"If tomorrow I go wrong. I would want to be hit so as not to bring harm to this thing of ours." ~ Vito Genovese.
After getting some much needed rest and cleaning up after that lousy heist I finally pulled out my scroll to call Ozpin about the news.
"Mr. Arc, I was hoping you might call me. I trust you saw the news on what happened last night," He said when he first picked up my call. He naturally had a less than pleased tone of voice.
"Yeah… I was there," I told them plainly. I had in fact seen the news on the heist, a bunch of White Fang terrorists having a shootout with the police and blowing up a dust shop was hardly something that people would miss out on.
"I was afraid of that," Ozpin told me with a deep sigh. "Why did you blow up that shop?"
"I didn't!" I hissed, pissed that he would even accuse me of doing something like that. "Roman had me running that job with some guys from the White Fang and they had the hairbrained idea to blast into the back safe when it wouldn't open."
"The White Fang?" Ozpin asked me. That had piqued his curiosity. "So it really was the Fang that robbed that place as the news is reporting."
"Yes, and I'm not talking about us just wearing masks to confuse people. These guys were the real deal, they had me meet them in some cell they were operating on the southside of town. Some guy named Adam was calling the shots there." I explained to him.
"Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?" He asked me.
"This was all last minute," I told him. "Roman was supposed to be there with us but he got called away unexpectedly. The three guys they had me working with didn't listen to a word I said. The safe we were supposed to have the code for wouldn't open and it tripped the alarm. I wanted to leave but they wouldn't go. But instead of drilling like they said they would they blew the safe and the dust inside while I held the cops off."
"So that was you shooting at Vale's finest last night," he said unamused.
"Hey! If it hadn't been me it would have been the White Fang. And they seemed pretty pleased at the idea of it turning into a bloodbath." I explained to him. "If anything I saved lives."
"You must understand that it is difficult to believe that from my position," he told me dryly.
"What the fuck do you want from me Ozpin!?" I snapped. "I can't keep my hands clean in this mission of yours! You wanted me to steal dust and now I'm stealing it! I'm sorry things hit the fan but I'm having to work with what I got!"
"I know that Mr. Arc but you need to also consider where I am coming from. This city is under my protection and when there's bombs going off and shootouts with the police it casts me in doubt. And with the Vytal Festival on the way things are extra sensitive in matters of security. Such public displays of violence and lawlessness are dangerous in my position." He explained to me.
I wanted to reach through the scroll and strangle him. "You wanted results!" I gowled trying to keep my anger in check.
"Yes… but I'm starting to have my doubts on this mission Mr. Arc. What have you really managed to learn in all this time?" He asked me.
"I learned that the dust is for the White Fang," I told him flatly. "They're collecting it for some reason."
"Are… are you sure of this," he said to me.
"Why else would the mob be working with a bunch of faunus terrorists?" I asked him. "That Adam guy even complained to me that the mob wasn't pulling its weight and that he had to lend us muscle for that job.
"But why?" He asked me. "What could they possibly need so much dust for?"
"I don't know sir," I told him. "But they're international terrorists, they're probably shipping it out of the city and to their other cells and allies for their little war on humanity."
"But why now? And why just here in Vale?" He asked me.
"I don't know sir… but if you want me to find out then I can't back out now," I told him, feeling that the truth of the matter was close. But then again just learning this had been a chore.
"Can you really?" Ozpin asked me.
"What can you gain by getting cold feet now?" I asked him. I wasn't sure that I would learn what the White Fang was intending to do with all that dust but I couldn't see any real benefit to Ozpin by stopping all of this.
"I suppose you're right. There is no advantage to stopping right now when you have already gone so far." He told me.
"Exactly. Besides what if it had been those White Fang members pulling the trigger last night? A few shot up squad cars aren't anything compared to dead cops. If anything I kept it from being worse." I told him.
"I see your point," he conceded to me. "Just try to keep the explosions and gunfights to a minimum."
That really pissed me off. I had been doing everything I could to see that any heists I took place in went down clean and with little shooting and no bodies. But one really bad night and he was talking to me like I had planned for everything to go bad. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind," I told him in the most obedient voice I could manage.
"Good. Do you have a plan on how exactly you plan to learn about the Fang's intentions with the dust?" He asked me.
Of course I didn't. For all I knew Roman was just as ignorant as I was about their operation and intentions. He was stealing the stuff for him sure but this was business. Just because you sell someone flour doesn't mean you know what they're baking in the oven. But not wanting Ozpin to pull the plug and ruin my dreams I thought fast.
"I'm going to be working with the Fang again," I told him. "This is my opportunity to make connections with them and since I'm becoming familiar with Roman's capos I might be able to learn something from them."
"That's fair enough," Ozpin agreed. "But what about this Adam person you mentioned? If he's a leader within the organization it seems that befriending him might be your best option to learn anything useful."
"I'm afraid I'm a little too human to make friends with him," I explained. "He wasn't interested in any kind of friendly relationship with me, professional or otherwise. He doesn't seem too keen on working with the mafia either."
"But you think you could get better results with the rest of his organization?" He asked me, finding my plan dubious.
"I don't know but I should try. They can't all be that hostile to me, hell that the one guy that survived that whole mess told the truth to Roman and Adam. He could have tried lying and pinning blame on me but from what I can tell he was completely honest." I told him as I considered my options. "Maybe I can see how he's doing."
"Try what you can Mr. Arc, but remember that you are dealing with extremists here." He cautioned me.
"Believe me I know," I said to him, feeling patronized.
"Alright… I'll give you another six weeks to get me results," He told me.
