Bump in the Night Part 2
[Vale PD, Server room]
Nora was happily bouncing back and forth on her heels, quietly humming in tune with the constant tone of the server banks around her as lines of code rapidly scrolled across her vision. She deftly maneuvered through the process tree, changing the priority of systems within the power distribution algorithms of the Vale PD. Satisfied with her work, she saved the changes and exited the process tree. A few more lines of code and a video upload later, and the security footage of her entering the server room was lost forever.
"Hehe..." Nora giggled, waltzing from the administrator terminal to the door before carefully easing herself out.
No one took notice of her as she casually slid down the railing of the nearest stairwell, the police had already become accustomed to her usual rambunctiousness. Indeed, they would have been more suspicious had she been trying to not draw attention to herself. Letting physics do its thing as she approached the ground floor, Nora pulled her scroll from her belt and flew horizontally off of the railing, unlocking the door electronically as she sailed through. Her landing was less than flawless, consisting of bouncing and rolling down a few flights of stairs as she descended into the basements, but she didn't mind. Quickly orienting herself, she walked forward purposefully with her scroll in one hand, glancing at a few notes Ren had left for her before deleting them with a swipe of her fingers. She slowed her pace as she neared an inconspicuous closet, unlocking and propping it open with her scroll as she passed. She paused in front of a nearby grey breaker box, glancing left and right to make sure no one could see her.
Grinning, she threw open the box's door and drew her fist back, ramming it through the levers to grasp and tear at the wires behind. Feeling electricity course through her veins as her semblance converted the energy into strength, Nora jerked her arm back, ripping the wires from the box and part of the box itself from the wall. The localized power outage she thus caused quickly cascaded into a building-wide problem as her malicious code took effect, blanketing the building in darkness. She quickly ran back to the closet she had left propped open, using her scroll as a makeshift flashlight as she dug through various cleaning supplies and ancient dust to the very back, where a simple crate lay covered by a small tarp.
It was the work of a moment to have the crate in her arms, her semblance-induced strength lending her speed as she sprinted down the hallways to a small stairwell for maintenance workers. She was navigating based on her scroll now, Ren's maps and her own homebrewed positioning software guiding her down to a series of catwalks that hung above the Pit. She put away her scroll as she tucked the crate under one arm, approaching the single guard who stood next to the food delivery winch with a smile.
"Paperwork?" she asked in a bored tone, turning to face Nora with an outstretched hand.
Nora made a show of fumbling for her scroll, getting to within two feet of the guard before she dropped the crate, grabbing the guard's outstretched arm and reeling her in. The guard never had a chance to scream as Nora's other arm extended in a chopping motion, colliding solidly with her windpipe. Gagging, the guard tried to stumble back as Nora shifted, falling back against the protective railing. Nora brought her fist forward in a vicious jab to the neck, simultaneously bracing her other arm against the guard's chest and shoving back. The guard fell soundlessly, clutching her abused windpipe for all of the five seconds it took her to reach the ground.
"Oh..." Nora muttered, glancing down at the corpse, already drawing a tentative crowd of faunus. "It broke..."
"The fuck?!" another voice sounded, and Nora turned to see an officer, the one actually tasked with bringing a crate of food to the Pit.
Without a second thought, Nora drew the knife at her belt and hurled it with a diagonal cast. The blade caught in the officer's throat, and Nora rushed forward to catch the falling crate and retrieve her knife, letting the body sprawl across the catwalk. It was a shame that the two had to die, but Ren's plan was more important than some random guards that she had never met before. Shrugging, Nora turned back to the winch with a crazed smile, eyeing the two crates. All according to plan.
"MOTHERFUCKER!" Miltiades swore, her shrill voice grating on Qrow's nerves as he landed hard in a crouch on the building he had started the rescue from, pushing off from the ground with his hands as he continued to dash across the roof.
"Shut up and hold your breath" he demanded, lining up his next jump as he reached the end of the building, again throwing himself into the empty air as he activated his semblance. He grunted as he landed on the next building, a little harder this time.
This used to be so easy... he thought to himself, forcing himself to concentrate as he continued to run, Miltiades clinging to his back.
He half expected to hear wailing sirens erupt behind him, the deep droning of bullheads as searchlights pierced the night, but nothing happened. The Vale PD still stood blackened and silent, slowly receding as Qrow's rooftop acrobatics took them farther and farther into the red-light district. Finally he slowed to a jog as he crossed one last roof, merely hopping off the edge and flickering into the alley below with a small shower of black rose petals. A van was parked against the wall, with two teenagers leaning against it.
