No internet for so much of today. I guess it's the ice and cold on the towers or something, but rather annoying either way. Oh well. Gives me time to write in peace. The more annoying part is having to do emails on my phone with big clumsy fingers. I wrote an actual chapter on my phone once and it was so hard it almost made me want to quit writing altogether. xD

Cover Art: Serox

Chapter 54

"They're lying to you."

It was Adam's voice, of all things, that kept him sane as he was yet again left in a small, pitch black room with no lighting, no windows and no key to the outside world. The uncomfortable bed without a blanket, the open-faced toilet and sink. There were towels on a rack by it. Multiple towels, more than he could ever need for some odd reason.

"It's so you can commit suicide."

Oh. Oh well… that… Jaune rolled over to keep his back to them as he huddled on the bed for warmth. There wasn't any to be had without a blanket. The cell was so damn cold.

"They're probably pumping air conditioning in." Adam said. "It's all to break you. Isolation room, exposure, cold and lack of sleep to make you start to fall apart. There is a camera in the corner of the room." Jaune looked and saw it, a black upside-down dome attached to the ceiling. "It's there to record you committing suicide to prove they didn't kill you."

A good way to prevent anyone accusing them of having a hand in it. If he died mysteriously, people would riot, but if they could show video evidence of him ending his own life…? Well, that was a different story. And no one had to know what drove him to it. How bad the conditions were in his cell.

This is evil, he thought. Pure evil. The kind of evil he'd always believed Vale would never be a part of. This was the kind of authoritarian nightmare you expected from dictators, not a democracy and not the kingdom you lived in. Vale was about peace, freedom and law and order.

"This is all within the letter of the law." Adam said. "And besides, who do you think writes those laws? Every kingdom has its ugly side. There are always those who will abuse their powers."

Jaune shivered. So damn cold. Would he ever get out?

"Yes! Yes, you will. We will. Don't give up. You have to hold on."

"Why?" Jaune whispered. "To what?"

"They wouldn't be going this far if they didn't think it necessary. They're pushing you to either sign a plea deal or take your own life. Those are not the actions of confident men. They're desperate."

Maybe. Hope was a foreign and quiet sensation in these cramped, dark quarters. Jaune remembered watching documentaries on the tv when he was younger about how people could be driven to insanity in isolation chambers like this, and how prisons used to use them all the time but for the long-term effects they had on the inmates. Would he go insane? Was that another one of their plans?

"You won't go insane. You're not alone. I'm here. I will keep you sane."

Jaune chuckled mirthlessly. Maybe Adam's voice was the first sign of him losing his mind. Besides, why would the spirit of someone he'd murdered want to help him? It didn't make any sense.

"It must be your Semblance. And besides, I was always ready to die for the cause. You've furthered it. I… The White Fang need you, Jaune. I need you. I need you to keep going. Keep fighting."

"Help me," Jaune whispered. "Please… distract me… anything…"

There was a moment of silence, a moment so still and so heavy that Jaune curled up and entertained the idea that he'd gone insane long ago, that this was all some lucid dream, and he was trapped in an asylum, his mind fractured and broken. And then, blessedly, Adam spoke.

"My heart skips a beat when she meets my eye, her gaze as golden as cut tigerseye, my flower, my power, the key to my honour. The ever-lovely Blake Belladonna…"

"You…" Jaune rasped a laugh. "You can't rhyme `eye` and `tigerseye` Adam."

"No one accused me of being a good poet. Now, onto the next…"

It was quite possibly the first time in history anyone had sat down to listen intently to Adam Taurus' longing and quite frankly awful poetry to the woman he pined for, and Jaune dove into it, closing his eyes and letting the silly, clumsy but genuine words wrap around him like a cloak.

"Your hair like fine silk, your skin soft as milk-"

/-/

Sienna settled down at the table in the club with Trifa on her left and Yuma on her right wearing their masks. Across from them, Hei Xiong, Jaune's underworld contact and information broker, poured them each a glass of whiskey and then himself, pushing theirs across the table. His red and white dressed bodyguards stood either side of the door behind him while he had three folders on the desk to the left of his hand.

"I'm glad you could come," he said to them.

If it wasn't for Ghira pushing her to, she wouldn't have. "I'm surprised you're willing to meet with us at all with Jaune out the picture. You said it was important."

"I did and it is. Two days ago I was called to attend a summit of the major criminal organisations in Vale. The subject of said summit was the incarceration of Jaune Arc and what our response to this should be."

"The response of the criminal groups?"

"Yes. To save you the suspense, the decision was made that Vale's criminal organisations will support the release of Arc and move to position ourselves in a manner to destabilise the current Council's position, thus shifting favour in the White Fang's direction."

What? Of all the things she expected, this wasn't one of them. "Why?" she demanded. "We've been striking at gangs more than anyone else. We took down two. Wouldn't they be a part of your summit?"

