Hello!

Finally, the day of the mission! What will happen? Will they succeed? Will Mercury kill Yang? ... Will there be a ship between them?

Honestly, I haven't thought about any ship yet. I love Bumbleby but I don't know if it fits with my Yang, and I don't want to put a ship just to have a ship, I will do it if it's usefull to the story or if the characters really go on that direction by themselves because of events or experiences.

Beside, I suck writing love stories ...

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It was early night in Atlas, and yet some were still energetic enough to shout at each other in a resounding room. Even for young General Ironwood, it was not easy to bear.

-It's a scandal! Something must absolutely be done!

-It's absurd! Jacques Schnee may not be a model of compassion, but your baseless accusations go far too far, Hailstorm!

-"Too far"?! When did you clean your glasses for the last time?! I told you repeatedly that he bought his security checks and today we have proof!

-A collapsing mine is not proof, accidents happen!

-I can believe it was an accident, but if the SDC had respected safety standards and placed even just first aid equipment, the number of dead and seriously injured would have not been so high!

-ENOUGH!

Ironwood's fist crashed onto the table, fortunately strong, causing a loud noise in the meeting room. Councilmen generally agreed on everything about the safety of Atlas, but as soon as they moved away from the subject, it was impossible to get them to agree. Camilla was the kind to side with the majority, Sleet never saw problems as serious until they got right under his nose, and Hailstorm was an active Faun rights activist. It wouldn't be a problem, far from it, if she didn't spend at least thirty minutes at each meeting trying to shut down the SDC and put Jacques Schnee in jail… And of course, you couldn't reprimand her without being accused of racism by all the Faunus of Mantle who brought her up to the council, especially since there were so many of them precisely because of the SDC, which offered work to anyone who wanted it. Dangerous work, for people not qualified enough.

Yes, the SDC was a problem to be solved, but it had a too important place in the world economy to simply shut it down. Even the smallest change in the business would cause damage everywhere in Remnant, it was the main and practically the only producer of Dust on the market, which was a significant position.

And above all, it was not the question of the day.

-We are not a court, and we are not here to talk about the SDC and its methods, we are here to find a solution to the security breaches in the wall of Mantle. It seems more urgent to me.

The other three counselors looked at each other, and Sleet coughed in his hand before speaking.

-Indeed, it seems like we moved away from the subject…

James sighed internally. At least they got back to work quickly.

-Well, so as I said when we started the meeting-…

There was a knock at the door, and a soldier entered before he was even allowed to.

-General!

Ironwood closed his eyes annoyingly.

-It better be important.

-It is General, one of the maintenance buildings in the city has exploded, surely overheating, and all the west part of Atlas is out of heating and electricity.

-What?!

Before the General could even ask for more information, Councilwoman Hailstorm was already standing and putting on her coat.

-Hailstorm, what are you doing? We are in the middle of a… You too Ironwood?

-As a General and a member of the Council, I must inform myself as quickly as possible about any incident that may involve the safety of my citizens. So, if you will excuse us.

Ironwood left the Academy and got into a car in the direction of the incident, accompanied by Layla Hailstorm. A maintenance building exploding, he had heard something like that somewhere before…

-Operation success on my side, no way to know if the cameras have been disabled so be careful.

-Got it boss.

Lying on the roof of a building with a black hooded jacket to cover his head, Mercury awaited the arrival of the target with his sniper rifle already in place. He was in the dark area, so he didn't need more to go unnoticed. Before long, Councilwoman Hailstorm would be passing by the route he was monitoring, it was certain, it was the shortest way from the Academy to the maintenance building.

It was soon, it would be his moment, he would only have one try, he had no place for error, if he messed up, the whole mission was messed up… No pressure, really.

-Come on, breathe Mercury. You are a good sniper, it will be easy.

That was what he had been saying to himself since he got up this morning, but he hadn't managed to convince himself yet. He already had the weight of his father's mission and the threat of what would happen to him if he didn't succeed, but now he also felt that Falcon also had expectations of him that he didn't want to disappoint. But how was he supposed to fulfill her expectations and those of his father? It was contradictory, and it was the first time in his life that he had to make a choice, he had no idea how to handle it.