"That you, Boss?" one of the teens asked, a pair of nunchaku appearing in his hands.
"Yes, Trickster" Qrow replied, shrugging until Miltiades finally agreed to let go of him. "It's me."
"Miltia?" the other teen interrupted hopefully, dashing forward and grabbing the jumpsuit-clad girl.
"Melanie?" Miltiades said, greatly confused at the sudden appearance of her sister.
"Miltia!" Melanie repeated, now hugging her sister and quietly letting a few tears fall. Qrow let the sisters have their moment as he caught his breath, nodding at Sun to let him know that everything was alright.
"Did you get Lark?" he asked quietly, still letting the sisters reunite in peace.
"I left him knocked out in the parking lot at his apartment" Sun replied, equally quietly. "We were on a tight schedule."
"Damn" Qrow muttered, making a few mental notes. "Nothing to be done about that now, let's just wrap this up and go home."
"Alright, ladies" Qrow announced, catching the attention of the Malachite Twins as he straightened up. "You have each other, you have this van, and you have the cash from the faunus deal. As per our agreement, get out of Vale and don't come back." He gestured at the van before turning and walking deeper into the alley.
"You're letting them have the money?" Sun asked, curious.
"We're not monsters" Qrow stated. "I know it's blood money, but it will help them far more than it will help us." Qrow knelt down and held his arms out behind him, and Sun obligingly climbed onto his back.
"You know, we really need to get you a-" Sun began, his sentence cut off as Qrow dashed into the night.
"Where are you taking me?" Yang wondered, idling her motorcycle as she waited for the light to change.
She was a few cars back from the van that had picked up the faunus, the same van she had just followed on a nonsense trip through a few of Vale's freeways, main streets, backstreets, and finally into the suburbs. The driver didn't seem to know that he was being followed, since he hadn't suddenly sped up or tried anything crazy. Still, Yang's patience had been sorely tried as she kept mostly to herself, driving carefully and keeping a low profile. The light finally changed, and Yang quietly followed the van down the street.
"Shit..." Yang muttered, passing the van as it turned off the road and into a short driveway that led to a gated community.
She drove just far enough to be out of sight, then pulled over and hid her bike among a small copse of trees. She quietly stalked through the low foliage, keeping an eye out for the van as she passed through the empty backyard of a house that looked needlessly expensive. She finally spotted the nondescript vehicle in a well-lit driveway, the driver had left the engine running as he rolled down the window, discussing something with an armed guard that was shifting slowly back and forth. The two seemed to reach an agreement, as the driver stepped out and helped open the back doors of the van. Yang watched, incensed as the faunus were unloaded at gunpoint, the driver and the guard hurrying the process along with blows and harsh language, going so far as to knock one of the faunus to the ground. She wanted nothing more than to break her cover and beat the living daylights out of the two of them, but the appearance of a third man stopped her dead in her tracks.
He was tall and broad at the shoulders, his coppery brown hair neatly slicked back and an arrogant grin on his face. Yang had only seen him in photographs, but Jaune had told her enough to recognize that this was Cardin Winchester. Yang silently ground her teeth in frustration, now she really wanted to go down there and let her fists do the talking. If even half of what Jaune had told her was true, then the bastard would clearly deserve it. She was sickened at the way he waved the guards down and sauntered up to the fallen faunus, lifting her chin with the very edges of his fingertips. She was disgusted at his predatory smile, at his falsely polite demeanor as he helped the faunus from the ground. She knew exactly how the situation would pan out the instant they were inside, and she knew that the only way to avoid her burning down the entire house was to leave immediately.
"GRRAHG!" She exploded, roaring in tune with her bike as she took off down the road faster than was strictly necessary. She was going to enjoy breaking into Cardin's house, especially if she just happened to come across the bastard while he was laying with his newly acquired 'property.' She quietly rapped the bridge from "I Burn", taking her speed down several notches as she merged onto the Vale freeway and began the trip back.
"Just you wait, Cardin" Yang muttered, the guitar solo playing in her head. "Justice is coming for you."
"Ahh..." Jaune sighed in relief, closing his door behind him and leaning against it.
He had had a long day, beginning at Vale's Town Hall with the press release and ending with an evening dinner at an ostentatious and outrageously priced restaurant. In between he had been interviewed by endless reporters, posed for magazine cover shots, been shuttled by armored limo to an extravagant lunchtime buffet, socialized with the usual empty-headed and arrogant members of High Society, and made his cheeks sore from the effort of constantly holding a smile.
