Disclaimer:
I do not own RWBY, RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth and was created by the late Monty Oum. I only own my OC's and any non-canonical events in the story
Chapter 6
The Bullhead roughly landed on the building's helipad and the sliding door of the aircraft slammed open as Roman rushed out carrying an unconscious Isaiah with Neo next to the thief.
A pair of nurse and a doctor that Roman is familiar with ran towards them while pushing a stretcher.
They stopped in front of Roman and helped the thief place the unconscious child on the stretcher.
Without a delay whatsoever, they turned back around and pushed the stretcher back in the building.
The doctor pulled a small device from his pocket, he scanned it over Isaiah's body and his eyes widened when he saw the results. "Sweet fucking God, Roman. What the hell happened to the kid's Aura?!" The doctor's voice was slightly muffled from his operating mask.
"Federal Army Anti-Aura Grenades! Y-you can save him, right?!" He kept quiet as they passed through the deserted hallways towards the operating room. "House! Speak to me!"
"I'll try!" The nurses pushed the stretcher through a pair of opaque glass doors but not the doctor as Neo grabbed him by the collar and pulled him down, giving him a very deathly glare that had 'I will kill you if something happens to my son.' written all over it. "You two, listen!" House turned towards his friend. "I can save him, but-"
"'But'?!" Neo's grip became harder when Roman interrupted the doctor.
"It's a prototype serum! It could overcharge his Aura which at this state would kill him or the serum won't work at all and kill him, it could even permanently paralyze him! I'm still trying to improve it, but it's Isaiah's best chance of survival!" Neo's stare became softer as she looked at Roman and back to Dr. House. "Both of you are my friends, and I promise you that I can and will save Isaiah! But I need your agreement on this, so can I or can I not use the serum?!"
Roman did not even hesitate. "Do it."
Dr. House nodded and he looked down at Neo. The tricolored girl gave him a glare before letting him go, he then pushed the double doors opened and ran to catch up with his patient.
Roman wobbly walked to the row of seats on the wall and took a seat on one of them, Neo sitting on the one next to him. He took off his bowler hat placed it on his Melodic Cudgel before resting the cane against the wall next to him
He started rubbing his temple with his gloved hand. "I should've gone with him… this is all my fault." Roman whispered to himself but Neo definitely heard that as she went to hug Roman's arm before she continued her silent sobbing from earlier on her fiancée's arm.
A sign that Roman basically took as "It's no one's fault." He patted Neo's hand and pushed her head closer to him.
Roman wasn't religious, at all in fact. He was already certain he's going to some sort of hell at some point for everything he has done in his life, so why bother being religious when you're going to fall down the gutter either way?
He was a realist, and for him, the concept of praying to a God wasn't realistic.
But at this moment, he prayed to whatever being is up there for Isaiah's safety.
Please… please, I'm begging you. Whoever you are, whatever you are. Please… A single tear ran down his cheek.
… Please, save my son.
(-)
The harbor was a mess. That would be an understatement though.
Hours ago, nearly the entire place including ship was wrapped up in a chaotic wildfire, both literally and figuratively. But now the fire had been put out and the heisters had gotten away, leaving a devastated and charred harbor, a nearly sunken cargo ship, smoked that reached high up in the sky, and millions of Lien in damage.
Gunshots and explosions being replaced by many sirens as first responder one-by-one drive in the harbor. Firefighters obviously taking care of any flames, police setting up a secure perimeter around the area with the FAV soldiers securing the inside of the harbor, and other FAV Operators launching an investigation on the ship and around the A.O. to search for any evidence that will lead to the heisters.
A Dex Soldier was disembarking from the ship, he leaned to the left slightly as to let other people pass through the very narrow bridge that connects from the ship to the ground.
The person nearly reached seven feet tall, having a massive and bulky build, the perfect candidate for the Dexameni Assault Unit. The armor he was wearing requires massive strength to walk in, even more so to effectively use in combat or not to tumble down when bullets and explosion rain down on you in that target practice of an armor.
He was now on the docks, walking back to the vehicle that deployed him here when a voice from afar called for him. "Dex Specialist Huang!" He turned his whole body around to look to his right due to his helmet. It was his C.O. behind an APC and he was gesturing him to come to where he was.