All his life he had done nothing other than what his father told him, all his life he had always done everything to make him recognize his efforts, or at least his existence, and it had never bothered him, because he had never known anything else. And Falcon arrived overnight with her weird manners. First she pissed him off, she talked to him like he was an incompetent idiot, or at least that was the impression he had, but in the end, after being able to let off steam by facing her with their fists and realizing she was not as unreachable as he thought…

And the most disturbing thing was that after that, she became… nice? It was the first time someone was "nice" with him, even if she had a weird way of being. And even if she was creepy, in fact, he liked her.

She left him the bed to sleep, she didn't yell at him for no reason, she took the time to reexplain without yelling at him when he wasn't listening, she warned him when he was about to hit a pole, she congratulated him on his fighting skills, and she cared about him as a teammate. It was way more than anything he had ever received. She may have been cold and distant most of the time, she even freaked out at times, but now that he looked at her closer, she was not that bad, and much nicer than his father. Admittedly he had never met anyone other than them, so one was necessarily nicer than the other, but… there was something else different…

-Mercury? I'm at the meeting point, what's your status?

Mercury closed his eyes and took a deep breath before returning his attention to the road. Fortunately, the sight of his weapon included a device of night vision. He could wonder about Falcon later, for now, he had an important task to do, and the only two people he didn't want to disappoint were counting on him to succeed.

-Nothing for now, but it shouldn't take too lo-… Wait I see her.

Indeed, at the other end of the street on his left, a car carrying the Atlas emblem on its hood barely advanced through all the vehicles stuck because of the power failure, and he could distinguish her on the back seat, on the side of the window facing him, so he wouldn't have to aim through the roof. And if in addition the target moved slowly, that would facilitate him the task. He really had no right to fail.

… It was still crazy to think that a place like Atlas didn't have a backup generator…

-I should have her in sight within a minute.

-Okay, stay prepare, and above all, whether you succeed or not, do not linger there and join me as quickly as possible.

-Yes yes.

He heard her sigh in the headset, but he was used to it, and he preferred that to yelling. It felt really weird not to be afraid to answer insolently. It was nice.

The car was advancing at the speed of a snail for him, the seconds seemed to be hours, and sweat began to flow from his forehead. No place for error. No place.

The car was almost in the right place, just a few meters more…

-Come on… A little more… Almost… Now!

The thump of the gun was barely heard in the din of the street. Despite its speed, the ball seemed to travel slowly for Mercury, too slowly, slowly enough that he had time to see his life pass before his eyes, as if he were the one about to die.

And finally, after an eternity, the window of the vehicle broke, and cries echoed everywhere around as soldiers rushed to get the passengers out and see if they were injured.

Mercury held his breath. The driver went out in panic on the other side and a policeman came to take care of him. A person sitting in the back on the same side as the driver also got out, a man in his thirties dressed in white. He was quite calm for someone speaking to soldiers, in fact he seemed to be giving them instructions. It was not good…

And finally, a soldier opened the door which Mercury had broken the window… and took out Councilwoman Hailstorm… her chest slanted perforated, seriously injured but still alive, she could make it with Atlas' emergency care. He had failed. He couldn't fail! He had no right to fail! His father and Falcon were counting on him!

In a surge of determination, Mercury prepared his weapon to fire a second round, despite the instruction of his teammate to leave immediately. The man in white was already starting to look everywhere to find the origin of the shot, he would certainly find it after that one, he was already not far away. It had to be quick.

This time with much less hesitation, the heart beating at full speed, Mercury fired a second time.

The noise obviously caught the ears of the man in white, who spotted him before the bullet even hit his target, and their eyes met for a moment. Mercury had been spotted, fleeing would be much more difficult, he might even endanger Falcon, but it was all worth it if…

The bullet finally arrived, hitting the head of the woman in the middle of the forehead.

Mercury couldn't help but smile as he released his breath, not even knowing he held it back.

He succeeded…

-Mission success partner.

But before she could answer him, the young assassin remembered a tiny detail as he looked down. Without waiting, he passed the rifle behind his back and started running for his life.

-And I got spotted!

