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I watched my hand tremor.
It could have been caused by so many things. The meds, Mother's influence on me, or something else entirely.
My hand still shook.
I clenched it into a fist. I wanted to draw my weapon but there was nothing to slay. I was sick. And what was the best I could hope for in terms of recovery? Nothing in the longest term. Maybe even nothing on the shortest term view, either.
Ruby and Weiss were all I had to keep me going. And they did after I ran into my sisters. That had been hard. It had been difficult to see them. It had jarred me more than a little to see Lavender, Violet, and Saphron. I could only imagine what seeing the others would do to me. And I was doomed to run into them eventually.
I could feel them on the surface of my mind. Crawling around on the surface of my skin.
"Launch is in two months," Ironwood debriefed. "And I have more to share with you. However…" he leveled a look at me. He wasn't sure if he could share it with me. Everyone else, sure. But me, the possible traitor, it was harder to tell.
"We can trust him, James. He brought the relic to us after all," Oscar tapped his cane against the ground in an Ozpin like fashion. "And he killed Tyrian. Who knows what damage he could have caused in the city if Cloud hadn't stopped him."
"Very well. It concerns the winter maiden. She passed. Winter Schnee is now the winter maiden."
"Is she well…?" Weiss trailed off. Concerned for her sister. I watched Ruby give her hand a comforting squeeze from my position closest to the door.
"She's recuperating," Ironwood informed her. "The process of transferring the power is not entirely easy on a person. Fria is gone, however."
The winter maiden is dead. Long live the winter maiden.
"Should be easier to hide this way. The bunker was a bit conspicuous," I muttered, arms crossed by the elevator. "I was able to find out what was in it. There's no reason Cinder wouldn't have been able to learn about it too."
"I should hope that trade military secrets are harder to come by than that and that you are the exception rather than the rule," Ironwood returned.
"Then be disappointed and surprised. Cinder was able to find the fall and spring maidens. Then she killed them. She's dangerous and resourceful," I shot back. "Why wouldn't she be able to find winter?"
"We'll be doing everything we can to keep Winter safe while she learns how to use her powers. In the meantime we will be relying on you and Ace Ops to hold off Cinder when she comes. Or to take her down," Ironwood calmly stated.
"She's in town according to my criminal contacts." Qrow gave me a look at that.
"You built up a network? Earned some favors?" He asked.
"Pretty much."
"How good is it?"
"It's decent but it's got holes in it. My sisters were able to dodge detection and attack us. Three of them. The same three that attacked you all in Argus."
Qrow nodded but he eyed me warily enough. Which was fair I suppose. I deserved to be watched. I needed to be watched. Who knows what might come roaring through the cracks in my psyche. At least Qrow was watching me. He was onto me. That was good news. I trusted him to do his duty when it came to me where some people like Ruby or Weiss might falter. He'd kill me if he had to. Or try to, at least. I wasn't sure where we would come up these days in a fight.
I might still have an edge on him. But he still had decades more experience than I did. I had more combat time relative to my time alive than anybody else on the planet except maybe Penny and I was pretty sure I had her beat in that department.
"What about Robyn winning the election?" Yang asked. "Are you going to tell her about the tower?"
"She knows," I said. "She found out from the same source I did. I was there."
"I need to jam these leaks…" Ironwood muttered. "Though that explains why she's been leaving the supply trucks alone and hasn't brought up changing their course anymore. How long did she find out ago?"
"Maybe a week before my voluntary incarceration. So like three or four weeks ago."
"I've got a meeting with her about keeping my council seat. I could use every edge I could get. Do you know anything else, Mr. Strife?"
"Not really. She's got a lie detection semblance."
Yang let out a low whistle. "That's handy."
"The range is short but it works. I saw it in action."
"I already knew that. Do you have anything else for me?" Ironwood asked.
"One of the members of the Happy Huntresses has the ability to make an invisibility field. That's about it for me, though."
Ironwood blinked. "I didn't know about that."
"I can do some more digging around. All my contacts owe me a big helping of favors."
"Do it," Ironwood ordered. "I want to know all of the Happy Huntresses' semblances."
"I can go with," Qrow grunted.
"If you insist," I returned. "I'll probably mostly just be making calls on my scroll. Not even sure if I'm headed into town but if I am I'll shoot you a message."
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I made my calls once the meeting was adjourned down in my room. I'd just come back and meet with Ironwood before the meeting he had with Robyn Hill.
"Bisque here."
