Chapter 20…

As Mauve walked down the hall with Asher, Rust and Crimson, she saw an opportunity to let her mind wander a little. Her gloved hand was gently clasped in Asher's own and she had matched his slow walking pace.

Crimson and Rust were a few steps ahead, walking and talking amicably, with Rust leading them all towards their dorm room. Mauve was happy that her partner and Rust could she was upset about something… she was also grateful that they didn't pry about what was bothering her….

They were better people than she was…

Internally, Mauve still felt horrible about what had transpired between her and Sage. They hadn't spoken since Sage had told her the truth about his past, other than very curt and exceptionally polite exchanges that only occurred because they were absolutely necessary.

Although she hated to consider it… Mauve wondered if she ever truly knew Sage. The revelations of his past had been horrifying, not even remotely connecting to how Sage acted in his everyday life.

Mauve had only ever known Sage to be kind, humorous, occasionally uptight and a good… friend…

Was Sage still her friend? Mauve wasn't sure…

"You alright?" Asher asked as he gently rubbed her shoulder with his hand. Mauve was drawn out of her musings, realizing with a shock that Asher had taken his hand away without her noticing.

"Are you alright…? Mauve?" Asher repeated, giving her a long and concerned look.

"I'm fine," Mauve quickly responded, with slightly more force than she intended.

Asher gave her another look but said nothing further, continuing to gently rub her shoulder. Mauve sank into the motions, feeling appreciative that Asher wasn't pushing further…

Unlike she had…

The dorm room door was just ahead, Crimson and Rust stopped just in front of the door to say their goodbyes.

"They hold those tournaments every weekend," Crimson explained. "You guys should come again!"

"You'll see us there!" Rust chuckled. "See you later?"

"Yeah man!" Crimson responded, offering Rust a fist bump that he accepted. "See you guys soon!"

The three teammates bid Crimson goodbye as the red haired boy left. Rust waited until he was out of sight before stretching and unlocking the door, the team filed in right after.

The first thing that hit Mauve was the smell…

It was a lingering, acrid scent that stung the noses and eyes of the three teammates. The smell of fresh vomit…

Three pairs of eyes were drawn to Sage as he stumbled out of the bathroom, his face as white as a sheet. Rust moved to help him but Sage waved him off, haphazardly making his way to his bunk and collapsing onto the covers.

"Fuck, Sage," Rust muttered as he leered over his partner. "You alright? You look like shit…"

"I'm fine," Sage rattled back. He was clenching Honey's golden coloured throwing knife tightly in his right hand, tapping the tip of the weapon against the bed frame.

"You don't look it…" Rust muttered back, crossing his arms over his chest. "Are you sick?"

"Just tired… maybe a little ill…"

"Please don't lie to us," Mauve weakly responded, flinching when Sage's cold blue eyed gaze snapped up to observe her. "You look like you're having a panic attack…"

"This isn't your business…" Sage coldly responded.

For a single moment, a heavy blanket of silence settled over the team.

"Sage," Mauve said cautiously as she shut her eyes tightly. "I'm asking you this because we need to know… is this about you uncle?"

Mauve opened her eyes a little, just fast enough to observe Sage visibly stiffen. "I was right…"

"You don't-"

"You have been distant the past week," Rust rumbled, watching as Sage turned his attention back to him. "And Ironwood hasn't contacted us for a while… I was feeling curious… have you been going out on your own?"

Mauve watched as Sage's face morphed into an old and unattractive visage. "Please just stop this… all of you… this is a deeply personal situation."

"No it isn't… not anymore," Mauve gently shook her head. "Sage… I regret being unfair to you… it was wrong. But Ironwood let us all in on the situation… this is a team situation now… please just tell us what's going on."

"Just leave me alone!" Sage snarled back at her, watching as his team leader shrank. "This isn't your business! This has never been your business! Why can't you just fuck off Mauve!"

"Hey!" Asher finally spoke, his face settled into a stony look as he pointed an accusatory finger. "Don't you speak to her like that! What's wrong with you?"

Sage laughed out loud, a shrill and humourless sound that was very unlike him.

"Why am I not surprised…" Sage spoke in between chuckles. "Always jumping to her defence…"

Asher narrowed his eyes dangerously and took a fast step forward. He crossed his arms over his chest and straightened his back. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Ever since you two started having sex…" Sage chuckled lowly. "You've been like an attack dog on a short fucking leash! Always begging for treats!"

"What the fuck did you just say!?" Asher hissed.

"You want me to make it clearer for you?" Sage gave Mauve a cool look and pointed his finger. "Hypocrite."

He then pointed to Asher. "Dog."

The room was deathly silent for an indiscernible amount of time.

"What am I to you then?" Rust muttered, his gaze as hard as stone and his arms still crossed.

Sage said nothing.

"Sage," Asher spoke slowly, clicking his tongue for a moment. "On the airship here… I told you that I would lend an ear if you ever needed to talk-"

Sage still said nothing.

"-but now I'm rescinding that offer." Asher muttered in a cool tone as he shook his head. "It's clear you don't want help… even when you really fucking need it… and if you want to drown in this-"

Asher hardened his gaze.

"-don't expect me to try and pull you out anymore… what you just said was fucking unacceptable on more levels than I can fucking count."

The room was near silent as Sage stood up from his bunk, slipping Honey's knife back into his pocket. He wordlessly brushed past a stiff Asher and Mauve as he left the room.

Later…

General James Ironwood was silent as the elevator doors separated and Sage Bulwark stomped into the room. The young man said nothing as he ascended the staircase, his hand fiddling with the straps on his digital watch.

"You're late…" Ironwood muttered, watching as Sage gave him a cold look.

"Sorry…" The young man muttered, but it was clear from his tone that he wasn't.

