Chapter 39 – Argus and Haven – A Little R&R

Cover Art by Mi Chumi

Chapter Beta: ZoroEpsilon (for which I am grateful)

Cinder had been dropped off Wednesday evening at Sarah Tourmaline's house with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. She'd never had a proper sleepover before. And the fact that both her guardians were away on 'important business' made her a little nervous. Even Sophia, who would have done as a backup as far as she was concerned, was away with Garek.

But in the end, the first night went fine. She definitely missed her family, especially in the morning, but she had to admit that Sarah's family was pretty cool too.

Her dad Mavros was gruff and looked kinda intimidating, but treated Cinder pretty much like an extra kid of his for the evening. And Sarah's mom Aphrodite nearly smothered her with attention. Neither of them acted anything like Argent's mom, which was a relief.

And on top of that, she'd learned something that really surprised her that night about Sarah. They'd been sitting on Sarah's bed. It was getting close to actual bedtime, and they'd been talking nearly nonstop for almost an hour, when Sarah suddenly got really quiet. "Hey Cinder, we're besties, right?"

Cinder blinked. She'd never really thought about putting a name to it. Sarah was… Sarah. The Grimmslayers were her friends. Her real friends. The first ones she'd really had. Well, Argent was something more than just that. Argent was special.

But Sarah was special, too. Just in a different way. "Yeah. Yeah, we are." Cinder smiled. Saying it out loud made her feel warm inside.

Sarah beamed at her, and grabbed her friend's hand. "I… want to tell you something. Something that most people don't know."

Oh…wow. Bestie secrets. "Okay. Hit me."

"I'm… not human," Sarah said. Cinder frowned a little, tilting her head. "I'm a faunus, like your dad. Like Sophia." Cinder had long since stopped correcting the Grimmslayers for calling Garek and Selene her mom and dad, even though it wasn't technically correct. It felt true anyway. Regardless, she looked her friend up and down, and Sarah answered the question that wasn't asked out loud. "It's not obvious. Its… easier for faunus if you can just fit in. If people can assume you're human."

"Oh…" Cinder frowned. She knew there were bigots out there. That some places had signs that said "no animals allowed." Garek never had to put up with bigots, Cinder mused, but then reconsidered. No that's not true. She'd seen him get looks, and heard comments that made her mad. And there were businesses he avoided. Was that because he didn't want to go there, or because they didn't want him there?

What would life be like for him if Garek wasn't a Huntsman?

"Yeah. But… I... Your dad is a faunus," Sarah said. "And you're my best friend. So, I… I can trust you."

Cinder nodded sharply, eyes bright. "Yeah. I won't say anything."

"And you won't treat me different."

"Naw. You'll always be my favorite butthead," Cinder smirked.

Sarah snorted. "Settle down, Cindy."

That got a scowl. "Don't call me that. I hate that nickname."

"Then don't call me a butthead." Sarah shoved her shoulder playfully.

"Pffft. Fine! So… whatcha got?" It wasn't anything obvious. That much was clear.

Sarah held out her hand, tentatively. "Feel my hand." Cinder reached out and ran her fingers over the palm and fingers. Nothing but smooth skin. " Now do it again."

Cinder repeated the gesture, and paused. The texture was… strange. It was a little… sticky? Prickly? It was as if the surface was kinda bristly and tacky at the same time. "Whoah."

Sarah grinned. "Yeah, I can use it to help me climb. Makes my hands really sticky. Mom says there's some gecko or lizard traits or something in our lineage."

"That's sooooo cool." Cinder smiled at her friend, then looked thoughtful. "It sucks that you can't use it all the time."

"Yeah. That's just how it is."

"It shouldn't be." Cinder said, frowning. "So your mom…"

"Yeah. Her too. She can't climb walls like me, but she can regrow fingers. Found out when she was a kid and got her thumb cut off. Freaked gramma and granpa out when it stopped bleeding after a few seconds, and started regrowing. Took a few days to come back completely." Sarah giggled pantomiming a thumb sprouting with a shooop sound. Cinder made a face as if it was both gross and cool at the same time. "Thankfully we haven't had to figure out whether she can regrow a whole arm or anything."

That was… freaky and kinda awesome. Cinder chewed on all that Sarah had just told her. "Gonna tell Argent and Laurel?"

"Been thinking about it." Sarah gave Cinder a sideways look. "You know, tomorrow is Friday."

"Yeah?"

"I was thinking about asking my parents if we could invite the others over for a sleepover, since you're stuck here."

Cinder's eyes widened.

"Alright, don't get too excited. I know what you're thinking! You're thinking about getting Argent in for some snuggle time."