Huang took off his helmet, revealing slanted dead green eyes and a night purple haired tied in a ponytail. He got in front of the man that gestured to him earlier and saluted. "Captain." His voice wasn't altered by the voice changer anymore and it sounded gruff yet regal at the same time.
The Captain saluted back and the two lowered their hands. "I have some questions for you before you return to the base." The Captain said.
Huang nodded. "Go ahead, sir."
"It's considering your brutality in capturing a Person of Interest." Huang's eye twitched. "I believe it was personal, is it not?"
"Sir, with all due respect, he was resis-"
"He was hit by multiple Aurae Grenades!" The man sighed and rubbed the temple of his helmet before looking back at Huang. "I know what happened to your partner, I've been there before. But the way you handled the situation earlier was very personal indeed."
"But, sir-"
"You need to think with a clear mind, Specialist!" The Captain jabbed at Huang's chest. "You're a part of The Special Division, so act like it goddammit! You're off the hook this time, but if you show this kind of brutality in the future, you'll be facing consequences soldier! Even arrestees have rights!"
His face was sour, but it was clear that he can't do anything against his commanding officer. "Yes, sir. I apologize for my rash behavior, it will not happen again." The Specialist apologized while bowing his head slightly.
"I'm holding onto your word, Dex Specialist. But I still have one more question. Did you see the face of The Wraith of Vale?"
"No, sir. He wore a hood and a buff to cover his appearances, I only saw that he had emerald eyes."
"Damn!" The Captain hissed as he hit the side of the APC. "That is fine, you did the best you could. You may be ex- Shit." His gaze trailed away to something behind Huang with the cut of his sentence. Huang looked towards what his C.O. was looking at and saw that a black limo with the Bishop Weaponry International logo was driving towards them. The vehicle stopped near them and The Captain sighed. "Stay here." He ordered before walking towards the passenger door as the window slowly rolled down.
The Captain saluted to whoever it was in the limo. Huang could barely hear their conversation and almost as quick as it arrived, the car drove away after the passenger handed The Captain something.
Huang managed to briefly see the inside of the car, and it wasn't much. But a pair of bronze eyes that the light from the shattered moon reflected off of stared at him before the dark tinted window rolled back up.
The Captain walked back to Huang with a brown holder in his hand. He stopped in front of Huang and looked down at the folder before giving it to the tall man. "He said that he's sorry to break it to you like this."
Huang was extremely confused, his eyebrows furrowed as he flipped the folder open and looked at its contents. Confusion was replaced by shock, his eyes widened when he saw what was in the files, a compilation of pictures, audio transcripts, and strong evidence of treason and conspiracy enacted by a person that he thought he knew.
"No… my partner... he would never do that!"
The Captain sighed and patted Huang's shoulder as he went past the tall man. "I'm sorry, Huang - But I'm afraid it's the truth."
His grip on the folder tightened when he saw the file for his partner, one part made him reach his boiling point.
'Status; Agent KIA by The Wraith of Vale'
Huang ripped the file into pieces and threw the torn papers into the air before stomping away back to his unit's APC.
Oh, betrayal stings alright.
(-)
The definition of a safe haven is a place of refuge or safety, and for the criminal underworld, The Clinic is basically that.
Not many people knew about The Clinic, they only know about Himmel's Private Hospital that acts as the attic of The Clinic. Those who do know about The Clinic are usually the Kingpins, their contacts, and a couple more shady people and groups here and there.
It's where crooks, thieves, and criminals alike go to if they require medical assistance or other services.
Your pancreas exploded after a job? The Clinic has the best doctors and surgeons around.
Prototype medicines? Drugs? Poison? They have them. You got shot when robbing a bank? No problem. You need to get rid of a body? They'll take care of it right away. You want to buy a body...
Sure you might get weird looks from everyone there, but as long you have the cash… The Clinic can nearly cover everything for you.
Roman was pacing back and forth in front of opaque double doors, doors which specifically leads to the operating wing and where Isaiah is currently being taken care of.
House hasn't given any news yet, and it worried The Thief slightly. Of course, it could mean that the operation is doing well and that's why it is taking a while.
But it also could mean that something had happened and Roman's doctor friend is delaying to tell him the news.
