Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Aozaki and Tohsaka – The Serpent's Feathers

Chapter 5

A series of knocks on the suite's door had Sakura rising to her feet, only to freeze mid-step as Touko raised a single finger. Without taking her eyes off her laptop's screen, the Grand Magus gestured with her fingers, and then nodded at the response from the bounded fields she'd set up around their suite. Gesturing at her apprentice once more, Touko subsequently ignored Sakura marching off towards the door.

Arriving at the door, Sakura withdrew the bolt and unlocked the doorknob before opening the door, exposing the grim-faced Benedek. Sakura stepped aside without a word, holding the door open wider to allow him to enter, which he did in silence. Sakura closed the door behind him, locking the doorknob and pushing the bolt into place before hurrying after the Hungarian magus into the suite's living room.

"Have you calmed down yet?" Touko asked.

Benedek just grunted as he sat down opposite from Touko, across the coffee table. "Sakura, tea." Touko laconically said.

"Right away, master." Sakura said, before hurrying off once more.

"…I'll have my share of payment for the broker's services ready by tomorrow afternoon." Touko said after several moments. "One hundred and eighty thousand American dollars, in unmarked hundred dollar bills."

Taking her eyes off her laptop's screen, Touko sat back and evenly regarded her colleague. "Even if the broker's agent hasn't contacted us back yet," she continued. "It'd be nice if you could have your share of the payment ready by then."

"…one hundred and twenty thousand American dollars…in unmarked hundred dollar bills…" Benedek murmured, before narrowing his eyes at Touko. "Where'd you get that much money?"

Touko raised an eyebrow. "Are you seriously asking me that question?" she asked.

"…let me rephrase it," Benedek corrected momentarily, realizing just how stupid the question was in hindsight. Touko might not have a palace or a fleet of gold-plated cars, and she might have been – more or less – disowned by the rest of her family, but that didn't mean she was destitute. Maybe she might have been strapped for cash at the start, after the rest of the Aozaki had turned their backs on her, and the Clock Tower had greedily placed her under sealing designation, but in the years since, she'd amassed quite the fortune.

Its sources varied, ranging from entirely legitimate investments in manufacturing, real estate, shipbuilding, finance, and even tourism, to the not-so legitimate. While she might not trade in drugs, flesh, or death, Touko's fingers reached delicately into the underworld, particularly in the illicit and not-so illicit trade in antiquities, curiosities, artifacts cultural, artistic, and mystical, and many more regulated – both in the normal and supernatural worlds – wares.

"How'd you get the banks to give you the money in cash?" Benedek finally asked.

Touko smiled a chilling smile. "I'm a magus." She simply said, and it was answer enough.

Benedek nodded slowly in understanding. "I see your point." He said, before sitting back and relaxing. Touko's smile warmed ever so slightly, and crossing her arms over her chest, sighed and similarly sat back, her body relaxing into the upholstery.

The silence hung with only the barest hint of tension, and then minutes later Sakura was coming back, bringing a tea set with her on a silver tray. Placing it on the coffee table, Sakura poured tea for her master and her colleague, and then pouring herself a cup, sat down next to her master.

"…I'll get in touch with my bankers once tea is done." Benedek said while replacing his half-finished teacup on its saucer. "I assume you've eaten already?"

"Yes," Touko said with a nod. "And I could ask you the same thing."

"Hmm…" Benedek hummed in confirmation, and giving a nod with it. "…once the money's been arranged, I'll see about getting us those escorts we might need."

"About that…here…" Touko said, leaning forward to take a piece of paper folded next to her laptop, which she slid across the coffee table. "What few contacts I have in this part of the world…that might help you get us the muscle we need for when our…rivals, in this race face us again."

"…much appreciated…" Benedek said, taking the paper and unfolding it. Regarding the information inside for a moment, he folded the paper again before sliding it into a pocket, and then picking up his teacup once more, toasted Touko once before taking a drink.

"Master," Sakura began once Benedek had left, about fifteen minutes later. "Is it really necessary to have gunmen escorting us around the Yucatan or wherever else we might end up going to on this trip? I mean…yeah, our rivals have gunmen escorting them too, but so did some of the enemies we faced over the past few years, and we dealt with them just fine on our own, didn't we?"

"That we did." Touko agreed after taking a drink of her tea. "And we also did just fine between my puppets and your spirits."

