Chapter 3

A Rare Jewel

xXx

oOoOoOoOo Talbot Frost oOoOoOoOo

Old instincts kicked in as the five other men in the alleyway turned to regard him, taking note of their builds, weapons, distance from each other and any signs of possible combat experience. Besides minor variations they were all of roughly average build, three armed with knives but stances showing no real knowledge of handling them or combat experience beyond drunken brawls.

He also got a good look at the girl they were chasing, attractive with dark skin and very distinctive green hair. He also spotted her weapons, though she hadn't pulled them out yet. Some kind of paired firearms in rear holsters behind her.

One of the guys who'd chased her, the middle-aged one with shaded glasses, stepped forward. "Hey, stay out of this! That bitch there stole something from me and she's gonna pay for it, so bug off!"

Doing his best to put on an air of incredulity, Talbot gave his answer. "Really? Because all I see is a couple of guys cornering a girl in the dead end of an alleyway with weapons out. What exactly are you saying she stole from you?"

The question seemed to get the older man only redder in the face than before. "It was a ring, what does it matter!?"

"I think it matters quite a bit when you're ganging up on somebody in an alley. If you're that sure she stole it then have her pull out her pockets and see."

"Bullshit!" he shouted, stomping his foot onto the ground. "There are so many places on her she could've hidden it, keep outta' this!"

Okay, being reasonable was getting him nowhere. Time for a more direct approach.

Altering his footing slightly, Talbot brought himself up to his full height, squaring his frame in a threatening stance meant to emphasize his size. He also shifted his expression, the incredulity and peaceable look gone and replaced by something hard. "And what if I don't want to?"

Everyone else in the alley clearly noticed the change, some of the men tensing slightly and their would-be leader taking a step back.

They didn't seem afraid yet, just wary. Still thought they could take him if push came to shove, but not without injuries. When addressing a hostile group like this, willing to fight but not so much get hurt, you had to make them doubt, let them know they wouldn't get out easy.

Yet another thing his old man had been right about, the approach had certainly worked for him well enough in the past.

Sadly it looked like Talbot's attempt wouldn't quite work out so well. The five men quickly regained themselves, trading quick glances as they seemed to reach a consensus and changed their formation to better face him for a fight. The one who had been fuming before also seemed to have recovered, even puffing himself up a bit as if to dismiss his earlier show of weakness from stepping back.

'Damn, looks like I don't quite have the rep to pull that off yet.'

"The fuck are you trying to pull here?" the leader questioned. "This is our business, not yours. So how about you just turn around and run on back to daddy you little punk!"

oOoOoOoOo Emerald Sustrai oOoOoOoOo

When you've spent your whole life as a pickpocket on the streets, you tend to learn things. Best places to watch, signs to look out for in people, physical signals and body language, all that sort of stuff. People who learned them tended to survive, while those who didn't tended to….well, not.

Emerald was one of those people who had picked up said skills, and it was one of the reason she had lasted for so long. Knew how to tell someone was carrying valuables, knew the places to watch and avoid, but, perhaps most importantly, she knew how to know when shit was about to hit the fan and she should run away.

And right now, the moment after those words came out of the man's mouth and hit the air, the only reason she wasn't running was because of her back against the wall.

"What did you just say to me?" he questioned evenly, voice almost painfully level and flat.

Sadly, the guy ahead of the pack who'd chased her didn't seem as perceptive, stepping forward right into the face of the young man practically radiating murderous intent from body language alone, and put his face close enough that their noses were almost touching. "I said-"

The tough talk ended with a loud *CRACK* sound, the man pulling back with a howl of pain and blood coming down his face, the interloper's forehead brought forward in a lightning fast headbutt. The calm look on his face was gone now, replaced with a vicious snarl and bared teeth as he reached out to grab the man's shirt, reeling him in for a vicious punch to his side and slammed into the ground as his legs were swept out from under him.

The other guys in the alleyway stood silently for a moment, as if in shock. Like they never really imagined they'd actually be getting into a fight with somebody for real. Then they regained what little wits they all had and charged him at once, trying to beat the aggressor with numbers.

It made little difference in the end.

