A flash of white, the click of a heeled boot against a rock then another flash of white.
Neo repeated the process over and over as she traveled through the dense foliage of Forever Fall, the forest stood quieter than ever before in history. The ever present Grimm had been all but wiped out during the attack on Vale, a number survived but it would be years before the forest we become a real threat to the city again, if ever.
The Vale Council was smart and Ozpin even more so, with the Forest emptied of Grimm there were likely plans for an expansion already made to make use of the land in such a scenario.
She didn't care about any of that as she finally paused in her breakneck race to reach the source of Roman's call. She pulled out her scroll again and held it in front of her making sure the direction indicator was still pointing the direction she was heading. Glancing at the device she turned a few degrees North and vanished in a white flash, repeating the process, again and again, slowly making her way closer to her destination.
Winter Schnee glanced at her Scroll repeatedly as she flew first Southeast of Beacon out over the Emerald Forest before turning sharply north and circling around to head towards the indicator left on her Scroll.
She watched her radar making sure to keep clear of the dozen or so Bullheads that were flying grid patterned over the red forest, searching for the missing horde of Grimm that Qrow insisted was present and heading towards Vale yet had seemingly vanished without a trace.
Shifting the pitch of her aircraft she began to rapidly gain altitude, her craft easily handled the ascent and once she was certain she was high enough no system in Vale would discover her craft she set it to auto pilot and went to go prepare her gear.
Inside a strongbox located behind her pilot's seat rested not only her weapon but several canisters a highly refined dust, far more powerful than you would find in any shop or even given to the specialist of the Atlas military. No, this dust was directly from the Schnee Dust Company and would cost enough to make some of the richest people on Remnant balk at the price attached to it. Winter removed the weapon strapping it to her side and pulled out a single canister of Dust affixing it securely to her belt.
From deeper in the strong box she pulled out the rest of her gear and once everything was securely fastened to her she retook the pilot's seat and began a rapid descent towards the woods below.
Or what should have been wood's, through her window as she drifted below the cloud line the white fluffy cloud was slowly being tinged a sooty black, Winter dove her machine steeply until it broke through the layer of cloud and smoke and she was witness to a raging forest fire. Shifting her eyes from the fire raging below her she looked to her scroll and the direction it indicated, it was pointing nearly straight down.
With practiced motion she calmly adjusted her aircraft so that it hovered in the air and tilted the craft forward allowing her to look almost directly towards the earth below, eyes shape from years of practice immediately spotted the wreckage of a crashed Bullhead and with another glance at her scroll to confirm that where she was heading.
The fire had saved her considerable time as she was able to set her craft down right next to the crashed Bullhead, once touched down Winter hit a switch and before she even made it out of the cockpit the ramp at the rear of her vessel was already completely down, grabbing her first aid kit and drawing her weapon she made her way down the ramp and stepped foot on the burnt ground, the ash and soot kicked up by the aircrafts landing filtered through the air staining her pristine white uniform, the fact of it happening not bothering her but the need to come up with an excuse for the ruined uniform did annoy her.
The surrounding area was clear of both flames and smoke so she breathed easier as she wouldn't have to deal with either of those while she searched the wreckage for her target.
The muted sounds of flames in the distance was the only noise present, as she carefully picked her way towards the crash, keeping her eyes peeled for any danger or sign of a trap, however unlikely that might be she couldn't rule out the possibility.
Roman might have earned a favor from her that she was intent on repaying but not at the cost of her own life.
The crash hadn't been kind to the Bullhead, while it might still be relatively intact the frame was twisted by the impact with the ground and the cockpit rested underneath the bulk of the craft.
With a light jump boosted by her Aura, she landed lightly on the downed craft her boots making a faint click as her heels touched down.
Winter stilled as an inhuman shriek rocked the area.
Turning the direction of the noise she squinted trying to find anything through the haze of smoke, the cry due to the volume she had no idea how close or far away the source was but knew it was a shriek like nothing she had heard before.
When the noise didn't repeat itself she turned her attention back to the Bullhead and the hatch she was standing near, with a frown of concern she stared at the twisted hatch wondering if it would even open.
Bending low she grabbed the manual release and with a sigh of relief swung the hatch open, silently thanking the small blessing that the hatch for how warped it appeared hadn't binded itself shut.
Just as she was about to drop inside the craft the inhuman Shriek repeated itself and this time the noise was accompanied by a sudden rapid drop in temperature and through the smoke, a huge indistinguishable pillar of black and orange light shot into the heavens before swinging wildly in multiple directions before vanishing.