"Jaune?" Velvet asked, a little worried that he had slowly begun to sink to the floor.
"Yes?" Jaune replied, glancing up and realizing what had happened. "Oh, sorry. These full-day events always just take it out of me." He planted a hand against the wall and heaved himself upright, frowning in thought.
"I know" Velvet said, remembering how ghastly Jaune had been after the 'informal' party with the Schnee. Granted, he had drunk an obscene amount of alcohol that night, but now Jaune seemed to be even more tired and drained of his usual cheer. She gently took his arm, following him into the kitchen where he briefly rummaged through the fridge.
"Beer?" He asked, pulling a bottle out and offering it to her. She shook her head, unwilling to mix even the slightest amount of alcohol with her mostly empty stomach. Other than her breakfast tea, she had only eaten a bread roll and taken a few sips of water throughout the day, as she had been too busy with jobs given to her by Ozpin. She instead filled a glass of water and followed Jaune back into the living room, crawling into the broken recliner as he flopped onto the couch.
"So..." Jaune said, drawing out the word as he popped the beer cap off with a flick of his thumb and a pulse of aura. "Shitty day?"
The statement was so comical, what with his haggard eyes, the top few buttons of his shirt thrown open, his slouched posture, and his poor attempt at a carefree smile, that Velvet couldn't help herself. Despite the rigors of the day, her lack of food, the emotional strain of maintaining her silence while racism filled the room, she laughed. She laughed, feeling the damper that the day had put on her mood fall away. Jaune's eyebrows lifted at the sound, his failing smile softening into a genuine one. Velvet's laugh was beautiful and infectious, and he savored the sound of it even as he felt a chuckle rising in his own throat.
"Remember Weiss' face?" Jaune asked, his smile widening. "The lemon smile?" Velvet laughed harder, remembering Weiss' sour expression during the buffet when she had witnessed Pyrrha planting a chaste kiss on his cheek after he repetitively one-upped Cardin at playing the gentleman.
"Cardin's was better" Velvet squeaked out a few seconds later, referencing Cardin's constipated expression whenever he had to witness Jaune's superior manners, especially when they were directed at Pyrrha.
"True" Jaune smirked, taking a swig of his beer. "I honestly thought he was going to erupt into a hissy fit." Velvet was rolling around in the recliner, a silly grin on her face as she felt her spirits soar and her self-esteem stabilize. She relaxed as Jaune continued to crack jokes, mocking out everything from his guests' fashion sense to their political views, insulting the most powerful people of Vale with casual ease.
[The Pit, Vale PD]
Blake's breath came in shallow gasps, her legs burning as she desperately ran. Her situation wasn't helped by the presence of a gas mask over her face, the device restricting how quickly she could pull air into her lungs. She could hardly see where she was going, merely allowing herself to be dragged by the hand. What she had just witnessed was nothing short of madness. It had been getting close to food distribution time in the Pit, and as such she had been lounging near the drop-off. Most of the other faunus gave her a wide berth, her reputation for violence having spread rapidly after she began selecting random inmates to be 'training partners'. Everything had been going quite normally, and it seemed as though the day was going to close as days always did in the Pit. Of course, that all changed when a body fell from the catwalks above, especially since it appeared to be one of the guards. The body had drawn a small crowd, curious inmates staring down at the broken form.
Then all hell had broken loose as the winch was released, an armored crate crashing into the body from above. Some form of gas had begun hissing from the container, and Blake had been one of the few who had the presence of mind to hold their breath. She had felt a hand grasp her shoulder, spinning her around as the gas mask was forcefully applied to her face. She could still hear the screams and snarls of madness beginning as the straps were tightened, the metallic click as the crate opened itself, the dull impacts as heavy objects were launched short distances. She flinched when the first shot rang out, the crate apparently having contained weapons. She had been pulled along, was still being pulled, by the mysterious figure, being led somewhere deeper into the Pit.
"Get on" came the command, and Blake looked up to see her savior kneeling down, her arms spread and hefty pointed objects appearing in her hands. Blake was too disoriented to object, and she collapsed onto the offered back.
