Story is slightly AU.
This is something different for me, I've been toying with this in my head for a while and have finally done the first chapter to try and gauge a reaction and see if it is worth continuing for a whole story or just a couple of chapters.
Eli Frost is a wolf Faunus and while he is a skilled hunter he has been diagnosed with PTSD after being the sole survivor of his team after a Grimm ambush. He carries both physical and mental scars of the dreadful day but lives a quiet life, taking the odd huntsman job to cover payments.
Summer was livid. She had returned home from a hunt earlier than she had expected and was planning to surprise Tai-Yang but instead, she had walked into Raven stark naked in bed with her soon to be ex-husband. He had tried to explain but how could he explain anything in that situation.
Instead, she had just packed a bag with a few things for herself and Ruby and stormed out into the night and wait for her cab. Raven had called out for her but she had been silenced by a glare, she had seen the two as her friends and could not believe they had done this to her.
But right now she was angry and upset at the two and while she might be able to forgive them in time it certainly would not be anytime soon.
'I swear if he had said 'I fell', I would have beaten him senseless there and then.' she thought as she looked at Ruby wrapped up in her blanket, she had called a cab from her Scroll to take her to Patch, hoping to find a place to stay the night until she could make sense of what she was going to do next.
Instead, she looked up at where she had asked to be dropped off and instantly recognised the part of town.
"Oh my, I wonder if…should I?" she looked down at Ruby who was still fast asleep and shook any hesitation away, "No. I'll have too; there is no way I'm sleeping outside with Ruby. It's too cold for her to be out for too long." picking up her bag, with what clothes and supplies for Ruby she could get before she left she headed in the direction of an old friend of hers.
Elsewhere…
A figure rolled out of bed, after hearing his doorbell go off. Growling impatiently at being woken up within minutes of finally getting to sleep, he ran a hand through his dishevelled black hair and headed towards the door, dressed in nothing more than a pair of lounge shorts he stomped downstairs, fighting back a yawn as he grabbed the door handle. "I swear this had better…Summer?" he asked surprised at the woman standing in front of him, giving him a meek wave.
"Um…Hello Eli…" his amber eyes met her silver before trailing down to the sleeping child in her arms, "Can I?" she asked quietly hoping not wake her daughter as she looked at the tall imposing man in front of her.
"Sure…" he sighed stepping aside and letting them in, "Guest room is through there," he said pointing to the room next to them. "We'll talk in the morning. I'm tired, and I'm sure you both are too." letting out a final yawn he headed back upstairs without another word. Little did he realise that Summer was watching him every step.
'So many scars…from Grimm and weapons. What happened after he graduated?' she thought upon seeing scars from at least three different types of Grimm as well as those of at least two separate weapons across his body. Walking into the guest room she found it was already made up but clearly had not been used in a while, quickly getting changed she put Ruby down gently next to her and climbed into bed, making sure Ruby was comfortable before even thinking of sleeping.
As she tried to sleep her mind kept picturing Eli. His once cheerful and friendly face, replaced with one of a man haunted by something, his amber eyes once full of life now looked tired and lifeless. 'What happened to you, Eli? Why didn't you come to me if you needed help? You always had my back…even when we split up…' she thought as she felt tears coming to her eyes as sleep finally claimed her.
"Hey Summer!" she heard her name being called out and saw a wolf faunus waving at him with a big smile and a tilted head, even as everyone told him to be quiet as it was a library. She couldn't help but giggle at the large wolf ears askew on his head and knew what her next task was.
"Eli. You have to be quiet. Or else we'll get kicked out." she scolded but with her warm smile, it did not have much of an effect. "I know Summer, sorry. But could you…you know?" he said his eyes flicking up to his ears from behind his reading glasses. "Of course." walking up behind him she gently began to massage his ears back into place, earning a groan of approval as his head finally went back to its normal position.
"You are a lifesaver." he said giving her a kiss on the cheek, "If you hadn't come along I would have gone nuts.", "It's no problem, but you really need to be able to do it yourself, Eli.", "I can…its just your more gentle." he said chuckling softly as he pulled her into his lap, "Now…as a token of my eternal gratitude how about we go out for dinner this weekend. My treat?". Her answer was a soft kiss on the lips.
Summer awoke to Ruby crying softly next to her. Seeing that it was now morning she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and took Ruby and her bag to the kitchen to prepare some formula.
"You must be hungry sweetie. Don't worry it'll be done soon." as she waited she thought back to her dream and remembered all the happy memories that she had with Eli, thinking about how many of those memories he still had or if they had been forgotten after all this time.
