Elena was hesitant, to say the least, about leaving Luciano to the wrath of the thieves thirsty for Templar blood. She thought him foolish, of course, to want to face them rather than escape while they were still unnoticed. In the fleeting moments before she was to sneak away from the old church, she examined him and detected something beneath his brashness and vexation. She couldn't pin it, but it was enough to assure her as she now looked to save her own hide from the blades of the [i]ladri.[/i] With Luciano making a grand entrance, as all Templars were sure to do, Elena exited as quickly and quietly as she had appeared. 

From her high perched exit from the basilica, Elena could see several more thieves hugging the wall of the area. It seemed they were waiting for a cue or commotion to swarm the court within. She looked for any sign of Alessandro or Emerico, but could not spot them from here. Elena moved to find a safer place to land her feet on the ground once again. Once there, she quietly moved to the shadows to find her partners and leave this place. As she moved against a building towards the area she last saw Emerico, a hand grabbed her from behind and pulled her into a recess in the wall. Expecting to see Alessandro and preparing a ripe lecture, Elena was shocked to see she was being held by a face that was unfamiliar. 

"Templar scum, running around in the shadows like you think you're a..." The man stopped, looking intently at Elena's face in the pale light of the moon. "Wait... I know you." 

Elena's brow furrowed. This man was a stranger to her, but she could see his brain working as he loosened his grip on her arms. 

"You're no [i]Templare,[/i] you're in the Brotherhood." The man said in a low, almost relieved voice. "But... they said you were dead?" Elena saw the spark of familiarity in the man's eyes, as he must have remembered her from some joint Assassin-Thief meeting or mission. 

"And in the grave I shall remain." The blades at her wrist slid out in the same fluid motion that her hands broke free from the man's loosened grasp. She left him drowning in his blood, body limp against the wall. Quickly, she walked away. 

Another owl's hoot as she entered an ally to the side alerted her to Alessandro and Emerico's presence, lurking around a corner as they appeared to be making their way to the basilica. 

"Change of plans. We must leave, and I'm afraid we haven't much time before your boss causes too much of a scene for us to disappear." 

Emerico seemed displeased with this suggestion, given his comrade was about to be up against a dozen blades alone. 

"This is not my idea. Luciano has instructions for us to leave here and be ready for tomorrow night's mission, he has matters handled here." Elena said. "Come, we must go now." She said, before disappearing away into the night. 

[hr]

[b][i]The next evening...[/i][/b]

"Do not worry, Emerico. I am sure Luciano will meet us tonight at [i]Santa Trinita.[/i]" Elena reassured the troubled looking man. 
"I hope you are right." He replied.
"I don't understand why he didn't want backup," Alessandro chimed in as the three walked down the street. "With the four of us, surely we could have taken them all?" 
"He had a plan. He did not tell me, but he exudes confidence. We will go on as instructed tonight and wait until we regroup to see what information we have after all of this is over." Elena said. 

The three walked down the streets of the San Giovanni district, walking towards the Santa Trinita to get into position well before dark. With an open square before the old church, the three split up. Alessandro taught Emerico the bird call he and Elena used earlier that day, but Emerico had suggested using something less abrasive when it came time to calling for each other. They agreed to switch from an owl's hoot to a simple whistle of a songbird. 

Alessandro took a spot out in front of the church, on a bench outside an adjacent building. Elena moved towards the back of the church, where she waited behind the building's corner until the darkness of night would shroud her enough so that she could climb up to a better vantage point. Emerico took a position on the side of the building, tucked behind a wall outcropping near a side entrance to the church. The three had no idea if the meeting was taking place inside, outside, around or about the area, so they needed to be ready to move in all directions and remain inconspicuous until it was time to do so.