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Frankly, Mercury had no idea why he was doing this.
It’s not like he was a terrible driver. His metal legs were suited to it, in fact. They had little clips on the bottom that would magnetize to whatever pedal he wanted, so he never had to actually lift his leg. But still, he wasn’t sure what he was doing here.
“You know we’re leaving for Vacuo in like, two hours, right?” Mercury tilted his head back to look at Emerald, who was picking at her nails in the passenger seat, heels propped up on the dashboard of the car they had stolen.
“Get your feet off the dash.” Mercury said curtly.
Emerald rolled her eyes, begrudgingly obliging. “You’re no fun today.” She grumbled.
The car was silent.
“Where are we even going?” Emerald asked.
“Look - you’ll know when we get there.” Mercury shot back. “I just needed you to come with.”
“Alone?” Emerald replied, arching an eyebrow. “You’re not planning on turning me over to Salem, are you?”
“What - no!” Mercury exclaimed, rolling his eyes. “Why the hell would I do that?”
“I dunno - like, it wasn’t a serious concern!”
“I’m not!”
“Okay!”
The car was silent again.
“...You can even take my bullets out of my leg if you want -”
“No, no, it’s fine.” Emerald replied, looking away. “I trust you.”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah.”
More quiet, the only sound being the car turning from the street to gravel roads.
The alliance between the four of them had been… tentative, to say the least. Oscar, after all, had been palling around with Team RWBY for a while, and when he was with Salem, his allegiance had been… questionable. (Which is to say no one knew if they could keep him under control.) Neo, on the other hand, was also a rather hesitant member of Salem’s inner circle, always seeming one step away from backstabbing everyone and going rouge. Which like yeah, she did, but it wasn’t as unprompted as everyone would have thought.
Emerald and him, though? They were tight. Mercury would never say that out loud to anyone, but it was true. Emerald was his best friend, and for a long time, his only friend. She saw him as an actual person, and he really appreciated her for that.
But what had he given her in return?
If he was being honest, nothing.
All he had done was brush her off and berate her for trusting Cinder, and their relationship always felt like a one way street because of that. He just gave her grief for being human and actually getting attached to someone, even if it was someone as shitty as Cinder. He just… couldn’t see how anyone could do that.
(Well, yeah. He could. But he’s not someone Mercury wanted to think about.)
So instead, he deflects. “Whatcha thinking about?” He asked Emerald, in the most fake nonchalant tone ever.
“...Whitley.” Emerald replied after a second of silence.
“About Tuesday?”
“I guess.” She turned to look out the window, fiddling with her jacket’s cuff. “I just don’t understand his Semblance.”
Oh good, something they could actually talk about. “What do you mean?” He asked, taking a hard left past an old worn sign for some Dust shop that probably went out of business years ago.
“I mean - his aura had to have been down when he blew up, right?” Emerald continued. “And don’t Semblances stop when that happens?”
“I dunno about passive ones, but certainly ones like yours.” He responded. “Why?”
“So how was he still - you know?” Emerald made a vague gesture with her hands before leaning back. “It doesn’t make sense to me.”
“I mean, I’m fairly sure that Qrow guy’s Semblance keeps going even when his aura’s down.”
“You can’t exactly measure bad luck.”
“True.” Another turn, the foliage of the mountain getting thicker. “So what, you think he’s like, a Faunus?”
“What kind of Faunus would be made out of gems?” She laughed, rolling her eyes. “I’ve met a lot of Faunus, and I’m fairly certain that’s impossible.”
“So it is a Semblance.”
“But a Semblance can't modify the body like that!” Emerald exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air out of exasperation, accidentally whacking Mercury in the nose. “Sorry,” She added on.
“You’re good. And haven’t we met people who could turn their skin to metal?”
“Only parts of it. Never the whole thing, the strain of that would probably only last about one shot, then your aura would go kaput.” Emerald leaned back, sighing. “I just don’t get it.”
“I like how that’s the thing you’re the most worried about right now, and not the fact that we’re heading to Vacuo, which is straight into the heart of enemy territory.” Mercury snarked.
