Chapter 68: Mistral City - One Last Promise

Cover Art by Mi Chumi

"I still think that it's totally unfair that you get to visit Mistral City for the Vytal Tournament, and the rest of us are all still grounded," Sarah groused for the fourth time as they completed Level Five of Dust Wars – The Redemption at Pete's Emporium.

"I'm not really visiting for the Tournaments, though." Cinder complained, "and you at least get to come to the Emporium, so you're not as grounded as the rest of the crew."

"But you admitted that you might get to see at least one fight! And you have no idea what I had to promise my parents to get to come here. Besides, it's your freaking fault that we—"

"Lied to your parents, paid Clay's brother to buy tickets on the Limited, ditched him, and ambushed me in Wind Path?" Cinder quipped, bumping shoulders with her friend.

"Yeah. All that. For you!"

Cinder paused her rapid hand movements, allowing her Dust-Speeder to slam into the side of a mountain and making Sarah the winner of that round. She set the controller down and hugged her best friend, "You're not wrong. And thank you. If you guys hadn't done all that for me…"

Sarah squeezed back. "You'd have come back to us eventually. I believe that. We were just… so dang worried. And Argent—"

Cinder felt a deep ache in her chest over how her decisions had impacted her girlfriend. She was… in a lot better place now, and she could see that it had all been kinda stupid. But back in September… things hadn't been so clear. Not nearly so clear.

Argent had forgiven her. That was the crazy part. Cinder Scoria, who'd been lost or abandoned by her parents, who'd been treated like slave labor by Madame Tremayne and told she was worthless… the girl who'd run off and hurt everybody. And they'd all just… not given up on her. One night, she'd sat down tallied up all the people who'd been involved in searching for her. Almost twenty people in Argus, and no telling how many of the White Fang's agents. And when they found her… they just… welcomed her back. Like she hadn't done anything wrong.

Well… that wasn't completely true. After Argent had made sure that Cinder was okay, and wasn't going to run away again, she'd demanded Garek and Selene bring her to her house (because Argent still couldn't go anywhere except for school) and after she'd hugged her for like an hour, she spent what felt like forever chewing her out good, crying and raging at her something fierce. And then Argent had hugged her again and kissed her and left Cinder feeling completely mixed up inside but sure of one thing, hard as concrete.

People loved her.

She'd screwed up royally, in a dozen different ways, they'd gotten mad and upset, but they didn't give up on her.

That was important. More important than anything she'd ever felt in her entire life.

I won't ever let them down like that again. I won't run. I'll stand up for myself, and my friends. And if I mess up, or think I messed up, I'll stand there and I'll trust them and take my lumps.

"Remnant to Cinder," Sarah said, snapping her fingers in front of her face.

Cinder's golden eyes focused, "Oops. Sorry."

"Yeah, yeah. Girl you gotta stop living in your head so much and talk to us. Seriously."

"Sorry. I just… I think I'm still trying to… I dunno how to explain it."

"You know I'm here for you, right bestie?" Sarah set the controller down, and grabbed her by both arms. "You can tell me anything."

How do you explain things when you can't tell them everything. How do you accept that you didn't ruin your life when you'd killed people that you didn't want to kill and who didn't really deserve it? How do you accept that people still love you, even if you did all those things, and those same people tell you that… it wasn't your fault?

It changed how your entire world looked.

I can't tell you everything. But maybe someday. Yeah. "Thanks Sarah, that means a lot. And I'm sorry you can't go with me."

"Well, you better at least bring me back some souvenirs."

"You got it. Cross my heart." Cinder smiled. "Besides, you and me are gonna end up competing in the Vytal someday. I can feel it."

"You know it. High five."

Boarding the Argus Limited with Rhodes later that week also brought a slurry of memories and emotions, a mixture of highs and lows from when she'd travelled with Garek and Selene to get her new ID, and then later when she'd gone with Dania… okay yeah her name was apparently Deedee but… they'd agreed that she'd keep calling her Dania for reasons. The combination felt confusing and a little raw, but not unbearably so. And one reason it was manageable at all was because of the fact that she was herself and not travelling under some fake identity, and because of who she was with.

Rhodes was her escort this time. The first person who'd ever been there for her, and who the other adults had sent to Mistral City and then Wind Path to make sure she came home safe last month. Rhodes was like… the safest most secure thing in the whole world. And now he was escorting her from Argus to Mistral specifically so that she could keep one more promise.

