Mercury swam up out of a sea of unconsciousness, with a headache and bad taste in his mouth, only to realize it was late in the afternoon.
"Finally." Emerald was sitting nearby, arm bandaged.
Mercury felt pretty hoarse in his throat, but he coughed and then said, "What happened? Last thing I remembered was passing out in the tunnels."
"We made it out," Emerald said, sounding relieved. "Somehow, everybody did. Even Hazel is okay--he got poisoned too, but they treated it before he even really felt it, so he's fine."
"Wow, that b-----d landed a hit?" Mercury tried to sit up, which hurt more. "I feel like s---t. What's in that stuff?"
"You're lucky to be alive!" Emerald said. "If a basic antivenom didn't work on that, we'd have been in trouble. I don't even know what that is (Penny tried to explain it), but they had it for regular scorpion stings. It works on you with a little extra dosage."
"Wait, this is Shade, isn't it?" Mercury realized. "Oh...crap... Did you tell them what happened?"
"All they know is that Tyrian stung you." Emerald rubbed her arm. "I really don't think they need to know the rest."
"Are you kidding? They're going to find out," Mercury said. "And you'll get in trouble for covering for it. Don't do me any favors. I can take whatever they dish out."
Emerald sighed. "Look, Merc, they've been talking. Shine and Wally are saying that we don't have time to recuperate here that long, because Salem is going to come now that she thinks we're vulnerable. We're leaving as soon as everyone who was injured can at least be moved... They think that'll be tomorrow or tonight. Qrow was the worst other than you, but they gave him some transfusions and stuff, so he can probably move as long as he doesn't push it, and Jaune helped with the Aura loss... We're all weak, but we're mobile mostly. Shine asked me to ask you if you're going with us?"
"What?" Mercury said.
"She said after what happened she couldn't blame you if you want out, but she thinks it's a bad idea for you to go off alone," Emerald said. "I told her you would stick with us, but she said to ask. Some of the students here aren't moving--they want to protect Vacuo. But we're gonna need a lot of people to move that...Relic, so...you know...I'm going. Hazel is too. But if you want to camp out here, they probably won't expect that, so it might be safer."
"Safer?" Mercury rubbed his head and winced. "The frick do I care about safer? My biggest question is why anyone would even think about letting me go with you all at all. I wouldn't if I were them."
"No one else said much," Emerald said. She rubbed her head also. "I think they all kind of...know, you know? But since you came back with us, no one is saying anything. They don't want revenge. I won't say they aren't pissed, but your wagon is hitched to ours, right?"
"Likstar knew what was up," Mercury remembered suddenly. "When I captured them--frick, I attacked them. Why is she not talking about that?"
"I...really don't even think she cares..." Emerald said, point blank. "Honestly. I don't even mean, like, she's put it aside, but like I seriously don't think it even crossed her mind. She's way too focused on our next move."
"I can't freaking believe that woman," Mercury said. "Or the others, even... So my choices are stay here and wait for Salem, or go with you and meet her head on? Wow...I'll have to mull it over..."
He lay back down and stared moodily at the ceiling. "We're all so dead."
"I really should go rest," Emerald said, rubbing her eyes. "I said I would once you came around... Just think about it, all right? I'm too tired to deal with your s--- right now, but if we're that screwed either way, you could just stick with Hazel and me. Might as well."
"What happened to Neo?" Mercury asked suddenly.
Emerald paused just as she was getting up to leave.
"She made it back here," she said. "Her arm is broken pretty bad. Even with Jaune's help, it'll take a few days at least to finish healing it, but she was fine other than that. I think Callows scared the crap out of her. She hasn't really said--well--communicated anything about it, but Torchwick is stuck to her like a burr. I guess they were closer than we thought."
"Ew..." Mercury said. "That's so wrong... That's like watching your parents or something."
"Why did you put that idea into my head?" Emerald made a face. "Shut up! Just rest, all right? And don't start any fights with anyone in here--people are really tense after what happened...something about flying monkeys. I don't know what went on while we were in that hole."
"Oh...those things..." Mercury said. "I forgot about those."
"Yeah, they broke most of the windows," Emerald said, "but...not that much else. I guess they just wanted Oscar. But they didn't get him...so Salem is going to be pissed."
"Go figure..." Mercury thought it served Salem right after what she pulled with Tyrian behind their backs.
