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The Quicksilver Initiative

Episode 4: Quicksilver

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Weiss

Roman whistled as he worked, bustling from one control panel to another like a busy ant at a picnic. A flipped switch here, and twisted level there, he never seemed to slow down or stop.

"This is gonna be amazing," he giggled his high-pitched giggle. He flipped another switch on a console before dancing a jig in front of Ruby and Weiss. "You're gonna be just like us, Dropout Huntress! Just like us!"

Weiss' stomach churned, and if she'd been a tougher girl, she'd have said something like, 'You'll have to kill me first, you bastard.' As it was though, she was too scared to do more than look at Ruby, managing what she hoped was a reassuring smile and willing to her that everything would be okay.

"Well," Roman said, rubbing his hands together briskly as he looked around the room, "I guess that's it then. I've put it off as long as I can stand. I was hoping for a few more spectators to witness this, but I guess they can't be bothered." He glanced at Weiss, a look of almost pity flashing over his face. "So much for your loving sister, huh, Dropout Huntress? I mean, really, if they were coming, they would have been here by now, right?"

As if in answer to his question, there was a rumble, followed by a wall-shuddering crash, shaking the building to its foundation as something enormous exposed just outside. The wall caved, sending debris everywhere. When the dust settled a bit, Weiss blinked and looked down at Roman's feet, where a bright white -and wholly recognizable glyph - was present.

Winter!

And, sure enough, from the rubble, the commander of Atlesian Black Ops' stood, picking her way through the remains of the broken wall to the room. She stopped meters from Roman, her icy blue eyes taking a single moment to flick over Weiss and Ruby, and then back to the man.

"Roman." She said simply.

"Ahh, the boss lady herself," Roman hummed, jerking his feet out of the binding glyph like kicking off an insect from his trousers. "I'd say I'm surprised to see you, but we both know I'd be lying, right?" He glanced back at Weiss and Ruby. "I assume you're here for your sister and little Red, hmm? I suppose the idea is for the sisters to gang up on me, Semblances and all, and Red here to go all Silver Eyed-"

"Weiss, get down!" Weiss flung herself down to the ground as another wall exploded from the outside, this time consisting of several smaller cracks in the air as shots - heavy-load shells, if Weiss' ears heard right - made short work of the thin wall and rocketed towards Roman. Unfortunately, even deranged as he was, Roman was still able to dodge each shot with ease, leaping elegantly into the air and ricocheting off one of the walls like a rubber ball. Every shot went wide, hitting nothing but metal and concrete as Roman kept well away from the control panels, and eventually, the shots subsided and all was silent.

"Aww, done so soon?" Roman moaned, skipping once more to a control panel. "One of those actually almost came close to grazing me."

Weiss narrowed her eyes, looking from the calm face of her older sister to the newcomer, and felt her eyebrows lift as she saw a familiar head of yellow hair.

"Yang!" Ruby cried, her relief palpable from just the single word. "You're alright!"

The woman walked through the rubble, stepping directly onto the debris and crunching it underfoot - where Winter had daintily avoided any herself - and Weiss swallowed as she beheld furious crimson eyes glaring directly at Roman.

"Don't worry Ruby," Yang said, her voice clipped and succinct. "We got this." and from behind her, a group of other people Weiss' age appeared; four girls and two boys in total. Ruby's teammates, Weiss realized as they began to fan out, readying various weapons ranging from a pair of knives, to a large hammer, to swords and shields. The fact that Ruby's backup had come as promised made her feel a little better about their situation.

As if to back up Yang's declaration that yes, they indeed 'got' this, Winter was joined by not only Lucca and Chet and the rest of her team, but also General Ironwood, his large caliber pistol trained over Winter's shoulder directly on Roman.

"Roman," a final voice called out, and Weiss looked back towards the Beacon Huntsmen to see a face she recognised right away. Her mouth dried up as she realized that, indeed, this was never a simple terrorist attack.

Not like she hadn't figured that out a few days ago, anyway.

"It's over." Professor Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon Academy said simply. He walked up to Yang's side and stood straight; tall and proud, as if giving a lecture in a classroom. "Why don't you give up now?"

Roman's smile vanished. "Well," he whispered, "I certainly didn't expect to see you here, Ozpin."

