A Day to Remember Part 2

[Red Light District]

"Hah...hah…." the sound of heavy breathing filled the hallway, the musty glow of sunlight filtered through debris and dust illuminating the scene. Neptune swallowed, hearing the breathing growing closer with staggering, irregular footsteps. He glanced around the room that he and the SWAT had secured. They had holed up at first to avoid Qrow's sniper fire, and had reinforced the room when it became apparent that Qrow and Damien's duel had explosively crossed the street into their building. The few SWAT that weren't injured were busy tending to those who were, even if the treatment was more palliative than anything else. Only Sage looked back calmly and nodded.

Both took up rifles borrowed from the SWAT, and Neptune peeked around the corner. A figure cloaked in black was slowly drawing closer to them, leaning heavily on the haft of its scythe. Drawing his head back, Neptune braced himself against the wall. The fight between Damien and Qrow had been quiet for a little while now, and evidently Qrow had managed to walk away. If he had ever been unsure of Qrow's combat prowess, seeing him survive an encounter with Damien dispelled it. He did not want to step out into that corridor and confront the approaching figure. Doing so, even with Qrow as exhausted as he was, still felt tantamount to suicide. But, he had his orders. Damien wanted Qrow to be brought in, and that's what Neptune would, must, do. Nodding at Sage, the two stepped out into the corridor and sighted down their guns.

Neptune's intended shout died in his throat as his mouth went dry and his blood ran cold. Qrow was no more than thirty feet away from them, his face half concealed with shadows, his body dragging and blood dripping from his wounds and scythe. His grey eyes bored straight through Neptune, a gaze filled with such a powerful hatred and bloodlust that his body froze in terror. The old soldier slowly drew nearer, muttering under his breath. Though the words could have been anything, Neptune couldn't help but perceive them as threats. He screamed internally at himself, to gather his senses for just two seconds and shoot the monster in front of him, but he could not. He watched in silent horror as Qrow drew closer. Reached them. Passed them. Walked away…

"Ruby…" Qrow muttered, putting one foot in front of the other. "Yang… Ruby… Yang… Summer… Raven…"

Each name drove him one step further, forced him to keep walking despite his wounds and exhaustion. He needed to escape, find someplace to rest for a while before confronting Damien again. He had covered for his nieces' escape, and that was all he needed to do for now. Vengeance could wait. Damien wouldn't stay trapped under that debris forever. His family needed him to live.

"Summer…" Qrow went on, exiting the building and slowly moving down the street. "Yang… Ruby… Taiyang… Ruby… Yang… Summer…"

He fell against a wall, somehow keeping himself standing. His muscles screamed at him to just lie down, his body demanded rest. Ignoring the pain, Qrow again put one foot in front of the other, growling as the wall rubbed against his wounds.

"Ruby… Summer… Yang…" Qrow kept reciting the names of his family, fighting the slow darkening of his vision.

He just had to make it a little farther. Just a little more and he could hide in the sewers, just another half-street before he could curl up into a ball and sleep. He braced himself against the wall and kept going, using his scythe as a walking stick as his legs rapidly grew more and more leaden. Without even realizing how it happened, he found himself on one knee, pain flaring in his wrist as he reflexively stopped his fall. Growling with the effort, he struggled to rise. He failed and slid down the wall until he was sitting with his leg awkwardly curled beneath him. He wanted nothing more than to close his eyes for a few precious moments, to rest and recover, but now wasn't the time for that. He had to get up, move on and escape.

"Hagh…" an angry grunt came from behind him, and Qrow twisted his head to see Damien slowly staggering towards him.

The old general looked like he had been through hell, Qrow noted with an irrational surge of pride. His fatigues were a mess, blood dripped from multiple wounds, his right arm dangled uselessly below the elbow. His aura was glowing, slowly undoing the damage, but Qrow could tell that it was flagging. His left arm was halfway raised, the custom pistol Summer had made for him swaying in his grip. Damien struggled forwards, finally standing in exhausted victory over his fallen opponent.

"...get up" Damien demanded after a few seconds.

"...what?" Qrow grunted through his heavy breathing.

"Get up" Damien repeated gesturing upwards with the barrel of his gun. "Fight me."

"..." Qrow stared at Damien, unable to move.

"Get up" Damien repeated, holstering the gun and grabbing Qrow by the shoulder. He hauled upwards until Qrow somehow found his footing again.

"What… what do you want?" Qrow asked, slowly convincing his body to ignore its tired and wounded state as he focused on Damien.