* * *
"You really need to rest," Oscar told Shine and Wally.
"Tell me about it," Wally yawned.
"I know, I know..." Shine rubbed her face. "But we're, like, the only adults who weren't too shaken up or wounded to make decisions, and we have very little time to do this. But now that I've contacted Glynda and Mr. Belladonna, I suppose we can take a few hours... I wish we had more time, but we'd better get out of here before Salem figures out what happened, and that's bound to take less than 48 hours. Even waiting till morning would be pushing it, but we may have to. We'll need ships to move the Maidens till they've recovered more, I can't portal them."
"By the way, are they going to be okay with...their magic and stuff?" Oscar asked.
"Raven wouldn't say a lot about how she felt, but considering what we heard, she might have a problem," Shine sighed. "We can work on fixing it, but it'll have to wait till we're in Haven. As for Winter, she seemed able to use her powers fine, so she likely just needs time to recover. From what I saw of Cinder, she lost the arm, perhaps for a while, unless Salem can fix it...if she even has the gall to ask her after that flop. But her Maiden powers were likely fine. I doubt we'd be so lucky as to have her unable to use those also...but without the arm, I'd say she's much weaker."
"At least she won't be getting those powers for a while herself," Wally said. "I kind of hope she lost her arm, or at least for a while. It was creepy anyway."
"I can't say I'd be sorry," Oscar said. "But I'm sure she's not going to give up...but for now, I'm just glad you guys are all safe. I don't know how we pulled this off with no losses."
"The grace of God, Oscar, that's all it ever is," Shine said. "He has blessed us incredibly in this situation."
"I'm not sure that's how everyone else sees it," Ozpin said. "That must have been scarring in so many ways for the children, and for the older students--that is, the huntsmen."
"Sure," Shine said. "But I feel like your pain is mild to Kanap's herself. Aside from Kip perhaps. It means that the person who lost the most here was her, not us. We'll bounce back from these setbacks, mark my words. I don't know about her, but it'll be her choice. We'll just have to see."
"Your eternal optimism surprises me, Miss Likstar," Ozpin said. "I have known wounds that do not heal."
"Did not heal yet," Shine corrected. "What do you know can and cannot heal, given the right circumstances and enough time? Just because you've never seen it before, doesn't mean it's impossible. Every new discovery is just that: new. We must have hope. Hope does not disappoint, as the Bible says."
"I'm with her." Wally rubbed her shoulder. "Today and yesterday sucked hard, but no one died. In my book that's a good day. Sometimes you aren't so lucky."
After that they finally did rest. For maybe 8 hours.
* * *
It was still very early morning, before the sun was even up, when a unwelcome visitor showed up at the school.
Watts.
He was lucky that Qrow was still recovering up in the infirmary and Theo was with Vara--not letting her out of his sight after earlier--who was also trying to rest. She'd felt the effects of using her power so much in her Semblance problem after the water wore off completely.
Only Hazel was even up to answer the door--and he grabbed Watts by the collar at once and dragged him in.
Wally was still asleep, but Shine, who was always wired after situations like this, lacking the battle-rest ability of a soldier or regular rescue worker, had already woken up and was having her usual cup of coffee.
Only Tai was even in good condition right now, out of the other adults, and he was sleeping still also, so that just left Oscar/Ozpin, who never seemed to sleep as much. Having two souls made his mind more active, he felt.
"Look who had the gall to show up." Hazel dragged Watts in.
"Ah, hello, Arthur." Shine looked up, not even surprised. "Right on time. You can put him down, Hazel."
Hazel dropped him, and Watts brushed himself off and straightened.
"You were expecting me?" he said.
"We saved all the Maidens." Shine gestured widely. "You owe me some concessions, you said so yourself... No Cinder, huh?"
"Oh, please, she'd never crawl back here," Watts said. "She's too afraid of your little Silver-Eyed friend. But I digress. We need to have a talk."
"If you're here to apologize, you can get on with it." She sat back.
"Apologize? Don't be ridiculous," Watts said. "But there are things to consider after how things went yesterday... Out of curiosity, did you know the whole time Salem was planning to destroy that lab?"
"Well, once I saw you there and thought about it, I thought it would be in character," Shine said. "I wasn't that surprised when the Mole thing showed up--except that I have no idea how Salem even knew what a star-nosed mole was...go figure. Do you have any more stupid questions?"