Winter's face lost its composure, slipping into a mask of barely contained fury. "Call it off, Roman!" She hissed, pointed a finger at the consoles. "Shut it down now!"

"I suppose I should throw out some line like, 'It's too late, no one can stop it now,' or something, but I really don't have the patience," Roman said blandly. "And as for turning it off, I really don't think I want to - not until Quicksilver is complete, that is." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder at Weiss. "The Dropout here will have Silver Eyes like the rest of us."

Winter's cheek twitched and she glanced at Weiss, and for the first time she could remember, Weiss noticed that one of her eyes was not it's usual pale blue, but a steely silver.

"That will not happen." she promised.

Ozpin stepped forward, and Weiss noticed that one of his own eyes, like Winter's, was also silver. "Quicksilver was shut down for a reason, Roman. You know this. I know this. We will stop you."

"And… you two are what? The first of many to stop me?" Roman rolled his eyes. "You should have brought more. Dozens, hundreds, even. But it still won't be enough."

Winter's mouth was set in a firm line. "We will stop you," she said quietly. "You would know this if you weren't... " Her lips twisted, but Roman snorted.

"If I weren't what… a defect? A mistake? That's why you tried to get rid of me, wasn't it? You didn't like how I turned out, so you tried to bury me, and Quicksilver, so no one would ever know. And now, what? You want to do it again?" He threw his hands out to the side and looked up to the ceiling. "Why? Why would you want to stop it! This is what we are striving for! This is what we are destined for! This is our potential; what the gods intended for us from the very start."

He shook his head, chuckling, and walked over to place a hand on Ruby's head, ruffling her hair. "You see, little Red? The problem is no one can see what we are capable of. No one wants to see. You, my dear, are one of a kind; the epitome of what we want to achieve. And I simply want to reach it... to reach you. Don't you understand?"

Though it was obvious Ruby didn't, she nodded all the same, fearly of what would happen to her if she didn't.

Nodding along with her, Roman stood up. "So there we have it. I won't stop. I'll make more - so much more that there will be plenty! Everyone will have silver eyes just like us!"

"I told you that isn't going to happen." Winter growled, a sound matched by Yang, who clenched her fists inside her gauntlets. "This is your last chance, Roman. Cease Quicksilver or there will be consequences."

There was an affirming murmur among those gathered; both Black Ops and Huntsmen, but Roman didn't seem bothered by any of it.

"Consequences? From who? This bunch?" He giggled airily. "Not likely."

"Hold your fire," Winter ordered, pursing her lips as Roman leaned on a control panel, his fingers idling over a switch - clearly the one to begin the process. "One misplaced shot and you kill Lieutenant Schnee."

Headmaster Ozpin then detached himself from his group and walked slowly over to Winter's group. "General Ironwood. Commander Schnee." he said politely, "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Though Ironwood was her superior, Winter was the one to respond. Though, as she spoke, a her face twitched as a trickle of blood bubbled from her right nostril. "Hello, Headmaster," She murmured, never taking her eyes off of Roman. "I suppose you never thought we would be meeting against like this, did you?"

The man sighed, his cane clicking on the ground as he stood beside Winter. "I often wondered if something like this would happen," he titled his head slightly as he regarded Roman, and then sighed again, "Which is why I did what I could to prepare accordingly when you called. Say the word, and we'll take him down."

Weiss nearly wept as both the Black Ops and Beacon Huntsman tensed for a fight. Roman was frighteningly strong, but he couldn't possibly match this many skilled opponents. Surely not Ironwood, Winter, Ozpin, her squadmates, and Ruby's teammates.

"We'll see. If it comes to that, You'll know it. But for now, I'd rather not risk so many of both our organizations' manpower."

Dipping his head slightly, Ozpin muttered. "Well, I do owe you… so we'll do it your way."

Winter's lips curled up slightly. "One of these days we'll have to go over exactly who owes who what." Then her expression turned thunderous, "I'll only need a minute."

She took a deep breath and leveled a harsh glare at the criminal before them, "Roman Torchwick," She called as Ozpin stepped back into his group of Huntsmen, "You are out of control and your mind has been poisoned. We cannot let you go unchecked any longer."

"You mean we can't be friends?" Roman asked, pouting.

"No."

"Too bad," He said, his smile melting away as quickly as it had come, "Then burn."