The sight caused her no small degree of panic as both her Academy and Military knowledge could not give a name to any Grimm capable of such a display, only something Qrow had told her about some of 'Salem's' personal abominations he had encountered in his tenure as Ozpins agent gave her any insight into what if anything was the source of the display she had just bore witness too.
Winter's hand strayed to her Scroll, no matter her debt to Roman this was something that couldn't be ignored. Glancing at the device in her hand she pressed the Button that would connect her directly to Headmaster Ozpin of Beacon.
The tiny screen flashed once before Ozpin's face appeared, the background not matching his office.
"Winter? What is it, where are you?" Much like Winter didn't recognize the background Ozpin stood in, he was likewise perplexed by Winters, not to mention that soot and ash in the air coating Winter in black filth.
"I'm sorry to say that I was taking care of a..." Winter looked at the hatch below her searching for a way to describe the situation. "...a personal debt." Winter jumped as the Shriek repeated for a third time, no pillar of energy was seen this time.
"Winter, what was that noise?" Ozpin looked away from the Scroll and his background shifted to him transitioning from whatever room he was in too a more private location.
"I am not sure, but one of the shrieks was accompanied with a..." Winter paused again unable to think of a way to describe the shaft of energy she had seen moments earlier. "... I'm not sure what, a power, something I cannot describe."
Ozpin looked through the device in concern, the Shriek was also unfamiliar to him, he knew of Grimm and subspecies that very few new of, not that he had personally seen or encountered them, no he simply had access to a wonderfully vast library and spent much time familiarizing himself with knowledge that the masses ignored. "Leave your Scroll active Winter, I will have Qrow rendezvous with you soon."
"I'm not sure Qrow will be enough Headmaster."
"Qrow isn't being sent to engage the source of the noise or power you witnessed. Finish your personal debt and take care Winter, if this creature is one of Salem's then I highly recommend being prepared to flee at a moments notice." Ozpin's face vanished and a mute screen appeared over her Scroll, Ozpin had requested the line left open so they could track her exact location.
Leaving her Scroll active she tucked it into a pocket while trying her best to ignore the fourth ear-splitting Shriek, as she lowered herself gently into the darkened hold of the crashed Bullhead.
The hold wasn't as devoid of light as she assumed, in a dimly lit corner a single scroll paid vigil to a silent scene.
Neo knelt on the floor of the Bullhead's hold gently cradling the head of her mentor, Roman Torchwick.
Winter took one look at the man and knew instantly that he was far beyond the point of needing the Medikit she had grabbed.
A fifth shriek echoed across the landscape though it was distorted by the walls of the bullhead Winter though it sounded closer this time.
"Neo... Neo can you hear me?" Winter asked quietly yet urgently the most recent shriek had put her on edge as she felt something seriously wrong was happening outside.
Neo, if she had heard her didn't move except to gently caress Roman's face with a hand that shook with uncertainty as if she didn't believe the obvious truth of what was before her.
Roman Torchwick was dead.
Ozpin moved through the hall's as quickly as he could, Qrow had already been dispatched and he cut his visit with Glynda woefully short as he needed to make his way back to his office.
This was too much too soon, if this is Salem then she is becoming either bolder or desperate, and I'm not sure which of those two choices frighten me more. There is the third choice, the second party with abilities similar to Salem's.
Ozpin pushed that thought aside, if another was capable of the same abilities as Salem then he wasn't sure what chance Vale stood currently.
It had only been a week since the Red Mist Massacre of the city, and three weeks since the incident in Forever Fall with the White Fang.
Vale was not ready for another conflict and his allies, barring a few personal friends, were too far away to lend aid if what Winter discovered turned out to be a direct threat to the Kingdom of Vale.
Upon reaching the elevator that would take him to his office he was glad to see both Professor Port and Oobleck waiting outside it. With a nod of greeting the three men entered the elevator.
"Ozpin, if I may ask your message, was... unclear on details." Port looked to his friend and employer concerned over the hasty summons in regards to some new possible threat.
"That is because I currently am unclear of the details myself. Our newest addition has come across something while taking care of a personal debt, Qrow has been dispatched to observe and report back but we have other matters to attend too." The elevator came to a stop and the three men filed out and took up chairs around Ozpins desk. "Bartholemew, what sort of resources and mission ready huntsmen do we have active currently." Ozpin knew a rough answer of who would be capable to respond to an emergency summons, the list was actually quite large, however, at the moment, the list was littered with injured Huntsmen.
