Roman often wondered why so many criminals saw the need to meet in abandoned warehouses. Sure, they were spacious enough to get all your illegally acquired goods in, and whoever else you might need to run a job, but they always had broken windows, and never had their heating turned on, as the city wasn't quite incompetent enough to use valuable energy on a building no-one was officially using. As a result, he would often find himself shivering in places like this, which was one of several reasons he had his white coat insulated. That wasn't even getting into the lack of comfortable furniture, the rust, and more than a few vermin making nests in corners and other hidden places.
In short, he was in a bad mood before he'd even arrived for Cinder's meeting. Unfortunately she was still his best lead for now, so he would have to tolerate a few minor annoyances if it meant keeping on her good side. "Good side? Pretty sure that one's rotten to the core."
Prying the half rusted door open with a little effort from his cane, he slipped into the dark building, pulling out his Scroll and turning on its light to see where he was going. The area was silent, unsurprising considering he had arrived early. He had considered putting recording devices in hidden locations, but if they got found then all his efforts would be in vain. Ozpin would just have to trust his word on the situation for now.
After reaching the main hall of the warehouse and confirming he was the first to arrive, Torchwick leaned against the least unstable looking pillar and got a cigar ready. It would add to his image of being a tough, yet sophisticated gangster, and he didn't want to have to deal with cravings in the middle of an important job.
"My, you're early." He turned at the sudden voice from the shadows, seeing the gold eyed woman walk out of the darkness and into what little moonlight slipped through the broken windows. He wasn't sure how she had been able to get that close without him noticing, but he didn't like it.
"What can I say? I just couldn't wait to see you." His forced attempts at charm had no clear effect on Cinder, as expected. "But business before pleasure. What's on the agenda today?"
"Patience, Roman, patience. All your questions will be answered soon." She turned and gestured for someone he couldn't quite see to come closer. He squinted to get a better look, before his eyes widened as the figures stepped closer and their distinct appearance took form. On instinct, he readied Melodic Cudgel to fire, but stopped himself from pointing it towards the group. "Roman, meet your partners for your next job."
"...I'm sorry, can we back up a bit? Why exactly are we partnering with the White Fang!?" Anger and a bit of paranoia slipped into his tone, despite his best efforts. He knew that the Faunus group held no love for humanity, so working with them seemed a good way to get himself shot in the back. Part of him wondered if Cinder had caught on to his true allegiances, and this was a way to get him killed and frame someone else, but he decided not to linger on that unless he got more hints to it. "They're not exactly our biggest fans in the world, so I'd like at least some reassurance that this partnership isn't going to end with out teammates dumping our bodies somewhere!"
The hooded figures shifted in frustration at the accusations, but the calmer ones kept the more hot headed ones from doing anything yet. He made a mental note of who had which reactions, knowing that if things went wrong that information could save his life. Cinder smirked confidently at him, giving the impression that she was either a genius planner who had ensured this would work, or an overconfident fool that would wind up suffering the consequences. Both possibilities worried him in different ways. "The White Fang will benefit from this too much to reject our offer, and a unification of our forces and their numbers will benefit us both when the time comes."
A worrying statement if he ever heard one. It sounded to him like, whatever the fiery woman was planning, it was large scale and destructive. "And you want me to do what exactly? Hold their leash?"
"Prove to me that my decision to hire them was well founded. Perform the task I give you well, and it will secure both you and them a position in my forces. Surely that's what you want, isn't it? To be on the winning side?" Outwardly, the words appeared tantalising, as if she was trying to charm him into joining her willingly. He knew better. It was a threat, saying that failure to comply with her ambitions would lead to him meeting a fiery end, so it was fortunate for him that he had no plans of backing down.
Before he answered, something occurred to him, a way he might be able to use this to his advantage. "...Fine, but if I am going to be having a bunch of human haters at my back, I'd like it if I can get myself some extra insurance."
"That depends on what you had in mind, Roman."