"If we're going to kill each other" Damien said, squaring off against Qrow. "We're going to do it properly. I'm not just going to shoot you like a rabid dog."

For a moment, Qrow could still see the vestiges of the man he once knew shining through Damien's twisted visage. The man who had been a hero in his own time, a legend, even. He knew that the Damien before him was only offering this chance to keep his conscience clear, but the fact that he offered at all spoke to the man he once was. He glanced down at the scythe in his hand. It was still sharp, even after all this time, thanks greatly to his sister's guidance in forging and maintaining it. Sure, it was slick with blood, covered in old nicks and scratches, but it was still ruggedly serviceable.

He looked up at Damien, evidently waiting for Qrow to match his guard. They were both tired, almost out of aura, and above all, old. They were both relics of a bygone time when every promising young student was almost forced into becoming a Hunter, warriors that had outlived their purpose. Checking his mental watch, Qrow sighed in grim satisfaction. His nieces should be long gone from Vale by now. His fight was over. Steadily, he raised his head with pride and stared Damien dead in the eye.

"No" Without regret, he let his scythe fall.

[Downtown Vale]

Ren, despite his best attempts to hide it, was visibly bored. Jaune's party was as safe as could be expected, regular security and his current popularity more than enough to ward off any hostility. To top it all off, the conversation was almost entirely that shallow and vapid thoughts of upper class brats who lived off their parents' money and influence. The little that wasn't utterly boring was invariably centered around politics, a topic Ren rarely concerned himself with. Though Ren knew he was entirely capable of dealing with watching this situation play out, he wondered how Jaune was able to so deftly maneuver through this crowd. Jaune matched his conversational finesse to his partners, engaged in intellectual debate on all topics without offending anyone, and did it all with a smile on his face and a tone of genuine interest. He either had a highly mutable personality, somehow actually cared about everyone in the room, or was possessed of acting skills comparable to a professional.

What a waste… Ren thought idly to himself. He could have had a wonderful career on stage if his father actually let him…

His gaze swept the crowd yet again, the motion mostly mechanical at this point. Then he rapidly backtracked, his senses telling him he had missed something significant. He scanned the crowd until he found what he was looking for, the soft brown tufts of bunny ears. The faunus that they belonged to was backed into a corner and looked like she wanted to disappear into her own shadow. A faunus maid, to be precise, who decidedly wasn't a member of the wait staff. She looked nervous, overwhelmingly so, and was fidgeting with something in her hands.

After taking a glance around to reaffirm that Jaune was safe, Ren easily drifted into the crowd. Steadily making his way across the floor, he studied the faunus in more detail. She was wearing a maid outfit of exceptional quality, her eyes were fixated on the object in her hands, which Ren soon realized was a phone. His curiosity only rising, Ren pressed forward. He was close enough now to differentiate her aura from among the surrounding guests…

Ren paused. Her aura was unlocked, not fully developed, but still unlocked. Further, his suspicions were only growing as he noticed the subtle signs that served as identifiers to those who read auras. He had seen this faunus before, though she hadn't been dressed that way at the time. She had been wearing jeans and a hoodie, and standing next to…

"Paladin" Ren muttered, his face hardening into a professional mask as he prepared to isolate and interrogate the faunus.

"The vigilante?" Jaune said, and Ren instantly spun around, wondering how Jaune had managed to get so close without him noticing.

"I mean, who else could it be?" Jaune continued, a smile on his face. "You do work for the VCT, after all. That's what you're really here for, isn't it?"

"Partially" Ren admitted, figuring Jaune had heard from his father. "Now, there's a suspicious figure that I…"

"Nonsense" Jaune smoothly overrode Ren's argument, waving off the soldier's complaints with a cheerful smile. "They'd never make it past security."

"With all due respect" Ren growled. "There are elements in this city that could easily waltz into this hall. It is my job to ensure your safety until General…"

"Bah!" Jaune exclaimed, ignoring Ren and downing his champagne in one go. "Enough about my father and his paranoia, just relax! Nobody's going to kill me now, not after all these years."

Ren barely reacted as Jaune snatched his champagne away, downing it as well in one expert gulp. He had expected Jaune to be cavalier, but not this cavalier. He seemed totally unconcerned that an unknown factor was infiltrating his party. Turning his head, Ren mentally cursed. In the short time Jaune had distracted him, the faunus maid had disappeared. His eyes immediately made a sweep of the room. Locking onto the merest glimpse of brunette hair disappearing behind an "Employees Only" door, Ren slipped through the crowd and pushed the door open himself. It was an empty hallway, with a few closed doors on either side. He relaxed, calming his aura and extending his senses outwards as he slowly paced forwards.

