Chapter 10

Dark Horizon

Glynda awoke in a familiar surrounding, but from an unfamiliar angle. Looking around she found herself in the infirmary at Beacon. She tried to sit up but found her sides too sore to move. Glancing around she saw that she was alone. Trying to speak she found that her voice was a bit rough, but thankfully still there.

"Hello, is anyone here?" She called out roughly. She heard the rustling of papers and the scraping of chair legs on linoleum, before a nurse came walking over.

"Hello there Professor, it's good to see you are awake." The nurse said. "I'm sure the headmaster will want to speak with you. He told me to call him when you woke up."

"I'm sure he did. Could you help me sit up?" Glynda asked. "Oh and some water would be appreciated."

"Of course." The nurse assisted her with sitting up, making sure she didn't fall from the sudden rush of blood from her head. Then the nurse disappeared to call Ozpin and get the requested water. Coming back a minute later the nurse gave her the water and went back to her desk on the other side of the ward. A few silent minutes went by while Glynda drank the water down and waited for Ozpin to show, when he did he entered quietly and took a seat by Glynda's bedside.

"Good afternoon Glynda. I hope you are feeling well after some much needed rest." He greeted.

"Yes I feel much better after that… ordeal." She responded, remembering the horrible day she had endured.

"Yes I'm sure you do. The doctor said that you hadn't sustained any major injury just some lacerations and fractured ribs, your aura should take care of the rest in a few days." Ozpin said.

"Tell me Ozpin. How did you manage to get me out of there? They had me drugged so I don't really remember what happened." She asked.

"Well to really know what happened you would need to ask Lucien. But as for what I know, Lucien tracked down the criminal organization that had abducted you and wiped them off the face of Remnant." Ozpin explained.

"What do you mean I would have to ask him? Didn't he tell you what happened?" Glynda asked, her voice rising slightly.

"No, all I know about the ordeal is what I have been able to find out for myself. Two days ago you were dropped off here and Lucien left. The nurse said he was covered in blood but seemed to be unharmed. The news painted the incident as a gang war." Ozpin stated clinically.

"He left? Just got up and left?" She thought aloud. "Why would he just leave?"

"You would have to ask him that." Ozpin restated.

"Ozpin, I need a bit of time off. Could you find someone to fill in for me for a few days?" She asked. "It would mean a great deal to me."

"Of course. But I must warn you, if you are going after Lucien it will not be easy and he may not wish to see you. I wouldn't want you provoking his temper." Ozpin warned.

"I can handle him. Don't worry." She reassured. "I'll be leaving tomorrow then."

"I'll trust you to find him then. Until tomorrow rest up." Ozpin said as he stood to leave. "Oh and you may want to start at a small bar in the wharf district called The Spigot. The owner there is a mutual friend of Lucien and I, though I doubt Lucien knows that."

"Thank you Oz. This means a lot to me." She said as the headmaster left.

"Of course Glynda. Rest up." He said as he walked away.

That ass. I am going to kick his ass into the next century for just leaving me without a single word. Glynda fumed for a short while until she exhausted her reserves and fell back into a fitful sleep. Dreaming of flying and falling, of a bloody screams, and the warmth of familiar arms cradling her. Waking the next afternoon to the sound of birds heading south outside the window she found herself able to sit up and move on her own. After changing into fresh clothes that she had brought to her she checked herself out of the infirmary and gathered her equipment. She armed herself with her crop and a set of darts she hadn't used in years. The darts were designed to be used with her telekinesis, with long thin shafts terminating in razor sharp broad points.

Properly equipped she made her way to the airship field that connected Beacon to the rest of the world. Finding a pilot she made her way to downtown Vale, from there she went straight to the storage garage where she kept her fastest mode of transit. Inside the garage was a small two seater sports car that she had bought herself after her first few missions as a fully fledged huntress. She loved the thrill of driving something so fast and small, but today she wasn't going for a pleasure drive. Getting into the small car she fired it up and pulled out of the garage onto the street. During the short trip to the wharf district she thought of what she might say to Lucien when she found him, of how he might react to being found. With every possible scenario she ran through she asked herself why she wanted to find him so badly. Since coming back to Beacon he had been little but a thorn in her side.

If he has been such a nuisance then why do I need to find him?

Well duh you blonde, you loved him at one time. A little voice in the back of her mind reminded her.

And now I'm going insane, fucking great.

Speeding down the roads of Vale she made good time to The Spigot. When she got there she was slightly disgusted to see a grungy dive bar. Heading inside she was greeted by a few silent nods from the small smattering of patrons that sat nursing drinks. Walking through the hazy room towards the bar she motioned for the bartender.

"Hello there miss. I'm Jonah, owner of this shithole. What can I get for you?" Jonah greeted.