She felt her savior's muscles ripple as she straightened up, taking a running leap onto the wall. The objects in her hands were apparently pitons, driven into the wall with brute force one at a time, each serving as a temporary handhold as the other was removed and repositioned. Her legs hung limply, occasionally bumping against her savior's as they powered up the wall. The entire situation was ridiculous, this sort of thing belonged in a low-budget action movie directed by an unknown college graduate and portrayed with D-list actors. She blinked as her savior cleared the wall, clambering to her feet on the opposite end of the Pit. It was a little difficult to tell, but it seemed as though they were running through a half-constructed tunnel, old pieces of machinery and support beams flying by on either side. Her savior finally paused in what appeared to be an abandoned break room, a single shrug of her mighty shoulders sending Blake falling to the floor. She grunted as she landed on her back, and grunted again as a heavy weight collided with her stomach, a bundle of clothes from the feel of it.
"Stay here" her savior commanded, the feminine voice confirming Blake's suspicions that she was indeed female.
Blake wanted to protest, but she lacked the energy to do much more than slowly remove her mask and wheeze as her savior dashed back into the tunnel. When she had recovered enough to move around, she quickly ascertained that it was indeed an old break room, complete with a table, four folding chairs, and lockers lining the walls. One looked as though it had been broken into already, the crowbar that had been used lying next to the partially open door. Upon inspection, Blake learned that the lockers contained food, mostly canned or dried goods, the sort of provisions that had a shelf life of centuries.
The hell is going on? she wondered, absently opening an airtight package of food, nibbling at something that tasted vaguely of cardboard. The more she thought about it, the less it made sense. Only a madman would pull together such a needlessly elaborate plan to pull a single faunus out of a crude containment facility, only to hide them deeper in the same containment facility. She sighed, leaning back against the wall as she sat down and stared at the ceiling. For whatever reason, someone had wanted her out of the Pit. She would just have to be patient if she wanted to know who they were and what they wanted.
"-better mode of transport" Sun finished, coughing a little from the rush of air into his mouth even as he tried to speak. "Your semblance is a little extreme."
"Convenient, though" Qrow countered, setting Sun down in front of the Beacon Tavern. The two walked inside, Qrow locking the door behind him as Sun pulled off his mask.
"So, what happened?" Ruby asked, poking her head out from the kitchen door.
"The twins are on their way out of the city" Qrow replied, pulling off his own mask. "Lark is still at large, and with any luck, Yang will have a fresh lead for us."
"Hmm" Ruby nodded, her expression turning quizzical. "I meant at the Vale PD. Why did you stick to the vents?"
"Your power outage lasted far longer than it should have" Qrow shrugged. "I wouldn't have been able to do much in the corridors with all the panicking officers."
"Hmm..." Ruby repeated, already beginning to retreat back towards the basement. "Perhaps I should review the code..."
"Perhaps you should go to bed" Qrow replied, smiling at the pout forming on Ruby's face. "It's nearly midnight, and you know that those eyes don't work on me."
"Alright..." Ruby pouted, quickly hugging Sun and dashing up the backstairs to her room on the second floor.
"The same goes for you, Sun" Qrow added, noticing the monkey faunus concealing a yawn behind his hand.
"Sure thing, boss" Sun winked, taking the stairs far slower than Ruby had. "Say goodnight to Yang for me, will ya?"
Qrow grunted in the affirmative, taking a seat at the bar and resting his head in his hands. It had been a long night. Still, he was responsible enough to sit up and wait for Yang, not wanting his eldest niece to not have backup if she wanted it. It was warm in the Tavern, and the few lights that were on lent the bar a cozy, fire-lit atmosphere. It reminded him of the many late nights he had spent in the Rose family lodge up in Atlas, drinking hot cocoa before a roaring fire in the main room. A melancholy smile overtook his face as he went back through his memories, reliving his past as best he could. The lodge had been where he and Summer had spent every one of their school vacations, racing through the snow by day and huddling together under a mountain of blankets by night. The lodge had been where Summer had held her honeymoon with Taiyang, Qrow having come along for the sole purpose of prying the very young Yang away from her father. The lodge had been where he had taken Yang and Ruby for their vacations, and now it was a place where he hid faunus from the rest of the world.
"If walls could talk..." he murmured to himself, a wry, nostalgic grin on his face at a few of the memories he would prefer those walls to not talk about.
His expression quickly settled back into melancholy, however, as those same memories reopened several old wounds. Sighing a deep, profound sigh, he reached over the bar and poured himself a shot of whiskey, staring long and hard into the brown liquid as if it were a crystal ball that somehow held the answers for unsolvable questions. He dug inside his cloak for a few seconds, finally pulling out an old photograph. It was summertime in the photograph, and the light fell golden through the boughs of the Emerald Forest. Five people were lined up beside the slowly dissolving corpse of a goliath, each expressing their enthusiasm in a different way. Qrow remembered taking the picture of his closest friends the day of final exams at Beacon, commemorating their joint effort that had secured themselves the top ranks in the class. Their names were as familiar to him as his own.
