Fault and Failure
Several faces turned to look as Weiss stepped through the headmaster's door. Qrow was there, of course, looking even more haggard and strung-out than usual. To Weiss' surprise he was sitting behind Ozpin's desk, leaning awkwardly on the high-backed chair, Ozpin's cane in one hand. Glynda and the General stood on opposite sides of the desk, their expressions grim.
Everyone looked tired. As did Weiss. As did everyone she had seen these past few days and most, except Glynda and Qrow, had some rather nasty wounds from the fight against the Grimm.
"Excuse me, Miss Schnee," Glynda said, turning away from the desk. "But this is a private meeting."
Weiss bowed her head, and clutched the stack of papers tighter under her arm. "I'm sorry, Professor, but I need to speak with the General. It can't wait."
Ironwood's brow furrowed as he stared down at her, his preternaturally serious face getting just a little more concerned. "This is not the best time, Ms. Schnee."
"This won't take long."
Stepping over to the desk, Weiss laid out the files atop the table, making sure they were placed in the correct order before moving away.
"You're going to need these. A press conference has been arranged by Schnee Dust for this afternoon. Most of the Vale news stations should be there, as well as a few others who were on-site for the Vytal festival."
"... and who will be speaking?" Ironwood asked.
"You," Weiss said, her throat tight, eyes narrowing as she glowered up at the large cyborg. "Specifically, you will be making a public apology to Yang Xiao Long, clearing her of any wrongdoing, and admitting your failure to adequately provide security for the festival."
Ironwood blinked. A quiet chuckle came from somewhere in the back of the room, only adding more fuel to Weiss' fury at the moron standing in front of her. Well, at least Qrow will get a thrill out of this.
"Ms. Schnee, this is hardly the time."
"This is exactly the time," she snapped.
Sighing, the General looked back at Qrow, who simply looked at Weiss, saying nothing at all. Eventually, Ironwood turned back to the heiress and sighed. "Weiss, I acted with the best knowledge I had at the time. I am sorry for what happened to your friend, but why would we want to do something like this after the tragedy that just happened? Everyone is worried enough as it is."
"Because she was framed. Because she didn't actually do anything wrong. And because both you and this school," she growled, shooting a rather nasty scowl at Qrow, "Allowed the press to drag her name through the dirt, without even performing the most basic of investigations."
"Ms. Schnee-"
"Mercury was here during that last match," Weiss snarled, not giving him the chance to interrupt. "He probably never even left Vale. Which means apparently, you didn't even bother to check if he actually arrived at the hospital. Or bothered to use security cameras."
"Actually, they were hacked," came a quiet drawl from behind the desk, earning Qrow a quick glare from Glynda.
"Ah. Then we can add that to the section about your inability to provide any sort of data security for the event."
"Weiss-"
"General, everything that has happened in the last few days has been your fault. There is a very good case against you and the Atlas military for recklessly endangering the lives of everyone in Beacon. The fear and panic that brought the Grimm here were the direct result of your ineptitude. Your men's failure to keep the communication tower secure. Your failure to prevent outside interests from arranging the matches. Your failure to keep outside huntresses from interfering with said matches-"
"No one could have foreseen Sustrai's semb-"
"You should have." Weiss cut him off. "In case you didn't know, people cheat. It happens in every sporting event and competition. Only the most moronic or naïve person wouldn't expect something, and you don't look particularly naïve."
"This isn't the time for petty insults," Glynda said quietly, although Weiss thought the rebuke lacked the professor's usual bite.
"Not an insult. Verifiable fact. Your job was to stop things like that from happening. Emerald was able to manipulate Yang and Pyrrha's minds during their matches because of your negligence, General. Your failure to anticipate and counter individuals trying to influence the fights to their own benefit, which you should have foreseen. Yang lost an arm because said incompetence, and your reliance on automated soldiers, allowed a terrorist into Beacon. Ruby watched her friend get sliced into pieces because you needed to prove that your new robot worked. Because you kept her a secret."
"And how would you know that, Schnee?" Qrow said quietly, drumming his fingers on the desk.
