Her footsteps were the only noise to follow Emerald as she walked down the street, concealed under the cover of night.
There was a slump on her shoulders she couldn't shake, her hands buried in the pockets of her faded coat, but she kept her mind as sharp as ever to her surroundings. The people in this neighborhood knew to keep to themselves, but there was always the chance of some kid too dumb for their own good seeing her and running off to tell someone, be it the cops or Beacon or their gang leader, whoever they thought would reward them for it. They'd learn their lesson fast, and likely nothing else would come of it.
Still, Emerald would rather avoid any risk whatsoever.
The city still hadn't bothered to fix the lampposts down here, and likely never would, so she had to watch her feet lest she trip on some hole or vine or who knows what. Everywhere she looked, the aftermath of the insanity from three months ago could still be seen.
There, a house that had been demolished by a Grimm crashing on its roof. Here, a fountain coated in a thick layer of ice which, despite all the time that had passed, hadn't melted one sliver. Nearly every building she saw had been irreversibly damaged by the elements – not the weather or passing of time, but as in the mystical-type elements, the kind people made cartoons about.
Emerald knew she and Cinder had irrevocably changed the world by unleashing the Grimm on Vale all that time ago, but this – all of this was a tough pill to swallow. Prison had felt like forever, but had it really been that long that the whole world had gone completely crazy while she'd been away?
She used to walk these streets all the time when she was a kid. Emerald still didn't know how to feel about the state of them now. On the one hand, yes, let the whole fucking place burn down to ashes. On the other hand, there was the little sandwich place with the nice lady who would give her a free meal every once in a blue moon. The building and the area around it had caved into the ground, disappearing into the depths of the mountain Haven stood upon.
There was nothing to be done about it. This hadn't been her work. Like every other time she found herself thinking about these things, Emerald filed it away to some dusty corner of her mind and moved on with her life.
She arrived at the decrepit building she called a hideout and gently pushed the metal gate so as to not make any noise, which was a fool's errand. Giving up already? Go back out there and keep looking, a little voice told her as she ascended the rickety stairs. No. You'll have better luck tomorrow.
She opened the door. It was dark inside – for only a moment, then someone cleared their throat and light assaulted her eyes.
"Motherf-"
"You were out late."
Mercury sat on a chair in the corner of the living room, one leg crossed over the other with a book on his lap and a lamp balanced precariously beside him.
"I hope you weren't swapping spit with some boy, little lady. We've talked about this."
He waved a finger at her, tutting.
"There was no boy," Emerald said, wincing as she adjusted to the light. "Just your mom."
"Well shit. My blessings to you, then."
Emerald snorted. There was so much to poke at about this little joke of his - like how he'd clearly been waiting to turn off the lights the moment he heard her walking up the steps, or the fact that they didn't keep a lamp in the living room. The commitment to the bit was kind of funny, if nothing else. She obviously wouldn't tell him that.
"You know, I picked this up for you," Emerald said, producing the fast-food bag she had been carrying under her arm. She shook it in Mercury's general direction. "Triple cheese and patty with bacon. Wasn't that your favorite? But now I'm thinking of keeping it for myself. Except I'm not hungry, so maybe I'll just throw it out the window."
"Hey now, let's not do things we'll both regret," Mercury said. "Those things are pricy, you don't wanna throw that away just to spite me."
"I don't know. I got it on a special sale." Emerald grinned. "Take all you can grab for the price of none."
She tossed the bag to him. Immediately, Mercury put his book aside and took the burger out, digging into it like a hyena. Emerald didn't even get a thank you.
Stepping closer, she grabbed the book and sneered. The cover had an amateurish drawing of a sword, with bold letters for the title – JAUNE ARC: THE FIRST TO FALL. Written in smaller lettering below that was a subtitle – an unofficial biography. And then in the corner, in even smaller lettering, so tiny that Emerald had to squint to make out the text - (non-authorized).
"You're still reading this crap?"
"It's a fascinating read," Mercury replied with his mouth full. "His high school janitor really had a lot to say about the guy."
"I'll take your word for it." Emerald put the book back. "I'm gonna turn in for the night. Don't forget we have that meeting with Malachite tomorrow."
Mercury rolled his eyes. "I'm dying in anticipation."
Emerald turned around, fighting back a monstrous yawn.
"Maybe you wouldn't be so exhausted if you didn't go on a midnight stroll every night," Mercury said behind her. "That's not good for a growing girl like you."
Emerald sighed. "You really wanna police my whole life, don't you?"
"I'm just saying." Mercury took a huge bite out of his burger and chewed on it loudly. "Some guys might be suspicious. Not me, of course. I couldn't care less."
Emerald spun back around, her hands on her hips. She had known Mercury for too long not to recognize the difference when he was being a little shit and when he was being… well, a bigger shit.
"Unlike you, Mercury, I have the liberty of stepping outside this damp hole when I want to without a whole platoon of uniformed assholes raining down on me," she said. "So yes, I will take any opportunity to get out of here, even if it's just for a midnight stroll. It beats being cooped up with you all day and night."
Mercury sniffed. "That was almost hurtful."
"Good. Maybe next time I'll bring you a wet rat to munch on. See if you ever complain about me going out again."
"Wow. My mom will be very cross with you if she ever finds out you treat me this way."
Emerald flipped him the bird and walked away.
"Love you too, Em."
Qrow leered at his cards.
"I fold."
Clover flashed him a roguish smile and showed his hand. No surprise, another royal flush. Qrow rubbed his forehead and groaned.
He hated card games, so he had to ask himself why he had agreed to a few rounds in the first place. Curiosity, mainly. He had to test if his assumptions about Clover were right, which was a flawed premise, seeing as Qrow had a tendency to lose miserably no matter who his opponent was. This was extraordinarily bad, though, so maybe he had gotten his answer after all.
"Go again?" Clover asked, shuffling the cards back into the deck.
"Mercy." Qrow tapped the floor and stood up. "One more bad round and I'll go broke."
"I don't remember us putting anything on a bet, sir," Clover chuckled, rising to his feet as well.
