Of all the indignities of the past few months, perhaps the greatest that Cinder had ever inflicted upon Roman was making the penultimate stage of the operation hinge on a dance. A dance where his niece was going to be with a young man Roman most certainly did not approve of, and, to add further insult on top of it, Roman's plan to use Jaune as a lookout—to make sure that he and Pyrrha were not doing anything unscheduled for the operation—had been vetoed by Cinder herself.

"They both need to be above suspicion, and besides, they'll keep attention best as regular attendees." And also it'll drive you crazy to spend all night knowing he'll be trying to feel her up.

Gods, he hated Cinder Fall.

But as Roman ran down the checklist for tonight's operation, there wasn't much anything he could do about Ms. Fall and her authority, not without getting himself barbecued, so he figured he'd be best off with his head down and eyes on the prize. They had to put a virus in the CCT system—unsurprisingly, Atlesian tech was riddled with the kind of security holes you get when thinking you're invincible is the underpinning ideology of your military strategy—and one of Cinder's comrades happened to have one already whipped up for them. A classic get-in-get-out operation, best handled by ghosting the whole thing. And with Roman handling the operation—that is to say, them not going through the front door and "knocking out security"—it was basically a done deal.

Which meant he had a few hours to kill and nothing to do.

Neo wasn't around. He knew when to give her space, and after she'd gone with Pyrrha and the Valkyrie girl for dress shopping—he did not want to know what those two had tried to talk his niece into—he'd noticed an uncharacteristic forlornness with her. It'd been hard to pin down what was going on between Pyrrha and Neo. For a moment, he had thought Pyrrha had earned Neo's approval, and her little stunt at the planning meeting wasn't something Neo would have pulled if she really cared about their… inexplicable love triangle, but he couldn't deny that something was going on here. But whatever it was, Neo was determined to deal with it herself, and so Roman's job was to butt out and give her the space to work.

And that was… the end of the list of people Roman could actually relate to. Neo and Pyrrha were out, he had no interest in bringing his personal problems to Junior or, Brothers help him, the Malachites, and… was that really all of his social circle? It had never really bothered him much before, but, perhaps encountering how extensive Pyrrha's circle of friends was made him suddenly aware of how alone he was in Vale.

Not the right tone of thoughts before carrying out a high-stakes infiltration. Even if it was low risk. An idle mind could lead to ruin. A walk, Roman figured, would help shake things up a bit. Take his mind off the questions that had been swirling around him ever since Pyrrha came back into his life.

Stepping down into the bar, though, he saw something he didn't particularly want to see. Cinder's lackey, Mercury, was shooting pool and poorly flirting with the Malachites. And as much as Roman would enjoy watching those two skin that poor bastard alive, him being here probably wasn't a coincidence. Cinder was keeping an eye on him, not covertly, but in a way to show him she was keeping an eye on him. Yet another mind game from her, another thing to earn her Neo's sobriquet of "Fire Bitch."

Might as well say hello.

Approaching the assassin from behind, the Malachites caught sight of him first and, with a giggle, disappeared from the floor. With a grumble of annoyance, Mercury turned to look at Roman, the cocky punk giving him a look Roman had seen quite enough of from the young upstarts of the underworld and particularly from Mercury and his sycophantic partner.

"Mercury Black..." Roman said, tasting the syllables in his mouth, "So, you're Marcus's kid, I presume?"

"What's it to you?" the silver-haired brat shot back. Seemed that was a sore subject… worth remembering.

"I was curious about him—and the money he owes me," Roman said with a grin. The money was an old write-off, but putting the screws to the kid was worth it. "I was the middleman for a job involving him and an anonymous buyer. Got the money together, handled the drop off… he left me holding the bag."

The boy just sniffed. "Well, good luck getting your lien back. The old man's six feet under, but if you wanna try and dig up his corpse and get your money's worth, I ain't gonna stop you."

Ahhh, the lovely hint of patricide in the air. Just another colorful story of implicit murder in the wonderful world of organized crime. But that also meant that Roman had to update his rolodex on the matter, revise Marcus's status from "deadbeat" to "dead." C'est la vie.

"Well, that solves that mystery," he said with a theatrical shrug. He'd learned that the kids hated his more dramatic moves—cut into their ability to be edgy street killers, he presumed—so he made a point to camp it up a little. "Should I take it that you're continuing the family business?"

