Who: Ezio Auditore and Hanna What: Psych appointment Where: Ezio's office When: 3/6 or so Rating: PG13, talk of violence Status: Complete
Ezio was very curious about this appointment, to be sure. It had been made by a lady, but she’d made it clear that it was for a young woman, in her mid to late teens. He’d agreed, even though it wasn’t normally his policy to see adolescents - it wasn’t his speciality - because the woman had said it was important. And well, he was a sucker for children.
He came out into the waiting room, seeing a few adults and children there, waiting for people or just killing time. “Hanna?” he said, curious as to who might respond.
Hanna hadn’t really wanted to come, but she decided it was better than arguing. She certainly didn’t want to talk about anything important. But she got up and peered at him before she stepped inside. “Good afternoons.”
Ezio inclined his head. “Hello, Signorina Hanna. How are you? My name is Ezio.” He gestured for her to come back into the office. He didn’t want to patronize her, but at the same time, she wasn’t quite on the same level as his adult clientele. So he decided to talk to her just a bit more casually.
“I am fine,” the German girl said, taking a seat and crossing her legs. She was dressed comfortably in jeans and a black hoodie, which she seemed to disappear into as she leaned back in the chair.
“Good.” Ezio said, closing the door behind them. “Let me not dance around the point with you, Signorina. You are here because I received a request to speak with you. Apparently you have had quite an interesting life, and I would like to hear about some of it. For this time being here, if you do not wish to tell me something, you do not have to. Will you answer some questions for me if I do not push overmuch?”
Hanna scrunched up her face, like she was emotionally vulnerable, then pulled her legs up and hugged them. “Everything is fine. Ask whatever you want.”
That probably meant she’d either lie or not tell the entire truth, but he couldn’t demand it at this point without being cruel. For now, he’d play along. “Thank you,” Ezio said. “I appreciate it. Have you been able to get settled? I am still getting there, since I have not been in the country long. I’m sure you can hear I am not American.”
“I am settles, mostly. I have been in the US for four months now.” How she got here she wasn’t saying, but it was most certainly illegal. She looked up and spoke in Italian. “You are Italian, but that is because of your name.”
Ezio blinked. “I did not know you spoke Italian,” he said in that language. “Your accent is very good. But yes, I come from Firenze. Your friend said you are German, is that true? I have been in the south, in Bavaria, and had a very good time.”
"I am from Leipzig, which has a population of zero point five millions," Hanna said, almost robotically. "I can speak several languages, Erik taught me them."
He noticed the lack of tone - it would be hard not to. It made him wonder if she’d been coached, not unlike Jews under the German occupation. “Who is Erik? Is he a member of your family?” Ezio asked in English.
"I thought he was my father," she replied, shrugging her shoulder. "He took me huntings and taught me things that I didn't learn in schools or at the gymnasium."
“Oh. Well, I’m glad he was good to you.” Ezio said. He didn’t want to take notes; it might spook her. “Did he not want to come here with you? To America, I mean?”
She eyed him, as if she wasn't sure she could trust him. "Nein, I found out he wasn't my fathers and then he killed a man so I ran away. I'm looking for my mother. She was in the files he had in his desk."
“Oh, I see.” Ezio didn’t judge, but he let himself look as sympathetic as he felt. This was obviously a very resourceful young woman, but still. “That’s obviously an excellent reason to run away. So now you have come to America to find her, as you said? Have you had any luck?” if she didn’t want to talk about it, she didn’t have to, of course. Not right now, at any rate.
"I've found her, but I haven't approached her yet. She is very squirrely and involved in dangerous things," Hanna shrugged her shoulders again. "If she doesn't wants me, that is okay."
Ezio blinked. “Dangerous things?” He echoed. “I am sorry to hear it - both for you and for her.” He wasn’t being patronizing; he meant it. His family meant a lot to him, after all. “Have you considered the possibility that she may want you very much, but she may be afraid for your safety?”
"Ja..." Hanna hugged her legs again, and sniffled. "But it is best for her safety that she doesn't, even if I wants to see her." Really, she should leave Dite.
Ezio felt bad. He had to choose his words carefully as he spoke next. “I certainly understand how you might feel that way - that both of you seem to want to protect the other. But why would you think she was safer if she avoided you? Because of this Erik?” She did say that Erik had killed a man.
Hanna shook her head. "It's not important. I should not stay in one place for very longs. I will have to move on soon."
“Is this something Erik taught you?” It was a stab in the dark, but he had to ask. Had to try.
"You adapt or you die," Hanna said, her face suddenly clear of her emotions, blue eyes hard as sapphires. "Think on your feet. Even when I'm sleeping."
Ezio was struck by how hard the girl sounded - how much like, in reality, some of the Assassini he had met. In Italian he said, “Niente è vero, tutto è permesso?”
He had to ask. Had to try. If she was an Assassin, she became at least partly his charge.
Nothing is true, everything is permitted? Hanna's brows furrowed. She didn't like the way he said that. It sounded like something Erik could have taught her in the dreams. Where he'd openly been training her to kill. She could step back and see he'd been much more subtle in her waking life, which made her wonder if she was even a person. She didn't know who she was anymore. In her dreams she had a goal and a target (and the question of who she was when the target was gone). But here? Here she didn't know what she was supposed to do or who she was supposed to be.
