Preparations

"Wait, you can't swim?"

"I live in Dunwall! Where am I supposed to swim, the Wrenhaven? The river krusts would kill me!"

Admiral Havelock took a deep breath before walking down into the main bar. The two children were chatting and breaking their fast in one of the side booths. Samuel stood behind the counter, and gave Havelock a nod as he walked in.
"Morning admiral."

"Morning Sam." Havelock leaned on the bar table. "Could I get a bottle of whiskey?"

"This early sir?"

Havelock chuckled. "With the way things have been going recently, what's early?" Samuel nodded in understanding and reached beneath the counter. "Must be difficult, pinning all your hopes on a witch you don't even know."

Four hours previously

"Tonight." Said the Void Singer. She was standing outside Havelock's open window. "Have your boatman ready. I intend to finish this tonight."

Havelock looked at her steadily. "What's the point in doing all this for us? What are you going to get out of it anyway?"
"I bet a coin of 20 on it." She giggled and tilted her head at him. "What, you think I have some mysterious agenda behind my actions? I have my own reasons for hating Daud and for hating Burrows, and I mean no harm to you, little miss Kaldwin, or the rest of the group here at the Hound Pits." She jumped down from the sill towards him, shocking him a little as he backed up a step. "Just relax. One last heist, and then you'll never see me again." There was a bright flicker of blue, and she was gone, leaving a slightly confused, and worried, Havelock behind.

Present

Havelock laughed, grimly. "You have no idea, old friend."

Samuel shrugged, surreptitiously glancing towards Emily. "Well, I might have some idea. By the way, have you seen Pierro?"
"He'll be talking with Sokolov again." Havelock sighed. "I can't tell if they hate each other or they're the best of comrades."

._.

"Aaah, you had some!" Sokolov grasped the bottle of king street brandy through the bars of the cage. "You know what they say about this stuff, don't you?"
"A drop of whale oil in every bottle." Pierro nodded. "Preposterous, of course."
Sokolov chuckled. "Did you know, I once found myself determined to discover whether or not that drop was there? I spent a week comparing boiling points, trying to stop samples combusting...then I realised I'd already drunk all the brandy I had!" They both laughed heartily.

._.

"We're almost there." Havelock stated. He, High Overseer Martin, and Treavor Pendleton were all stood around the bar. Emily was stood there too, on a stool, bringing her to about their head height. "One last heist to put this unpleasant business behind us."

Treavor spoke up. "Once Hiram is dealt with, we can appear in court and reveal that we've been keeping Emily here safe during this time of unrest."
"I will once again assure the world that all claims of her heresy are false," Martin added. "And it will be little trouble to ensure Emily is reinstated as empress." He looked at her with a smile. "Better make sure that dress is clean, m'lady."
Emily seemed to find that funny.

"Speaking of 'dealing with' Hiram, how do we know what our...agent...will do to him?" Pendleton spoke up. "Her remarkably passive methods have worked out well so far, but they do lend a certain unpredictability to the consequences, compared to, say...a blade in the back."
All three turned to Emily at that, who exclaimed "Ah. Adult talk." And turned around with her fingers in her ears. "And perhaps a more prudent question," Martin said, more quietly. "what will we do about the witch when our business is concluded?"

All eyes turned to Havelock, who very deliberately directed his eyes to Thomas across the room. The witch's accomplice, not looking at them, per se, but almost definitely listening. "We will do nothing." He said, just as deliberately. "As long as the void singer leaves the regency alone when this is concluded, she will be free, and hopefully we shall never have to deal with her again."
Emily, not plugging her ears nearly as effectively as she could be, smiled in relief.

"It seems impossible." Pierro remarked, passing Sokolov a glass. "That something so little as a drop of whale oil could occupy our attention so, now that everything has gone so pear shaped. But I imagine that after we return to normal life, such things will seem all-important once again."
"Such is human nature." Sokolov replied, pouring for the both of them. "When the drought comes we beg for snow, when the blizzards come we beg for beating sunlight. And when the temperature is just right? Well, then we find something else to complain about. Petty, perhaps, but it's how humans improve, adapt, and become something better."
Pierro raised his glass. "To all our problems, then?"

"Here;here!"

Edit: My Beta hascome through for me, so here's a slightly prettier chapter!