Chapter Four: Pomp and Circumstance

Vytal Tower Staging Area, Kingdom of Atlas

The daytime sun had faded into orange and purple dusk by the time the SDC quarry had been completely cleared of any remaining Grimm. Once the signal was given from Clover to Atlas Control, the scientists and technicians began swarming in, as well as resource trucks filled with Dust and other machinery for the launch of the tower. Said tower was also making an appearance, floating through the sky and momentarily eclipsing the evening sun as it took its place to hover over the mine.

No one took any notice of a couple of figures lying prone in the nearby snowhills just outside the mine. The two were both women, garbed in Huntress attire, but their concealed position and binoculars suggested that they were anything but Atlesian soldiers. Instead, the two women watched curiously as Amity took its place in the sky; when nothing new seemed to happen for several minutes, they departed to inform their leaders about this new development.

Down at the mine, the crew to thank for the Grimm-free zone were just emerging from the old tunnels. Clover's crew all stepped out into the crisp tundra air in stride, Qrow walking alongside them, while the kids hung back a ways, watching the elder Huntsmen with wide, starstruck eyes.

Jaune caught up to Clover, who msiled indulgently as the boy gushed, "You guys were incredible! Oh, the way you took down that Geist without needing to plan your tactics out, you just knew exactly what to do!"

Clover placed his hands on his hips. "Well, Ace Ops are handpicked to perfectly complement one another, so we can focus on our assets and leave our liabilities behind."

"Some of us are all asset, zero liability," Marrow boasted with a cocky grin and a salute, before turning at a snicker from Elm. "Yeah? Think I've got some liabilities, Elm?" he demanded.

The brawny woman smirked at him, her warhammer slung over one shoulder. "Your brains, for one."

Elm, Clover, and Harriet all chuckled at Marrow's pout, the latter two leaving him to greet the arriving Atlesians. Vine followed behind them after offering the Faunus man, "You did ask."

Elm grinned before a streak of orange caught the corner of her eye. She turned to see Nora staring at her with a manic grin. More specifically, staring at the large weapon hefted in her arm. "Hi! Do you need a new best friend?" Nora asked. "Our pair name can be…" She hefted her own Magnhild overhead and cried out, "Thunder Thighs!"

To the side, Ruby had approached Harriet, impressed like Jaune had been at the Ace Operatives' display. "Perfect, complementary teamwork. Oh yeah, I want to have my friends' backs just like that."

Hare glanced at her in confusion. "Friends?"

Elm chuckled as well. "This isn't the schoolyard, kids."

Now Ruby was the confused one, as were her other teammates as they came to stand by her side. Yang cocked an eyebrow. "I mean, when you go through so much with someone, it kinda changes things, doesn't it?"

Harriet shrugged. "We get along well enough, sure. I count on them to keep me alive. They do the same. But that's the job. We don't confuse the two." She turned from them to join her team, the girls watching her go with surprise at her matter-of-fact view. It was a far different one from their viewpoint; each girl knew that the other three looked at her as a best friend, close as sisters. To see the soldiers' cold detatchment from the rest of their team was jarring.

Harriet came up next to Clover. "Speaking of the job…" the leader said. She followed his gaze to see General Ironwood, who had arrived on the scene with the technicians. He was currently taking a call on his Scroll and giving some orders to a soldier. The man saluted and hurried to his duty as Ironwood continued the call. Clover began walking. "Duty ever beckons." To the kids, he ordered, "You all hang back a second."

Ruby watched the Ace Ops following after Clover, still slightly stung by what Harriet and Elm had said. However, her face brightened as she turned to her teammates. "What do you guys want to do when we get back to Atlas? Sightseeing?" She gasped. "Oh, what should we vist first?"

The rest of Team RWBY weren't nearly as enthusiastic, Blake looking at her with a tired yawn. "How about our beds?" Even though they hadn't done much during the main fight with the Geist, the rest of the day after that had been spent clearing the mine of remaining Centinels, as well as a few excursions into the cold outside to take care of Beowolves, and they were pooped.