"Here me out. I've worked a few jobs with one of the best thieves you'll ever see. Always sticks to the plan, never backs down from a challenge, and keeps everything about her work and associates to herself. One call's all I'd need to get her in on this, keeping an eye on my back and your employees." His sale pitch seemed to be having some effect, but she didn't look convinced yet. He'd need to find some way to really win her over to his idea. "I mean, what's the point of hiring a criminal mastermind if you don't see what connections I have? Test them out, and maybe you'll find a real gem of a business partner."
Cinder observed him carefully, her eyes seeming to bore into him, the pale light making them seem to glow, before a malicious smirk grew on her face. "Very well. You may bring your own accomplice on this task. However, should they prove to be anything less than what you're promising me, then I'm sure you'll be willing to pay the consequences for the disappointment."
The fire appearing in her hand served as a perfectly clear punctuation to her obvious threat. Considering who he was bringing into this job though, he didn't feel even remotely in danger of failing at his task.
With her display of power out of the way, Cinder handed him a photograph and map. "This is the target. You are to acquire the Dust by the end of tomorrow night. All details on the acquisition and escape are for you to work on. Prove that I can trust future tasks to you, Roman."
She began walking off, her confidence showing how much she considered herself above the other occupants. The White Fang members stepped aside to let her pass, an act that showed they knew who was in-charge of this operation, and that angering her would be bad for their long term health. Once she was gone, Roman rested the map on a nearby crate and sighed deeply at how much work he'd have to do. "Alright, try to pay attention. As long as I'm in-charge of this operation, you all do as I say like good boys and girls. Understand, or do I have to dumb it down for you?"
More than a few of the assembled group growled in frustration at him, but only one actually answered, a large man who lacked the hood his companions were wearing, had a more elaborate mask, and black tattoos on his left arm. "If you get us what we want, then we'll play along for now. But you try to sell us out, and that woman will have to see you as an acceptable loss to her operations."
"Can't say I love those terms, but I was thinking something similar in reverse, so I can't say it's not fair." If he was being perfectly honest, he didn't trust any of them, but if working with them was his next lead, he'd need to put that aside for now. The big one seemed like the leader of this small group, so he'd try to only talk with him to save time and his own patience. "So, tell me what weapons you've got. If all goes right you won't need 'em, but it never hurts to give people incentive to hand over their Dust."
Of the five White Fang members in the toom, four of them pulled out guns, the kind anyone with even the slightest black market connections could get their hands on cheap. They were unreliable at range, didn't hold many shots, and had a bad habit of the sights not lining up properly, but were still better than most homemade weapons. Useful for intimidation, but in an actual fight they would be dead weight, possibly literally if they weren't careful. The leader however presented a far more impressive specimen, hoisting up a large chainsaw attached to a sword hilt. It looked well made, and while not the most practical weapon in the world, it was strong and would put a lot of fear into anyone unfortunate enough to find it pointed at them. "Do these meet your standards?"
"They'll do, tough guy. Alright, this store is close to a local police station, and with the high end look it's got, it probably has a more advanced alarm system than most. Just going in and waving guns around is likely to get us all arrested, and you all wearing your club uniforms makes it easier to find out who to blame. So, here's the plan. My partner and I will stake the place out and find a way to disable the security systems at approximately 10PM. The rest of you will be on standby in civilian garb and wait for our signal. Once that's done, you'll go in and secure the premise. With the Dust in hand, you'll get into a getaway vehicle driven by yours truly, we drive to somewhere safe to ditch it, split up and meet back here once we're certain that the cops aren't following us."
"You plan to hit them fast and get out of there before they have a chance to retaliate, yes?"
"That's the idea. Since you seem like the leader of this little group of yours, and your average clerk's going to start begging for mercy when they see that weapon of yours, I'm putting you in-charge of grabbing the Dust. You'll get my signal and you'll give out orders when I'm not there, but you stick to the plan." He said with authority, despite how much bigger the other man was. He was in his element, planning on how best to handle his tasks, so them messing it up by improvising would more than annoy him.