Neo was snoozing away on top of a row of hospital chairs, using Roman's coat as a blanket. She might have fallen asleep, but that worried look just won't get away from her face.
A cigar would be nice right about now. Roman gritted his teeth.
He was about to walk outside and have some when he heard multiple footsteps from behind. The thief turned around and smiled when he saw his sister Mabel carrying her daughter Velvet who appeared to be extremely sleepy. Mabel's husband was walking next to her.
Mabel picked up her pace, so her husband took their daughter, allowing her to run up to Roman and hug him.
The thief smiled as he hugged back. "Hey, sis."
"We came as soon as we could." She sniffled as she pulled back and looked at Roman with teary eyes. "How… how is he?"
Roman shook his head. "House hasn't told me anything yet." It was then that Neo woke up. She lazily opened her eyes and sat straight while rubbing her aching back from the uncomfortable sleeping position. She saw her sister figure and immediately reached her hand towards the woman, asking to be hugged as the eyes of the tricolored girl started watering.
Mabel let go of her hug on Roman and sat down next to Neo before hugging her. It's good that her sister was comforting his fiancée, but that means he had to deal with…
"Hello, Roman. It's been awhile."
Shit.
Roman turned around with a sigh, his hands crossed behind him as he flashed a smile. "It has indeed been. Hello, Duncan." He greeted his brother-in-law.
Duncan was nearly as tall as Roman, the former being about half a head taller than the latter excluding the long pair of bunny ears. His hair and eye color were nearly the same shade of brown, his complexion was surprisingly light for being a hunter who works outdoors the majority of the time.
He wore a sleeveless denim jacket which he had unbuttoned on top of a light brown button-up shirt. His jeans seemingly match with his jacket accompanied by a pair of casual sneakers on his feet.
"You look awfully casual, compared to what you usually wear that is." Roman remarked, making Duncan look down at his attire before looking back up.
"Well… when your wife wakes you up at one in the morning while crying might I add, and tells you that your adopted assassin nephew has been hospitalized; I don't think you would want to take the time to dress in my usual combat clothes." Duncan's tone was filled with sarcasm, an amazing improvement considering the last time the two met was when Velvet was born which then ended up with Roman and him fighting in front of the house.
Speaking of Velvet...
The girl was being carried by her father, peacefully sleeping with the smallest hint of snoring. Her bunny ears started to twitch due to the new voices and the feeling of a new surrounding, making her slowly open her eyes.
The bunny Faunus yawned while stretching her arms, taking a look around and noted the new environment before she looked at her father with sleepy half-lidded eyes. "Dad…? Where are we?" Velvet yawned again.
"We're at the hospital, sweetie." Duncan spoke in whispers, trying to get Velvet back to sleep with Roman watching with great amusement. "It's fine, just go back to sleep, okay?"
Velvet whimpered before weakly nodding. "Okay." Almost immediately after she laid her head on her father's shoulder did she fall asleep.
Duncan made sure Velvet was fully asleep before he looked back at Roman. "So, how is Isaiah?" He spoke in a hushed tone, not wanting to wake her daughter up again.
"It's been hours and I haven't heard anything, it's starting to worry me." That was the truth though, and it be told, he was scared shitless with the thought of something happening to Isaiah. Like House said, if they don't use the serum, the boy will die by running out of Aura, yet the serum could also paralyze the boy or even worse kill him.
Stuck between a rock, a hard place, and a Grimm horde.
Roman started massaging his temple. "Wh- what time is it?" He asked.
"Five in the morning." Duncan responded after glancing at his wristwatch.
"It's been about four hours then." The thief sighed, walking towards a wall opposite of the gals and leaned back on it. "What if-"
"Don't say that." Duncan interrupted with a tone, his expression turning to an angry one. "Isaiah's a strong kid with an even stronger will to live, and if the stories I heard from Mabel are true, he'll survive this. He's gone in and out of hell before, he'll waltz through this one without any bumps."
The thief blinked. That was very surprising to say the least since it came out of Duncan's mouth. "That was… uhh…"
"Surprising? Yes." A nod from Duncan. "Out of character for me? Definitely. But… if you and I coming to terms will make Mabel happy, then I'll be willing to try."
"Right," Roman smiled. "I appreciate it, Duncan."