“Hey, I’ve done this before. I’ve never seen a guy made of gems.”
“So what, you think it’s magic?”
“Ha ha.” The car jerked forward, leaving the paved streets for a worn dirt road. Emerald looked out the window, brows crinkling in concern.
“...Seriously Merc, where are we going?”
“You’ll know when we get there.” He replied, keeping his eyes on the road as they drove up the mountain.
“I’m getting kind of suspicious dude.”
“It’s just -” Mercury cut himself off, biting his tongue to stop himself from shouting at Emerald. “...I figured only you would get it.”
“Get what?”
Mercury didn’t respond to that, keeping his eyes fixed on the road. Beside him, he can feel Emerald’s quizzical gaze, and he swallowed the guilt for ignoring her.
“Fine then.” Emerald scoffed, turning away. “Keep your secrets.”
They drive on in silence, sun peaking over the ridge in the distance. Mercury checked the clock on the car’s dashboard, the digital numbers reading 6:03. Good. They needed to be at the airstrip at eight, so they were making good time right now.
Briefly, he glanced at Emerald, who was resting her chin on her hand, staring out the window at the trees passing by. She wasn’t wearing her jacket, and when Mercury looked down, he saw a few scars on her left elbow. Then, the car hit a large bump, and Mercury cursed, swiveling the wheel to correct the car’s trajectory.
“Watch the road, dumbass.” Emerald teased.
“Shut it.” Mercury grumbled.
Eventually, when the oaks had all given away to evergreens and pines, and the air had turned brisk and chilly, Mercury stopped the car, pushing down on the parking brake harder than he probably needed to. “We’re here.” He announced, stepping out of the car and shoving his hands in his pockets.
“...This is it?” Emerald exclaimed, arching an eyebrow. “We’re in the middle of nowhere.” She turned, fixing him with a sarcastic stare. “You know, I’m sure there are plenty of places to hook up that don’t require driving an hour out.”
“Har har.” Mercury retorted, ignoring the burning in his ears. “It’s just up here.” Pushing through the thick underbrush, Mercury extended a hand to help Emerald over, which she took, seeming mildly annoyed.
“I’m not helpless you know.” Emerald remarked, smacking a branch out of her way, only for it to rebound and hit her in the back out the head. Rubbing her injury, Emerald continued, mildly miffed. “I can take care of myself.”
“Well, you are wearing shorts.” Mercury pointed out. “Not exactly made for traversing underbrush.”
“I can live with a few scratches.”
“...You’re stepping in poison ivy.” Mercury barked a laugh when Emerald squeaked, jumping out of the thick brush she was in. “I’m kidding,” He snickered, laughing even harder when she glared at him. “God, you’re so jumpy sometimes.”
“And you’re such a dunce sometimes.” Emerald pushed through the remaining underbrush, Mercury tailing after her, still chucking -
-And he stopped.
In the clearing they had reached, there were only a few things.
One, there was a crooked tree. Only half of it had leaves, the other half withered and charred. It seemed the tree was half dead. Underneath it, there was a tire swing, the rope long having since rotted and snapped.
Behind the tree, was a shack.
A very familiar shack.
Emerald inhaled sharply through her teeth. “...Merc?” She whispered, as if this was some kind of sacred place she shouldn’t be disturbing. “...What are we -”
But he cut her off, stepping forward, dead leaves crunching underneath his metal heel. He walked up to the wooden gate, hinges rusted shut. He placed his hand on the rotted wood, feeling splinters and spikes cut through his palm.
He tried the gate. Locked.
“Merc-”
The silence was interrupted by a loud gunshot, Mercury having fired three rounds into the gate, leaving it in splinters. The rest of the picket fence shuddered, the gate having been the only thing keeping the rest of them up. One by one, the stakes all fall to the ground, too rotted to support their own weight.
The dust settled. Mercury didn’t move, silver eyes kept forward.
“...Let’s go inside.” He said.
The worn down shack was just as bad as the fence, if not worse. A good chunk of the roof had been blown off, soot stains and charred wood littering the floor, most likely leftover from the fire. The windows had all been broken, bullet holes and large cracks crisscrossing across the surface. Mercury, spying a broken piece of glass on the floor, picked it up. The glass was stained green, perhaps from the fire, perhaps from weathering. Who knows.