"Jerk!" Cinder grabbed a pillow and hit Sarah with it.

"Try to deny it! Not that there's anything wrong with that." Sarah laughed. "I'll ask mom in the morning." She thought. "Maybe Aunt Razz can stay with us over the weekend, so Argent's mom won't be such a butt."

Cinder cackled at that. They still got a little bit of a kick out of the way they'd run circles around Argent's mom.

"You know, Sarah, you really are the best."

"Dang right."

Meanwhile, back in Haven, Garek had found that playing straight man to a very drunk Lionheart was more difficult than he'd imagined.

The sheer volume of alcohol that the lion faunus could consume and still remain vertical was impressive and horrifying. And gods did he talk.

"Gark…"

"Yeah Leo."

"M'not like thissssh…."

"I believe you, Leo."

"Nahgonna stab me?"

"No Leo. I'm not gonna stab you."

"Thasgood." Lionheart lifted his head from the table. Well, he'd been mostly vertical. "S'been hard, Gar'k. Hard… weight off th'world."

"I hear ya, Leo."

Several times Garek had suggested they see Leo back to his private quarters, but each time he'd instead demanded another round… or another bottle.

The night hadn't been a total loss, though. They'd wrangled a signed contract for them to do the security assessment of Haven's systems out of him before he'd gotten too plowed to read text. Which was good since Sophia and Crys had already been there doing some initial sweeps for listening and recording devices, just to be safe.

And he'd learned a few things. In between Lionheart's protestations that Garek was "bess damn student hhheeverrr" and that if he'd had a son he wished he'd been like Garek etc.

For example, Garek had learned that the three people that were in on Lionheart's unfortunate question and answer from Jinn were a young lady named Lily, who Garek heavily suspected was the Spring Maiden, and a Huntress named Raven who had apparently instigated the whole thing because she was upset about something.

"Tookit hard, Garr-reck," Lionheart slurred. "Bothem." He focused blearily. "Bolted. R-U-N-D-O-F-F" Lionheart frowned, counting off letters on his fingers, and then shook his head. "But nah-me. Nowhere t'run for Leo the Lion," he mourned, then seemed to remember. "I can… I can… go…."

"Yeah Leo, but we can talk about all that tomorrow, after you've sobered up."

"Righ-tuh. Righ-tuh." The big man grinned. "Gonna be tomorrorrorrs."

"Yep Leo. Gonna be a lot of tomorrorrs."

Gods, the man was a wreck. He hoped that letting him drink it out, and then the realization that the pressure was off, would turn Leo into the powerhouse they hoped he could be.

But right now, Lionheart was just pathetic, unless you were impressed by his drinking abilities.

It was close to three in the morning before Leo finally announced he was ready for bed. By then, Garek was half drunk too, despite his best efforts. And he and Reggie were both exhausted and surly. Leo was able to walk out under his own power, the bastard, even though he wouldn't know a straight line if you strapped a board to his back. They found Sophia and Crys sleeping in the bullhead, and those two were less than pleased with being woken up. Sophia groggily informed them that Leo's office had a rudimentary audio bug that she'd caused to short out, and his private chambers were clean.

They got Lionheart into his apartment, and then all crashed in guest rooms for the remainder of the morning, too exhausted to fly back down to the city. Garek learned, to his horror, that Reggie snored.

Leonardo Lionheart awoke on Thursday morning with a splitting headache. It was a monstrous, throbbing, bastard of a headache. He'd not felt this massively hung over in years.

And then the reason why crashed down on him.

Gods… I…. He looked around his room with wide eyes. I'm… okay. That was right. He'd made a deal. And Hazel Rainart… that meant Salem… had accepted that he was out of reach.

Free.

Suddenly the hangover didn't hurt quite so much. Though his mouth still felt like a family of squirrels had bedded down there for the night.

"Ugh." He got up, realizing he'd slept in his clothes, and staggered to the medicine cabinet for some painkillers and water.

And then he stared in the mirror for a while, hands braced on either side of the sink.

The face that stared back looked like shit.

But what it didn't look like, was defeated. The eyes were bloodshot, but they weren't haunted. His face was haggard, but it wasn't pale with fear.

Gods…

Leo thought back on the evening spent at the Cauldron. He had… talked a lot. He realized that. And he remembered most of what he'd said. And Garek… Garek had mostly just humored him. Barely reacted to things that… anyone else would have been shocked to learn.

Leonardo Lionheart, still staring in the mirror, began to come to terms with the fact that he now had an ally. Hell, he had a confidant. And one that had gotten results where Leo hadn't thought anything could be done. The fact that he'd been on the verge of selling his soul filled him with shame, and a sort of distant anger.