"Fine. You can contact me with this number." The two men exchanged the information of their respective spare Scrolls, the ones each would destroy if the other was caught. This man, for all his appearances of being a brute wasn't an idiot, so Roman would have to keep an eye on him if he wanted things to go smoothly. "Don't leave us to take the fall, human. Treachery will be met with retaliation."
"Yes, yes, between you and Miss Pyromaniac the threats to my life are abundantly clear. Just do as I say and we'll be sitting on a treasure trove of Dust." He said, having to call at the end as the Faunus walked off, none waiting for him to finish. While he thought that was rude of them, he appreciated them leaving quickly, as he had a certain old friend to get in touch with.
9PM.
A finely dressed store clerk was going over his wares, Dust imported from Atlas, straight from the Schnee family. It cost his employer a fair amount to get such high quality products, but they brought in a steady profit, even if the customers usually didn't really appreciate the value of what they were buying. Sales would be down at the moment, but with how late some people left buying their Dust, the store would stay open into the night, even if it meant selling to unscrupulous customers.
Speaking of, the door opened and the man turned to greet what he assumed were customers, only to see a ginger haired man in a high visibility jacket, accompanied by a short blonde woman dressed in the game garb. "Can I help you?"
"Red Andersen, Vale Electrical Association. We received reports of a power surge in this area, so we're checking the local businesses to make sure nothing was damaged." Roman flashed his false credentials at the man, all expertly forged to make them appear genuine to the untrained eye.
"Really? I hadn't noticed anything of the sort." The clerk clearly hadn't seen through the deception and gave the disguised robber a look of genuine confusion and concern.
"That's why we're here. Sometimes these things damage systems in ways that aren't obvious, like affecting your heating system, your alarms, your air conditioning, you name it." He observed how the mans eyebrows raised slightly at the mention of the alarms being affected and knew that it was working. No good employee would risk being the one to accidentally ruin their security. "So, me and my partner have been sent to check that everything's in order, and then if there is work out when we can send some people out to fix it. Are you okay to have us check around?"
"O-of course...! Right this way!" The poor guy was starting to sweat about the consequences if he turned them away in error. Torchwick almost felt bad for him, and what was about to happen, but he couldn't afford to hesitate. The two were guided into the basement of the building, a room with neatly tied together cable all feeding into various devices mounted on the walls. "This contains all the necessary components for you to check, but if there's anything unaccounted for, please don't hesitate to come and get me from upstairs."
"Really sorry for the trouble. We'll try to keep this quick." That part wasn't even a lie, just misleading on what he meant. As if to prove a point, each of the two went over to a different device and pulled out several convincing looking devices to sell the act. The clerk took this as reassuring and went back upstairs to keep an eye on the products. With eyes off them, he looked over at the disguised Neo, who with a smirk flipped a switch on a small box she had hooked up to the controls for the security cameras. "Alright, let's get to work."
With a nod, Neo passed him a second device as he went over to a very specific part of the room. They weren't in any hurry, as she had just put all the camera and recording devices into a repeating loop, so it would look like they were hunched over their starting points, hard at work. They would have disabled them all together, but that would attract too much attention too fast. This would keep their actions hidden long enough to complete their job. Now it was a matter of taking care of the silent alarm, the one thing that could ruin this plan for them. Again, actually disabling it would send a message to the police about it going offline, so they had to do something more subtle.
"Connect this...unplug that...snap these together... Done!" Hiding the device, he made his way back to his starting position, and after a second for them both to prepare, Neo reactivated the security devices. No-one would be any wiser about the signal from the silent alarm being redirected to the small box now plugged into the security systems until it was too late. All that was left was for them to make it look like they were checking the rest of the equipment in the room, before they made their way back upstairs. "Sorry for the bother. Looks like everything's in order."
The clerk let out a sigh of relief before flashing them a smile. "Glad to hear it. Thank you for your hard work."