-Dammit… Okay, subtlety is out, go to the meeting point, I come to help you. We'll improvise.

Despite the emergency he was in, jumping from roof to roof with soldiers chasing him downstairs, Mercury couldn't help but feel a pinch in the heart thinking he disappointed Falcon. She hadn't even commented on his success…

-Got it…

His heart tightened again. He felt even worse than when he disappointed his father…

Mercury shook his head, he had to concentrate for the moment. He could hear the soldiers who had climbed the rooftops to chase him, while others still had to be down to corner him if he came down, but the route had been thought out taking into account the height of the buildings, and so it was easy for him to jump from one roof to another. Problem, it was for the soldiers too. It was bad, very bad! They were getting closer! He needed a way to escape! But where? He couldn't go down, maybe he could climb…

A ball coming from behind him passed a few inches from his head. Mercury turned pale. They were starting to shoot him. And he had nowhere to hide or anything to block the bullets.

-Shit shit shit shit shit…!

He didn't have time to face them, all he could do was run and jump, faster, always faster, like when he trained in the forest with his father, except that he had no trees to hide behind, and death awaited him if he got hit, no bruises or broken bones, death! More soldiers began to fire. Almost by reflex, Mercury closed his eyes, focusing on his hearing and intuition, and, with astounding agility, dodged it all in a few antics. Some bullets brushed against him, touched his clothes, but none hurt him. His father may have been hard on him by making him do almost impossible workouts, but no one could deny that it was effective. Tonight he just proved that he hadn't been trained all those years for nothing.

-Have you seen that, dad! I did it!

Despite his joy, he continued to run. He could dodge as much as he wanted, if he missed his jump from one roof to another, he would die from his fall.

And there came a big problem, the building to which he was heading was further and higher than expected, he couldn't reach it, and he didn't have time to change direction. The soldiers behind him must have noticed it too, because they stopped, surely to take advantage of him not going further to take the time to aim better. A big mistake on their part, because Mercury was not going to give up for so little!

Instead of slowing down to stop, he accelerated. He had to go faster, be faster, fast enough to fly! He would die if he failed, but he would die if he didn't try, so he could only succeed!

-AAAAAAARG!

And he jumped, a perfect jump, long and high, again thanks to his father's nightmarish training. While he was in the air, he dared to look down. The street below him wasn't plunged into darkness, there were cars circulating, and lampposts that lit up the ground. He couldn't tell when he went out of the shadow, he was too busy running to look at the landscape, but that feeling of floating, the wind blowing his hair back, looking at the world living below him, as if time was slowing down… It was magic.

So magic that he forgot to grab the edge of the building, just out of his reach.

In a burst of despair, he reached out his hand as far as he could… But he couldn't. He didn't reach the ledge. The world seemed to slow down again as he started to fall. There was only a void below him for more than ten meters. The ledge moved away more and more from his hand, slowly, and the more it moved away, the more a certain reality settled in his mind. He was going to die. It was only a matter of seconds before he crashed to the ground, and even if by some miracle he survived, he would be caught by the soldiers, and surely executed or something. He didn't even want to know. At least he had accomplished his mission, his father might be proud of him at least for that, and Falcon could easily run away without him.

-Super comforting as a last thought…

Suddenly, he was brought out of his sarcastic reverie by the sensation of something firmly grabbing his wrist, violently stopping his fall and making his body hit the facade of the building.

-Ouch!

Mercury looked up, and thought he was hallucinating when he saw Falcon, leaning over the ledge, her long hair cascading down the side of her head, emanating a light golden glow that shone like a night sun, her red eyes were brighter than ever, red like a comforting flame rather than Grimm's eyes, and her face was twisted and wincing from exertion, but she also displayed an expression that Mercury had never seen in anyone before, except on TV. Concern.

Without warning, she hoisted him to the roof with superhuman force, passing him over her before letting him crash away from the ledge. Despite the pain in his back from the landing, Mercury blew in relief. If he failed to make this jump alone, then the soldiers would not succeed either after having stopped their momentum, and they were too low to be able to shoot them. They had a little respite…

-Still alive?