"But…?"

"Consider it a precaution." Touko said, glancing at her apprentice.

"A precaution?" Sakura echoed, and Touko nodded.

"Yes." She said. "We're in the western hemisphere now. Whoever our rivals here are, there's a chance that they'll be on a completely different league compared to any magi you've faced with me before. And in my experience, it's best to keep as much of our mysteries in the dark for as long as possible against that lot."

"…I see what you mean." Sakura said with a nod. "We'll have our escorts deal with our rivals' escorts, and hold our mysteries back for when we actually face our rivals themselves."

"Precisely." Touko said with a nod, before smiling. "Of course, if they join in then we'll have to join in too, but then they'd be showing their mysteries as they use them against us, just like we'll use our mysteries against them. Not necessarily the best outcome, but it comes out as even so it's…acceptable, I suppose."

"I see." Sakura said with a nod.

"Good," Touko said, before holding out her teacup for a refill. Sakura obliged, and after several moments, handed her master a fresh cup of tea. Touko gave a satisfied sound at the soothing fumes, and took a drink. "Speaking of which…depending on how good our enemy is, I expect you to just hang back and watch yourself, while Benedek and me deal with them, alright?"

"I know, I'm not stupid." Sakura said.

"I certainly hope not, I taught you better than that." Touko said while taking another drink. "If our rivals brought an apprentice with them though, then feel free to go wild."

Sakura gave a small smile. "Confident in my abilities, aren't we master?" she asked.

"Of course," Touko said with a smile. "You're my apprentice."

Sakura briefly closed her eyes. "We'll see." She finally said. "At the very least, I don't plan on dying anytime soon, master."

Touko nodded in approval. "Good," she said. "That's the right attitude to have. You know how magi fight. The one who comes out at the end of it all alive and well is the winner."

Sakura nodded in agreement.

Benedek neither reappeared nor made contact for the rest of the day, or during the evening. Touko and Sakura spent that time on their own affairs, bunkered down behind the bounded fields of their suite. It was not until the morning of the following day that Benedek made contact, through a phone call with Touko.

"…I see…this evening…where…alright, we'll be there…thank you."

Touko put the phone down as the call came to an end. "I'm guessing Benedek managed to find us some escorts then, master?" Sakura asked.

"That he did." Touko confirmed. "Though it remains to be seen whether they'll agree to sign on with us."

"…so we'll be discussing terms and conditions this evening?"

"Hmm…"

"…master?"

"Yes?"

Sakura briefly hesitated, and then pressed on. "I know we agreed on the need to have escorts last night," she said. "But…what if we haven't found any willing to sign on by the time the reformatted map and the translated pictograms come back? I mean…we are kind of on a clock, aren't we?"

Touko held back on replying to light a cigarette first, and taking a drag blew out a stream of blue smoke. "What do you think?" she asked.

"…we'll have to manage on our own?" Sakura answered with a question.

Touko took another drag and blew out another stream of smoke. "It's not ideal." She said. "But like you said, we're on a clock. There's no point in taking our sweet time to assemble escorts, only for our rivals to have run off with the prize by the time we get there."

"As you say, master."

Touko nodded and took another drag. Sakura looked on for a few more moments, and then spoke up again. "So…" she began. "If things work out tonight, who and how many are we going to be working with?"

"They call themselves the Devil Dogs." Touko answered. "They're a mixed bunch, mostly Argentinian, but their members are from all over the place in South America. As for how many…Benedek didn't give exact numbers, but he said they were about as big as a platoon, plus a few extra."

"…a platoon…?" Sakura echoed.

"Yup." Touko said while taking another drag.

"…should I have our sources have a quick look into them?" Sakura asked after a moment.

Touko nodded. "You do that." She said, and with a nod of her own, Sakura walked off.

The bankers took a polite step back after opening the heavy, metal-bound suitcases sitting on the table. The four of them – two bankers, Touko, and Sakura – were standing in the vault itself, the walls lined with safe deposit boxes, the floor and ceilings starkly-painted concrete, electric lights glinting harshly off their surfaces.

A table was sitting in the middle of the vault, and it was there that the bankers had placed the suitcases carrying the money. Two hundred thousand American dollars, in unmarked hundred dollar bills. They only needed one hundred and eighty thousand, actually, but Touko had decided to round it up and have some extra cash on hand.