"Yeah. A lesson learned the hard way a long time ago."
The jet continued on its way to Haven. Qrow had lost track of time, but he guessed they couldn't be long now.
"So, do you believe me now, Director?" Clover asked.
Believe that he was the polar opposite of Qrow, kissed by fortune, blessed in every way he could be? That seemed implausible. It would be like the universe playing a cosmic joke on him.
Which meant it could only be true.
"I believe you," Qrow said. "I assume that'sthe reason behind the Special in Special Operative, then?"
"I'd pretend that's unrelated, but then I'd be lying to my superior officer."
"And you wouldn't wanna do that." Qrow scratched at his stubble, looking Clover up and down. "When did you unlock your Semblance, and how?"
"Not that long ago. Around the same time as I got promoted." Clover shrugged. "As for the how, the same way anyone else does, I suppose. Hard work and dedication."
And luck, you forgot to add. "Used to be a time when governments were required to inform Beacon immediately about any newly awakened Semblances. Guess the times really are changing. That, and the rules."
"I'm afraid you'll have to take that up with the General, sir."
Qrow intended to do just that, just as soon as he was finished doing said general's bidding like a good dog.
Winter emerged from the cockpit. "We'll be arriving in thirty minutes. Shall I land at the Atlesian airbase, Director, or do you have another place in mind?"
"Beacon HQ will do," Qrow said, taking out his Scroll. "I'll send word ahead for them to expect us."
Winter nodded.
"Oh, and Winter?" Qrow shot her a thumbs up. "Great piloting!"
Winter fixed him with a steely glare, then spun and disappeared.
"She doesn't like me," Qrow stated, catching the look on Clover's face. "You can ask. I know you're dying to."
"I didn't think it would be appropriate," Clover said. "But I'll bite. Why doesn't Agent Schnee like you?"
"It's not as scandalous as you're thinking. We've been on a few missions together. Meant to 'foster cooperation' between Beacon and Atlas – this was a long time ago," Qrow said. "Most of them ended catastrophically. Like I said, things tend to go bad when I'm involved."
"I can see why someone might harbor some resentment from that."
"Oh, especially Schnee. High and mighty soldier that she is, thwarted by something completely outside her control? No wonder she'd be cranky." Qrow paused. "And I may have made a pass at her once. Or twice. Or multiple times."
"Ah." Clover nodded. "That is a little scandalous."
"Those were simpler times."
Yang would tear him a new one if she ever heard about this, especially now that she was going out with Schnee's little sister. Ruby would probably stick her fingers in her ears and pretend she hadn't heard anything.
Twerps.
"On a less awkward note," Clover spoke up. "We know our targets are likely still in Haven, but do we have any other leads on them? It's a big city, from what I've heard."
"Never been yourself, Ebi?" Qrow asked, taking his flask out and uncorking it. Clover cast a curious look at it, but otherwise didn't remark on it.
"I like the cold, sir. Travel, not so much.."
"You Atlesian types."
Qrow took a swig of stale rum and pondered the question. It was a strange choice to flee to Haven for refuge, considering the unruly state the city was in. There was something to be said about hiding in the chaos, but that struck Qrow as unnecessarily dicey when Vacuo's borders were wide open.
This had been a deliberate choice, but for now, he could only speculate on the why. Once he had his hands on Sustrai and Black, then he could start digging.
"I wouldn't stress over it. Haven's a big city, true, but I know it like the back of Winter's hand," Qrow said, taking another swig. "I know just where to start looking."
The door shut behind Emerald with a chime. As usual at this early hour, there was no one inside Malachite's establishment except for the lone bartender idly tapping at his phone behind the bar.
Feeling a smirk creeping on her lips, Emerald elbowed Mercury to grab his attention, then dropped her Semblance. The bartender looked up and yelped as they suddenly appeared in front of his eyes, his phone flying out of his grasp.
"You're evil sometimes," Mercury remarked.
"Oh, don't act like you didn't enjoy that."
"I never said that. Actually, this is way funnier when I'm not the victim."
The bartender grabbed his phone off the floor and glowered at the two of them, as if an angry face could hide how flustered he was. "Can I help you, or are you two just here to be nuisances?"
"Not just that. We've got a meeting with your boss, so if you could get her for us?" Emerald asked, giving him a wide smile.
The bartender crossed his arms. "What about?"
"We're selling candy bars for our church," Mercury replied dryly.
The bartender rolled his eyes. "Just wait here. And don't touch anything!"
He left in a huff, taking a door to the back of the building, where Emerald knew Malachite's real business was conducted. Hers, and all her little spiders'.
"Well now I have to touch everything," Mercury said. He paced about the room, tapping his hand on the surface of the bar and every chair and table, acting like he wasn't antsy out of his mind.
Emerald couldn't very well pretend she wasn't in the same boat. The world changed, and she changed, but this place seemed to stand in defiance of all of that. Standing here, she was infinitely small, and though she'd had a bite to eat before they'd left the safe house, her stomach growled in hunger all the same.
Inevitably, her eyes were drawn towards the windows. Dark clouds blotted the sky, foretelling rain in the coming noon, and what little sunlight escaped them barely made it through the shutters. In the end there was just enough light for Emerald to make out the table sitting in the farthest corner of the room, empty and forgotten
(the girl with the golden eyes was sitting there again, staring at Emerald like she always did.
Emerald's first instinct was to run outside, like she had every other time. Yet as the door to the Spiders' den closed behind her and she stepped into the bar, she found herself rooted to the spot. There must have been more than twenty people in the room, regular patrons and Spiders alike, but they seemed to exist in a far-off world from the two of them.
There was only Emerald and the golden eyes.
At some point, her feet must have moved on their own, because suddenly Emerald was standing next to the table. She clutched Malachite's parcel tight to her chest, her breath catching in her throat.
"Going on another errand for your boss, I see," the golden-eyed girl said to her, arching an eyebrow. "Something not nearly as perilous as last time, I should hope. Just a simple delivery?"