"Organisations rise and fall. A little backstabbing is to be expected. The chaos caused by the council, however, is not. With the riots as they are, there are rumours floating around that the Vytal festival might not even be held. Some believe it will be done remotely and streamed out to prevent any protesting. This would be devastating to our profits – to the profits of any group in Vale."

"And we're not?"

"You're a problem to the groups you target and only them. You even create space and opportunity for other gangs to move in and take what you dismantle, and you actively focus on the worst of the worst." Or, Sienna noted, what Hei gave them. He might well be guiding them to his benefit. "A lot of organised crime is cruel, true, but not wantonly destructive or evil like blood sports or human trafficking. Most of it is drug and protection money. Narcotics, merchandise and smuggling. That's where the real money is, and I doubt you care much about that."

It wasn't big enough for them to go after. Not exciting enough a victory to bolster the White Fang's reputation. Hei made a good point, she supposed. The smaller gangs were the desperate gangs, and they'd be the ones doing the more extreme stuff because they had to in order to compete. The largest and most powerful organisations could afford to monopolise the safer revenue streams, and they were also large enough not to collapse if the White Fang took out one small branch of a multi-faceted operation.

The gangs of Vale are playing us just as much as we are them. I wonder if this is a symbiotic relationship. Something to discuss with Ghira later. For now, he'd been clear on their goal.

"That's fine with us, Hei, but we need a new target. We plan to keep the momentum up and show the Council that just taking Jaune away from us won't suddenly turn us into psychopaths or make us harmless."

The man smiled cruelly. "I'm glad to hear it." He slid the folders across to her. "And I agree wholeheartedly. They see two results to his arrest – either you turn back to pure violence and lose all the support you've garnered, or you try to keep it up and fail without his leadership."

"We're going to prove them wrong on both accounts," she said, reciting Ghira's words. "And while we're at it, we'll prove that this movement is more than just a single person. What do you have for us?"

"Three targets. One is a Mistral gang shipping weaponry into Vale. Guns, munitions and even explosives. They're hiding them on barges coming into the docks. No idea on what for, but rumour has it there might be a hostile takeover in the works. Either way, it's a black mark on the council's record if it's found and stopped by you. Doesn't take much imagining on the public's parts as to how much trouble all those weapons could get up to."

"The second is not gang related at all. Another business that has been exploiting its employees, this time with zero-hour contracts and threats of firing and blacklists from other jobs if they don't work extra hours. Just this month, two employees suffered strokes and one a heart attack. All three were fired with immediate effect for missing work."

Horrible, unfair, but it might not be enough for their needs. Sienna made an approving sound even if she planned to take them to Ghira for his input. The first major assault after Jaune's capture deserved to be a big one. Nothing less would do.

"The third might hit a little close to home – might even be a little too `pointed` if you know what I mean."

"Without details, I'm not sure I do."

"Have you ever heard the old adage – it's not a politician who makes a mistake; it's the civil servant?" When Sienna, Trifa and Yuma shook their heads he continued. "It's an old trick by those in power. Basically, when something goes wrong and it makes them look bad, they throw someone else under the bus. Usually the people beneath them. It's not that they accepted a bribe, it's that their assistant told them it was a donation. It's not that they attended a private party when they should have been working, it's that they were told by another civil servant that it was a work event."

"Blaming other people." Sienna said. "I get it. That's hardly new."

"No, it's not, but it's a lot more devastating in politics when the person blamed gets to say goodbye to ever having a career in the civil sector again because some hotshot didn't want to accept responsibility for their own actions. I have in here six cases of one of the mayor's closest allies having bent the rules, fragrantly broken them or outright engaged in illegal behaviour, then foisting the blame off to his underlings and firing them."

And now it made sense as to why it might be too pointed. Sienna thirsted to read and act on it and that was the problem. If they went after the council, it might be seen as a revenge play. People would talk. It was hard not to ignore all that anyway, but she forced herself to. "I see. And I assume this evidence would need proof that only we could find."

"That's it. Two of those let go are looking for payback but say they've been blackmailed by the councillor in question. Blackmail he likely keeps somewhere in his office or home. You'd need to get hold of that and present it as proof, then they can act and present their own."

A solid blow for the council at a time where they couldn't afford it.

But he's right in saying people would take this as a pointed attack. The council could even paint it like we're going after them and leaving others to suffer.

In the grand and unhappy scheme of things, a weapons deal would mean more pain and suffering for the citizens of Vale than a corrupt politician. One you expected, the other could kill hundreds of people. There was no doubt in her mind which Jaune would pick.

"Thank you, Hei." Sienna took the documents and handed them to Trifa. "I'll look over these and act. Can I ask what this summit will be doing? Or is it better I not know?"

