Weiss had some idea what to expect as she walked into the office area- an injury, or perhaps even a death- but the reality of the situation in her mind did nothing to physically prepare her for what she saw. Councilman Sleet's lifeless body was near the door, and his face was gone. Some kind of high-impact weapon had ripped the flesh and shattered the bone of his skull, rendering him nigh unrecognizable. The corpse of councilwoman Camilla beside him had been penetrated by a smaller caliber weapon, though in more places. Her shocked face stared straight up at the ceiling as the bullet wounds about her chest and neck continued to bleed. Weiss' hands trembled as she looked above and beyond the pair of bodies to find something even more shocking… as well as exactly whose weapon had torn Councilman Sleet apart.

Daisuke Aki had leveled his massive shotgun at Weiss, his usually relaxed expression instead replaced by one of hatred. His open black vest was slightly ripped and dangling where it had been torn by bullets… and the faunus was supporting General James Ironwood upon his shoulder, his free arm wrapped around the leader of Atlas. The General himself was bleeding from the shoulder and chest, his own firearm gripped tightly in his metallic fingers, the barrel still smoking. He was breathing heavily and seemed unsteady on his feet as he looked up at Weiss. Daisuke, in contrast, mastered his breathing and slowly lowered his weapon as he processed who he was looking at.

"Wh-what…" Weiss began, not yet lowering her magnum as she held it pointed forward toward the two men. Her hand continued to tremble, rendering her aim completely unreliable. "What happened? Why did…"

"They attacked first."

Weiss jumped as a third figure appeared walking in from her peripheral despite knowing that Cinnamon had to be somewhere in the room. The woman had her arms folded across her chest, and she was, shockingly, unarmed. Her expression was completely cold, as though nothing at all was amiss… or particularly unexpected.

"Weiss… call Marrow…" General Ironwood ordered. "They had aura-piercing rounds. I took a few hits…"

"I did what I could," Daisuke said, his tone full of an uncharacteristic anger. "We were negotiating. We were trying to explain what had happened with the evacuation and why…"

"But there's no reasoning with these people," Cinnamon spat as she came around to place a hand on Daisuke's shoulder. "The masses are unwilling to do what must be done when sacrifice is in order. These representatives should have known better…"

"That isn't…" Weiss began, realizing it was futile to protest as she finally lowered her weapon completely. "I… did they really try to kill you? They shot first?"

General Ironwood kept his eyes focused on Weiss', his expression quickly twisting to mirror that of the faunus he leaned against.

"Miss Schnee… are you calling me a liar?"

Weiss felt her voice hitch in her throat. The three sets of eyes staring directly at her felt like the weight of the entire world pressing down upon her larynx. There was no peaceful way to voice her concern. There was no room for her to doubt… and she didn't know if she could handle the implications if she let that doubt creep in and take hold.

A sick, twisted thought crossed her mind- thousands would die by sundown. How much more did two people who had gotten in the way of progress really matter?

Weiss closed her eyes as though she was trying to fight the notion back. She didn't feel that way- she couldn't. The members of the Atlas council likely had families- potentially children that would need to be contacted and informed of what had just occurred. Whether they had really attacked first or not, nothing would change that fact… but nothing Weiss could say or do would improve the situation, and she knew it. She was powerless and standing on a precipice. Weiss could feel her heart hammering as it tried to escape through her throat.

Would the thought of one more body on the pile be enough to stop them if she spoke up?

Winter's words flitted through her mind, and it was the only thing Weiss could latch on to in the moment.

"What would you contribute to such a conversation? That may sound harsh, but… you've heard the expression 'too many cooks in the kitchen?' Be relieved that you aren't sharing that burden."

Perhaps it really was best to do nothing.

Weiss holstered her weapons and drew her scroll, stepping over the corpses as she did so and trying to put the ruined meat that was Councilman Sleet's face out of her mind to little success. She stared hard at the screen of her device as she worked to call Marrow, her hand shaking badly enough to miss his portrait entirely on the first try.

"I-I'm calling…"

"Thank you," General Ironwood said as Daisuke helped him into the chair behind his desk. "This… isn't ideal…"

"Isn't it?" Cinnamon asked as she began to check over Daisuke by slipping off his vest to inspect his shoulders and chest. "You got hit, too…"

Daisuke hissed as the woman brushed her fingers over his shoulder, finding a bullet embedded in the flesh.

"Couldn't feel it until just now from the adrenaline. I'll be fine…"

"Don't give me that."

"Marrow?" Weiss asked, needing to hear his voice. "General Ironwood's hurt. There's been a… th-there's been…"

"Weiss?" Marrow asked. "Where are you!?"

"The office," Weiss answered as she watched General Ironwood dig a bullet out of his flesh with his fingers. "He's… doing stupid macho things, please hurry!"

"Stupid macho things?" Marrow asked. "Never mind, I'm on my way!"

"He's coming," Weiss let on as she disconnected the call. "What… what can I do?"

"…he isn't going to like those bodies," General Ironwood pointed out. The man offered a sharp hiss as he flexed his shoulder, rolling the bullet between his fingertips as he sat. "We need to cover them up, or preferably, get them out of here."

"Leave that to Weiss and I," Cinnamon offered. "Not the first bodies I've hidden, and they won't be the last."