She couldn't have been more than two or three years Emerald's elder, yet she presented herself like a woman. Luscious raven hair, skin that seemed to shine, a magnetic gaze. Her presence alone dominated the room. Compared to her, Emerald was a slip of a thing. Less than that.
"I'm-" Emerald started to speak, then stopped, reminding herself that despite appearances, there were other people in the room with them. People who knew her well and were in much better graces with the Little Miss. "I can't talk to you about that."
"Of course." The woman smiled. "I'll keep my assumptions to myself, then."
With a flick of her eyes, she invited Emerald to sit across from her, and Emerald did so without a thought.
"Thank you," Emerald whispered, nearly inaudible.
Again, the golden-eyed woman lifted a perfectly manicured eyebrow.
"For saving me the other day," Emerald explained, the whole sentence coming out of her in one breath. "I never thanked you for that. So."
"Your gratitude is appreciated, though unnecessary. As was my help back then, I am sure."
The woman's smile got a little sharper then, her eyes dancing like embers above a campfire. A part of Emerald had hoped that a thank you was all the stranger wanted from her, but she knew that was naive.
"Do you have business with the Little Miss?" Emerald asked, unable to take another second of silence.
"Not today, no," the woman said. "I was wondering how much longer it would take for you to approach me. I'm sure by now you've discerned that I've taken a special interest in you, Emerald."
At the sound of her name, Emerald's heart nearly jumped out of her mouth then and there. Anyone could have given her that information, but still, it was startling.
"Why would you be interested in me?" Emerald asked. Why would anyone?
The woman hummed. "First things first, a proper introduction." She extended her hand. "Cinder Fall."
At a delay, Emerald clasped the offered hand. It wasn't smooth like she had imagined. It was callused – scarred, even. Emerald felt every ridge and break as her own fingers brushed against the palm.
She mouthed the name. Cinder Fall. It fit.
Cinder Fall took back her hand and rested her chin atop it, leaning an elbow on the table. Her eyes remained steadfast on Emerald's.
"I knew a woman once," she said. "A lady of high society, with all the class you would expect from a person of that station. It may be hard for you to imagine, but an environment like that is filled with just as many sharks as the room we're sitting in right now. And yet she had that little world in the palm of her hand. A tender touch for those above her. A fist for those below."
For a moment, she seemed to look right through Emerald, before her eyes sharpened again.
"There is power in perception. She wore the skin of a shark, with her jewelry and lipstick and fine wine, and she comported herself like one, and so for all effects and purposes, she was a shark. A queen in blood-infested waters. But she was just a woman, and in the end…"
Cinder swept a finger across the table, and before Emerald's eyes, the dust displaced by it flashed red and converged, forming a small blade of a glass-like obsidian.
"…her guts spilled out of her like any other's."
She stabbed the dagger into the table. Emerald flinched.
"The illusion of power is just that. Come the harpoon, and you're dead," Cinder said. "But your power isn't justan illusion, now is it, Emerald?"
Emerald felt like a stone was lodged in her throat. This woman knew far too much about her. "It isn't?"
For a second, Cinder seemed disappointed, and Emerald wished she could take that back and answer any other way.
"Of course not. There's realpower behind your illusions, and that makes all the difference," Cinder said. "You could have the whole of Haven's underbelly wrapped around your finger. Instead, you bow to a woman who will use and abuse you. She keeps you famished. Bids you to do her dirty work for her, work that is far below you. Why do you think that is?"
Emerald could hardly bring herself to speak, all too aware of the attention Cinder's words were attracting from the people sitting around them. "It's – it's not as simple as you make it sound. I can't just-"
"Oh, I'm aware Malachite has some very sharp teeth, as far as fake sharks go," Cinder said. "And because of that, you'll let her keep feasting on you for the rest of your life? However little that lasts?"
"Why are you telling me all of this?" Emerald blurted out.. "What do you want from me anyway?"
Cinder sighed.
"What do you think, Emerald? I'm trying to take you away from her."
"Take me away." Emerald wasn't sure she'd heard that right. "Why?"
"Because I hate to see power be wasted in hands that don't know what they're wielding." Cinder leaned in. "The offer is simple. Come with me, and I'll teach you how to use your power for more than smoke and mirrors. You'll never have to be afraid of another person."
She stretched her hand across the table.
"Better yet, I'll make sure you never go hungry again. How does that sound?"
Emerald stared at the outstretched hand, wishing nothing more than to take it for what it offered)
"What do you think she wants from us?"
Emerald jumped. "What?"
Mercury turned away from the painting he'd been studying, fixing Emerald with an exasperated look.
"Malachite. The Little Miss, who is actually quite fat?" he said frankly. "What do you think she wants from us?"
Emerald let her shoulders drop. "I don't know. A small favor. Or a big one. It doesn't matter."
"It doesn't matter?" Mercury repeated, his stare growing more bewildered.
"Whatever she wants, it probably won't be much trouble for the two of us."
"Right," Mercury muttered. "Probably."
He turned back to the painting, and it seemed he might leave it at that, but barely five seconds passed before he spun back around.
"I still don't know why we're even bothering with this crap. We don't need her."
Emerald held back a sigh. "Do you know someone else who will give us food and a safe place to sleep, Mercury?"
"That house is not safe to sleep in. I swear it will fall on top of us any day now," Mercury said. "We could get by just fine by ourselves."
"Yeah? And where would we start?"
Mercury scoffed, and Emerald wanted to shake him by the shoulders until his brains leaked out of his ears. He didn't understand what real hunger was like, the uncertainty that came from collapsing from exhaustion at the end of a long day with no idea how you were going to survive the next one. He thought he did, but he didn't really, or else he wouldn't complain so much.
"It's just one little thing we gotta do, Mercury," she said, dismissing him with a gesture. "Don't act like it's the end of the world."
"It's one thing now. What about when she asks for another favor?" Mercury asked.
"Then we'll do that too, however many times we have to," Emerald said. "Look, if this is about your pride, suck it up. She thinks we're indebted to her, or that she can control us? Fine, let her think so. We can walk away anytime we want."