Duncan returned the smile, nodding afterward as they both were enveloped by the silence from before, only accompanied by Velvet's little snore and their couples' sobs.
Duncan seemed like he wanted to talk more, probably wanting to get to know Roman personally but decided otherwise when he sees the ginger staring blankly towards a double door labeled, "West Operation Wing".
They all kept silent for what seemed like hours, Roman sometimes found himself holding his breath anxiously before letting out shaky exhales. Neo and Mabel had stopped crying, now more hugging each other but it still broke Roman's heart.
The double glass doors clicked, making the four adults turn their heads towards the slowly opening doors. Out came House with a tired look on his face, the blue operating mask he had was off his face, revealing an aged man in his forties.
Roman looked to the doctor pleadingly, holding a breath, and subsequently sigh in relief as House said, "He'll live." but froze upon hearing him continue, "But. He's in a coma, his aura and vitals are stable, however his brain activity is near nothing. It could be years before he wakes up."
The reactions were mixed. Neo walked to Roman and started silently sobbing on his arm, Roman stared at House shell-shocked, Mabel and Duncan watched on solemnly. House gazed at them sympathetically, before stating. "He's transferred to a room, I can get a nurse to guide you all to go see him. But don't take too long, he needs rest." Mabel and Duncan nodded, Neo continued her sobbing, while Roman still had the same empty gaze. A nurse came out of the door House had exited and led them towards where Isaiah is supposedly in. "Not you, Roman." House said, making everybody stop and turn around. "I need to talk to you beforehand… if you don't mind."
Roman nodded, he looked at Neo who nodded before she shakily began walking next to Mabel, the latter helping her along the way. The thief turned back to House and followed the doctor back to his office, and like every other room in a hospital, Roman hated it.
The white interiors, that unique and sickly smell, everything. Roman took a seat on one of the chairs in front of the table, awaiting whatever his friend wanted to talk about, and Roman had a feeling it was nothing except bad news.
House sat behind the table and a holographic screen popped up hovering on the table, an x-ray picture of a skull was shown on the screen. Roman had no idea what he was looking at, but House definitely does. "Half of his ribs are broken, most of his bones are in a way cracked," The doctor began. "The grenade you talked about didn't just drain his aura, it somehow got to a point that the device weakened his body to a non-aura user level, maybe even worse. There's a massive crack in Isaiah's Parietal Bone, and by that I mean it's fucked." Roman squinted his eyes and he could see a line from the right to the left, House meant huge as in length. "This one is a frontal shot, his Frontal Bone suffered a bigger damage than his Parietal." Roman looked away, he just couldn't see it. The crack was like a web, starting at the middle and expanding in all direction. "And now… this." Roman looked back and his breath hitched.
The thief snapped to his feet, pointing at the screen before yelling, "Why is there a hole in the back of my son's skull?!"
"Roman… calm down, please, let me explain this to you." Roman glared at the man before slowly sitting back down, House noticed that his friend's eyes were starting to water. Roman clenched his eyes shut briefly, opening to show that it has returned to normal. House sighed before resuming. "Now, I'm going to explain the hole. I've filled the whole back, but I had to drill into the Occipital Bone so that I can put the pump hose in. Isaiah's brain was drowning in his own blood, the cause of his coma." Roman took his hat off and covered his face with his hands. "He was already in a coma en-route here, the trauma was just too much and the internal bleeding was too intense. Pumping the flood out was the first thing I did because if not, Isaiah might be dead right now."
"The coma…" Roman looked up, his friend had a frown on his face. "... you can do something about it, right?"
House sighed while shaking his head. "Sorry, Roman, if there was some sort of medication, rehab, or even a machine that could jumpstart his brain again, I would gladly do it. Aura has its limitation which medicine covers, yet medicine also have limitations and the only thing that can cover it is time." Roman felt dread in his stomach. He felt sick, he wanted to puke and just pass out. "I cannot say this enough, Roman… I'm sorry." The thief didn't respond, only continuing with his own shock. "It is possible to have Isaiah on house care, I can give you supplies and the machines to keep up Isaiah's function and have my people teach you how to use them. I'll also have people sent over to your place for weekly checks."
"That… that would be nice, House. Thank you." House simply nodded, Roman standing up, taking his hat and turning around to walk for the door. He stopped when his hand hovered the door handle. Turning his head over his shoulder he said, "I'm… I'm going to meet my son if you don't mind."