"I'll get them," I promised him. I hung up before he could patronize me even more with some empty words of encouragement or warning that I already fully understood. I was the one putting my ass on the line being here, I didn't need to be reminded how dangerous this all was.
I slid the burner scroll back into the useless power outlet, screwing back the flimsy plastic cover and sliding the couch back to cover it. There was no way I was going to let Ozpin scrub this mission until I had his signature on my new Beacon admission papers. I had gone too far, I had given this mission a pound of flesh and I was going to make sure I saw a return on that investment.
Maybe being in this line of work had changed me. I had started out seeing this mission as a test or some task that I needed to do. Like I had to prove to Ozpin that I had what it took to be worthy of his academy. But now it was feeling more and more like a transaction. I give Ozpin what he wants and he gives me what I want. That was how I was seeing this now.
I shaved and I downed a mug of coffee before heading out.
"Mr. Arc!" Hana called to me in the hallway, peeking out of her door across from mine.
"Hey Hana," I said, giving her a little wave as I stopped to talk to her.
"I am so glad I caught you," she said, stepping out and giving me a friendly smile.
"Is something up?" I asked her.
"A couple of things," she said. "I hope I am not intruding on your busy schedule."
"I can take a few minutes," I said, I was about to go take Cardin out to shop for suits but I knew that he wouldn't mind if I was just a little bit late in picking him up. "What's on your mind?"
"Misses Xing next door is selling her shop," she explained to me. "Since we are connected I have considered buying the space and making an addition to my business. Put in more machines, or maybe start a dry cleaning service."
"That sounds excellent," I said, pleased to see that despite her age that she was working to improve her business. She certainly had an entrepreneurial spirit that I could respect.
"But I would need money to do it and I was hoping that you would be kind enough to consider adding this to your investments." She said to me.
"Not a loan?" I asked her. "Because I am more than willing to loan you the cash," I told her. Considering Hana helped wash my money among other things I had no doubt that she could pay me back easily.
"I think an investment would be more prudent," she said to me. "You have already done so much for my business and I think it is only right to have you share in the profits. I can guarantee you a healthy return."
I held my hand up to stop her. "You don't need to give me any numbers Hana. I trust that you're going to give me a fair share," I told her, believing that she would be fair and that O-Ushi's bean counters would keep track of the investment for me.
"Have you talked to O-Ushi about this?" I asked her.
"I was hoping that you could help talk her into it," she told me. "She respects you and I am sure she would listen."
I hadn't really spoken much to O-Ushi since that little incident with the dust and cutting my finger. My work for Roman happened so fast after that and was so demanding that I hardly had any chance to speak with her. But Hana wasn't exactly in the know about my day to day business.
"I'll have a discussion with her," I assured her, taking her small frail hand and patting it.
"Thank you Mr. Arc," she said to me. "I am making dumplings tonight, shall I make some for you?"
"I'll be eating out tonight, so don't bother," I told her. I knew full well that she'd cook the extra food for me anyways and I'd eat it as leftovers. It was almost like the old woman thought I wasn't feeding myself unless she kept my fridge packed with her Mistrali cooking. Not that I minded in the least.
I got into my nice car and took it downtown to pick up Cardin like we had agreed to. He was outside the Mulo Union office having met with Paulie about having us "steal" some trucks for one of our upcoming heists. Whenever we took a truck from one of our Unions they had it reported stolen and cashed in on the insurance. This business has hustles within hustles, and we usually sold the trucks off to some chop shops or to businesses that didn't ask questions about vehicle registration.
"Hey boss," Cardin said, sliding into the passenger. "Paulie said the trucks are going to be left at a stop, the drivers are going to take a very long bathroom break and leave the keys in for us."
"Got it," I said to him. Paulie was always easy to work with.
"So… are we really going shopping for monkey suits?" He asked me dubiously.
"Yes but don't call them that in front of Marcello you'll break his heart," I told him with a roll of my eyes. "And you don't need to sound like that, you're working for a big shot and you should dress like one."
"I don't mind wearing nice clothes," Cardin told me. "It's just that I don't want any handouts, you don't need to pay for me, just take it out of my cut."
"This isn't a handout Cardin," I said, looking over at him as he stared out the window as we drove through the downtown shopping district. "It's part of your raise."
He turned away from the window and gave me a hard and confused look. "I'm getting a raise… why?" He asked suspiciously.
I had hoped that he would just shrug and accept the extra dough that I was going to be sending his way. I wanted to preserve his pride but I wasn't going to lie to him. "The other night when I was playing cards with your team… they told me the truth about your debt. I know that you're spending your cut on your family and I want to help."
He bared his teeth at me and growled. "I don't need your pity!"
"It's not pity!" I told him firmly, giving him a hard look in his eyes. "It's respect! You're trying to do right by your family Cardin and I would be a pretty shitty boss to just ignore that. When you agreed to let me settle your debt and take down Michail you risked everything to help them. And when Roman and his people caught you after my hairbrained dust heist that you objected to you took a beating and told them that it was your idea. You tried protecting me and your team."
Cardin shrugged. "I'm not a snitch, and I can take a punch."
"You're loyal!" I told him, not willing to let him downplay what he had done for me. I had already been doing that enough myself. "And you got balls, and I now can see why your team respects you so much."
"It's not my team anymore. We're not CRDL anymore, we're your crew." He said to me.
"And you're my number one guy," I said to him. "And I'm going to tell the crew and everyone else that because I want them and everyone else to know that if they can't come to me then they're going to go to you."
"Really?" Cardin asked me.
"Really," I assured him. "You're still a leader in their eyes Cardin and I should have seen that from the beginning and not have busted your balls because of some shit from Beacon that doesn't even matter."