"Do you seriouslythink this is about-"
The door to the Spiders' den opened, the bartender walking out with a kid in tow. He shot them an even harsher look than before, before nodding over his shoulder. "The boss will see you now. Kid will take ya."
Emerald shot Mercury a look, telling him they'd finish this talk later – though truthfully they would never, if she had her way – before following the kid into the hallway behind the bar.
It was hard not to stare, much as she tried to. The kid was thin, with pale freckles concealed under the dirt on her cheeks, and she had an awkward gait like she wasn't sure of her own steps. A growth spurt, with none of the things to facilitate it. Lack of food. Lack of rest. Lack of many things. There was ink on her left shoulder, half-concealed by the hem of her shirt – a spider in black.
Emerald found herself rubbing the skin under her left wrist. Cinder had offered to burn her mark off. She had been gentle, but sometimes that spot still felt tender.
"You got any weapons on you?" the kid asked, raising her chin as she looked back at her and Mercury.
"Yeah." Mercury tapped the side of his leg, producing a metallic clang. "What are you gonna do about it?"
The kid nearly missed a step, the challenge in her eyes going out as she pondered how to respond to that.
"Don't be an ass, Mercury," Emerald said.
"Oh, so it's not funny when I do it?"
"Exactly." Emerald grabbed the girl by the arm, and just as soon let go when she flinched. "Ignore the idiot. Your boss knows us, and she knows we won't cause any trouble."
The kid turned away and kept walking, her steps faster now.
"When we get in there, you keep quiet. I'll do the talking," Emerald whispered, and Mercury shrugged in response.
Arriving at the end of the hallway, they stepped into the den itself. Emerald spared a brief glance to the purple banners along the walls, and a longer one to the other kids present in the room, talking among themselves or waiting on business, before her eyes settled on the woman of the hour.
The Little Miss hadn't changed in the three months since they had brokered their arrangement. She was larger than she'd been when Emerald was little, but that didn't seem to translate to her face. Her eyes were shrewd as ever above that lipless smile.
"My favorite clients!" Malachite opened her arms wide behind her desk. "Come, come. Take a seat."
She snapped her fingers, and a pair of kids scrambled to grab two chairs and place them on the other side of the desk. Emerald fought not to roll her eyes. She knew the show Malachite was putting on by heart, and it wasn't any more impressive now that Emerald was on the receiving end of it.
"Aren't you two a sight," Malachite said as Emerald and Mercury sat down, looking at each of them in turn as if she wanted to devour them whole. "I hope the accommodations I've provided have been to your liking?"
"They have been," Emerald said. "We're very thankful."
"We'd be even more thankful if the roof wasn't leaking all over the place, and if the power didn't go out every other day," Mercury added.
Emerald kicked him on the shin, but Malachite didn't seem to take offense.
"Not the best living conditions, I have to agree," Malachite said. "Your need was quite immediate, as I recall, meaning I didn't have the time to make the perfect arrangements. Which I do regret, and I hope you will forgive me. But now that the weather above our heads isn't so oppressive, I can see about getting out into someplace nicer. An apartment with a view, perhaps?"
"A view would be nice," Mercury said. Emerald kicked him again, and he very pointedly didn't look her way, instead slouching on his chair.
"Splendid. I will get back to you about that as soon I can, dears." Malachite wet her lips and rubbed her hands. "Now, onto more important matters."
"You want to talk about our payment for these arrangements, I'm guessing," Emerald said, keeping her tone light. "Which again, we've very thankful for."
Malachite tapped a finger on her chin. "Payment, payment. When you put it like that, doesn't it sound terribly one-sided? Transactional? I think you'll see that we will all benefit equally if you carry out my request."
Emerald doubted it. "We're all ears."
Malachite opened a drawer and rummaged around in it. "Where did I put that paper now?" she muttered to herself, then stopped. "What am I doing, searching for papers? This is the modern age."
She snapped her fingers again, and a kid raced to her side and deposited a phone in her hand.
"You're familiar with the Jackals, I assume?" Malachite asked. "Silly question, obviously you are. But for Mr. Black's benefit, they used to be a gang of local malcontents and thugs. Vicious little things, they were, and without a modicum of sense for neighborly business."
"They sound awful," Mercury deadpanned.
"Indeed. But they were numerous, and their territory was expansive. Larger than some other gangs back then." Malachite coughed into her fist. "To spare you the gritty details, for the good of the city, my little spiders and I graciously welcomed the Jackals into our fold. Emerald here was quite instrumental in that endeavor. This was shortly before she was poached by that little apocalyptic harlot, of course." She gestured at Emerald. "No hard feelings, dear."
Emerald dug her fingers into her chair as she smiled. "I remember. I thought the Jackals weren't even going by that name anymore, since they're yours now. Why are we talking about them?"
"Well, with all the upheaval and disorder raised in our city of late, certain individuals have started getting ideas of dragging things back to the way they were before. Said individuals, I believe, could use a reminder of why things changed in the first place. A lesson, if you would. Correction."
She tapped her phone, then turned it around to show a picture of a man, dark-haired and gruff, with twin scars running across his face. He looked like any other city bandit Emerald had met.
"Lobo. They're ever so creative with their names." Malachite rolled her eyes. "He lives in the Cascade District, quite a booming neighborhood these days, surrounded by his ilk who never leave his side. But you two should have little trouble getting to him."
Emerald frowned. "So you want us to kill the Jackal's leader, is that it?"
"Kill their leader? Oh no, that would be quite unthinkable," Malachite said. "Lobo is onlyhisright-hand man. Killing him in the heart of their territory, that should be warning enough to the whole lot."
"Oh," Emerald said. "Yeah, I guess that works."
"I guess that works?" Mercury let out a laugh. "Did you leave your brain outside?"
"Mercury, shut up-"
"No, I'm talking now." Mercury pointed at Malachite. "We're not killing some big criminal head-honcho in exchange for shitty accommodations."