Oscar stifled a laugh--though really he wasn't sure why Watts was here, but he lacked the energy to even protest at it.
"Watch him," Ozpin warned. "I'm sure he didn't come here without an agenda."
Oh, you think? Oscar sassed him grumpily.
"Let's not be uncivil," Watts said.
"This is as civil as you're going to get." Shine looked at him over her cup with a "done" look.
Watts cleared his throat.
"Well...I've found myself out of a job," he said. "You seemed to be interested in sparing this insipid, little kingdom, so..."
"He can't be serious," Oscar said aloud. "Didn't he just backstab us?"
"I established that, technically, I did nothing that we agreed I wouldn't do," Watts said. "You can hardly blame me for trying to stay on top. However...after that failure, I can hardly go back to Salem without something...and I was unhappily disappointed in Victoria's teamwork skills."
"Do you listen to yourself?" Oscar said.
"Kid has a point," Shine said. "Aren't you being a bit presumptuous? Who said I needed your help? The offer before benefited you also, but you spat in my face and the rest of us. Remember our little talk? I spared your life out of loyalty to my faith, not because I like you. And clearly we cannot trust you."
"Perhaps not, but you're going to need some way to stall until you get what you want," Watts said. "I'm not dense, you know. I know how you think by now, Likstar. You've got a plan to keep that Relic away from Salem, don't you?"
"Do I?" Shine said airily.
"You must. Likely, you think you can hide it away from her again," Watts said. "I didn't waste my time with Kanap... I found her files on Vara... I know why she's not fit to be a Maiden--an unfortunate weakness, isn't it? It's almost too easy."
"If you are actually trying to threaten me--" Shine sat up straight and looked like a thunder cloud. "--here, in our place of refuge, after the day we had yesterday?"
"Oh, no." Watts held up his hands. "I'm just pointing out you can't possibly be thinking of facing this head on. But it won't do you much good if Salem knows exactly what happened here, will it? Now, skeptical as you may be, I'm not as sure as I was about who will win this fight. I don't like to be on the losing side... Suppose you do beat Salem at her own game? Where is my place, then? If I'm to survive, I need a backup plan...and if Salem bests you, well, I need a cover story. Either way, this is my ticket. And it can't hurt you any more than employing me to begin with, and there are many pros to it. So why would you refuse?"
"Pride, perhaps?" Shine said.
"Is this the time for pride?" Watts said.
"If you really know me so well, Arthur," Shine said dryly, "then you know that I'm not buying this. But I don't really expect to get an honest answer from you in any case... True, you could still be useful, I suppose, but what certainty do we have that you're not just going to spy all over again? Victoria is still out there, isn't she?"
"I'm done with her," Watts said. "After all that. Besides, she's lost everything...or at least, she lost enough to be set back. By the time she's back in this game, it'll be over. And you don't fear Salem, do you?"
"Shine that's an obvious ploy," Oscar said.
"Oscar--" Shine shot him a look. "--I try not to get irritated by much, but people stating the obvious to me like I can't see it does get on my nerves. "
"I don't mean that exactly," Oscar said. "I didn't mean that you don't know, I just mean...uh...why would we allow it?"
"Because you have something to gain from it," Watts said. "Besides, it's not a ploy--I'm completely serious. All things considered, my treatment was better here than it was the other places. At least you don't compromise your allies' lives on a whim. It's better for my health to be on your side."
"Our health plan is better, you mean?" Shine joked. "I have to tell Wally that one later--he'll take it and run with it, I'm sure."
"He would run with anything, Likstar," Watts said. "I don't know what you see in that cretin."
Oscar knew he'd pressed the wrong button when he'd said that, and he leaned back to prepare for it.
Shine gave Watts a look that could have scalded him alive.
"Do you want to run that by me again?" she said frostily. "You disrespect my partner, you disrespect me, do you understand? We are a team. I am not as good without him, so if you think I'm clever, some of that goes to his credit also. Besides, at least he does not drop me into a pit of ravenous Grimm if I happen to be standing in the wrong place."
Burn.
"Of course..." Watts was acquiring that fear of Shine that all the criminals seemed to get after a while. Perhaps because he had not managed to break her yet. "Well, that aside...is your offer rescinded or not?"