The first to reach him tried to stab out with a knife, only for his wrist to get caught and shattered by his enemy's hand and forcing him to drop the weapon into his waiting palm. The knife was used then to parry an incoming punch from the second attacker, seeing what he thought was an opening. The knife struck true, leaving a red line of blood and a scream of pain in the air. Tossing the knife behind him, he grabbed the first attacker with both hands and dragged him forward into a knee strike straight to the gut that she could swear cracked a rib or two, before lifting him clean off the ground and tossing him right into the other two that had yet to reach him.

The guy didn't let up, giving the man whose attack he just parried not even a moment to recover before grabbing his wrist and stretching his arm out, angling his body to be just behind to his right before giving a hard punch to his right shoulder. He didn't pull the fist back after it landed, continuing to apply pressure until the arm was wrenched from its socket with a sickening crack and a scream of shocked agony, hanging loosely.

He was then taken out by a blow to the jaw that sent him into the wall, impacting so hard that Emerald was pretty sure she saw some cracks in the stucco.

By then, the other two had gotten out of their brief tangle with the guy who'd been thrown earlier, still gingerly holding his shattered wrist. They looked none the worse for wear, though a good deal dustier after their struggle on the ground. Sadly, they barely even registered they were the last two standing before their opponent pressed the offensive again.

He went after the taller one first, ducking under a panicked hook and straight into his guard before bringing his head up like a rocket into his jaw, sending his head flying upwards before he was quickly grappled and moved between him and the last assailant, making use of him as a human shield even while loosing punishing blows to his sternum and upper body.

Then, as his most recent punching bag fell to the ground, curling into the fetal position as he wheezed in pain, he looked to the last one remaining.

The poor guy practically froze in place like a deer in front of a speeding car, eyes wide with pupils dilating in panic. He turned to run, only to end up tripping over one of his associates and land o the ground, crawling away before getting back on his feet and running again.

As if by some signal, the rest followed his lead. Each of them slowly rose, some with more difficulty or obvious pain than others, sending the victor of the fight wary and frightened glances as they left. The last one was the very guy she stole the ring from to start the whole scenario, whimpering in pain as he tried to cover his bleeding nose with his hands.

And just like that, after not even 30 seconds of violence, it was just the two of them in the alley.

Alone.

xXxXxXxXx Talbot Frost xXxXxXxXx

Watching the men run off, Talbot breathed took in a deep breath to calm his fiery nerves. That little taunt had cut deeper than that idiot had realized, piercing straight to a matter that Talbot hoped was gone with the corpse he'd left behind. Sadly, it looked that that bastard was gonna be a raw wound for a while.

'Really shouldn't have mentioned my father.'

Still, now that the undesirables were out of the way, it was time for a far more interesting matter. Turning to the dusk skinned girl, he put on his best and most charming smile.

Only for it to drop within seconds as he felt that feeling again, that sharp tingle on the back of his neck. An old instinct he gained from countless hours of sparring with a bloodthirst psychopath who only seemed a hair away from killing him on a good day.

His hand flashed to Eisenwald, iron sand releasing from the canisters built into the sheathe and forming a cloud all around him even as it spread further into the alley towards the girl, her eyes widening with raw panic.

Imagine his surprise when the iron sand registered something a good few feet away from her. "I might not be able to see you, but I can still feel you. Quit whatever you're doing of I'll start vibrating that stuff in the air and fillet your skin off."

The response to his not-so-little threat was immediate and predictable, the apparently illusory copy vanishing before his eyes even as the real girl appeared in flesh and blood in a crouch by the left wall, whites of her eyes glaringly wide even with her red pupils shrunken to pinpricks in sheer terror. Her hands were held up in a placating gesture, far from the weapons she kept at the back of her belt.

"Okay! Okay! I swear I won't try anything anymore, just please don't kill me!"

And who ever said threats never got anything done?

He slowly retracted the iron sand he'd released, forcing it back into the compartments of his sheathe, enhanced with Gravity Dust to keep the weight light despite the quantity. Even when it was all gone he still didn't remove his hand from the handle of Eisenwald, watching the girl like a hawk as she slowly rose from her crouching position. Defeated.