"Now that I recall, there has been a recent vacancy in one of my condominiums uptown," Malachite said, humming to herself. "It has a top of the line gym, as well as an indoor and an outdoor pool."
"I don't care if it comes with fifty bikini-clad maids," Mercury interrupted. "You're out of your mind if you think we're doing your dirty work for you."
Malachite's face soured. "I used to do business with your father, you know. Not the most amicable man, I will say, but at least I knew him to never spat in the face of my generosity."
"Well, he's in the ground now, so maybe go dig him up and see if he'll take you up on your job."
"Point me to his grave, and perhaps I will. While I'm at it, I'll see if there isn't some vacant space nearby for a second body."
Mercury started to get up, but not before Emerald grabbed him by the elbow and pulled him back down. He could take down Malachite with ease, she knew, and all her underlings beside her, but Emerald wasn't exactly looking forward to getting pulled into a fight with a bunch of underfed kids. That, and they'd have to leave Haven forever, which was not in her plans.
"Forgive my associate, he starts barking when he's been cooped up for too long," she said. "We've discussed this among ourselves already, and we'll definitely take the job. Won't we, Mercury?"
She patted his arm, fixing him with a look that promised murder if he ruined this for her. She knew that would hardly affect him, but after a moment's silence, Mercury did settle into his chair and shrugged. "We'll bump off your guy, sure."
Malachite retrieved a fan from one of her drawers and leaned back. Fanning herself, she studied Emerald and Mercury both, as if she could discern how sincere they were if she only stared long enough, until finally that lipless smile returned.
"Marvelous. You'll be doing me a tremendous service, one you can be sure I will not forget," she said. "I see this as the start of a long and fruitful partnership. Or perhaps, the recontinuation of one. Wouldn't you agree, dear?"
Malachite turned her smile to Emerald.
She smiled back. "Yes, Miss."
Getting to the Cascade District was easy enough – the Little Miss, in her boundless generosity, arranged for one of her older spiders to drive them there. They still had to cross some distance on foot, taking alleyways and less-traveled streets to avoid as many cameras and eyes as possible. This was a much busier place than the lower neighborhoods Emerald was used to, and the people here weren't nearly as likely to look the other way when they came across a pair of shady figures walking about.
The Jackal's home base, as it turned out, was a rather luxurious skyscraper. Whether it had somehow dodged the damage most of the rest of the city had suffered, or the owners had coughed up some real cash to have it fixed up quickly, Emerald didn't know.
They waited behind the building for a few minutes before opportunity struck in the form of a janitor carrying out the trash through a back door. Emerald slipped inside before the door closed, Mercury in tow, and avoiding the main lobby, they looked around until they found a stairwell.
According to Malachite, the Jackals' apartment was on the twenty-eighth floor. Looking up now, Emerald considered taking the elevator instead. Sure, fancy place like this, there was no way it didn't have security cameras installed, but would leaving evidence of their visit really be that bad?
Yes, it would be. Up they went, step by excruciating step.
"Yes, Miss. Anything for you, Miss," Mercury said in a falsetto behind her. "Let me lick your greasy feet while I'm at it, Miss. That's you."
"I got that, thanks," Emerald grumbled. "How long are you planning to be insufferable about this?"
"Oh, I don't know. Just until the next time you sign us up to assassinate a guy."
Emerald stopped to catch her breath.
"He's not just some guy, he's a criminal," she pointed out, and looked over her shoulder to see Mercury staring at her. "Okay, I see the irony. Look, I'm not happy about this either, but we're here now. I mean, you're here, despite all the bitching and moaning."
Mercury's shoulders dropped. "Guilty as charged."
They exited into a small lobby, with a door to either side of it. A gigantic floor taken up by only two apartments. The Jackals were living it large.
The wall to the left was mostly glass, giving a bird's eye view of the neighborhood below. Emerald's gaze immediately went to the tree that rose out of the earth no less than ten blocks away, taller than any of the buildings that surrounded it, its thick branches reaching up as if to touch the clouds. Leaves of all colors rained down from it but never touched the ground.
In the midday sunlight, the tree almost seemed to glow. Then Emerald shifted her weight to the other foot, looking from a different angle, and the tree all but vanished from view, the blue of the sky bleeding through it from behind. She blinked and it was solid again.
The Wish Tree, people were calling it, because that's what its bark was supposed to grant to whoever touched it. That, or good luck. Emerald had heard conflicting information, and she didn't believe any of that superstitious nonsense anyway. It had sprouted from night to day in the wake of the calamity three months ago, and as far as Emerald was concerned, this was just another weird facet of their ever-weirder world she just had to accept.
She was a little curious about it, though. She couldn't lie.
"No wonder Malachite wants to get her claws in this area. People from all over are coming to see that thing," Emerald said. "Good business, I bet. You think the Jackals have actually been acting up, or is that just an excuse she's made up?"
"I don't really care either way," Mercury replied.
"Right." Emerald sighed. "Let's get to it, then."
She rang the Jackals' doorbell, and they stood in front of the door for nearly a minute before a man opened it. He looked at the seemingly empty lobby, confused, and started to lean forward to peek at either side of the door.
As his shoulders passed the threshold, Mercury grabbed him by the collar and spun him around, slamming his head against the wall. The guy was out cold before he could make a sound.
Mercury dragged him inside, with Emerald silently closing the door behind them. They stepped into a dimly lit foyer, and immediately a mixture of smells hit Emerald's nose which she didn't care to pick apart. A faint murmur of conversation came from further into the apartment, broken up by the occasional laughter and jeering.
Shooting Mercury a signal, Emerald crouched low to the ground and crept ahead on her own. She could see the end of the foyer up ahead, the voices getting louder the closer she got, but before that she came upon a doorway to the left.
Ready to flex her Semblance at a moment's notice, Emerald peeked around the corner. Luckily, she didn't need to. It was a kitchen, and the one guy in it had his back to her as he worked at a stove. There was another door to his right, which she assumed led to the same area up ahead.
Leaving him for now, Emerald crept the rest of the way to the end of the foyer.