"Oh, come on, guys!" Ruby protested, arms in the air. "This is a great time to go exploring! We haven't done that in so long." She looked sadly at the ground.

Weiss stared at her blankly. "Ruby, we just explored a whole continent, on foot, before flying to this one."

"Well—yeah, but… it was only the boring parts," the reaper murmured in reply.

Yang mirrored Weiss's expression. "We almost died." Ruby gave a pfft and waved it off, but it didn't change the others' decision, to her disappointment.

"Hey," came her uncle's voice. "Heads up." He thumbed over to Ironwood, who was currently in a discussion with Clover.

The General stopped and gazed over in their direction. "Can I get the team leaders over here? There's something I'd like to discuss with you. You too, Qrow." He turned back to Clover to finish his instruction, "I need you on the ground, but be subtle. If the people see too many Huntsmen milling around, they'll get nervous." Clover saluted with a nod, accepting his orders before turning to board a ship and see them carried out.

"And Clover?" Ironwood called after him. "Don't take Marrow." Clover glanced at his fellow Ace Op, who was currently telling a story to a pilot with some elaborate hand motions and sound effects for added drama, and grinned back at Ironwood with a chuckle and a brief nod.

Ironwood turned now to address Qrow, Jaune, and Ruby, who had approached him by now. "New problems in Mantle?" Qrow remarked.

Ironwood sighed in a way that enhanced his worry lines. "More of the same, unfortunately." He pulled out his Scroll and pulled up a pair of images. The one on the left displayed a mug shot of a man with long, stringy brown hair and green eyes. The information below him designated him Inmate 2582. On the right, the same man lay facedown in an alleyway, apparently dead. The text above the photo read: Murdered body identified as Forest, Midtown Mantle. "Someone in Mantle is taking out public leaders who speak out against Atlas. Specifically, people who speak out against me. It didn't look like a pattern at first. But this is the third murder of its kind in the last week."

Jaune and Ruby's eyes both widened in recognition. "Wait a minute," the blonde said, "that's the guy that rode with us after we were arrested."

Ruby drew back slightly in horror, a hand held to her mouth. "He died?" she whispered.

Qrow stared at his old ally. "Your opposition in Mantle dropping dead isn't exactly a good look for you, huh?"

Ironwood put the Scroll back in his pocket. "I'm not really worried about my public image, but it is causing unrest. I think someone's trying to frame me, and by extension, Atlas. And it's working."

Jaune crossed his arms. "Well, if it wasn't for the embargo making everybody so mad, people probably wouldn't be so quick to blame you for everything." Even though the teens had agreed to work with Ironwood with the launch of Amity, it didn't mean they all agreed with every part of his plan. Nora particularly was not fond of Ironwood's Dust embargo; seeing the suffering and struggle it caused the people in Mantle reminded her of her own childhood on the streets before she had found Ren, and as her teammate, Jaune was beginning to agree with her assessment.

Ironwood looked to the boy with a steely gaze and a frown at the remark. Jaune noticed and nervously cleared his throat. "Uhm, s-sir," he added.

However, Ironwood's shoulders slumped slightly with a sigh as he conceded, "No, no, you're right." He squinted his eyes closed and put a hand of consternation to the bridge of his nose. "Things in Mantle have been… hard to manage, lately. I'm not blind to its issues." He looked back to Ruby and Jaune. "In fact, that's what I want to talk to you about.

"With the launch of this mobile communications tower," he continued, turning to gaze up at Amity in the twighlight sky, "and tensions down in Mantle, I think there's a lot of good your teams can do here." He seemed to have more to say, but before he could continue, his earpiece beeped and he lifted a hand to take the comms. His brow furrowed. "What? Already? Here?" His hand balled into a fist. "No. It's fine. Let him land. I'll deal with him myself."

