Diamond Eclipse: The Mark

Thanks for continuing to read this random pairing. Enjoy the new chapter!

The moment his classes were over for the day Mercury left the school, heading into Vale. He was only delayed when Emerald had asked where he was going, and he had given her the most common excuse he could think up.

"Out for a walk, to breathe in the fresh air. Is that a problem?"

And that had been the end of that when Emerald just rolled her eyes, going back to her mission. Not to say he wasn't working on his own mission. He was keeping his eyes out for hunters-in-training from Beacon as he walked around town, as well as Weiss Schnee. She had left class with her team, all of them appearing to be busy and hurrying back to their dorm. So he hadn't seen an opening to talk with her, but he had heard Vale being mentioned in the hallway, making it a safe bet that they would all being heading into town.

Something he was entirely fine with. He couldn't spend one more second in that school for today anyway, and the city of Vale would be a nice change in scenery.

Mercury started at the shops, figuring it was the most likely place for a group of girls to go, though he hoped to find Weiss alone rather than with her team. He wandered the streets for awhile, making a few notes in his scroll, changing a few more after having thought about the abilities of the hunter or huntress on the list.

When he kept failing to see a single member of team RWBY or hear their overenthusiastic leader in the distance he figured they weren't going to any shops. It was entirely plausible they were trying to be a thorn in Roman Torchwick's side, seeing as according to the criminal it was Ruby's number one hobby. He supposed he should add her to the list along with the rest of her team just for being troublemakers. Mercury still hadn't seen any of them fight himself, though. So he couldn't really judge if they had any business being on the list or not.

Maybe tomorrow one of them would spar with another student so he could start figuring out their weakness and strengths, so Cinder could put the information to good use later on in the Vytal Festival.

Mercury added a separate file to his scroll as he walked, putting the team inside it and adding the basic info now so he wouldn't have to do it later; if any of them were skilled enough to get on the list he would move their pages over, but this way he would have a place for them even if they didn't make the list. He closed the scroll as he approached the CCT, not wanting their cameras to pick up any of the words on the screen. At first he just intended on using this path as a shortcut, but then he heard an oddly enthusiastic shout.

"Woawh! I forget how big the transit tower looks up close!" Yeah, there was no mistaking who that voice belonged to.

"You should see the one in Atlas." Mercury stopped in his tracks, turning his head to see Weiss walking with her team leader, Ruby. But where was the rest of the team? It had sounded like they were all going out together.

"That was the first one, right?"

"Correct. Atlas developed the Cross-Continental Transit system to allow the Four Kingdoms to communicate with one another. It was their gift to the world after the Great War."

"Oooh, look at me. My name is Weiss, I know facts. I'm rich." Ruby laughed at her own joke, snorting in the process. Though, he couldn't see much reason to laugh at just how much wealth that girl held. Her father easily had enough money to put out a contract on a whole kingdom, maybe even two. Unfortunately, he didn't make deals with assassins.

"Don't be a pest," Weiss said, one hand on her hip. "Besides, the only reason we're here is because you like the tower so much." Oh? So the rest of her team wasn't here. "We could have just as easily made a call from the library."

"I know, but it's so cool. Oh, I'm gonna take a picture." Ruby went to grab her scroll, but it slipped out of her hands a moment later. He couldn't imagine how she had managed to get into Beacon, or even managed to wield her weapon without dropping it like the scroll. Or maybe the scroll was just trying to run away... not that it had gotten very far, having just hit another pedestrian on their foot.

"Oh. You dropped this." The orange-haired girl picked up the scroll, offering it back to Ruby.

"Penny?" Hm, so they knew eachother.

"Uh..."

"Where have you been? We haven't seen you since the night at the docks."

"S-sorry. I think you're confused." Suddenly the girl let out a hiccup, the scroll bouncing from her hands to Ruby's. "Uh, I got to go."

"What was that about?" Weiss asked a question he didn't particularly care to know the answer to.

"I don't know," Ruby replied, watching the odd girl walk away. "But I'm going to find out. You go make your call. I'll meet up with you later!"

"Wait!" Weiss shouted after her, but Ruby was already gone, clearly preoccupied with Penny. He could hear her release a heavy sigh a moment later, but he could only grin. She was alone; today actually seemed to be working in his favor, even with the faulty beginning.

Mercury walked over to her as she stood there, staring after Ruby with a scowl on her face that was slowly slipping into a frown. "Your friend ditch you?"

She gave a small jump - clearly not expecting anyone behind her, or that they would be talking to her - before she whirled around: a motion he watched in fascination, before his gaze settled on her own. "Who do you think you are sneaking up on people?" Her words had bite, but he could only chuckle.

"Sorry. I'm Mercury, a student from Haven," he introduced himself. "No one from my team wanted to come into town and explore the sights Vale has to offer. They're a bit eccentric," he added with a grin. Of course, the only sight he wanted to explore in Vale was her.