The kid stiffened at that. "I'm working for Cinder," he replied, gruffly. Yep, Roman had hit home with that. Petty, unprofessional, and unwise, but Roman knew that you had to get your licks in with your crew—if he didn't smack the kids down when he got the chance, they'd see him as a pushover and, protected by Cinder's aegis, they'd really make his life hell.

Racking the balls, Roman decided it wouldn't hurt to challenge the boy to a game of pool. Not his forte, but he'd done some hustling in his time, and besides… it'd take his mind off the other shit he was trying not to think about. Taking a cue from the wall, he lined up his shot and…

CRACK!

They traded off turns in silence, letting the game speak for them. Mercury was a shark, no surprise there, taking every chance to show Roman his trick shots and try to psyche him out with contemptuous looks as Roman played solid, square shots. Nothing fancy, just good pool. He knew Mercury's type and knew the best way to psyche him out was to keep the game steady and not rise to it. Let him get more and more agitated as he tried to get a dig in past Roman's facade. And when his original gambit failed…

"Lemme ask you a question, man to man," the punk asked, "Just a quick one... you cannot be okay with that dweeb getting his hands on your niece?"

And there it was!

"I thought assassins were experts in killing people, not getting themselves killed," Roman said, lining up his shot to show how unaffected he was by the transparent attempt to rile him.

Mercury just gave him a wry smile. "So you're not a fan of Mr. Jaune Arc. That's a relief—weird enough to hear Cinder wants to recruit him-"

"She what?" Roman's words came faster than his thoughts, and he cursed as his shot went wrong, the cue ball just glancing off the five.

Mercury grinned like a hyena as he continued. "She liked his plan—not even kidding, I actually heard her say a compliment about him, Emerald looked like she was going to die—and you know, she's been talking about our post-Vale plans with some additional manpower in our crew."

Lining up his shot, he, of course, pulled off a jump shot to sink the fourteen. Smug bastard.

But that wasn't the worst of it.

Hell. Hell. This wasn't… No, don't fall for it, don't get caught up in where those thoughts lead. Roman took a moment to collect himself and give Mercury a skeptical look. "All I know about the kid is that he's got no business being at Beacon."

"That's fine. Not like Emerald and I have any business there other than our 'business.'"

Roman glowered at the boy. It would be like Cinder to screw him like that. Secure a deal to keep her the fuck away from Pyrrha so she goes for her boyfriend. But it wasn't a plan that'd work, and Cinder probably knew it. Jaune wasn't bold like that, he'd want to finish his education at Beacon. And Roman had seen at the planning session that, no matter what he might think of him as an idiot, the kid was smart. Had a good head on his shoulders, and had a lot of his idiocy already stamped out by Pyrrha. He wouldn't throw himself into a revolution until he knew how to defend himself, and the best way to do that would be staying at Beacon. Which gave them time to push Cinder away and, with time, she'd probably get killed in whatever her little revolution was after. If she was talking him up to her underlings, it was for advantage, either against her insecure little sycophant or against Roman, and rising to it would only hurt him.

Still… Roman didn't like it. He also didn't like that he was mentally defending the infuriating dead-weight loser who was taking his niece to the dance.

Silently, Roman lined up his shot. Nothing more to be said, nothing more to be gained. Anything else was distraction, and he had work to do tonight. Hard work, an infiltration. And Cinder, he knew, was a snake. So it wasn't like this punk had any real information. Just something to psyche him out. Don't let it in. Stay focused. Five to corner pocket.

CRACK!

Pyrrha and Blue Eyes were dancing together.

Neo… hadn't been invited to the dance. Well, obviously she hadn't been formally invited, but also for the matter of the infiltration and hacking, Roman and Fire Bitch were on point for that. Greenie and Legs were providing cover, with Team RWBY supporting. There wasn't anything for Neo to do in this mission. Three was too many to infiltrate, and a mute non-student only drew attention they didn't need.

So she kept out of sight, looking down upon the dance floor, watching Pyrrha and Blue Eyes enjoy the happiest night of their lives. Even just a glance at their faces confirmed that it wasn't Neo's jealousy speaking. They both swirled about each other, drawing all eyes to them, not in ostentatiousness but because they were so lost in each other that the other dancers couldn't help but be drawn into their scene. They were the center of their universe right now, all the rest of the dance became their accompaniment.

And Neo just wasn't a part of that world.