"It's obvious. Because if he hadn't, anyone here could have warned him about Pyrrha's semblance after she used it in the blasted lunchroom. I really doubt anyone else in this room would be foolish enough to forget to mention it. I'm not sure how developed your engineering skills are, General, but powerful magnetic fields and delicate computer equipment don't usually mix well."
"That's enough!" he snapped, knocking several files to the floor.
Weiss didn't even flinch. "Hardly. You were so focused on showing off your damn science experiment that you utterly failed to do anything to protect the people here!"
Apparently, Ironwood didn't have a comeback for that. He glanced over at Glynda and even Qrow in turn, apparently expecting them to come to his defense. All he got was a shrug from Yang's uncle and what Weiss thought might have been a brief twitch of Glynda's brows. One that she hoped meant the professor agreed.
"This is the deal, General. You will make a very public apology to my friend, and agree to the settlement in those files. You will pay for Yang's and Blake's medical expenses and a very sizable compensation, and I won't destroy your career."
"You're ... blackmailing me?"
"Not at all. I'm encouraging you to do the right thing. To make things right." Picking up one of the files from the floor, she tossed it back onto the table, landing right where she'd placed it before. "And I'm applying enough leverage to show what I'll have to do, if you turn out to be dishonorable as well as incompetent."
"Ms. Schnee," Ironwood said quietly, rising to his full height. "I suggest you not threaten me."
The room became very quiet. Ironwood's eyes were locked on Weiss, and she flatly refused to back down. She heard Qrow shift forward in his chair as Glynda glanced over at the towering soldier, her expression worried.
"It's not a threat. There's a very good class-action suit against Atlas right now. Practically a guaranteed win. So how quickly do you think the army will hang you out to dry, like you did Yang? Or do you really think they'll protect your reputation over that of their forces? Plus," she said, waving at one of the fallen files. "I have the records that show you allowed Cinder access to your scroll when you hooked it to the Headmaster's system. That you were the patsy who did Cinder's work for her by breaking a cardinal rule of digital security, and plugging your scroll, with all the sensitive data on it, into an infected system. Funny enough, she didn't even bother to cover her tracks. Apparently she knew how lax your security was. She wouldn't have been able to fix the fights if you hadn't practically given her access on a silver platter."
Forcing an only somewhat vindictive smile, Weiss began to pace across the center of the room. "Now, I'd like to think that undeniable proof would be enough. Both to convince you to do the right thing and to convince the press if you don't. But right now, it seems my father isn't too happy with you either. Something about destroying one of his most prized test subjects."
She met Ironwood's gaze, schooling her features, trying to look as calm as possible. She really hadn't wanted to involve her father. "I've known him my entire life, General. Believe me, if there is one thing that man cannot stand, it's failure."
For a second, Ironwood looked like he might pop a blood vessel. His hands tensed around the edge of the desk, his knuckles turning white, and out of habit, Weiss started assembling one of her glyphs in her head. There was no way a man like the General would attack her in a room full of witnesses. Especially not Yang's uncle, however distasteful Weiss found him.
For a moment, he look like he was about to speak. Then he sagged, the exhaustion of the past couple days seeming to catch up with him.
Clearing her throat, Weiss began moving for the door. "Excellent. I've taken the liberty of writing your speech. I suggest you read it, and stick to the script."
Right as she passed through the door, she heard his voice behind her. "You really are your father's daughter."
"You had better hope not," Weiss said, glancing over her shoulder and ignoring the sick feeling in her stomach. "He would have destroyed your career out of principle. I may actually keep my word."
Writer's note: Something I worked up for sheer catharsis after watching volume 3. It's honestly a little amazing how bad Ironwood is at being in charge of security. Not entirely his fault, though. Frankly, the Council were morons to take a gifted commander and excellent fighter (with apparently no background in security work) and put him in charge.
Well, the salt made me feel a little better anyway. Please leave a review if you can. If you agree with my assessment, I'd LOVE to hear it. And if not, I'd still love to hear it – especially if you can actually convince me he wasn't a complete tool (albeit one who is good with a gun).