He released a breath. "I was a pretty huge asshole to you." He told me with a chuckle.
"I know, but holding that grudge would be bad for business. And ignoring how much the rest of my crew admires and respects you would be wasteful and dumb." I told him. "That's why you're going to be my number one guy Cardin. It's not just because you're taking care of your family, that only shows that you're the kind of guy I want as my second in command. And I want my second in command to be dressed sharp."
A smile curled Cardin's lips and he gave me a nod. "Alright… from now on I'll wear the nicest threads."
I grinned as we turned the corner and parked next to the curb outside Vinnie's Threads like O-Ushi had done the day she first took me to get my suits. We exited my car and I led Cardin inside where Marcello sat behind the counter.
"Mr. Arc!" Marcello exclaimed to me, moving with wide friendly open arms taking my hand and shaking it.
"Marcello it is good to see you," I said, shaking his hand and flashing him a grin and pointing my thumb behind me to Cardin. "I'm here to get my finest boy here some real suits, give him the works."
"The works?" Cardin asked, raising a dubious eyebrow.
"You'll see," I told him with a grin. "Marchello's suits are more than just fashionable."
"Indeed," Marcello said, looking Cardin up and down. "He is quite big, you know I charge based on measurements."
"The cost is hardly an issue," I said to him. I may not have been a millionaire but I was already making more money than I knew what to do with.
"Very well," Marcello said, turning enthusiastically on his heel and leading us into the back where all his old photos of him and his father shaking hands with the old mobsters of this city. He quickly put Cardin in the middle of the room and proceeded to measure him; he had to use a wooden stool to get his height and shoulders.
"So aside from being hand tailored what's so special about these suits?" Cardin asked as Marcello literally sized him up.
"While quality is worth it's own reward, Marcello sews kevlar into the lining. It's armor lined and has Mistrali silk for comfort." I explained to him. "It might not be as strong as what we wore at Beacon but protection is protection."
"That is one of my many talents," Marcello said, writing down Cardin's measurements in a little leather bound notebook. "I… I wonder if perhaps I could ask you about something Mr. Arc," Marcello said to me with a sidelong glance.
"Oh?" I asked. Another business proposition for me?
"I hear rumors," Marcello said, giving me a weary look.
I raised an eyebrow at him. "What kind of rumors?"
"I hear that you are good at getting your hands on some stuff that I could use for my humble business," he said trying to keep up his charming smile as he approached me to speak softly. "I hear you can get dust."
I raised an eyebrow at him. "That's a dangerous rumor," I said to him.
"I understand but you see my suppliers have been robbed and I have some specialty orders that I have had to delay because of it," he explained to me.
"What does a tailor need dust for anyway?" I asked him.
"I imbue it into the clothing," he explained to me with a sinister grin.
"I've heard of that," Cardin explained. "It's an old trick some huntsmen have been using for ages, you can use your aura to power the dust and imbue yourself with it's power or even form weapons."
"That sounds… quite handy," I said imagining the possibilities. So far I had mainly been using dust ammunition thanks to Kaiu's handy work but since his supply was down to a trickle I was paying a lot for it.
"It is," Marcello said to me. "Some of my customers with aura have been asking for it but I'm afraid it's so difficult to get at the moment that I have had to delay these specialty orders. I am of course more than willing to pay well."
I shrugged. I might have been stealing the stuff but I wasn't exactly a supplier. I also was a little concerned that some rumor mill was turning about me getting the stuff. "I can maybe talk to some people," I told him. "But I can make no promises."
I didn't know if Roman would be willing to skim off what we were stealing to sell to Marcello or perhaps other criminal affiliates but I supposed there would be no issue pitching the idea to him. We were literally stealing tons of the stuff.
Marcello smiled and shook my hand. "Thank you," he said, moving off to the side. "Here, I have a gift for you."
"That's not necessary Marcello really, like I said I can make no promises," I told him.
"It is a gift for considering my offer," he said, bringing in a small wooden box and opening it to show me a pair of black leather gloves. "The man that ordered these was arrested, so I think you can make more use of them than him."
I picked up the gloves and tried them off. The left pinky didn't fit since I had removed the first knuckle for Junior, but otherwise they fit me well enough. "What's so special about them?" I asked.
"I have imbued some gravity dust within them," he explained to me. "If you ever say… need to hit something harder."
Thanks to Kaiu's special beanbags I found that the black dust that could alter weight to be a personal favorite of mine. I wondered if that had been another rumor that Marcello had heard about.
"I'm afraid they'll need some adjustment," I said, figuring that Marcello wouldn't take no for an answer.
"Very well," he said, taking the gloves back. "I'll be sure to see that they fit you soon enough."
We proceeded to go help Cardin pick out the various fabrics and cuts and other details that went into preparing suits. Marcello also took the opportunity to tell us about the various options for dust, from it being inconspicuously sewn into the sleeves to cufflinks and tie pins that could hold the crystals. He even had some expensive Atlesian watches that could carry dust dispensers. Apparently those were particularly popular with executives of the SDC.
"Damn this is a headache," Cardin said looking over the various colors and patterns for the silk linings.
I chuckled. "I thought the same thing when O-Ushi brought me here. It's a lot of detail but trust me it's worth it. Anyone who's in this line of work and wants respect wears these suits, and believe me they're a lot more comfortable than what you can get off the rack."
Cardin shrugged and we continued to get his twelve suits ordered including taking a look of the few suits Marcello had off the rack for less formal occasions. Like the first time I came in with O-Ushi he was leaving here dressed sharper than before. By the late afternoon we loaded up everything into the trunk of my car before heading out.
"Where would you like to eat?" I asked Cardin seeing that the rest of my schedule was free.
