Roman looked down at the sleeping figure curled in the corner of his office. After returning from his usual breakfast, he was surprised to that Neo hadn't woken yet. But she was still where he had last seen her this morning. He hadn't given a passing thought to Neo's sleeping arrangements before he had turned in last night. It seemed that the girl had made due by using her parasol as a pillow. Checking his watch, Roman saw that it was just after nine. Years of being a criminal had trained Roman to sleep light and fast, operating with a minimal amount of rest and waking up at the slightest interruption. But here was this girl, sleeping late into the morning, ignoring the noise of Roman moving around the office. It was typically amateurish behavior. Roman rolled his eyes and wondered again what she was doing here. Hell, she barely looked older than the little girl who had interrupted his robbery two nights ago. Of course, Red had been armed. And had huntress training, if Cinder was to be believed. And if the future huntress had only proved a minor annoyance, what could this parasol wielding midget do for him?

Already dismissing Neo in his mind, Roman walked back into his living space, shucking off the plain clothes he wore out into the city. He may be a wanted man, but he would be damned if he was going to wear a disguise to business meeting. Pulling on his white coat and tying a grey scarf around his neck, Roman grabbed his signature bowler and cane. Now he was ready to meet with the White Fang. He glanced at the time. There was still an hour and a half to go before he had to be at the rally. Sighing, Roman moved back out to his office and sat back down in front of his computer, intending to find some way to pass the time.

Five games of solitaire later, Roman was interrupted by Neo suddenly awakening in the corner of the room. "Morning, sunshine!" said Roman with mock cheerfulness. "Hope I didn't interrupt your beauty sleep." Neo, already alert stood up and brushed herself off, looking over at Roman. "As comfortable as that umbrella looked, you do know that there are actual bunks you could sleep in in the next warehouse over." Without expecting a response, Roman turned back to his game. While he was in the middle of moving a red four over a black five, he found a scroll shoved into his face. Jerking back in surprise, Roman scowled at Neo, who nodded at the scroll and moved it closer to his face. Obligingly, Roman focused on the words typed on the screen. Cinder said keep an eye on you. Can't do that from a different building. Roman dropped his head into his hands. That was exactly what he had been worried about when he saw Neo had slept in his office, which is why he just suggested she sleep elsewhere. "Well, I just went out and got breakfast without you stirring so much as an inch. Your dedication to your job is admirable." At the mention of breakfast, Roman heard Neo's stomach grumble audibly. "Oh my, it seems like you need some breakfast, too. Well, there's a diner two blocks away. Turn left from the warehouses and take the first right. You can't miss it." Neo frowned and typed something elese on her scroll. Can't leave you alone. "I'm flattered, but I've already been out to eat. You're on your own. Besides, you've still got over an hour before I've got to get to the rally. Plenty of time. I'm not going to go anywhere." Neo looked at him suspiciously. "Look, I don't want to piss of Cinder any more than you do. We might as well make the most of this." Neo paused for a moment, then nodded. Picking up her umbrella, she gave Roman one last sideways glance before exiting his office.

Roman forced himself to wait ten minutes before getting out of his chair and leaving the room. Decidedly amateurish, he thought. She had barely needed convincing before leaving him alone. It was worth getting to the rally early if it meant getting rid of his multicolored babysitter. Celebrating his victory internally, Roman pulled up some information on the rally on his scroll to read while he walked. After the White Fang ad changed from peaceful diplomats to terrorists, an organization called simply Faunus Rights had formed to fil the void. Their membership had never been particularly large, as many faunus that had left the White Fang had become too disillusioned to try and continue with the new guys. Still, they held non-violent protests on a regular basis. Today, the rally was going to get decidedly less peaceful, thanks to the White Fang.

