Remnants of a Gold Gear

by TheManThatWalksTheAbyss115

He had survived the impossible. Made himself stand out from his fellow gears through prowess on the battlefield. He saved his brothers and sisters of the cog family, he even helped save the human race. But after dying and being transported to a new world with old problems he has to find a way back to his world because there's always someone waiting for you to come back.GoldenGearAU

6. Chapter 6: Investigation(s) part 1

AN: Hey there everybody, how are you all today? So basically I'm writing more frequently due to me being fucking sick because people at school don't know when to stay home or cover their mouths when they cough. It's disgusting when somebody coughs in their hand and touches a fucking door handle or they just cough near you and don't even bother saying sorry. That's besides the point though you all came here to read a story, not listen to me rant about people and their indecencies, so without further adieu. Let's roll on with the fucking story!

---

The seven were currently rushing back to Beacon with haste, well two were. Technically it's one since the other is being dragged like a rag doll through out the crowd and towards the Bullhead. Despite Walker being a tad bit taller than Taiyang he was easily dragged around like a child's toy by the older man, he was actually curious to see how much power he had if he could drag Walker around like this. Numerous people in the crowd tried to ask Walker questions but were quickly left in the dust when Taiyang barreled through them and practically threw Walker in the Bullhead.

"Ow, what the fuck?!" Walker said as he rubbed the top part of his helmet. "Why are you so excited about cooking?" He asked.

"Are you kidding me? This is the first time in a long time that I've been able to cook." Taiyang said making Walker raise an eyebrow.

"I'm going to go out on a limb here and ask. Why?" Walker asked. Taiyang rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Last time I cooked I uh... kind of burned down Summer's brand new stove." He laughed sheepishly.

"So you mean to tell me, you're banned from cooking?" Walker asked.

"Yeah... okay, to be fair the directions for that recipe didn't state how long I had to leave it on for." Taiyang said.

"And what was the recipe?" Walker asked.

"... Meatloaf." Taiyang answered. Walker stared at Taiyang for a few seconds before he started to chuckle a bit; eventually his chuckle turned to full blown laughter as he fell on the ground. He started coughing while he was laughing as he stop for a second to look at Taiyang's embarrassed face before laughing again, he eventually stopped and lifted his helmet to stick a finger in and wipe away a tear.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry... But how did you burn down the entire stove?" Walker asked as he calmed down from his laughing fit.

"I was training Yang and I sort of forgot that it was on." Taiyang answered.

"You didn't have a timer or anything to remind you?" Walker asked.

"No, that was the one thing I forgot to set." Taiyang said. Walker just shook his head and laughed before sitting in a seat and placing his hands behind his head, he closed his eyes and just enjoyed the silence for a second. He heard numerous people trying to enter the bullhead but were stopped by the pilot and a few Atlesian knights; he scowled a bit when some of the people began to shout and throw violent insults demanding that they get aboard the Bullhead to ask Walker some questions.

"I fucking hate paparazzi." Walker said.

"Why's that?" Taiyang asked.

"They don't know when to leave somebody alone, and they're trying to hard to get my attention." Walker answered making Taiyang laugh. He saw that the girls were trying to board the bullhead but couldn't due to the crowd blocking their way and trying to get aboard themselves. Walker sighed in annoyance and pushed past Taiyang and exited the bullhead and disappeared into the crowd for a minute, he later appeared with the girls in tow behind him. The pilot quickly entered the Bullhead and began to prepare for lift off.

"So how did you get them in here without being swarmed to death?" Taiyang asked.

"I just didn't answer their questions because I said I was tired." Walker stated simply making Taiyang look at Summer.

"He's not lying, that's all he said." She said with a shrug. Walker sat in his seat and leaned back with his hands on his chest before shortly falling asleep, his helmet lights flickered off making Taiyang and Summer throw an eyebrow towards the girls.

"His helmet lights usually go out when he's sleeping." Ruby said as she sat on Walker's left side, leaning on his shoulder.

"He wasn't kidding when he said he was tired." Yang said as she sat in the seat across from him.

"I mean he did get bit and he did lose a bit of blood, so it wouldn't be surprising." Weiss said as she placed a leg over her other one.

"... He got lucky though." Blake said as she leaned on Walker's right shoulder and read her book. Everybody went silent for a few minutes and just sat there. Ruby eventually started nodding off to sleep and eventually succumbed to it; Blake did the same but at a slower pace and closed her book before she fell asleep completely, her ears slightly twitched before folding a bit. Summer, Yang, Weiss, and Taiyang looked at the sleeping trio and began to snicker a bit before a sly smile came across Yang and Summer's faces. They pulled out their scrolls and turned the flash off before taking a few pictures of the three. Summer showed Taiyang some of the pictures making him laugh a bit before he put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes also. Yang showed Weiss while snickering making her scowl a bit as she looked at the picture then at the sleeping trio.

"Hey mom, I think somebody's jealous." Yang whispered as she jabbed a thumb in Weiss' direction. Summer snickered at Yang's action then laughed a bit when Weiss glared at Yang.

"I am not." Weiss whispered.

"You so are, I can just feel it." Yang said cheekily.

"That's probably just the feeling when I put you in your place." Weiss hissed.

"Hey, no need to be so defensive Weiss cream. I was just joking." Yang said with her arms in a surrendering position.

"Do I sense a cat fight between you four?" Summer teased.

"You mean you three?" Yang asked.

"No I mean you four... I'm your mother Yang, I can tell when you want something." Summer said.

"You got nothing to worry about from me." Yang denied while closing her eyes with a smile on her face.

"We'll see about that." Summer said. The rest of the ride was basked in a comfortable quiet with the exception of the dull hum of the Bullhead as it took its occupants to the academy.

---

Walker groggily woke up to see that everybody was asleep, with the exception of Summer who was busy doing something on her scroll. She smiled a bit and swiped at her scroll before covering her mouth to stifle a full blown laugh when she read something; he noticed that Ruby and Blake were leaning on either sides of his shoulders and were sound asleep. He mentally groaned when they tightened their grips on his shoulders and fell into a deeper sleep while nuzzling into his arms, he then saw Summer lift her scroll at him then jump when she saw that he was looking at her.

"How long have they been like this?" He whispered after a few awkward moments of silence.

"About two hours now." Summer said as she looked at Ruby and laughed quietly making Walker raise an eyebrow.

"What?" He asked making Summer shake her head.

"Nothing?" She said.

"What?" He asked again.

"Nothing... just nothing." She said. The two sat in silence for a few minutes and just listened to the dull hum of the Bullhead; Walker rotated his neck a bit and cracked it, making Summer cringe at the sound. He sighed in relief and started lightly hitting his head on the back of the seat to alleviate some of his boredom.

"You bored?" Summer asked.

"Very." Walker just said and continued to hit his head on the seat. Summer laughed again and closed her eyes for a few seconds before Walker began to talk to her.

"Can I ask you a question?" He asked.

"Yeah, sure." She said, opening her eyes and leaning forward a bit.

"Are you really Yang's mom? Because you two look nothing alike." Walker said. Summer's eyes widened a bit before she sat back and sighed.

"No, I'm not... though I wish I was." She said, making Walker look at her curiously.

"Touchy subject?" He asked.

"No... well yes... I don't know." She sighed.

"If you don't want to talk about it, then you don't have to." Walker said.

"No, it's alright... I'm her step-mom since her real one left shortly after she was born." Summer said. Anger rose in Walker's chest before he quietly cursed a bit and calming down.

"Shit... I'm sorry." He apologized.

"No, it's alright. I get that question a lot when I tell people I'm her mother." Summer said.

"Still, can't help but feel like shit." Walker said.

"Nah, it's alright. You were curious and besides we asked you personal questions." She said.

"Yeah... guess you did." Walker laughed quietly.

"Can I ask you a question?" She asked.

"Technically you just asked one." He joked making Summer laugh bit.

"Where are your parents?" She asked. Walker's mind went blank when she asked that; he had no train of thought or even any feeling. He just stared at the floor with a blank expression on his face. His silence began to grow into minutes, concerning Summer as she looked at Walker with concern.

"Walker?" She asked as she stared at his silent figure. "Walker?" She asked again. He suddenly looked up at her and leaned back before sighing a bit.

"Sorry, I just... lost my train of thought." He said.

"If you don't want to answer it then you don't have to. It was rude of me to pry after seeing what you went through-" She said.

"They're dead." He interrupted, making her stop.

"What?" She asked.

"They died in the war." He said without any emotion in his voice. His voice betrayed the pain in his mind, while it held no emotion his mind held all of it. The sadness, the guilt, the anger, the depression; all of it boiled inside of his mind like a toxic mixture ready to explode.

"...I-I'm sorry." She said solemnly as she stared at him. He just shook his head slowly.

"...It's fine. They didn't die by the locust's hands, so there's that." Walker said quietly. "I prefer to remember them as they were. Good people." He added lightheartedly.

"Well, I'm glad you remember them as that." Summer smiled.

"Heh, yeah... I am too." He said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a locket of them. He flicked it open and stared at the two of them with him in their arms, he smiled when he saw his mother's smile and his dad's smirk while he gave a toothless smile in the middle. Walker lifted his arm and handed Summer the locket for her to look at, she gently took it from his hands and smiled before looking at it. She smiled at the picture and handed it back to Walker, who took it from her and placed it in his pocket. The two sat in silence for a few seconds before Summer spoke up.

"You were a cute baby." She said.

"If you count chubby as cute." He joked making her laugh.

"I find chubby babies the cutest. Where'd all of it go?" Summer joked.

"Turned it into muscle, got tired of being fat." Walker shrugged. The two eventually began to trade stories about their eccentric lives from different perspectives, his on Sera and hers with Yang and Ruby.