"Sorry if I woke you up last night…" Eli said walking into the kitchen, "Um. No. Ruby and I slept through the night. Why? Did something happen?" she asked slightly concerned, "No. Just a nightmare I had…didn't know if I woke you two up, that's all." he said calmly as he made himself some coffee, "Want a cup?", "About last night Eli, thank you.".
"Coffee first, then talk." he said interrupting her, "You surely remember that I'm not a morning person. Right?" he asked getting a smirk from her, "I remember. Even Qrow, kicking the door in didn't wake you up. All you said was 'five more minutes.' before cuddling up to me and wrapping yourself up in the bed sheets.", "Yeah…still, don't know how he was alright with you and me being together. I mean you were the leader of your team.".
Sitting down at the table Summer went about feeding Ruby as Eli downed half his cup in one mouthful. "So…", "So…" they both said at the same time, "What happened Summer…I mean it had to be big for me to wake up and find my ex at my door with a baby. Honestly, it sounds like something out of a romantic drama or something.", "Didn't know you watched those." she said watching his reaction out of the corner of her eye, "You know who made me watch those. Because I'm pretty sure it was you. Besides, don't dodge the question Summer." he reminded her as she set Ruby's bottle down and took a sip of her coffee.
So she told him what happened, from marrying Tai-Yang all the way to walking out with Ruby. All the way through he had a poker face on, betraying no emotion at all about what she was saying, until the end.
"Want me to beat him into the ground like a tent peg?" he asked casually as he finished off his coffee. "No. Please don't, I just want to have some time to think about what we're going to do now." she said looking at Ruby in her arms, what she heard was something she was not expecting. "Feel free to stay as long as you want. I honestly wouldn't mind the company.", "Really? I thought your team would be here." she could only watch as his whole body tensed up.
"You won't be seeing them Summer…surprised you didn't hear about it actually. Team Enigma is dead, Grimm ambush during a routine sweep. We had now idea just how many there were, at most a handful of Ursa's and maybe a Deathclaw…" Summer could only look on in shock, she had been close with Enigma during her time in Beacon, to hear they had died was a complete shock.
"Then, of course, there was the aftermath…people saw that the Faunus was the only survivor, they instantly blamed me. Some even decided to take out their frustration…you saw the scars right? People seemed to forget that Margaret was a Faunus too. But then again, people do just forget about us, don't they?" he said sadly.
"I never did!" she said sternly, "You disappeared but I never knew why…now I do. Why didn't you come to me? You said to me that we would always have each other's backs, Eli." Eli did not reply as he took their empty cups and placed them in the sink, "Spent about a year in hospital recovering and learning how to walk again…then came all the consoling and now I'm popping pills like sweets to control PTSD. That's why I didn't say anything, I'm a broken man and you had everything ahead of you.".
Summer could not believe what she was hearing, the man she had known for years, who was always full of life was now the man in front of her who sounded like he was giving up on everything. But something inside her was not going to let this go quietly.
"My team split up soon after graduation. Raven disappeared leaving Tai with a little girl, he turned into a broken man, Qrow went off who knows where on mission after mission and I was left to pick up the pieces. Then Raven, apparently, had been coming back after I married Tai for a booty call!" she said gritting her teeth and trying not to yell, fearing upsetting Ruby.
"I may not have had it as bad as you Eli, but it hasn't been exactly easy on me either! I would have given anything to have you to get me through it, you always knew how to cheer me up." they simply stared at each other until Eli chuckled softly, "I missed those Summer storms." he said using the name for when Summer got really mad for whatever reason.
"Eli…", "You can stay Summer I don't mind. Besides wouldn't be much of a friend would I, if I kicked you out with the little one, would I?", "Her name is Ruby, would you like to hold her?" Eli nodded and took the little girl in his arms as Summer helped position her in his arms. Her little silver eyes lit up with excitement as she giggled in his arms, "She really likes you. You're a natural.", "I had three younger siblings Summer and raised by a single mother. I know how to handle kids." he said as he gently rocked Ruby too and fro.
"Thank you, Eli, I mean it. I'll pay rent…", "Don't Summer, maybe just one of your famous meals every now and again would be just fine." Eli wondered if having Summer around might actually bring some life back into his own. 'Things might start getting better…' he thought as he continued to make a fuss of Ruby as Summer just looked on smiling at them both warmly.
Well, this was something different as I mentioned, don't know how much people are going to like it but I like the unconventional pairings that don't get as much attention. I say its different for me as usually when I do OC's they are more supportive roles rather than upfront as a main character.
A more detailed Bio for Eli will be at the end of the next chapter.