Roman, engrossed in his scroll, almost missed the figure waiting for him at the gate to the storage space where the warehouses resided. Almost. Roman froze at the sight of Neo, leaning against the fence, licking an ice cream cone, a slight smirk on her face. As the two stared at each other, Neo made a tutting sound and shook her head disappointedly. "You know kid, you have a habit of getting exactly what you want. It's starting to get on my nerves." He paused. "Where did you even get ice cream this early in the morning anyway?" Her only response was a small shrug. "Well, since we're both here, we might as well get going. You're clearly not going to leave me alone. Into that alleyway over there. I'm a wanted man, I shouldn't be seen until I can get lost in the crowd." The two of them moved through alleys and side streets. Roman found the silence as they walked together a bit uncomfortable. He was used to at least some level of chatter between his usual thugs. "So, Neo, what do you think about faunus?"

"…"

"Oh my, I haven't heard such language since I held up that cab full of drunken Vacuo tourists. Don't let the White Fang hear you talk like that. I don't doubt they'll take offense. What could cause you to say such things?"

"…"

"Oh, they did that to you? Well then, I don't blame you in the slightest. Are you sure that you want to go through with this? We will be walking in a crowd of faunus after all." Roman was starting to enjoy himself.

"…"

"Yes, of course I'll protect you. You don't have to worry about any big, mean faunus with your-Oomph!" Roman was cut off as Neo drove the end of her umbrella into his gut. "Why you little…" Neo reached up and slapped a small hand over Roman's mouth, gesturing angrily to something around the corner. Taking a look for himself, Roman saw that they had reached the site of the rally. But in between them and the crowd stood two police officers. "Oh, shit." Of course there would be police stationed around the rally to ensure things didn't get too hectic. "We need to get rid of them." Neo nodded, then suddenly turned and ran towards the two officers. "No, wait! Kid!" Roman hissed after her. The two policemen turned and looked at Neo as she approached. With wide eyes, she turned and pointed frantically back the alleyway where Roman had fortunately just ducked back behind the corner.

"Let's go check it out," Roman heard one of the men say, then the sound of two pairs of boots clomping closer and closer. Roman leaned forward on his cane, feet spread apart, as the two cops rounded the corner.

"Morning, gentlemen. Fancy meeting you here."

"What the-! Roman Torchwick!" The two officers scrambled for their guns as Roman straightened up, flipped his cane, and slammed the handle into the point of the first officer's jaw with a mighty underhand swing. At the same time as the first officer crumpled, Neo jumped on the other's back and pressed the umbrella against his throat, cutting off his air supply. "For Oum's sake, kid," Roman yelled as the officer sank to his knees, futilely trying to pull Neo off of him. "Tell me what the plan is before you go skipping off towards the cops! Being mute is no excuse! What if I hadn't gotten out around the corner in time and they had seen me? They could have called for backup and screwed us over! What if only one had come with you and we couldn't have taken him down without alerting the other? It would have screwed us over!" The cop's eyes rolled back in his head and he fell face forward onto the ground. Neo showed no sign of getting off of him. "Hey kid, don't kill him." She continued to hold the pressure with the umbrella. "Kid…" he said in a warning tone. No response. The officer's face was beginning to turn purple. Roman kicked the end of the umbrella nearest to him, sending it flying out of Neo's grip. "Listen kid, if you kill a cop, the rest of them won't rest until they find who did it. Cops are funny like that. What the hell were you thinking? We're supposed to avoid drawing attention to ourselves." He grabbed Neo by the arm and dragged her roughly to her feet. "I thought you were the one supposed to be keeping me out of trouble, not the other way around. Seriously, do you think out anything you do before acting? Your disregard for either of our safeties was only matched by your bloodlust. What is wrong with you? Someone should tear you down and replace you with a human being." With that, Roman adjusted his hat and stalked off into the crowd of faunus.

Author's Note: As always, criticism is appreciated. Actually, here's a specific question: Do you like the formatting? These blockier paragraphs? Would it make it easier to read if I cut it up more? Anyway, this is about a week after Chapter 2, so my planned publishing schedule is going pretty well. I had originally planned to make this and the rally all one chapter, but it took so long for them to get there, I decided to split it up.