"Don't you have any meetings with Roman's guys?" He asked me, pulling a cigarette out of a gold cigarette case I had bought for him.
"Not since last night," I told him. "He wanted to have his own meeting because of everything that went down, assure his capos and the union leaders that everything is under control and they don't need to worry too much about the police catching wind of what we're doing."
"Is everything under control?" Cardin asked me. "I mean… dust shops blowing up isn't anything that can be swept under the rug so easily."
"I don't know Cardin, but Roman seems to feel that everything is under control. He's got everything from beat cops to politicians in his pocket so I have no doubt he has the influence to keep things running smoothly." I explained.
"Bribes can only get someone so far," Cardin said flatly.
"I know, but so far last night it seems has only proven what we've been trying to sell the public. The media thinks that the White Fang was behind all of that." I explained to him. "I get that you're careful and that's good, but Roman has been good to all of us and we have a nice thing going on."
"It is good, this is far better than I could have hoped," he said to me. "I thought I had no future after Beacon, but here we are. I'm not nervous because of Roman… I'm nervous because according to the guys we're really working with the White Fang."
I sighed at that. "I know that's worrying me too."
"Whatever those fear mongering terrorists are up to, it can't be good. And it could blow up in our face like that store blew up in yours." He continued on.
"I know it's not good Cardin but we're not exactly in a position to bug out, they're not just going to let us walk away." I said to him. "And that's why we're going to stick close and play together, it's another reason I need you by my side. If this does hit the fan then I need you and the rest of the crew watching each other's backs."
"I'm your guy," Cardin assured me.
"Good, now back to the matter at hand. Where do you want to get a bite to eat?" I asked him, actually feeling a little relieved to know that Cardin shared some of my apprehensions.
"You know Jimbo's Crab shack?" Cardin asked me.
"I've seen it by the pier, it's not too far from the Moonstone," I explained to him. It wasn't exactly what I had been imagining but tonight was Cardin's treat and I wasn't about to question his dining choices.
"I could go for some all-you-can-eat crab," he told me with a shrug.
"Crab it is," I said, putting the car into gear and heading down to the docks to the little bar and restaurant. We got in and found ourselves a nice private booth with a good view of the television. I told the owner to turn the channel to a college ballgame that Dove had helped us fix.
We ordered a pitcher of beer and they brought us out a huge plate of steaming crabs along with bibs, wooden mallets and nutcrackers and little skewers.
"Bring us a couple glasses of Glengoolie," I told the waiter as I tied my bib and pulled one of the steaming crustaceans onto my plate.
"We don't serve Glengoolie," he told me, setting down butter dishes.
I pulled out a wad of cash and handed him a few hundred lien. "Then make a liquor store run and bring us a bottle," I told him.
The waiter looked at the money and nodded. "Right away sir." He said rushing off to get me that bottle.
Cardin chuckled as he cracked open the claw of his first crab dipping the meat in his butter. "Look at you acting like a big shot," he said to me.
"It's one perk of this job. I might as well enjoy it." I said, pulling a leg off and taking the meat out with my fork.
"I suppose money really does change people," Cardin mused.
"Am I that much of an asshole with it, am I?" I asked, finding the idea a little concerning. I liked having all that cash to throw around but I didn't want to be a snob about it.
Cardin laughed. "Nah you're generous. But your balls have certainly dropped since Beacon."
I let his jab at me slide. "Yeah and you've gotten humbled."
"Having a guy beat the snot out of me and solve my problems in one go can do that," he told me with a chuckle.
I raised my glass of beer to him. "Anytime number one," I said with a grin.
We laughed, and just like that I felt that whatever animosity we held after Beacon completely evaporate. We drank and watched the game, I remember cursing at the screen as I watched the opposing team pull ahead and my winnings slip away. It seemed that Dove had overestimated this team's chances of winning, especially by a certain margin.
"This is why I don't gamble," Cardin said to me. "I've seen too many ball games or horse races go bad because of this. And that was without Dove bribing the team."
"We all gamble Cardin. Every job we pull is a gamble in it's own way, last night was a painful reminder of that." I said feeling the alcohol a little as I watched those damn college kids struggle to get the score up.
"I wish I had been there to help watch your back last night," Cardin told me, shoveling his crab shells off into a bucket.
"No you don't!" I told him smashing open a shell with my wooden mallet. "Trust me you were lucky to have been out enjoying a night off. You could have been in that store when those idiots blew the safe."
"If I was there I would have made those bastards listen to you," he told me seriously. "I would have put the fear of the gods, you, and the mob into them."
"Maybe so," I said with a shrug. "I honestly should have just seen that I had a bad hand and folded instead of trying anything."
"I mean it!" Cardin told me. "I don't trust those guys, don't ever pull a job with them unless you have me there to back you up. Their kind is nothing but trouble."
I raised an eyebrow at him. "Is this because they're faunus?" I asked him. The alcohol was making me a little bold and while I shared his distrust of the Fang I knew that there was more to it than that.
He scowled. "They're terrorists," he said to me. "Isn't that enough?"
"Answer the question," I told him.
Cardin shrugged to me. "I mean… I never really was friendly with their kind."
"Why?" I pressed him.
"If you grew up in my neighborhood you'd understand," Cardin told me.
"What do you mean by that?" I asked him.
"On my side of town we had a number of faunus gangs running the streets. And let's just say that if you walked down the wrong street, or if you punched the wrong guy for stealing your little brother's bike or if your dad worked at the wrong job they'd throw their weight against you and you needed to push back." He explained to me.