Oobleck quickly looked to a tablet in his arms and scanned through pages of information a slight frown appeared the more time he spent inspecting the pages he fliped through. "The list is not promising, any full teams we would trust to be discrete are also the teams that suffered the most injury during the recent attack, nothing serious but complete Aura exhaustion is keeping everyone on the list out of combat for the foreseeable days to come. I could cobble together a relatively functional team with those that are capable and ready to fight."
Ozpin sat in silence and mentally cursed at the situation, he needed to have a force ready to move at a moments notice in case Qrow' report came back with bad news but a team made from individuals who never worked together before was not an ideal solution and he knew it. "Bart, create two teams and place yourself and Peter on them as well, I need people with level heads that will understand what they may be facing."
"Very well." Bartholemew stood and looked at Peter both men nodded and turned to leave the room.
Ozpin watched the two men leave and desired to join them but with a sigh put out a call to the Vale councilmembers calling for an emergency meeting.
In short order, three screens came to life.
"Council members, I call you today to inform you of a situation I was just made away of myself." Ozpin watched as three sets of weary eyes looked toward him through their monitors. "Forever Fall is Burning and to make matters worse an unknown Grimm has been encountered in the vicinity of the fire."
"Is this Grimm or the fire going to be a threat to the city?"
"The fire will likely not spread to the city, as for the Grimm I cannot say. Negativity in the City is at a record high at the moment and the odds it will be drawn here are high. Two teams are being formed right now to act once I have word back from my agent who was sent to personally inspect the fire and discover first hand what type of enemy we might face."
"You normally do not contact us about such matters Headmaster, while we appreciate being kept in the loop you only ever do so when you need something."
Ozpin leaned forward in his chair and gave each of the three council members a short but penetrating gaze. "I will be joining the Teams assembling to confront this threat if it is deemed necessary that an armed response is warranted." Ozpin could see with his sudden proclamation that all three Members of the Vale council were at a lose on how to appropriately respond.
Finally, the spokesperson managed to collect his thoughts enough to respond. "Ozpin, I, no the council would like for you to reconsider this action. You are too important a person to be so frivolously leaving to attend to such a likely pointless task." The spokesman did well to hide his shock as well as a slight tremor of fear. Headmaster Ozpin of Beacon Academy in the twenty years the Councilmember had held his position Ozpin had only left Beacon a handful of times and each time he left those who went with him in the times he needed reinforcements they spoke highly of the skill and Power Ozpin wielded. Ozpin volunteering himself to this mission spoke volumes on how considerable the Headmaster assumed the threat facing them to be.
"I understand your perspective, but I will not be swayed. Vale is short on a great many resources at the moment, uninjured Huntsmen are a rare commodity currently. The two teams I have assembling at the moment are not made of Huntsmen who have trained together for years and work together in harmony, no, currently the teams we can field that number in that category number at Zero."
The council members all averted there gave from his monitor and turned to quickly discuss something between the three of them.
"Are matter's truly that dire currently? Is Vale lacking that much in defense?" The spokesman asked his voice trying to remain calm but he was clearly concerned about the news of how undermanned their defenders were at the moment. Reports from the aftermath of the Battle had been too numerous to properly remember everything that came across his desk in the past week, coupled with meetings and planning sessions and dozens of other things the councilmembers were expected to do this piece of information for how important it was to Vale hadn't struck its full weight until just now.
"I'm afraid so Councilmembers, Currently our walls are being manned by more of my students than graduate Huntsmen. Beacon's private Dust stores have been opened to outfit those defending the walls every advantage due to recent shortages."
"Will we find this information in any of the reports that have crossed our desk's in this past week or is this another of the many things you choose to not keep us informed of?" A Gruff older voice of the most senior council member cut through the monitors.
"You will. Dr. Oobleck has made sure all events since the siege have crossed your desk, no matter how trivial they may be in the long run." Ozpin glossed over the subject, he had specifically had Batholemew flood the Council members with updates, schedules, and itineraries. While all the information was 100% accurate there was a fair deal of overflow he knew the councilmembers would not be able to read and check everything so some of his more questionable decisions and requests would likely slip past unnoticed, such as basically turning Beacons students into temporary security for the city, a decision that would likely have been strongly opposed as few would accept being protected by those who couldn't be considered fully fledged huntsmen.