The faunus boy set the digital watch on the desk counter. Ironwood reached forwards and manipulated the small buttons, activating the secret recording device and setting it to play.

Ironwood sighed and bowed his head when the sounds of a struggle began, squeezing the bridge of his nose with his gloved fingers. He was fairly unsurprised when Verdant Bulwark demanded the Crown of Creation.

What about the mysterious appraiser? Ironwood didn't know who they could be… he would have to speak with Polendina about observing the laboratory staff in case there was a mole.

"This is a problem…" Ironwood muttered, clasping his hands together.

"That it is…" Sage sighed. "Can we give him this crown?"

"I would have a fake created… but…"

"Thats not going to fucking work!" Sage hissed. "My uncle isn't fucking stupid! He was smart enough to get an appraiser for the arm… chances are he'll have someone around to inspect some dumb old crown too!"

Ironwood suppressed the urge to chuckle when Mr. Bulwark described the Crown of Creation as "dumb"...

…it was anything but dumb… quite the contrary actually.

"I can't hand over what he has requested," Ironwood shook his head, seeing Sage visibly stiffen.

"Why not!?" Sage demanded.

"Because…" Ironwood began. "The crown in question is very… important… under no circumstances can it be lost to us."

"It's just a crown!" Sage explained, his voice close to breaking from exhaustion. "You told Doctor Polendina that you could have people monitor the black market!"

"Polendina was right about the black markets being expansive," Ironwood shook his head. "But I cannot under any circumstance let this crown out of my sight…"

"WHY!?" Sage demanded.

Ironwood stayed calm. "I'm afraid that's highly classified-"

"FUCK YOU!" Sage roared. The faunus boy roared in frustration and swept his arm across Ironwood's desk, shattering and destroying many of the baubles and decorations that adorned it. "I HATE THIS!"

"I'm sorry!" Ironwood tersely responded, but it fell on deaf ears. Sage Bulwark stomped away down the steps.

"You heard what he was going to do!" Sage called over his shoulder, his voice crackling with emotion. "He threatened my girlfriend! Are you telling me there's nothing I can do here?"

"Mr. Bulwark… please understand-"

'Fuck off!" Sage called over back. "I'm done with this! I'm getting the fuck out of Atlas!"

Sage slammed his hand against the elevator button but the doors did not open. He whirled around to see Ironwood withdrawing his hand from his desk mounted control panel.

"Let me out!" Sage yelled.

"No…" Ironwood shook his head. "Not until you listen to me…"

Sage's eye twitched. "Make it quick… you're on thin ice…"

"Thank you…" Ironwood muttered, gesturing to the guest chair with his gloved hand. He watched as Sage walked towards him again and took a seat.

"I know that he threatened your girlfriend's life," Ironwood assured. "Whatever threat he can conjure up, I won't let that happen… I have people who can help keep her safe… but I still need your help."

"How!?" Sage demanded.

"I'm a General… remember?" Ironwood tightened his lips into a grimace. "If you can give me her location… I can have covert teams keep watch over her… it's well within my power."

Sage breathed out and closed his eyes. "Fine… that sounds good. But I have another request..."

Ironwood lifted a dark eyebrow in curiosity. "Speak…"

"I want you to get my team out of Atlas…" Sage responded. "I'm not on very good terms with them right now… and that's a situation I purposefully made because I care about them.."

Ironwood blinked before responding. "I'm afraid that can't happen."

"Why? You know my uncle will just target them if he can't get Honey…"

"But you may need backup if the worst comes to worst…" Ironwood explained.

"They're already suspicious of me…" Sage gasped. "They know somethings going on… you haven't included them in anything since the nightclub!"

"They were always going to be back up… they know only what they need to know," Ironwood muttered. "I'll see to it that they are kept safe, but they are your backup."

"Fine…" Sage agreed.

"Do you know where your girlfriend is?"

"A small village near Vale… I'm pretty sure it's named "Haven".

"I'll have teams immediately dispatched… you should get some rest."

"Fat chance of that," Sage muttered as he stood up. He walked to the elevator and pressed the call button, he was satisfied when the doors parted. "Let me know when you have a plan…"

A few minutes later…

Sage felt like shit as he walked out of the elevator and into the atrium. He was already a shaken up bag of nerves and emotions… but now he felt a feeling of dread… as if he was being watched…

"Sage…" A deep voice muttered, Sage spun around to find Rust watching him.

His partner was leaning against a nearby wall, his tall form shrouded by the shadows caused by the room's architecture. He had an unreadable look on his face and his burly arms were crossed.

"Hey Rust," Sage responded.

An awkward silence settled between them.

"So we were right… you've been speaking with Ironwood," Rust said in a low tone.

"Yeah…"

"You're not doing anything dangerous… are you?"

"I'm not sure that I should say…"

Rust sighed and bowed his head. "I'd be very careful if I were you… Mauve and Asher really aren't happy with you right now…"

"I can't really bring myself to care…"

"Right…" Rust drawled. "Look, Sage-"

"Please just stop!" Sage begged.

"No!" Rust snarled, his face twisting into a scowl that Sage had never seen him wear before. "You're going to listen!"

Sage said nothing.

"I'm not going to pry… I don't know exactly what's going on with you right now," Rust hissed. "But your behaviour has been fucking unacceptable the last while!"

"You're not my dad, Rust!"

"No I'm not! But I am your friend… despite you being a massive asshole recently!" Rust responded. "Just… take care of yourself… for your sake and mine."

"Right…"

Rust said nothing as he left, walking off in the direction of the dorm room. Sage walked in the opposite direction, his head hung low and holding back frustrated tears.

He didn't want to push them all away… but this needed to happen. The absolute best case scenario now was that they didn't get involved, or just left Atlas outright.

Because if they did… Sage knew what his uncle would do to them...