Growing up in a small little village I had no idea what that was possibly like. I didn't grow up having street gangs or mixed neighborhoods or anything like that. Hell the faunus population was pretty sparse back home. I could probably count the number I knew personally on one hand. Cardin might as well have grown up in another country compared to me.
I sighed. "Listen Cardin I'm not gonna give you a speech about how we're all people and it's what's on the inside that counts," I told him. "I know we all got our baggage, but we do work with faunus in this business so when we're working I'm going to have to tell you that the baggage stays at the door. You were lucky that Coco didn't kick your ass for pulling Velvet's ears. Hell Velvet could have taught you a lesson. These people won't overlook that kind of shit."
"I'll leave it at the door," Cardin assured me.
"Good," I said, taking a gulp of beer. A look back to the screen showed that my team was pulling ahead.
"Can I ask you something about Beacon?" Cardin asked me.
"Go ahead," I told him. Perhaps it was the alcohol but that wasn't as taboo as subject as it had once been for me.
"Did you and Pyrrha…?" He asked trailing off with the question.
I raised an eyebrow. "What?" I asked him.
"Were you two dating?" He asked me.
I laughed at that. My drunk brain thought it was the funniest thing in the world. I almost spilled my beer. I was laughing so hard.
"What would make you think a thing like that!" I asked him. "She's Pyrrha Nikos world champion and I'm… I'm me."
Cardin wasn't laughing however. "I don't know dude I always got the impression that she liked you. She seemed to have kind of lost the spring in her step when you left, and when she caught me trying to pick on some guy she told me I wasn't half the man you were."
I shrugged. "She's the one that ratted me out to Ozpin about being a fraud," I told him.
"Oh," he said. "I'm sorry about that dude."
I shrugged, I didn't have an ounce of animosity for Pyrrha and what she had done. "She was just trying to do what was best for me, being a huntsman is dangerous."
"This isn't exactly a safer career option," he told me.
"She had no idea I'd end up like this, hell I had no idea I'd end up like this." I told him.
"Still… if she could see you now," he commented with a smirk. "Walking around with all that kiss my ass money."
"Let's not talk about that," I said pushing away the rest of the crab that I had stuffed myself with.
"Sir, you're single malt whiskey," The waiter said, presenting me with that bottle of glengoolie I had asked for and pouring us two glasses. I thanked the waiter and handed him several more lien for the trouble. I might have had kiss my ass money but I certainly was a generous tipper.
"I really shouldn't," Cardin protested as the waiter set down the glass of the dark amber drink. "My mother would kill me if she saw me coming home drunk."
"You sure?" I asked him. "This is good stuff and it's your night tonight."
"I'm already risking her wrath drinking this beer," he told me with a chuckle. "And believe me my mother is scarier than a charging Borbatusk when she's angry."
I laughed with him. "Oh believe me my mom is the same way," I said. "If you want to avoid a scolding lecture you could crash on my couch."
"Really?" Cardin asked me.
"Yeah," I said with a shrug. "Why not."
"Well alright then," he said, picking up his glass and taking a big swallow that made him cough.
I laughed at his expense. "Yeah that's sipping whiskey," I told him, taking up my own glass and having a small savory sip.
"That's revolting!" Cardin said, looking at the whiskey. "That's like… liquid smoke!?"
"You get a taste for it," I assured him, taking another sip. "Trust me in time you learn to love it."
Cardin just shrugged and took another sip. We watched until the end of the game, thankfully my team pulled ahead by the exact three points I needed for the bet Dove had placed on my behalf. I bought everyone a drink and with the half drunk bottle in hand Cardin and I drunkenly stumbled out of the place as it was closing. I called one of O-Ushi's cabs and told them to bring me back to my place.
We stumbled through Hana's laundromat laughing at some stupid jokes.
"Quiet down," I told him, putting my fingers to my lips. "My landlady Hana is sleeping."
"Alright alright," Cardin said, calming himself down as we went up the stairs as quietly as possible which was difficult given our tipsy state. I eventually managed to fiddle with my keys to open the door to my apartment. Sure enough Hana had wrapped her dumpling and set them out for me.
"Dis is your place?" Cardin asked with a drunken slur. "With all dat money yer making ya think ya could get a nicer pad."
"I like it here," I slurred back, falling down on my couch. "Da rent is dirt cheap and I have the sweetest and nicest landlady in da whole world." I bragged as he too flopped down on my cheap couch next to me. "Plus her cooking is amazing!"
Cardin chuckled. "Ya should come over to my place and have some of my mom's lasagna, there's a reason I grew big and strong instead of scraggly."
I gave him a playful punch to the shoulder and we both laughed.
"Does yer mom know what ya do?" I asked him.
"She knows a little," Cardin confessed. "I don't tell her a lot cuz… well she worries and she has enough on her plate thanks to my other siblings."
"My mom would skin me alive if she knew what I was doing," I told him.
"Mothers," Cardin said with a shake of his head.
We both laughed. I don't know why we found that so funny but we both seemed to find it to be the most hilarious thing in the world. Alcohol can do some pretty interesting things. I had to remind him about my landlady sleeping across the hall so we could quiet down.
"I need to tell ya something," Cardin said, poking me in the chest with his big meaty finger. "As yer number one guy it's my obligation!" He said a little too excitedly.
"What!?" I said with a giggle, knocking away his hand.
"I may not be sure about Pyrrha," he said to me. "But I can tell dat dat Neopolitian gal likes ya!"
"Yer crazy!" I told him with a drunken dismissive wave mof my hand.
"No man I'm serious, I see the way she looks at ya Jauney boy she likes ya." He said to me, poking me again and again in the chest with his meaty finger. "She lights up when she ya."
"Come on dude we just work well together," I said pushing his hand away. Though in my drunken state I couldn't help but grin at the prospect.