"I'm certain that's an exaggeration. You haven't seen my team-" She cut herself off for a beat. "Or maybe you have, if you're staying at Beacon."

"I did recognize the other girl with you. She bumped into one of my teammates in the hallway while we were checking out the school. She seemed a bit... hyperactive."

Weiss' lips curled upward slightly. "That's an understatement." She frowned a moment later, though. "Aren't you going to ask for my name?"

He titled his head to the side by just a fraction, a single brow rising. "I have to ask?"

The light shade of pink that appeared on her cheeks an instant later practically made her look like a piece of fruit. One that was ripe for the picking. "It's Weiss."

Mercury smiled at her, an innocent snow cherry. "Do you mind if I accompany you to the CCT then, Weiss?"He didn't think he would find her here, but by the time she was done with her call he would have had enough time to figure out who he should call; just so he had an excuse to be hanging around the CCT, besides looking for her that is.

Her cheeks lost their lovely roseate shade. "I..." The second of silence seemed to stretch into a whole minute for him. "Sure. Why not?" she seemed to be trying to convince herself that it was fine, though he suspected she couldn't find any plausible reason to tell him no. Especially when she had been clearly upset when Ruby left so suddenly.

"Should we head up, then?"

Weiss only gave a nod of her head, turning on her heel to walk towards the doors of the CCT. As much as he wanted to trail behind and watch her Mercury matched her pace, walking alongside her.

The door swung open by itself, the sensors blinking a few times as their feet passed through them. Weiss headed straight toward the elevator that slid open when they were barely three feet away. Mercury leaned back against the wall of the elevator once inside, eyes straying to Weiss, who stood closest to the panel.

"Hello. Welcome to the CCT. How may I help you?" A computerized voice spoke as soon as the elevator's doors closed.

"I'd like to go to the Communications room, please." Weiss spoke with her hand on her hip - once again.

Her outfit for today was different than the one he had seen her in before. There was no blue tinge to the fabric, it was a plain white, coupled with accents of black: most of which were close to the edges of her outfit, besides the buttons, and a few black-lined detailings. He preferred it, she looked good in black.

"Absolutely. Could you please place your scroll on the terminal to verify your identity?" Weiss retrieved her scroll from a pocket, placing it on the terminal as the machine let out a series of beeps. "Perfect. Thank you, Miss Schnee."

With a palette like that he had to wonder what she was wearing underneath. It would make sense for it to be either white or black, the latter of which he would like to see. If that's what it was, especially if it was the focus color. She just wore so much white... snow colors, seeing her in something darker, that would hug her frame, that he could slide off her body-

The door slid open with a beep and he stepped out after Weiss, pushing his thoughts back into the corners of his mind. There was no reason to imagine it now, before she gave herself to him. Something he would need to work toward if he was going to get everything he wanted from her before the Vytal Festival could even end.

A hologram of a woman popped up behind the desk Weiss had approached, while he lagged behind for the time being. "Welcome to the Beacon Cross-Continental Transmit Center. How may I help you?"

"I need to make a call to Schnee Company, World Headquarters in Atlas."

"Absolutely. If you could head over to terminal three I'll patch you right through." These computer A.I. really needed an update in their vocabulary. It was almost saying the exact same thing as it had in the elevator, only switching a few words around where needed.

"Thank you." Weiss gave a small nod of her head

He followed after her, only stopping to tell the hologram, "I'll patch myself through. Thanks."

"Very well," the woman responded, flickering out a moment later.

As Weiss took her seat at terminal three he simply leaned against the cubicle it was in, pretending to look around the room; as if he were more interested in it than her and the Schnee Company. As if he wasn't glancing down at her every other second, trying to figure out the best way to go about getting what he wanted from her.

So when she let out a small sigh, he found himself fixated on her expression. One that clearly didn't look forward to this call. "Thank you for calling the Atlas-oh! Miss Schnee. Good afternoon. Would you like me to patch you through to your father? I think your sister Winter might be here as well."

"No thank you," Weiss' reply was pleasant, but there was something off about it. "I was actually wondering if you could find some files for me. I've compiled a short list. She inserted her scroll into a slot on the dashboard, that would send this list she had mentioned to the woman that had answered her call.

"I see. If you don't mind, what, may I ask, is this for?"

"School project."

"Um, there is some sensitive documents on this list, ma'am." That caught his attention. Sure, the heiress was a Schnee, and therefore a part of the company, but he hadn't thought they would allow her to access such information. Even with her being the daughter of the man that ran the company. But from what he could tell, this secretary of sorts was going to just hand it over, with very little resistance.

"Well then, I'll be sure to treat them with care." Seriously?

"Right. Very well. The data's being transferred to your scroll now." He hadn't thought that she would be such a big flaw in their security.

"Wonderful." Weiss said, still smiling. "That will be all then."

"Are you sure you wouldn't like me to patch you through to your father before you go?"

That diplomatic smile of hers slipped, for a second. "Yes, I'm sure." when she spoke though, her lips became thin when pressed together, her features constricted.