He stared in the mirror some more, and words began to form in the back of his mind. Words that he wanted to say out loud.

Words he wanted to say very very badly.

"Fuck… fuck you, Salem." He whispered almost silently, and couldn't help but flinch. And that made him angrier. "No. No. Fuck you, Salem," he managed slightly louder. "Fuck you, and your fucking Agents," he hissed. Gods that felt good. He saw his eyes narrow in the reflection, and a savage grin spread across his face. "And fuck you, Oz, for keeping secrets from me and leaving me out to dry."

He straightened and nodded at his reflection. "Gonna be a new day. Gonna be a good day."

He showered and dressed. He picked out a nice outfit. A cream dress shirt with a brown suede vest and comfortable dark green trousers. He tucked his pocket watch into the front pocket and patted it. Not that it would do anyone any good at the moment, since Lily was gods-knew-where.

He felt ready to take on the day. Hell, he felt ready to take on the year.

But something nagged at him.

He was just getting ready to exit his quarters, when there was a knock on the door.

There was a moment, a brief moment, when he tensed. And then he laughed at himself. It was a rich, hearty laugh. "Bah. Who is it?" He yelled.

"Headmaster, it's Vermillion."

Ah Mrs. Vermillion. His right-hand woman at Haven. She'd carried the school, he suddenly realized, these past months. When he'd been too morose to put on a front, she'd covered for him. She'd tried, several times, to find out what was wrong, and he'd pushed her away.

"Ah, Mrs. Vermillion. Do come in!" He boomed. The door opened tentatively, and the Professor opened the door, standing just at the threshold. She was dressed for work, as usual. Her short black hair straight and brushed, framing her tanned face. Her brown eyes had a tentative, concerned expression. He frowned. "Is everything okay? You look worried."

She blinked. "You… are you alright, Headmaster?"

"Me?" He laughed again and grinned at her. "Why I feel fantastic! Little hung over, but what hey?"

Professor Vermillion looked confused for a moment, then seemed to realize something. "Yessir. You were out late last night."

"Oh yes indeed I was, Professor. An old student of ours. Do you remember young Mr. Grae?" She nodded. "He came by , wanting to catch up, and we went for an evening out at the Cauldron." He chuckled. "Might have stayed up later than intended."

"Ah… yes… and you may have... perhaps… had more to drink than you intended?"

He blinked. "Why… I suppose I might have. Why?

She finally moved, coming closer to him and pulling out her scroll to show the screen to him.

He realized two things.

First, that it was nearly noon, and she was here and not teaching students.

Secondly, that the reason for the first little fact was the rather rambling message that he had apparently, he realized with gradually dawning horror, sent out at two o'clock in the morning. To the entire study body and staff.

FROM: HEADMASTER LIONHEART

TO: GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION

SUBJECT: STUDENTT HOLLIDAY

BODY: ALLSTUDENTS NO CLASSES REST OF WEAK. EAT DRINK && BE MERRY FOR IT IS A TIME OF CELEBRATION. SEE U ALL MONDAY!111!

"I… sent this…"

"Yessir, I…" she coughed. "The notification and resulting reply messages woke me quite early, and I called your scroll. You were rather difficult to follow," she gave him a look, "but you made it clear to me that you did send the message, and fully expected me to enforce it."

"Oh… oh dear…" He shook himself. "Well, can't be helped, Vermillion. Can't be helped." He looked at her, and remembered all the times she'd pulled more than her weight. "Why don't you take the day off, too. Go see the sights."

Her brown eyes widened. "Are you… sure, Headmaster?"

"Right as rain, Professor. Right. As. Rain." He patted her on the shoulder, and began whistling as he walked past her and into the hall, leaving her to follow in his wake, bemused.

Surely the students would survive a long weekend.

Yes indeed. Things were looking up.

Friday when Cinder and Sarah exited Sanctum, Cinder received another surprise.

"Rhodes!?" Cinder squeaked as they exited to find the man leaning against a lamp post near the trolley stop. She ran up to him and tackle-hugged him, but he barely budged.

"Hey kiddo!" He said, laughing and squeezing her back.

She pulled away just far enough to see his face. "What are you doing here?!"

"Well, since Selene had to make that unscheduled business trip, and Garek is playing babysitter in Haven, a little bird suggested it might be nice for me to come house-sit for a bit." He turned to the other girl. "Hiya Sarah, she been behaving herself?"

Sarah just laughed. "Kinda." She'd developed a little bit of a hero-worship complex for the rakish huntsman, herself.

