Atonement: Lincoln Clay
Episode 11: White Room
A/N: Sorry if this chapter is a bit boring, I'm trying my best but life and inspiration are hard to keep up with.
[Wombag1786: You're right man, thanks for the advice. Ooh choosing who to pair up with Jack to keep the Marston line going is harder than it seems, I mean that in a good way.]
[Gamelover41592: Yeah, even in death Sal will always be a scumbag. You're about to find out.]
[Disabled- doctor: I'll try my best man.]
[Sam Hill: I can respect that, still it's so hard to choose. And I've been considering that, them being native to Remnant, I think I could do it.]
[Guest 1: I really am thinking about it, though I've got so many projects right now. I want to do it. Now them being rivals with Raven could be done, Micah leaving before the gang collapses though is another story, not saying no though.]
[eye: Well maybe she can or maybe it was a one time thing.]
[Review dude: That's a good question.]
[Guest 2: I want to do the crossover. That would be nice for the gang but I'm not sure if it's possible.]
[Guest 3: Yes.]
-OZPIN'S TOWER-
The three hunters and two concerned citizens had finally arrived in the headmaster's office. Lincoln for the most part kept his silence at the sight of the grand simplicity of the clockwork Ozpin had chosen. Ozpin gestured for the two mafiosos to sit in chairs he'd set up for them, and not wanting to be rude they did so. Lincoln had to admit it was a pretty comfy chair that the headmaster had chosen, and Donovan agreed. Once the pleasantries were out of the way Donovan decided to get right down to business.
"So, how's this going to work out?" Donovan asked as he sat back in the chair.
"I'm glad you ask mister Donovan, well Qrow can spare the time to tutor the both of you." Ozpin replied, looking over his shoulder to the experienced drunken scythe wielder.
"Hey, why me?" The dusty old crow griped.
"You are the one currently taking a break from teaching, except for your nieces. As far as I am aware you have nothing else to do." Ozpin said in a matter of fact tone.
"Those two are different Ozzy, they're family." Qrow replied stubbornly.
"Look Qrow, buddy, we're just two friends asking for a favor-." Donovan started to say but was interrupted by Lincoln.
"I get you want to stick to training your family, and that's fine by me. But just doing what little it takes to get us started will be enough. That's all you have to do, if anything we can find someone else to get us the rest of the way or figure it out for ourselves." The former soldier said in a calm and understanding tone.
"That won't be necessary mister Clay." Ozpin interjected.
"Call me Lincoln." The mob boss corrected his associate.
"Lincoln, what we teach here at Beacon, handling aura among other things, is not something that can be easily self-taught. It requires a skilled instructor to learn such things, I am sure you understand that. While I am on the subject perhaps you might like to hear an offer of mine." Ozpin lectured the former soldier.
"If you're about to offer Donovan and myself a job here, don't. The two of us just need to learn if we can use aura and how. We already agreed to helping you out the way we know how, that's how it's going to stay. I make enough lien running the bar." Lincoln politely refused the headmaster's offer.
"Well I can respect that Lincoln, if you change your mind about my offer I'll be waiting." Ozpin said in a determined tone.
"I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you Oz." Donovan added wryly.
"Perhaps in time the both of you may change your minds. Either way, we must work out the finer details of your training. Someone must first activate your auras, I volunteer myself for the job, Qrow will handle the other activation." The headmaster looked to his associate.
"Let's just get this over with already." Qrow said lazily as he walked over to Donovan. The operative stood up and looked Qrow in the eye for a brief moment before the huntsman put his hand on Donovan's chest and began to chant. With a brief flash the agent's aura flared for the first time, the color being a vibrant orange. The Agent grinned, enjoying the rush of power into his system at that moment from the activation.
"Holy shit, this is great!" Donovan exclaimed with a grin on his face.
Lincoln briefly looked at his friend in intrigue, an amused smile gracing the mobster's features. The former soldier nodded to Ozpin, and the headmaster of Beacon academy strolled over to him. Placing a hand on Lincoln's chest, the wise headmaster repeated the same chant Qrow had with Donovan. Lincoln felt a pulse in his chest as his aura began to project itself around him. The former soldier gritted his teeth as his powerful aura manifested itself, raw power making him feel an incredible increase in strength. "This feels good." Lincoln said coolly with his green aura disappearing from view.
"Well you two seem to be enjoying this." Ozpin said as he stepped back from the two men.
"Thank you, captain obvious." Donovan replied sarcastically.