"Well then, have a nice day."

The screen must have blinked out as Weiss was no longer forcing a smile. She seemed to be lost in her own mind, lips pulled down, as if she were sulking.

He couldn't be sure which, but the mention of her father - or sister - and the idea of speaking to one of them had upset her. That much was clear, as was the fact that she was now brushing it off: shaking her head, as if getting rid of whatever thoughts clouded her mind, turning her attention to him, and giving him a semi-tight smile. So he knew he had nothing to do with her now sour mood, that she didn't expect him to say anything about it, to offer a shoulder, or... anything, really.

Which was fine, because he wasn't going to offer. He hadn't sought her out to comfort her over something he didn't understand.

"Did you need to use the terminal, to?"

Right, he needed to call someone. The reason didn't really matter-

Mercury grinned. He had the perfect candidate. "Yeah," he said, slipping into the chair after Weiss had gotten up. It only took a few seconds for him to enter the numbers - and symbols - so the call would go through and connect - so his own number would come up as 'unknown' so she would actually answer.

Weiss had taken up his former space, seemingly disappearing back into her mind until a voice came from the screen. "What the hell? Merc?" He could see her jump from the corner of his eye as Emerald appeared on the terminal.

"Nice to see you, too, Em."

She just blinked at him, before scowling. "Mercury, what are you doing?" His lips pulled further up at how easy it was to push her buttons. He must have interrupted something important. He wondered if she had been working on an essay for one of their classes, but it was more likely she was working on her own mission. Still, he would find it hilarious if she had been working on something for that school.

"I decided to visit the CCT."

"So, you called me? Instead of anyone outside of Vale." Emerald was practically glowering at him now. "Do you even know what the CCT stands for?"

"Yes," he said, not giving much thought to just which question he was answering. One or the other. Both? Or neither? The latter would drive her up the wall and onto the ceiling. He smirked at the screen, watching as Emerald's eyes narrowed, clearly knowing he was playing a game with her.

She was actually holding her tongue though, instead of insulting him further. Just giving him an icy glare - that easily outmatched Weiss' own.

"How exciting." Another voice, smooth as silk and sharp as a dagger came from within the same room as Emerald; just as Weiss seemed to be getting over the initial shock of Emerald's greeting. The heiress turned her head, even though she wouldn't be able to see the woman, mainly because Cinder wasn't on the screen, but also because Weiss couldn't see the terminal from where she was.

Which was probably a good thing, he hadn't divulged his plans for the Schnee girl to any of his teammates. He certainly didn't need Emerald seeing her right now, she looked annoyed enough as it was. If she knew he was after the heiress she might just explode on him and then he wouldn't be able to go after her, not without some major damage control.

"Don't encourage him," Emerald's comment started with a snap like a whip, but then she seemed to remember who she was talking to and her voice lost it's bite, practically trailing off, as she looked in - what he presumed to be - Cinder's direction. "Sor-"

"How is your little project going?" Cinder cut off Emerald's apology, directing a question at him instead.

Reflexively he gave a shrug of his shoulders, even though he wasn't sure if she could see the motion or not. "It's fine. Did you get the update I sent?"

"Yes. It was, illuminating."

He chuckled slightly, knowing just who she was referring to. Of course that one had piqued her interest. "Glad to be of service."

"Hm. Don't stay out too late."

Emerald terminated the call before he could respond, evidently having just waited for Cinder to end the conversation. Not that it mattered if he was able to say goodbye or not, he had accomplished what he set out to do: annoy Emerald. It was a simple bonus that Weiss seemed to have forgotten that she had been upset minutes ago.

Mercury pushed himself and the chair away from the terminal before he got up, pushing the chair back into the cubicle with his foot. He didn't say a word as he passed by Weiss, heading toward the elevator, but he could hear her footsteps behind him.

A few seconds after the elevator doors had slid closed again and he had told the computer system to take them to the ground floor, Weiss asked, "Eccentric is the word you used?"

He chuckled lightly. That was what had been preoccupying her mind now? "Yeah, it's not the most accurate word for them."

"No, they certainly seem to be quirky enough to warrant it. I just thought you meant traditional eccentric." Weiss paused. "Like Ruby."

Mercury couldn't stop himself from laughing at that even if he wanted to. He was about to take a step forward when the elevator doors slid open, but before he could set his foot down, turn to ask her if she was busy at the moment or if she would mind if he tagged along, a voice in clear distress came from Weiss' scroll.

"Everyone, if you can hear me we need back-"

"Heeelp!"

Weiss gave a roll of her eyes, stepping forward - as if to run right over to whereever her friends were - only to stop and turn to face him. "I got to go," she said, not offering up any explanation as she turned to leave once more.

This was rather unfortunate, but... "I'll see you later."

"Huh?" Weiss stopped in her tracks, not even halfway across the room yet. She glanced at him over her shoulder and he had to wonder why she was so surprised at how geunine his words were. "...yeah."

He smirked at her retreating back as she hurried off.