"…you to vote for Jacques Schnee," the larger-than-life image of Marrow happily proclaimed from its place on the animated screen mounted on the side of a building. "For a better Mantle, and a feeling of safety and security- financial and otherwise- that Robyn Hill can't provide."

Weiss' heart felt like a stone in her chest as she watched the ad fade to black before rolling once again. She could see the sadness in Marrow's eyes for just a moment before he started to speak, and she could practically feel the tension in Sun's shoulders and neck as he walked beside her.

"…just… try to tune it out," Clover suggested from Weiss' other side. The man shook his head and kept his eyes on the sidewalk ahead, where citizens of Mantle were staring at the trio with hateful glares. "He did what he had to do for the future of both cities. One day… maybe we'll be able to pull back the curtain and make them understand."

"It's not that easy," Sun said softly. "Not when Weiss is getting screamed at every time she sets foot in Mantle. I've had 'race traitor' yelled at me twice already for being seen with you, and we've been on the ground for fifteen minutes…"

"I know," Clover offered in an equally hushed tone. "And I'm sorry. The people are furious… and they have every right to be. Neither of you should have to bear their anger."

"But we do," Weiss acknowledged as she finally tore her eyes from the billboards and screens all around them. "There's… no other way. I'm sorry, too. It's my family that's causing this…"

"They're not your family," Sun spat. "Winter is, but Jacques? You're not like him. Don't let anyone make you think otherwise."

Weiss offered Sun a weak smile and took his offered hand. Immediately afterward, something cold and wet impacted her side hard and she let out a cry of surprise. Upon freeing her hand and looking down, she found the remains of someone's iced coffee splattered all over the side of her combat dress, staining the front and side.

"Fuck you! You're the reason m-"

"Hey!" Sun roared as he immediately moved around Weiss and snapped his weaponry open. On the other side of the street stood a man wearing a winter jacket, scarf, and newsboy cap, looking rather smug after his successful throw. Sun barred his teeth at the civilian, causing him to take a step back as he raised his hands defensively. "If you ever come n-"

"Sun," Clover interrupted as he put a heavy hand on the faunus' shoulder and stepped in front of him. "Don't. I've got this. You just assaulted a licensed huntress working directly for th-"

"Stop!" Weiss yelled, causing both men to look back at her as she kept her hands held aloft. Though she looked about ready to burst into tears, her voice was full of conviction. "Just… let him go. Leave it. We have work to do, and I don't want to cause even more of a scene."

Sun looked from Weiss over to the civilian who was smirking triumphantly. A crowd of other citizens had gathered near the man, some with weapons on their belts. Sun took a deep breath and collapsed his own before shaking his head as his tail swayed angrily behind him.

"Yeah, that's right," the attacker boasted. "Control your animal. Keep his leash tight."

"Keep moving," Clover seethed as he waved the citizen along. He watched briefly as the man and his assembled posse made their way down the sidewalk, before he turned back to Sun and Weiss. "Come on. The pub's only a block away, and we can get you cleaned up once we're inside. I could've arrested him, you know…"

"I know," Weiss acknowledged as she began to walk once again, the right side of her ribs freezing as the chilling air of Mantle brushed up against the spreading dark spot on her clothing. "But it would only make things worse."

"Can it even get worse?" Sun asked angrily as he led the way. "These people hate me, these people hate you…"

"Just… keep in mind what we're here to do," Clover tried. "Once we get the message out… a lot of them will come around. I hate to have to ask you to suffer through it, but…"

"We don't have a choice," Sun finished as he came to a stop before a large restaurant. "Kinda on the nose, isn't it?"

Weiss followed Sun's eyes to look up at the sign above the pub. The Happy Huntress was written in fancy gold script next to a portrait of a smiling woman holding a frothing mug of beer in one hand and a large sword slung up over her shoulder in the other. Behind the woman was a background of dark varnished wood; an aesthetic that carried through to the rest of the establishment. Green curtains with the sigil of Solitas done up in gold partially obscured the darkened interior of the restaurant, though the place seemed oddly packed for a pub before noon.

"You could say that," Weiss agreed as she turned to Clover and shivered. "Are they all Robyn's people inside?"