She'd promised Dania that she'd come and say a real goodbye. And they were gonna pick up what few things she'd left there with her, too. When she'd called her friend, almost like a big sister really, the way she'd looked out for her, well… Dania'd gotten all choked up again and they'd both almost cried.

I wish Dania could just move back to Argus, Cinder thought. That would make things a lot simpler.

But there was something in Argus that Dania had run away from, just like Cinder had, and apparently her thing wasn't something that she could talk about or fix so easily.

As they settled into their semiprivate berth and felt the train begin to slowly build up speed leaving Argus, Rhodes ruffled her hair. Rhodes could get away with that. Nobody else. Well, almost nobody else. "You doing okay, Cinder?"

"Yeah… I think so. Just hope I don't have any nightmares on the trip."

It'd only been two weeks since she'd gotten back home, and Selene and Garek said it was natural that some of the original trauma would come back once she was back in a "normal" situation at home. But still. The nightmares? They sucked. Like big time sucked. She'd woken up the first time screaming and then Selene and Visha had been right there to calm her down. And it had happened twice more after that.

Each time, the dreams had started the same. Selene there, on the ground, and that Huntsmen about to split her head like a melon.

In one dream, after she… after she burned him, he turned around and was Sarah's face asking why she murdered her, but her mouth was just a ruined burned hole and her breath had smelled like cooked meat. In a another one, she'd missed, and Selene… well that one had sent her to Garek and Selene's bed, and she'd curled up between them and sobbed for like an hour before she could fall asleep again.

"Well, don't be afraid to wake me up if you do, okay kid?" Rhodes continued, "I'm here for you."

"I won't. Thanks Rhodes. Wish mom and dad coulda come with us."

Garek and Selene. Mom and dad. It still felt a little weird saying it out loud. But they'd all agreed. She was gonna have a real and official mom and dad, as soon as they settled a few things with Garek's parents, they'd said.

Legally adopted, Cinder mused. Candy is gonna have to suck on that bit of news. The thought made Cinder smile, and it must have been kinda evil.

She heard Rhodes chuckle, and un-zoned-out. "Oops."

He was grinning back at her, the corners of his eyes crinkling. "I don't know who just got sweet revenge taken out on them, but I'm hoping it isn't me."

"Not you. Just a stupid girl I know," Cinder smirked.

Then she sighed. Garek and Selene. Right. They weren't here because… they were taking care of Blackfeather. Selene had told her that they didn't want her to be there for that, because they were worried about what seeing Blackfeather's condition would do to her "mental state".

So her parents along with Reggie were renting a big cargo-bullhead and literally shipping Blackfeather to Grandpa Stonecrop in Vacuo. And from there, supposedly, Salem… her grandmother… was going to send someone to pick him up and return him to the Grimmlands where he'd be all… healed up somehow.

And that set off a whole 'nuther bag of emotions. She had a grandpa, which was a hoot. Forrest Stonecrop was like a big old teddy bear of a Huntsman (but also apparently tougher than nails).

But she also had a grandmother who was… holy cow, not only Selene's mom but was thousands of years old and the Queen of the Grimm and part Grimm-stuff herself which was why Selene looked the way she did when she wasn't using magic or something to look normal.

I mean, when you look at it that way, it's no wonder I've spent a lot more time thinking about stuff than blabbering on about it the last couple weeks. You lay a crapton of stuff like that on a girl, what do you think is gonna happen?

She came back to the present to find Rhodes watching her with a happy smile.

She leaned back on the bunk, eyeballing him suspiciously, and tossed her head to get the hair out of her eyes. "What are you looking at, old man?"

And that just made Rhodes smile even bigger. "A good kid who thinks too much."

Cinder blew out her cheeks and snorted. "Yeah well, you should try it sometime."

Rhodes barked a laugh and ruffled her hair… again… knocking her bangs back down over her eye. "There's my little fireball."

. . .

The ride to Mistral City felt like it took forever, but it wasn't bad. She called her friends several times and chatted by text using the Limited's relay. She and Rhodes played card games and commented on the scenery as it passed by. When they reached the stop for Barret's Point and Wind Path, she tensed a little, but he pointed out that if she looked out the windows just so that she could see freaking Amity Colosseum hovering above where Mistral City had to be to the south and that completely derailed any dark thoughts.