---

20 minutes later:

Everyone stayed sound asleep with the exception of Summer and Walker, who were still having a conversation about each other's lives. Right now Summer was currently telling Walker about how Taiyang wasn't allowed to cook anymore due to him burning down her stove.

"Seriously, how do you burn down a stove in 20 minutes? That's like burning water." Summer scoffed.

"I don't know... wait, what does he eat when you go on missions?" Walker asked.

"He either orders a pizza or I leave him leftovers." She said.

"Damn, that must be hard for him." Walker said.

"Well, that's what happens when you burn down a 900 lien stove." Summer huffed. Walker noticed that Ruby and Blake were still latched onto him tightly and lost feeling in both his arms.

"Mrs. Rose?" Walker asked.

"Yes?" Summer asked.

"I can't feel my arms." He said. Summer looked at him for a few seconds before succumbing to a laughing fit, she laughed for a few minutes at Walker's situation and started coughing. Eventually he started laughing too, except it was more of a chuckle than a laugh.

"No, but seriously... I can't feel my arms." He said making her stop.

"Oh... like there's no feeling in them?" Summer asked.

"Not a single feeling." Walker said making Summer wake Taiyang up.

"W-what?" He asked as he rubbed his eyes to get the sleep away.

"Walker can't feel his arms." Summer pointed. Taiyang looked at Walker with a raised eyebrow making him sigh.

"Mind explaining?" Taiyang asked.

"I don't even know where to begin, and I kind of need my arms to cook." Walker said.

"Well, I can't do anything until Ruby wakes up. She's a heavy sleeper." Tai said.

"Yeah, I noticed." Walker deadpanned. Taiyang just chuckled a bit before his expression went serious.

"Well, we got maybe 10 minutes before we land." Tai said.

"Great..." Walker just sighed and fell back asleep.

---

10 minutes later:

The bullhead finally landed and made a loud thump as it slowly opened up the bay doors. Everybody groggily woke up and exited the bullhead, looking up to see the broken moon in the night sky.

"Uuuuugggghhh." Yang groaned as she stretched out her sore muscles and sighed in relief when she was done. She noticed that only her, Weiss, and her parents were outside the bullhead; she raised an eyebrow before she turned to see three people stumble out of the bullhead. Walker stumbled a bit before he caught himself and started to shake his arms a bit, to get the blood flowing in them again; while Blake and Ruby had frizzled hair and looked so tired that they couldn't even walk straight. Yang raised an eyebrow when Blake walked up to her and collapsed on her, making her catch her at the last second. Ruby stumbled up to Taiyang's chest and stood in front of it before she lightly slapped her head against it and fell asleep standing up. He just sighed and lightly picked Ruby up and carried her to the dorm room while Yang did the same for Blake, except she just threw her over her shoulder. Weiss and Summer looked at Walker to see him standing there and shaking his arms a bit, they saw that some of the color was returning as the blood flowed back into them.

"Are you okay?" Weiss asked.

"Me? Yeah, I'm fine. Just got to wait a minute for the blood to return back into my arms before I do anything." He answered as he rotated his right arm.

"So what do you plan to cook for us?" Weiss asked as she walked alongside Walker and Summer.

"Eh, depends on what we have available." Walker shrugged.

"I'm sure there's plenty." Summer said.

"Well, might as well use some of it." Walker said as he walked inside the academy.

---

Everybody entered the dorm room slowly and tiredly, the only people who weren't tired were Walker, Taiyang, and Summer; everybody else took residence in their beds. The three looked at the sleeping girls before shaking their heads and quietly exiting the room; Walker was the last one out and flicked the lights off before slowly closing the door. He turned to see Taiyang and Summer look at him.

"What?" He asked.

"Nothing..." Summer said.

"You guys are terrible liars, you know that? Doesn't matter though, I'm still going to cook." Walker said as he made his way towards the cafeteria.

"You're still going to cook even though you're tired?" Tai asked.

"Yep. I'm bored and I need something to keep me awake." Walker said as he placed his hands behind his head. The three entered the cafeteria after a short walk and saw that it was mostly empty. He knocked on the kitchen door a few times before slowly entering it and noticing that nobody was in there, he then signaled Summer and Taiyang to follow him in before he picked up a cooking apron. Walker turned around after putting on the apron and saw Summer and Taiyang laughing at something.

"What?" He asked.

"Look down kid." Taiyang pointed at Walker's apron making him look down. He saw that it read 'kiss the cook' on it and sighed in response to it before shrugging and walking up to a sink and taking off his gauntlets, he then began to wash his hands while humming a little tune. Summer and Taiyang just watched as Walker picked up a book and propped it up and looked at it for a few seconds, he then began to get multiple ingredients out and set them on the counter. He stopped and looked at the cookbook for a second before shaking his head and bring out hamburger, fish, lemon juice, pepper, salt, lettuce, flour, yeast, sugar, vanilla, milk, caramel sauce, and a few other ingredients. Walker looked at both of them for a second before he suddenly snapped his fingers and turned back to his task.

"Uh, is there anything I can do?" Taiyang asked hopefully.

"Actually yes, though Mrs. Rose can't be here." Walker said.

"Why not?" Summer asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It's a surprise, plus I need to talk to Mr. Xiao Long about something." Walker said.

"That's not very-" Summer started.

"Well, Summer it's about your bedtime. See you later." Taiyang said as he pushed her out the door and closed it behind her, locking her out. Summer stared wide-eyed for a second before she scowled and began to shoulder charge the door.

"Tai! Tai, you open this door now!" Summer ordered from the other side of the door. He felt her kick the door to try and get back inside but eventually give up and storm away, he slowly opened the door and peeked outside to see her form retreat before closing and locking the door again. He walked next to Walker and saw that he was kneading dough while looking at the cookbook and humming a tune.

"Alright kid, what are we cooking?" Tai asked as he began washing his hands.

"I'm making lemon salmon, salad, English muffins, monkey bread, cinnamon rolls, and strawberry cheesecake." Walker listed making Tai gape in surprise.

"Whoa! You sure you can do all that?" Tai asked.

"That's why you're here; you're making hamburgers and coffee cake." Walker said.

"Look I know you like cooking but something like this can take all night. Are you absolutely sure you can handle this?" Tai asked concerned.

"Please, I've stayed up for three days straight sometimes. Something as trivial as this is child's play; you're probably just concerned because I can cook longer than you." Walker said as he continued to knead.

"Wha? Oh it's on now." Tai said as he cracked his knuckles.

"Bring it then." Walker said.

"Let's cook." Tai said as he put the hamburger in a mixing bowl.

---

6 hours later:

The two were still in the kitchen busy with their cooking, not even bothering to check to see what time it was. They were currently sitting at one of the tables in the cafeteria having a conversation about their lives, it was more about Taiyang's than Walker's.

"So that's pretty much why we decided to give Ruby her name." Taiyang finished.

"That's a lot of chaos just to name Ruby." Walker said.

"Meh, glad it happened though." Tai shrugged. "So tell me this Walker, where did you exactly learn to cook like that." He asked, making Walker laugh a bit before leaning back and sighing.

"Uh, let's see... I actually learned to cook from my grandma." He said.

"No shit?" Tai laughed.

"Yeah, she was actually a baker and a good one at that." Walker laughed.

"What else did she teach you to make?" Tai asked.

"Pshhh, fuck... what didn't she teach me? She taught me how to make all kinds of stuff." Walker said as he leaned forward and placed his hand on his helmet.

"I'm sure it's a lot." Tai said.

"You're telling me. She and my granddad practically raised me when my parents where away." Walker said as he shook his head. The two were still having their conversations when a timer went off making them sigh and enter the kitchen. When they got there they found Ren standing there with a shocked expression while holding the tray of monkey bread, he stood there for a second before placing the tray on the stove and closing the door.

"Ren what the hell are you doing here?" Walker asked.

"I was going to make Nora some pancakes for breakfast since it's here birthday today." Ren answered.

"What are you doing making pancakes at midnight?" Taiyang asked.

"Midnight? It's six in the morning." Ren stated.

"Bullshit." Walker said not believing him.

"It's true, look at your watch." Ren pointed. Walker reached in his pocket and fished out his watch before rolling his eyes, they later widened when the time did read 0600.

"Um... hey Tai?" Walker asked.

"Yeah?" Tai asked back.

"What time does everybody wake up?" Walker asked.

"Classes don't start until nine but the cafeteria doesn't open until seven." Tai answered. Walker placed his hand on the bottom side of his helmet before an idea popped in his head.

"Hey Ren, you need any help?" Walker asked.

"Not really but I would like some." Ren said.

"Say no more." Walker said as he tossed Ren a apron.

"What are you doing." Ren asked.

"Killing time." Walker said as he pulled out the flour again.

"Hey, is it alright if I head back to the room?" Tai asked.

"Huh? Yeah, you can. I'm pretty much done with everything here." Walker said as he handed Ren the sugar. Tai nodded and left the two teenagers, he looked back and cracked a smile before heading back to the room. Walker and Ren were making pancakes in silence and kept it that way before Ren looked at Walker from the corner of his eye, something Walker noticed.

"Ren... if you're going to look at me and ask a question then do it." Walker said making Ren surprised.

"I didn't think you noticed that." Ren said.

"I wear this helmet to protect my noggin and keep my face hidden. It doesn't make me blind." Walker said as he tapped his helmet.

"That's what I wanted to ask you about. How come you wear it so much? Doesn't it ever get uncomfortable?" Ren asked.

"Nope, my helmet has cushioning in it." Walker said as he flipped a pancake.

"Hmm..." Ren just said as he flipped a pancake.

"Soooo, about that weapon..." Ren said.

"Yep, kinda figured you'd ask about that." Walker sighed as he put a pancake on a plate and started to pour batter on the pan to make another one.

"I was wondering if you'd let Nora use it for the day." Ren said.