Ren's eyes snapped to a specific door. He could sense a jumpy, panicky aura behind it, and he drew one of his Stormflowers as he silently slid next to the door. Gently, he tested the handle and found it unlocked. Holding the gun at chest height, he threw the door open and swept the room, ending with his sights trained on the very surprised rabbit faunus.

"Hands up, now!" he barked, and she hastily complied, fumbling the phone and wincing as it clattered to the floor.

He paced forwards, slowly drawing close to the faunus maid. Even without being able to sense her aura, Ren could tell that she was terrified of him. Her hands shook as she held them as high as she could, tears beginning to stand out in her eyes fixed on the barrel of his gun. Ren's own eyes narrowed, looking her up and down critically. Yes, she had to be the same faunus he had seen accompanying Paladin that night. Which logically meant that Paladin was here, at the party…

"Who's your owner?" Ren asked, softening his voice a little.

"J-Jaune Arc…" she squeaked, jumping at the question.

That gave Ren pause, as his mind worked backwards through his encounters with Paladin and Jaune. He remembered the vigilante's blazing aura, shining like a ray of hope. And Jaune, he knew the socialite had an aura, General Arc had brought up his boy to be just like him after all, but was it the same? Jaune had seemed to be suppressing his aura during the party…

"Who are you?" he asked, another soft question.

"Velvet…" she whimpered, and Ren slowly lowered the gun. She wasn't going to run, and even if she did, he was between her and the only exit.

"Velvet" he replied. "I'm Ren, a VCT Officer deployed to this city to help keep the peace. And you're going to answer my questions, alright?"

Velvet visibly shook, but managed to cautiously nod her head. She knew that she had very little choice in this, fight or flight both were impossible for the moment. Then she gasped, freezing for a critical instant as Ren closed the gap between them and grasped her around the throat. Not yet squeezing, but his grip was unshakable.

"You were there that night" Ren stated, feeling Velvet's pulse race under his fingers. "When Paladin and I fought. I know you were, I remember the feel of your aura. Tell me, is Jaune the vigilante known as Paladin?"

"No…." Velvet whimpered after a long moment of silence. A lie, Ren could feel it in her heartbeat and shifting aura.

"He is, isn't he?!" he demanded, more forcefully this time as his grip tightened a little.

[Vale Airspace]

The engines of the bullhead roared as Yang eased the unwieldy aircraft off the ground. Rising steadily to cruising height, she transitioned to horizontal flight and, with a heavy heart, set the nav for Atlas. The city rolled beneath them, but Yang kept her eyes firmly on the horizon. She wouldn't look down. She couldn't, or she wouldn't be able to resist the urge to go look for Qrow. He was an experienced soldier, right? He'd gotten out of worse situations, surely he'd find a way out of Vale, find a way back to his family.

"I have a lock on Qrow!" Ruby called, her eyes fixed on her scroll. "He's at Ninth and Viceroy, only a few blocks from the bar!"

"...what about the police?" Yang asked.

"They're…..oh my god" Ruby replied, shocked. "The bar...the Tavern is...it's gone!"

"What?!" Yang said, whipping her head around.

"It's all over the news" Sun said, taking the scroll from Ruby's shaking grip. "Seems the SWAT raided the bar looking for Qrow, and the whole building collapsed in on them. The bomb squad is sweeping the area to locate any undetonated ordinance…"

"He blew up the bar?!" Yang demanded, aghast.

"And attacked the police vans outside" Sun added, his face pale. "Early reports are guessing at an eighty five plus percent casualty rate…"

"We need to get him out of there!" Ruby panicked. "He won't last long with the whole city searching for him!"

Yang wanted to agree, to turn the bullhead around and swoop down to the rescue and pluck Qrow off the streets. They needed the old hunter's presence and experience to keep everything stable and running smoothly. But what could they possibly do? If they didn't leave Vale's airspace soon, they'd end up getting caught or followed to Atlas, which was even worse. Swallowing hard, Yang pushed the throttle and fed more power to the engines, pointing the aircraft towards Atlas. She did her best to ignore Ruby's increasingly frantic pleading to go help Qrow, closing her eyes on her own tears as Sun had to drag Ruby away from the cockpit when she made to grab the controls herself.