"What about the Atlas forces that helped with the attack recently could they not be asked to aid us again?" The spokesman asked this time cutting off the older gruffer mans next likely pointless complaint, the eldest council member was well known to dislike Headmaster Ozpin.
"They have already returned to Atlas, the only personnel that remains still are a pair of Atlassian Doctors and Ms. Winter Schnee. Now I'm afraid I have to cut this meeting short as I have several things to do before departing." Ozpin reached forward to hang up the call.
"I assume since you are so short handed and will be heading out into the field yourself that both Peter Port and Bartholemew Oobleck are also participating? Who dare I ask will be in charge of Beacon in your absence?" The Gruff Council members asked his voice salivating at the thought of even gaining temporary access to Beacon.
"Simple, Glynda Goodwitch is the Deputy Headmaster so she will be in charge during my absence."
"Ms. Goodwitch? Is she not still hospitalized?"
As if a timed to perfection Ozpins elevator opened and in stepped Glynda Goodwitch. "As you can see Ms. Goodwitch has made a much swifter recovery than first anticipated, now really I must be going, please feel free to call again in my absence Ms. Goodwitch will be delighted to hear from any one of you." Ozpin watched as the Gruff council member looked at the screen and without even saying his farewell signed off, the other member who had been silent the entire time wished him the best before logging off.
"Ozpin if I may speak candidly with you now that we are alone?" The spokesman looked at Glynda who now that she had moved fully into the room looked severely pale and disoriented likely only on her feet because of a sense of duty that ruled over her life.
"Of course, please my time is your time."
"Of course, thank you. A simple question. Should we be prepared to evacuate Vale?"
Ozpin looked towards the last remaining monitor glad that at least one of the Vale Council understood the possible severity of the situation. "Yes."
With a severe look of shock and resignation, the spokesman for the council nodded his head and ended the call.
"Here Glynda, take a seat." Ozpin swiftly stood and helped Glynda into the most comfortable chair the office held, the fact that it was his chair behind his desk mattered little to him.
"Thank you Ozpin."
After fussing over Glynda for a moment making sure she was comfortable he disappeared into the elevator and found a wheelchair pushed far into the corner so that none of the Council members would have been able to see it from the camera's present in his office. "Think nothing of it, Glynda, we both know you would do the same for me."
"Ozpin, what has you so shaken, I have personally seen you contend with Salem's minions on multiple occasions never have you appeared overly concerned."
Pressing a concealed switch Ozpin and Glynda watched as a small wall cabinet opened, Ozpin reached inside and pulled out multiple objects several of which disappeared into his pockets but the last two items removed were not immediately pocketed.
Both items were placed on the desk in front of Glynda.
"This scroll contains security access permissions to the entirety of Beacon Academy. This book, however, will inform you of the location the true relic is located."
"Headmaster, I don't like where this discussion is going." Glynda fiercely glared at her companion a dread settling over her.
"Glynda trust me I'm not leaving with the intention of martyring myself. I'm simply playing the situation appropriately. Peter, Bart, Qrow and Myself will be out of the city, if you were fit for combat you would be accompanying us as well and this duty would be passed to another. The fact I can give you this task though causes a great weight to be lifted from my shoulders as there is no one else I would rather trust with this information."
Glynda stared at the Headmaster still her fierce gaze gone, replaced with one of solemn understanding as Ozpin said his farewell and left through the elevator.
Qrow leapt from the Bullhead, instructing the pilot to turn around as he did. Once clear of the craft and sure the pilot had heard his orders he shifted to his avian form and pulled up from his swan dive into the ground.
Flexing his wings enough to level out he used the momentum gained from his much heavy human form to glide the several miles needed to reach the edge of the fire, only after passing through some smoke did he begin to work his wings to keep himself level as the varying air temperature caused his gliding to no longer work.
The wall of smoke obscured his vision and his eyes began to water from the mixture of smoke stinging his eyes and his slow gradual starvation of air, even as high up as he was finding breathable pockets were simply him flying into open sky and quickly inhaling as much as he could before plunging into the smoke again.
Beating his wings faster he sighed in relief when he pushed through the barrier into the area that had already been ravaged completely by the fire.
Blinking rapidly and doing several lazy circles Qrow cleared his eyes of the smoke and ash as well as coughed the smoke from his lungs before starting his search in earnest.