Winter and Ozpin winced as both of Roman's eyes flashed a bright silver, each taking half a step back as Roman sneered disdainfully at them. Ruby hissed in pain as well, her head twisting to the side as if trying to block her ears from a high-pitch sound. Weiss watched as the silent, shocking, but seemingly intense battle was waged between the three - four, if Ruby was involved at all - and since none of them actually moved, just stared at each other in malevolence, Weiss had no idea who was coming out on top.

Think, she told herself, glancing around for some kind of clue. Think! He can be shot, but it doesn't hurt him… he… has super strength, and magic… or something, along with Ozpin, Winter, and apparently Ruby. He has to have a weakness. He has to!

Finally, her gaze fell to Yang, standing beside her headmaster. Her eyes seemed to bore into the other girl's, and there was a stern determination there that Weiss rarely ever saw. Her eyes - a bright crimson - flicked from her, to Ruby, to the silent battle going on around them, and then, finally, to a dark bundle in her hands. She lifted it up and gestured it to Weiss, then then towards Ruby. Then the tossed the thing straight at her.

Her instructions were clear.

Understanding immediately, Weiss reached up and plucked the bundle from the air - a mechanical folding rifle, she recognized - and felt around for its catch. She found it, and it extended into a black and red, high-powered, sniper rifle. Not wasting a moment - since Ruby was still bound and she couldn't waste the time to free her - Weiss dropped to one knee and hefted the gun, sighting in on Roman's head and pulling the trigger before he could do anything but blink at her.

The bullet shot true, and sailed directly into his right eye, passing through his brain and exiting out the back of his head. His hat flew up in the air and fluttered to the ground.

"Wow! That was incredible!" he shouted, ignoring the blood spurting out his ruined eye and head. "Absolutely marvelous! Terrific aim! Amazing! If I was a betting man, I'd give you another go. But, seeing as I'm a bit preoccupied," paused slightly to take a breath, and then kicked a chunk of debris towards Weiss, where it whistled through the air with incredible accuracy and smashed into the barrel of the rifle, "I simply can't give you another try. Sorry about that. Now, as I was saying, I -"

He suddenly cut himself off, twitching and clutching at his bleeding head. Winter and Ozpin, along with Ruby from her place bound to the door, grimaced with effort, blood trickling freely down their noses.

"Get… out… of… my… head!" Roman snarled, his last word seeming to physically forcing his attackers to their knees.

They rocked back, their eyes rolling back into their heads as they collapsed to the ground in matching heads, their faces matching each other's in shock and fury as they stilled.

Panting, Roman grinned, wiping a trickle of spit and blood from his mouth as he muttered, "It that it? Is that the best you can do? All that for nothing! With you three gone, the rest of you are-"

Weiss' angry shriek was enough to jerk him around, his eyes widening with shock as the girl threw herself at him, the rifle in her hands extended into a full battle scythe, the blade whistling through the air towards his neck.

His arm a blur, Roman whipped up his cane to intercept the attack, catching Weiss along the shoulder as she approached. She felt her collarbone break and pain seared through her arm, but the scythe had already found its' mark. It sunk into muscle and sinew, making a squelching sound until it halted on hardened bone. Even in his neck, it seemed, Roman was more than a man.

Luckily, she was not alone. In the span of those precious seconds Weiss had his attention, her's and Ruby's teammates leapt into action, the coordination of trained soldiers and Huntsmen coming into play as they converged on their target.

Roman made to turn, intent on meeting his attackers head on, but Weiss pressed forward, thrusting the first two fingers of her hand into Roman's remaining good eye. The man snarled in agony - the first of which she had heard from him since their meeting - and shoved Weiss away with all the strength he could muster.

Unable to keep a firm grip on the scythe, Weiss was flung away and slammed into the far wall, crumpling like a ragdoll on the floor, the sounds of battle echoing through her ears as darkness took her.

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The Quicksilver Initiative

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Weiss was amazed by the sheer number of people - both Huntsmen and soldiers - that swarmed the area once it was clear that Roman had been neutralized. Almost from the very moment she was woken up by a worried-looking Lucca, and Chet hovering by her shoulder, Winter, Ozpin and Ruby had been hustled off by medics and, leaving her alone to bear the storm of General Ironwood, a group of very upset Huntsmen.