"..." Blake awkwardly gave Yang's shoulder a gentle pat, trying and failing to come up with the right words. Nothing seemed to fit, so after a few moments she retreated from the cockpit and left the blonde brawler alone.

I'm sorry, Qrow... Yang repeated in her head, as if the words could somehow lessen the pain of leaving him behind.

They travelled for some minutes in silence, Yang holding back tears as she pushed the bullhead towards the border, Sun comforting Ruby with a gently rocking hug, Blake sitting alone with her thoughts. They had cleared the city and were pushing towards the coast when an ear-splitting wail rang through the whole aircraft, and all eyes turned towards Ruby. She was shivering, her eyes covered-too late-by Sun as her scroll clattered to the floor.

[Red Light District]

"No?" Damien growled, his head twitching as the scythe clattered to the street.

"No" Qrow repeated. "I'm done, Damien. Just...done."

"Pick it up" Damien demanded, then again when Qrow refused. "PICK IT UP!"

Qrow shook his head, police sirens beginning to scream closer. Damien drew his pistol, once again ordering Qrow to take up his weapon and fight. Qrow held his arms out to the side in response, spreading what was left of his cloak and giving Damien a clear shot. Damien's face contorted with rage and pain, his hand shaking as the sirens drew closer. His brain registered the slightly higher pitched drone of a civilian aerial vehicle, but ignored it in favor of focussing entirely on Qrow. He was resigned, surrendering even, but in his grey eyes smouldered an everlasting hatred of everything Damien had become. They were an accusation, hurling the truth of what he had done back at him with every ounce of righteous rage he deserved.

Both men flinched as the shot rang out, Qrow staggering back and drawing his arms in reflexively. Damien looked down, and saw that his finger had indeed curled around the trigger. Police cars screeched to a halt nearby as Qrow fell to the ground soundlessly, a dark pool spreading out onto the street. Damien himself was grabbed by an officer, dragging him towards a car as the man shouted something about safety. Letting his exhaustion take over, Damien leaned his back against the police cruiser and slumped slowly to the ground. Unable to take his eyes off of Qrow's unmoving body, he finally managed to choke out the word his brain had been screaming at him ever since the bullet had struck home.

"Medic…." he gasped, a thousand white hot needles crawling beneath his skin as his vision faded.

[Downtown Vale]

The party continued, as parties did, and nobody thought twice when Jaune quietly extracted himself from the crowd to go get refreshed. After all, it was his special day, and if he needed some quiet after the pounding beats of DJ Deadbear, then that was fine by his guests. It also helped that Cardin took over as master of ceremonies and immediately started an electronic dance party. Once in the side hall, Jaune sighed and intentionally yawned as his ears rang. He had ducked out not only because he needed to refresh his image, but also because he had seen Ren following Velvet out of the hall. Concerned, he slowly crept up to the door of his dressing room.

"I-I-I-I c-can't answer that!" Velvet stuttered, fear evident in her voice.

"You really should" came Ren's voice, "while I'm still being nice. I could take you down to the station and really make you sing…"

Jaune opened the door with a sharp motion, slipping in with practiced ease. Ren's hand was still locked around Velvet's throat, his entire being unusually tense. Without hesitation, Jaune launched forward, catching Ren as he began to turn and dragging him bodily off of Velvet. Ren retaliated by grabbing Jaune's hair, twisting and freeing himself from the bearhug. Still holding Jaune's head, Ren brought his knee up and drove it forcefully into Jaune's face. Aura flared, and Ren found himself staggering back from a titanic punch to the chest. He stumbled and collapsed onto the ground, with Jaune not far behind as the blond pressed his advantage.

"What were you doing to her?!" Jaune demanded, getting control of one of Ren's arms and pinning the soldier down.

"Just asking a few questions" Ren replied, glaring up at Jaune as he grabbed Jaune's shoulder and bucked his hips hard, throwing the young man off him and into the wall. "Though it seems I've got my answer now…"

Backing up, Ren drew both of his stormflowers and pointed one each at Jaune and Velvet. They all awkwardly stood in a standoff, with Velvet shaking like a leaf, Jaune concerned, and Ren smugly confident.

"You are the vigilante known as Paladin" Ren stated. "And I think we have much to discuss…"

Author's Note:

So, about that 1-2 week update time...my sincerest apologies. Life decided to get in the way, both in academic and nonacademic ways. Thankfully I have more freedom now that summer has rolled around again. I can't commit to weekly updates, but I do intend to have Rebellion finished or nearly finished by the end of August. Thank you all for your patience, and for following me through this story that will not die.