Cinder looked torn. "But… we were supposed to…"

"…have a sleepover, I heard. And that's still on. But this is the first time both of them have been out of town at the same time. They wanted you to know you'd have a support network on hand."

Oh.. that was… really nice.

"So I'm going to hang with you guys a little during the day, and then crash back at Garek and Selene's place in the evenings. Don't mind me."

Besides, there's a couple of ladies I've been trying to charm, Rhodes mused. He'd finally given up on Argent's mom. That lady was wound up way too tight. Single moms tended to be a little more cautious about their relationships. He didn't take it personally.

Though maybe he should have. Raechel had made it clear she thought he was a bit of a slut.

She wasn't completely wrong, he chuckled to himself. He did fancy himself a bit of a ladies' man. And he did enjoy the thrill of the chase.

As he drove them to Sarah's house, Rhodes took the opportunity to see how things were going. "So kiddo, how is Sanctum treating you so far?"

"Awesome, Rhodes. Mrs. Plum is teaching me how to control my Semblance, and Mrs. Regalia…"

"That's my aunt!" Sarah added.

"Right, that's Sarah's aunt. She's teaching us combat."

"Nice. So, you're learning how to use Scorching Caress, eh? Want to give me a demonstration later?"

Cinder suddenly looked uncomfortable. "I'm not supposed to… oh wait… you're a Huntsman, so I can use it if you're there."

Huh. "Oh, is that the rule?"

"Yeah. Until they give me permission, I'm not allowed to use it around other people unless there's a licensed Huntsman to supervise."

Rhodes frowned. "Wow… that's… not normal. So they're that careful about it?"

"Yeah… Mrs. Regalia says that if I'm not careful, I might accidentally project heat. She says it's hot enough to… superheat the air?" She looked a little uncomfortable. "So far, we haven't found anything that I can't melt through."

Raised an eyebrow. "Impressive." He glanced in the mirror and saw Sarah nodding in appreciation too. She apparently wasn't intimidated by Cinder's Semblance, so that was good.

"It will be, when I can actually control it," she huffed. "They're teaching me how adjust how fast I pour heat in, and to hold a temperature."

"That sounds useful."

"Yeah. Mrs. Regalia says that I should be able to combine it with my bow. Like… I should be able to make the arrowheads super hot, but without melting them, and then shoot them at Grimm."

Rhodes whistled.

"And then later, I might be able to just throw fire at them."

"Seriously?" Sarah squeaked. That would be soooo coooool!"

"Maybe, she said."

"Still freaking awesome," Sarah sighed. "I wish I had my Semblance."

"It's a pain in the butt, Sarah. I almost lost Argent over it."

"You saved our butts with it. Argent's mom was being a butthead."

"Alright girls, ease up on Argent's mom." But yeah, she's still a butthead, Rhodes agreed silently.

"Okay. Besides we're almost here." Sarah said.

They'd pulled up in front of a three-story townhouse, in the standard Argesian style, and he parked at the curb, and followed the girls through the door.

"Mom! Dad! Were home! I brought a visitor!" Sarah yelled as they entered.

Rhodes had met the Tourmalines at Years End, two months ago, and decided they were decent people. The fact that her dad Mavros was a cop made him a little wary, mostly out of reflex due to Cinder's past and their early fears of her getting tagged as a runaway. But those days were long past.

Over the next hour and a beer, he revised his opinion to really liking them. Sarah's father, Mavros, was a no-nonsense guy in his thirties, built like a tank. He had that look in his eyes that told you he'd seen some shit, and probably recognized the same in Rhodes, though for one it was Grimm and the other criminals. Sarah's mom Aphrodite was cool too. He avoided paying undue attention to her, really, on the off chance the dad was the super jealous type.

And then she walked in, with Laurel in tow. He recognized her from Years End too.

Pinkish-reddish hair in a utilitarian bun. Umber eyes. Tanned skin. She walked into a room with the solid assurance of a competent Huntress and a teacher of others. It was pretty hot frankly.

Raspberry Regalia him an appraising look. "Rhodes. We meet again." Her voice was softer than he expected.

She rememberrrrrss me.

Uh that could go either way.

"Regalia."

"My friends call me Razz."

His brows rose. Promising.

Sarah's mom, Aphrodite, interjected. "Laurel, why don't you join the girls, they're playing in the game room upstairs."

"Awesome!" She crowed, and headed upstairs as the Sanctum Combat Instructor grabbed a free seat at the table.

"Want a beer, Razz?"

"Love one."

"So…" Rhodes opened as Aphrodite fetched a bottle for her, "Cinder tells me she's really enjoying Sanctum."

Raspberry nodded. "She seems to be. I've kept an eye out for any issues."

