a hood almost as deep as her brother’s over his face, making it difficult to actually make out anything in the shadow of the buildings.
“Cl- Madonna Auditore are you alright?” The man moved quickly towards her, his voice quiet despite the urgency. He gently grabbed her by the arms and helped her to her feet.
“I-…yes, I am, thanks to you. Thank you. I’m glad you saw me,” she breathed out, finding herself suddenly rather exhausted as the man eyed her with worry. The hood would have hidden his expression but since she was shorter than him and he was now closer she could see his face, along with the displeased frown on his strangely familiar scarred mouth.
Knowing that they were still out in the open and heavily aware of her state of dress, Claudia tried to keep her back straight and her expression smooth. “I’m sorry my friend, I cannot recall your name…?,” she asked quietly but only received silence in return, the man looking to the side. Confused she wondered why that was. He was one of Ezio’s wasn’t he? It was one of their apprentice garbs, she recognized it easily. “Did someone inform my bro-“
“I have to go now Madonna, I’m sorry,” the man said and suddenly turned away.
Surprised, Claudia grabbed for his left arm, somehow sensing that she only managed to do so because he allowed it. “Will you not escort me back? My brother would want to thank you as well, I know that.” She couldn’t see his expression since he remained turned away from her, only his head had moved so that she could see his nose from under his hood.
“There are enough of your allies around once you move out of the alley, but I-…there’s things for me to do.”
Still, he did not remove himself from her hold. “Please, at least escort me back. My body aches and I look unpresentable. I don’t think I can climb around like this.” Claudia made sure to look to the side with a demure look on her face. She hoped a small flush would show up as well but she wasn’t sure. It might not have been the kindest thing to do to her savior but there was something strange going on here and she really wanted Ezio to take a look as well. And it really wouldn’t hurt to have this man on her side on the way home.
She patiently waited, her eyes averted but hyper aware of any movement under her hand. Her savior barely moved before there was the smallest of sighs and she knew she had him.
“Very well, as far as I can bring you,” he relented and turned back to her. His arm under her hand moved so smoothly that she barely noticed that he suddenly had his hand on her elbow rather than her hand on his arm.
She gave him a genuine smile and nodded. “Thank you…might I really not know your name?”
She saw the corner of his mouth tick upward, but she wasn’t sure if it was for a smile or for a frown. “We should get you back Madonna, you look horrible.”
Oh, so it was like that? She huffed out air in fake anger. “Please, I always look my best. Fine, be like that.” She turned back but he steered her in another direction which she easily followed. The hand on her elbow vanished and he became a shadow at her back that murmured directions to her.
For a very brief second she wondered if this was actually another ploy to kidnap her but she soon realized that the man was guiding her through smaller alleys back to Tiber Island. Which was strange, she had never mentioned where she wanted to return to. So he must have been one of Ezio’s students. Why then was he being so secretive?
They were coming closer to Tiber Island and she could feel herself growing eager to be within these safe walls but something told her to speak up now, rather than later. “Thank you,” she said quietly, almost hating how tired she really sounded, “For saving me and bringing me back.” She looked back to him but the way he stalked quietly after her didn’t let her see his face, but he inclined his head in one pretty motion.
“Of course.”
Claudia waited to see if he wanted to say more but nothing came. Sighing, she looked ahead and perked up at the sight of the bridge to the island at the end of the alley. Stepping out of it, she almost felt like a little girl when she saw Ezio talking frantically with Machiavelli. “There! My brother!,” she said relieved and turned back to her savior only to be met with an empty alley.
Surprised, she fully turned and looked around, down the street and up the roofs but there was no sign of him. She remained standing there confused until she heard her brother call out to her.
“Claudia!!”
She turned to the bridge and started to run towards the men, her brother catching her in a big hug that told her he must have heard of her capture. “Oh Ezio!” She wasn’t too proud to admit that her eyes were stinging with tears in her brothers embrace, being able to feel the mirroring tremble in Ezio’s arms.
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Ezio couldn’t believe his eyes when Claudia simply stood at the end of the bridge, clothes tattered and skin bruised and bloody.
He pulled her closer to his chest, his heart trying to escape his chest at the idea of having almost lost her.