House could only watch his friend exit his office, giving Roman a pitying look. When the door closed, the doctor sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I should've become a hunter."
(-)
Roman exited the office, a blank expression filled his face as he backtracked to where he saw the others went to Isaiah's room. By asking some nurses along the way, he had found where Isaiah was residing in.
VIP Room 016. Roman braced himself before slowly opening the door and silently closing it back. His coat was hanged on the hanger behind the door, additionally confirming where he was.
Roman walked forward, the sole of his shoes tapping against the wooden floor. He looked around a corner and there he was, Isaiah lying unconscious on the bed, Neo sitting on a chair next to the boy, firmly holding his hand as she continued to silently sob. Mabel was rubbing her back, her husband and daughter weren't seen anywhere in the room.
Mabel noticed her brother entering the room and looked up at him, a sad smile was present on her face. "Where's the other two?" Roman asked in a hushed tone.
"Velvet was about to wake up, he's back in the car trying to get her to sleep again," Mabel responded with the same tone of a whisper. "He said he was sorry."
Roman nodded. "Thank you." He slowly approached the bed Isaiah was on, pulling a seat and sitting across Neo's side. The tricolored girl stopped her sobbing to look at him before continuing.
Only then when he was up close did Roman noticed how horrible Isaiah's state was. House must've shaved the boy's hair clean, it was obvious even when his entire upper head was wrapped in bandage.
Multiple IV lines punctured his left wrist, life support machines flanked the cat Faunus right and left, their hoses entering his nostrils and straight to his lungs to help the boy breath.
One of the things Isaiah hated was to look pathetic, and in this current state, he indeed was.
There were multiple new scars on Isaiah's body, the ones visible was only on his arms, neck, and to an extent his head, but Roman knew that under the hospital gown, there had to be more.
Isaiah's right arm was rested on an arm sling. Considering what House informed him earlier, Roman assumed that Isaiah's shoulder is dislocated and his arm is broken.
Roman couldn't handle it anymore, he couldn't handle seeing Isaiah this helpless, he couldn't handle seeing Isaiah suffer like this, he couldn't handle seeing his son in this condition.
He couldn't handle being strong anymore.
"No… no… no… I'm so sorry, Isaiah." Tears built up, he tried to contain it but the floodgates were open. He let out a piercing wail at the ceiling, startling Neo and Mabel as he cried and cried. "NOO… THAT'S MY SON, MY BOY! DEAR GOD NO, WHY?! THIS IS ALL MY FAULT!"
Neo couldn't handle it either. She stood up and walked to the other side of the bed, hugging Roman from behind as the two continued to cry with Mabel sympathetically watching.
Mabel won't lie and say that she knows how they feel, but what she knows is that seeing your child in this condition will destroy any parent.
If she sees Velvet like this, she would be devastated. Even the most perfect family will suffer some kind of loss. She thought.
Right now she could only sit there, grieving with the couple and hoping the best for Isaiah since she wasn't sure what else she could do.
She was certain of one thing though. Thomas cannot be allowed to know about this.
A/N: Raviolli, Raviolli, that got depresiolli.
So, uhh... hi? Again, the chapter was late due to my ever increasing block and things to do irl, so yeah, won't bother you with the details. Also, one of you PM'd me and suggested me to open a ? I mean... if I do, it'd make me less busy so I can update more stuff, so... it's up to you guys I suppose. Ah, and I have been obliged to tell that there is an opening in the family, Editor and I thought that we could really use an extra mind for our story. So if anyone is interested, please, do contact me.
As usual, leave a review, follow, and favorite. Stay classy, and till' next time fellas!
Edit (May 4th 2018): Okay, I just re-read the chapters cause I was bored and APPARENTLY someone forgot to edit A LOT of things. So let me clarify one major keypoint error that I've found, Thomas and Isaiah have an 8 year age gap, per-this chapter Thomas is 6 while Isaiah is 14. There is also a lot of grammar errors and extra words or sentences that don't make sense, I've uploaded revised ones, but I still have a feeling that there's still a whole shit ton. So please, if you do see character information errors and the like, do contact me. Now if you would excuse me, I'm gonna go write a very angry PM to The Editor