Qrow traded a glance with his niece and cocked an eyebrow. "More Mantle problems?"

Ironwood didn't look at him. Instead, his eyes were fixed skyward at an ornate white ship that was currently coming in for a landing. On its side, just able to be made out at the distance, was the glittering snowflake emblem of the Schnee Dust Company. "No," the General replied, watching the ship circle in for its landing. "This one's an Atlas problem."

The General summoned up the other students and had them follow him to the landing site. With a gesture, he told them to wait back for a bit while he addressed the uninvited guest.

Ruby was standing with the other three members of her team when she sensed Weiss stiffen out the corner of her eye. She turned to see the former heiress fixated on the ship as it touched down, a ramp extending forth from the rear hatch before the doors swished open to reveal the source of Weiss's discomfort.

"So let me get this straight, James!" Jacques Schnee was already talking the moment the doors opened, stalking out of his ship like an angered King Taijitu as he stormed up to his onetime friend. "In addition to this nonsensical embargo of yours crippling my business, you've also decided you have the authority to commandeer private property?!" He pointed a finger in the General's face, Ironwood staring at him with unflinching calm in the face of Jacques ire. "When the Council hears about this, you will never—!"

"Actually," James replied evenly, "I've already informed them." He gestured to the bustling activity behind him. "As this now the site of a classified military operation, it didn't even require a vote."

Jacques stared at him in disbelief. "Didn't require a vote?!" he repeated, incensed.

Ironwood met his gaze coolly. "You might want to brush up on Council law before you lose this upcoming election, Jacques. Now, I've allowed you to land here once as a courtesy. The next time, it won't be a friendly reception."

Jacques glared at the other man, eyes narrowed into deadly slits as he spat, "Lately, you seem to forget who your friends really are. I'm going to get that council seat, James, and maybe then, you'll…" Jacques intended to go on, but for the first time, he glanced past Ironwood and noticed the audience to their discussion, particularly, his daughter, who stared at him with a gaze of undisguised disgust.

Weiss would be lying if she said she wasn't slightly satisfied to see Jacques at momentarly loss for words from the surprise of that moment. "You…" he started, trailing off from shock. However, the fire quickly returned to his eyes as he walked past Ironwood and gestured towards Weiss. "You roped my missing daughter into these schemes of yours, too? How long has she been back in Atlas? Did Winter know about this?"

Weiss was fed up. She stepped forward toward the man who had once held her in check and boldly proclaimed, "It was my decision to come here. Just like it was my decision to leave." She placed a hand on her hip, her eyes becoming lidded in disdain as she continued, "Or have you forgotten all about that?"

Jacques turned to her fully, derision in is voice and his expression. "If you think I'm one to forget anything, girl, then you've misjudged the man your father is."

Jacques was used to winning these battles of wills with her, used to her cowering to his will whenever he showed her the monster within that prowled in his cobalt eyes, but Weiss was not the same girl she had been when she had run away, and she certainly wasn't the same one who had left for Beacon over a year prior. Instead, she glared back at the monster, crossed her arms, and replied with steel in her words, "Believe me. I know exactly the kind of man you are."

Jacques temper flared at the show of disrespect. "How dare you speak to me that way! I have half a mind to—" He took a step towards her before Ironwood spoke from behind him.

"Half a mind to what, Jacques?" Ironwood said. Jacques seemed livid, unused to not having the power in this situation. Weiss nearly smiled at the thought of what Ironwood might do should her father try to so much as touch her. He might even have him arrested for assaulting official Atlesian personnel.

However, Weiss's fantasy didn't come to fruition as Jacques grudgingly desisted. However, the shrewd businessman quickly shifted tactics, and when he next spoke, his voice dripped with faux sympathy. "You know, your mother was devastated when you left. Didn't leave her room for days." He looked significantly at her. "You know how she gets when she's… upset."