“...Smells like ash in here.” Emerald quietly remarked, stepping through the threshold of the house, careful not to touch anything.
“No shit, there was a fire.” Mercury replied coolly, not looking at her.
“It’s probably not great for our lungs - we should go -” Mercury again ignored her, turning the corner and entering the broken down hallway. “...Aaaand you’re not listening to me. Great.” Emerald listlessly trailed after him, glass cracking underneath her heeled boots.
The hallways looked just as bad as the entryway, if not worse. The doors have all been ripped off their hinges, one even embedded into the wall as if someone threw it. Mercury briefly looked inside one of the rooms, bare and cold save for an old TV and a soot-stained bed. Bottles were scattered all across the floor, and Mercury picked one up. The label was unreadable, but it was still somewhat intact. The fire seemed to have spared this room somewhat.
They’re all empty, Mercury thought to himself. He drank all of these. Of course, maybe he had poured them out, or they had caught fire and evaporated, but knowing his track record, Mercury doubted it. After all, the more he drank, the more ammunition he’d have to throw at Mercury.
Emerald tried one of the TV knobs, the only sound being a pitiful whine. “Nothing.” She said, turning back to Mercury. “Looks like it’s broken.”
Mercury didn’t respond, still staring at the bottle in his hands, squinting at the label. It was still unreadable no matter how much he squinted. It had to be one of the cheaper ones, considering how much bigger it was compared to the rest - maybe a Umbra? He always did make him fetch that brand in particular - it always smelled really bad -
“Hey.” Emerald gently pulled the bottle away from his hands, and Mercury snapped back to the present, blinking rapidly at the sudden dryness in his eyes. “You okay?”
“I - I” Mercury backed up, feeling his legs shaking - but they couldn’t, could they? They were metal - he hadn’t actually felt anything in his legs for years. They couldn’t shake. This wasn’t real. “I need some air.” He managed to choke out. Before Emerald could say anything, he rushed out the door, not stopping to look behind him.
The door to his room remained embedded in the wall. He didn’t even stop to look at it.
Back outside, Mercury struggled to breathe, chest heaving as he tried to recompose himself. He knew something like this would probably happen, but still - breaking down like that in front of Emerald? Really lame, Merc. Not exactly the image of a cool, unstoppable badass he wanted to project to people. Hell, he didn't even want to be here. It was just - calling to him. Every time they passed the exit to the mountains. And he hated it.
His eyes flit over to the tire swing, still abandoned on the ground. Despite all the damage around it, and the served rope, it was relatively intact, no dents or punctures in it in sight. He never really used to tire swing when he was a kid - he never got the chance to, really. But still, there were a few times he had, days when his dad was gone or passed out drunk on the couch. He’d sneak outside, and sit in it for hours, not even swinging, just… thinking. As a kid, it always occurred to him that he could, no, should run. He had more than a few openings to do so. But he never did. Sometimes he wondered if he would have turned out differently if he had left sooner, if he had been less tainted by his father. Probably not.
“Hey.” Mercury looked up to see Emerald staring at him, having left the house at some point. Her hair was sooty, and there was a bit of debris on her shoulder, but she didn’t even seem to notice, sitting down next to him “You… good?”
Mercury scoffed. “Good.” He muttered. “Yeah, good. I’m great! Fan-fucking-tastic.”
Emerald pursed her lips, but looked away, usual snarky comment absent from her lips. Mercury stared at her, waiting for the retort, but it never came.
It was a bit refreshing.
“...Your hair has dust in it or something.” Mercury mumbled. Emerald brushed the top of her head off in response. “No -” Mercury continued. “The left side. No - too far down - go back down - okay, you’re just messing with me now, aren’t you.”
“Hey, not my fault your directions suck.” Emerald scoffed, taking out her scroll, and using it as a mirror so she could wipe the soot off of her hair. Mercury didn’t respond to that, and she looked back at him, backtracking. “No offense.”