I liked Neo too, but that was dangerous. I was a spy here after all. I had my fun with the twins sure but that was casual, I was just a boy toy to them and it made everything easier. But I could tell that I was starting to like Neo, truly like her. She was entracing to be around and fun and I was always looking forward to seeing her.
"Nah man I'm telling ya it's more dan dat," he insisted. "I heard about da two of ya cuddling last night in da van. Maybe she don't know it yet but I can tell she's inta ya."
But drunk off of beer and whiskey and merriment those thoughts were far away and I just grinned like a lovestruck idiot. "Ya mean it?" I asked him bashfully.
"I wouldn't fuck with ya about somthing like dis!" Cardin assured me. "I'm yer number one guy now."
"Thanks number one," I said, unable to stop myself from smiling.
"And now yer number one needs ta take a piss," he said standing up from the couch.
"Da jon is over dere," I said pointing to a bathroom door.
He went off to the bathroom and I looked forward to turn on my televisions. I picked up the remote and spotted a pair of yellow eyes staring at me through the window. I blinked and saw a yellow eyed alley cat staring right at me, I locked eyes with it and noticed that it's face was horribly scared, probably from tons of fights with other stray cats.
I blinked again and the cat was gone. I got up and approached the window. In my drunk addled brain I wondered why that cat seemed strangely familiar. I got to the window and looked out at the dark empty street of Little Mistral. I saw the cat scurry across the street to disappear into an alley.
A familiar sense of dread came over me as I remembered that dark alley where O-Ushi and her guys were almost gunned down by some mysterious shooters in a van. I remembered how I saw a scarred up alley cat just before the bullets started flying, and just last night I recalled seeing another stray just before shit went wrong hitting that dust shop.
I panicked activating my aura.
"CARDIN! WE NEED TO GET OUT OF-!"
BOOM!
For the second time in two days an explosion hit me. My aura turned a blinding white as the blast stuck sending me back out my own window to fall onto the sidewalk below. I smashed against the concrete, my aura protected my body but the wind had gotten knocked out of me leaving me to wheeze on my back in pain as I stared up at what had been my apartment. Smoke billowed out the blown windows and I could make out the wail of the fire alarms inside through the own ringing within my ears.
I took in a breath. It was probably my aura going into overload but getting blown out of a second story window was sobering in a way. With acrid air filling my lungs I turned over determined to get up and go in to help.
Instead drunken nausea decided to hit me like a brick and I heaved out all that whiskey beer and crab I had enjoyed that night onto the sidewalk. For a minute I was Vomit Boy once more as I tried to get up and move in to help, but my body wouldn't obey me as I heaved out everything in my stomach. I loathed myself since all I wanted to do was go back inside and do something. Cardin could have been dead, and Hana had been inside there as well. I needed to move.
Spitting out the last of my bile I forced myself up on wobbly legs and charged through the door of the laundromat taking a lungful of bitter acrid smoke. My eyes were streaming tears as I forced my way up the stairs. The hallway was a wreck, the wall to my apartment and Hana's room had been pulverized into rubble having concrete and smouldering pieces of drywall.
"CARDIN!" I screamed. "HANA!"
I stumbled in through the smoky hallway still drunk. "CARDIN! HANA!" I screamed again coughing as I breathed in more smoke.
"Jaune!?" I heard Cardin cough stumbling through the broken wall of my apartment. His new suit was singed and covered with soot and powdered drywall. Various lacerations had cut his face but he was alive and standing.
"Fuck I was afraid you were in a million pieces," I said to him.
"I almost was," he coughed. I watched as the cuts on his face were closed by his own aura. It seemed that the best hadn't hurt him with anything that his aura couldn't heal for him.
Come on!" I told him, moving through the broken wall to Hana's apartment needing to make sure that she was safe. "HANA!" I screamed again with all my effort.
"She's here!" Cardin called to me standing by a couch that had been covered by pieces of rubble from the wall. I moved over to help him clear it off the fragile woman. She was bleeding from a head wound and some burning scraps of drywall. She was badly hurt from the blast but I felt her pulse and confirmed that she was in fact alive.
"Can you carry her?" I asked Cardin, feeling that he was probably the best option for handling a frail old woman in our current state. Even with our auras healing us and helping to purge the booze from our system it was hardly an efficient system given that we had just survived an explosion.
Cardin just nodded and took her gently up as I led him through the smoky haze outside. We both coughed as we took in lungfuls of clean air. Cardin set Hana down on the sidewalk clearing away the broken glass and debris before setting her down.
"Put some pressure on that wound," Cardin said, taking off his new coat and handing it to me. I pressed the sleeve against her head to stop the bleeding as best I could. I saw a few drops of red fall to the sidewalk and I realized that I was bleeding from my head. I reached up and felt a shard of glass sticking out of my temple. I tried to ignore that.
I looked up at my apartment to see that what flames the blast had caused had spread. More smoke was billowing from the shattered windows and I could see the orange glow of flames reflected on the smoke. I heard sirens in the distance growing louder as they got closer and closer.
"Who the fuck did that!?" Cardin asked me, sitting down on the sidewalk trying to cease his coughing and checking his own body for wounds.
"I don't know," I said thinking about that cat. Once was odd, a second time was a coincidence, but three disasters after seeing that mangy feline was a pattern. I wanted to lay the blame with the Atlesians, they were the only people I could possibly think of who might want me dead but I didn't have any real proof of it.
A fire truck and an ambulance arrived. I waved down the paramedics so they could take care of Hana telling what very little I knew of her injuries. I took another wad of cash from my pocket and practically threw it at them telling them to take good care of her. They didn't even protest when Cardin and I left them without answering any more questions or waiting for the police to arrive and investigate.