"Hey Bisque. It's Cloud. I need to know about the Happy Huntresses' semblances."
"Calling in some of your favors, I see."
"Don't even start. You owe me a blank check after I pulled your asses out of that fire."
"Well you already know about May's semblance. The invisibility field. But Fiona Thyme's got this wicked matter absorption semblance. It's touch based but she can just snatch up a whole plane if she needs to. Figuratively putting it in her pocket."
"Is that all of them?" I asked.
"Not quite. They have another member. Joanna Greenleaf. Her semblance is more combat oriented. It's super strength."
I typed a note of all that in my scroll so I wouldn't forget it.
"I'll give you a call if I need anything else."
"You're all business, Cloud. You could stand to relax," Bisque voice came through the little speaker a touch teasing.
"I relax all the time. Just not with you. Nothing personal."
"Who do you relax with?" He wondered. He sounded actually curious. Too bad. I wasn't about to tell him it was my two girlfriends.
"None of your business. Is that all you can give me on the Happy Huntresses?" I asked. Ironwood would want to know more if I could get it.
"Pretty much. Maybe there are a few details I'm forgetting but that's about it," he answered. "That's the important stuff. Their semblances. They all use crossbows. Including Hill herself. The others use these staves."
"Tell me about the weapons."
"They're crossbow staves. I don't know." I could imagine him shrugging. He really was clueless. He needed to be taking in these kinds of details. It could save his life against hunters.
"What kind of bolts do they fire?" I pressed him further. "Are they magnetic accelerated rounds? Do they use dust bolts?"
"They're not magnetic or anything like that but the bolts can probably be modified with dust, yeah." He said. "A lot of weapons are like that. Easy to modify with dust. My new gun is like that too."
"How big are the bolts?" I demanded.
"Coin sized. Maybe, one tenth piece. Then they're a few inches long. Four or five. Hill's weapon has these blades on it too. It's like some kind of fan or accordian. It's got blades to either side of it. But it's a crossbow as well," he answered.
"Thanks. Keep an eye out for the people on my list and contact me as soon as you hear anything. It's important," I returned. "People could die."
"I'll let you know if I run into anything on them. Taurus hasn't been by again. He must be laying low. Not everyone has an illusionist like you do. Some of us lowly people have to play hide and seek with the law."
"Boo hoo," I deadpanned. "I feel so sorry for your terrorist asses. Just let me know about the list. These people are bad news on a good day. They don't care about faunus rights. They actively want good people to die."
"Alright, alright. We'll keep an ear to the ground. See you around, Cloud," he began to wrap up the conversation.
"Laters," I hung up on him.
I shot Ironwood a message. He fired one back almost instantly with his implant. He didn't have a scroll. He had a thing in his head. The orders were to kick back until he got some free time. He was a busy guy, after all. I practically just left one meeting with him. I just hoped it wouldn't be too late before his meeting with the leader of the Happy Huntresses. My information could give him an edge.
"Hey kid. We headed into town?" Qrow asked me.
"Doesn't look like it. I got what I needed. Just off the one phone call."
"We haven't had the chance to talk," Qrow said.
"Sorry. I guess we both were busy. Don't tell me you missed me."
"Don't give me that snark. I'm not sure I like you around my nieces. Knowing what we know now. You turned on us. Even if it wasn't on purpose. I'm not sure I like the idea of you and Ruby alone."
"Ruby keeps me sane," I defended. "I need that in my life. I'd lose it without her. I'm pretty sure she likes being alone around me, too."
"Kids don't always know what's good for them. That's when an adult like me has got to step in."
"I can't help but notice you're talking to me alone about this rather than with her. What? Do you know she wouldn't take it well?"
"Come on kid. You can't tell me you think you're good for her. Do the right thing."
"What the fuck is the right thing?" I wondered. As though this asshole knew what the fuck the right thing was.
"Staying away from the people you could hurt. I did it cuz' of my semblance when I was younger. Hell, I did it my whole life. It was the right thing to do," he lectured gruffly.
"So I should leave again? That would break her heart," I argued back.
"In the short term. But she would be alive. Or doesn't that matter to you?" He asked rhetorically.
"It means the world to me," I countered. And it did.
"Then do the right thing. Stay away from her. Even though it hurts you. Even though it might drive you mad. I've been there. It sucks but it's what things like you and I have to do." He didn't call us people. We didn't deserve to be called such.
"I can't. I just got her back."