"Happy to be of service." Roman turned to leave, trying not to think about what was about to happen to that shopkeeper. Just because it was for a good cause didn't mean he had to like all the requirements of his job. He let out a deep breath and forced himself into character. "Well, my plucky assistant, shall we get to our daring plans?"
She shot him an unimpressed look for that comment before smiling herself, dropping her disguise as they ducked into a nearby alley and into a van they had parked nearby earlier. Once there, he pulled out his scroll and sent a message to his accomplices, giving them the all clear to go ahead. While he waited, he climbed into the back of the van and changed from his disguise into his signature attire, so everyone would be looking for a very distinct gentleman and not every redhead man of his age.
Re-joining Neo at the front of the vehicle, he glanced at her smug smile as she observed him. "Alright, alright. Not everyone has your gift for swapping disguises."
She nodded with a proud look on her face as he started the engine. By now, their goons should have emptied most of the displays of Dust, so it was time for them to get into position. Driving at a casual pace, he pulled up in-front of the store in a way that wouldn't draw unwanted attention from passers-by and glanced inside. The White Fang members had swapped their uniforms for suits and masks that covered their whole heads, so at least they knew how to take advice. The big one was staying near the front, keeping an eye on a clearly terrified store clerk, while his accomplices shuffled everything into crates and other containers.
After another minute, they emerged back onto the streets, loading the Dust in once they got the back of the getaway vehicle open. With all the stolen goods piled in, the five robbers climbed in themselves and closed up, giving Roman the cue he was waiting for to drive off. Making a turn down an alley after putting some distance between himself and the scene of the crime, he pulled over again next to a more subtle car that he'd put there in advance, and gestured to one of the White Fang members with the tail of a rodent. "Ratty, this is your stop. Try not to lose anything, kay?"
Ratty would have argued about the demeaning nickname, but his captain stopped him, and the two of them quickly loaded the car up with their ill gotten goods. Once it could contain no more, the big one climbed back into the van and the two cars went their separate ways. Over the next few minutes, they repeated this process three more times in different locations, losing more and more cargo and goons with each stop. Eventually, it was only Roman, Neo, the White Fang leader, and a few small containers of Dust still in the van.
"Neo, get everything in order." His mute partner nodded as she went into the back area, his turning not affecting her movements in the slightest. Grabbing three briefcases, she started loading what was still there into them. When they were fully filled, she handed one to the White Fang member, put one on the passenger seat, and held onto the third herself. "Confession time, we couldn't get a fifth getaway car in time, so the three of us are making the rest of the journey on foot. When we stop, ditch the mask and try to act like a businessman on a late shift and go a separate way from us."
"You could have told me that a little earlier!" The large Faunus yelled as he held onto the case.
"Where's the fun in that?" Stopping in the last deserted alley of the night, Roman turned off the engine and climbed out of the door. "See you there if you don't get caught!"
With those last words he ran off, not waiting for a response from his accomplice. In turn, Neo threw a wink at the still annoyed extremist before making her own getaway into the night, seeming to vanish once she got further into the shadows the city cast. Grumbling to himself, the last of the three removed his mask and tried to look casual as he emerged onto the street, the briefcase full of Dust carefully gripped in his hands.
Of the three of them, Neo was the first to arrive at the meeting spot. Her ability to disguise her appearance meant she could be the only one to truly disappear from the streets, as the police would look for the wrong woman the rest of the night. Four utterly mundane cars parked nearby told her that the Faunus extremists had made it before her, and were probably examining the goods at that very moment. Hoisting Hush onto her shoulder, she strode confidently into the warehouse.
She was right in her assessment, as the four less notable White Fang members has put their white masks back on and were looking over everything. Ratty had a particular smirk as he looked at the crystals they had. Knocking on a nearby beam, they all turned and instinctively pointed their guns at her, to which she jokingly raised her hands in unnecessary surrender. After a moment to give them a chance to lower them, she glared across at the four. The rat tailed Faunus tried to give a confident smirk, but it just made him look sleazy instead. "Sorry, shorty. But we've decided we're taking this Dust back to the Fang. We don't need you and your little boyfriend anymore."