-Yeah… thanks…

Mercury straightened up, and saw Falcon's hand right in front of him, helping him get up. He took it, smiling slightly. He could really get used to having someone to have his back. Her hand was cold, but not in the wrong way, it was kind of refreshing.

-You'll thank me later, it's not over yet.

And without further warning, she drew her sword with a blade of Ice Dust, and planted it in the ground, freezing the entire roof. A powerful white light was reflected on the ice as the wind started to blow much stronger, and Mercury looked up to see a ship just above them, the headlights at full power. In addition to the soldiers, they now had the fleet chasing after them.

-Uh… Falcon?

Falcon sheathed her now bladeless sword, and turned so that her left side was facing the ship, hiding her weapon from them. The side door opened, and the man who was with Hailstorm in the car jumped, landing without sliding on the ice, about ten meters away from them, looking threatening.

-Falcon!

The man took a white revolver from his jacket and pointed it at them without hesitation. At the same time, Falcon crouched down and put her hand on the ground. Almost instantly, her hand got on fire, and a wall of flame the height of an Ursa swept across the roof, creating a large cloud of vapor that made it impossible to see anything. How did Mercury dodge the burns, he had no idea, and anyway had more important things to think about right now.

A gunshot sounded, but didn't touch anything, the man apparently couldn't see them well in this mist of vapor, but the headlights of the ship illuminated enough so that he could locate them, and the wind was already starting to dissipate their hiding place. They had no way of escaping. The Atlas military was going to catch them both because he had been unable to kill this damn woman in one shot as planned! Because he had been too stubborn to leave directly after his failure before being spotted, as Falcon had ordered him! Because he had run rather than getting rid of the soldiers who were chasing him! Because he just didn't have what it takes to be an assassin!

-Mercury …!

Mercury almost jumped when he heard Falcon's voice so close to his ear. She was now right next to him, gripping his arm tightly, her red eyes still shining with unwavering determination…

-Do you trust me?

Even if the question surprised him, he nodded without even thinking about it. She didn't wait any longer, and started pulling him behind her as she rushed towards the man, who shot them again. This time the bullet hit Falcon right in the chest, and Mercury felt the world stop again for a moment. She wasn't going to die like that, was she? It took more than a single bullet to beat her, and she was trying to save him! If she died while saving him, not only would he not be able to finish saving himself all alone, but above all he would never forgive himself! To hell with his father's mission!

-Wait… Did I really think that…?

Despite his moment of doubt, his prayers were apparently heard, because the little blonde barely wavered and did not even slow down, as if the bullet had bounced on her instead of going through her, and her hair began to shine, no, to burn. How was she doing that, he didn't even want to know. All he knew was that she seemed to have gained strength, as her grip on her arm tightened, and she accelerated. He almost didn't need to run anymore, she was practically carrying him.

And suddenly the world became much clearer as they quickly emerged from the fog. Right in front of them was the man in the white coat, his gun still pointed at them. He barely had time to react when Falcon dashed and crashed into him like a freewheeling train. It was at this moment that Mercury realized how fast his partner was, they must not have taken more than a second to get out of the fog, however it had seemed to him that they had run much longer.

Suddenly the race came to an abrupt halt, and Falcon took advantage of her momentum to swing him more easily… inside the ship.

Mercury's head hit the ground hard, preventing him from getting up immediately.

There, lying on the ground, unable to move, he began to feel the pain rising all over his body as the adrenaline left him, before finally fainting.

It was now the middle of the night, and Mercury was still passed out, lying on the floor of the airship with a coat as a blanket and his own bag as a pillow. His sniper rifle was resting against a wall, next to Raven's sword and Yang's backpack. The latter was seated in the pilot's seat, manually controlling the ship. She didn't want to risk making a wrong manipulation while trying to program the autopilot, she had already been very lucky to have managed to control this thing, and even more to have managed to leave Atlas in one piece, she had been extremely lucky on this one. Rook had explained to her how to pilot an Atlas airship, but doing it for real was another story.

A groan behind her caught her attention. She didn't turn around, but she heard Mercury stand up and slowly stagger up to her. She said nothing and let him sit on the seat next to her, still dizzy. She had apparently thrown him a little too hard, because he now had a bandage around his head.