As the bankers quietly looked on, Touko and Sakura counted the money, pulling out stacks of hundred dollar bills bound with paper and piling them like bricks on the table. "One hundred thousand over here, master." Sakura said as she finished.

"And one hundred thousand over here." Touko said with a nod. "Good…let's put them all back inside for now. We'll take the twenty thousand extra later."

"Yes, master."

Touko and Sakura neatly returned the money inside the suitcases, and then closing them, locked them tight. "If that will be all…?" Touko asked, and the bankers quickly showed them out of the vault.

Making their way back out through the bank, escorted by bankers and screened by security, Touko and Sakura ignored the curious gazes of the bank's other customers, which persisted as they stepped through the doors and towards a waiting taxi. "…Imperial Hotel, and make it quick." Touko said in Spanish as the door was closed.

The driver responded in kind, and the taxi drove off. Sakura spent a few minutes looking out the window, regarding the surrounding city in the muggy afternoon, before turning to her master.

"Now what, master?" she asked in Japanese.

"Now we wait." Touko said in kind. "We'll be meeting with the Devil Dogs' commander and a few others from their platoon this evening, remember?"

"I do." Sakura said with a nod.

"…if you want, you can have a snack in the hotel restaurant when we get back." Touko remarked after a moment.

Sakura grinned, and Touko rolled her eyes, before smiling at her apprentice. "After we finish everything else we need to do." She said. "We have to take the twenty thousand extra off first, for one thing."

"Okay…that's no problem, master."

"Good."

Antigua's high-end districts gleamed in the depths of night, electric lights shining bright through windows and across the streets. Crowds thronged the streets, whether well-to-do Guatemalans or tourists, and even those less fortunate locals with the money here and now to have the briefest taste of the good life.

In a function room in one of the high-end buildings that towered over the districts, the Devil Dogs' commanding officer was seated along with several of his subordinates around a table. Cigarette smoke hung heavy around them, spent butts piled heavily on a pair of ashtrays, laughter and harsh voices filling the air.

Benedek stood nearby, arms crossed over his chest, waiting for Touko and Sakura to arrive.

"…so when exactly are the rest of our employers going to get here?" one of the Devil Dogs asked, as he crushed a spent cigarette into an ashtray. "The night's getting deeper, and we're not getting any younger."

"Amen to that." Another Devil Dog agreed. "Time's a wasting, and we're just pissing it away here and now."

"Come on Andres, Ronaldo…" Captain Alba Ruiz, the Devil Dog's commanding officer said while blowing out a stream of smoke. "You've been in this business for as long as I have. You know the drill: shut up and wait."

Another Devil Dog snorted, and then gave a barking laugh. "Isn't that the truth?" he asked, as laughter rippled around them.

"…fair enough." Sergeant Ronaldo Rivera agreed as he lit another cigarette. Taking a drag, he blew out a stream of smoke before continuing. "It's not like we know who we'll be shooting in this job anyway."

"If we sign up for it." Sergeant Cipriano Ibanez pointed out, and a chorus of agreement went up around the gathering. And then a new – for the Devil Dogs at least – voice joined in on the conversation.

"In that sense," the new – feminine – voice remarked. "We are all on the same boat."

"Who's that?" Alba snapped, looking around along with his subordinates…

…and then they were shouting in alarm and backing away, those closest to the shadows against the wall all but jumping out of their seats as the darkness rippled and deepened, before a redheaded woman emerged, followed by a younger brunette. They just literally walked out of the shadows, which stayed on the wall despite the ones casting it having fled, at least until both women had finished walking out.

Despite knowing they'd be working with magi on this contract, two of the mercenaries crossed themselves as the shadows faded.

"Dios mio…I've worked with magi plenty of times before…" Alba said with a shake of his head. "…but this is the first time I've ever seen anyone actually walk out of a shadow…"

"There are magi, and then there are magi." Touko said with a shrug. "Allow me to make introductions: I am Touko Aozaki, and this is my apprentice, Sakura Tohsaka."

"Captain Alba Ruiz at your service, Miss Aozaki…" Alba returned the greeting with a tip of his sombrero. "…or is it missus?"

"Miss will do." Touko said while taking a seat, Benedek doing likewise next to her. Sakura stayed standing behind her master, and after a couple of moments, Alba was sitting down at the table opposite from Touko.