"Power always feels good." Lincoln clarified in a satisfied tone.
"Don't forget that power always comes with responsibility, Lincoln." Ozpin said as he pointed a finger at the soldier in green.
"Oh, I have no intention to forget that, Ozpin. But no matter how you use it or how things change, power always finds a place to rest its head." Lincoln crossed his arms as he gave his calm retort.
"So, it does." The wise headmaster nodded.
"Can we cut the philosophy, and get down to the other reasons we came here to speak? The aura is nice but that wasn't the only reason we came here." Donovan rolled his eyes, wanting to move the discussion forward to its next point of interest. The experienced field agent then pulled out a pack of cigarettes and his lighter. With a quick flick of the lighter's switch he lit a cigarette and took a short puff.
"Mister Donovan, please put that out." Glynda said to the agent with a look of disapproval on her stern yet pretty face.
"Didn't happen to see any 'no smoking' signs posted."
"That does not matter, you are in the headmaster's office and I make the rules, so PUT. IT. OUT." The beautiful disciplinarian said in a threatening manner as she gave the agent her evil eye.
"Alright, since you put it sooo nicely…" Donovan took a longer drag from the cigarette and then blew a smoke cloud before dropping the but on the floor and then coughing briefly. "Satisfied?" He said as he looked at Glynda.
"Not in the slightest." She growled.
Seeing that it would be best to move the conversation along, Ozpin coughed and brought attention to himself. "*cough*Ah yes, the time has come for another round of discussions on Salem." Ozpin agreed with the former agent.
"Right, so what has miss voodoo been up to?" Donovan asked curiously, turning his gaze away from an irritated Glynda.
"Miss voodoo?" Ozpin raised an eyebrow.
"Just a nickname we came up with." Lincoln clarified.
"I see. Moving on, yes, she has been busy in the shadows as of recent times. Her most loyal associate Tyrian has been spotted in mistral once again." Ozpin said as he brought up an image of the extremely devout religious assassin.
"He's been looking for something and killing off some pretty interesting targets in Mistral's criminal underworld." Qrow added as he took a sip from his flask, to which Glynda shook her head.
"Any specifics?" Lincoln narrowed his eye with a serious look on face.
"He's been targeting members of the Xiong crime family. Although it seems he hasn't found what he seeks, though this may only be a matter of time." Ozpin explained the details of the current situation.
"I can't imagine what that could be." Lincoln lied as he thought of the compromised Haven academy, which Qrow picked up on immediately but said nothing about.
"Well from what we know it happens to also involve a group of archaeologists that the Xiong family had contracted to look into a recent discovery of some sort. All this information comes from a reliable associate of ours in Mistral, I assure you." Ozpin said in a calm and affable manner.
"Not that we don't trust you, but how reliable is your source really?" Donovan said as he leaned forward in his chair.
"He is an old friend whom I trust very much. Why do you ask?" Ozpin replied.
"In our experience it pays to know these kinds of things, who to trust among them. That's all you need to know." The experienced former agent replied in a matter-of-factly tone.
"Perhaps, trust is an extreme valuable commodity when it comes to our situation as a whole." Ozpin nodded.
"Yeah Ozzy, but it's a two-way street, and the both of these guys seem to know something we don't." Qrow butted in the conversation, giving the two criminals a suspicious accusation.
"Qrow my friend, I'll only tell you once, mind your own fucking business." Donovan said as he stood up from his seat and looked the veteran huntsman in the eye, with a dead serious look on his face.
"You were a lot more friendly last night, buddy." Qrow said in irritated tone of voice as he returned Donovan's irritated look with his own.
"And you were drunk off your ass, pal." Donovan retorted coolly.
"Yeah, and your point is?" Qrow growled.
"Want to make something of it? Cause with my new extra juice I think I can take you on." The agent took a step back and confidently crossed his arms with a smirk prevalent on his face.
"You and what imaginary army, shithead?" The dusty old crow insulted Donovan.
"That's pretty funny, but I don't need one to kick your lazy ass." Donovan scoffed, returning Qrow's insult.
"Enough! Lock it down, both of you!" Lincoln barked gruffly at the two quarreling men. For a brief moment both of them seemed to twitch in fear at Lincoln's order. Both of them looked at each and then went right back to feuding.
"He started it!" They said in unison.