Finally, they were pulling into Mistral Station and she was nearly breaking her neck to see the bulk of the Colosseum hovering overhead. It was huge!

The plan was to grab a taxi to the Silvered Boar, where they'd all stayed when they'd come to get her ID that first time, and then coordinate with Dania on where and when to meet.

Which was why when she managed to drag her eyeballs off Amity, she started screaming like an idiot because she instead found Dania waiting for them at the arrivals area, hair a shade of dark green and face all lighting up and waving like a crazy woman.

"Syr—crap. Cinder! I couldn't wait to—oof!" And she was nearly knocked down by Cinder's enthusiastic hug.

"I can't believe you came to meet us at the station! I'm so glad to see you!"

. . .

Well crap, Rhodes thought as he kept his face carefully pleasant.

The truth was, they'd had hours and hours of debate over this situation.

There'd been hope, faint hope, that once Cinder settled back down in Argus and things faded a little, that she wouldn't push the matter on seeing Deedee again to say goodbye "properly" and would just let the woman ship her stuff back to Argus.

Unfortunately, the two had kept in semi-regular correspondence by scroll, and Cinder had been… persistent that she had to make this trip, cause 'Dania' couldn't come to Argus.

Yeah. That.

Deedee can't come to Argus, Fireball, because she's supposed to be dead, and probably thinks she's being hunted by gods-knows-what kind of Demon Grimm monster.

Which in a way was true, she just had the wrong Demon Grimm monster, and of course Fucking Arthur Watts was involved, who he'd grown to know and hate as much as his boss did by now.

So there'd been more hours of debate. They couldn't order Cinder not to talk to 'Dania', because she'd want to know why. And telling her that she'd killed Deedee's damn Teammate on Team THUD… well that would just do damn wonders for her mental health, right?

So all they could do was try to make sure Cinder understood that she absolutely could not, under any circumstances, talk about that day with her friend, on the basis that they had reason to believe she was a former Huntress and it would put Selene in danger. Which was true, but not the whole damn truth by any stretch.

And he'd tried to push Garek's shit in for doing this exact same thing to him earlier. The gods-be-damned irony wasn't lost on Iron Man.

As he watched Cinder and Deedee babbling on happily as they walked toward her freaking car, which she'd volunteered to drive them to their hotel in, Rhodes realized that they were good and royally fucked. Cinder wasn't even paying attention to Amity at the moment.

Neither one of them was planning on letting their gods-cursed friendship go.

Which meant that The Lone Huntsmen were going to have to go with Plan B regarding Deedee, and the sooner they started, the better.

Which dropped the big steaming pile of it right in his lap, in the form of the letter resting in the inside pocket of his jacket.

I should be more worried, Deedee reminded herself for the fourth time.

Not about Cinder. Gods, what a change in her teenaged friend. She'd gone from a horribly traumatized and fragile thing that she'd gotten to know on the Argus Limited to… a typical freaking Teenaged pre-Huntress, with all of the boundless energy and confidence that went with that.

Confidence that she had once had, too. And that set up an ache that would have been hard to deal with except…

Cinder was just so damned happy and it was contagious.

Right now, they were seated high up in the nosebleed seats of Amity Arena, watching a team from Vacuo absolutely thrash an Atlesian quartet. They'd chosen to sit in the section where mostly Mistralians were at, and the reactions were varied but not excessively enthusiastic either way. The exceptions were any local faunus that were attending, who appeared to be taking extreme glee in Atlas getting its just desserts in some way.

Deedee had a hard time caring either way. She was too busy enjoying Cinder's enjoyment of the matches. The young girl had not stopped talking once, giving her own play by play and commentary on the matches.

And the truth was, she wasn't bad, as far as analysis went, which was a little shocking for a first-year student at a Combat School.

"Daaannnnnnngggg!" Cinder yelled, and then turned to her. "Did you see that?! That big Atlesian Swordsman totally let him get under his guard! What the heck was he thinking, letting himself get herded off from his team like that!?"

Deedee smiled and shook her head. The urge to talk shop with Cinder was nearly overpowering, but Huntsman Rhodes was right there, and she did not want to give off Huntress Vibes in front of him. No sirree. So, she just went along with Cinder, mostly.

She'd taken pains, before the trip, to make sure that Cinder remembered to call her Dania. She'd regretted even giving her real name to her that one time, but she'd been an emotional wreck and so had Cinder and let it slip. But it appeared she'd gotten away with it. She just had to make sure she kept getting away with it.