"And by use you actually mean keep." Walker stated.

"...Yes." Ren sighed. Walker looked at him then shook his head.

"I won't let her keep it but I can help Ruby make one for her. She can borrow mine until the end of the day but after that I want it back." Walker said.

"I understand." Ren said.

"Look, I'm not trying to be a dick or anything by not letting her keep it. It's just that... that weapon has kept me alive for years as has my other ones." Walker said.

"Really, how?" Ren asked.

"It once saved me from a monster that was about to claw my head off." Walker said.

"So a Beowolf?" Ren asked.

"Heh, yeah... something along those lines." Walker whispered. The two kept making pancakes in a comfortable silence until Walker started making a pancake in a cog symbol. He then put a skull in the middle of it and let it simmer until he flipped it, once it was done he put it on a plate and just stared at it for a minute. Ren just finished his pancake and put it on a plate before looking at Walker, he saw him stare at a creepy pancake that had a skull in the middle of a cog. His concern started to grow when he looked at Walker and saw him just... staring at it, like he was reliving something.

"Walker?" Ren asked as he stared at the now silent person next to him; he slowly walked up to him and put his hand on the side of his shoulder before jumping back when Walker whipped out a combat knife and slashed at him.

"Walker! What are you doing?!" Ren shouted as he ducked under another slash that was directed towards his throat and sidestepped another that was coming towards his head. Ren then grabbed Walker's forearm to stop a stab that was aimed for his eye. He struggled a bit before falling on his knees when Walker put his other hand on the handle of the knife and gave it more force, making Ren fall on the ground. The knife inched closer towards Ren's face making him strain to try and keep it from puncturing him, he then moved his head to the side and let the knife stab the ground before kicking Walker in his stomach and throwing him back. Walker hit the wall and slowly stood up before cracking his knuckles and getting in a boxing stance while Ren got in a combat stance and stared at Walker. Both were in a dead lock as they stared at each other with neutral expressions, before the smoke alarm went off. Walker got out of his combat stance and looked around quickly before he set his sights on Ren.

"Oh, hey Ren... why do you look like you're getting ready to fight?" Walker asked making Ren raise an eyebrow.

"You just attacked me." Ren said still in a combat stance.

"What? Really?" Walker asked scratching his head.

"Yes!" Ren exclaimed, he slowly got out of his combat stance and stared at Walker. The two stared at each other for a few minutes before Walker looked at his watch.

"Ehh... can I have my knife back?" Walker asked awkwardly.

"Are you going to attack me?" Ren asked.

"No, why would I do that? You're a friend." Walker said.

"But you just attacked me." Ren said.

"Okay, if I did then I'm sorry." Walker apologized. Ren looked at Walker for a second before he grabbed the knife and looked at him.

"Walker... what do you remember?" Ren asked slowly.

"I remember cooking with Tai, you coming in here, cooking with you, and then... blank." Walker said.

"Blank?" Ren asked.

"Yeah, after I made the pancake my mind went blank." Walker said. He then stared ahead for a few seconds before shrugging and grabbing the knife from Ren and sheathing it. "Look, if I attacked you then I'm sorry. I sometimes go blank and do stuff... or so I'm told; well whatever, it's all in the past. I'm going to go take this stuff to my team while you do the same." He said as he put the food on the tray and rolled out of the kitchen leaving Ren alone. He then looked at the pancakes he and Walker cooked before looking at the final pancake that was on the counter. He looked at it and shuddered at the design, it looked so menacing to be a pancake. He took in its features before looking away from it and threw it in the trashcan before putting all the pancakes on tray and rolled it out, taking it to Nora.

---

Ruby groggily woke up and looked around, she noticed that she was in her bunk and that everybody else was asleep. She slowly sat up and jumped off of the bunk and landed with a quiet thump. Blake's ears twitched before she sat up and saw Ruby standing there, they noticed that Walker wasn't in his usual spot on the ground and looked around.

"Where's Walker?" Blake asked as she rubbed her eyes.

"I dunno." Ruby yawned as she stretched. She sighed in relief when she felt all her muscles relax and began to shake her arms and legs to get the blood flowing in them. Blake slowly stood up before doing the same thing and sighed in relief when her back popped and muscles relaxed, she slowly took off her socks and curled her toes making them pop in response.

"Hey Blake?" Ruby asked.

"Hmm?" Blake hummed as she placed a hand behind her neck and rotated it.

"Your hair looks kind of..." Ruby trailed off as she gestured towards her hair. Blake looked up and noticed that her a strand was in front of her face before brushing it behind her ear.

"Thanks." She said as she picked up a book.

"Yep." Ruby chimed. Both of them sat in silence for a few minutes before Ruby got up and went in the bathroom to take a shower. Blake's ears twitched as she heard the shower turn on, she waited a few seconds before reaching underneath the bed and picking up a copy of Ninjas in Love 2. She read for a few minutes in silence before she got to a specific part in the book and blushed, her eyes went wide and her ears twitched in excitement; she was so caught up in her reading that she didn't notice someone in front of her.

"Man, that must be a really juicy part." Walker said as he leaned over her and whispered in her ear. She jumped up and yelped before slamming the book shut and hiding it under the blankets.

"W-Walker! I-I didn't notice you there." She laughed nervously with a red face.

"That's probably because you were nose deep in your book." Walker said as he tapped her nose, making her blush deepen.

"Shut up." She just said and picked up another book. Walker looked at her before leaning back and lying on her bed, staring at the underside of Yang's bed before looking at the books that suspended it up.

"How the hell is this stable?" Walker asked.

"I don't know." Blake shrugged, she sat on the bed and got underneath the covers before flipping a page in her book. The blanket slowly pulled away from her making her scowl before tugging it back, it was pulled away again making her growl a bit and pull it back again; it was pulled away again at a faster pace making her hiss and forcefully pull it over herself and hold it in an iron grip.

"Wow, I'm a little hurt Blake." Walker said in mock hurt.

"Why?" She mumbled.

"You're not even going to look at the food I made for you guys." He said.

"What food..." She said as she looked turned from her book and slowly looked at the tray of hot food. She dropped the book and went slack-jawed when the numerous scents assaulted her nose, making her mouth water; her mouth was closed when a hand gently cupped her chin and closed it for her.

"You're going to catch a fly or two with that mouth wide open." Walker joked. Blake looked at Walker for a second before she turned her attention back onto the food.

"Walker this is... I don't... when did you make all this?" She asked as she looked at him.

"Did it while you four slept. I wasn't tired so I figured I'd do something for you guys since you hadn't eaten last night, plus I haven't cooked in a while so might as well freshen up a bit on it." Walker shrugged as he leaned up and propped himself on his elbows before suddenly being hugged by Blake. He took on a surprised expression before laughing a bit and hugging her back, he sat up completely before stretching and popping his back before he heard the bathroom door open.

"Hey Ruby, I made you guys somethi-" He said and suddenly stopped when he saw Ruby in nothing but a towel and damp hair. Water dripped from the tips of her hair while the two just stared at each other for a few moments, she suddenly blushed and bolted back in the bathroom leaving a trail of roses in her wake. Walker stood there for a few seconds with a shocked expression before he slowly walked to Blake's bed and slowly sat on it, placing his head on his hands.

"Are you okay?" Blake asked.

"Besides the fact that I just saw our most innocent member of our team half naked, yeah I'm fine." Walker said.

"If you say so." Blake trailed off and stared at the food.

"Look, I know you want to grab that tasty fish that's sitting there but you gotta wait." He said.

"Why?" Blake drooled as she stared at the lemon fish.

"Because you all need to eat since classes start in two hours." Walker said as he lied back on Blake's bed; he closed his eyes and sighed in relief when his body settled into the bed. The bathroom door slowly opened and he heard someone walk towards the tray of food, he raised an eyebrow when he saw Ruby trying to sneakily steal a cinnamon roll.

"Put it back." He said making her jump.

"O-oh hey W-Walker... I-" She stuttered.

"You were going to have one?" Walker asked.

"...Yes." She said making Walker laugh.

"Well to bad, cause you gotta wait till everyone else is up." He said as he closed his eyes.

"But whyyyyyy?" Ruby groaned.

"Because everybody else has to be awake." He said. Ruby wasted no time and grabbed her whistle; a mischievous smile formed upon her face as she placed it in her mouth.

"Ruby no." Blake said.

"Ruby yes." Ruby said as she went right next to Weiss' ear and blew the whistle. Weiss yelped loudly and fell out of the bed before sitting up and looking around quickly, her eyes caught sight of Ruby with a whistle in her mouth. Walker sat up and laughed when he saw Weiss' face turn red with anger when she caught sight of Ruby with the whistle in her mouth.

"What is wrong with you?!" Weiss shouted.

"No time to explain!" Ruby said as she climbed up on Walker's shoulders and got really close to Yang's ear. She was about to blow the whistle when it was suddenly ripped from her mouth and thrown across the room, landing in the trashcan. Yang scowled at Ruby's awe struck face and turned around to fall back asleep, she growled when Ruby climbed on top of the bed and sat on Yang's back.

"Yang get up!" Ruby said.

"No, leave me alone Ruby." Yang mumbled.

"But Walker has food for us." Ruby said making Yang groan.

"Uhhhhh, fine." She mumbled and rolled off of her bunk, making a loud thump when she hit the ground.

"Oh shit! You alright?" Walker asked. Yang didn't say anything but gave a thumbs up while her face was in the ground.

"Judging by my analysis, you're still tired." Walker said in a detective voice making Yang nod her head.

"Well eat up, since we have class in an hour and a half." He said making her groan and look at the food. She slowly got up and picked up a tray and put a burger, an English muffin, and a cinnamon roll on her plate before sitting on Blake's bed next to Walker and eating silently. Everybody shared a concerned glance at each other before Walker looked at Yang again.

