Chapter 25

"What are you even doing here?" Goodwitch looked awful. She had dark shadows underneath her eyes, stress lines prominent on her forehead and cheeks, and Herman's sensitive nose was being violated by the assortment of scents that came from her, none of them pleasant. Well, except for that little trace of flowery perfume, that was nice.

They were seated in a spacious yet barely furnished office. The only furniture was a gleaming black teakwood table, four chairs made from the same wood, and a small purple vase set upon a ledge beneath a window. To his right there was a smaller table and an office chair, which was occupied by a man dressed in pinstriped slacks and vest. He was hunched over a massive-looking scroll, his long, pointed face barely inches away, his fingers a blur on the holographic screen which periodically emitted a series of metallic 'pings'. Every once in a while, he'd lean back, yawn and scratch at the series of banded overlapping grey scales on his throat, cheeks and neck.

Herman looked back at Glynda. He really didn't have anything to say. She looked at Heidi, expecting an answer.

"We followed him." Glynda let out an impatient sigh, before mustering an imperious, commanding look.

"I won't ask again. What are you doing here? This is no place for a child-"

"Listen here, lady." Herman retorted. He was still angry about the General's aide, and given all he had been through, being called a child rankled. "I stayed here because I have nowhere else to go. Everyone had caring families to run back to, homes to take shelter in. But I don't have that luxury. My parents are dead, and my home is ashes. No one could give a shit about me, well, except for those Atlesians and they want my body dangling from a noose as justice for a massive fuckup I caused. If I die here, so much the better, because it'll save them the trouble of a trial, and anyway, as I said before, no one cares about me."

Goodwitch was speechless. The Faunus had quit typing.

"That sounds really, really emo. In fact, I could've sworn I nearly cut myself." Beckendorf said. Herman ignored him.

But Goodwitch was not speechless for long.

"Boy, I do not know who you are, but I do know this; you need to grow up. You claim that you are the only one suffering, but you only need to look outside, in the refugee camps to see that others have also been dealt a bad hand. You want redemption? Move on and get it-because whining will get you nowhere."

"I... I could have run away. But I stayed here to fight and redeem myself. That's my objective; I either atone for what I've done or die in the attempt." He said, much chastened by her reprimand.

Herman felt a metal hand resting gently on his shoulder. "We wouldn't be standing by your side if you had no-one to care about you. I understand, but bad things have happened to all of us. What matters now is rising above our circumstances."

Herman took a deep breath

"You need to calm down." Heidi said, her voice soft yet firm. "We care about you Herman, but you have to realize that bad things have happened to all of us. What matters now is our actions, and what we do to rise above our circumstances."

"Thank you, young lady." Goodwitch said, relieved.

Herman hung his head, partly embarrassed from his outburst.

"I..uh, well..." His voice trailed off.

"It's ok. You need a moment." Heidi removed her hand and sat back down.

Suddenly, a thought popped into his mind.

" ? Where's Sir Ozpin?" Herman was taken aback by the immediate look of distress that materialized on her face. Suddenly, he felt as if his feet had been submerged in ice. His heart felt heavy, and it hammered with such an intensity that it felt as if it would burst out at any second. The unspoken word hung between the two.

"The Professor is..." The pounding had reached his ears. He couldn't take it anymore.

"Dead?" He mouthed. Goodwitch sadly nodded.

Herman felt as if a pit had swallowed him whole. He had lost a valuable ally. Something nasty began to whisper in his mind.

"Anyone who trusts you dies. Anyplace that takes you in is destroyed."

"No, no, no..." Herman's vision was blurred. Dark clouds began to form. His eyes burned, and the world slowly drained of color save for blue and grey.

"Friedman?" Goodwitch called out to the Faunus beside them. "Would you please take these children to the medical bay?"

There was a knock on the door.

"That would be Operative Aurum, ma'am." Friedman said. Herman could barely hear him. Shaking his head, he turned around just as Friedman opened the door.

Standing there was that very blond-haired and blue eyed operative from Atlas. Even though he wore a bandanna the last time they fought, he could recognize those eyes, gleaming with hate. His very presence dispelled the gray-blue haze clouding his vision.

"Motherfucker!" Herman barely had time to react as the specialist rushed him and barged him into a wall. In the blink of an eye, the specialist had his dagger-pistol at Herman's throat.

"Operative Aurum! What are you doing!?" Goodwitch cried out. She stood there, riding crop raised. Port and Oobleck had rushed into the room, and Heidi had her bow raised. Meanwhile, Beckendorf had grabbed the vase and was posed, ready to chuck it at the mad specialist.

That wasn't Herman's concern, however. He was staring back at the mask of hatred the man contorted his dirt-streaked boyish face into. The cold blade was close to his neck, digging in slightly. Something warm trickled down his throat.

"What am I doing? Perhaps I ought to ask what are you doing? Harboring a terrorist, a murderer!" His breath stank, and his B.O. was overwhelming, like rotten flesh mixed with syrup.

"Operative, stand down." Goodwitch commanded him, but his crazed eyes were focused on Herman. Drool ran from his lower lip.