"Hello, I'm a friend of Ozpin's. He said you might be able to help me with something." She explained.

"Ah, I haven't heard from Ozpin in a while. I'd ask how he's doing but you look like you are in a hurry." Jonah said. "Tell me what you need and I'll see what I can do for you, free of charge just cause Ozpin sent ya."

"You're an info broker? Is that it?" She asked, surprised that Ozpin would make a deal with this greasy man.

"Eh, I'm tryin' to retire, but yeah I can help you get some info if you need it." Jonah replied.

"Good, I'm looking for a man named Lucien. I was told he was a customer of yours." She said.

"Ah, you're looking for my favorite winged freak Lucy." Jonah said with a small smile. "Yeah he's an old friend of mine."

"You know about his wings?" She said astounded.

"Oh yeah all the regulars here know about 'em too. This is a faunus friendly place." He said, pointing to a sign above his head that read BIGOTS GET SHOT.

"I see. I need to know his whereabouts. We have some things to discuss." She explained.

"Oh you're that lady he went off after the other night." Jonah said, realizing who she was. "Lucy came to me three nights back wanting to know where to find a gang that had been pissin' him off. I told him where to find them, but he didn't say why he needed to find 'em so I did some digging and it turned out that they had abducted some woman the day before. Not really these guys style so I stuck two and two together and figured they were tryin' to bait Lucy. Last I heard they got wiped out that same night."

"Yeah I already knew about that." She said, getting annoyed at the man's ramblings. "I just need to know where Lucien is now."

"Well I don't know his exact location. He stopped in to drink for a bit and after i got a few in him he told me he was going to lay low for a few days before he went back to working. My best guess is he would be going got his safe house, if you can call a garage off the docks a house." Jonah rambled.

"Do you know where his safe house is?" Glynda asked, grasping at the slight glimmer of hope.

"One of two that do. Here, since you seem dead set on finding your knight in shining I'll give you the address. Just make sure you knock and say who you are the moment you get there or I'll be helping clean up your body." Jonah warned as he wrote down the address on a greasy paper napkin.

"Thank you Jonah. I'm sure I'll be back to thank you properly soon." Glynda said as she got up from her seat.

"Like I said, that's on the house." Jonah said as he went off to serve a customer who had just walked in.

Leaving the hazy bar Glynda got back into her car and sped off towards the address. Arriving at a complex of storage units she got out of her car and walked down the isles till she found the number she was looking for. She knocked on the man door and called out to whoever might be inside. A few moments later some rustling could be heard as well as the hiss of a steel on leather. Suddenly the door was flung open revealing a shirtless Lucien, blade held out in front of him, pointed right at Glynda's heart.

"What are you doing here? You should be resting." Lucien said accusingly.

"What are you doing here? You should be studying." Glynda replied in kind.

"Students study. I nap." He stated.

"Last time I checked you were a student." She quipped, smacking the blade away from her chest.

"Not today. Today I am an assassin." He shot back.

"No today you are a coward who ran away again!" Glynda shot back.

"And you must be insane! You one day you are being drugged and beaten and the next you are out chasing down a dangerous criminal!" He shouted back.

"Dangerous criminal my ass. You you don't have the balls to even try and hurt me." She said dismissively.

"Really now?!" He shouted, pointing the his blade back at her just to have it beaten away again.

"If you think you can do it then try." She challenged.

Lucien pointed the blade at her a third time, drawing his arm back ready to strike. Then he hesitated, gathering his will, then he struck out. The blow sliced through cloth and barely grazed flesh, but no blood was drawn. Glynda watched his hand start to shake, the resolve he had gathered leaving him in an instant. Suddenly the blade clattered to the hard ground and the sight of Lucien's angry facade crumbling nearly brought tears to her eyes.

"You ass. You cut my shirt… You fucking ass…" Glynda said, her voice steady, but her eyes gave away her feelings of fear and betrayal.

"You damnable woman… What the hell happened to me?" He pleaded.

"You found some humanity?" She replied with as much shaky sarcasm she could muster.

"Huh… That would do it." He muttered to himself, before bending down and picking up his blade with shaking hands. "Well come on in. It would be rude to make a lady stand outside."

"Thank you." Glynda replied awkwardly.

Following Lucien into the garage Glynda got a good look at the small space. It was fairly bare, in the center of the room sat a small table with two chairs, in the back corner sat a small cot, a tiny kitchenette across from the cot, with the rest of the space being dominated by walls of tools and neatly organized benches. Lucien guided her to the table and took a seat motioning for her to do the same.

"So are you going to tell me why you came after me?" Lucien asked her. "And better yet how did you find me?"

"Jonah told me where to find you, and I came after you to ask some questions." Glynda stated.

"Of course it was Jonah. That rat bastard always cared too much about his clients." Lucien said begrudgingly. "And I thought we were done with the questions?"

