Cinder have Mercury spy on the Arc family, minus Jaune and his wife, to find any weakness that she can exploit against Jaune. After weeks of spy work, he gets caught by one of Jaune’s sisters, who was suspicious of him and confronted him.
This led to Mercury trying to lie his way out of the questioning by trying to get away only her to follow him, causing her to fall on top of him as they fell in the ground, kissing each other.
They both get up and look away blushing, with Jaune’a sister completely forgetting what she was doing previously and ran away while Mercury just stood there still blushing.
Weeks later Mercury had given less information to Cinder and more of talking to Jaune’s sister after the incident. One moment of weakness, Mercury have told her of his past, how he was abused by his father who was an assassin to him losing his semblance after killing him, after hearing of his past, Jaune’s sister comforted him and said she is there for him if he needed someone to lean onto.
This cause Mercury to fall for her, even to a point he’d betrayed Cinder by confessing to Jaune about her plans, including using Jaune to start a war against Ozpin as a smokescreen to find and kill the fall Maiden. With this confession, Jaune immediately had Cinder and her associates, minus Mercury, arrested and imprisoned until questioning. As for Mercury, Jaune had him put him in a different room far from Cinder to be questioned further while Jaune’s sister snuck in to see him whenever she can.
Yes, I want Mercury to have redemption while also screwing Cinder over. Also yes I’m going to pair him with one of Jaune’s sisters.
I love me some Mercury redemption! I LOVE IT!
Mercury waited in his cell, lying down on one of the beds, waiting for his judgment. He knew he might end up being here forever or worse, executed by the king himself.
He didn't regret most things in his life.
Killing his father? He didn't even cry.
Killing a few White-Fang agents to bring them under Cinder's thumb? He could hardly care about that.
What he did regret... Was no longer able to see the oldest princess in Paris.
While he had only known Monro for some time, she was... Kind. Blunt, honest, and did not hold back when she had something to say, even if it was unladylike. However, it was the fierceness and blunt attitude that made her seem so honest to him.
If she disliked him, she would've made it clear, like everyone else in his life, and yet, she was kind to him. She may have teased him and thrown a few barbs at him, and she never acted like a few things he did were ok, if he did something wrong, she'd call him out on it, which Mercury actually appreciated, since it made him stop or realize why he was in the wrong.
Maybe it was a stupid crush, or a fantasy of something more normal and warm, but he didn't care.
It was his and his alone.
He just wish he had gotten to tell her and live the fantasy with her.
Suddenly, he heard his cell door open, but didn't get up from his bed to turn and look.
"You have a visitor, Mr. Black."
"Who is it?" Mercury asked, bored.
"Someone who loves you," came the voice of the woman he had just been thinking of.
Mercury quickly sat up and looked up to see Monro, smiling at him. He was confused. "Monro!? What are you doing here!?" he cried.
Monro chuckled. "Here to see you, idiot," She teased as she approached him.
Mercury stood up and walked over to her and then pulled her into a tight embrace. Monro was shocked bu the sudden embrace, but she quickly returned it, her own arms holding him tight and firm.
The hug broke just as quickly as it had come and the gray-haired boy looked down at her, still confused.
"Because I'm in love with you, Mercury," She told him, a smile gracing her lips.
"But I..." Mercury began, stunned by her confession. "But I lied to you, about why I'm here, what I was doing..."
"Maybe, but that doesn't matter," Monro told him. "Because you came forward to my brother, you told him the truth and saved us and my home."
"I did it for you..." Mercury said. "No one else."
"I know, but that doesn't change the fact you still did it," Monro said, happy. "I asked my brother to let you go so long as you're willing to help him. He hasn't made up his mind, but I know my brother, and he'll do anything for his sisters."
"How can you be so sure?" Mercury asked her.
"Because he knows why you did it, too. He's not blind, Merc, he saw you and me together a few times, knew how you looked at me," Monro told him. "He knows that if you can turn on cinder because of your love for me, he knows that your love for me will mean you never betray us."
Mercury was shocked; he didn't know what to say. While he wanted to think pragmatically, there was a hopeful part of him that wanted to believe he would be spared and freed... Because if it were possible, he would do everything in his power to be by Monro's side.
He'd do whatever it took.
He'd swear whatever oath or do whatever dirty deed the king sent him on.
So long as Monro could be his to hold...
"I love you, Monro," Mercury told her. "Tell your brother I'll do whatever he wants, say whatever he wants, as long as he doesn't take me away from you. I promise."
Monro looked at him, and she smiled brightly.
Little did the young man know, Jaune was just outside the cell, out of sight, and listening to the whole thing.