Like Sakura, his subordinates stayed standing behind their commanding officer.

"Now then," Touko began. "What do you know of what this job will be asking from you?"

Alba shrugged. "Mostly protection detail," he said. "Though seeing as you're magi, I'm sure you're more than capable of pulling your own weight if it comes to it. And in my experience, working for magi means…we'll be muscle, so you can hold back until your spells can make the most difference."

"Hmm…is that all?"

"We know we'll be going up against other magi." Alba said with a tilt of his head. "And that they have men working for them too. Your friend next to you didn't say this, but again in my experience, that means we'll be dealing with those men while you deal with their employers."

"And you've got nothing against that?" Touko challenged.

Alba looked surprised. "Why would we?" he asked back.

"They're mercenaries like you." Touko responded, and Alba laughed.

"That's a trick question right?" he asked, and Touko smiled lightly.

"Perhaps…" she admitted, and Alba snorted and shook his head.

"We might be soldiers of fortune, but we're still soldiers, Miss Aozaki." He said. "It's just a job, we're just being doing what we're paid to do. There's nothing personal to it all."

"Is that right?" Touko challenged.

"Yeah…" Alba said with a nod.

"…did Benedek tell you nothing more?" Touko asked after a moment.

"Well, he said we'll be going into the countryside to the north, in Mexico's Yucatan…" Alba said before pausing to look at Touko in the eyes. "Now, I'm not stupid, Miss Aozaki. And I've worked with magi before. I might not be one of you, or able to use any of your fancy abilities, but I know how you people think. You're after something in those pyramids the Mayans left behind. In short: you're on a treasure hunt."

"I prefer to call it an archaeological expedition." Touko primly said, though amusement was dancing in her eyes. Alba saw it, and burst out laughing.

"Sure…call it whatever you want…" he said while shaking his head back and forth. "…but if there's a profit to be had, I want a cut."

Touko narrowed her eyes, but Alba met them evenly. After a few moments, Benedek gave a cough to draw attention to him.

"Whether or not there will be profit to be had will depend on what we find." He said. "Also, and once again depending on what we find, it will be worth more than our lives to allow you and your men to possess…mystical, artifacts. Even if you mean to sell them off in the end…"

"…yeah, yeah, I know." Alba interrupted with a nod and a wave. "The powers-that-be in Europe will have our heads on spikes if word gets out…but they don't have to…and our financial arrangement can always be extended to your honored selves being the ones to handle any…sales, and transactions of…goods, recovered…"

Alba trailed off meaningfully and with a smile, leading Touko to snort after a few moments. "You're not afraid of dying, are you, Captain Alba?" she asked.

"I'm a soldier." Alba replied with a shrug. "Been one since I was kid, in fact. Whether its quick and painless or slow and painful – or any variation of those – I've long since stopped caring…"

Alba trailed off, his face briefly going slack as his eyes turned dull and distant, as though seeing and hearing something or someone only he could. And then he blinked, and he was focused once more. "…I've stopped caring about a lot of things." He said. "Including what might happen to me or others or whatnot…it's the only way to stay sane in this profession…"

Touko snorted, and then grinning, pulled out her cigarette pack to offer the captain a stick. "…what an interesting thing to say…" she remarked.

"Hmm…" Alba hummed as he took a stick, and popping it in his mouth, allowed Touko to light it before puffing a couple of times. "…good stuff…a bit mild compared to what I'm used to, but still quite good for all that…"

Touko shrugged and put away her cigarette pack. "A shame you can't use magic." She said. "You'd have made a fine magus."

"Really?"

"Hmm…what you said just now…it's something a magus would say…"

"Words are just words…"

"…true…" Touko agreed, before tilting her head. "…except I can see from your body language, and your eyes especially, that you don't need to prove anything you've said. It's already been proven."

Alba puffed and grinned, before taking a drag and then blowing out a stream of smoke. Sitting back, he regarded the three magi before him. "…the two of you…" he finally said with a nod at Benedek and Touko. "…you've got a good air around you…"

"…you really think so?" Benedek remarked.

"Yeah…I think so…" Alba said with a nod, but refused to elaborate further. The Hungarian magus just huffed though.

"…we all have our own stories to tell, captain." He said while closing his eyes and leaning back with a slight air of weariness and danger in equal measure.