Winter, as Weiss had found out from Lucca and Chet, had divulged the location of the warehouse from the files pertaining to the 'Quicksilver Initiative', a long-buried plan of the greatest secrecy. When asked about it, both her squadmates simply shrugged and said that Winter had only told them the basics; a 'need to know basis'.

She should have known it wouldn't be that easy. She would have to grill her sister later for information. As soon as she recovered, that is...

Luckily, General Ironwood had a much better understanding of the Initiative. Not on the same level as Winter or Ozpin, apparently, but enough to fill in some of the gaps left by Roman and his raving.

"So you see," Ironwood explained to her, "Quicksilver was a joint project between Atlas and Beacon, and both tried their best to bury it, for obvious reasons." He gestured vaguely to the ruins of the warehouse their battle with Roman had taken place. His implication was obvious. "Beacon had the knowledge, or Ozpin did, at any rate, and the Atlas Military had the means."

"The Schnee Dust Company had the means, you mean." Weiss muttered, then snapped her mouth shut as she remembered who she was talking to. Just because her sister talked to the General of the Atlesian military that way did not mean that she could.

"So, Specialist," the older man continued, eyeing Weiss carefully. "The project was started between our two organizations, but naturally, there were disagreements over who to use for it, which resulted with some bad blood." His mouth twisted slightly. "But, ultimately, the files were left with us and the Initiative was buried. As you can guess, Roman was the first to undergo the process, and well as the first we trained from the ground up. Unfortunately, we didn't foresee how his psyche would take the enhancement, and his breakdown and subsequent psychosis convinced us that the project was too dangerous to continue."

He sighed heavily. "No matter how beneficial it would be to have man-made silver-eyed warriors aiding us in the fight against the Grimm."

Pondering this information, and rolling around the idea of 'silver-eyed warriors' in her mind, Weiss slowly asked, "Sir… you mentioned that there were others? Roman talked about someone called… Cinder?"

"Ah," Ironwood murmured. "I was hoping you had not learned of her, Specialist." Seeing that Weiss was patiently waiting for an explanation, he continued, "We subjected her to Quicksilver shortly after Roman; before his insanity became apparent. We tried relocating her after Roman's breakdown and escape, but she disappeared." He cleared his throat. "We had hoped that both she and Roman would lay low for a while, or never resurface again, but…"

He fell silent, and Weiss understood. If Roman could do this - try to restart Quicksilver - then so could Cinder. It was just a matter of time.

"Sir…?"

"Hmm?"

Weiss bit her lip, hesitating only a moment before letting her thoughts known, "Is my sister… will she…?"

Ironwood reached out and placed a large hand on Weiss' shoulder. The gesture both surprised and warmed her, as the stoic man was not known for his kindness. Considering the circumstances, however, she was glad for the small token of affection.

"Will she end up like Roman, you mean?" When Weiss nodded, Ironwood shook his head. "She was subjected to Quicksilver only a few weeks after Roman and Cinder, along with Ozpin. Luckily, the two of them have not shown any signs of the problems."

His words were kind, but Weiss could read between the lines; they have not shown any problems… so far. Only the future could tell if there would be any lasting effects.

"What happens now?" she wondered aloud.

"Now? I suppose we should leave things as they are."

Weiss blinked, "But, Sir, what about the facility? Shouldn't we… shouldn't we destroy it?"

Hesitating, Ironwood shrugged, "It's not my place to say. Ozpin and Winter were the creators of Quicksilver; I was just an advisor. I haven't received any kind of direct order on what to do about the technology." Seeing that Weiss was on the verge of speaking out, Ironwood lowered his voice. "However, I think it may have been damaged a bit in the fight to subdue Roman. So I doubt any of it can be used again. In fact," he stood up straight, checking his gun and holstering it. "I do believe even if there wasn't any major damage, key components - say, the pressurized dust - would have been rendered useless and the remains collected by the Schnee Dust Company for recycling. It was theirs initially, correct?"

Though she wished for a more conclusive end to this debacle, Weiss was mollified, knowing that there was little else they could do at this point.

As they left the building in silence, Weiss stopped, the familiar gaze of Ruby's silvery eyes watching her from the middle of her circle of teammates. She felt Ironwood touch her shoulder and mutter something about checking on the rest of her team, and leave her side.