-Ouch…!

And obviously couldn't help touching it… Yang sighed, and her grip on the control lever relaxed. He had taken a long time to wake up, and although she would never admit it, she was really afraid of having seriously injured him. She really meant it when she said she wouldn't abandon him, even if they didn't know each other very much. Just because someone was new to the tribe didn't mean that Raven would leave him behind during a raid. It was a bit contradictory with her famous "the weak die, the strong live", yet nobody had ever questioned her, she had always managed to combine them in one way or another…

And then, Mercury was not weak, he had managed to kill the target, and he had almost escaped the Atlas soldiers alone, and causing much less damage than she did. He was just more… fragile.

-What happened …?

-We are alive, and the mission is a success. We're going home.

-Oh…

-What enthusiasm.

He turned his head away.

-Not really want to go home?

He did not answer. Yang knew she was bad placed to try to make him talk, but she didn't like to see him like that. She was the leader, she couldn't leave her men in their misery, that was what Raven had taught her. It doesn't matter that there is no more tribe and that they only work together for the time of the mission, Mercury was her subordinate, so he was under her responsibility.

But he cut her off before she could say anything.

-How did you save us?

Yang suppressed a sly smile.

-I spammed the fireballs.

He turned to look at her with round eyes. She would have laughed at his silly look if she hadn't remembered a small detail.

-You know, you should have told me your Aura wasn't activated.

She had doubts since the day they arrived, when he hurt his nose against a pole and it had taken time to heal, and she had had big doubts during their morning training, where he had hissed in pain at each blow she gave him, but she hadn't paid more attention to it, just keeping those observations somewhere in her mind.

Then there was the mission. The advantage of having an Aura was that as long as you had it, the shots didn't kill you right away, they had to break it first to cause injury, and with simple standard guns, even Atlas soldiers', it would take quite a while. Even her Maiden powers didn't necessarily broke it easily. However, Mercury had panicked when the General pointed his revolver on them, when a single shot wasn't usually enough to break an Aura, and losing his Aura did not mean dying instantly, it just meant he had not more than one chance, but also that there was one chance left.

Mercury was obviously not in this case.

-I unlocked it for you after putting on your bandage. Your body isn't used to it yet, so it will take a while to heal, but after that it will get better.

He still said nothing, not even a thanks, but Yang wasn't upset. They flew in silence for several more minutes before Mercury finally began to speak shyly.

-Falcon…

-Yes?

-Do I… Do I pass for an idiot if I ask you what Aura is…?

If Yang had water in her mouth, she would have spit it out. For lack of drink, she turned violently towards her partner, widening her eyes, making the ship wobble in passing, and saw him shrivel up on his seat, understanding that he just said something extremely stupid.

-Are you serious …?

He looked like he wanted to look away, but didn't dare, as if he was being scolded. In her defense, Yang was not angry at all, she was far too stunned for that. His Aura not being unlocked was understandable, there could be many reasons for this. But how could an assassin, son of an assassin, trained in assassination and combat since childhood… not know what Aura was…? Or even just, how could someone living on Remnant not know what Aura was?! Even she who had grown up far from civilization already knew it when she was three years old!

Yang heaved a deep sigh and dropped back against the back of her seat, being careful to stay the course of the ship at the same time.

-Are you telling me that you accepted a super hard assassination mission in the heart of Atlas with a complete stranger without even knowing what Aura is?

-… Yes…?

-Fuck dammit…

-Is it that bad?

Yang turned to him and opened her mouth to tell him that yes, it was bad, but after reflection, another more appropriate adjective came to her mind to define Mercury's situation during the mission.

-It's… impressive.

Mercury's face lit up with hope.

-You really think so?

Yang sighed and her expression softened.

-Yes. I mean, I would have died a dozen times if I hadn't had Aura earlier, and I still haven't finished recharging it. And you went so far without even knowing about it? For your first mission? I find it impressive. Stupid and dangerous, but impressive.

-It's… Thank you? I guess…

-You're welcome.

She quickly refocused on piloting the ship, which easily escaped her when she was distracted. She had only one arm and no experience… The ship was silent, we only heard the sound of navigation devices. It was a bit annoying, especially after the turmoil they had just faced. Yang looked at her partner from the corner of her eye, he looked around nervously, rubbing his hands.