"Are you sure, you're okay?" He asked.

"I'm fine." She said quietly. Walker didn't believe her and noticed that her face was slightly red, he slowly put his hand against her forehead and noticed that it was burning.

"You're not fine, since you're burning up." He said.

"I'm fine, Walker." Yang said as she finished the burger and started to eat the English muffin.

"You're not fine Yang. You're burning up, you can barely stand, and you sound congested." He listed. Yang sighed and finished her meal before lying back on Blake's bed with a dull thump, she closed her eyes and fell asleep before she was picked up in a bridal position and carried over to the bathroom and sat on the toilet. Walker lightly slapped her face to wake her up, much to her annoyance, and went in the medicine cabinet to pull out a thermometer and put it in a probe cover.

"Open up." He said. She opened up her mouth and lifted her tongue as Walker stuck the thermometer in her mouth and waited for a few moments. He pulled it out of her mouth and sighed when he saw that she had a fever running 102.3, he then threw the probe in the trash and put the thermometer back in its case before picking Yang up and walking out of the bathroom. He entered the room with Yang still in his arms and walked towards Blake's bed and setting her down; lifting the covers from up underneath her and covering her up until her stomach.

"What's wrong with Yang?" Ruby asked.

"She's sick. What's her usual temperature?" Walker asked.

"Without her semblance... about 98.2" Ruby said. Walker nodded and picked up a plate and handed it to each girl, with the exception of Yang, he then sat down in front of Blake's bed with her sitting next to him.

"How long did it take you to make all of this?" Weiss asked somewhat amazed.

"About six hours, it was worth it though." Walker shrugged. Blake picked up the lemon salmon and took a bite out of it before she melted at the taste.

"Well, I'm glad you made it. Thank you." Blake said as she ate another piece.

"Yeah, thanks Walker!" Ruby shouted and took a bite out of her cinnamon roll.

"Thanks Walker." Weiss said, eating her salad.

"Anytime... I'm going to take a shower. Holler is you guys need anything." He said as he put his dirty plate on the tray and grabbed his uniform before entering the bathroom. The girls continued to eat their food with smiles on their faces before someone knocked on the door; Ruby quickly got up and opened it to see Jaune at the door with a nervous expression.

"Hey Jaune. Eh, why do you look so nervous?" Ruby asked.

"It's Nora's birthday." He said as he looked around.

"What's so bad about that?" She asked.

"She ate all her pancakes and she wants to have fun." He shuddered. "Can I come inside?" He asked.

"Uh yeah." Ruby said as she moved out of the way to side to let him in. Jaune saw that everybody was eating something except Yang, who was in the bed, and were getting something else.

"Whoa, were'd all this food come from?" He asked.

"Walker made this for us." Ruby said as she sat down next to Weiss.

"What's wrong with Yang?" Jaune asked as he saw her in the bed.

"Walker says she's sick." Weiss said. Jaune took a closer look at Yang and noticed that she was red in the face, was sniffling, and looked to be burning up.

"Yeah, she's got a cold." He said making Weiss raise an eyebrow.

"How do you know?" She asked.

"I uh... lived with seven sisters. Most of them were younger than me and got sick a lot." Jaune said, rubbing the back of his neck. He heard the bathroom door open and saw Walker step out with his uniform on, he rotated his neck a bit before his he caught sight of Jaune.

"What's up Jaune." Walker greeted as he walked by and checked on Yang.

"Nothing, just hiding from Nora." Jaune said.

"Didn't want to celebrate her birthday?" Walker asked.

"How'd you know it was her birthday?" Jaune asked.

"I helped Ren cook some pancakes today." Walker said as he sat down and leaned next to Yang.

"Wait hold up a second... you cooked all of this and helped Ren cook pancakes?" Jaune asked.

"Yep." Walker just said. Jaune suddenly grabbed Walker's shoulders and looked him in the visor.

"Please teach me how to cook like you." Jaune begged.

"Trying to impress someone?" Walker joked. Jaune looked hesitate about something and looked to the side before he muttered something; Walker glanced at Weiss and sighed in response before placing a hand on Jaune's shoulder and leading him out of the room. Once they were outside he led Jaune to the end of the hallway and placed him against the wall before looking around then back at Jaune.

"Look Jaune, I know you like Weiss but she doesn't like you." Walker said straight to the point.

"Wow, way to get my hopes up." Jaune said dejectedly.

"I've got to give it to you straight man. Okay, just because you like a woman and you do all this shit for her doesn't mean she likes it." Walker explained.

"Then what do I do?" Jaune asked.

"If she isn't in to you then face the fact man, there are plenty of fish in the sea. You just gotta look hard enough to find the perfect woman for you." Walker said.

"But who'll go for someone like me?" Jaune asked dejectedly. Walker stared at Jaune for a few moments before smacking him upside the head.

"Ow! What was that for?" He asked.

"Stop thinking like that. It's what draws grimm and second there's already someone waiting for you." Walker said.

"Really? Who?" Jaune asked.

"That's for you to find out pal. Now, listen I'll teach you how to cook on one condition." Walker said.

"What?" Jaune asked.

"While I'm away make sure Nora doesn't go in my locker." Walker said.

"Okay... any particular reason why?" Jaune asked.

"I don't want her breaking my stuff." Walker said, he looked at his watch then back at Jaune. "Look, I got to get ready for today and check up on Yang. So remember what I said and look for that someone special, alright?." He asked as he tapped Jaune's arm and walked away.

"I don't know if this morning turned out bad or good." Jaune said.

"Oh fearless leader~" He heard Nora's voice echo from down the hallway.

"I think I figured out which one it is." Jaune said as he bolted down the hallway, away from an overly happy Valkyrie.

---

Walker made his way back to the dorm room but saw Summer and Tai from down the hall and catch sight of him.

"Hey kid, you ready for tonight?" Tai asked.

"Tonight? I thought we were going tomorrow?" Walker asked.

"There's been another murder that we've been told about." Tai said.

"Yeah... just let me finish classes then get my stuff. How long is it going to take to get there?" Walker asked.

"About a couple of hours." Summer said.

"Alright... you know Yang's sick right?" He asked.

"What?! Is she okay?! Where is she?! Where's my baby girl?!" Summer asked frantically.

"In the room, she just has-" Walker started. He was suddenly interrupted when Summer disappeared in a trail of white roses and practically burst inside the room, leaving a surprised Walker and Taiyang. They heard panicked shouting, stuff being moved, and someone struggle before Summer came out of the room after a few minutes of silence, she walked up to them and brushed a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Well, now that Yang's all squared away we can discuss business." She said as she clapped her hands.

"Do I even need to ask?" Walker asked.

"Nope. Now we need to leave by 11 tonight to be there on time, so don't be late." Summer said.

"Alright, just let me set a reminder." Walker said as he set a reminder on his watch. He heard the dorm room door open and saw that Blake, Weiss, and Ruby were out with their uniforms on; they quickly spotted him and Ruby used her semblance to bolt up to their position.

"I thought you guys left already?" She asked.

"We leave Sunday, we've got a few things to do with Walker before we leave." Tai said. Ruby looked at them confused then at Walker.

"What do you need Walker for?" She asked.

"He's going on a mission with us." Summer smiled. Ruby's eyes widened and she started bouncing up and down quickly as she looked at the three.

"Oh! That is so cool! Can I come?! Please?! Please?! Please?! Pleeeeeaaaasssseee?!" Ruby asked quickly.

"Sorry kiddo, maybe next time." Taiyang laughed.

"Okay..." Ruby sighed before she smiled. "Can you at least send pictures?" She asked hopefully.

"I'll see, though I can't promise anything." Walker said. He checked his watch and saw that is was around 8:30, he sighed and decided to get to class to get them out of the way asap.

"Alright, Ruby. Let's get these classes out of the way." Walker said. Ruby sighed and kicked her feet before walking to class with Blake and Weiss; Walker began to make his way but stopped when Tai grabbed his shoulder.

"You know you can't show her anything right?" Tai asked.

"...Yeah, I know." Walker said.

"Then why did you tell her you would?" Tai asked.

"I said that I can't promise anything which usually means I can't usually don't do anything." Walker said.

"So you made an empty promise? That's kind of shady." Tai commented.

"Better than making a real promise." Walker said.

"Why?" Summer asked.

"Because I usually don't keep those, and when I usually do it's to a dead man." Walker said as he lifted his helmet and rubbed his eyes. "Look, can I just go to classes? I want to get them out of the way." He added.

"Yeah, go ahead. Just make sure you aren't late tonight." Summer said. Walker gave a curt nod before he quickly followed the three girls and headed to class.

---

The day went by relatively quick, Port actually gave a lesson that kept everybody awake and focused, Oobleck decided to use today as a study period, and Glynda just did her usual thing. Everybody was currently heading back to the dorm room with somewhat content expressions, with the exception of Walker. His mind was currently focused on the case he was going to do with Summer and Taiyang. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice he bumped into someone until the someone fell on the ground, he looked down and saw that Sun was on the ground while Neptune stood in the sidelines. Nobody dared to say anything for a few minutes and just stared in silence. Sun and Neptune stared at the girls with crestfallen expressions while the girls stared back in irritation and slight anger, while Walker just stared with a neutral expression. Walker shook his head and offered a hand to Sun, who accepted it, and lifted him off the ground before backing up. He looked back to the girls and noticed their agitation growing and decided to prevent an unnecessary confrontation.

"You three can go back to the dorm... I'm going to stay and have a little chat with these two." Walker said making the girls nod and brush past the two, Blake tapped Walker's shoulder as she past him and gave him a look. When he saw that she was around the corner and in the dorm he finally addressed the two, who stood there with slightly nervous expressions.