Before her was a large living area, with all the extravagant cliches she expected from these people, from a cocktail bar to a pool table to – she snorted at the sight – an arcade machine in a corner of the room. Near the center of the room, a small group sat around a table, smoking and playing cards.
They weren't so many that it would be impossible to sneak past them, but they would soon notice that one of their own hadn't come back from answering the door.
Be quick, but more importantly, always be thorough, a voice whispered in her ear.
She returned to Mercury and quickly communicated the intel and plan through a series of gestures. One in the kitchen, six up ahead. Pick off, distract, strike.
Mercury made a single rude gesture back, and a moment later, all the hostility he'd been holding evaporated as he nodded.
Emerald stayed at the doorway while Mercury slinked into the kitchen. Slowly, barely producing a sound, he approached the man at the stove from behind.
Just as the Jackal started to turn his head, Mercury sprang forward, covering the guy's mouth with a hand and wrapping an arm around his neck. The man thrashed and kicked, but Mercury barely reacted, dragging him backward, away from the other doorway.
"Stop squirming," Mercury whispered, no inflection in his voice. He stomped on the Jackal's ankle, the subsequent yell muffled by his hand.
Before long, Mercury was setting the unconscious Jackal on the floor. He stretched forwards to turn off the stove, picked up a frying pan from the counter, then nodded back at Emerald.
She stepped back into the hallway and looked at the man who had greeted them at the door. Once she had his appearance fixed in her mind's eye, she straightened her back and walked into the living area.
One of the Jackals at the table looked up as she approached.
"What took so long?" he asked. "Better not have been that hag with the noise complaint again."
"Just some dumbass kids," Emerald replied in a gruff voice. She had no idea what she was supposed to sound like, but her Semblance and these mouth breathers' heads would do the brunt of the work for her. "Did you look at my cards?"
"Didn't need to. You're all trash and I'm about to be three hundred lien richer."
"Oh, shut up and play, asshole," one of the others jeered, tossing down a card.
Emerald sat down and grabbed the unattended hand. She had little time before Mercury's diversion, and she used it to take stock of the men around her. Tough-looking, but nothing special. No weapons as far as she could see. None of them Lobo.
A clangor of metal against metal came from the kitchen, causing the Jackals to jump.
"Bren? The hell was that?" one of them yelled.
When no response came, he got up and started towards the kitchen, followed quickly by another. As the first guy got to the doorway, he suddenly got a mouthful of Mercury's boot.
Blood splattered from his broken nose as he reeled back and crumbled, and from there, everything descended into madness.
Not to Emerald. She watched as half the table charged at Mercury at once and, with surgical clarity, turned to the man closest to her. A gasp escaped his lips as he saw her, an instant before she grabbed him by the hair and smashed his face on the table.
The other Jackal who had lagged behind got over her appearance quicker, and immediately made to grab her. His hands passed through empty air, a good three or four steps off from where she was actually standing. Emerald punched him in the throat while his brain caught up with reality, and with the next strike launched him to the floor.
In those fifteen seconds, Mercury had dealt with his share of mooks just as fast, if not faster. They met eyes across the room and waited, listening. Brief as the action had been, they had made some noise.
It seemed that for the moment, though, they were in the clear.
A quick search of every room on this floor revealed no sign of their mark, nor anyone lying in ambush. A set of stairs led to a second floor with an overview of the living area. Mercury took the lead as they ascended.
As he got to the last step, a figure suddenly appeared from a hallway. Emerald just heard Mercury curse, and then as she threw herself on the steps, the explosion of a shotgun going off.
The shooter vanished into a room, Mercury chasing after them.
Emerald crawled up the rest of the stairs and jumped to her feet. She made to follow, but suddenly there was a woman coming at her with a knife. No time for mind tricks – Emerald had just a split second to catch the woman's wrist before the blade would have stabbed into her eye. She twisted her attacker's wrist and shoved her back with a kick.
Screaming, the woman charged at her again, this time going low. Emerald stepped to the side, leaving a hasty illusion of herself in her place. It fell away as the Jackal slashed it from shoulder to hip. Her eyes widened as she slid on the soles of her feet, arms flailing. Before she could get her bearings, Emerald tackled her shoulder-first.
The woman spun over the railings and fell.
Her body made a loud thud as she hit the first floor. Emerald winced – only to jump as the even louder noise of another shotgun shot went off somewhere behind her.
She turned and ran, following the source of the noise. Yet another shot bounced off the walls before Emerald found Mercury crouching by the doorway of a bedroom. She pressed herself flat against the wall on the other side of the door, craning her neck just enough to catch a glimpse of the room. She didn't see the shooter, but she could sense him crouched behind a turned over desk in the corner.
"That's our guy," Mercury said. "Got him cornered. Can't get close, though."
"Rounds?" Emerald asked.
"No idea. Just need a small window."
"On my count."
She raised her hand, counting down from five on her fingers. As she closed her fist, she sent an image of herself running into the room.
The shotgun blast came almost instantly, tearing into her doppelganger and sending her crashing into a wardrobe. Rising from his hiding spot, Lobo pumped his gun and shot again.
Emerald flinched. The sight being all a product of her own mind didn't make it any less grisly.
As Lobo exhaled and lowered his gun, Mercury dashed into the room, closing the distance in a second. He smashed Lobo's nose with his elbow, and a brief struggle ensued as they grappled for the shotgun. Mercury prevailed, wresting the gun from Lobo's grasp and smashing the side of his head with it.
The Jackal's second-in-command crumbled to the floor, eyes rolling into the back of his head.
Emerald walked into the room, each step alarmingly loud in the silence that fell.
"I'll admit, that didn't go as smoothly as I was planning," she said.
Mercury released a loud, drawn-out sigh. "When does it ever?"
They stood to either side of the unconscious man, Mercury with the shotgun resting on his shoulder, while Emerald felt her heart beat quicker by the second.
"Malachite wanted to send these assholes a message, right?" Mercury said. His foot tapped on the carpeted floor over and over, producing a dull thud-thud-thud that sent tremors up Emerald's spine. "Looking around, I'd say, message delivered."