It wasn't just that Pyrrha had, decidedly won in their contest. They didn't even really have a contest. Neo was playing a game and Pyrrha was playing at life, there was no shame in losing against her. And Neo was happy for Pyrrha! She was! But watching them dance reminded Neo of what she didn't have, more than just… Jaune.

He wasn't Jaune to her. There was no "Jaune Arc" as far as Neo was concerned. There was a cute boy and an object of her flirtation, but that was just Blue Eyes. A nickname, just like Neo applied to those who flitted about around her, the various shades and shadows, the pops of color and light, as fascinating and important and dangerous and meaningful as any other piece of the terrain that made up Neo's life, but they weren't… weren't people. Not like Roman was people. Not like Pyrrha was people.

Neo had learned that People was a dangerous thing to consider people.

People disappeared on you. They disappointed you. They… hurt you. In ways you didn't think you could be hurt. Neo had been hurt. Had been hurt, constantly, viciously, needlessly, ever since she first made the hesitant steps of a child. Why didn't she speak? Was she simple? Broken? It wasn't just that she was another mouth to feed, she was a defective. And being a "person" wasn't protection when you were broken, broken like Neo was.

So she was cast out. A child, and she was cast out like refuse. Into a world of survival, like an animal, where "people" slowly bled down to simple equations of threat and advantage. An easy mark with a loose wallet, a woman with a gun, a man with an intent towards her she didn't dare imagine. All they were was the sum total of their traits.

Until Roman.

Roman was a person. Roman saw Neo as a person. Not defective, not a lesser thing, she was as much a person in his eyes as anyone else was. And so she trusted him. Deemed him a person, gave him the power to hurt her that nobody else held. All because he looked at her and saw a person.

But was that what Roman saw when he looked at her, all those years ago? Did he see Neo or did he see another girl in his sight, the hole in his heart manifesting in Vale? A girl who would show up again and remind Neo what it meant to be hurt?

Neo gripped the balcony, feeling that pain she remembered from her childhood. The swirls of light and shadow and color, the warmth of the world slowly seeping away as he remembered how little she truly had. How empty her world was. She didn't envy Pyrrha for winning Blue Eyes.

She lamented that Pyrrha had Jaune. In a way Neo couldn't.

Slipping away from her perch, Neo wondered where to go now. Bullhead service had been paused and Neo knew she couldn't jeopardize the operation by doing anything to vent her feelings. She wondered if she should just follow Snowy around and see if her prediction that her blue-haired boyfriend would get slapped across the face before the end of the night came true.

But knowing her luck…

Neo looked up at the moon. The grounds of Beacon did look lovely in the moonlight. It was the kind of thing that made this night so memorable for all the happy couples and-

"Neo!"

Every hair on the back of her neck stood up at once. Being identified wasn't something that was supposed to happen, but doubly so, the voice that had identified her…

She turned, seeing Pyrrha and Blue Eyes crossing the lawn to where she was. Pyrrha looked beautiful in her red dress, undeniably as radiant as Neo knew she would look in it when she bought it, and Blue Eyes did look handsome in a suit. It was a painful reminder, but at the same time… Neo couldn't help but be happy for them. People needed other people in their lives. She knew that better than anyone.

"Jaune spotted you at the dance," Pyrrha said, to Neo's considerable surprise, "And since you're not part of the… the plan, I was thinking..." her voice trailed off. She glanced at her blushing boyfriend who gave her a faint smile.

"Pyrrha and I were wondering," Blue Eyes said, extending his hand graciously towards her, "If I might have a dance with you, my lady?"

She wasn't going to cry. Wasn't going to show them how much access they had to her heart. But as she took his hand, even with her illusionary Semblance presenting her as someone she wasn't, she couldn't stop herself. She could see her feelings mirrored in his eyes, and for once, she didn't really care what others could see of her.

"We're in," Cinder said, pulling the disk from the terminal.

Roman stretched his arms in a yawn. "You have to say that?" he asked, "It's a little passé."

Cinder rolled her eyes at him. "Are you, of all people, criticizing me for being cliche? And besides—what would you say?"

Roman adopted his most gravely voice as he growled. "We're in." he smiled, "You gotta sell it, girl!"

Cinder snickered. "Come on, now, mine wasn't terrible."

"It was."

"Whatever. Let's get out of here."