"The latter. I'd expect an uptick in crime in the short term but mostly low-key. Just enough to show how pressed the authorities are and shine a light on how well the White Fang did."

It was deceitful, she supposed. It was all illegal. "Can I ask…" Sienna sighed. It was so strange to have all this support now, both from the public and even from crime lords, when her leadership left them with none. "What do criminals have to gain from us other than this profit issue over Amity? Should we be worried we'll be stabbed in the back once this is over?"

"I wouldn't." Hei said with an easy smile. "What we crave more than anything is stability, and no matter how hard you try to shut us down you're better to us this way than as terrorists. Nothing ruins our operations more than city-wide panic after a terrorist attack."

Sienna left the club with an unhappy taste in her mouth.

Back at the warehouse, Ghira had become a nexus of activity. Faunus came and went, listening to him in a way they did with Jaune and in a way they only ever paid lip service to with her. Adam had commanded more genuine respect than she, and he'd been a violent psycho. It was a painful reminder to her, a young woman with all the passion in the world and no way of leveraging it, no plan beyond make everyone bleed and hope that worked out.

Ghira's peace wasn't working either, she thought bitterly.

Perhaps there had been no good options.

He saw her, lingering by the door, and he waved her over with his large, meaty hands. "Do you have something for us?" he asked, his voice a thick rumble. He made sure that she was involved in every decision, either to feed her ego or maintain faith in her. At this point she wasn't sure if he wasn't just trying not to hurt her feelings. Sienna slapped the folders down. "Excellent. I knew you'd manage without a problem. You always were determined."

"Stop it." Sienna sighed and waved Yuma and Trifa off. "I'm not a child anymore, Ghira. You can treat me like an adult."

"What would I know of treating anyone like a child? Mine ran off to become a terrorist and then ran off from that to become a politician. Between you and me, I'm not sure which is worse."

Sienna snorted. "Does Kali know?"

"I'm still deciding how to break the news to her."

"Cute. Three jobs. One against criminals, one against a business and one against a councillor themselves." Sienna threw that one toward him. Away from her. "Take that one and put it in the trash."

Ghira opened it, flicked through and then asked, "Why?"

"Because it's too tempting. I want to run off and do it."

"I imagine you do. What's stopping you?"

Did he really need to ask? Or was this a test? Either way, she growled. "I let my personal feelings get in the way of the White Fang's goals once before and look what happened. Yes, I want to expose him. I want to expose them all, laugh and show everyone how corrupt they are. But what'll that do? Everyone knows they're lying, stealing scumbags. That won't help anyone."

Sienna opened the other, the gang one, her heart burning angrily. "This is better. Weapons shipment from Mistral, no explanation but sure to be bad news for anyone. Gang violence more commonly breaks out in poorer areas and those living there have enough shit going on without more ruining their lives. We hit this, crash the deal and destroy the weapons. It'll help the most people. Indiscriminate help, too. It protects faunus and humans alike."

"Well thought out. How did you decide it?"

"Isn't that obvious? I asked what Jaune would do. It's this. As much as I want to target the council, that only plays into their hands. Plus, exposing arms deals under their nose will help Rose with her push for office. The other won't."

"Setting aside your feelings for the cause, hm?"

They were all expected to. It was only that she'd started really acting and believing that recently. Before, she'd done her best but not really held to it. They'd all accepted that equality was probably never going to happen. In the end, they'd been ready to go out in a blaze of glory and hope for the best. Better dead than a slave, they said. That was how the White Fang felt.

But now? There was hope now. Or there had been. Still was. It wouldn't falter so long as she didn't let it, which was why she couldn't afford to fuck up now that Jaune was in prison. "Just decide who is best for the job and we'll go. I'll lead. Ilia, Yuma and Trifa will probably be enough. Deery and Perry can offer support from a distance."

"No." Ghira took the folder from her. "Yuma and Trifa will be doing this with a selection of your new recruits. I already have something in mind for you."

"What?" she snapped, baring her teeth. "Do you think I'm not good enough-" Something hit her in the face. "-oof! What is-? What?" He'd thrown the council folder at her. Sienna looked down at it and then at him. "What…?" she repeated, lost.

"You said it yourself. We're proving that the White Fang isn't gutted without your boytoy." He snorted and pulled on a pair of thick, leather gloves. "Best way to do that make a splash. Trifa, Yuma and Tukson will hit the weapons depot. I will be taking Deery and Perry along with some others to the business. You and Ilia will be dealing with our corrupt friend here."

Her eyes widened. "You mean-?"

"We're hitting all three. Simultaneously. If the Council expects us to sit back and do nothing, this'll surely surprise them. And it won't feel like a personal attack if we also target a gang and a business at the same time."

"Good." Sienna's lips peeled back, her teeth glinting as she smiled like a wild animal. "They think we're lost without him. I'll show them we're three times as dangerous without."