Her eyes were downcast and posture slack, resigned. She occasionally tilted her head up just slightly to see him before immediately staring back down at the ground, trying to appear as non-threatening as possible. She knew what would happen now if she tried to run. Tried anything.

Her words came out barely above a whisper. "What do you want?"

Keeping his eyes on her, he slowly removed his hand from Eisenwald's grip. She wouldn't try anything now, he was sure of it.

He threw his best smile back on. "Lunch?"

xXxXxXxXx

Idly picking away at his food, Talbot dedicated most of his attention to deciphering what he could about the girl seated across from him.

She knew how to fight, he could tell that from her weapons. They were customized, with little signs and marks of familiarity and use over the years. But she didn't have the signs of someone with training in combat; taught by personal experience, not example.

Her actions in the alley were further proof to him, particularly that brief brush with what he assumed was her Semblance when she made that projection. Hit and run, ambushes, not a protracted fight head-on.

She was also twitchy as Hell as he led her along to another section of the open market of Vacuo, though she didn't try to escape. Probably figured, reasonably so, that it wouldn't work.

He made sure the eatery he chose was out in the open, in view of plenty of people to make it clear he wasn't going to try anything. She seemed to relax a little, though was still on guard.

But apparently not so guarded that she wouldn't stuff herself with as much food as possible.

Looking down at the empty plate from his own order, a simple curry dish, he couldn't help but find it almost pitifully small compared to her own selections of food.

First off was a large fruit salad, containing an example of probably every fruit native to Vacuo and some from beyond. A smattering of sweet colors from several melon types, sliced peaches and apples, all finished with a full drizzling of pomegranate seeds. Then there was another salad, though unlike the first it was composed of thinly cut and marinated steak, tossed with chopped onion and sliced chili and lime juice over mint leaves. Then it was all finished off by a bowl of lamb curry with rice, the thick broth of it a spicy yellow and filled with sliced peppers, green beans, and several other types of vegetables.

Honestly, it looked like she had just eaten enough for four people. He'd seen hungry before, but it looked like the girl in front of him honestly hadn't had a real meal for a few days if she ate like this. Then again, that would probably make his sales pitch all the more appealing, content people would never be interested in his offer.

She had just now finished her last bite of food, head tilted back as she took down the last of her drink, a thick orange beverage that looked like something with a lot of cream in it, before resting the glass on the table with a sigh. He didn't miss that she'd been studiously avoiding eye contact with him the whole time, keeping her eyes averted downwards whenever possible.

A sign of submission maybe, or uncertainty? Either one was fine. "So, did you enjoy the meal?"

She made a quick nod of confirmation, but didn't respond otherwise. Honestly, it was almost like she thought speaking would end badly for her, she hadn't said a word since he'd brought her out of that alley. Maybe something more direct. "So, what's your name?"

She still didn't look up at him, eyes staring down at the table and remains of food on various dishes. "Emerald," she whispered, barely audible to him. "Emerald Sustrai."

He smiled. Finally some progress. "Do you know why I wanted to bring you here?"

For the first time she actually looked up at him, though just enough for her red eyes to be barely visible slivers under her green hair. She twisted her head a bit and bobbed it down towards the plates on the table.

He shrugged. "Yeah, that was a part of it. But I don't suppose you'd be willing to answer a few questions for me?"

Her only answer was another barely perceptible nod, still nervous. "What you did to that guy with the ring, and back in the alley to me, that was your Semblance?"

Her face turned up a bit more fully now, piercing red eyes gauging him. Weighing her options. He could already guess what lines of thought were going through her head; she could lie to him, but what was really the point by now? He already experienced it himself, and he clearly had at least an idea of how it worked. Most importantly, they both knew that her trying to use it on him now just wouldn't end well.

"It was," she answered. Her voice was a bit steadier this time, not as reluctant. Just a little, but it was there.

Talbot nodded. "Alright. So, what exactly does it do?"

She didn't answer immediately, going through those previous thoughts in her head once more, but eventually conceded. "I can cause hallucinations. Make people hear and see things that aren't there and mask other things from them."