Roman wasn't comfortable with getting this casual with Cinder, knowing that she never did a damn thing without seeing it in terms of advantage and her intricate network of schemes. Cinder was dangerous—and any appearances of camaraderie were just a cover for the serpent lurking underneath. But his nerves were frayed enough with their partnership coming to a close and Roman knew he was better off playing along than putting up a front. And… damn it all, she could be disgustingly likable when she was plying her charms.

Carefully covering their tracks before they departed, Roman decided to test how well she could keep this "friendliness" up.

"So I heard from one of your brats that you're-"

"He tried to hustle you, didn't he?" Cinder cut in, rolling her eyes, "I swear, that boy is more insecurities than man at this point..."

Roman kept his guard up as he pressed his point, carefully checking for any left behind fibers or other traces of their passing. "Well… he seemed a bit concerned about Arc… and that you might be adding him to your crew."

He looked up to see the amusement flash in Cinder's eyes. He'd played his cards, but she was ready for him.

"Roman, Roman, Roman," she tsked, shaking her head, "Just do the math—I gain nothing from alienating you, and I'm on the clock. I was impressed with Mr. Arc's talents, yes, but I'm up to my ears in teenagers, who, as you've seen firsthand, are trouble enough."

Roman didn't appreciate being dressed down like this, but he had to admit, Cinder was right on all points. She didn't have much to gain from a gambit like that unless she wanted to personally spite him, and Roman was well aware that he didn't really rate that much of Cinder's attention. She was on the clock, and once this heist was done, they'd all have to go to ground for a bit. And Cinder had to do it with a coma patient in tow…

"Well," he grunted as he signaled to Cinder to take the maintenance hatch as part of their exit, "Let's just say that, as lovely as it's been to work with you, our business ends once you've got Amber. Just. Like. We. Agreed."

Cinder nodded as she headed for the exit, then turned and gave him a look.

"You know…" she began, drawing the syllables out, "we don't have to be enemies. I know what you want, you know what I want, and it turns out, it's very, very easy to make those desires align. I won't pretend we're going to be friends, but we can work very well together in the limited time we have left to do so."

Roman narrowed his eyes. Honeyed words weren't going to work on him, and Cinder knew it. Which… made her arguments seem uncomfortably genuine.

"Either way," she said as she eased herself into the hatch, "I know what you want from me—Arc and Nikos are in the clear. I will not involve them past our plan, and you have my word on that. After I have Amber," she began to clamber up the ladder, her voice taking on a metallic echo, "you and I will never cross paths again, of that, I am confident."

And she probably was right on that. She was fighting a war on a global scale, and Roman had picked up that her time in Vale was time not spent achieving other objectives. Once she had her comrade back, she'd be Atlas's problem. Or Vacuo's or Mistral's or some other place. He'd been keeping his eye open for any signs she might be lingering in Vale once this was done, if she was building her contacts or establishing a proper base of operations, but between the White Fang and Junior, she'd been burning more bridges than she was building.

Except… except with the Beacon kids.

With a shudder, Roman reminded himself that they didn't make any sense as long term allies, something he knew from his earlier conversation with Cinder's punk. But he couldn't shake it. With Cinder, you always got screwed, the question was just "how much?" But there was no dodging it, whatever it was, just weathering the storm. And part of that was getting the hell out of here.

Grabbing the hatch, Roman carefully moved it back into position, leaving no trace of their being here. Making their way up the ladder, they moved like twin ghosts, nothing more than a presence that appeared and disappeared without a trace, a haunting reminder of the past, endlessly returning to a present that would much prefer them buried.

In this moment, he felt like there was a connection between him and Cinder. A reminder that they didn't have to be enemies. That they could be quite a bit more, a suggestion Cinder seemed happy to dangle and sway above him. But what that more could be… Roman didn't want to imagine it.

They'd reached the end of the vertical access tunnel, with Cinder already standing atop the antenna maintenance platform—their exit point for this mission. She reached down to offer her hand, the faint trace of a smile on her face… and Roman took it.

Thanks to Renarde and Six02 for feedback on this chapter!

Heads up, we are in Act 3, the Act where things go sideways, and the violence ramps up here in a hurry. I think I'll be bumping this fic's rating to an M when it gets there and there will be particular Content Warnings for particularly gruesome violence, but giving you a heads up. Crime stories often come to violent ends, and not every character is making it out of this story. And in the next chapter, you'll see Roman makes some... spectacularly bad decisions.