Rhodes surprise shown on his face. "Oh?"

She glanced meaningfully at Sarah's parents, one seated, the other returning with a bottle. "Uh, Rhodes, you're on the list of approved consults. You okay with sharing in front of them?"

Huh. Well… Shit how bad can it be? "Sure."

"Alright then. Cinder has an extremely powerful Semblance. Among the most potentially damaging that I've ever seen, and it's most likely to… self-express… if she's under extreme emotional or physical pressure. So, yes, we have taken pains to ensure that she isn't being bullied while we work to teach her how both to control Scorching Caress, and how to control her desire to use it."

Rhodes gave a low whistle.

"I read the police report." Mavros volunteered, drawing their attention, and was immediately scolded by his wife. He gave her a look and she frowned. "Well, she was going to be hanging out with our daughter. Hell, she saved our daughter from those bastards. I wanted to make sure what I was dealing with." He looked at Rhodes squarely. "Cinder's a kid, carrying around a loaded weapon that she can't put down. I understand what that would entail." He raised his hands. "That doesn't mean we lock her in a cell. But if I said it didn't concern me, I'd be lying." He gave Rhodes a sympathetic look. "But Sarah could wake up tomorrow in the same situation. I'll be damned if I'd sit by and let other parents hide their kids from mine, so I'd be a hypocrite if I tried to do it. It's a dangerous world out there. Can't protect your kids from everything." He tipped his beer toward his sister. "Right Razz?"

She nodded. "Exactly." Rhodes' opinion of the family jumped up a few hundred points. "So yes. We've been spending extra time and energy on Cinder. She's improving rapidly. And she's got an extremely good attitude, as long as you explain the reasoning behind your orders."

"What?!" Rhodes exclaimed, with eyes wide.

"Oh, is that a new phenomenon for her?"

"Damn right it is." Rhodes thought back. "Before Garek and Selene took her in… she was… well she was in a bad place. Basically an indentured servant. Terrified of her own shadow. Expected punishment for any little mistake, and willing to do whatever I told her."

Mavros' eyes narrowed. "Tell me that wasn't in Argus."

"It wasn't."

"Good."

"What happened to her former… employers?" Razz asked carefully.

"Nothing physical, but we got her out of that situation, and I doubt they're happy about it." His expression showed zero sympathy for them.

"Well, it appears that she associates blind obedience with that past, then," Razz said, "and she has zero tolerance for that sort of behavior from us."

"Huh… that's… new. I guess. I mean… now that you mention it, Garek and Selene always explain the reasons for their rules to her. I guess she's figured that's how it's supposed to be."

"Apparently so," the teacher drawled. "It's made things challenging time to time, but it's worth the effort. I have high hopes for her."

They were interrupted by the doorbell, and Aphrodite went to answer it. Soon a young girl was heard yelling for her friends as she barreled past, and into the room walked Raechel Reece, Argent's mom.

Sarah's parents greeted her warmly. Raspberry got a respectful handshake.

Rhodes got a nod.

"So, which one of you is tonight's guardian?" Raechel asked suspiciously, looking between Rhodes and Raspberry.

"That would be me," Raspberry said. "Rhodes was just dropping Cinder off and staying to visit for a bit."

"Good."

Hmph, thought Rhodes. Don't gotta be like that.

"And you'll be staying the entire time?" Raechel asked, arms crossed.

"Yes, Raechel. We will honor the terms of your agreement with Cinder's guardians," Mavros piped up. "We aren't going to pull anything behind your back."

Argent's mom sighed. "Look, I know I come across as the bad guy here."

"Don't worry about it," Aphrodite said.

Raechel's fingers dug into her own arms. "I can't help it."

"Raechel," Raspberry reassured her, "I teach combat in a school full of overpowered kids, some of whom have no control over their Aura, little self-control if you stick a weapon in their hands, and a few rather destructive Semblances. Not only am I fully capable of managing Cinder, but I can also assure you that she is among the most disciplined students of her age group. Argent is safe."

"Fine," Raechel huffed, looking down at the floor.

"You going to stick around for a bit?" Sarah's mom asked.

Rhodes wished he could have missed Raechel's glance at him before she answered. "No… I've got things to do."

"Too bad. We were thinking about playing cards while the girls enjoyed themselves."

"Where will the girls be?"

Raspberry sighed. "One stairway away. But if you insist, I'll go sit in Cinder's lap." Razz said with an amazingly neutral tone. Rhodes had to work to keep from spitting out his beer.

"Dammit. I'm not… Fine. I am. Sorry."

The teacher shrugged. "Argent will be fine. You have my word."