"…hmm…" Alba hummed. "…and what kind of stories are those, I wonder?"

Benedek's eyes opened, his irises cold and hard as ice. "The kind of stories that made us who we are today." He said. "Men – or in Touko's case, women – who would do anything and everything to get what they need or want to get, while not going insane or worse along the way."

"Hmm…" Alba hummed, his expression one of wistful understanding, before his eyes slid towards Touko. "And you, Miss Touko?"

"I'm a magus." She simply said, and Alba chuckled.

"That you are…" he agreed, before looking at Sakura with a measuring look on his face. "…your apprentice still seems a bit soft around the edges though…"

Sakura frowned at that, but Alba just laughed. "She's my apprentice." Touko said while sitting back. "And that is answer enough."

"…in other words, let her grow up at her own pace…"

Touko was silent, while Alba took a long drag before breathing out a cloud of smoke. "…not too long, I hope." He said. "She might not last long sticking with you if she doesn't grow quickly enough…"

Sakura's eyes narrowed, but Alba just ignored her. "…that's my business, and not yours." Touko finally said. "And going back to the topic at hand…fine, if there's profit to be had, you'll get a cut. But under no circumstances will you be allowed to handle mystical artifacts. Gold and jewels, whether worked or not, even priceless scrolls dating back to gods know when…fine, you can have those and sell them off or something…but anything that has magical power? No way, and this is nonnegotiable."

Alba nodded repeatedly. "We can accept that arrangement." He said. "Percentages would be nice, though."

"Ten per cent of any profit to be divided between all of you." Touko began, only for Alba to sit up and give her a glare.

"Now that's just insulting." he said. "I mean…it being divided between us all is reasonable, I suppose, but ten per cent? Fifty per cent…"

"Who's insulting now?" Touko interrupted. "Twenty per cent…"

"Forty per cent…"

"…thirty per cent…"

"…twenty-five…"

"…deal." Alba said, and then drew back slightly as he realized what happened. Behind him, snickers went up from his men. "Damn it…I should have seen that coming, mama used to haggle the same way in the fish market back when I was kid."

Touko smirked, before Alba gave her an even look. "Aside from our cut," he said. "What's the basic package? Especially since the cut is conditional on this treasure hunt profiting in the first place."

"The standard professional fee for the group as a whole." Benedek cut in, lifting a suitcase of his own and placing it on the table. "One hundred thousand American dollars, in unmarked hundred dollar bills."

Pausing, he glanced expectantly at Touko. "Then seventy hundred and fifty dollars every day until contract termination. Similarly, housing, board, transportation, and medical fees will be on the house until contract termination."

Touko glanced at Benedek, and then narrowing her eyes, nodded curtly before turning back to Alba. "Will that be enough?" she asked.

The man leaned back in his seat, puffing at his cigarette. After several moments, he glanced back at his subordinates. "What do you think, boys?" he asked. "Is the offer good?"

The men looked at and exchanged words between each other, then largely agreed, but for a scarred and grizzled veteran. "If we die," he said. "Payment will continue to named beneficiaries until contract termination of the group as a whole. I've got grandchildren to look after."

Alba chuckled and nodded. "True enough…" he said, before turning back to the magi. "…so how about it?"

"It's not unreasonable." Touko agreed, and Benedek nodded.

"Call your lawyers." He said. "Let's sign this contract and get this over and done with tonight."

"Wonderful…" Alba agreed, clapping his hands and getting to his feet. Putting out his cigarette in a nearby ashtray, he looked behind him only to see one of his men already on the phone and getting in touch with their lawyers, even as Benedek was walking off to do the same. "…so, I'm guessing that we wait over dinner?"

"That's why we had a buffet prepared." Touko said, also getting on her feet. "Sakura…?"

"Yes, master." Sakura said, as she stepped around, and towards the buffet table. Alba turned to his men and gestured.

"Come on, boys." He said. "Let's have some chow to pass the time until we can sign this contract."

A chorus of assent went up, and the Devil Dogs moved towards the buffet table. Alba glanced at Touko, who regarded him evenly. And then giving a courtly bow, Alba theatrically gestured towards the table.

"After you, boss lady."

A/N

No, there is no relation between Alba Ruiz and Cornelius Alba. Considering the bad blood between them, if there had been a relation, Captain Alba would have been killed in an instant, if only to spite Cornelius.