The morning had stared normally enough, Roman reflected. He had woken up in the living quarters that were attached to his office. After a cold shower- one of the downsides of having a secret criminal base was that there was no way to hook it up to hot water- he had thrown on some nondescript clothes, then put on the blue wig and glasses he wore when going out in public. No one had given him a second glance as he went to a local diner for some breakfast. Covering his dining expenses with a pickpocketed wallet from a woman with a particularly annoying dog, he had returned to the series of warehouses that served as Roman's HQ. Pulling off his disguise, he had intended to get in touch with his contacts on the net and try to find more men to hire, effective ones this time, when he stopped dead at the sight of the female intruder in his office.

Breaking off from his contemplation of how things had come to this, Roman studied the figure in front of him. The first thing he noticed was the umbrella. It was one of those fancy lace umbrellas, a parasol he thought they were called. Whatever it was, it was open and was resting over the shoulder of her pink and white jacket. Her legs, clad in dark brown pants, were crossed over each other and still hung several inches off the floor. It occurred to Roman that the girl was very short. His eyes were drawn up to the girl's face. Her hair was two colors, pink and brown, divided down the middle. And her eyes…matched her hair. A brown eye on the left, and a pink eye on the right. Well that was odd. And her expression was simply infuriating. She was looking at him with a small smirk, like she knew everything about him as soon as he walked in. "Oh you have got to be kidding me."

The girl's smirk widened into a full smile. "You're the one Cinder thinks is supposed to be able to 'help' me?" She nodded once. "…Right. Well. I don't know what Cinder told you, but she's mistaken if she thinks I need anyone to help me keep a handle on things. Besides, I don't expect I'd be able to get much help from someone of your…stature." At his last words, the girl's smile tuned into a glare and she closed the umbrella with a snap, taking it off her shoulder and laying it across her lap, in a gesture that Roman assumed was supposed to be threatening. "Look kid, I have business to take care of. I don't have time to deal with you. So just scram. Go get some ice cream or something." The smirk returning, the girl primly hopped off the desk and presented a plain white envelope. Roman was sorely tempted to brush her off again, but even from where he stood, he could smell soot and ash. Cinder. The woman left that distinctive smell on everything she touched. He snatched the letter from her hand and pulled it open.

-Roman

Because of your failures in avoiding attention, we need a way to continue our operations while drawing zero notice. Obviously, robberies will draw some attention, so we need someone to draw it for us. Someone to help us obtain what we need while making a believable scapegoat for the police and the Hunters. I have contacts in the White Fang and I believe that they are the best candidates for the role. My contacts tell me that the White Fang are planning to invade the Faunus Rights rally tomorrow. You will meet with my contact and from there convince their leadership to assist us and then use the White Fang to take what we need. Also, your new companion will be accompanying you on this assignment, as she will for every assignment hereafter. Her name is Neopolitan.

The letter ended and Roman looked up. "Neo, huh? Look kid. I'm sure you don't want to be here anymore than I want you to be here. So I'm going to give you the next couple of months off. You'll be able to do whatever you want, and for full pay to boot. Cinder will never have to know. Whaddaya say?" Neo leaned forward on her umbrella and shook her head twice. He sighed heavily. Wait, he thought. Maybe I could…I mean, she doesn't seem like the brightest bulb. She hasn't even said a word yet. He took a deep breath and steadied himself. "Look, Neo," Roman felt his aura flow through him as he activated his semblance. "Cinder sent you to me because she doesn't trust that I can deal with things. But does it really seem like the type of guy who would let things get out of control? I know that you'll trust me even though Cinder doesn't. So why don't you go somewhere else and relax. Let your friend Roman take care of everything from now on. Don't worry about me." He gave Neo his best comforting smile. She looked up at him and cocked her head thoughtfully, her eyes staring trustingly into his. Too easy, he thought, his smile widening. She's like putty in my- THWACK! In the blink of an eye she took her weight off the umbrella and smashed it into the side of his head.

"Ow! Hey, watch it! My face is very valuable in some places! A simple 'no' would have sufficed." He should have known Cinder wouldn't send someone stupid enough to fall victim to his personal brand of persuasion. All he had gotten for his attempt was a blow to the head. His aura made sure that the only thing that had gotten hurt was his pride, but even that still stung. Neo thrust her hand into his face, index finger raised. She stared coldly at him and wagged her hand back and forth. "All right, I get it. No fancy mind tricks."

Composing himself, Roman looked down at the small figure in front of him once again. "I don't suppose you're going to tell me what you plan to do around here while I work? If you plan to say anything to me at all. Neo pointed at her mouth, then drew a finger across her throat. "So you can't talk?" Her only response was to blink at him. As she did so, the pink and brown of her irises switched places. "Ah! What? How did you- You know what? I don't even care anymore." Roman sighed as he crossed the room and sat down in his chair. "Well if you can't talk, I suppose that's one less thing I have to worry about you annoying me with. And if you're this quiet, you might as well stay here while I work. Don't want to upset the boss, now do we?" He gestured towards one of the deliberately uncomfortable chairs he kept along the wall of his office. "But you do realize that there is still no way in hell you're going to 'accompany' me anywhere, capisce?" Her only response was another infuriating smirk as she sat down, crossing her legs in the same manner as before. Doing his best to ignore her, Roman turned on the computer terminal at his desk. All right, White Fang contact at the faunus rally. Let's see…

Authors Note: As always, criticism is appreciated. You're getting this chapter a bit sooner than you normally would. An extended road trip gave me time to finish chapter one and get halfway through chapter two before I even published anything. My plan is to put out a chapter a week once I hit the main portion of this story, but we'll see how that goes.

Fun Fact: I hadn't actually intended to reveal Roman's semblance until he starts interacting with the White Fang, but it just sort of happened while I was writing. Makes sense that Roman would do whatever he could to get Neo away from him.