They expected many reactions from the petite woman. Anger at being betrayed, fear at imminent death, or even simple confusion. They had not expected her to mime laughter with a smug look in her eyes. Losing his temper, a Faunus with snake fangs fired a shot at her, prompting the others to fire as well. None of the shots reached her, as she opened Hush in-front of herself, blocking half the shots fired at her as the remaining half missed entirely. None of them could see her smile at this turn of events.
She hated working with amateurs, but she loved to put them in their place.
Dashing forward, Neo hopped onto one of the Dust crates and used it to launch herself into the air at the snake Faunus, the man desperately raising his gun to fire a shot at his attacker before she could hit. The bullet hit the girl clean in the chest, only for her to shatter like glass before their eyes. The assembled Faunus had a collective second to process what just happened, before one of them had her ankle hooked by Hush, tripping her over and leaving her an easy target for a quick blow to the chin, knocking her to the ground.
Now officially disoriented, the remaining three wouldn't put up much fight, so there was no harm in Neo having some fun with them. Practically dancing between the panicked shots of the three, she glided over to her second victim, the snake that had fired the first shot. When she reached him, she slid behind him while she grabbed his arm, twisting it uncomfortable against his back. After letting him struggle pathetically for a few seconds, she pulled against him in a way to make him spin to face her, just in time for his face to meet her raised shoe, sending him tumbling over backwards.
Two left, and one of them was clearly shaking, while Ratty still tried to pretend he was calm, even when he clearly wasn't. Neither reacted fast enough when she somersaulted in-between them, landing with an almost sadistic smile aimed at the more panicked of the two. "A-aaaahhhh! Stay back!"
He moved to shoot, but his fear stricken mind was too slow. Spinning to his side, she hooked her arm around his, while kicking his ankle out from under him. Then, once he was losing his balance, she pressed down on his trigger finger to make him fire a shot at the last Faunus standing, before letting go of his arm and slamming her knee into his chest, guaranteeing he wouldn't get back up any time soon.
The shot hit Ratty in the shoulder, throwing him back and causing his own shot to fire at least five feet to Neo's right. At that moment it was already over for him, as the next few seconds became a blur for him. Slipping away while he was recoiling from the blast, she made sure he lost track of where she was before knocking the gun out of his hand with her parasol, leaving him defenceless. If she had to give him one compliment, it was that he didn't give up easily, as he tried to throw a punch at her, but that was it. Deflecting the poorly executed attack, Neo spun so her back was against his chest, then raised her leg high enough to kick him in the face.
With the strike disorienting him, she grabbed his outstretched arm and spun him around until his head collided with a support beam. Then, all that was left to do was bring her heel down onto the back of his head, and he went down like the rest of his failed conspirators. With no-one able to lift themselves enough to fight back, the petite spy decided to put the finishing touches on her domination of them, unsheathing the narrow blade stored within Hush. With carefully, delicate motions, she brought the tip of the sharp instrument to the eye hole of Ratty's mask, tracing around the thin slit in a way he couldn't ignore. The threat was remarkably clear. "A-alright...! I yield..."
Neo sheathed the blade, disappointed that his devotion to his cause was so easily shaken, but not enough to complain about the outcome. As she went to sit on a crate to relax after her game, she turned in the direction of a slow clapping noise. She had hoped it was Roman, but tried to hide how let down she was when instead it was a dark-haired woman in red. She could only assume this was Cinder, the woman she would find herself working with for the foreseeable future. "I must say, I wasn't expecting a show with my shipment of Dust."
"Just another way my associates and I strive to satisfy." There was the voice she was actually looking for, walking into the building with the White Fang leader following a few steps behind him. The larger man's body language showed that he was not happy, even through his mask hid the glare he was no doubt giving all of them. Roman ignored him and walked over to Cinder, pulling open the briefcase to show its contents to her. "All present and accounted for."