Not good enough. Raechel's eyes said, but she just let her shoulders slump. "Right. Well, I'll be back tomorrow to pick her up."

Aphrodite walked her out.

Mavros gave a low whistle. "You'd think after three months she'd have loosened up a little. You could crack walnuts with that."

"I've had parents like that about their own kids. It takes them years to come to terms with that, much less someone else's. So I'm not surprised." Razz said, then looked at Rhodes. "She doesn't like you at all, does she?"

"Ehhhh, I might have hit on her a few times when she was already angry about Cinder and Argent." Mavros coughed and spluttered. Raspberry just gave him an incredulous look. "What? Did I say it was a good idea? I was mostly just playing around."

Raspberry snorted. "Playing around by flirting with a single mom? Well… bravery isn't always brainy, is it?"

"Hey…"

Mavros laughed. "You two are gonna get along like a house afire. Just make sure it isn't our house you burn down."

Raspberry guffawed at that, and eyed Rhodes up and down. "Care for a spar after dinner? We can invite the girls to watch me beat your ass into the ground."

"Hawt," Rhodes leered, and took a swig of his beer.

"One sec." Mavros held up a hand. "You," he pointed to Raspberry, "are not allowed to leave the property." Then he pointed to Rhodes. "And you are not staying overnight in her room, we have to set a good example for the kids."

Rhodes had the audacity to look shocked, considering his previous admission.

"You ruin everything, little brother," Raspberry drawled, but it was hard to tell whether she was serious.

"I know my sister and her evil evil ways."

"Do… do I get a vote here?" Rhodes asked.

"Before or after I beat your ass?"

"Both."

"Oh," Mavros grinned. "I'm getting video of this."

Rhodes considered himself no slouch as a Huntsman.

The cold February air bit as Huntsman and Huntress faced each other.

"Dinner and a fight?!" Laurel yelled. "Best sleepover ever!"

Cinder was very very very conflicted. On the one hand… Rhodes. Rhodes was like… a god to her. He'd been her first flame of hope in a very dark place. He'd first taught her to fight, provided her with her first weapon, and given her hope of a life outside of pain. He'd brought Garek and Selene into her life and with that, freedom and love and happiness. She totally had to cheer for him!

And then there was Mrs. Regalia. She was her teacher now, and a person she'd grown to trust completely over the last two months. Mrs. Regalia was a rock. She couldn't be rattled, and she was tough as nails.

Beat his butt, Auntie Razz!" Sarah yelled.

Discretion tempered pure loyalty. "Don't lose Rhodes!" Cinder yelled.

"Is that seriously the best cheerleading I'm gonna get?" Rhodes complained as he squared up.

"Sounds like we have some conflicts of interest," Sarah's mom laughed.

Rhodes had both maces out, blades deployed. He gave them a few practice twirls. Raspberry paced him, a whip in one hand and a lepip in the other.

"Before you two get going, remember we have neighbors," Mavros warned. "No explosions. No fireballs. No… stuff that'll have them calling my buddies down at the precinct. Got it?"

"Yes Officer Tourmaline," Raspberry drawled.

And Rhodes charged.

Frankly, it was the smart move. She had a weapon with three times the reach of his. He was built and trained for close-quarters combat. If he could get in her guard, he knew he could neutralize the ranged advantage of her whip.

Rhodes had spent most of his life fighting Grimm and criminals, a very few Aura users among them. Rasp had ten years' experience on him, and half of that was probably sparring with other Huntsmen or Huntsmen in training. Sure, a bunch of those were kids. But in some ways that required her to be even more controlled and skilled in her spars, to avoid accidentally hurting one of mother's little fucking darlings.

She used the lepip as both club and shield, blocking one mace and sidestepping the other. And then he discovered to his horror that she'd managed to loop her whip around the first mace and nearly yanked it out of his hand. He held on, but it was a surprise he hadn't wanted.

He adjusted his footing and yanked, expecting his larger mass to pull her off-balance, and then flew backward when she somehow unlooped the whip and released his weapon instead. Rhodes went down backward and rolled gracefully, just missing a whip crack where he'd been a moment ago and leaping back to his feet.

"Whooo! Go Razz!" Argent yelled.

"Traitor!" Cinder cried, and Argent gave her a dimpled smile. "Fine. Don't die Rhodes!"

"GODSDAMMIT CINDER!" He complained as the rest of the audience laughed.

They circled warily, Raspberry setting up a simple pattern with the whip that would allow her to create interference if he charged, or with a snap grab onto an arm, leg, neck, or mace.

I gotta get a ranged option, Rhodes grumbled to himself.