"Damn it, boy! It's what you should do! She'd move on eventually. Even if you never do," he was shouting at me in my room now.
"Uncle Qrow?" There was a small but firm voice from behind him. It was Ruby. Her eyes were fierce. "Leave him alone."
Qrow sighed. He shook his head but he left. He knew he couldn't beat her. It was what she wanted.
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"Cloud?"
"Ruby," I answered.
"Do you think you'll have kids?" She asked. She laid on my chest in my Atlas Academy bunk. She was so small. She fit comfortably on top of me and I traced small circles on her back with my fingers as we lay together.
"Probably not. I hate my father for consigning me to this." I waved my free hand down at my body. "It would be immoral for me to have children. To do the same thing to somebody else. It would be selfish," I responded.
"What if Salem was gone?" She pressed on. Her palm flat against my chest. I needed her to understand but I didn't want to break her big ol' Ruby heart.
"Well… maybe. That's a big if, though. I've never really thought about it. Where's this coming from?"
"I've always wanted a big family," she returned. "And I want you."
"Gotcha…" I was quiet for a long time but it seemed like she was content to wait for me to speak again, her big silver eyes looking up at me. Something large in them… so I thought about it. Mostly aloud but I gave it some thought. "I don't know what to tell you, Ruby. What if I'm just passing along the worst parts of my life? The mind control? I can't do that to somebody. I wouldn't wish that on my enemies. Let alone my own children."
"What if you're not? It would be a new life. It would be something wonderful." She put her chin on my chest and looked up at me while I held her in my arms. I paused in tracing shapes on her.
"Another big if. At least to me," I confirmed.
"Do you want kids, though. Do you want them? You've just been bringing up reasons you shouldn't have them."
"I really don't know. I hate my own parents. Like I really hate them for doing this to me." I gestured at my body like it meant something. "It's hard to imagine my own children not hating me. I don't want that, couldn't live with myself that way."
"We might never know unless we try."
"Could you do that to someone that you love? Could you do that to your children? Experiment with their life like that?"
"It was always going to be an experiment. That's what having children is."
"That's fucked," I said. "A baby would have no defense against Salem. We'd be raising Saphron or any of my sisters again."
"What if you already destroyed her body so much that she wasn't capable of that. What if you got the ideal scenario."
"We don't even know if that will work…"
"So, 'no.' You don't want kids."
"I don't want to shut you down. Not if it's something you always wanted. You could always find somebody else. Especially after I'm dead."
She hit my chest with her tiny fist. "I don't want somebody else. I need you."
"I don't know what to tell you. I might not be long for this world. I want you to be ready for that."
"I don't want to lose you. I can't imagine my whole life without you. Like that last month. It sucked. It hurt so much. I can't imagine that for years and years."
"Ruby… I will die from this," I leveled it against her. The raw truth.
"Stop saying that," she protested.
"Ruby…" I trailed.
"I don't want you to go," she dropped a nail in my coffin with that. It felt like she took years off my life by saying that line.
"I've got to go." I returned gently. "You'll still have Weiss," I reminded her softly. I kissed at her but her lips didn't move against my own. I drew back after a moment. The kiss was sad and passionless. I planted another on her forehead soft and reassuring as I could make it.
"I need you both. I told you that," she fired back.
I squeezed her close to me. She let out a little groan as I did, it was practically a squeak.
"I don't want to die either. I'd rather stay here with you," I sighed. "But this is the burden of my life. The curse of my birth. One of them at least."
"Sometimes it doesn't seem like that. Sometimes it seems like you want to die."
"Sometimes I do. Maybe a little. Can you blame me?"
I realized Ruby was crying. Soft silvery tears falling from her eyes like mercury. I brushed them away as best as I could. It left my thumb and her cheeks wet.
"Rubes…"
"I don't want you to go. I'll find a way to save you."
"I hate to see your heart breaking over this. Over me."
"You're worth it. You know that, don't you? You're worth getting upset over losing," she pleaded with me.
I was human garbage. Why couldn't she see that? I was trash and I was meant to be thrown away. That's what I was supposed to do and be. It's what would happen, too.
"Stop. It." She snarled up at me. She hit me again. Fairly hard. It was like she could read my thoughts. She surprised me. I looked down at her in shock. Her fury surprised me. It was raw and full of power. I could taste it on her aura where before there had been sadness and melancholy there was a touch of rage now.
"Rubes…"
"You're worth it. I won't abandon you. I'll not leave you, my loved one."
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-WG