-A problem?

-… I… I was just… I was supposed to…

He sighed heavily and dropped his arms along the seat.

-My father will kill me…

-Why? The mission is a success.

-Not mine…

…

-You were supposed to kill me, weren't you?

Mercury straightened suddenly, half surprised, half afraid. He must haven't expected her to know, and he had been quite good to hide his plan. But his lack of assassination experience had played against him.

-You knew…?

-Rook understood the second your father offered her a mission for us. She is reckless and dumb, but not blind.

-… And… you did this mission with me anyway?

-Yep.

-Weren't you scared of being killed?

-Would you have successfully completed the mission without me?

-…

-Rook purposely chose a mission you could not have done alone until the end, because she knows that Marcus is too arrogant to make you prioritize an assassination over another, he would necessarily want you to succeed for both.

-Sounds exactly like my father… I suck…

-No you don't. During this mission you did things that I would be incapable of.

-Really? What?

-I just told you that without Aura I would have been killed.

-Ah yes…

-And I would never have succeeded in shooting like that with a sniper rifle, I practically never handled a gun and this thing seems too complicated to be handled with one arm.

-If you say so. Oh! And what about the giant leap I made?

-I could have done that.

-Ah…

-But it was still impressive for someone who has no Aura.

Mercury blushed and looked away at the compliments. Yang had finally found the problem with him, he lacked self-confidence… It was pretty obvious now that she knew it, she really was not good at reading people.

-You have a lot of potential you know, you just don't exploit it properly.

-Thank you, but what can I do? My father has always been the one who trained me. Roh… He's going to beat me to death if you're still alive when we get back…

-That bad?

Mercury brought a knee to him and laid his head on it, sighing. Yang didn't really know what to say to help him, she never had this kind of problem with her mother, on the contrary. Raven had only raised a hand on her once and only once, it was well deserved, and yet she blamed herself and apologized. Since that day Yang never doubted about her mother's love… or her fear… Mercury's father was apparently not that kind of loving parent. She knew that some parents beat their children, she heard it in the tribe, but that was the kind of thing that was only understood by experience.

-Sorry, I can't help you on this.

-I know… At least I had a lot of fun.

-Fun? During a mission like that?

-Yeah! I mean, it was the first time I was so far from home, everything was new, I saw amazing stuff, I ate super good food, I've been chased on the roofs by fucking Atlas soldiers, dodging bullets like in movies, and damn have you seen this headshot?! It was huge!

At this point, Mercury was practically standing in his seat, trembling with excitement like a child, his previous gloom forgotten. Yang sighed, stifling a little laugh. Despite the difference of their relationship with their parents, they weren't that different, he was just like her before, when she talked about magic with her mom, about all the amazing things it could do. She just faced the harsh reality of the world before him. Innocence was not always where it was expected.

-What? Why are you looking at me like that?

-You're ridiculous.

Mercury blushed heavily as he fell back into his seat, crossing her arms like a sulking child.

-And cute.

-Shut up.

This time, Yang allowed herself a slight laugh, she liked to tease people, but it was hard to tease Rook. In fact, she too hadn't had so much fun for a long time. Talked as much too…

-Falcon…

-Hmm?

-If you don't blame me for having wanted to kill you… Are we… friends…?

Friends? With Mercury? It hadn't occurred to her. The only friends she ever had were Ren and Nora, was Mercury also her friend? Hmm… Well, they ate together, chatted, trained, worked together, and she saved his life, even knowing he could try to kill her. In fact, she had spoken much more freely with him than with Rook, whom she had known for much longer. Maybe because they were almost the same age, or maybe because as she was the leader she had to put him in confidence, or just because he was exactly like her a few years ago. She couldn't say, she didn't have much experience with friendship… He either. But she liked him.

-Yeah.

As she looked ahead, she didn't see Mercury's expression, but she was pretty sure he was smiling. It had been so long since she made a friends…

Aaaand... we're done...

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... For the mission! Next week we'll see the repercussions! Good and bad!

See you next week!