The purple vase smashed against his head, causing the operative to cry out and release his grip. With no time to lose, Herman kicked upwards and hit Aurum squarely in the groin. The crazed man staggered back, squealing in pain, before a massive purple force slammed him down on the floor.

"Operative Robert Aurum. This criminal is under our jurisdiction, and we decide what to do with him. The matter was settled by your General Ironwood. If you have any complaints, I suggest you take it up with him." Goodwitch flicked her whip and sent him skidding out. Aurum slammed against the wall and lay still.

"Friedman? I think you should take the operative to the medical bay instead." When Friedman left, Goodwitch turned her attention to Port and Oobleck, who made themselves comfortable in the chairs Heidi and Beckendorf had vacated.

"What's the current situation, Professors?" Glynda asked.

"Not good, Glynda. Grimm of all types are everywhere, and there are too few of us to make a difference. Most of the trainee hunters have evacuated." Port dejectedly muttered.

"Not to mention that there is still a large number of civilians still trapped in the city. They are easy prey for the Grimm, and to make matters worse, it seems if they aren't very happy with us. We were fired upon multiple times, but we could not determine the identity of our assailants." The normally fast-talking Oobleck was talking slowly, in between ragged breaths.

"Is there anything particularly wrong, Professor?" Goodwitch asked, one eyebrow raised in concern.

"Some of those assailants were extremely good shots. One in particular just kept stalking us, taking potshots from afar."

"Your assailants couldn't be anyone but the White Fang." Heidi cut in, prompting the three hunters to focus their attention on her.

"How could the White Fang still be here, young lady?" Port asked.

"We fought with them last night. They had set up a missile site on a hotel rooftop and were preventing the transports from taking off."

"The monsters." Oobleck said, shaking his head.

"That's not all. The White Fang have never let adverse conditions get in their way. Professor, you saw their base in Mountain Glenn, a deserted Grimm infested area. It would not be unreasonable for us to assume they would continue to operate from here as well, seeing as they already had a base here."

"Who exactly are you, young lady?" Goodwitch asked. Heidi gave her most winning smile.

"Why, I'm a member of the White Fang. We all were." Goodwitch didn't seem to be so surprised, but the shocked looks on Port and Oobleck's faces were priceless.

"Glynda, is this wise? These are enemy operatives!" Port cried out in alarm.

"Calm yourself, man. They would not have revealed themselves unless they were working with us." Oobleck reasoned.

"I can attest to that. These children-" Glynda surveyed the three "-can serve our purpose."

"Purpose?" Herman asked. His bandaged hand was at his throat, gently caressing the light cut. He was thinking about the bombing, about the incalculable suffering he had inflicted on others.

"You made your desire for redemption clear, did you not?"

"I did."

"Then this is how you'll earn it. Like it or not, you're now with us."

"Alright, so where do we get started?" The run-in with the operative only served to make Herman more determined.

"Very well. You can begin-" Goodwitch reached into the top left drawer of the table. Herman felt a buzz of excitement while his mind ran wild. Goodwitch pulled out a binder "-by delivering these files to our mechanic." She said as she pushed the binder into Herman's hands. In disbelief, he looked her in the eye.

She was definitely not joking.

"What are you waiting for? Get started." Herman could barely suppress a groan as he stalked out of the room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Robert Aurum exited the med bay. His eyes felt watery, and they burnt. His ears felt as if steam would come shooting out at any moment. Firmly gripping his weapon, he staggered against the wall.

Robert Aurum tried to stifle a sob as the memories came flooding back. The cries of the dying were fresh in his ears, and the weight of his failure pressed down on his heart.

He was in charge of protecting those people. In charge of protecting Eva. And he failed.

Seeing that murderer-no, that animal-walk free served to rub more salt into the wound. His fists tightened.

"Is everything all right, Aurum?" Robert turned around to see Major Marrone. She approached carefully, her brown eyes full of concern.

"No." He curtly replied and turned away.

"Please, wait! I know what you're going through."

"Really? Then you should leave me alone." Robert hissed back.

"I know you had a run-in with that beast. The very sight of it walking free sickens me." Now she had got his attention.

"Why would you care? Have you lost everything because of it? Huh?" Aurum was getting angry now. He didn't need anyone's pity. Her audacity to claim that she knew what he was going through infuriated him. No-one knew what he was going through, not unless they experienced it for themselves.

"Yes." She said, softly. Her warm brown eyes were downcast. Robert stopped in his tracks.

"My husband and son were in that city." She continued. Robert now felt shame prick away at his heart. How could he have judged her so quickly?

"I'm sorry to hear that." he replied, in a low tone.

They stood in the darkened corridor. For some reason, Aurum felt strangely elated. In a sea of loneliness, he found another who shared his feelings. Life may not have become less harsh, but Aurum felt if it had become a little bit more bearable.

"What do you think we should do? The hunters won't let me near him." Robert broke the silence. She looked at him with steely determination in her eyes.

"Everything we can to bring this animal to justice."