"Look man, we wanted to apologize." Neptune said making Walker snort.

"The fuck are you apologizing to me for?" He asked.

"For talking crap about you behind your back." Sun said.

"I already knew that part." Walker said.

"You did?" Neptune asked.

"Oh yeah. Heard every single bit of it." Walker said making the two wince. "I also know that you two have been hounding after my teammates... something I'm not very fond of." He added, circling the two like a predator to its prey. He finally stopped when he stood in front of them again and just stared at them.

"So... do you accept it?" Sun asked.

"Not even in the slightest. Here's why: you two never apologized to the girls about talking about me, because in all seriousness, I really don't give a shit. You display false feelings towards them, and yes Neptune I mean you. And last but not least, you didn't even get to know them." Walker said making the two shrink.

"That's not true." Neptune said making Walker tilt his head.

"Oh, it's not? Tell me something Neptune... why did you go after Weiss, hmm?" Walker asked.

"I...I don't really know why. Her looks I guess?" He said in an unsure tone.

"That's your first mistake, you didn't really go after Weiss for her, you went after her for her looks. I noticed this when you started flirting with Team NDGO. For God's sake even Jaune tried to get to know Weiss before you did Neptune." Walker said. Neptune looked down and away from Walker as he turned his attention to Sun.

"Why'd you go after Blake Sun?" Walker asked.

"To help her." Sun said.

"Bullshit." Walker said.

"How's it bullshit?" Sun said accusingly.

"She told me about you when she first met you. Said you helped her because you saw something in her, that correct?" Walker asked as he peered into Sun's eyes, making him shake slightly.

"Yes." Sun said.

"What did you see in her?" Walker asked.

"...A faunus who needs help." Sun answered.

"Who said she needed help?" Walker asked.

"I don't know, I did I guess." Sun said. Walker stared at the two for a minute before he shook his head and sighed.

"Here's what kind of vibe I get from you two. You're confused hormonal teenagers with no knowledge of the female mind, not that I have any, but you get the picture. Instead of seeing four girls with a pretty face, I see four people who could change the world through their determination alone. The reason they like me is because I help them through their insecurities and problems while asking nothing in return, could I? Yes I could but I don't because that implies I'm someone who always wants something in return. So to save time and a lot of unnecessary talking, I'm just going to give it to you two straight... they don't like you. I know this because-" Walker said.

"How do you know that?" Sun started.

"Do not fucking interrupt me, you motherfucker!" Walker said forcefully making Sun clamp his mouth shut. The boys backed up into the wall as Walker began to take menacing steps towards them and peered into their faces.

"I know because they told me so. Sun, Blake doesn't like you because you try to fucking hard to get her attention and talked shit about me." He said before turning to Neptune. "And Weiss doesn't like you because you showed what hides beneath that pretty boy exterior, a player who doesn't care about a woman's feelings and only goes after her looks. So the sooner you two get it through your thick fucking skulls the sooner we all can move on from this little conversation, do I make myself clear?" Walker asked. The two didn't give any reaction making Walker scowl beneath his helmet.

"I said do I make myself clear?" He asked as he rotated his head at an unnatural angle and stared into their eyes.

"Yes." They both replied in unison. Walker backed up away from them and scoffed.

"By the time I get back from my trip, I had better hear you two apologize to them." Walker said as he marched away from them went to the armory. Both of them didn't move from their spots for a minute before they let out a breath they didn't know they were holding.

"We should apologize." Sun said.

"Yeah... you can let go of me now." Neptune said. Sun looked at him then laughed sheepishly before walking towards the girls' dorm and knocking on it.

---

Walker huffed in annoyance after having a talk with the two, he already knew about their little 'conversation' they had about him. He shook his head in disappointment the more he thought about the conversation he had with them and sighed in annoyance once again. The armory was empty save for the old man who seemed to be everywhere in Vale, ranging from being a janitor in beacon to being a book store owner down in Vale. He opened his locker and began to tap the bottom side of his helmet while humming, trying to make a selection of the weapons he was going to use for this investigation.

"Hmm, so many weapons. So little time... fuck it." Walker shrugged and grabbed his Lancer and his Gnasher shotgun, placing them on his back before grabbing his snub pistol and remaining frag grenade. Closing the locker and exiting the room with loads of time on his hands to kill, he decided to do something productive; in other words he was going to talk to go to the shooting range.

"Excuse me?" A voice rang out making Walker turn around to find a raven haired woman with bright amber eyes. Her hair was tucked over one of her eyes and she had a pointed chin with pale skin, she was also wearing a red dress with yellow streaks in it that stopped at just above her thighs.

"What can I help you with?" Walker asked politely.

"I was wondering if you could sign my picture?" She said as she flashed a small smile and handed him a picture of himself.

"Sure..." Walker said as he slowly took the picture and wrote in cursive while keeping an eye on the woman in front of him, something she wasn't aware of. While Walker was slowly writing his signature he noticed that she was with Emerald and Mercury, deducing that she was part of their team making his eyes narrow while he signed. She bounced on her feet a bit while she kept her gaze on him and smiled lightly when he handed her back the picture, but frowned internally when she noticed that he only wrote his first name.

"Aren't you going to write you last name?" She asked.

"Don't have one." Walker lied, it was a bullshit one but nonetheless a lie. She gave a small frown as she saw through his lie.

"Everyone has one." She said.

"Not me." Walker said.

"Did your parents have an argument when naming you?" She asked.

"Don't know, never met them." Walker just said without any emotion.

"Tsk, that's a shame. I would have loved to meet them for raising a strong individual such as yourself." She said.

"You flatter me... is there anything else I can help you with?" Walker asked while putting his hand behind his back, slowly reaching for his pistol.

"No, you've given me everything I need." She said. "Farewell Walker." She added and began to walk out of the armory.

"As to you... Ms. Fall." Walker said making her eyes widen and quickly turn around to face him. She noticed that the spot he was at was empty and there seemed to be no trace of him in the room. Cinder growled underneath her breath and pulled out her scroll to call Emerald, who stood a ways away from the two of them.

"I thought your semblance was supposed to work Emerald?" Cinder asked stoically, she could practically feel emerald shiver at her lack of emotion.

"I-I thought it would this time. He displayed signs of fatigue, and that's usually when my semblance works the best." Emerald replied nervously.

"It appears it didn't work this time Emerald. Where is Mercury?" Cinder asked.

"Right here, and before you ask me where he is I'm here to tell you I don't know." Mercury said from the other side of the call. Cinder scowled and squeezed her scroll tightly, threatening to crack the handheld device.

"Did you see where he went?" Cinder asked.

"He went down a hallway but when I followed him down it he suddenly disappeared." Mercury answered.

"What?" Cinder asked.

"Yeah, that was my reaction. A guy that big and loud looking somehow managed to escape me... are you sure we can't just kill him?" Mercury asked.

"No, because he could be a potential ally." Cinder said.

"Or a potential enemy." Emerald said.

"Care to elaborate Em?" Mercury asked.

"Yesterday at stadium he somehow sneak behind me and take me into a corner before holding a knife up to my neck." Emerald explained.

"How is this relevant?" Cinder asked.

"His knife somehow ignored my aura and make an incision in my neck." Emerald answered, making Cinder and Mercury raise an eyebrow.

"So you're saying his weapons can cut through aura with no drawbacks?" Cinder asked.

"Most likely." Emerald answered.

"Hmm, keep an eye on him. He may prove to be useful in the future." Cinder ordered.

"And what if he isn't?" Mercury asked.

"Then he is a waste of time and must be handled." Cinder said. Mercury smirked and Emerald sighed quietly before hanging up and putting the scroll in her pocket. Mercury walked away form Emerald, leaving her alone in the hallway; her scroll suddenly vibrated making her pull it out of her pocket and look at it.

"You three realize I was in the room the entire time right, I just looped around to get back in. Ha, you're boss is actually pretty fucking stupid to think otherwise. If this is what path you're following then no wonder you're nobody but a simple pawn for somebody else, it's a shame too. I really thought you could have turned out to be a better person, but again I was wrong with my judgement. So listen good because I'm only going to contact you once... change the path you're going down Emerald because it'll only bring you pain and suffering for the rest of your life. If an opportunity to get out presents itself then you had better take it or else you'll be in a world of trouble when time comes. By the way tell your silver-haired boy toy the next time he follows me don't be surprised when he finds his eyes missing, I'm starting my collection again and I want to start it off with some unique ones. -W" The message read before the scroll started to heat up and make Emerald drop it before it short circuited and shut off. Emerald thought about his offer and contemplated it. Could someone like her really change for the better? She shook her head and scowled at the thought of changing and scoffed at it, she began to walk down the hallway but suddenly stopped and really put a thought into that message. Here she was possibly planning the downfall of one of the most prodigious academies in all of Remnant while getting nothing in return, but a simple good job from a woman that didn't even care about her. She then thought about the last part of the message and shuddered; she had already met him and he didn't seem like a person who had all bark and no bite... no, he seemed like the kind of person who had done bad things in his life and wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

"That's really fucked up though. Who would take eyes for a collection?" She asked herself and walked down the hall to the temporary dorm.

---

Hours later:

The night sky was clear and the moon shone brightly, illuminating the bullhead dock. Right now only one person was standing at the dock looking at his watch and sighing slight annoyance while pacing around and humming to himself; seriously how hard was it to follow your own schedule?

"Be here by eleven they said. We need to leave so we get there on time they said." Walker said annoyed. He heard two people walking towards him and turned to see Summer and Tai approach him with slightly disheveled clothes and hair, his brows furrowed the longer he looked at them.

"Are you two kidding me?" Walker asked.

"What?" Tai asked.

"I was out here for what... 30 minutes? And you two were busy fucking? Are you serious?" He asked annoyed.

"W-what?! We w-weren't doing that!" Summer stuttered.