She glanced up, and saw Rhodes watching them both, a slight smile on his face.

He seems like a decent guy, Deedee thought. He'd made a good impression on her back at the Laughing Widow.

And seeing him and Cinder together… well it had dispelled any lingering fears that the issue in Argus that had caused Cinder to run had been child abuse or anything like that.

And… he's not bad looking either…

Stop that. Stop that. Bad Deedee. Bad. Are you stupid? Get involved with a Huntsman?! And then what?

The crowd roared, and the announcers proclaimed the last Atlesian's Aura had gone into the red. Cinder was on her feet, whooping and yelling, and Huntsman Rhodes… was taking video or photos of her and grinning like a charming idiot.

Dammit.

Deedee is… actually a pretty lady, Rhodes thought to himself. Especially when she smiles, like when Cinder does something that makes her forget about Mister Third Wheel.

And… totally bad idea, Rhodes. Stupid idea. Bad worst ever idea.

For one thing, Deedee. For another thing, Selene. For a third thing, you're living and working in Atlas, and she lives in Mistral City. Also Salem. And Watts. And…. shit.

As they exited the Arena stands to the embarkation levels via one of the many sloping tunnels, among a sea of others leaving and arriving for the next set of matches, they found themselves milling around among the various stands and booths that ringed the inner walls. Many were selling trinkets and memorabilia, and Cinder had promised Sarah that she'd buy something.

Of course she'd also get something for the others too.

Especially for Argent. Duh. Didn't even need saying.

Rhodes and Dania trailed along behind her. She kept glancing back at them.

You know… they'd make a cute couple. Maybe I should—

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sight of a pair of dark cat ears attached to a dark-haired girl a few years younger than her, standing in front of a booth three spots down.

Is that… Blake?

Holy crap! "Blake!" Cinder yelled and bolted.

"Who?" Rhodes and Dania chorused, gave each other a look of shock, and rushed after her.

Blake heard her name and… her cat ears shot straight up, and her head spun around. Cinder saw her eyes widen with surprise, and then a smile split her face. "Hey! Cinder!"

Cinder didn't attack-hug Blake. She didn't know her that well, so she stopped short, suddenly feeling shy. "Uhh… hey it's… uh… great to see you!"

Blake was giving her a once-over, but her smile didn't waver, ad she stuck out her hand, which Cinder took gladly. "You too! You doing okay? I thought you were safe back in Argus." Her ears tilted forward in curiosity.

"Oh, I am! I just came back to get some stuff," she leaned in and lowered her voice. "I… should thank you guys. Sarah told me that your folks were the ones that found me and told my friends."

Blake squeezed Cinder's hand, and her voice took on the tone and cadence of one who'd memorized something. "The White Fang is proud to help anyone in need." She frowned a little. "I just wish everyone else felt like that." She looked above Cinder's shoulders, suddenly wary. "Uh... these friends of yours?"

Cinder turned to see Rhodes and Dania standing behind her, frowning.

"Geez, Cinder, don't run off like that! You know we're paranoid," Rhodes groused.

"Oops?"

"Who's your friend?" Dania asked.

"Oh. Yeah! Blake Belladonna, these are my friends, Rhodes and Dania. Guys, this is Blake Belladonna." She stage whispered over the crowd noise, "Her dad's the head of the White Fang." She watched Rhodes and Dania for any reaction. Rhodes relaxed immediately, but Dania seemed a little uncomfortable.

"Oh," Blake said suddenly, "since we're doing intros…" she turned and cupped her hand in front of her mouth. "Hey Ilia!"

Cinder turned to see another young girl with tan skin and long brown hair done in a ponytail, similar in age to Blake, perk up behind the booth and start making her way over.

Which also meant Cinder was really paying attention to the booth itself for the first time, and the others in the vicinity. The truth was the booth wasn't exactly swamped with people, though there were a few faunus and humans around, looking at flyers or chatting with the White Fang representatives. Some of the visitors were clearly Huntsman Academy students based on their dress and age, at least one was a Huntsman or Teacher, and the rest appeared to be civilians.