"It should be after that." Shine rubbed her chin. "But I suppose I have to consider the options... If you are seeking refuge from Salem, I can't ignore that either. But my team is not going to like this, and, frankly, I don't blame them. How do you intend to make up for your actions?"
"I downloaded a lot of information from dear Tory's lab," Watts said. "Perhaps it would be useful to you...nullifying magic."
"I don't need your help for that," Shine said.
"Suppose you wanted a safeguard against if she threatened you in the future?" Watts said.
Shine paused.
Watts smiled like he'd found his price at an auction.
Oscar hated to think it, but...that wasn't something they could just turn down either...not if Victoria was still out there and still wanted the Maidens... This couldn't happen a third time.
"All right..." Shine said slowly. "You can stay if the others agree to it. And we'll extend our protection to you from Salem, for now. But anything you do to compromise that on your end, if it brings you to ruin, it's on your head. I wash my hands of it. And remember...I set you up before because you got cocky. Don't make the same mistake twice and I think we'll have nothing to fear from each other."
She stood up. "But if you sabotage me or the others again, Arthur...I will take you down."
Her eyes burned with some anger after all. "And you won't recover from it this time, I don't think."
Watts winced in spite of himself. "You make your point..."
"Uh..." Oscar didn't want to contradict Shine in front of him, but he had questions--and Ozpin's reaction inside his head was far more vehement.
"Of course we'd have to discuss it as a team also," Shine said. "So for now, do lock yourself in the holding cell area again. Hazel will make sure of it."
Hazel nodded.
Watts sighed. "Home again, home again..."
He walked off, but he was smirking.
"Shine," Oscar said, "I know that your plans usually work and all, but how can we possibly trust him?"
"We can't," Shine said. "But that doesn't matter. Like I said before, if you need to trust people in order to use them, you're not very good at strategy."
"That sounds like something the bad guys would say," Oscar said. "I mean...isn't it dangerous to rely on our enemies so much?... I mean, at least when they haven't switched sides yet."
"Do you think he'll give us over to Salem again?" Shine asked.
"Uh...yeah..." Oscar said slowly, with a raised eyebrow.
"I know, right?" Shine suddenly chuckled. "So predictable. Don't worry about him, Oscar."
"She's crazy," Ozpin said. "I knew it all along."
"Shine, you really don't seem to care if Salem comes after us or not," Oscar said.
"Oscar, sweetie," Shine said, "trying to prevent the enemy from shooting at you is utterly pointless in a war like this. Of course she will attack... Why do you all always act so surprised by it? But knowing when she will attack, that is a huge advantage, and I'm much more likely to know that if I can watch her henchmen up close. She can't do a thing to us if we can counter her before it even begins...at least, she can't do as much. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, as the saying goes. Besides...I'm not sure Watts isn't being partially honest about having second thoughts. He can't be such a fool as to not wonder what our constant refusal to go down here means for his cause. If we can turn him to our side for real, Salem will be left with only the morons on her side, and her strategy is going to suffer. I see this as a win-win...but only if Watts is confident enough to think I will allow him this much leeway. That is why I need you all to back me up."
"Okay..." Oscar said. "I see what you're saying, and I agree with it, even, except that everyone has been through so much. I don't think they want any of her followers anywhere near us... We brought Mercury back, and I'm not sure they're even going to be okay with that. I didn't really believe what Emerald said about what happened. There's no way he didn't actually betray us. I mean...you saw him."
"Oh, I have no doubt he did," Shine said. "But he returned anyway. He knows we'd not buy that he's not a spy now, so the only conclusion is that he is, in fact, no longer a spy. Sometimes things are simpler than you think."
"And...you're okay with just forgiving him after that?" Oscar said.
"Did you forgive Hazel after he beat the crap out of you?" Shine asked.
"To be honest, Shine, I think that partially was because I could see why he hated Ozpin so much," Oscar said.
Ozpin was silent.
"I mean, it didn't make it right, but I thought he must have felt like I did, helpless to stop people who have so much more power and experience," Oscar said. "So even though he was beating me up, I knew he didn't really want me, as myself, caught up in this, that it wasn't fair...so...I didn't blame him as much. Emerald never did anything to me personally anyway. But I did understand why everyone else was angry at them. I don't know if I have your ability to just...ignore that people have suffered even if I believe that I'm right."