“Dude, I don’t care.” Mercury mumbled. “Say whatever, it’s fine.”
There was a pause, in which Mercury didn’t move, and Emerald awkwardly ripped grassroots out of the ground.
“...I kinda feel like it isn’t.” Emerald replied.
Another pause. Mercury stared off into the distance, at the abandoned shell of his old house. Despite how many years it had been, he could still remember how it used to look, plain as day. The old, green paneled windows. The ramshackle roof, tiles falling off. The leather couch in the living room, smelling like sulfur and alcohol. If Mercury strained to remember, he could even think of the coffee table. It had this one ring from a beer bottle, that sort of looked like a butthole. He remembered thinking that was the funniest thing ever when he was a kid.
When I was a kid.
“My dad won, you know.” Emerald looked up at that, eyebrows upturned in confusion. “He got what he wanted.”
“Mercury, you beat him.” Emerald countered. “You won.”
“He was training me to be the perfect assassin.” He replied, not even hearing her response. “That’s what all of the beatings were for. That’s what he wanted. And look at me now.” Mercury gestured to himself, scowling. “He got what he wanted.”
“Merc…”
“I don’t really think he died that night,” Mercury plowed on, voice shaking. “He’s still here, as long as I’m here. I’m not much different then him, you know? I get mad. I’m an assassin. He wanted me to be just like him and he got it, and as long as I’m alive, he’ll never die.”
“Mercury -”
“It’s poison. He was poison. And I could have left a long time before I actually did, and I didn’t, because deep down, I think he was right.” Mercury couldn’t breathe, feeling like a vise was slowly closing around his throat. “It’s too late, I’m just - I just fuck up everything I touch, I’m no better, I -”
“ Mercury .” A hand is gently placed on his shoulder, and Mercury froze, snapping back to reality. He turned to his left, seeing Emerald’s face, ruby eyes upturned in concern. “I - breathe.” Mercury tried, breath coming out as a strangled wheeze. “That’s not true,” She continued. “It’s not true, and it’s never gonna be true.”
“You don’t know that.” Mercury retorted, turning away from Emerald, hand leaving his shoulder.
“Yes I do.”
“You don’t!” Mercury exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. “I don’t feel any different! I just feel like the same, stupid kid that left here all those years ago!”
“But you’re not.” Emerald’s stubborn reponse shut Mercury up, him opening his mouth and then closing it. “You feel like you are, but you’re not. You left Salem, you came here - you helped me!” Emerald exclaimed when Mercury turned away again. “Mercury, you were my friend, and that counts for something.”
Mercury looked up.
“I… what?”
“Yeah dumbass.” Emerald remarked, hand on her hip. “You were. Like, I dunked on you a lot, and maaaybee some of it was unwarranted, but - y’know - you were one of the only people I could actually tolerate. And that counts for something.” Mercury stared at Emerald as she plowed on, the knot in his chest slowly unraveling. “And I bet, if I had ever met your dad, I wouldn’t be able to stand him.”
That finally bursts the bubble of tension that surrounded the two, Mercury letting out a quiet chuckle. “I don’t think anyone could.” He mumbled.
Emerald smiled, seeing his mood pick up a bit. “I’d be inclined to agree.” She replied.
They sit in silence for a few minutes longer, only now, it’s less tense. More warm. A bit more content.
“I don’t really feel like I’ve gotten anywhere, if I’m being honest.” Mercury confessed, rubbing the back of his head. “Like, I kinda feel like I’m in the same place I was when I started, only now I have three mentally ill teenagers in tow.”
“I’m fairly sure Neo is at least twenty one.”
“Whatever. Two mentally ill teenagers and one crackhead adult. Big whoop.” Mercury leaned back, looking up into the cloudy morning sky. Emerald followed suit, face tinted gold in the morning sun. Her hair, while still sooty and tangled, was tainted a lovely shade of mint.
She looked nice.
Emerald caught him staring, turning her head to look at him. “What are you staring at?” She joked.
“You’ve still got soot in your hair, you know.” Mercury replied, ears flushing a bright shade of red.
“Uhuh.” Emerald didn’t look convinced.
“I’m serious!”