There was also a smattering of White Fang activists scattered among the crowd in the area radiating out from the booth. And they were getting a variety of reactions. For one thing, some of the people manning the nearby booths were frowning and muttering and giving them all dark looks, which wasn't great. The bulk of the Tournament crowd were just… ignoring them completely as they filtered past between airships and arena seats or concessions, or vice versa. A minority politely stopped when approached and a few of those accepted literature or even filtered toward the booth. Another, larger minority were… jackasses, Cinder decided. She heard at least one muttered slur, which caused Blake's face to go suddenly stiff, and she could guess that was the tip of the iceberg.

And then Ilia was joining the small group, gray-blue eyes curious. "New recruits, Blake?"

"Nah. Well… maybe? Cinder's a friend I made in Argus." She turned back to Cinder, "This is Ilia Amitola. She's really good at… uh… finding out stuff and making sure nobody sneaks up on us."

"TMI, Blake," Ilia rolled her eyes.

"Eh, Cinder's cool." She eyeballed the adults. "You guys support Faunus rights too, right?"

Rhodes nodded. "Let's just say I've had my eyes opened last few years."

Eyes turned toward Dania. "Uhhh well I… haven't really… thought about it?"

"That's okay!" Blake's voice took on that lecturing tone again. "A willingness to learn more is the first step toward change."

"Gotta work on the delivery, Blake," Ilia drawled.

"At least I've been trying to memorize them, Il. Give… sorry I forgot your name."

"Dania."

"Yeah. Give Dania a flyer."

Cinder glanced back to the booth as Ilia handed a trifold leaflet over to Dania. There were several adults manning the booth. At least two were keeping close tabs on Blake, but none of them was Ghira. "Where's your dad?"

"Oh, him and mom are groundside to catch people on that end. Dad said people would be 'nicer' up here, so he stuck us where it was safer." She frowned. "It's stupid, right? It's the same people here as there, but they act like they can get away with stuff down there that they won't do here."

"Not surprising," Rhodes said, drawing Cinder's attention. "Amity is supposed to be all about celebrating unity and peace while kids beat the crap out of each other." He grinned. "Wouldn't do for people to act like bigots at the center of all that."

"Don't stop some people," Ilia groused, nodding toward one of the neighboring booths. "That guy's been trash-talking us since we started setting up. I even heard him talking to a couple of people about staging a fight and blaming us."

Rhodes and Dania's eyes narrowed. "Oh really..."

"Don't worry about it," Ilia continued with a smug expression, "Sienna's peeps got it all taken care of."

After a bit, Ilia wandered back to the booth while Cinder stayed and chatted with Blake about some of the safer adventures she'd had, and about how the other were doing back in Argus, and how the White Fang were doing in Mistral, until finally Rhodes tapped her on the shoulder.

"Sorry to be a pain, but… you're supposed to be buying souvenirs, and then we should be heading groundside, kid."

"Oh…" She looked back to Blake.

The cat faunus seemed disappointed at first, then brightened and stuck her hand out. "We'll see each other again, Cinder. I'll make sure mom and dad take me with them next time they go to Argus."

"Cool," Cinder replied, giving the younger girl's hand a squeeze. "Be safe, okay?"

And with that, they made their way to some booths a little further away to buy overpriced memorabilia, and then back to one of the many airships that were shuffling continuously between ground and Amity's docking levels.

The third day it was time for them to head back. Cinder's extra stuff and the gifts she'd bought were safely packed in her suitcase. She'd popped off to the bathroom to clean up before the trip, leaving Rhodes and Deedee alone in her studio apartment.

Deedee got the uncomfortable feeling that the Huntsman was about to hit on her, and wasn't sure why he'd do it now, of all times.

I mean… might have… considered it before, but…

"So," Rhodes said, glancing at her briefly. He cleared his throat, and sat down on the couch opposite her.

Oh gods.

"I… uh… wanted to chat with you about Malachite."

What?!

"What do you mean?" She tensed.

"Well, the thing is… Cinder cares about you, a lot. And that means we care. Her family that is." He frowned and scratched at his arm. "I wanted to offer my help, if you ever need a hand getting out from under the Spiders."

Oh. Well crap.

Deedee thought about that for a bit. It was… nice of them, I guess. But… "I appreciate that. I really do. But I'm doing fine. And I can't… go back to Argus."

"Yeah, Cinder told us that, and frankly, I want you to know that I completely understand."

Deedee narrowed her eyes slightly, considering the Huntsman. "Oh you do, do you?"