His search didn't turn out to be all that difficult, a shriek of rage echoed across the landscape and with it a shaft of black and orange color streaked through the sky seemingly at nothing. Swooping close to the ground Qrow hastily flew under a burnt and collapsed tree and shifted back to his normal form and pulled out his scroll to see where Winter was in reference to his location and with a grim expression and a wary glance he looked in the direction Winter's locator indicated and it pointed frighteningly close to the source of the shaft of light and the terrifying shriek.
Great...
Neo wasn't sure what was going on around her, someone kept speaking to her, a voice she didn't recognize.
The voice once calm and level had been increasing in volume and a sense of urgency had grown behind that.
She didn't care though, Roman was dead, she had refused to admit it when she found the crashed bullhead and slipped inside, even when she found his body resting almost peacefully against one of the hard metal walls she held hope that he survived.
He had looked so peaceful, a peace that she had never seen him wear in her entire life.
The expression caused Neo to pause before reaching out and touching her friend, she knew then that Roman was dead, her friend and mentor died alone in a crashed Bullhead, the mere thought of that outcome seemed wrong to Neo. He might have been a criminal, but this death wasn't for him.
She didn't know how she ended up in her current position, one moment she was a half step away from simply grabbing his coat, now she sat deathly still his head cradled in her lap.
The moment was awful, a tragedy that she didn't know how to solve.
A white light appeared at the sides of her vision, the light distracted her from her grieving as she turned to investigate it to remove the offending light source she paused as a completely white Beowulf stood beside Winter Schnee.
She wanted to react to the Grimm but she could not summon the energy to move, instead she watched limply as the oddly colored Beowulf gingerly picked up Roman's body and carried it out of the Bullhead, the absence of Roman's body seemed to give Neo energy as she attempted to follow only to have her legs buckle. Collapsing on the cold metal floor, she pushed herself up and sought to follow still, a pair of arms gently helped her to her feet, a voice much closer than before came with the voice.
The words that came with the voice were lost to the haze that was her mind, the lost words seemed both soothing yet also urgent.
Crossing through the hatch Neo found herself staring into a blackened and turbulent sky, traces of smoke and ash floated through the air and the entire landscaped looked to be covered in layers of ash.
The arms supporting her guided her to the ground and then into another hard metal space. On the floor in front of here was Roman again, looking peaceful so much so that he appeared to only be sleeping.
A deafening noise occurred, it phased her little, her enter focus had returned to watching Romans motionless body. Arms, the same pair that had helped her move appeared again, roughly they reached around her and she felt herself become restrained by a pair of straps and then the arms were gone again.
Her body lurched violently as a sudden dropping motion occurred, the nauseating feeling didn't persist and she felt her body return to normal as she continued to simply watch her friend's lifeless form, lose filling her mind.
Well, it's done and as much as I wanted to I kept to the planned outcome I originally envisioned.
Roman is done, I struggled with this chapter for two weeks. Moments of weakness had Roman surviving, I love his character and wanted him to persist through everything but in the end, I realized his purpose in the story was finished. I knew that and I had two choices to make.
Save his life and reduce him to a stunted role that would do an injustice to the character I believe Roman to be, or commit to his death and allow my planned story to continue as I originally intended.
I don't know if I made the right choice in the end, I like to think I did but it really comes down to how the readers feel, some of you love the character as much as I do and I might lose your interest forever with this simple chapter or I could have piqued your interest with the death of a Major character.
Only time will tell I guess.
Some other things happened in this chapter, namely Ozpin readying himself.
I have had a few of you asking when Jaune and Yang will be returning, specifically Jaune and all I can say is be patient.
The are my main characters but they aren't the only characters that matter.
Of course, the VIP was a Schnee it's flipping Atlas, everyone here thinks there something special but even they treat the Schnee's special. Roman spun his head around to look that the unconscious figure in the back of his car. And its the god damn miniature Ice Queen.
This isn't how this happened, then again I wasn't even in Atlas, I only heard about this through the grape vine during time dealing with the Fang in Vale when I worked for the Bitch. Slowing his vehicle to a stop he patiently waited for the traffic light to change so he could continue his inconspicuous escape.