Weiss twitched, the mention of her mother stirring some emotion from her. It was the one thing she had done her best not to think about when she'd decided to run away: the effect it would have on Willow. Too many nights had she lain up, imagining her mother laying in bed with a bottle, no glass, and drinking herself into a stupor out of despair for her own situation and worry over Weiss's.

Behind her, Ruby was staring at her back worriedly, watching as Weiss's firm stance wilted slightly from Jacques disgusting, but effective, manipulation. Yang and Blake were more focused on Jacques, both staring at him angrily at this firsthand scene of his relationship to her daughter. Yang had already gotten somewhat of a sense of Weiss's predicament back in Mistral, after a fight one morning with Ruby, so she had the context to understand why Weiss was so distraught.

As for Blake, she already had ample reason to hate the man before her, what with his treatment of Faunus kind for years. However, to see the mental warfare that he used now on his own daughter, to fully grasp that this was what Weiss had grown up under, it made Blake regret every old insulting thought and assumption she had made about Weiss at Beacon, before she'd revealed she was a Faunus. Now, Blake's yellow eyes bored through Jacques with an intensity that said she would hurl herself at the man if she could, for Weiss's sake.

The man himself grinned slightly, seeing how shaken Weiss had been by the mention of her mother, before he turned back to Ironwood. "I knew one day you would overextend your reach," Jacques told him. He was still grinning. "I didn't come here to beg for an abandoned mine. I came here to thank you. For personally handing me the noose to hang you."

Behind him, Weiss started as she felt a hand slip into her own, looking to the left to see Blake standing there with a warm, reassuring smile. Yang stood beside her, and to her right, Ruby gave her an uplifting smile of her own as the three girls stood in solidarity next to their friend.

"You'll regret this," Jacques assured Ironwood before turning and taking in the sight of Team RWBY standing as one. His mustached curled in a distasteful frown. "So, these are the little friends you threw everything away for?"

Weiss shook her head. "Not friends." Ruby looked at her for a moment before she amended, "Family." At that, she smiled widely at Weiss, as well as Jacques. Yang smirked at the businessman as well, while Blake's deadly glared remained pinned on Jacques's face.

Jacques was unintimidated by the display, but it did appear to bore him. With a little Hmmph, he turned on his heel and boarded his airship once more, the engines firing up as the door closed behind him to take him back to Schnee Manor in Atlas. Wiess physically slumped with a sigh, the encounter having taxed her more than she'd bargained, while Ruby placed a comforting hand on her back.

As the SDC craft disembarked, a single truck rolled up to the landing pad it had just occupied. From the passenger seat appeared Winter, glaring up cautiously at the disappearing airhsip and ensuring it was safely out of range before she finally fully stepped out of the vehicle.

Weiss smiled in amusement. "Oh, now you show up, Winter," she teased. "You just missed Father."

Winter approached them, her eyes lingering on Jacques ship as it faded into the horizon. "I wouldn't say I missed hi—"

"Surprise!" Penny shouted as she suddenly landed in their midst, armes extended and a jovial smile on her face. Team RWBY all fell back with a cry from the surprise entrance, groaning and twitching on the ground. Penny looked down at them in confusion. "Uh, did we not start yet?"

Ironwood was smiling slightly at the display, while Winter held a hand to her head with a sigh. "Apparently, we haven't."

As Jaune and Nora roared in laughter at the sight behind them, Ruby picked herself up and dusted herself of snow to look at Penny. "Start what?"

Amity Tower, Kingdom of Atlas

The sun had set by the time Ironwood had collected the kids, Qrow, Penny, and Winter in a Bullhead and taken a short ride up to Amity Colosseum. He led them through the former stadium's empty corridors out into the main floor, where matches had been held for the Vytal Festival Tournament, once upon a time. It was a bit eerie to see those empty stands, gazing out at them as if their audience was now only the wind and whatever ghosts from the past found them interesting.