"Yeah. Probably better than you'd expect. And I want you to know that… shit. Look, Malachite is going to pull you in. I'm betting right now she's got you doing some small-time stuff. Stuff that you're okay with. Stuff that doesn't eat at you. That's not going to last. You know that, right?"

Deedee felt the urge to tell him to screw off and mind his own business, and then realized that was fear talking. The truth was, she was already feeling a little… dirty. The White Fang, for instance. Little Blake Belladonna. What she knew, and none of them knew, was that the Spiders were being paid by some people to keep an eye on the White Fang. To get an idea where their leadership met, so that after the Vytal Festival ended, and things quieted down… say, around February or March next year, they could 'teach them a lesson'.

And that was exactly the kind of thing that bugged her. And she was already, sort of, complicit in it.

The problem was, "I don't have a lot of good options here, Huntsman Rhodes. Though I appreciate the offer." She sighed and sat down her bed.

"Like I said, I know. I just…" he reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope. "I know some folks, mercenaries who are looking for Aura users with combat training. You'll find their contact in here. They'd be really happy to hire someone like you, and you wouldn't have to do anything like what Malachite is gonna have you doing." He said evenly.

Deedee stared at the envelope like she didn't know what it was, then back at Rhodes' face. "You're assuming a lot about me."

"Not really," he said simply, and shrugged, then put the envelope on the end table next to the sofa. "I'll leave this here. You can open it and read it later."

Deedee started to tell him where he could shove his envelope, when the door opened and Cinder came back to the room dressed in clean clothes but hair still wet. She took in the scene in front of her.

"Uh… guys? Everything okay?"

Dania turned to Cinder and smiled, though she wasn't sure it completely came across as real. "Yeah, nothing to worry about." She turned back to Rhodes. "I guess you guys need to go?"

"Yeah. You want to see us off?" Rhodes asked.

Deedee focused for a moment on Rhodes, then Cinder, and finally spared a glance at the envelop on the table. She sighed and turned back to Cinder, feeling deflated. "Yeah. I guess so."

The truth was, she mused as they rode back to the Transit Hub, it'd been great having Cinder back. Hell she'd even Rhodes' company, other than that whole freaking weirdness. It had all felt… normal and healthy.

Hugging Cinder goodbye and making her promise to take care of herself, and hearing Cinder say the same things back… it left her feeling cared for and happy / sad all at the same time. And the ride back to her studio apartment had felt a little surreal because of it.

But I'll be okay, she thought. It's not like I'm totally alone now. Sure, most of my 'coworkers' are assholes, but a few of them, Cammie for example, were actually decent people who are like me. They just took the job because it was all they could manage due to fate shitting on them.

And then she was home, and it was empty, and she decided that was all bullshit.

She pulled out her Scroll and stared at it. She could call Cinder right now. Cinder would answer, she knew it. But she'd been close to tears already, and she suspected the girl would break down if she did call her.

And then her eyes drifted over to the end table. To the envelope.

That.

Huntsman Rhodes had felt… weird about it. And that made her wary of doing what her fingers were itching to do, and she ignored it for an hour, instead straightening her place and preparing lunch for one.

Which she ate, with the envelope beside her plate, begging to be opened.

What the hell is wrong with me?

She took the knife she'd used to cut the sandwich into halves, and slit the envelope open, and pulled out a two-page folded letter.

Dania

Not sure how to open this letter, so I'll just start by saying that you're important to Cinder, and I appreciate what you did, taking care of her. Yeah, I know you helped her leave Argus in the first place, but you didn't know why she was running, and I figure you were trying to look out for her, even then.

So, I'm promising to keep your secrets safe and offering to help you get out from under Malachite, if you want.

Second sheet has contact information for a few people, including a group of contract mercs called The Tribe operating out of Southern Mistral. They're fully registered with the Kingdom and are very understanding of people who don't want to discuss their past. They'd love to have someone on their team with your skills. On top of that, they've got the kind of connections that will prevent Malachite from taking any revenge should you decide to 'seek alternative employment'.

All that's a roundabout way of me saying that you've been through some shit, I understand why you are in hiding, and Cinder cares about you, so I'm trying to help you without freaking you out. My lips are sealed. Also, I'd highly recommend that you not use your real name in any electronic communications.

Like I said, use the info I've given you, or don't. Your call. Just… know that there's someone out here in the world who has your back.