Picking up one of the larger crystals and examining it, the brunette smirked at him before putting it back. "It would seem you have both proven your value to me. Your partners in this job on the other hand..."
The Fang's leader stood up straight when she looked at him, placing the briefcase down before addressing her. "I apologise for my subordinates. Clearly I have not properly disciplined them on the importance of loyalty. A mistake I will correct, personally."
"See that you do, immediately." Cinder's voice was firm, and the man only relaxed his stance once she looked away from him, at which point he dragged Ratty towards the others, while she gestured for Roman and Neo to follow her to the other side of the room. The conversation that followed did not drown out the harsh discipline the traitors were subjected to by their commander. "I must say Roman, if I had known you had such a capable fighter at your beck and call, I would have requested to meet her sooner."
"You really shouldn't underestimate criminal masterminds, sweetheart. The cops are, and look how good a job they're doing against us." Roman brought his cigar to his lips when he was done talking, the suppression of his cravings for them being his self-given reward for a job well done.
"I suppose you have performed more admirably than I initially expected. That will make the next phase of my plan significantly easier."
"Oh? And what could that sinister brain of yours have cooked up for what to do next?" Smoke practically poured out of his mouth as he spoke, hand waving the still burning cigar around for effect. Cinder didn't react to it at all, though Neo tried to wave at least some of it away.
"I will be leaving town for a few weeks, along with two associates of mine...and I would like this partner of yours to accompany me." She smirked when that comment clearly caught both Roman and Neo off guard, the two sharing a confused look before turning to her for an explanation. "The full details of my plan are not required for you to do your jobs. For now, at least. All you need to know at the moment is that I must infiltrate Haven Academy, and the best way to do that is to join the year's class."
"Haven? In Mistral? If you're hiding there, what's the point of me hitting shops hear in Vale?" Torchwick was having trouble understanding what Cinder's plan was supposed to be. Surely the two jobs were connected, but how? He needed to know more. "What, was this all just one big test run?"
"No. In fact, while I head to Haven, you are to remain here and continue gathering Dust for us. The more you can acquire before I return, the better." Despite talking to Roman, Cinder kept her gaze on Neo. The heterochromatic girl thought she looked like a predator sizing up her prey, so she smirked at her to show she wasn't afraid of the taller woman. "Of course, to pretend to be students, I will need a fourth teammate. Your partner here would appear to have the sufficient skills and...appearance to fill that role."
The brunette got a sarcastic look from Neo for that last comment, the kind that said she knew what Cinder was implying and didn't care for her attempts to feign politeness. The look was ignored as Roman spoke up again. "Let me guess, you want me to keep working with THEM, don't you?"
"That is correct. While tonight showed that not all members of the White Fang can be trusted, as long as you keep them in line with those that know what's best for them, you'll be fine. Or are you telling me you can't handle a few Faunus?"
"...Fine, but when they turn, I'll be first in line to say I told you so." He tried to avoid showing how anxious this situation was making him. He didn't know what the plan was, the woman he was trying to spy on was planning to take his partner to another continent, and he had to put his trust in a bunch of people that had less than ten minutes ago been trying to betray them all. This did not inspire confidence in the undercover man, but he would have to bear it for now. "Of course, I can't speak for my associate here. Neo, does her offer sound interesting?"
She made a show of making it look like she was thinking, even though he already knew her answer. After a moment of "thinking" with her index finger tapping her cheek, she smiled and nodded, drawing a smirk from the more sinister woman. "Good. I will arrange transport for us in the next few days. Roman, I trust you can pass along this information to her on my behalf?"
It wasn't really a question, but he knew she would get angry if he didn't answer. "You're already making me your middle manager, so guess I can't exactly refuse, but I'll expect better pay when this is over."