Like she'd skipped straight past killing the target and into the 'what do I do now?' territory. Kill more, maybe. Was that was Erik wanted for her? Or had he just wanted Marissa dead, and then they could live in peace.
But why spend sixteen years training her to kill one person?
Hanna looked down at her hands. "If nothing is true then what does that make me?"
Cazzo. Ezio looked over at her. He had to tell her the truth now, and if she was a Templar, well, he would deal with that as it came.
He wet his lips, looking down. “I said this thing because it is the creed of my order. I mean no harm to you at all - but una Assassina would know the Creed. I had to see if you were one.” He started to tell her about his own dreams, not going into intimate detail, but going into enough detail for her to understand.
"I am one, but there is no order. Just me and Erik." Hanna felt like she could trust this man with a little more information. Some of it she'd said on the network when she'd baited some people to see if they'd known anything. Sometimes she wasn't as innocent as she looked. Even if she didn't understand things like art or music well. And she'd fallen in love with music.
"I dream I am trained to kill Marissa Wiegler. She is a very bad woman. All I knew for most of my lifes is the forest and Erik, and how to shoot, and how to fight."
Ezio nodded, as if it was a normal thing to hear. “Do you know who Marissa is? I mean, is she related to you? Is she related to Erik?”
“She was the head of a CIA program, but that’s all I really know. She and Erik used to work together. They had a disagreement on methods. She only wants to hurt people.”
“I see.” At least this Marissa wasn’t related to Hanna. That would have made it even worse. “Well. Do you know if she exists here?”
Hanna shook her head. “No. Which is good. I don’t want to hurt anyones. But I dreamed I already have. I pressed the switch. The beacon that would bring her. And when they sent to men to gets me, I killed them. I made it look like Erik had did it, and let them capture me.”
Ezio shook his head. “It sounds like a terrible thing to dream. I am sorry for it.”
“I do not feel all that bad about it. Or I did not at the time. It was like...I could not even feel anything. I just acted, and reacted, and no longer felt.” And on the trip to wherever they took her she was still in mission mode and couldn’t feel.
“May I ask you something that might be a bit personal?” Ezio looked over at her. “Well. Something that might make you think?” When she didn’t say no, he continued. “You are doubtless aware that others think and react to situations in a different way than you. Does that bother you at all? Do you feel at all different than most?”
“I feel different,” she admitted. “Like part of me is broken or isn’t there. I feel bad, I think, but only after everything has happened.”
“I understand.” That was uncomfortably close to how his dream self felt. “You put aside emotion until you do what you have to do. Then, afterward, when some people would be frightened, or feel sad, you feel only frustration that you do not feel frightened or sad. Is that right?”
“I feel sad when I do it but it’s like I am feeling it from very far away. And then after, I feel bad, but I don’t…” She waved her hands around, searching for the words. “Ich weiß nicht, wie ich mich fühle, wie ich sollte.”
Ezio only knew a few words of German, but he got the gist. “Thank you,” he said. “I appreciate you trying to explain it to me.” He had to know where she was coming from before he could help her move on.
Hanna folded her arms onto her lap and stared at him, going quiet. She didn’t seem like she wanted to talk any more. Or maybe she just didn’t know what else to say. She felt like she’d said too much!
Ezio saw her close the figurative doors. “Perhaps this is enough talking for now,” he said. He wanted to gain her trust, but pressing was sometimes not the right way to do it. “I don’t know if you might wish to come here again sometime, but if you do, I would like to help you to practice some of the things you have said you have issue with.” Helping her to be more normal, basically.
“I guess that would be all right. But you must be careful. People might hurt you for helping me. Or for knowing me. I don’t know who they are, but they will try to get to me.” It was the most candid she’d spoken the entire session.
“I am not afraid.” Ezio said simply. “I have the skills to defend myself, and the weapons.” It was a surprise even to him, that he had this in him, but at the same time, he knew it was true.
“They do not play fair. They fight sneaky.” But she thought maybe he could handle himself. She needed to talk to her mother. To Neena. “You should talk to Neena Thurman. She can explain more.”
“My foes fight dirty.” Ezio wasn’t dissuaded. But when the girl mentioned a name, he nodded. “I will speak to her. But if nothing else, signorina, I will keep your secrets. I have to; it’s the law.” He smiled just a little. “I could go to prison if I told anyone what you’ve told me here, unless you tell me it is all right. I presume you grant permission to speak with this Neena, or you would not have told me to do so. But no one else.”
“I do. But they will try to hurt you or those you love if it meant getting information, laws do not matters to them,” Hanna said, very solemnly.
“I understand. But I promise, you will find I am strong.” Ezio replied. “I do not take this as a game, Hanna. I will speak to Neena, and I will be careful.”
The blonde just looked at him, and nodded her head. He could take care of himself, but that wouldn't mean she'd not feel guilty of something happened to him. "Okay."
“If you want to return here, all you need do is say so, as well.” Ezio wouldn’t give her a card, since she wanted secrecy, but he was discoverable in the telephone book or on the network. “Per favore, ricordate. Sono un amico.” He could be a friend. If she let him.