-Rhodes

The second page had a short list of names and scroll numbers. Rhodes was the first one on the list, followed by the other two people she'd met at the Laughing Widow, Reggie and Crystal.

And then someone named Raven Branwen, CEO of The Tribe Mercenary Company.

Her reaction on the first read-through was concern which shifted to panic, then relief.

And then she read through it again, and that relief shifted to dreadful awareness.

They… know.

How much?

Enough. That's how much. They didn't say it outright, but… it's freaking there, buried between the lines. They know exactly who I am.

Do I run?

She thought about that. Would it matter? If they knew who she was, that meant they knew she was alive. And that alone had been her primary protection. So unless she was prepared to kill Huntsman Rhodes, which was a damn stupid idea, she was… screwed.

She read through the letter again.

Or not. That was the point wasn't it? If they intended to out her, why offer to help? Why write a letter at all? They hadn't tried to bribe her. And Cinder wouldn't go along with anything. She was sure of that.

She rubbed her face.

Gods… why me?

She read over the contacts again.

Raven Branwen… that name sounded familiar.

She opened her scroll, and did a search. The hits were… enlightening.

Articles about Branwen Tribe, a Bandit group that was the scourge of Southern Mistral. And then, more recently, an article about how former bandit Raven Branwen had… led a team of bandits, Huntsmen, and paramilitary forces to save the town of Kuroyuri from a Nuckelavee. Deedee whistled. That was no mean feat. A Nuckelavee was a powerful and dangerous creature. And then she looked up The Tribe, and found public records about both its registration, and about Raven Branwen's 'parole' by the governing authorities.

Well… at least he hadn't been lying.

She read through the letter a few more times, each time becoming more and more sure that this man knew exactly who she was.

And that fact ate at her.

She dialed his number, voice only.

"Rhodes here."

"You know who I am," she said flatly.

There was a pause. "Yeah. You read the letter."

"I did." She considered all the questions she had. "Why?"

Another pause. "Because you didn't deserve what happened to you, and you don't deserve what working for Malachite will do to you, either." He sighed. "And Cinder would never forgive me if I let something happen to you."

"Does she… no she doesn't, does she?"

"No. I mean, you told her your name, but she doesn't know anything about that person. I'd… keep quiet about that around her. She's got her own traumas, and if she knew… it would be really bad for her, too."

Deedee sat still, chewing on that with hands gripping the scroll. She realized they were shaking and carefully set the scroll down, leaning it against her glass. "How do I know… shit…"

"Cinder would never forgive me. Trust that," Rhodes said quietly.

She closed her eyes. "Okay. Is she around?"

"Taking a nap. Leaving you again was hard on her. I'll have her call you when she wakes up, okay?"

"Yeah. That's… " Her voice broke, and she cursed herself.

"Don't let this eat at you. Think of this as your own personal insurance policy. I've got your back if you need help, and now you've got an out when things get too much to handle in the City. I've already called in a favor with Raven and she knows she might be hearing from Dania. This is a good thing for you."

A good thing.

Deedee hadn't had many good things since everything had gone to shit months ago. Cinder had been one of them, before she'd gone back to Argus. Not having to live on the streets had been another, though it was coming at a cost that she was starting to question.

And he was offering something that sounded like a fresh start, far away from Argus or Mistral City and anyone who might recognize her.

"I'll think about it," she said quietly. "Tell Cinder I called?"

"No problem. Take care of yourself."

"I will… thank you." And she ended the call.

Afterward, she took a walk, and considered her life here in the Capitol, and what life might be like out in the wilds with a bunch of former criminals who were, apparently, going legit. And to her surprise, there was a certain appeal to the idea.

Later, Cinder called her, and that helped ease her mind some more.

That night, she slept better than she had since the teenager had returned to Atlas, and her dreams weren't haunted by the dead.

[A/N}Extra special thanks to recent reviewers AtomicR4Y and Shadowstorm-Vash! I'm very happy you enjoyed the mostly wrap up of the Search for Cinder. Now she gets to experience some of that Comfort in the Hurt/Comfort trope!

If you've stuck with me so far, and really enjoyed the story, a review always brightens my day! If you notice errors or anything, a PM is appreciated so I can fix it.

So... yeah in this chapter I felt like Deedee / Dania and Cinder needed some closure, and Deedee needed a little hope. Also thought it was nice getting a little Cinder & Blake & Ilia time in. Hope you enjoyed! Next Chapter is all about Blackfeather!