"No bloodshed." Ghira warned her. "Don't set us back."

"Don't worry. I won't do the council's work for them."

/-/

"You cannot possibly think this is the right time." The mayor stood at the head of the council table and slammed one fist down onto the woodwork. Cups rattled and pens rolled off it. "We are facing a national crisis, protests and riots, terrorist action, a faltering economy, and this is your suggestion? Put your damned hand down, Ozpin."

Around the table, men and women were cowed. They were cowed because Mayor Coppersmith knew his words, the way to lead a room, and how to intimidate lesser people. It was a valuable skill for a politician, but Ozpin had been that and more. He had been a politician. He had been a king. He had been a village chief, a father, a son, a brother, the judge, the jury, the executioner and even the judged. He had been all that and more. It took a lot more than one man to frighten him.

"I will not." His left hand remained in the air, his right upon the table. "I table a vote of no-confidence in the leadership of Vale. My suggestion: an immediate election to determine if Mayor Coppersmith should remain in office or be replaced."

"I have another year in term!"

"Vale might well not survive another year under your leadership. Another year of the decision making that has led to this." Ozpin timed his pause well, as the chanting outside increased in volume. It appeared the protestors had gathered themselves a few megaphones. Around the table, other politicians, before cowed, began to murmur and consider their options.

Across the table, a hand slowly rose.

Mayor Coppersmith rounded on the woman. "We must be united!" he roared, and she flinched back and lowered her hand. "At a time when our kingdom is divided, when our people are in need of good, proper leadership, can we afford to show any weakness? Any at all!? No! We must show strength!"

"There is no strength here." Ozpin said calmly. "Only an angry man throwing his weight around and pretending that is an acceptable substitute. A strong leader would not rant and rage at the actions of others. They would act, and the people would follow."

"I cannot act without the support of the council. I was chosen by the people, elected in a fair and democratic society. This is what the people voted for. This is what they want."

The sound of a shattered window outside did little to support his statement and Ozpin answered only by smiling and keeping his hand in the air. The old defences might work for policy disagreements, but everyone here knew the truth. Everyone here knew that elections were won less because people agreed with them and more because they threw enough money at their campaigns.

The woman who had before hesitated once more raised her hand. This time it stayed in the air, the councillor gaining confidence as her eyes met Ozpin's and he nodded back. Mayor Coppersmith gnashed his teeth and glared about the rest of the table, challenging anyone who might agree with them. Threatening them.

Threats could only go so far, however. Threats worked because you feared for the consequences of upsetting someone and what they could do for you, and that was hollow indeed when you compared the threat of one man versus the tens of thousands protesting in the streets. Even the most selfish of them here knew their political careers were in jeopardy and recognised that those who voted now, whatever the result, might be spared some of the oncoming storm.

Ozpin relied on that, and his faith was rewarded as two more hands rose, one of them from one of the mayor's staunchest supporters. Staunch, but not loyal. He'd been won over by money and power, and with both slipping away from Mayor Coppersmith, he shouldn't have been surprised when the man switched allegiance.

"At four votes, the motion is passed," the scribe said, surprising even himself. "The laws of Vale dictate there must be a new election."

"Fine." Mayor Coppersmith spat. "There will be one. After the riots. This is no time-"

"Actually," Ozpin interrupted, "The laws are clear that it must be announced within one week of the motion passing. It cannot wait." He set his hands down one upon the other on the table and added, "I will not accept you pushing this aside to never be heard from again."

Murmurs sprung up. It was a bold claim, a clear accusation, and normally it would have devolved into shouting and counter-accusations, factions backing one another into corners and indulging in their usual assault-based politicking. Here, however, everyone knew it was the truth. There could be no doubt as to why he wanted to delay it until after the riots, until after Jaune Arc was dealt with. The mayor bristled and twitched, before he collapsed into his seat, accepting the decision with an angry nod.

"Whatever happened to loyalty, Ozpin?" he asked. "When did you throw that away and become as you are now?"

"I never did. Loyalty should be to the people we represent first, those we do not second, and to each other last of all." Ozpin stood, nodding to his own supporters as the scribe made note of the motion. "That is something I believe many of us here have forgotten. And that those outside are tired of. Good day, council. I am glad we could meet today."

The die had been cast. Now to see if Miss Rose could win the roll.

But why do you hate Ozpin, Coeur? Why do you bully him in all your fics, Coeur? You keep saying he's evil and nasty and a villain. Wah Wah. I think there has been one, maybe two, where he has been a villain. Yeah, two I believe. Out of all the stories where he's been a mentor, a friend and an ally of the teams, or just a very virtuous and good man trying his best.

And yet I still – still – get accused of hating on Ozpin.

Next Chapter: 1st February

P a treon . com (slash) Coeur