He nodded. "But you can only do it to one person at a time, right?" She clammed up again, eyes widening slightly at him so casually pointing out that little weakness. "It wasn't hard to figure out, you would've used it on those guys in the alley if you could. Anything else?"

"I…." she hesitated, questioning herself to reveal more or not before sighing and deciding to go all in. "I have an easier time with senses besides touch, physical sensation is difficult to recreate. And I haven't tried taste yet. Sight, hearing and smells are easier to do. I could probably make someone feel like they were in the middle of a forest full of trees if I wanted, but there wouldn't be much point."

He asked her a few more questions, answers slowly coming easier to her as every moment passed. This continued, even after the servers had come on by to collect the dishes and leave the bill behind (which Talbot felt nice enough to leave a very big tip for) she showed no signs of stopping. He learned she had some fighting skills but, as he'd guessed, no real training, she was a skilled pickpocket, knew how to look for people who worked in less than legal forms of employment and quite a bit more.

Most importantly, he learned of her current….employment. Working as a disposable pickpocket in Vacuo, barely scraping by while living under the heel of a local minor crime boss and, if the bitter tone as any indication, painfully aware that it was going nowhere while still having nowhere else to go. She hated the place in life she was stuck into.

By the time she stopped talking to him, he'd already made up his mind. "I'd like to make you an offer, Emerald."

xXxXxXxXx Emerald Sustrai xXxXxXxXx

She felt her eyes narrow slightly. "An offer?"

She didn't let her guard down as he smiled at her again, well aware that it could be fake. She'd never met this Talbot guy before today, but that didn't mean she hadn't put a few things together about him in the last hour.

He also wasn't the first person to give her an offer to pay them back after something. She'd heard it all before, but this time she couldn't just use her Semblance to-

"I'd like for you to come and work with me as my partner."

Her thoughts ground to a halt, the last coherent plan for a possible means of escape being cut in a half in her own mind. Her mouth opened, closed, opened gain, then closed a second time, trying and failing to form the words.

That was…..unexpected. To say the least. She thought he'd want to pull her into a cheap motel and fuck her, or at least have her do a job for him, but this?

Eventually she got her mouth and voice under control again, clearing it and swallowing in a vain attempt to quell the sudden dryness. "Partner?"

He nodded. "That's right," he answered, leaning back slightly. "I'm in a ….certain line of work. One that tends to involve dangerous situations, dangerous people and almost always involve dangerous places scaling from 'keep your guard up' all the way to 'run for your life'." He smiled again. "On the other hand, these things tend to pay very big. And someone with a Semblance like yours could make it a lot easier to live long enough to get that pay. And if it's a choice between dying somewhere or splitting the reward in half, well…..I'm not stupid or greedy enough to pick the former."

It was a joke. It had to be a joke, there was no way this was really happening. "WHY? My Semblance can only work on one person at a time!"

"You'd be surprised how often messing with one person at the right time can turn things around."

"I can barely fight on my own, and I haven't even fully unlocked my Aura yet."

"I can help get your fighting skills up to par and throw in awakening your Aura for free."

"Then how do I know this isn't some trick," she questioned. It was just too good to be true, maybe it was the cynic that had been beaten into her over the years but that cynicism had helped keep her alive. She wasn't just going to ignore it now because an offer sounded tempting. "This could all just be a trick for you to lure me somewhere alone and kill me or worse. Why should I believe this?"

'Why should I believe YOU?'

He looked at her for a moment, really looked at her. Not judging or angry, just….appraising? She wasn't sure.

Then he answered. "I guess I can't give an easy answer for that. This is something where you can take my word for it or not, either take the chance or don't. But if you turn me down then fine, that'll be the end of it and you'll never see me again. I'll just head on my way and you can go back to pickpocketing random jewelry or wallets from passersby and gullible tourists, barely scraping by as your boss tears strips off your back until the day finally comes by where he gets tired of it. When you finally don't meet the quota or he just get bored and decides whore you out to some pervert with a taste for girls with dark skin and green hair, possibly after breaking your legs so you can't get away." He shrugged, completely ignoring the growing grimace she could feel on her own face, her shoulders slumping with every word. "But hey, the choice is yours to make after all."