Ironwood regarded them somberly, Winter and Penny at his side. "It goes without saying that this arena holds a significance to all of us." He stepped forward. "It's only fitting that we should be able to reconvene here. Now. When the world needs to be brought together more than ever.

"The road you travelled from our first meeting hasn't been easy. You fought for your school and your friends at Beacon. You fought for the world and the innocent at Haven Academy and beyond. You faced down terrors people can't even fathom." He walked along the line of teens before him, taking in each and every one of them with a proud gaze. "That's not the behavior of students. It's the behavior… of Hunstmen and Huntresses."

With that, Ironwood turned to Penny. Penny had been bouncing excitedly as he talked, an eager smile written all over her face as Winter physically placed a hand on her shoulder to keep her still. Now, Penny took her cue and went to work, walking down the line of students with a tablet in her hand. She stopped in front of each of them and pressed a button on the tablet, humming cheerfully all the while.

Ren was the first one to feel his Scroll buzz. He pulled it out and looked at the credentials that displayed him as a student of Beacon Academy, only to do a double take as the words suddenly changed in front of him. Where it had read 'Student License: Beacon,' now there was 'Huntsman License: Atlas.' The others pulled out their own Scrolls and beheld the same change. "Wait," Ren said, "what is this?"

"You are being granted your Huntsman licenses. Today," Winter supplied.

Ironwood took up the dialogue as Penny finished the line with Team RWBY. "I know this is coming a little ahead of schedule, but Brothers know you deserve it. I only regret that I couldn't do something a little more ceremonious for the situation."

Ruby stared down at her Scroll, her new license. Once, a long time ago, this would have been all she had aspired for, a way to officially be able to help anyone and everyone who needed it. So much had changed since then, with everything they'd learned. Not quite knowing what else to say, she murmured, "I—we… we're honored, General Ironwood. But you really don't have to do th—"

"Please. With the threat of Salem still out there, and tensions rising in our Kingdom, I certainly could use more trustworthy fighter by my side." He missed the traded glances that ran up and down the group as he went on, "I should be so lucky to have all of you." Mistaking their silence for shock, he smiled sincerely and said, "It's okay. It's a big moment. And what better way than to celebrate here? When this tower is ready, and communications are back up and running, we'll tell the world about Salem, and face down whatever comes at us after that. Together."

He looked at them a moment longer, the pride in their achievements lingering in his gaze, before he sighed shortly. "That's… just about all the pomp I have in me. If you'll excuse me, I have to get back to running this operation." He adjusted his red necktie. "Um, well then. Enjoy the cake." With that, the General turned and made his way to one of the exits, Winter following at his side.

Penny waved and encouraged the departers, "Your speech outros are improving, sir!"

As for the former students, they were in a state of semi-surprise. "After everything we've been through," Yang mused, "I almost forgot this is what I wanted in the first place."

"When Beacon fell, I didn't think this would even be possible," Blake agreed.

Weiss nodded. "It almost seems trivial now.

"Jeez, guys, lighten up a bit!" came Qrow's voice. They turned to see him smiling at them, the same pride that had been in Ironwood's eyes shining in his own. "Enjoy yourselves for a change! You've earned it."

"Finally! Someone said it!" Nora agreed. "Let's kill some cake, huh! Because I can eat two slices before Ren even eats one! Who says I can't? Who says it, huh?!" she cried in challenge.

"Nora," Ren reassured her, "no one is arguing about you with this."

The teams made their way into the stands, where a table had been set up and the cake awaited. Penny delightedly cut the dessert into slices, and everyone began to mill about and chat with each other. Yang made an effort to get Penny to shake her hand, only for the gynoid girl to recoil back fearfully when she pulled the robotic appendage off. However, she began to laugh along with Yang and Nora, both of whom had been in the situation before.

Alone in the stands sat Ruby, happy to see her friends enjoying themselves but still thinking hard about things. She was disturbed from her thoughts by Qrow, who sidled up next to her. "Big day for you, huh, kiddo?"