Emerald was surprised to hear him say that. Even more surprised that she almost jumped to agree.
"Somehow, I don't think she'd be happy with that. She was very specific about what she wanted."
"So we finish him off," Mercury said. "If that's your call."
"Why does it have to be my call?" Emerald said, the words barely making it out of her throat..
"You're the one who insisted this was so important, so yeah, Emerald, it is your call," Mercury retorted, raising his voice for a moment before lowering it again. "You also said we could walk away any time. But I'm just following your lead."
By all metrics, it wasn't that hard of a decision. Emerald certainly wouldn't be losing any sleep over killing someone like Lobo – she had done worse things to far better people. In a way, she would be doing him a mercy. He was in Malachite's sights now, and if they didn't off him today, whatever fate she visited upon him wouldn't be half as clean.
Still, she hesitated. When it came down to it, this wasn't a question of morality, or of getting her hands dirty. Because for as blind as he was, Mercury was right about one thing. One job for Malachite meant a dozen more in the future, each one compromising them more and more, until they were so deep in the muck that there was no getting out anymore. Not without losing something for it.
Right now, they were still relatively clean. They could walk away.
The creak of a floorboard snapped Emerald from her thoughts. She turned around and saw the woman she had clashed with before, standing in the hallway just past the doorway. Her shoulder was bent at an unnatural angle, the left side of her face bruised and bloodied. A blade flashed in her hand, her eyes burning with hatred.
She screamed hoarsely and ran at Emerald.
The shotgun went off, and every other noise disappeared, drowned out by the ringing in Emerald's ears.
She bent over, gasping. A glance upward revealed the walls and floor painted in crimson, entrails sliding down the furniture. Emerald turned away, bile rising up her throat.
"I had that," she wheezed.
Beside her, Mercury was lowering the gun. He said something to her she couldn't make out, but he looked at her in a way he never had before. Angry, sure. But different.
He tossed away the shotgun, and it bounced across the bed and landed on the floor near the gore.
"Clock's ticking, Em," she heard him say as the ringing faded. "What's the call?"
Standing up straight once again, Emerald brushed her cheek with the back of her hand. Blood stained her skin, reminding her of a cold night a long time ago, half the world away.
Somehow, that was just the clarity she needed.
Messy as this had gotten, it wasn't too late to turn back. But deep down, she knew that was never an option. Walking away from Malachite meant leaving Haven, never to return, and Emerald couldn't do that. Not when she was so close.
"We finish the job," she croaked.
Mercury nodded gravely and walked back to the unconscious Lobo. He lifted his foot and held it above the man's head.
"Sure," he said. " What's one more body?"
He brought his foot down.
Malachite's bar was filled with the usual types – thugs and drunks and vagabonds, not to mention the unfortunately more-than-occasional kid roped into the Haven criminal underground. Qrow recognized several on sight, and they recognized him back.
Not pleasant.
He could feel Winter tensing behind him as they entered the establishment, while Clover scanned the crowd with an easy sort of curiosity.
"I should have known this would be your idea of gathering intel," Winter said.
That was the type of remark he should probably ignore, but how could he, when she was scrunching her forehead into that trademark righteous frown of hers.
"If you're uncomfortable, you could always wait outside with the street urchins," he told her. "I'm sure they could use someone to teach them prim and proper manners."
"Tempting," she answered dryly, "but someone ought to accompany you, if only to make sure everything stays above-board."
"Don't you worry about that. I'm the king of above-board."
He stashed away the fact that Winter apparently didn't trust Clover with the duty of babysitting him. Maybe it was just the pathological need to be on top of things she had inherited from her boss – maybe there was more going on between those two. Something to dig into later.
The bartender recognized Qrow as he made his way over, his eyes going wide for just a second before he released a sigh so monumental, it was heard even over the commotion around him.
"Seeing the lady of the house," Qrow said, rapping his knuckles on the counter. "That going to be an issue?"
The bartender pursed his lips and was silent for a few seconds, and Qrow wasn't so sure that he was measuring his options as much as he was buckling under the weight of a very tiring day. "You know the way. Door behind me."
"Appreciate ya, Tom."
He considered swiping a bottle off the shelf on the way, but Qrow figured he ought to act a littleprofessionally.
"If you ask me, I think it's ingenious," Clover said as they walked down the hallway. "Unsavory, maybe, but sometimes when dealing with the criminal element, you have to be willing to rub elbows with it, if only momentarily."
Qrow didn't really know how to feel about that statement. On one hand, the criminal element was the kind of turn of phrase that awakened in him an urge to find the nearest cop and toss them off a bridge – never mind the fact that Qrow was sort-of very much a cop himself. On the other hand, it was nice to have someone firmly on his side of the court while Winter was being her prickly self.
The handsome face didn't hurt, either.
"I'm not so naive as to reject that notion, Agent Ebi," Winter said. "What concerns me is how quickly the Director decided on this course of action."
"You disagree with it?" Clover asked.
"I only reason that a man of his resources and expertise should be capable of coming up with a method to track down our targets that does not involve meeting with one of Mistral's most notorious crime lords," Winter said. "Some might worry he is letting his eagerness get in the way of sensible practices."
Qrow wished he had swiped that bottle after all.
"You know, Schnee, there's nothing more irritating than a party-pooper who had nothing better to contribute. You got a brilliant idea of your own, I'm all ears."
"I am not in charge of this mission," Winter said, her chin raised so high it was a wonder it didn't touch the ceiling. "Rest assured, I will go along with your plans, however ill-conceived they may be. As far as my elbows are concerned, I think I shall keep them to myself."
Qrow rolled his eyes. "They're too bony anyway."
He was spared any further gripes from Her Highness as they reached the end of the hallway. Qrow opened the door and walked into the Den.
Malachite sat behind her desk, and she wore a perfectly surprised expression on her face at the sight of him. Too perfect. That, coupled with the fact that there were about a dozen of her people posted about the room, no kids in sight, tipped him off that a little spider might have whispered in her ear that she was about to get an unexpected guest.