The Fang fucked this up when they did it by themselves, their person inside the Schnee mansion got cold feet and the whole thing fell apart without her getting their target out of the mansion. I fucked this up by being here and accepting the job and now I have to figure out some way to fix this without getting myself killed. The light shifted colors and Roman continued his quiet evening drive wondering idly how long his passenger was supposed to be unconscious for, he didn't even know if it was drugs or a physical blow that made her this way, he assumed drugs as he was fairly confident she had her aura unlocked which would have resulted in her Aura actively forcing her to regain consciousness, whereas drugs, Aura couldn't do anything against that, at least not in any sort of efficient manner
So how do I unfuck this? Neo is handling the Fang side of the problem. It might have been petty but Roman smiled at the thought of his accomplice killing her way through several dozen Faunus terrorists. Really this is their fault, they simply need to pay the price, hell if I didn't have to babysit you until I figure a way out of this mess I would be right beside my little killer happily helping her.
Silently a light down the street strafed across the road several times before locking onto the street before traveling his way, he didn't panic instead he simply kept driving, no sirens had been raised yet and likely wouldn't unless the Schnee Dust Company Security forces proved unsuccessful in their search.
"You know Ice Queen, out of your group of friends I don't think the two of use ever interacted one on one. Red, Ruby, I dealt with her too many times to count, both before and after I lost my voice, she was a pain in my ass the entire time, hero complex, that one wanted to save the world, in the end she couldn't though, that world was lost, probably somewhat my fault but I'm trying to do better this time. The Bitch behind everything will get whats coming to her. Who else was there... oh right, The Kitty Cat, Blake I think. You know I'm not sure I ever got her name, the Terrorist turned vigilante, worthy goal now that I have had a lifetime to reflect on my actions, I won't be getting in her way this time, hell if I get the chance I might even get rid of the red haired idiot that stalks her, though I might leave that for Blondie." Roman slowed his car to a crawl before turning into a parking garage to a rather fancy upscale hotel that he had been living in for the past few weeks.
Unceremoniously he hauled Weiss out of the passenger seat of his car and threw her over his shoulder and began to walk towards the underground entrance that would take him towards the reception desk of the Hotel.
"Blondie, well the female Blonde anyways, I think she would enjoy having a second go at caving in Adam's skull, she enjoyed it so much the first time, I hadn't seen the results myself but even in my wretched world the news of the event spread rapidly, you might think I might have felt bad for the Faunus since I was at the time actively trying to kill the ones who killed him but no, guy was a creep, the kind of one that would happily kill a fifteen year old girl for simply being the daughter of a racist, and I'll admit it, one of the worst people humanity has ever produced, but still that isn't your fault. We might have never interacted one on one but I did see what you accomplished on your own, you're better than your father, your better than a fair amount of humanity and I don't want this experience changing that."
It was a late hour and only one person, an elderly gentleman watched the reception desk Roman walked up to him purposefully.
"Monsieur Rosewick, I did not know you were out this evening, has your young Miss had a rough night?"
"I do apologize for not informing the front desk of my coming's and goings this evening Gerard, I was called away quite urgently to attend to a matter earlier."
"I understand completely and fear not it is not required of you to check in and out with the desk it is just you so infrequently leave that the times you do seem noteworthy is all."
Roman smiled, something about the elderly receptionist had caused Roman to like him immediately even extending his stay here longer than necessary instead of changing residences every few weeks. Looking at the small slightly portly man Roman was struck upon an idea.
"Gerard, I have a slight dilemma on my hands and I was wondering if you might be able to help."
"Are you speaking of Ms. Politan? Is she unwell does she require a doctor?"
Roman paused for a moment confused until realizing that Gerard was mistaking the diminutive form casually slung over his shoulder to be his partner Neo. "No, Gerard, Neo is fine she actually is still out for the evening, but this young lady is in need of assistance I do believe a doctor might be in order as she has been given some form of sedative."
"Monsieur Rosewick you truly are a gentleman, but should you not have brought her to a hospital if that were the case?"
With a sigh, Roman looked directly at Gerard.
"Gerard, you will not see me again after this conversation, so I'm going to be candid with you as I feel like I can trust you. Please don't make me regret that."
"I will try my best sir."
"First off I am not Nolan Rosewick. I am Roman Torchwick." Roman paused as the name registered with the other man and a brief look of hesitation crossed his face as he recognized the name of one of the most wanted people on Remnant. "Good you recognize my name, now you will understand the severity of the situation I am in."
A faint nod is all he received from Gerard.
"The Woman on my should is Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company." Roman frowned as Gerard took a half step back from the counter the shock of the situation causing his hesitant expression become one closer to fear, the Schnee name had the effect in Atlas.