After about ten minutes he realized that she was going to slowly wear him down unless he got inside her reach and stayed there. So he charged in again, and she'd somehow sidestepped him and cracked her whip behind her so that it wrapped around him, pinning his maces together, and then she'd spun and managed to loop the whip over his head and pinned the whole damn thing including his arms to his torso and yanked.

"Say uncle," Raspberry leered from above him, knee planted in his chest.

"Auntie," He growled.

She laughed and eased back, helping him untangle. "Smartass."

"That's me." He grinned. She was rather attractive, with her hair slipping out of that bun and her face flushed from the fight.

"Winner! Auntie Raspberry!" Sarah crowed.

Rhodes sighed. Maybe I'll get a date out of this later…

Garek and Sophia sat in Lionheart's office. To say the atmosphere was improved since the last time Garek had perched in the comfortable chair across from Lionheart's desk would be a massive understatement.

"I'd offer you a drink, Garek, but I don't think you'd accept," Lionheart said ruefully.

Garek laughed. "As long as I get to choose the glass and pour it myself, I'll take that drink, Leo. Sophia?"

"None for me. At least one of us has to stay sober."

"Fine. Fine." Leo poured his own, and then accommodated Garek. "I'd like to start by apologizing for both my behavior last night, and the inconvenience it caused you, and for my… earlier activities."

Garek gave him a sympathetic look. "Leo, I've told you, if anyone understands what you were going through, it's us. We know what it's like to be back into a corner."

The older man nodded appreciatively. "I still don't understand exactly how you managed it, but damned if I don't believe you can do exactly what you promised." He shook his head. "It's a miracle."

"It's all about leverage, and we have some. But you'll forgive me if I don't elaborate beyond what we've already told you. At least for now."

"Right. Right. I'll take it." He gave him a careful look. "For now. But I've been burned by people keeping secrets before, Garek."

"Yes. You have. And you have my word, before we ask you to do anything that would put you in further danger, we'll tell you the rest."

He leaned back, considering. "I'll accept that. You've proven trustworthy so far. So… can you give me some more detail on what you do want from me in the near term?"

Garek nodded. "I told you we want to build a Combat School, and eventually convert it to a full-fledged academy, in Menagerie. We've broken ground, but we don't have the funds or the connections to get all the way there."

"And you need me to lend my name and credibility to it."

"In stages. First the Combat School. Talon Combat School. We need funding and teachers, of course. And we need to set it up so that we can quickly convert it to a full Academy with little extra work."

"I see. Yes. So what you really intend is to build an Academy masked as a Combat School."

"Right."

"That will be expensive, and difficult to hide."

"Well, that's where my crazy idea comes in. I was thinking… isn't it time that Haven Academy got some serious upgrades?"

"Well I-" Lionheart's mouth snapped shut, and he stared at Garek for a second, then down at his whiskey. He took a long drink and set the glass down before folding both hands in front of him and leaning forward. "Garek, you are one sneaky bastard, you know that?"

"I've been taking lessons from Sophia's boyfriend." The gazelle faunus next to him snorted. "Do you think it's doable? What I'm thinking is, you raise funds for Haven to get upgraded facilities and equipment, and we donate the old gear openly to the new Combat School. So you're essentially fundraising as a two-for-one deal."

Lionheart was nodding along. "Oh and not only that, Garek. The timing. The timing is perfect. This November Haven is hosting the 35th Vytal Tournament here in Mistral. We can use that to shame the Council and the local elites into opening up their wallets. Can't be seen hosting students from Atlas and Vale… and Vacuo of course, with outdated facilities and equipment." He rubbed his hands together. "Oh no, we can't."

Garek was starting to feel… hopeful? Excited? This might actually work?! The hell?! "So, you'll agree?"

"To help fundraise? Absolutely. And then?"

"I was hoping you'd be willing to recommend someone to run the Combat School, maybe recommend some staff. And of course… once we are ready to out the Academy…."

"You want me as Headmaster," Lionheart felt his smile take on a vindictive edge. "I can think of a few people who I wouldn't mind seeing their expressions when we make that announcement." He sobered for a moment. "Ozpin we can shame into acceptance. He can't be seen publicly opposing the additional Huntsmen that will make possible. But Atlas… Atlas will be the sticking point there. Not just its Headmaster, but the entire Kingdom's elites will see this as Menagerie becoming a potential power. A threat to the 'natural order' they claim they do not believe in and yet enforce as a matter of habit. They are going to be livid and fight us behind the scenes."

"Yeah, that's what I was worried about."