"It doesn't matter who started, I'm finishing it. Look If this makes things easier, I'll throw you people a bone, we have our own sources sniffing around Mistral for intel on Salem. We felt it was necessary to do so considering we know so little about you and your own sources, not to mention how much you know about us. I'd say that's more than enough intel to even things out, right?" Lincoln said firmly to Qrow and Donovan. He then began to explain some of their extra activities in the name of preserving the balance of the alliance.
"I suppose that is a fair enough exchange. Wouldn't you agree Qrow?" Ozpin agreed and then looked to Qrow with a firm expression.
"Fine, we'll settle this thing later, Donovan." Qrow said to Donovan as he sat leaned back against the wall.
"Oh, you can count on it, Qrow." Donovan replied with a sly attitude.
"I thought I told you both to shut the fuck up. Settle your shit later, we've got work to do and you both know it." Lincoln growled at them.
"Yeah you did Lincoln." Donovan shrugged and put his hands up.
"Alright, screw it. I need a drink." Qrow sighed and pulled out his flask, only to find it empty. Donovan noticed that and decided to be the more mature of the two, handing Qrow his own flask of whiskey. The dusty old crow smiled at the peace offering and took a swig from the agent's handy stock of booze. With the hatchet buried for the time being, the meeting was free to continue from that point on.
"Now that we've settled that, I think it's time we settled on showing Salem we mean business." Lincoln said as he cracked his knuckles.
"And how would you propose we do that, Lincoln?" Ozpin inquired.
"By disrupting her operation, if Tyrian is looking for information, we just have to find it first. We need to fight smart and figure out more about what the enemy is up to. If it turns out to be useful, we'll have the advantage, simple enough." The veteran explained his idea for their alliance's next move.
"Even I could've suggested that." Qrow said with his arms crossed.
"Maybe, but I didn't see you stepping up with any ideas. Anyway, it's clear as day that if Salem wants this intel, we need it. But then again, we also have to think two moves ahead, for all we know this could just be something Salem's doing to distract us from something else." Lincoln retorted to the scythe wielder's comment and then focused his attention back on the group as a whole.
"Spoken like a proficient tactician." Ozpin nodded in agreement with the soldier's words.
"It helps to have experience. Now let's stop talking and get to work, I'll get in touch with my sources in Mistral and have them see what they can find out." Lincoln replied coolly.
"Agreed, my associates and I shall do the same. I trust we will reconvene when all necessary information has been gathered to make our next move." Ozpin said confidently.
"Yes, that sound fine to me." Lincoln nodded in agreement with the headmaster and then turned to his partner. "Donovan, let's head out."
"See ya Later everybody." Donovan said jovially as he lit another cigarette and began to walk out with Lincoln.
Once the two men had entered the elevator and were out of earshot, Glynda decided to voice her thoughts. "I really do not care for that man's presence Ozpin." The head disciplinarian griped at Donovan's rude behavior.
"You must at least tolerate them Glynda. They may seem difficult to adjust to but they are valuable allies in our struggle." Ozpin attempted to calm her down, though it was only a marginally successful effort .
"Mister Clay is certainly the more tolerable of the two. He at least knows how to be respectful." The woman sighed in frustration.
"Eh, Donovan has his moments." Qrow chimed in calmly as he stretched himself out.
"You were just arguing with him!" Glynda barked incredulously at her colleague's statement.
"Believe it or not, some that was actually in good fun. Not to mention he made up for being an ass with a shot of whiskey. Though I am gonna kick his ass later." Qrow explained with a calm look on his face.
"You are unbelievable Qrow." Glynda shook her head at the dusty old crow's response.
"I know. Ain't it great?" Qrow said with a cheeky grin on his face, making it clear where his niece had gotten her interesting sense of humor. Ozpin looked at the two of them and simply smiled at the interaction between his friends.
-WITH LINCOLN AND DONOVAN-
The two men stood in the elevator for a moment in silence as they listened to the hum of the machinery. The clockwork of the tower echoed nearby, though it decreased as the lift went down from the office. Donovan grew tired our the silence and decided to speak up.
"So what's the real next move?" Donovan asked his friend beside him.
"We can't leave Mistral together, and I need you here. Although we do have someone who can look into it for us." The experienced criminal said as he leaned against the back of the elevator.
"Locus." Donovan guessed.
"Yep, we'll put him on it and then work on finding our next associate. The stronger we are, the better, plus it'll be getting him out of our way for if and when we get our hands dirty later. If you catch my drift. We'll be doing that pretty damn soon too, next week."
"The man with the plan as always." Donovan smirked.
"You know me, I like to play things smart." Lincoln shrugged.
-END CHAPTER-