"If you want better rewards, then be sure to do your job well. I have high expectations, after all." Somehow every expression that graced Cinder's face was full of malevolence and scorn for those around her, making even this comment seem more like a threat than anything else. Most likely because it was. "By the way, Roman. You will continue to operate from here. We have made use of certain legal loopholes to acquire it, and it will make for suitable storage for the Dust. I suggest you get comfortable."
"Oh, just keep the GREAT news coming. So happy for this cold, badly lit gift." Roman looked back to see what was happening with the White Fang members. Looked like their leader had given them all a good beating for what they had done, but the spy couldn't help but wonder what made this man so eager to follow the plans of a human. The Fang hated humanity, so being subservient to one seemed like a contradiction to him. He made a note that he would have to look into that while Cinder was away. "Anything else you feel like sharing, sweetheart?"
"No. Continue as planned, and wait for me to contact you about our journey to Mistral. Until then, try not to let yourself be caught. It would be so...disappointing." Once again she turned to leave, it seeming in her nature to always insist on having the last word of any conversation. Taking one last breath from his cigar, Roman discarded it and walked back to the stolen goods, the White Fang members walking over to him, all but one looking worse for wear.
"I've disciplined my troops. There will be no more insubordination."
"Good, now they can make up for it by getting this place cleaned up. If we're going to be using this place as a base, the least I expect is to not be dealing with rusty walls and week old puddles. I expect you'll bring more troops in the meantime?" Roman talked while looking through the Dust to make sure they had at least gotten a decent haul. The results looked satisfying, though he knew they'd have to pale in comparison to what he would have by the time the megalomaniacal woman returned.
"Of course. And I will personally make sure that they will not repeat the mistakes of tonight. I will report back to you with my results in due time."
"The rest of you can leave as well. We'll work on fixing this place up tomorrow." The failed traitors needed no further encouragement to leave, scurrying away once they knew it was allowed. The leader left more calmly, casually strolling away, leaving Roman and Neo alone. Once they were certain no-one else was listening, he breathed a deep sigh. "Well, could have gone better, could have gone worse."
"You'd think she'd cut the Fang loose after they tried that." Neo's signs reflected his own mood. They had worked hard to engineer a situation that would get them fired by Cinder, making sure that the one who could keep them in line would be out of the picture long enough for treachery to happen, but she still felt the need to keep the extremists around.
"It gives us some useful intel, if nothing else." He started taking notes on his Scroll, to make sure he could keep his thoughts in order for his next report. "Whatever she's planning, the Fang play a part. She needs them for it, or she'd be looking elsewhere."
"But why? What do they have that she can't get elsewhere?" A good question, one he didn't have a proper answer to. The obvious would be that they had sufficient numbers, but was that really all there was to it?
"I'll need to think on that. More importantly..." He turned from his Scroll to look straight at Neo, concern showing in his one visible eye. "You really okay with going to Haven with her."
She looked downward, reluctant to meet his gaze at first. She hated when he was worried, even if it was for her. "Honestly, no. But someone needs to keep an eye on her, figure out what she's up to."
"I hate it when you're right."
"Besides, I'm more worried about you. You know you need someone to save your butt." She stuck her tongue out at him when she finished signing her message. He knew she was trying to reassure him, but he got a chuckle out of it anyway.
"Like I said, I hate it when you're right." They took a moment to relax in each other's company, letting the problems of tomorrow rest for now, and the calm of the night's victories soothe them. It was interrupted when both remembered the night also brought cold drafts into the poorly maintained room. "Come on. We've got a lot to think about, and I refuse to do it here."
She was no less eager to follow him away, both turning their thoughts to the situation they'd found themselves in. Their successes were reason to feel confident, but the unexpected factors and reactions made them equally uncertain. Too many questions went unanswered for now, and yet more were appearing in their minds by the second. All they could do was hope that they were making the right choices to learn the truth of the matter, before whatever Cinder was planning came to pass.
One thing was certain, though. They would be quite busy for the foreseeable future.
Hey everyone, thanks for reading. Hope you're all doing well, and that you enjoyed this chapter.