Niccolò moved into view to nod towards the hideout and Ezio nodded back, carefully moving away from the hug but keeping an arm at Claudia’s back. “Come, let’s get you inside and then you tell us what happened.”
She nodded and moved with them, Niccolò on her other side. She glanced back multiple times until they were inside and his heart ached for her fear of being followed. “You’re safe now,” he assured her with a low voice. He told two of his students to go fetch various things, cloths and something to treat Claudia’s wounds with while they moved to his office. He needed to make sure how well she was before he let her sleep away the terrible excitement.
Still, the frown on her face didn’t vanish and something in Ezio told him it wasn’t for the reason he thought it was for. He helped her sit down, despite her insisting that she was fine, when he noticed blood smeared over her right arm.
“Claudia! You’re still bleeding, I should have seen,” he said urgently and turned to ask for his students to be quicker when Claudia gasped herself.
“Oh no, that’s not mine,” she said in a surprised tone, her brows furrowing in worry. “He must have gotten injured by the sword and I didn’t even notice…”
“What?,” Ezio asked confused but glad that she wasn’t bleeding heavily enough that it bled through her clothes. “He? Who do you mean?”
She frowned up at him from her seat. “A man saved me from eight men! I thought he was one of your apprentices but when I asked him for a name he didn’t give me one but Ezio…he knew me. He almost called me by first name too. If not for him, I don’t know where I would have ended up.”
“And where is he now?” Surely such a capable man wouldn’t mind speaking to Ezio, unless he had something to hide?
“I don’t know,” Claudia said and glanced at the window as if she could find him through it. “At first he didn’t even want to bring me back here but I convinced him to do so.” She turned back to him just as his students brought the requested items.
Ezio thanked them and sent them away so that he could help Claudia with her wounds, Niccolò standing to the side as he looked out the window to give them privacy while listening in silence.
“Why did you think he was one of the Brotherhood? Did he carry a hidden blade?,” Ezio asked while carefully helping her out of the outer layers, mindful of her bruises.
“No, well, I didn’t see that. But he wore one of our garbs, I recognized the cut. It was of lower rank but now that I think about it…,” she trailed off distracted but winced when Ezio agitated a shallow cut.
“What is it?”
“His clothes looked tattered and worn, not well taken care of. But he moved silently, he moved like a Master Assassin…he moved like you,” she finally said, leveling him with a serious expression. ”I wished for him to come with me, using my injuries as an excuse, so that you could see for yourself but…when I saw you across the bridge he vanished. I didn’t even notice until I wanted to tell him that you were there.”
Ezio frowned the more he listened and glanced to Niccolò who met his eyes. “So a Master Assassin is in the city and we don’t know about it?” He didn’t like that, at all. Of course he was grateful for that man to save his sister but what was this man’s purpose? Why hadn’t he given the courtesy of telling them about his arrival? First his sister’s kidnapping and then this.
His eyes met Niccolò’s again when the other nodded and finally spoke up.
“I will tell everyone to keep an eye out for this Master Assassin. Claudia, is there anything particular you can tell us about his looks?” Niccolò stepped closer to them now that Ezio was done with treating the most obvious injuries and Claudia had covered herself with a blanket.
“Yes—no, well…,” she frowned and stared off between them before focusing on them again. "He kept his face hidden by his hood and the alley was in shadows but he had a strong roman nose? I believe his eyes were brown, very dark and…actually there was a scar across his mouth like yours Ezio. I marveled at how similar it was but his' was cleaner than yours. I feel like his face reminded me of someone but I cannot say who, I’m sorry.”
Ezio shook his head and put a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t be. That’s more than enough to keep an eye out for him. Thank you Claudia, it’s time to rest now,” he assured her with a faint smile while she excused herself from them.
He frowned at her back and sighed, glad that she was safely within the hideout’s walls again. When word had reached him from some of the women that worked for Claudia that they had seen her get dragged off he had feared the worst. But now she was back and safe and ready to recover, while he had a strange Master Assassin in his city. And Borgia leftovers that felt too confident for his taste.
“I will get the message out to everyone,” Niccolò said after minutes of silence and Ezio nodded.
“Make it clear to not approach. Whoever spots him needs to preferably get me, or one of you,” Ezio added. Niccolò seemed to agree as he left without another word, leaving Ezio to his thoughts.