"Kid, that's not what we were doing." Tai said.

"Okay, that's a lie. Because one: I can smell it on you two and two, your clothes aren't even on right. I'm pretty sure your belt is supposed to buckled and your pants zipped up." Walker pointed making Tai look down and chuckled nervously before zipping up his pants. Walker rolled his eyes and sighed in annoyance before turning around and taking off his helmet, much to the two adults' surprise, before rubbing his hair and placing the helmet back on and walking inside the bullhead. He lied down on the seats and closed his eyes, letting the fatigue from the past day engulf him and take him into the black void of his mind. He didn't notice another person enter the bullhead at the last second and sit next to him, gazing at the unlit port lights before leaning back and closing their eyes.

"Why're you here?" Tai asked.

"General Ironwood wishes for me to log down Lieutenant Walker's battle expertise on the battle field." Winter said professionally.

"Any particular reason why?" Tai asked.

"Classified." Winter said.

"Oh course it is." Tai sighed and placed his hands behind his head and closed his eyes; he opened them when Summer poked him and leaned to whisper something in his ear. His eyes slowly widened and he looked at her while she just looked at him solemnly before he looked at Walker's sleeping form and shot him a solemn look. Winter looked at the two with a raised eyebrow.

"Is there something I should know?" She asked.

"No." Tai lied.

"I can clearly see through your lie Mr. Xiao Long." Winter said.

"That's because it's not my liberty to tell." He said making Winter slightly narrow her eyes at him.

"Is it about Lieutenant Walker?" Winter asked.

"Why can't you just call him Walker?" Tai asked.

"Because I am not that well acquainted with him." Winter said.

"Well try to be, he's a good kid. I'm pretty sure he doesn't want to be addressed as Lieutenant all the time." He said.

"Until he says otherwise I will address him as Lieutenant." She said.

"Please drop the formal act, it's not serving any of us any good." Summer said.

"I cannot Mrs. Rose. This is how I am during my missions." Winter said.

"I know... well I don't know, but can you just drop it for this one?" Summer asked.

"I cannot, now what were you two discussing about Lieutenant Walker?" Winter asked.

"Like I said before, it's not my liberty to say. Now can we please drop it?" Tai asked with some agitation.

"If it is a matter that is beneficial to gathering information about him then no." Winter answered. Taiyang scowled and pinched the bridge of his nose before sighing in annoyance.

"Listen, I know you want to get to know him and everything but just let this go. It's not my liberty to say or Summer's it's Walker's, so if you want the information so bad then just ask him." He said. Winter looked ready to ask another Question before Walker sat up and looked at them... except his helmet lights weren't blue, they were yellow.

"Fred, Kelly, Amelia! If you three don't shut the fuck up and stop arguing about stupid bullshit, then I'll throw you three to the fucking Kryll myself!" He cursed before falling back asleep, leaving the three staring at his prone figure. Winter stared at it a few seconds longer before straightening herself and staring off into space. Summer jumped a bit before staring with wide eyes at Walker's outburst, while Tai just looked at Walker's prone figure curiously, wondering why his helmet lights changed. The rest of the ride was filled with an uncomfortable silence as the three adults just stared off into space, while Walker slept... making quiet growls in his sleep.

---

The bullhead landing with a thump making the occupants stir in their sleep before groaning and getting up. Taiyang was the first one up and saw that Summer and Winter were slowly waking up, while Walker still slept soundly. His breathing was slow and quiet; he stirred in his sleep before he got in a comfortable position and resumed his slumber. Taiyang almost felt bad for waking him up but shook his head, he needed to get him up and take a look at the scene; the murders were getting more and more frequent and it was drawing more grimm from the negativity. Tai sighed and went over to Walker, shaking him a few times before backing up and watch as he stirred and looked at Tai.

"Are we there?" Walker asked tiredly.

"Yeah, come on kid." Taiyang said as he offered Walker a hand. Walker took the offered hand and stood up, stretching his muscles out and rotating his neck before he picked up his shotgun and lancer, placing them on his back. He walked out of the bullhead and noticed that the sun was barely peeking over the horizon; he sighed and looked at his watch to see that it was 6:30 in the morning.

"So where's the scene at?" Walker asked, walking besides Tai and Summer while Winter took up the rear.

"This way." Summer said as she lead the four to the scene. Walker couldn't help but notice that the town looked old, not in the way of old as in bad, more as in old-fashioned old. While it lacked in modern technology it had a sort of feeling that brought a warm fuzzy feeling to it, he wouldn't mind living here at all. They walked for a few minutes and saw a two story brick house that had police tape at the front door, all of them ducked underneath the tape and entered the house. The house was small compared to the outside with the living room connecting to the kitchen and dining room while the rooms were split on either side of the house; the master bedroom to the left and the bathroom and other two bedrooms to the right. There seemed to be an upstairs that led to another bathroom, first door on the left while the guest bedroom was straight ahead and another room to the right. Aside from the absolute great looking interior design the entire house was a mess; the walls had numerous holes in them, many of them looked to be bullet holes. Claw marks could be seen on the floors and walls while blood splattered all over the floor, the air smelled rotten the closer he got to the master bedroom and walked towards it and opened the door. Inside the room was a male body that looked to be ripped to shreds, the body had a gaping hole in the chest area while the stomach area was mostly gone and spread across the room and the head seemed to be smashed to a soupy mix of skull fragments and brain matter, caking the ground like a sick twisted piece of art. Walker walked closer to the body and inspected it, he noticed that the man seemed to be holding a rifle in his hand and tried to use it since there were casings littering the ground.

"Walker we found-" He turned around to see Summer hold her hand up to her mouth, staring wide-eyed at the mutilated corpse.

"I'm guessing this is your murder victim?" Walker asked stoically. Summer looked at him then back at the corpse and shook her head.

"No, the one we're looking at was upstairs. When did this happen?" She asked.

"I don't know, but I'm guessing hours ago since the body still seems a bit fresh." Walker said as he walked past her and went upstairs, he saw Taiyang and Winter inside the back bedroom. When he arrived he saw another corpse but this one seemed to be killed at a more tolerate level, a simple shot to the head with an unknown weapon. Walker brushed past the two and knelt down to inspect the body, from the looks of it the person was identified as a female in her late thirties, early forties at most, and had wolf ears on top of her head. She seemed to be carrying a weapon also judging by the pistol in her hands and the spent casings that also littered the room, her body seemed to be killed around the same time as the unidentified male.

"What do you think Walker?" Tai asked as he knelt down next to Walker, who gave no reaction and just stared at the corpse. Walker lifted the corpse and moved hair out of the way, ignoring the blood that was caking his fingers, and began to take a closer look at the exit wound.

"Lieutenant, what is it?" Winter asked.

"Someone shot this woman with a rifle based weapon." Walker said without any sign of emotion in his voice. Both Taiyang and Winter were taken aback by his lack of emotion, his warm personality was replaced with a cold calculating one. Tai didn't see the boy who had wiggled his way into his heart, he saw a cold hardened person that didn't tolerate any errors and personally... it scared him a little.

"How do you know?" Tai asked. Walker lifted the corpse and showed Tai the exit wound that seemed to take a chunk of the woman's head.

"Seen it happen to many times. She probably hit the floor before she even realized what was going on, and judging by the decomposition of her body; she had died at the same time as the man." Walker said.

"What?! There's another body?!" Tai asked as he looked around.

"Yeah, in the master bedroom. But I would brace yourself and get Summer out of the room. The man was killed by being mutilated." Walker said making Tai bolt out of the room, he heard Tai say something to Summer and the front door open and close, leaving him alone with Winter.

"Lieutenant Walker-" She started.

"Just call me Walker. You don't need to address me by my rank every time you talk to me." Walker said as he picked up a casing and inspected it.

"Right, what can you say about this?" She asked.

"What I see is either an out of control grimm, a psychopathic faunus hater, or something worse." Walker said. The two sat in silence as Walker continued to inspect the body before turning and entering the bedroom on the right side of the hallway. The room was baby blue and slightly larger due to the color, it had a bed near the far right side of the room, a T.V on the opposite side and the closet next to the T.V. He glanced around the room and noticed a picture on the t.v stand, picking it up and inspecting it he noticed that there was three people in it; the man, woman, a teenage boy and an unidentified girl.

"What is it?" Winter asked.

"There's a a teenager and a child." Walker said as he handed Winter the picture; she inspected it before gently putting it back on the stand.

"Where do you think they are?" Winter asked as she inspected the room.

"I hope to find the answer to that." Walker said as he walked around the room but stopped when he heard something shuffle from inside the closet. Winter had apparently heard it too since she slowly placed one of her hands on her sword while looking at Walker for confirmation, he slowly nodded and gestured for her to stack up by the closet door. When she did he then started counting down with his fingers while aiming at the closet with a steady hand. Winter opened the door and Walker quickly entered the walk in closet and scanned around, he heard something drop next to him and caught a kitchen knife that was aimed at his kidney, he looked to see the unidentified girl from the photo stare at him with wide eyes that held fear. She tried harder to drive the knife in his kidney but didn't move it any further and was suddenly thrown off balance when Walker whipped the knife from her grasp and threw it out of the closet. She fell backwards and began to crawl away from him while he knelt down to her level.

"Go away!" She shouted while throwing numerous items at him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa kid. I'm not going to hurt you." He said with his hands in the air. She stared at him in fear and still tried to crawl away from him as he stayed put, eventually her shuffling stopped and she backed herself in the corner and tried to make herself look as small as possible.

"Look... why don't you just... come out of here and talk to me." Walker said.

"No! The monsters will get me too." She said. Walker sighed and rubbed his head before standing up and walking out of the closet, Winter stood to the side and occasionally peered inside.

"Summer needs to be here." Walker whispered.