…..Dammit. Dammit, DAMMIT, DAMMIT, DAMMIT!

He just…..why….she…how could she say no after that!?

She hated to hear it, hated to even think all of that, and most of all she hated him right now for spelling it all out so plainly to her. Everything he just said summed up everything her life was going to be and he slapped it right in her face.

It almost made her want to vomit out all the food she'd had moments ago, suddenly turning to bile in her stomach. Possibly followed by trying to kill the person right in front of her.

But she knew that wouldn't help, not even close. She'd die if she tried fighting this guy, and even if by some damned miracle she survived she'd only be back at square one, living out exactly the life he'd just laid out to her.

No. No, she wouldn't allow it, even if this whole offer was bogus and just a trick she…..she wanted to believe it. Part of her wanted to believe there could be a way out, to believe that…that there could be something better.

"What happens if I go with you?" she asked slowly. "What'll really be different for me?"

The man…Talbot, smiled again, this time maybe a bit less of a shit eating grin and a little more genuine. "For starters I won't treat you like shit, it would just be a stupid idea. You'll also get an even split on all the jobs we do, and some of them can be pretty lucrative."

"It's not just that," she insisted, struggling to find the right words. "Just…just answer me one thing."

Emerald looked down at the table, now bare of the plates and bowls that held all that delicious food, the best she'd ever tasted. Even now the echoes of flavor were playing on her tongue. "If I go with you….will I be able to eat like this again? Whenever I want?"

She had gone hungry in her life for so long, so many times. The emptiness in her gut had practically become a lifelong companion by now and the thought of separating from it forever was both incredibly scary and deeply liberating all at once. The thought of never going hungry again, of always being able to have a meal before going to sleep with a full stomach, was more tempting to her than anything in the world.

"Emerald Sustrai," he said, all traces of his humor and grin completely gone now. "If you come and work with me, I can promise you'll never go hungry again."

That was all the answer she needed. But….

She nervously played with her hands, staring down at the table again. "There's still a problem," she stated reluctantly. "I'm still technically employed by somebody here. His name is Ahmar and…I don't think he'll just let me go."

Talbot raised a brow. "I know who you're talking about, Ahmar is a nobody."

She nodded. "Yeah, but he's friends with people who aren't. If things aren't settled then he might raise a fuss and there could be….trouble. The dangerous kind."

Talbot leaned back again, considering. She wondered for a moment if he would actually help her, though another part of her, a small and terrified one, was worried he might just drop the offer entirely. She had to admit, the latter thought scared her.

After a moment he pushed back his chair and got up. "It think we should go and pay him a visit then. Let's go."

xXx

I! LIIIIIIIVVVVVVVEEEEE!

Seriously folks, I'm really alive. First off…I wish to deeply and sincerely apologize for all the time I've been off the radar. I know there really isn't any excuse for it but, long story short, life has just really been going all out on me. Between all the work for getting a new job, getting some new cats (and all the vet bills involved) followed by losing our dog to a raccoon attack (RIP little Oscar the Dachshund) and a bunch of money problems on top of it all, I've honestly had a hard time even working up the energy or focus to write at all. As much as I enjoy writing these fics, they are still a hobby, and those have to come second to real life. Honestly, it's given me a whole new level of admiration for Coeur Al'Aran, the dude is able to consistently put out new chapters for multiple fics practically every other day, each of them being a damn good length and being good quality. I know not all of his fics are of equal quality and some are better or worse than others, but still.

Anyways, I just HAD to get this chapter out this month on the anniversary of Monty's death, I would've gotten it out earlier, but….y'know, LIFE. But at least it's out in the same month.

Anyway, after this I'm gonna FINALLY put my nose to the grindstone and put more time into the next chapter of The Will To Power, I've already gotten a third of it done.

Anyways, afraid this is where I'll have to leave you. For what it's worth, I sincerely hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Please review and have a nice day/night!

P.S. I dedicate this chapter to the memory of Monty Oum, may he forever create badass animated action sequences in Heaven.