Astor Schnee, the then-heir to the SDC casually flipping his long white hair over his shoulder while cleaning his rapier of blood with a cloth. Erika, the blond medic who had been Astor's fiancee, standing with an arm around her future husband with a smile on her face, blissfully unaware of her impending death six years later. Hector Nikos, the heir to Nikos Industries had thrown his head back in a mighty laugh, his burgundy locks flying behind him and his arms covered in scratches and Grimm filth. Summer Rose, his precious little sister, had a proud smile on her face as she perched on the fallen goliath's tusk, waving at the camera from under her cloak. Damien Arc, the firstborn son of the Arc family and his best friend knelt by the goliath's head, a grin on his face as he gestured for Qrow to step into the picture as well.
"Twenty-three years..." Qrow muttered, swirling the whiskey in the glass as he contemplated the photograph. "Twenty-three years..."
"Hmm?" Yang's voice came from the kitchen doorway, and Qrow looked up to see his eldest niece, already changed into her work clothes, standing before him.
"Nothing, Yang" Qrow replied, tapping the photo once against the bar before stowing it away again. "Just woolgathering." He knocked back the whiskey in a single go, wincing as the hard liqueur hit his throat.
"You miss her, don't you?" Yang said, putting one hand over her uncle's.
"We all do" Qrow said, swallowing as he stood up. "We'll all talk in the morning, it's time for bed." Yang nodded, following her uncle upstairs as they each went to their own room. She would never admit it to anyone, but as she lay falling asleep, she swore she could hear the faint sound of Qrow sobbing late into the night.
[The next day]
Jaune yawned a wide, all-consuming yawn, wincing as his morning stretch aggravated a crick in his neck. He rubbed at his neck, feeling the stiff muscles unwillingly yield to his touch as his yawn turned into a groan. His mouth was a little dry and there was a moderate pressure in his head, but otherwise his hangover wasn't too bad. He forced his back muscles into service, discovering that they were equally stiff as he straightened his posture from slumped backwards to sitting upright.
"Never again..." he groaned, twisting and turning as his back popped and cracked. He heard a minute yawn next to him, and his eyes flickered over and down just in time to catch the cutest expression on Velvet's face as she blearily blinked herself awake.
"Good morning" he said, grinning as he began to stand up. Unsurprisingly, his legs were stiff as well.
"Morning..." Velvet replied, rubbing some sleep out of her eyes.
The two went about their usual morning routine, Jaune having been told yesterday that today would be his last day at the Tavern for a very long while, potentially for the rest of his life. The next week would be filled with the arrangements for his wedding and his bachelor's party, and then there would be the requisite honeymoon, and after that, well, his father had told him he would have to find himself a new job. Despite this knowledge, Jaune prepared himself for work with a smile, fully intending to spend every last possible minute with his friends. The walk to the Tavern was as uneventful as always, at least until they got to the restaurant itself. A small crowd of people had gathered outside, many of whom Jaune recognized as regular patrons.
"Hey!" Jaune said, politely tapping one of them on the shoulder. "What's going on here?"
"Dunno" the young man replied, clutching a mug of coffee. "Some imposing gentleman came in and requested Qrow's presence, and when Qrow comes out of the kitchen, he immediately says he's closing up for the morning. Strange, if you ask me."
"Gentleman?" Jaune muttered. "Was he a little taller than me, grey hair, green suit, omnipresent coffee mug and cane?"
"No..." the man mused, sipping his own coffee. "In fact, he kinda looked like you."
Jaune didn't wait to hear any more of the man's comments, shoving his way to the front of the crowd and using the spare key Qrow had given him to open the door. He sighed in relief as he looked inside, seeing both Qrow and his father sitting peacefully, if tensely, at the bar. Bottles of beer were set before them, and the two were conversing in low-hushed tones. Quietly closing the door and relocking it, Jaune turned to face the crowd.
"I'm sorry" he proclaimed, "But the Tavern will not be reopening any time soon today due to family business. Please do come again!" Jaune waved politely as the crowd dispersed, smiling all the while. Still, he wondered at why his father had come to personally talk to Qrow. To hear his boss tell it, they had barely been on speaking terms since the end of the war.
Whatever it is... he thought to himself, waving the last few customers off with Velvet. I'm sure it has some deeper purpose than just a friendly 'hello'.