"What do we even…?" Weiss began, dumbfounded by the suggestion.

"Go with Councilwoman Shoal," General Ironwood commanded. "I'll send her directions via scroll."

The words hit Weiss like a wave of ice water washing over her. She knew she had heard correctly, and she knew she shouldn't ask… but there was no way to hold it back.

"Councilwoman Shoal…?"

"The faunus are hugely important moving forward," General Ironwood explained as he leaned back in his seat. "And… I made a promise to Sun, when it comes to his people. I need immediate replacements… meaning Councilman Aki, I offer my congratulations to you, as well."

"That's… a bad idea," Daisuke warned as he took a seat on the edge of the desk. "Cin and I would just agree with each other and put our agenda head-to-head against your own. We do both have the peoples' best interest in mind at the end of the day, but… I'm also not cut out for the job. We'd just end up in deadlock, wouldn't we? Especially lacking a fourth council member, if you hold two votes."

"A fair point… but I wasn't finished," General Ironwood explained as he turned his gaze back to Weiss. "With Jacques stranded below the city and Robyn now ineligible… what do you say?"

Weiss didn't fully understand what was being asked of her at first. Once she finally did, she didn't quite believe it.

"You're not suggesting… m-me?" Weiss asked, her voice hitching. "I can't… I couldn't…"

"Don't be an idiot," Cinnamon warned as she walked around the desk and began to head for the adjoining hall. "Come. We have work to do."

"But I…" Weiss protested, only to have her shoulder wrenched by Cinnamon as she was spun around. Upon seeing Councilman Sleet's face again, she slammed her eyes shut and stepped over the bodies on her way out of the room. Once she was sure she was through the door, she dared to open her eyes and jog to catch up to the other woman. "What are you doing?"

"Helping you, against my better judgment," Cinnamon answered. "Daisuke almost just threw away an opportunity to make meaningful change, and I'm not about to let you do it, too. After all… I did still owe you, no matter what you may have thought. Now, we're even."

"Just… speak plainly!" Weiss ordered as they rounded a corner together, leaving the two men behind and out of earshot.

"Think," Cinnamon hissed as she turned around and put a hand against the wall, her arm above Weiss' shoulder and very close. "Ironwood holds two seats. Dai and I now hold two seats, or we will once I convince him to take the offer. That's carte blanche to get done whatever we need done to keep Atlas and our people safe, which all of us are interested in… but only one of us ever needs to convince Ironwood of anything to get our way if things get pushed too far. You coming into the mix removes that guarantee. It shakes things up, and balances me."

"I still don't understand," Weiss admitted, feeling rather intimidated as Cinnamon leaned in. "If everyone's best interests are truly what you're aiming toward, then why do you need me for balance? Wouldn't Daisuke talk you out of anything egregious?"

"To what end?" Cinnamon challenged. "A deadlock with Ironwood? And he doesn't always talk me down. There have been times when decisions were made that both of us supported, when neither of us should have done so."

"And you knew this?" Weiss asked. "Yet you still…"

"Power does things to people," Cinnamon warned. "Some say power corrupts. Others say power reveals. I don't want to be left unchecked to find out which it is, or what I would do when given the means to do so without resistance. I will not become Adam Taurus, and I'm relying on you to guarantee that I don't."

Once again, Weiss found herself speechless as she watched Cinnamon remove her palm from the wall. There were too many conflicting thoughts flying through her mind at speeds that made them impossible to catch. Her mouth finally opened before she had a plan.

"That's… a lot of trust in me."

"It's deserved," Cinnamon declared. "From all that I've seen you do and what I've heard… you can talk me, or even Ironwood, down from the edge of disaster if need be. You would need only to sway one of us to shift the tides away from making a huge mistake. We need someone like you to avoid the Atlas Council from turning into an echo chamber or standoff."

"Would things have gone differently just now if I had been there?"

Cinnamon paused, locking eyes with Weiss. The younger woman couldn't read her expression at all, and she knew it.

"…you're still questioning if Ironwood shot first."

"You say you want me to question you," Weiss reminded as she stood a little taller. "Here I am doing it."

Cinnamon couldn't help but smirk and let out a small noise of satisfaction.

"…bold. Keep that edge, Schnee. You're going to need it. That being said, they came at us with very expensive, very experimental aura-piercing rounds at the ready. There was every intent to kill Ironwood tonight after Atlas had risen, and had Daisuke not been so quick to react… they may have succeeded in doing so. I need you to check me, yes… but I also need you to trust me. Do you?"

Weiss watched as Cinnamon took out her scroll, presumably looking at General Ironwood's given directions.

"I don't know that I'm ready to answer that yet," Weiss admitted. "I need time. Time enough to see what you do with this new power of yours."

"Are you aware yet that all of Atlas feels that way about you?" Cinnamon asked as she snapped the scroll shut. "Your name carries with it just as much baggage as mine. Maybe more."

Weiss' stomach dropped. Cinnamon's triumphant smirk didn't help.

"I…"

"Come on, we've got work to do," Cinnamon encouraged as she began to walk once again. "Welcome to the hell that is leadership…"

Author's Note:

The tables turned so many times in this chapter that they have now just become Lazy Susans.

-RD