Chapter 68:

A/N: Not going to lie, I'm having trouble with coming up with ideas atm. Writer's block is a pain in the ass and I cannot wait to get over it. With that being said, I will continue to go for a chapter a day, and hope that the quality doesn't drop too badly. If it does, and it bothers you all, please let me know. I hope you all enjoy the chapter and have a great day. Rhino out.

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Standing in General Ironwood's office after being summoned by him, Topaz faces Winter and General Ironwood. Finding out that the three men he and Yang brought into custody were hired by Jacques Schnee but there were sadly no paper trails to connect the two to incriminate Jacques was a little disappointing. But Topaz doesn't have any time to think too hard on that currently, General Ironwood has informed him and Winter that the two will be working together to take down a group of bandits that are terrorizing Mantle. Leaving the background of himself and Winter in Winter's hands, Topaz leaves to let Neo and Ariel know that he will be away for a few days on a mission. Arriving at their dorm, Topaz sees the two sitting on one of the spare beds reading a book. Ariel holds the book in her hands and Neo is leaning her head on Ariel's shoulder.

Topaz: "Hey girls, hope you're doing alright."

Ariel: "Yep, just relaxing currently with nothing better to do."

Neo: "Did you bring us a mission to do?"

Topaz: "I have a mission yes, but it's one that is for me and Winter alone."

Ariel: "Really?"

Topaz: "Yes, I will be with her in Mantle until the mission is complete. So, until then I will be unavailable."

Neo: "Aww, that's no fun."

Ariel: "Nothing we can do about it Neo. We will just have to find a mission for the two of us to do while he's away. Topaz, you be safe on this mission."

Neo: "Yeah, no more jumping in front of bullets mister."

Topaz: "I will try, but no promises. I won't let others be hurt if I can help it, you both know that."

Ariel: "Fine, but you owe us a date when you get back."

Topaz: "Gladly. Start thinking of what you want to do for the date then."

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Waking up bright and early the next morning, Topaz rolls out of bed quietly to not disturb Neo and Ariel. Quickly changing and preparing for the mission, Topaz leaves his room and heads towards the air pad where he and Winter decided to meet up to start the mission. Arriving at their meeting point a little ahead of time Topaz stretches and waits for Winter to arrive. Five minutes later, Topaz sees Winter approaching with General Ironwood.

Ironwood: "Good morning Topaz."

Topaz: "Good morning General Ironwood."

Winter: "Are you all set to head out Topaz?"

Topaz: "Yep, I'm ready whenever you are Winter."

Winter and Topaz board a small airship headed to Mantle. When in the air, Winter begins to explain the background she made for the two of them when they are undercover.

Winter: "Alright, so the background that I decided to go with is this. You and I shall be siblings that are visiting Mantle from Atlas to learn how things work there."

Topaz: "How things work? What kind of things?"

Winter: "The mechanical type of things. You and I are aiming to go far in the engineering field, so we are going to Mantle to learn how their heaters work to try and find more efficient ways for running them."

Topaz: "Ok, what will our names be on the mission?"

Winter: "We will be keeping our names as Winter and Topaz, but the family name we will have will be Stone, just to make things easier."

Topaz: "So for the mission you and I shall be Winter and Topaz Stone, brother and sister from Atlas?"

Winter: "Correct, does that all sound alright to you?"

Topaz: "It will work for what we are trying to do. We will have to act like we have never held a weapon a day in our lives if we want to draw the bandit group's attention to ourselves."

Winter: "Right."

Topaz: "This will be interesting."

The rest of the flight goes quickly and uneventfully, and Topaz soon finds himself walking around Mantle once again. Winter tasks Topaz with walking around trying to find the best spot to observe the 'heaters' while she went to find them an inn to stay at. Walking through the town, Topaz comes across a heater that lies in a small and dark alley, and decides that would be a pretty good spot to try and draw out the bandits. Topaz begins to walk towards the inn Winter said she would be getting them rooms in. Walking into the inn, Topaz sees Winter still talking to the lady sitting behind the front counter, and by the looks of things, they've been at it for a while.

Winter: "I know you've already told me that you only have one room left, I'm just trying to find out how you can get me a second room."

Receptionist: "I'm sorry ma'am that isn't possible. The other rooms have all been occupied by our residents for a while now. There isn't anything we can do about it. The only room we have left in this inn, and town is the one I'm trying to offer to you."

Winter: "But you said it only has the one bed?"

Receptionist: "Yes, that is what I said. It's for you and your brother, right? Then I don't see the problem with it."

Winter: "R-Right, it's for my brother and me. I'm sorry, our mother never had us share a bed, even as children. She taught us early the difference between men and women and that we should respect the other's privacy."

Receptionist: "Eh, you're only kids. What harm could come of it?"

Winter: *sigh* "I guess you are right. We will take the room then."

After finishing up her discussion with the receptionist, Winter turns and sees Topaz standing in the entryway. She walks over to him with a conflicted face.

Winter: "I'm going to guess that you heard that?"

Topaz: "Yeah. I'll sleep on the floor. Don't worry about it."

Winter: "But-"

Topaz: "Winter, it's ok."

Winter: "Let's see what the room is like first. Then we will decide, ok?"

Topaz: "Fine."

The two 'siblings' make their way into the room they will be staying at for a little while. Opening the door, Topaz and Winter find a small, comfy room with a single queen sized bed and a nice, hard, wooden floor.

Winter: "You are not sleeping on the floor."

Topaz: "Winter, I can tell how uncomfortable you are staying in the same room with me to begin with. And that's without the though of me even staying in the same bed as you. I'm used to sharing a bed with Neo and Ariel, but you are not used to such a thing."

Winter: "Yes, you are correct about that, but this is a mission. I will have to get over it so we can complete it. So, share the bed with me, but keep your distance."

Topaz: "If you say so Winter. But if you get too uncomfortable please tell me and I will sleep somewhere else."

Winter: "Fine. Now that this issue is out of the way, did you have any luck on your end?"

Topaz: "Yes actually, I found a heater that's tucked away in a back alley. Should be a pretty good spot to draw out some bandits looking for easy targets."

Winter: "Excellent, shall we try our luck tonight already?"

Topaz: "Sounds good to me. Ladies first."

The two make their way out of the inn and Topaz leads Winter to where he found the hidden heater. Making their way into the alley, Winter takes a quick look around and nods her head.

Winter: "This is perfect Topaz! We should be able to get a lead on them quickly from here. Let's stay a little longer to see if we can get lucky."

The two sit in the dark alley for around an hour before anything remotely suspicious happens. After that hour mark passes, Topaz hears a scream off in the distance. Signaling for Winter to follow him, he dashes towards where he heard the scream. Arriving at a dark park, Topaz sees a woman backed against a wall with three men surrounding her.

Thug 1: "Give us all your money, and the panties and we will let you live."

Thug 2: "I want her bra, then I'll be happy."

Thug 3: "You are both idiots, let's just enjoy her entirely. Then we can take her money and clothing."

Thug 1: "Good idea."

Thug 2: "That's why you're the boss, boss."

Thug 3: "Shut up you idiots. Let's' eat!"

Woman: "No!"

Topaz doesn't wait any linger before jumping between the three men and the woman. He stares at the three men with disgust.

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