We took off down the alley and I immediately pulled out my scroll. I knew exactly who I needed to call first. I called O-Ushi.
"Hello Jaune," she said flatly, answering my call.
"My apartment just blew up," I told her as Cardin and I squatted down behind a dumpster. I had no idea if whoever had planted that bomb was still around looking to finish the job but staying out in the open seemed like a risky move.
"WHAT!?" O-Ushi exclaimed.
"I got Hana on an ambulance but I figured I should avoid a hospital and cops that would ask questions, but Cardin and I have no idea where to go." I explained to her.
"Alright," she said. "Are you in a car?" She asked me.
"No… we'd been drinking so I left my car and took a cab," I explained to her.
"Where are you?" She asked.
"Some alley between Meiji Street and Crasthamsimun avenue," I told her. I was so thankful that I learned Little Mistral like it was the back of my hand working here.
"Stay there," she told me. "I'm coming to get you myself Jaune, I'll make sure that doc is ready for us at Junior's club."
"Thanks," I told her, grateful that she was quick to lend me a hand.
"Stay alert," she warned me. "Call around and let everyone know what's going on, if you get jumped get away and call me again, I'll come down with an army if I have too."
"Got it," I said to her. I pulled my .38 out and kept it low as I called Roman next.
"Evening Gent," he greeted me .
"Someone planted a bomb in my apartment," I told him.
"You're serious?" He asked me.
"It's probably about to be on the eleven o'clock news," I told him, making it very clear that I wasn't feeding him any bullshit.
"Do you have anywhere to go?" He asked me.
"O-Ushi is taking me to Junior's, Cardin is with me," I said to him, watching every corner of the place with my revolver in hand and pulled up to hide in my sleeve. I swore that if I saw a mangy alley cat that I was going to shoot first and ask questions later.
"I'll be there shortly," he assured me.
Cardin and I just waited there in the dark alley not saying one word to each other being paranoid as all hell. Being cautious and expecting some hitmen to appear from the shadows is exhausting. And naturally the alcohol didn't help one bit. I really needed to be careful when and where I got drunk in this business.
A pair of headlights came down the alley and I readied my gun. Thankfully I was able to control my nerves long enough for me to see that it was O-Ushi.
"Shit! Look at you two," she said, opening the passenger door for me. I practically leapt in as did Cardin. O-Ushi stomped on the gas zipping out of the alley. I saw that she kept one of her large frame revolvers in hand and in her lap as she drove. She was ready for anything to happen as well.
"It's good to see you ma'am," I told her as she raced through Little Mistral.
She looked over at me with obvious concern. "Do you have any idea who would have done that to you?" she asked me.
I shook my head. "You're guess is as good as mine."
She nodded as she parked behind Junior's club and we exited. They brought us downstairs to the basement where indeed they had a corner set out specifically set up to treat wounded wiseguys.
"Here get something on that head wound," O-Ushi told me, getting some gauze and pressing it to the temple where that chunk of glass continued to protrude from me. "Don't try taking that out," She told me, "the doc should be here soon."
I nodded and just sat there holding the gauze to my head.
"Holy shit!" I heard two voices say in unison. I looked up to see Melanie and Miltia coming in with Junior close behind the two.
"Are you alright?" Junior asked me.
"My aura protected me," I told him. "Though not as much as I would have liked."
"You're lucky to be alive," Junior said, pulling up a chair and looking at me.
"Before you ask, I have no idea who did this," I told him, not wanting to be asked that question a third time tonight.
"Those Atlesian's like their bombs," O-Ushi commented, crossing her arms and looking at me.
"Do you think they might have found out about Michail?" Miltia asked sitting down on the little cot next to me, she took the gauze from my hand and held it to my temple for me.
"If they did then it means someone talked," Melanie commented.
I didn't even consider that. I trusted everyone in this room but some of the guys Tonen and O-Ushi had gotten to help us collect the bodies and bury them out in the Forest of Forever Fall. I wouldn't exactly say that I knew them all well enough to trust them.
"If that's true the rest of the crew is in danger," Cardin said, fishing his scroll out of his pants only for Junior to snatch it out of his hands.
"You rest," he said, tossing the scroll to Melanie. "Mel can call and see that they know to be careful."
"Why the hell would the Atlesians do this?" I asked him.
"Revenge," Junior stated flatly.
"That's a suckers game," I told him.
"Nicky is a sucker," O-Ushi told me with snarl. "Having you talk down to him at that meeting was probably all the justification he needed to pull a stunt like this."
"I wasn't trying to talk down to him," I said, trying to defend my actions that night.
"You weren't," Junior assured me. "But having an associate talk to him while he lost his cool in front of everyone wasn't exactly a favor to his image."
"We have peace," I sighed. "Wasting it is just idiotic, it gets them nothing."
O-Ushi laughed. "You're one of a kind Gent… not everyone in this business is as smart or sensible as you."
"We'll it'd be pretty dumb to go after then just on suspitions," I said looking at Junior. "I know I don't have any say in your business Junior, and I know that this was on your turf… but I'd prefer to just let this one go for now, I don't want any retaliation on my behalf."
Junior nodded to me. "I haven't made any decisions yet Jaune… but I can assure you that I'm not going to break the peace because of something that Nicky might have done."
I nodded. Junior was smart, he knew better than to let something like this have him go half cocked.
"Whoever did this hurt Hana," O-Ushi reminded me. "Killing wiseguys is one thing but that's just fucking low."
"I know," I said, feeling her anger. The simple fact that a sweet old lady was in the hospital right now because of me and my business hurt. "And if we find out who then I'll be happy to see Junior smash them with his Hammer."