"Why?" Winter asked.

"The girl obviously won't talk to me." Walker said and looked outside the window, he saw Summer hugging Taiyang tightly with her head in the crook of his neck, her shoulders were shaking indicating that she was crying.

"I still need to try though." Walker said to himself and entered the closet again, he sat down a couple feet away from the girl as she stared at him with fear.

"Come on... I promise I won't hurt you." He said.

"H-how do I know you won't?" She asked fearfully.

"Look, I'm one of the ones that gets rid of the monsters." He said as he gestured towards his weapons but this made her recede further back.

"The monsters carried those too." She said.

"What?" He said.

"Y-yeah, they carried those then they carried my brother away." She said. Walker sighed and thought about this whole situation, he lifted his helmet and lowered it before staring into space for a few minutes.

"Tell you what kid, why don't we get to know each other?" He asked after a few minutes of silence.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Like get to know each other so we're not strangers. I'm Walker." He said with an outstretched hand. She looked at his hand for a minute before tentatively scooting forward and shaking his.

"I-I'm Rachel." She said.

"Nice to meet you. You mind coming out of that corner?" He asked.

"Are you going to hurt me?" She asked.

"Not in a million years kid." He said.

"Promise?" She asked.

"Pinkie." Walker said as he held up his pinkie finger, she reached forward and wrapped hers around his and slowly came out from the corner and follow Walker into the room. She hid behind his leg when she caught sight of Winter staring at her.

"Winter stop, you're scaring her." Walker said.

"How?" She asked.

"You're giving her that stare." He said.

"What stare?" She asked.

"That stare." He said as he pointed to her face making her scowl.

"Walker I'm not doing anything and would you get your finger out of my face?" She huffed.

"Mkay." Walker said in a strange voice, making Rachel laugh. Walker was about to lead them out of the room but stopped when he thought about the dead bodies, he couldn't put a child through the same pain he and his brother went through.

"Okay Rachel... I need you to do something. Do you think you can do that?" He asked.

"Mhmm." Rachel nodded.

"Okay, think of this as... think of this as a game, okay? You got to close your eyes and plug your nose. If you open them you'll lose... you got it?" Walker asked.

"Yep." Rachel nodded.

"Good..." Walker said as he grabbed her hand and lead her out of the room. He walked downstairs and made his way out of the door, he waited until Winter was out of the house and shut the door to prevent anything from coming out. Summer and Tai turned around to see a little girl next to Walker and raised an eyebrow before realizing that she was one of the missing persons.

"Hey, Rachel. Why don't you get to know Ms. Winter some more alright?" He asked.

"Okay..." She said quietly and walked up to Winter. Walker made his way up to Summer and Tai and lead them out of earshot from the other two; he glanced back before putting them in a group huddle.

"She's one of the missing persons, where'd you find her?" Tai asked.

"In the closet, she almost stabbed me with a knife." Walker said.

"What?!" Summer whispered.

"Yeah, she failed though. Obviously, but that's besides the point. Apparently something took her brother away." Walker said.

"But what?" Tai asked.

"That's what I want to know. We already know it can't be grimm since they don't use guns-" Walker whispered.

"Guns?" Summer asked.

"Yeah, the attackers used guns like me when they took her brother." Walker said. His mind went into a deep thought like trance the more he thought about it and started to flick the safety on and off of his lancer as time passed, something he does when he thinks, before he was suddenly brought out by his scroll vibrating. He pulled it out to see it was a text from Ruby.

"Hey Walker! How's the investigation going?" She asked.

"It's going fine, thanks for asking. How're you guys?" He asked.

"We're doing good." She typed.

"How's Yang?" He asked.

"She's feeling a bit better. She's been wondering where you've been though." She said.

"Tell her I'm just doing some stuff with your parents... listen I got to go alright?" He asked.

"Yeah, we'll see you tomorrow right?" She asked.

"Looks that way, see you tomorrow." Walker typed.

"Okay! See you tomorrow!" Ruby typed. He put his scroll away and looked up to see the sun starting to rise up, sighing at the long day ahead of him he tapped his lancer. Rachel walked away from Winter and walked up to Walker and pulled on his hand, he looked down to see she had a picture in her hand.

"Mr. Walker, where's my mom and dad?" She asked, making the three freeze. Tai and Summer looked away while Walker just stared at Rachel, he sighed before kneeling down to her level and looking her in the eye.

"Rachel... what do you remember your parents as?" Walker asked. Rachel gave a goofy smile before answering.

"My mom is the best! She makes all these sweets and other good food with my dad's help. My dad is so brave that any monster will run away from him when he comes near!" She boasted proudly making Walker crack a small smile before sighing.

"Alright... your parents uh... your parents..." Walker trailed off making her tilt her head.

"My parents are what?" She asked.

"Your parents are good people okay? They wanted to let you know that." Walker said quietly.

"Okay... but where are they?" She asked.

"...Do you know what heaven is?" He asked. She shook her head making Walker sigh.

"Heaven is basically a place where really good people go when they... sleep." He said.

"Do they ever come back?" Rachel asked.

"No... they don't." He said solemnly.

"B-but what about the people they care about?" She asked, tearing up a bit.

"They usually watch over them and try to guide them in the right direction." He said.

"S-so you mean that they're... gone?" She asked as tears began to pour out of the corner of her eyes. Walker didn't say anything and nodded; she looked at him with tears flowing out of her eyes like a river and sat on the ground wailing in anguish. Summer and Tai were about to intervene but stopped when they saw Walker slowly pull her into a hug and let her cry into his shoulder, they saw her tightly grip the picture and hug him tighter as time progressed. He lifted her off the ground and carried her to a nearby bench before sitting her on it and sitting next to her; she leaned on his arm and sobbed with her hands on her eyes to try and rub away the tears. Walker slowly rubbed her back in small circles to try and calm her down as she continued to sob loudly, eventually her sobs became sniffles and her sniffles became silent tears.

"Rachel?" Walker asked. She looked up at him with red puffy eyes that almost made him crack but held his composure.

"I know this is hard but I need to ask you two questions, okay?" He asked carefully.

"Okay..." She said quietly.

"Do you have anybody to stay with?" He asked.

"I have my grandma, but she lives in Vale." She said.

"Okay, that's good. Did you happen to see what these monsters looked like?" He asked.

"Not really, it was to dark to see. B-but they were big and scary, they carried guns like you, and had this little thing leading them around. It screamed a lot before I heard my brother scream." She shuddered. Walker nodded and looked over to Winter, Summer, and Taiyang to see them writing down notes; he shook his head at them making the three put the notebooks down and sit down next to the two.

"Alright sweetie, we're going to do some more digging around. Is there anything we should know?" Summer asked. Rachel shook her head and looked down; Walker looked at her before looking back at the others.

"I'm going to stay here." Walker said.

"You sure? I mean there isn't anything wrong with it but shouldn't you at least help look around?" Tai asked.

"Yep, that's what these are for." Walker said as he gestured towards the scroll in his hand. Tai laughed a bit before his expression turned serious.

"You know when we find something, you need to be there asap right?" He asked.

"Definitely, now go on shoo." Walker ushered the three away, lightening the mood a bit. Once they left he turned to see Rachel blankly staring at the picture of her parents at a beach, she flipped it over and read the message left on the back before placing it in her pocket. He took his Gnasher off his back and put the safety on before slightly shaking it around, making the water like skin ripple in effect. Rachel took a side glance at it then put her full attention on it when Walker poked the shotgun in a certain place and made it ripple, she quickly turned away when he turned his attention towards her.

"I see you're curious about my shotgun." Walker mused.

"No." Rachel lied.

"Ha, liar. I saw you looking at it." Walker said.

"Nu-uh, I wasn't." Rachel denied.

"Huh, must be going a little crazy." He said as he slapped the side of his helmet.

"Maybe you are." She joked. The two sat in silence for a minute before Walker sat up and stretched before leaning back.

"It's alright if you were, showing my weapons doesn't bother me." He said.

"C-can I see it?" She asked.

"Yeah, be careful though. I don't want to be known as the guy who let a kid hold a loaded shotgun." He said as he handed it to her, she carefully took it and buckled when the weight dragged her down. She lifted it up and set it on her lap and inspected it, carefully rotating it and taking in every detail. Her attention was centered on how the water seemed to move around but keep her hands dry, she shook it quickly and laughed when the skin seemed to go haywire then eventually calm. While shaking the shotgun some more, she wasn't paying attention and accidentally aimed it at Walker's face making him quickly grab the barrel, shoving it away from his face.

"Whoa kid, watch where you point that thing." Walker laughed.

"Oops... sorry." Rachel laughed nervously.

"Don't worry about it. Let's keep this as a secret between us okay?" Walker whispered.

"Okay." Rachel whispered back while giggling.

"I didn't get to say this earlier but... I'm sorry about your parents." Walker said making Rachel's eyes go wide for a second before she looked down again.

"Thanks, but at least they're in a better place right?" She asked while looking at him.

"Yeah. Tell you what, how about we walk around town for a minute. Take our minds off the tragedy?" He asked.

"I-I'd like that." She said and hopped off the bench.

"Well come on kid, this town's not going to explore itself." He said as he offered a hand; Rachel stared at the hand before slowly grabbing it and squeezing tightly, exploring her hometown with Walker.

---

Hours later:

"And then what happened?" Rachel asked.

"Then I tackled Fred to the ground and sat on the back of his head until he gave me my helmet back." Walker said making Rachel laugh. The two had practically explored every inch of the town with the exception of her house, he tried to keep her away from the place where she lost her family. He felt her tug on his hand and looked down to see her looking at him.