She frowned. "It's… definitely a lot to take in."

"Which part? The finally getting to Atlas part, getting your license part," he smiled knowingly at her, "or the not quite disclosing everything to Ironwood part?" He chuckled. "Or… all of the above."

Ruby gave a soft laugh despite herself. "All of the above," she agreed. Her smile gave way to worry as she went on, "I'm trying to do what I think is best, but I can't really tell if what's best is what's right… or if I'm no different from Oz." That had been the thought that consumed her ever since their first meeting with Ironwood. It's certainly what gave Oscar and her sister pause. Keeping the entire truth from Ironwood, even if ony temporarily, seemed far too much like what the headmaster had done to them. Her conversation with Oscar from that morning kept playing through in her head.

"Ruby," Qrow said gently, "Oz only trusted himself with the whole truth. You're trusting others, but you're making sure they prove themselves first. I think that's a pretty big difference."

"I hope so," the girl murmured. She pulled out her Scroll, looked down at her new, official Huntress license. "This says I'm a Huntress now. But I don't feel like I know much more than I did at Beacon."

Qrow chuckled again. "That feeling never goes away." He smiled sincerely at her. "Your mom, Summer, would have been proud of you."

Ruby returned his smile, but a new thought gave her pause. Slowly, hesitantly, she ventured, "Her last mission… was that another Oz secret?"

Qrow leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "Hmm. There were a lot of those back in our day. But this one was a Summer secret." His crimson eyes went upward, as if searching for the answer they both wanted in the starry night sky. "When she didn't come back, Ozpin seemed just as in the dark as myself and your father." His voice held a slightly bitter edge to it when he added, "Still, who knows what he might have hidden from us over the years."

Ruby thought for a moment. "What do you think she would have done? If she learned the truth about Salem? That she can't be destroyed."

"Pressed on, I think. Like you. She was always the best of us." Qrow put an arm over his niece's shoulders and pulled her into a hug. Ruby closed her eyes and smiled, grateful for his reassurance. "Bit of a brat, though," he joked a moment later, "but hey, I like brats." Ruby laughed and elbowed him playfully in the side.

"Hey Ruby!" Yang's voice called out. She looked to see her sister thumbing at something behind her. "Come check this out!"

Ruby and Qrow made their way out of the stands to see the other kids grouped around something. Ruby zipped to the front and gasped. "Oh my gosh, is that a mission board? It's an app, now?!" She darted forward and looked over the available missions. "Oh, can we ride a Megoliath? Stop an underground crimering? Do I get to go," she threw her hood up over her head and turned to Penny, "undercover?"

"Maybe!" Penny replied, slightly jostled as Ruby grabbed her by the shoulders and excitedly shook her up and down.

"Hey, you guys smell that?" The group turned to see Marrow, accompanied by Elm and Vine, emerging from one of the nearby tunnels. The Faunus Ace Op sniffed the air and smirked at the younger Huntsmen and Huntresses. "Smells like fresh meat."

Behind him, Vine took a long sniff of the air, appearing puzzled. "That's odd. I don't smell meat."

Ren sniffed as well. "Neither do I."

Marrow groaned. "You know what, nevermind."

"Let me get this straight," Elm said. "You've only been official for an hour now and you're already looking for Huntsman work?"

"To be fair," Weiss replied, "we've been official for a whole…" She pulled out her Scroll to check the time, only to frown as she finished, "...fifty-seven minutes."

"I'd like to remind you all," Vine said, "that the real mission here is ensuring the successful launch of the communications tower."

"True," Ren agreed, "but we can also keep training and improving by helping where we can."

Elm sighed fondly with a fist pump. "The enthusiasm of youths!"

"Well, it's hard to argue with that," Marrow conceded. "Alright, let me show you how it works." He approached the board and scrolled through the list. "Ooh, here's an important one. Who wants to volunteer?"

Everyone's hands flew up, along with a few excited murmers or gasps.