Well, so be it. Caught off guard or not, she wasn't getting out of his talons.
"Agent Branwen!" Malachite clapped her hands. "Or should I say, Director Branwen? You've been climbing up in the world, haven't you?"
Qrow grunted as he dragged back a chair and sat. "Never a pleasure, Malachite."
"Now, now, just because you're wearing a larger hat, doesn't mean you get to be impolite with me. I still remember when you were a scrap of a thing," Malachite said, wagging a finger at him. "But I'll forgive your manners just this once. I can't help it, I've always had a soft spot for you, dear. How is your sister?"
"Off somewhere doing something deathly important, I'm sure," Qrow said. "I can give her a call if you wanna meet."
Malachite grinned. "I appreciate the offer, but I think I'll pass."
Her gaze went to Winter and Clover standing behind him, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly.
"And who are your friends? Not local, by the looks of them."
"Borrowed from someone you don't want to catch the attention of, and that's all you need to know about them," Qrow said. "I'm going to ask you some questions, and you'll want to be straight-forward with me. Are you going to make this difficult?"
"Agent Branwen, have I ever been difficult with you?"
Qrow did his best not to glower at that. If he couldn't keep his cool at this mild act of evasion, he'd never get through this conversation.
"I'm looking for a pair of fugitives seen in the city recently," he said. "I'm sure you've met them before. Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black."
It was a matter of instants, but Qrow saw the flash of realization and concern in Malachite's eyes, before she leaned back on her chair, interlacing her fingers over her desk.
"Yes, those two. I've met them. Black, only on occasion, but Sustrai? That one, I'm very familiar with," she said. "I took her under my wing, you know. Fed her, protected her, put a roof over her head. She was never very grateful to me, though. But when are children ever grateful?"
"You were the fairy godmother she needed, I'm sure." Qrow crossed his arms. "Have you met them recently?"
"Until you started talking, I was under the impression that they were in your custody, so I'm afraid I haven't. This claim you make that they've been seen in Haven, that's the first I'm hearing of it."
"I'm sure one of your little spiders has seen them hanging around. Or do you want to tell me you don't have eyes all over the city?"
"Oh, my children keep me apprised of all sorts of things. But nothing about the individuals you're looking for." Malachite pouted. "I do wish I could be of more help to you."
Qrow sighed. "If I go around asking your people, are they going to give me the same answer?"
"I should hope so. I've tried to instill a sense of honesty in them."
"I could do that," Qrow said. "Or I could take you into custody, hold you until you tell me the truth, and depending on how much of my time you waste, I might decide not to toss you into a cell and throw away the key."
He could feel Winter glaring at the back of his neck, but he kept his attention solely on Malachite. The way she stared at him, the tip of her lips curving ever so slightly in a crooked smile, just made him want to get this over with already.
"That's a bold statement, Branwen, I'll give you that. You were always one for bluster. But I don't think you've thought this through."
"Haven't I? Do tell."
"Well, for one, you have no grounds on which to arrest me outside of some misguided belief that I somehow know and am withholding the whereabouts of a couple of street rats you misplaced," Malachite said. "That should be enough to dissuade you. Failing that, I would be remiss not to add that surely you have much more urgent matters to occupy yourself with. Why, it seems that every week the world is falling apart around us just a little bit faster. I'm doing my part in keeping it together. And you?"
"That's a riot." Qrow scoffed. "Explain to me exactly how you're helping."
"If you've failed to notice, Haven is still reeling from Cinder Fall's little tantrum. Our kind council, oh, they're working tirelessly to repair things, but they can only do so much. People are bound to fall through the cracks." Malachite put a hand to her chest. "Lucky for them, I am there to catch them in my webbing and get them back on their feet. That's my function, Agent Branwen, and so it was long before you came into this world, and so it will be for as long as I live and breathe."
Qrow almost laughed.
"You're a parasite, Malachite," he said. "You don't save people. You ensnare them, and you poison them, and you chew them for all they're worth, and then you spit them out. Kids. And I'm done letting it happen."
Malachite yawned. "We've danced this dance before, little bird. Do what you must, but we both know who's going to bow out first."
Qrow looked into her eyes, his mind racing with how to approach this at a different angle, how to pull back, how to make this work, but he knew she wasn't going to cave. He knew he had to give up.
Sometime during the conversation, he'd buried his hands inside his coat. His fingers curled around the cane in his pocket – Ozpin's cane – and suddenly he was sitting up again, teeth grinding and shoulders burning.
"You're right," he said. "I have to save the world every day, and you're so fucking insignificant compared to that, it's pathetic. But guess what? The guy who cared about the big picture took a walk three months ago, and he's not coming back anytime soon. I'm here instead, and believe me, I've soured on that philosophy."
He leaned forward.
"So here's the deal – you've just made it to the top of my list, and you had better give me a damn good reason to knock you down a couple spots, that way you'll have a little more time to get your shit together before I come for you. Got it?"
Malachite went silent, and the whole room with her. He watched her face twist as she weighed her options, for once the mask falling away, and he didn't know himself if he wanted her to yield or keep resisting.
"Very well," she said, clearing her throat after what felt like ages. "I might have heard some rumors about those two. Nothing concrete, mind you, but I can point you in the right direction."
Qrow sat back and smiled.
"See? That wasn't so hard," he said. "But I still think you can do better than that. Can't you, Little Miss?"
Malachite fanned herself and sighed. "Yes, I suppose I can. And now that I think about it, if I'm to be honest, I would rather like my city to be rid of those pests. They are a serious danger, and it's only a matter of time before they do some real damage. So I will tell you exactly where you can find them."
She lowered her fan, beady eyes staring at him over the edge of it.
"And just so you'll believe me when I say I'm looking out for the good of Haven, and that I'm worth keeping around, I'll throw in a bonus. I'll tell you who they've been looking for."
Qrow couldn't see her lips behind the fan, but he could tell she was smiling. Whether there was any mirth in it, that was another story. Either way, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.
He leaned forward.
"Talk."