She smiled at me. "They also hurt my protege, I'll be giving them both hammers."
The doctor came in. She was a pretty girl named June and she proceeded to inspect Cardin and I. She helped me remove my ruined suit and the shrapnel that was in me. She pulled out that damn chunk of glass and had Miltia hold the gauze down. I saw that the back of my legs were horribly bruised, probably from hitting the windowsill as the blast launched me out the window. With the adrenalin coming down everything started to hurt, last night had been nothing compared to this.
It was around that time that Roman came in with Neo. That was a little embarrassing since the doc had me stripped down to my boxers.
"How are you holding up Gentleman?" Roman asked me.
"We'll live," I told him.
Neo gave me a wry smile. "Twice - in - two - nights?" She asked me in sign.
"I know that's gotta be some kind of record," I told her, giving a grin that I didn't feel.
"Here can you hold this? My arms is getting tired." Miltia asked wanting a break from applying pressure to my head wound. Neo just shrugged and accepted the task. She looked at me while I continued to talk with Roman.
"Did anyone know you lived there?" He asked me.
"I can think of a few people," I said to him knowing that plenty of wiseguys within the Clan knew where I lived.
"What about officially?" He asked me.
"No," I told him. "I signed no lease and I paid my rent with cash. There's no signature linking me to that place."
"That's good," Roman said with a nod looking at Junior. "I'd appreciate it if you kept this all between us, one explosion has made my people nervous enough. I don't need them suddenly thinking that there's a bomb in all their homes."
"Alright," Junior said. "But let's both share what we learn from our contacts in the police department. Jaune may be your recruit but officially he's still my associate and this happened in my territory. If the badges find anything interesting I think we both deserve to know."
"Of course old friend," Roman said. "Jaune I'll have a talk with you tomorrow, I have some things I would like to discuss with Junior in private."
"Wait!" I said to them.
"What?" Junior asked, raising an eyebrow.
I waited a moment looking at all of them and at Neo. "You're probably going to think I'm crazy, but right before the blast I saw a cat staring at me through the window." I told them.
They all looked at me, clearly wondering why I found that importantly enough to stop them.
"And that night right before those gunmen in that van wounded O-Ushi I think I saw the same cat. I even saw one right before we hit that dust shop last night. I know it sounds crazy but every time I see that mangy thing something bad happens, it can't be a coincidence."
Roman gave Junior a look. "Some kind of semblance maybe?" he asked him.
"It's not impossible," Junior said, looking at him. "I could maybe ask around to see if this kind of thing has happened before."
"I'll do the same," Roman told him. "We'll share our findings." He looked back at me. "Thanks for the tip Gent… have a good night. Neo… see that he finds someplace safe to stay for the night and escort him there. I'd rather be safe than sorry."
"Will - do," Neo signed. She looked back and offered a comforting smile. I gave her a grin in return. I probably looked like a goof trying to play cool while I was in my underwear.
I couldn't help but think about what Cardin had told me about her. I tried just passing it off as the alcohol talking. Besides Cardin was wrong about there being anything between Pyrrha and I so it wasn't like he had any special instinct for that kind of thing. Though I still wondered as I watched her stand beside me.
I tried not to cry or show pain as the doctor got to work stitching up my head wound. That trick I had learned to use my aura to suppress pain came in handy.
"Where are you planning to stay now?" Miltia asked me.
"I don't know," I said looking at Cardin. "I was thinking about getting a hotel, what about you?" I said as the needle pierced the flesh of my temple.
"I was gonna go crash on Russel Dove and Sky's couch," Cardin told me. "I don't think you should go and sleep in some strange place tonight alone… I could sleep on the floor."
Neo nodded in agreement. "A - hotel - isn't - safe."
"How about you stay with us until you find a place?" Melanie suggested to me.
I raised an eyebrow at her. "You sure?" I said finding the idea a little strange. Living with a couple of friends with benefits was hardly what I had in mind, I had a feeling it could be a little awkward.
"You'd be no trouble, we got a guest room that we never really use," Miltia told us.
"Yeah you can use it when you're sleeping in one of our rooms," Melanie said slyly. She looked over at Cardin and smirked. "Sorry Beefcake, we only have one spare room."
Neo giggled and gave me an encouraging wink that made me feel a little bashful.
Cardin looked away embarrassed. "That's fine… I'll be back home tomorrow."
"Are you sure that's wise?" I asked him. "Your family is there?"
"Exactly," he told me. "If anyone tries anything I want to be close to help them, no one else is there to look after them."
I nodded. I saw his reasoning in that.
"But you don't have a place to go back to right?" Miltia asked me.
"No I don't," I admitted to them. "But I don't really want to impose on the two of you."
"Don't worry about that, it can just be for a couple nights or until you get a new apartment. And you won't be freeloading, you can be our cook," Miltia assured me.
"Alright," I told them thinking that it would be nicer than a hotel room. Besides, paying for some room day in and day out would just be pain.
"Wonderful," Melanie said. "We'll have a ton of fun."
"Easy sis," Miltia said. "He just survived an explosion remember?"
Melanie smirked devilishly at her sister. Neo rolled her eyes playfully at them.
"I'll need a new wardrobe and everything," I commented, realizing that almost all my suits probably had gone up in smoke. That was heartbreaking to think about.
I was doing a mental inventory on everything I would have to get replaced when it finally dawned on me. That wall that had been blasted apart was where I kept my scroll behind the couch. There was no way it could have survived the explosion, my one line of communication with Ozpin had been blown into a million pieces.
I felt both fearful and free realizing that now I was truly alone in all of this.