"You're alright." Weiss said, her heart fluttering in relief as she watched Ruby smile shyly back at her. Yang nudged her in the back, and Ruby stepped forward on a freshly bandaged, but still tender leg.

"Yea. They took the bullet out of my leg while I was out, and treated it as best they could for now. I woke up before Professor Ozpin and… Winter? They took more of Roman's attack than I did. Is she your sister?"

"Yes."

Ruby nodded, worry pinching her face. "I hope she'll be okay."

"You are, so I think she'll be fine." Weiss said. "Don't worry about her. Both her and your Headmaster."

Nodding again, Ruby turned her head around to look at her teammates, but each one of them were looking away from them. A blonde boy was whistling while looking at the trees, and a red-headed girl was turned in the complete opposite direction.

"Are… they your friends?" Weiss asked, perhaps unnecessarily.

"Yea, they are. I'd introduce you, but, um, I think we have to leave in a minute."

Weiss smiled, already spying Lucca and Chet catching her eye from their transport. It was about time to leave. "Next time then."

Ruby grinned widely. "Totally. You'll have to visit Beacon sometime."

"And eat junk food with you?"

"And cookies." Ruby agreed solemnly. "We can't forget the cookies."

"Cookies, too." Weiss reached out her hand towards Ruby. "I'm looking forward to it."

Ruby looked down at Weiss' hand, her brow furrowing for a moment, before looking back up at her. She turned around to look behind her, but her friends were still resolutely not looking at them. She turned back and motioned Weiss to lean closer.

Doing as she was asked, Weiss' eyes widened as the girl put her hands on her shoulders and pressed her lips to her cheek.

"Thanks for saving me. And for being there for me." She whispered, smiling a bit as Weiss blinked in shock. "I'll see you later, Weiss."

"Um, yea... Goodbye... Ruby."

Stepping back slightly, Ruby grinned conspiratorially, "By the way, Yang is my sister. Not my girlfriend."

And just like that, she moved back to her friends and was swallowed up by the small crowd.

Weiss stared as the group walked away, her mouth hanging open until Ironwood cleared his throat beside her. "I saw the wound in her leg when she was out," he said quietly. "The damage was extensive, but it'll heal. But with the fight with Roman at the end… who knows how it'll affect her."

Weiss straightened out her clothing, thankful her superior had not mentioned anything about the kiss. "I know…" She hesitated, wondering how to word her thoughts on the girl she had spend almost a week with - half in shared captivity. "She's… a remarkable girl. Huntress."

"Indeed," Ironwood said, nodding his approval at Weiss' tact. "I suppose we should be off. Let's go, Specialist."

"Yes, Sir."

They started towards their transports, but as the crowd began to disperse, Weiss found herself still searching for any sign of Ruby in the crowd. Small, a bit shy at times, but unafraid to speak up when you got closer to her, and a love for cookies, she was still braver than any soldier Weiss had ever served with, and she wished there had been more time to get to know her, maybe without the the constant threat of death hanging over their heads.

She touched her cheek, coloring slightly as she recalled the feeling of Ruby's lips against her skin. And then, there was the comment she had made - that Yang was her sister, not her girlfriend.

I wonder, she thought as she climbed into the transport beside Lucca, will I ever see her again?

For a moment, she thought she saw the familiar dark head of hair and pale skin, and a flash of silver eyes, and she tried in vain to get a better look, but the door of the transport closed, and the craft lifted into the sky, leaving her with nothing but unanswered questions and an odd feeling her her chest as she realized that she honestly wanted to see Ruby again.

She was the last member of the Atlas Spec Ops to leave the ruins of the Quicksilver Initiative project.

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The End

A/N: Or is it?

Not but seriously, this is the end of Arc 1. There are at least 2 more arcs in the Quicksilver story (spoilers, they have to do with Adam and Cinder, respectively). I wrote arc 1 thinking I would leave it at that for a while and see if people are interested enough in it to warrant continuing the story. As it is, its wrapped up enough - leaving some obvious unanswered questions hanging in case of a continuation - to stand on its own.

In the meantime, I have a couple other projects in the works, and more than a few one-shots down the pipeline.

Thanks for reading - Cheers!

***Will work for glomps***