A Rabbit Among Wolves

Chapter 23

Timing would be everything.

Early, and the world would laugh. Late, and things might not work at all. This would be the tightest timeframe he'd ever worked on, and with four different parties having to do it at once, Jaune's confidence was practically shot. That was despite the fact that he had what was by far the easiest task. Where everyone else would be cornering, raiding or incapacitating the corrupt and cruel elements of the city, he was stood in a room with Ilia balancing a camera on a tripod. It wasn't entirely fair to say it was that easy, though. His legs were shaking so the simply act of standing was harder than it usually was.

Less risky. The building they were in was mostly disused, though not abandoned. It was an old office block with the offices up for rent but no one wanting them. The area had fallen into disrepair, and even though the offices were refurbished and modern, it just wasn't an attractive place to do business. The owner had been so eager to accept anything for the use of one that he hadn't bothered asking what they did or what they wanted it for. They'd taken up a decent sized meeting room at that moment and string up a grey cloth backdrop over one wall, the wall the camera was facing.

"You know, this looks like a porn shoot." Ilia commented.

"What porn have you been watching? Actually, don't tell me."

"You know, the casting couch."

"I said not to tell me..."

"I think it's the fact this is an office," she went on distractedly. "Makes me imagine a woman in a suit bringing another in-"

"Ilia."

"And then the interview gets steamy-"

"Are you really this horny, or is it just nerves talking?"

"Nerves," she answered. "Definitely nerves. This... This could go really, really bad for us."

He didn't need to be told that, not when he knew and certainly not when he was trying to build up his confidence. He needed encouragement, damn it – and to hell with how real it was!

"It's the only way I can think to keep the factions in check."

"I know. I don't think the plan is bad. I'm just nervous."

"You're not the one who has to do it..."

"Your fault for going without a mask," she said. "Otherwise you could have made Yuma do this wearing a blonde wig and no one would know. It's Jaune Arc now. Everyone knows your face."

"Yeah, well, that wasn't exactly a planned out thing."

"Well, you should have planned better."

"How was I meant to plan Adam attacking me!?"

Jaune forced himself back onto the chair and took several deep breaths. This was fine. The risk was honestly super low, and aside from embarrassment he would be safe. The others had much harder tasks and a lot more riding on their shoulders. They're actual terrorists, though. Aside from Sun, they all made up their minds and chose this life. I didn't.

"Camera's up." Ilia said. "Projector is also up. Please tell me this isn't a PowerPoint moment."

"It's not. I don't see what your issue with them is, anyway. It went down well."

"Yeah, and so did Trifa's mood when you splashed her ass to everyone."

Ilia came over and pulled out the low office chair next to his, collapsing into it and pressing a button on the remote. The projector was attached to a portable computer, and it was only a few taps of the keys to bring up a live feed of the city, the view of which was splashed onto the grey fabric.