"Gerard please try to compose yourself I'm going out on a limb here by trusting you and I would prefer it if you did nothing rash."
Another faint nod was his reply and to Gerard's credit, he did move back to his original position.
"Good now here is my problem, I was contacted by an organization to be a middle man in an arrangement to kidnap Ms. Schnee. Now before you ask I will tell you if I knew the target was a Schnee we would not be in this situation as I would have simply turned down this job, but I am currently past the point of no return and I am looking for an out that ends up with Ms. Schnee returned home safely and my neck remaining connected to my head."
"I am just a simple receptionist how can I help you." Gerard felt light headed at this situation but kept his focus.
"I will be leaving tonight, right after I deposit Weiss in my room and then I will disappear. You are going to find some way to contact the Schnee Dust Company as soon as I leave this lobby, feel free to expose me in any way you see fit or acceptable." With that Roman turned to leave. and stepped quietly into the elevator and pulling a key from his pocket inserted it into the top of the elevator and allowed the lift to carry him all the way to the penthouse.
The elevator cracked open and in the middle of the room stood a freshly showered and changed Neopolitan who shot him a concerned look when she noticed the figure on his shoulder.
"Plan's in motion Neo, grab everything that we need we are leaving for good." Roman watched as Neo nodded silently and went to pack away a few belongings. He on the other hand gently set Weiss Schnee on an empty sofa and pulled a blanket over her and stuck a soft pillow under her head and with a smile turned as Neo re-entered the room, both stepped into the elevator, Roman already formulating a plan on how they would leave Atlas and sneak into Vale to wait for Cinder's call.
Two day's later.
Roman stared at Winter Schnee a mixture of concern and annoyance from him matched by one of confusion and Anger coming from her.
No news had been good news for two days as Roman and Neo traveled across Atlas to one of a handful of places Roman knew he could discretely leave Atlas. No news also meant he had no idea what sort of reaction he should be expecting if they were caught. He didn't intend to get caught but no one usually does.
The fact that he had been caught in a sense intrigued him, the reaction was unexpected in his mind but he deduced that the only reason it intrigued him was it wasn't an army or SDC Droids come to capture or kill him it was a single individual.
"Why?"
"Why, what? I'm sorry Winter you are going to be more specific than a simple why if you want me to spill."
"Why did you save my sister instead of handing her over to those monsters."
"Simple. She doesn't deserve to suffer because of the action of another."
"Then why did you accept the job in the first place."
"Didn't know who the target was, I didn't even know who I was working for until the night of the job, when I found out it was Weiss Schnee being kidnapped by the Fang and I was their patsy if things went wrong, well I think you have seen the results of how well that worked for them." A simple eye movement was all that betrayed Winter, Roman saw it and understood, Winter had discovered the remains of what Neo had done to the Faunus who Roman was supposed to deliver Weiss too, Roman didn't have to imagine hard on how gruesome the scene might have been, Neo could get a little overzealous.
"So what was your plan then escape from Atlas and pretend this never happened?"
"Is it so hard to believe that that is exactly what I want to happen?"
"...no, it isn't. My Father will never stop hunting you though, he has the security footage from the hotel, Atlas Military has been notified about your involvement and SDC forces will have standing orders to deal with you in the future."
"Your old man is totally ignoring the facts that I'm responsible for Weiss not being hurt right?"
"He doesn't care, to him your simple someone who has offended his family and you will be dealt with accordingly."
"I suppose that get to the meat of this meeting then doesn't it. What are you going to do Winter? Will you stand in my way and force me to fight you or will you stand aside and let me leave."
"I shouldn't let you leave and I shouldn't do you any favor's, you're a criminal for more than being a part of my sister's kidnapping, but at the same time you're also the reason I still have a sister."
"Quite the dilemma your facing, how about this, I escape and live another day and you go home and help your sister become stronger and you know, maybe curb some of that racism out of her before it really gets ingrained into her by her father."
Hour's later
Roman stared at his Scroll in confusion, Winter had let him go, no fight happened, nothing, she simply gave him a scroll number and turned and left with a bizarre smile on her face.
He didn't know what to make of the number yet he felt inclined to connect it to an emergency call button on his scroll.
And there you have it.
Roman's last hurrah in the story.
This also explain's Winter's Debt to the man and Weiss's more friendly attitude towards Faunus in general as Winter went ahead and helped counter her father's racism with more rational lessons.
Farewell Roman I will miss writing you.