Shine was insulted.
"You think I'm like that?" She sounded hurt.
"Oscar, that wasn't a very nice thing to say," Ozpin said. "Trust me, I've had similar things said to me."
"I didn't mean to hurt your feelings," Oscar said out loud. "Just that...you... And Ozpin doesn't, I guess, and people like Winter and Ironwood seem to be able to not be swayed by other people's feelings."
Shine laughed oddly. "Really? I find that so ironic..."
"Why?" Oscar asked.
"Because it's just the opposite," Shine said. "I've actually always been a rather sensitive individual, Oscar... Some people call it being an Empath... I can put myself in other people's shoes, emotionally and mentally, very easily."
She leaned on the dining room table. "It used to upset me for days.... When I was your age, it was very rough. But people always told me I didn't think about what others felt because of how I acted. I thought it was strange, because I did think of how they felt. I could tell, that is, but when I was your age, I didn't have the wisdom to know how to express it, so of course I believed them."
"Huh...actually I kind of get it," Oscar said. "I feel like I felt like that around other people a lot... I kind of thought it was because of Ozpin, like I have more experience."
"Could be, or you're just an old soul. I can't say I think Ozpin is naturally that good at reading people," Shine said. "He wouldn't hire so many bad ones if he was. This isn't something that has to do with age--you just know...but it does take years to learn to trust it...but it's funny what you said, because it's never how I felt about it. I can try to ignore what people feel, but I still know it...and feel it. I have to actively choose not to let it affect my decision making."
"Why not?" Oscar said.
"I think you already know, don't you?" Shine replied simply.
Oscar looked down.
"Because people don't always make wise choices when they're upset," he said. "And you have to try to think outside that if you want to see the right thing to do...even when it's something that feels really important."
"Exactly," Shine said. "I've given in to people's emotional whims many times and regretted it so much later...because people don't always know what they really want or what's best for them. And hey, maybe I don't know either, but my ability to separate feelings from reason, because I'm so aware of emotion, has always been useful to me in my personal life as well as on the job, as I think you've also been learning for yourself. People are going to accuse you of the same thing, if they haven't already, but don't let that fool you. I know you are a compassionate person, or you wouldn't really want to give people another chance who did things to you. But it's because both of us can separate our feelings from our minds that we can seem like we don't care about them. But it's not true... I think we just judge when that caring needs to come second to doing the right thing... There are happy times when they are in unison, but that can't be every time."
"No, I guess that's true," Oscar admitted. "I wish it wasn't..."
"But this has a dark side to it," Shine warned. "You need to be careful that you are never compromising what you know is right just to make someone else feel better. And that includes me also... I wouldn't ask you to do that. If I do, you should tell me I'm wrong. But some of the others do that...and that is why I shut them down. It seems harsh at the time--and, okay, my approach could probably use some work, but I have never regretted it, and I have regretted caving in many times. It's okay to bend a little on small things, but we've not had small decisions very often in this group."
Oscar rubbed his head. "When you say this stuff, I think it sounds so clear," he said. "But when the others talk about it, I wonder if it can be good to do so many things that are worrying everyone so much, and if I'm just missing something."
"Same." Shine motioned between them in a way that Neo often had. "But honestly...usually that's not true. We might just see more. I mean, we have our blind spots too, they just are often not where other people's are...but I think you could get further along than I in less time. I wish I had your people skills when I was 14."
"Heh..." Oscar laughed weakly. "I don't know if you'd want this..."
"No, true," Shine laughed dryly. "Careful what you wish for. But I hope you understand now, I do care. This game is complex that we're playing with Salem, and if I let negative emotions sway my judgement, she'll win. She never allows that except when she's in a fury, and as that doesn't happen often enough to be any kind of security, I think we should avoid that also."
"I want to think this plan will work," Oscar said. "So far we're still alive. But we don't have a real way to say for sure it worked unless we just won the war... I mean, we can say it will protect the Relics, but we'd have no way to prove either your ideas or Ozpin's are better unless one actually just succeeds finally. I think that's what's bothering everyone. There's no certainty."
"You're right about that, but I can't wait for certainly to act, and they had better learn not to either," Shine said roundly.
[Nathan Wagner, "Empath".]