"Close to it," Clover warned. "Almost everyone in there will be armed and trained to use their weapons. Robyn usually likes to meet on neutral turf, like she did with the two of you earlier. The fact that she insisted we meet here isn't a good sign. Be ready for anything... and don't let her touch you, or at least, don't say anything until you're not in physical contact again. Remember what I told you about her semblance."

"She's a human lie detector, yeah. I hope she's ready for us," Sun grumbled as he made his way up to the doors and pushed through. "After the journey here? I'm not in the mood for games."

"Neither am I," Clover agreed. "Just remember your role."

"Keep the peace," Weiss said quietly as she followed along. "We'll do what we need to do… no matter how unpleasant."

"Well, well, if it isn't the lapdog-in-chief himself," May mocked from behind the bar at the side of the room as the trio entered. "I'm surprised we got you to come all the way down here. You must be worried."

"You shouldn't be," Clover answered calmly as the rest of the occupants of the bar turned to face him and the chatter died down. "You have concerns, and I'm here to address them. I can say more than Sun and Weiss can, so I thought it would be prudent to tag along."

"Concerns is one way to put it," Robyn Hill said sharply as she walked over from somewhere else within the pub. "Follow me."

The woman turned and began to walk quickly across the floor of the restaurant. May slipped out from behind the bar and handed a rag to another huntress, before slipping into formation just behind Sun. He could feel her eyes on the back of his neck, and being sandwiched between the two women made him quickly realize just how surrounded they really were.

"So… nice to see you guys," Sun tried, the statement coming out a little forced.

"I wish I could say the same," Robyn replied without looking back at him. "But you brought an Ace with you. That's not what we asked for. We wanted Ironwood, or just you two."

"And what's the problem with bringing him with us?" Weiss asked coldly. "As Clover said, there are questions that Sun and I cannot answer. We brought him to help clear the air."

"Did you bring him, or did he bring you?" May inquired, only to receive no answer.

Robyn led the group to a booth at the far end of the open floor and slipped into one side, where Fiona was waiting. The usually cheerful and docile sheep faunus had an unfriendly look upon her face, and her arms were folded atop the table. Sun, Clover, and Weiss shuffled into the booth across from the women, and Robyn gave them all a glare as she looked them over.

"The problem is that the Aces aren't trustworthy. I've had a feeling that was the case for a while, but now that Wags is shilling for Jacques Schnee? There's no doubt in my mind."

"Wags?" Weiss repeated, her throat tightening as she tried to contain her anger.

"You heard me."

"I wish I didn't," Sun cut in, his tail swishing beneath the table. "You're upset, and rightfully so, but that doesn't give you an excuse to start throwing names like that around… no matter how many faunus you have with you that are cool with it. I'm not. You're better than that… or at least, we thought you were."

Robyn sucked in a tense breath through her nose before bringing a hand up and pinching the bridge as she closed her eyes. After a moment of incredibly tense silence, the woman shook her head and let out a noise of disgust.

"…you're right…"

Sun looked taken aback as Robyn turned to her companion, who had an incredibly uncomfortable look upon her face.

"Sorry, Fi," Robyn apologized.

"It's… fine," Fiona insisted, her ears drooping slightly. "After what Marrow did? He deserves it… but Sun is right. Let's… try not to resort to being… like that."

"Yeah," Robyn agreed, seemingly embarrassed as she rubbed the back of her neck and looked across the table. "And… you guys, too. I'm sorry for that, but… how am I supposed to feel, right now?"

"Not great," Clover answered, his voice calm and even. "But I think we should tall take a deep breath and start from square one. Can everyone agree to calm down before we move forward, for the sake of keeping this civil?"

"I think that's a good idea," Sun agreed. "If we didn't want to negotiate and try to fix things, we wouldn't have come all the way down here, right? There's a lot of other important things we need to take care of, but we chose to answer your call."

"And there's enough tension and hate in Mantle already, without all of us adding to it," Weiss said.

"Yeah. Especially right now," Robyn acknowledged. "Fine. Let's just… cool off, for a minute."

"Can we get a ton of napkins? Or paper towels?" Sun asked. "Weiss… had a drink thrown at her on the way here. She's soaked."

"May," Robyn called as she looked sideways at her other friend, who had taken to leaning up against a wooden column near to the table.

"On it," the woman replied before pushing off the column and disappearing to parts unknown.