“Whatever.” Turning back to face the sky, Emerald propped her hands up under her head, sighing. “...And hey. If you’re in the same place you were when you started, that just means you get to start over.”
Mercury perked up at that, turning back to look at her. “...Meaning?”
“Like - I dunno, you’ve cut all your prior connections to Salem, and it’s not like you knew anyone before you went to her.” Emerald continued, looking off into the distance thoughtfully. “You’ve got a clean slate. Start over, be someone else or whatever.”
Start over.
The thought… never occurred to him.
It made sense. But he always thought, no matter where he went, he’d have to be an assassin. Klll people. But now that Emerald had mentioned it, what was stopping him from just… not doing that? From doing something else with his life? There were a lot of places he hadn’t seen yet. Vacuo. The northern parts of Atlas that hadn’t been destroyed or taken off into the atmosphere, away from the grimm. He could… kinda do whatever he wanted.
“Emerald?” He asked.
“Yeah?” She replied.
“I wanna be a mechanic.”
She turned, squinting at him thoughtfully. “Build stuff.” He continued. “Metal stuff. Like, maybe something like my leg.”
“Huh.” Turning away, Emerald scratched her nose, looking quizzical. “Do you... know how to build?”
“Somewhat.” He replied. “I could learn. Hell, I could do anything if I just learned how.”
“That’s kinda the idea.”
“You know what I mean, dickhead.” He elbowed her playfully, and she laughed, turning back to him. “Like - I don’t have to be an assassin if I don’t want to!”
“Yeah.” A breeze blew through the clearing, blowing Emerald’s hair across her face. “You don’t.”
Oh.
She’s right. He doesn’t have to.
And the realization is the most freeing thing he’s ever felt.
They lay there in silence for a bit, taking in the sun. Eventually, Mercury sat up, stretching his back. “We should… probably head back to the airstrip.” He said. “We’ll have to leave soon.”
“Mhm.” Emerald’s scroll buzzed, and she picked it up. “It’s Neo.”
“What does it say?” He asked.
6:45
Conversation with Neo
Neo: hey bestieeees
Neo: so youll never guess what i found out
(“Oh boy, here we go.” Mercury remarked.)
Neo: so whitley mentioned a charity ball at shade academy earlier and i got curious so i went digging for info
Neo: (thats code word for i went on the dark web and looked it up)
Neo: so apparently theres some valuable info at shade that ppl want
Neo: and when i brought it up to oscar he had one of his: “Oh Geez I Remember Something” moments
Neo: apparently according to him theyre some old blueprints of a bunch of tunnels under vacuo
Neo: he called them catacombs
Neo: yeah and they were super valuable to ozpin b/c like you could smuggle stuff into the city or something i dunno i wasnt really listening
Neo: point is he told me to tell you that we're probably going to be stealing it so no one else can
(“Huh.” Emerald said. “Odd conclusion to reach, but whatever.”
“I’m sure Neo came up with the idea, and blamed him for it.” Mercury responded, and continued scrolling down.)
Neo: so thats the plan rn
Neo: get your butts down here or were leaving without u
Emerald: you love us too much to do that
Neo: oh so youre not dead. cool.
Neo: stop hooking up in the woods and get over here
Emerald: k
“We should go.” Emerald said, putting her scroll back in her pocket. “Neo’s gonna kill us if we don’t.”
But Mercury wasn’t listening, too busy staring at the shack. “...Merc?” Emerald asked. “You listening?”
“...Do you have any fire Dust on you?” He asked.
“What?” Emerald fished some out of her ammo bag, reluctantly handing some to him. “I mean I do, but why?”
Mercury plugged it into his left leg, the cartridge loading with a loud ‘click!’
“I’m gonna finish what I started.” He said.
That day was pretty hectic for the Vale police and fire department. A fire had broken out on the top of the hill, smoke clogging the sky.
They were so busy, they didn’t even notice when an unregistered vehicle quietly slipped across the border, heading south, towards Vacuo.
And in that ship, two teenagers sat, the taller one leaning against the other. At last, feeling at peace, bridges burned at last.
(For now, anyways.)