"Well, we will have to decide how to deal with that, but surely that's still several years off." He turned to the other person in front of him. "And what about you, Ms. Keene? I understand why Garek is here. What is your stake in this besides the obvious?" He nodded at her horns.

"Ah, that goes back to our mutual enemy, Mr. Lionheart," and Sophia Keene spent some time explaining the Lone Huntsmen's history with Arthur Watts, and his current activities as they understood them, without going into detail on who else she was working with nor what they were doing specifically. "So you see, we are taking some pains to build redundancy and resilience into the network. I can't exactly build a backup CCT tower in the existing Kingdoms under the noses of their councils."

"But you can get Chieftain Perine Ursulus to go along with it easily."

"Can and did. We are building a 'Relay Tower' in Kuo. Already have the site picked out right next to the 'Combat School'" she made air quotes with her fingers.

"The same subterfuge as with the School itself, I assume?" She gave him a nod. "Brilliant." He sighed. "And is there anything else?"

"Not anytime soon, Leo." Garek said carefully.

Lionheart's eyes narrowed, and he leaned forward, "But you do plan on thwarting Her, that's what you told me."

"Yes. We do."

"And that means you'll need to secure the… four items."

"We haven't decided what we're doing about those, honestly. But I can promise you that before we do make a decision, you'd be fully brought in and given a vote."

"A vote."

"That's how we work, sir." Sophia interjected. "We don't have a boss. It's just us."

"Huh. Well, that's gods-damned refreshing," Lionheart chuckled. "I know I talked last night. You know that we don't have access to the young lady required to access our item."

"That's fine. Like I said, right now, we aren't trying to get you into trouble, Leo. We're trying to get you out of trouble, give you some breathing room to get your feet back under you."

Leo shook his head in disbelief. "Well, I can't say that I am troubled with that. Not at all. But when that time comes, you'll come to me. Understand? I don't know for a fact where Lily is. But I know generally where Raven is. And she might know something." He shook his head sadly. "It's a shame about Raven. She's an incredibly powerful and skilled Huntress."

"I'm guessing she took the answer about as well as you did?"

"Worse, really. She'd lost her partner and teammate to all of it only a few months before and was already in a fragile state. She was, I think, desperate to find some way to avenge her." He examined his drink, turning the glass. "The answer broke her worse than it did me, though she handled it differently. She just cursed Ozpin and the world in general, and went back that Tribe of hers. Last I heard, she and her bandits were the terror of Southern Mistral."

That made Garek uncomfortable. A powerful Huntress leading a bandit tribe? "Uhh… shouldn't we have done something about that?"

Lionheart sighed. "I… may have been influenced by my guilt over what happened to her. And I suspect my own depression clouded my judgment. But really, the Council hasn't exactly pushed us to handle it, and it's properly their decision, not ours. We aren't policemen, as you know, unless we're invited to intervene."

"Ah… true. But still…"

"If you're thinking about bringing Raven Branwen to justice, you'll need a lot more than the force you seem to have here at your disposal, young Garek. She's… something else."

"You'll have to tell me sometime."

"Oh, I will. You'll likely need to talk to her at some point, if I understand where you're going with all this. And I've got a lot of stories to share, Garek. Many." He took another long drink. "Some of them are even happy ones."

Ugh. Leo could go morose fast. "Well, perhaps some new ones to add to it? Did you say you have a long weekend available?" The Headmaster blinked, then nodded. "Well, how would you like to pay a quick visit to the future site of Talon Academy?"

"I'd… I'd like that very much."

[A/N] Another lighter chapter, where we get some more fun time with Rhodes and Cinder and her friends and spent a bit more time with Lionheart. Please do leave a review of chapters you particularly enjoyed.

We're also getting a little more intro to Sarah Tourmaline's family and learn that she is in fact a Faunus (as is her mother). And we get a little more insight into Rhodes being a little bit immature in some ways, which frankly isn't crazy considering how he was portrayed in canon leading up to Cinder having capped him in FoB -5 so in another four years. Luckily for him, it looks like he might have some time to grow up a bit since we don't think Cinder is of a mind to frag him now.

Note that I've changed Raspberry's nickname to Razz because Rasp felt off the more I used it. I'm going back and editing the prior chapters where that was used as well.

And we get some fun time with Lionheart to see what kind of person he is when he's not a miserable bastard who has slowly given ground until he's willing to betray everyone and everything. It will be interesting to see if this is the beginning of a rebuilding of his spine, or just a temporary reprieve for him to buckle later under pressure. We also are seeing some increased hints regarding Raven and the Spring Maiden. Will this timeline see Raven kill Lily out of mercy? That's a verrry good question.

Hold on to your hats folks, cause next chapter gonna be lit!