Robyn took another deep breath and set her hands upon the table, drumming her fingers for a moment as she looked at Clover. Finally, she rested her palm flat atop the wood and leaned in.

"…how could you let Marrow campaign for Jacques? The Aces are second only to Winter, other than Ironwood himself… and you know what Jacques is doing. Mantle is being squeezed hard enough by the dust shop closures and temporary supply limits that whatever you're trying to accomplish won't swing votes down here in his favor, but if the Aces are endorsing Jacques… then I've already lost Atlas."

"Simple," Clover began. "I didn't. Marrow went ahead and did this on his own, without notifying me beforehand. His political opinions are his own, and his actions have… caused a rift in the Aces. He has his reasons, I'm sure, but I don't know them. I'm not about to ask, either. I've been keeping my distance."

"Still… that's irresponsible," Fiona chimed in. "It's unfair. The implications of one of the Ace Ops supporting Jacques directly, while Ironwood holds two council seats already…"

"If I could campaign for you, I would," Clover offered. "But I'm the leader, while Marrow is… still relatively new. Reprimanding him would cause even more conflict, so all I can do is… allow Harriet or Elm to take your side, if they so choose. But even that would cause more problems and make the general's public image suffer. They both know that, and I don't think they'll go for it."

"…then I will," Weiss said quietly. "If it would help to heal some of the damage… I'll stand up for you, against my father. I don't know if anyone in Mantle would listen to me, but perhaps it's worth a try? I have dirt on him."

"…tempting," Robyn considered as May returned to the table and offered the former heiress a roll of paper towels. "I'll think about it… but I can also see how that could backfire. Give me some time."

"If it helps, I'd be willing to contribute," Sun added. "A faunus perspective might help to defuse some of the hatred in Mantle."

"…or make it even worse," Fiona considered. "I'm sure you've noticed that not everyone down here is a fan of us…"

Clover leaned forward and cracked his knuckles.

"How about this- we cut a deal. Weiss and Sun will work for your campaign… if you talk to the people of Mantle and use your influence to try to unify the people and bridge the gap between humans and faunus. You're probably the only person that this city would listen to, if you made your message sincere. Having a Schnee and a faunus at your side, as well as Fiona, here, might actually do something to take steps toward fixing things. In addition, the three of us, as well as Hope, will work security for your election night party. That way, everyone wins, I'm seen on your side without officially endorsing you, and your platform becomes one of unification."

"…I like that idea," Fiona offered as she looked up at Robyn.

"So do I," Robyn agreed. "But I just hired a private firm to work security. In fact, I've got a meeting with them I've got to get to."

"Then think it over, and let us know," Weiss suggested as she finished toweling off her outfit as best she could. "We want to work with you, not against you. I'm sorry that it seemed the opposite way for a time…"

"It happens… but I'm still not convinced," Robyn warned. "For now… I think you three should leave. I'll be in contact. Maybe with freelance jobs. Maybe soon."

"We're officially licensed in Atlas, now," Sun said. "If you post jobs, Weiss and I can run them."

"And that keeps the Aces away from you," Clover considered as he stood up out of the booth. "Just like you wanted. Still… let us provide additional security on election night. Please. Things are getting wild out there."

"Again- I'll think about it," Robyn echoed as Sun and Weiss stood up. "I'll let you know what's happening in a few days at most. For now… just stay out of Mantle for a bit. Hope and the Happy Huntresses are enough to keep the city safe."

"No promises," Sun said as he shook his head. "We care about this city, too."

"Then don't come crying to me if things go south," Robyn said with a shrug. "May, bring our security guy over, so we can talk details. You three… I'll be in touch after things cool off. See you."

"Sounds to me like we've been dismissed," Clover mused as he waved to Sun and Weiss. "C'mon. There are some other things we can check in on while we're down here."

Robyn watched the trio leave without a word. Moments later, May returned to the table and slipped into the booth next to her as a man she had met only once before took a seat on the other side.

"Sorry about that," Robyn apologized. "I wasn't expecting to have to deal with an Ace. I would've blown them off until later, otherwise."

"Not a problem at all," Arthur Watts replied as he removed his sunglasses. He folded them neatly and tucked them into his vest pocket before interlacing his fingers and resting his hands atop the table. "Now, let's talk about what I can offer you on election night…"

Author's Note:

The soup thickens.

-RD