"We were done, then you gave me reason to ask more." Glynda clarified.

"Then ask your questions and leave."

"Why did you just leave the school after you rescued me?" She demanded.

"Well I lost count but according to the news I killed thirty people." He said morosely. "I don't think that would be good for the school's reputation."

"No it wouldn't be good for the school's reputation if a student killed thirty people, but a student didn't kill thirty people. It was a gang war gone horribly wrong."

"Yeah that's what they keep saying, but the police are smarter than that. They know what it look's like when I roll into town."

"And they also know that you eliminated a gang of murderers and drug pushers. And they know that they can't catch you." She stated. "I've read your file, it pretty much screams 'give up if you see this man'. They don't even have a photo of you"

"How did you get your hands on my file?" Lucien asked, somewhat offended at the intrusion.

"I'm a well respected huntress. I just had to ask."

"Of course. But that doesn't matter. I broke Ozpin's rules and I'm pretty sure he would have had you all try and kill me."

"I think after the favor you did him, he would have let this slide." She said.

"Let this slide?" He asked incredulously. "Did you really just say that so casually? Thirty people and he would have let this slide?"

"Thirty murders and drug pushers." Glynda stated. "Thirty men who had committed crimes for no other reason than lien."

"Do you even realize how hypocritical it would be for me to respond to that?" He said viciously. "You are talking to a man who has committed far worse than they ever had done for nothing more than lien."

"The difference is you tried to change." She declared fervently.

"Tried is a good word for it. In the end it seems that was a failed endeavour." He pointed out sarcastically.

"Was it really a failure?"

"Yeah I could have gotten you out of there without a drop of blood, but when I saw you there drugged and beaten I just lost it. Then they tried to lock me in there with you, and when that pompous ass in a suit told his men to fire… There was no turning back after that." He explained morosely.

"If you were just going to run off again, then why did you save me?" She demanded.

"They pissed me off. They took you to get to me and it worked." He said.

"Is that why they abducted me? The drugs made it hard to figure that out." Glynda asked softly.

"Yeah they figured taking someone important to me would be a good way to bait me into a trap." He explained with a laugh. "I guess it worked."

"I was the best leverage they had?" Glynda asked, the importance of his statement not lost on her.

"Yeah when I think about it, it had to be you or one of the kids, probably Jaune. But I don't think Jaune would have been as comfortable to fly back with." Lucien said, averting his eyes.

"That's the word you choose? Comfortable?"

"That's what you decide to take from that sentence?" He chided back.

"I'm going to ignore your sad attempt at flirting." She said with a giggle.

"Who said I was flirting?" He asked, taken aback at her sudden humor. "I was serious! He's all muscle and bone!"

"Oh like you are one to talk?! Sleeping next to you is like laying next to an ice pack!" She managed to get out between giggles.

"Oh really now?! And you think sharing a bed with you is any better? You kick! Why do you think I always wake up before you?" He shot back between fits of laughing.

"Woke up, you ass." She corrected. Her laughter fading.

"Yeah… Woke up…" He said, the mood suddenly shifting somberly. An uncomfortable silence falling over the pair. Moments passed before glynda finally spoke.

"Lucien, please come back to Beacon. I think you should at least continue training Jaune." She pleaded.

"I think I've done enough for the kid." Lucien replied wistfully. "He can more than handle himself now."

"But what about the good it's done you?"

"It was fun, but I think it's time I stopped living in a nostalgia trip." He explained.

"Then stop living in it. Make it your reality." She continued to plead "You really helped him, not just him, you helped his entire team, they have a strong leader now."

"Yes they have a strong leader now. That's exactly why they don't need me back at the school."

"What about how he would feel knowing his mentor just gave up and left because he made a mistake. How do you think that would affect him." How do you think that would affect me?

"He doesn't need me as a role model. I've seen how that one goes." Lucien answered, dredging up bad memories.

"Just think about it okay?" She nearly begged.

"Okay… I'll think about it." He conceded. "But I think it's time you head back."

"You are probably right." She agreed, rising from her chair.

"I would say 'I'll see you out' but it's kind of impossible not to." He joked, following her to the door. Just as she exited the door she turned back and brought him into a hug that lasted much longer than it should have.

"Thank you Lucien, for saving me. I didn't get to thank you properly in my drugged up state." She whispered into his shirt where a small damp spot was forming.

"I would do it again in a heartbeat Angel." He whispered, suddenly freezing, realizing his mistake he closed his eyes preparing for a sharp slap to the face. What he got instead was a sensation that he had forgotten how much he missed.

What the hell am I doing? She screamed at herself.

Kissing the man you love, you idiot. Her inner voice responded.

Don't ruin this for me! She shouted back at herself. I really must be going crazy...