"We need someone to escort children to pre-primary school down in Mantle. There's not actually any danger, but the parents fret, and that attracts Grimm."

Everyone's hands sank down, along with a few disappointed groans. Everyone's except for Jaune, who hesitantly kept his raised. "Perfect, thanks… Juan… Jwan… Jim?" Marrow tried.

"Close enough, I guess," Jaune said with a weak chuckle. However, Marrow's fumbling over his name was overshadowed by his sense of accomplishment. "Wow, my first Huntsman mission!"

Elm shoved Marrow out of the way, selected another mission, and cried, "Next, a massive Sabyr is loose in the Mantle sewers. We need two brave warriors to flush it out."

Once again, everyone's hand flew eagerly up, leaving Jaune to flounder and complain, "Wha—? But, why didn't I get a choice for that one?" Everyone laughed, save for Marrow, who groaned from where Elm had shoved him on the floor.

Schnee Manor, Atlas

Unaware of the jovial celebration currently underway in Amity Tower, Jacques Schnee had retired for the evening to his study to fume. A drink rested in his hand, taking the edge off of a very frustrating day but failing to completely extinguish his anger. The nerve of Ironwood, claiming that his use of eminent domain didn't even require the Atlesian Council's permission. Their friendship had long since frayed into bitter rivalry, ever since James had enacted this idiotic embargo and cost Jacques millions in Lien. And to top it off, his errant daughter had the gall to not only return to Atlas after deliberately disobeying his commands, but to side with his enemy!

Clenching the glass tighter, Jacques took a drink, the singular, spherical ice cube within clinking against the side before the sound of his study door opening caught his attention. He turned to see Whitley, who appeared slightly uncomfortable, peering cautiously in through the gap. "Father, you, um… have a visitor."

Annoyed, Jacques slammed the glass down on the wooden arm of the chair, not hard enough to break, but loud enough to make an unpleasant clank that caused Whitley to cringe. "I told you I didn't want to be disturbed. Why did you let them in?"

"I didn't," Whitley said uneasily. "He… let himself in."

The door opened wider, and Jacques felt his eyes widen at the sight of the man now occupying the doorway. Dr. Arthur Watts grinned beneath a mustache that rivalled Jacques's own as he said, "A spitting image of you, this lad, Jacques. Creepily so, I might add." He strode over to inspect the bookshelves, glancing sideways at the businessman. "He's definitely inherited your," he chuckled, "affect."

"Arthur," Jacques greeted, his reserved tone unable to keep the surprise off his face. Remembering they weren't alone, he turned and instructed, "Whitley, leave us. And shut the door." The boy glanced from the unexpected arrival to his father, before Jacques commanded him again, more harshly, "I said shut the door!"

Whitley obeyed, leaving the two men alone in the study. Watts wore a grin like the cat who'd cornered the canary as he took a long, leisurely stroll along Jacques's office. Jacques himself studied the doctor, as if to make sure that what he was seeing before him was real, and not some illusion brought on by the stress of the day. "I—you're supposed to be dead," Jacques said slowly.

Watts turned and walked toward Jacques, and Jacques was struck, like he had always been when they were younger, at how thin Arthur was, just barely above appearing unnaturally emaciated. "That is what I wanted people to think, you're right," Watts agreed. "However, I've heard things about you too, Jacques. Namely," he came around behind Jacques chair and leaned in close, "that you have an Ironwood problem."

Jacques scoffed. Problem was a severe understatement. "That bastard is costing me more money every day with this embargo. I'd lay off every employee in Mantle if I wasn't trying to get their damn votes for this Council seat."

Watts took a seat in the chair adjacent to Jacques and propped up one leg on the other knee, the smile just barely peeking out from beneath his mustache appearing sharklike. However, there was something promising about it that made Jacques sit up straighter as Watts lowered his voice and offered conspiratorially, "What if I said you could have your cake and eat it too?"