"Mr. Walker? Will you find my brother?" She asked. Walker stopped for a second and stared at her, he turned his head and sighed deeply as he thought about her brother. For all he knew the guy could have the same fate as the parents and show up as one of the lost lives in this case or he could show up as another missing person that you see on the news. He looked at Rachel and saw that she had this look on her face... the look of one last hope that held onto whatever remained of herself. He couldn't lie to her and say that she would find her brother but he also couldn't deny her request and brush it off as another lost cause, he would do the last thing he could; say he would try. While it wasn't a true promise it also wasn't an empty one, it was the type that broke even between the two sides. He sighed again and looked at her face.

"I'll try my best. I'll try my damnedest to try and find your brother and bring him home to you, that much I can promise." He said, quietly reprimanding himself for making a promise. Rachel looked somewhat satisfied with the answer, she looked happy that he would at least try but was saddened knowing there was a possibility that she could lose her sibling too.

"Okay. I believe you." She said.

"That's all I'm asking." He said, he looked up to see that a bullhead was approaching and was beginning to land a couple of yards from them.

"Alright kid, if you need someone to talk to then call this number. I'll try to pick up and help you out." Walker said as he pulled out a piece of paper and wrote down his scroll number before handing it to Rachel.

"If you find my brother, you'll tell me?" She asked hopefully.

"The second I find him." Walker assured. The bullhead landed and the bay door opened to reveal an elderly woman with a worried expression, despite her being in her sixties she looked to be around forty. She quickly spotted Rachel and practically ran over to her and embrace her in a hug; she cried and tightened her hug more.

"Are you okay? I heard what happened and got here as soon as I could." She said as she looked over Rachel, after she was done she noticed Walker and jumped back at his appearance.

"Nana this is Walker." Rachel introduced.

"A pleasure." Walker said as he stuck his hand out. The woman shook his hand and backed up a bit.

"Who are you?" She asked.

"I'm one of the people sent to investigate." He said.

"Where are the others?" She asked.

"Currently they are finding more clues." He said.

"Shouldn't you be helping them?" She asked.

"Couldn't leave the little tike here alone, so I decided to be the one to stay behind." He said as he gestured towards Rachel.

"You're not supposed to call me that!" Rachel stomped making Walker laugh.

"Sorry kid, but I decided to watch her while the others looked around." He said.

"Well I'm thankful, not everyone here takes to kindly to a faunus." The lady said.

"Faunus?" Walker asked.

"Yeah, she's a faunus." The woman said as she moved a bit of Rachel's hair out of the way to reveal two small ears.

"Huh, well how about that. You're just full of surprises kid." Walker commented.

"I wasn't sure how you'd react." Rachel rubbed the back of her neck.

"Meh, just another unique thing about you." Walker shrugged.

"You seem awfully lenient about her being a faunus." The lady said.

"Hey, my girlfriend is one." He lied.

"Really?" The lady said shocked.

"Yeah... want to see a picture?" He asked.

"Sure." She said. Walker pulled out his scroll and pulled up his gallery, sighing as he scrolled through numerous photos Ruby had taken of him, her, and the rest of the team. He finally got to a picture of him, Blake, and Yang; he zoomed in so it was just him and Blake showing before flipping the scroll around and showing the two.

"Wow, so you don't mind about her being a faunus?" The lady asked.

"Pshh, nope. Being a faunus is the most unique thing about her." Walker complemented making the two smile.

"Well I'm glad, though I wish more people would be like you." The lady said.

"Heh, not everyone is should be like me. I'm not a saint but I at least see people as equals no matter what they look like." He said.

"Hmm, alright. Though I have a matter I must discuss with you... Rachel can you wait on the bullhead?" The lady asked. Rachel nodded and started to walk off but stopped, she suddenly gave Walker a hug making him laugh a bit and hug her back before scampering off to the bullhead. They both smiled before the lady turned to Walker with a solemn expression.

"How bad is it?" She choked out. Walker sighed and rubbed the top of his helmet, looking down the street at the house.

"Bad... one of the investigators had to take his wife out of the house and calm her down." Walker said. The woman looked down the street and rubbed her eyes as tears began to well at the corners of them.

"How'd she die?" She asked.

"Rifle shot through the head. She had probably dropped faster than she could realize what was going on, the husband though... it's messy." Walker said. The woman nodded and paced back and forth before she stopped.

"Where's Ian?" She asked.

"Who?" Walker asked.

"Rachel's older brother. Where is he?" The lady asked frantically, she began to hyperventilate and look around before she was suddenly gripped by the shoulders.

"That's what we're trying to figure out. As I told Rachel earlier, I'm going to try and find him but I don't want to make a promise that I will. I'm not saying that I won't look for him but I'm also saying prepare for the worst if we don't." Walker said. The woman looked at him before nodding and control her breathing, she looked back at the house one more time before clenching her eyes shut and taking a deep breath.

"Okay... but please. Try to bring my grandson home." She pleaded.

"I'll try." Walker said.

"This whole thing is a disaster." She sighed and walked towards the bullhead. He saw the bullhead door slowly closing and Rachel waving at him as it did. A vibration from his scroll suddenly caught his attention making him sigh and look at it.

"Kid, we found another hole and-" Walker stopped reading the text them moment he saw the word hole. Barely wasting any time he ran towards the source.

---

"Look officer, I'm telling you we have someone who can possibly tell us what this is." Summer said as she tried to convince the officer to let them continue.

"It's been all day ma'am if he doesn't show up then I'll be forced to make you leave." The officer sighed. Numerous people gathered around to try and see what was behind the police but were stopped by numerous officers and tape, the three were currently waiting on Walker.

"Look, I'm closing this scene and-" The officer was interrupted when someone brushed past him and marched towards the hole.

"Hey where do you think you're going?" Another officer yelled.

"Towards the investigation scene." Walker said but stopped when an officer gripped his shoulder.

"This isn't a place for kids." He said.

"First don't call me a fucking kid because I'm pretty sure I have more balls than you and two I'm part of the investigation." Walker said as he shrugged off the hand. The officer scowled and was about to retaliate but was interrupted when Tai stepped in.

"It's alright officer, he's with us." He said.

"And you're sure?" The officer asked.

"I'm positive. Just let him through, he might know what's going on." Tai said.

"And you plan to share any information with us?" The officer asked.

"I'm under orders from Beacon, I'll need to pass information through them before I can give it to you." Tai said.

"Figures... fucking huntsman." The officer growled. Taiyang's eyes darkened as he glared at the officer but stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder, he turned to see Walker shake his head and gesture towards the hole. Walker pushed past Summer and Winter before staring at the hole, his eyes widened behind his helmet the longer he stared at it and took in its features. His knuckles turned white from clenching his fist so tight and his teeth grit against each other in a forceful manner, he equipped his lancer and began to flick the safety on and off of it quickly.

"Walker?" Summer asked.

"Walker what is it?" Winter asked as she observed his odd behavior. His vision suddenly warped and changed as he stared at the hole a bit longer. A white flash enveloped his vision and he suddenly found himself back on Sera in the city, staring at a closed up hole; he looked down to see that he was in his recruit armor and was slightly skinnier. He looked back at the hole and saw it open before multiple hands slowly gripped the edges of the hole in a creepy manner and multiple yellow eyes could be seen coming from the depths below, glaring at him in malicious intent. Quickly reaching behind him and grabbing his frag grenade, he threw it inside the hole and waited a few seconds to hear the beeping noise and watched in satisfaction as multiple growls and squeals could be heard as the hands retracted from the edges of the hole and sunk down into the dark abyss where multiple people's screams could be heard.

"Walker, what is wrong with you?!" He head Tai shout. He looked around to see all the officers pointing their weapons at him and the civilians hid behind the police, while Summer, Tai, and Winter backed up from him and stared at him in caution.

"What?" He asked.

"What do you mean what?" An officer exclaimed still having her weapon on him. Walker looked at her and slowly walked closer to her making her freeze up as he stood in front of her. He grabbed her hand and put the pistol up to the center of his helmet and just stared at her.

"What are you doing?!" Summer shouted.

"What are you waiting for officer?" He asked.

"What?" She asked.

"I said what are you waiting for? Pull the trigger. Go on, do it. Pull the trigger! Pull the fucking trigger!" He shouted and moved his head away before scoffing at her as she shook in her boots. He looked around to see multiple back away from him and the officers still have their weapons trained on him.

"If you're going to shoot me then do it already. Show the people what kind of men and women of the law enforcement are really made of." Walker said with his arms spread out, he looked around to see the police slowly put their weapons away. He scoffed and brushed past Winter who stared at him oddly and knelt down near the hole, seeing that it was not open, something he never thought he'd do, he decided to do what no man had done on Sera. Enter it.

"Walker what is wrong with you?" Winter said as she grabbed his shoulder.

"I'm fucking stressed alright?" He said as he shrugged off her hand.

"Why?" Tai asked.

"Because Tai. This is a fucking emergence hole." Walker whispered harshly as he stared down the hole, looking into its dark abyss-like appearance.

"What's an emergence hole?" Summer whispered.

"Something I never thought I would see again but I can see I'm wrong." He seethed. The four stood in silence before Walker sighed and sat at the edge and slowly slid down.

"Kid, what are you doing?" Tai sighed.

"Doing what no man has done on Sera." Walker whispered.

"And that is?" Winter asked.

.

.

.

"Follow the tunnel into hell itself." Walker whispered and jumped inside of the hole, plunging into what can be described as the road to hell itself.

---

Well holy shit 16,944 words, and that's not including the author's note. Anyways thanks for reading this chapter and sorry it took so long; I had to focus on school and didn't feel like slacking off at the start. So the next chapter will still be in the investigation and I wanted to sort of build up into the investigation with half the chapter being the rising action of it. I did a little section of Cinder just to input her into the story and decided to at least try to make the start of the investigation interesting. Don't have much to say other than you know the golden rule about reviews and I'll catch you all on the flip side. Take it easy.