Mercury walked into the hangar bay, scanning for any movement. The bay was part of a military facility nearby the Schnee Manor, close to where the fighting had stopped. All of Atlas's military had surrendered, and laid down their arms. The celebration of the crowd could still be heard from several blocks away. People were cheering, and raiding stores for liquor. An impromptu singing of the Atlas national anthem was spreading through the crowd. Mercury confirmed that he was alone, then headed for one of the bullheads.
He checked the airship over from the outside, and confirmed that it was flight-worthy. He opened the door to the pilot's cabin and climbed in. He gave the controls a quick pre-flight check. He confirmed that the bullhead had enough fuel to get him off of Solitas. He glanced out the open bay doors. He nodded, and started the bullhead up. As the engines hummed to life, Mercury sensed a shift of movement in the back of the aircraft.
Before he could turn around, he felt the end of a pistol touch his shoulder. He sighed.
"Going somewhere?" Ruby asked.
"Come on, Red," Mercury said, "Can we call it a day?"
"I told you when this started, you don't get to walk away." Ruby said, "You still have to pay for Beacon."
"I just helped save Atlas," Mercury said, "Does that buy me any points?"
Ruby pushed the handgun against Mercury's back a little harder.
"Yeah," she said, "It buys you me not shooting you right now. Let me bring you in. We'll see what it buys you in a trial."
"Red, if you think this was about me looking for redemption or some crap like that, you're mistaken," Mercury said, "I was in Atlas doing a job. Job's done. I'm leaving."
"Not if I have anything to-"
Something clattered to the floor from the cockpit. Ruby glanced down. A flashbang grenade had been dropped to her feet. Mercury ducked out of way of the handgun as the flashbang went off. Everything went white, and Ruby fell back, flailing blindly. In her daze, she was vaguely aware of Mercury grabbing hold of her. As her senses slowly came back to her, she found herself lying on the floor of the hangar, a few meters from the bullhead. Mercury was leaning against the bullhead, holding the handgun. Crescent Rose had been taken from Ruby's belt, and was resting next to his feet.
"Thanks for not shooting me in the back," Mercury said, "I'd have shot me in the back."
"A flashbang, you asshole?" Ruby asked, in disbelief.
"We've both had a busy week, Red, and us killing each other would be dumb way to cap it off," Mercury said.
He climbed back into the bullhead. He flipped a few switches on the dash, preparing for liftoff.
"You don't get to kill me," He said, "But, I'm not going to kill you either."
"Mercury," Ruby said, still trying to shake her head clear, "Yang is going to know you're alive. We'll both be looking for you. You best hope I find you before her."
"Good luck." Mercury said.
He closed the cockpit door. The bullhead lifted off, the exhaust from the engines blowing Crescent Rose along the floor. The bullhead turned to the open bay doors, and shot forward, disappearing from sight.

"…And that's the last I saw of him." Ruby said.
She was sitting back in a recliner, a cup of coffee in her hand. Weiss, Blake, and Yang were sitting in the other chairs of the lounge. Yang was listening intently. Blake was sipping at her tea, deep in thought. Weiss had her own coffee, which seemed to be doing little keeping her awake. They were in Menagerie, a little over a week since the fall of the Schnee Government.
"You saw how much fuel was in the bullhead?" Yang asked.
"Enough to go to Vale, or Mistral," Ruby said, "The first thing he'd do in either of those places is fuel up and go further. I say we start in Vacuo."
"That can come later," Blake said, "Our priority should be on the transition of power in Atlas."
"Flynt and Winter are the de facto leaders at the moment," Weiss said, "They're pushing for the reinstatement of the council."
"And the new council members will be democratically elected." Ruby added.
"Democracy in Atlas," Yang said, "Imagine that."
"Atlas has been bombarded with propaganda for years," Blake said, "If they're given democracy… can they be trusted to make an informed decision?"
"Everything that Whitley did, he did because he didn't trust people," Weiss said, "… and because he had delusions of grandeur, and because of Father, and because he was a bastard in general. But also the trust thing."
"People are talking about you," Ruby said, looking at Weiss, "For the council, I mean. All you did to save the city. They want you protecting it."
"What if the Schnees have done enough in Atlas?" Weiss asked, "It shouldn't be me. Besides, I'm a better Huntress than a politician."
"You tried changing the reputation of your name as a Huntress," Blake said, "As far as anyone in this room is concerned, you succeeded."
"Yeah," Yang said, "I've met two Schnees. Both are pretty okay."
Blake chuckled, then continued.
"But all your life, your father, and then your brother were in power," Blake said, "You were fighting an uphill battle. Now, it could be your turn. Not to wield power over others, but for others."
"it'd also be helpful, you know," Ruby said, "Having you on the inside for what comes next."
Yang looked to her sister in confusion. She raised an eyebrow at Weiss.
"Whitley offered to purge his government of everyone who knew about Harbinger," Weiss said, "He didn't. There could still be people in the government who know."
"And we'll have to do everything in our power to make sure Harbinger is never recreated." Blake said.
"Along with keeping the tensions between the Kingdoms from boiling over into a war," Ruby said, "We're going to be busy for a while."
"You said it was one mission," Yang jested, "For a week."
"Yeah, well, we got unlucky." Ruby said.
Weiss sat up straight. She tossed back the rest of her coffee. She blinked a few times to wake herself up.
"Alright," She said, "Let's get started."