Sun II – Decompression

After the Fall, Day 2, Morning

Sun decided to stick around the club until sunrise to give Junior an opportunity to sleep. The club owner didn't take much convincing, but his men were watching Sun like hawks. Thankfully, Sun was able to keep everyone calm and there weren't any Grimm incidents in the few hours he was in charge. The real problem came when he made his way back to his team as the sun began rising. When Sun saw the panicked looks on his teammates faces, he knew he fucked up. Neptune practically threw himself at him, wrapping his arms around his middle. "Sun! Man, where have you been?"

Scarlet looked very displeased. "We woke up at 3 in the morning and you were gone."

Sun hugged Neptune back. Finding the body yesterday was probably still be gnawing at him. He felt the guilt begin wrapping itself around his heart. Shit. I really fucked up. He let out a nervous chuckle. "Yeah, sorry about that, man. I just lost track of time." As Neptune separated himself from Sun, Sun continued. "Didn't you try my scroll?"

Sage cleared his throat, holding up a very familiar looking scroll with narrowed eyes. Sun felt his mouth widen in a nervous grin. Scarlet glared at him. "No, we never once thought to do that."

Neptune's laughed and punched Sun in the shoulder. The laugh was hollow, and the punch was harder than normal. "Typical Sun, running off without a plan."

Sun couldn't really argue with that. He offered his hand to Scarlet, who helpfully placed his scroll in it. "I won't forget again. Sorry guys." The rest of his team just stared at him, unmoved. Sun knew he had an issue with being forgetful, but he never felt as guilty about it as he did at that moment. He lowered his head, tail drooping down to his ankles. "Honestly guys, I'm really sorry."

Neptune smiled, but was still not himself. "You're fine, man."

Scarlet sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "It's fine Sun. What's a bit of panic between friends, right? But you're going to tell us where you have been all night when we get back. We have another shift."

Sun ran a hand through his hair. Time for round 2. "Yeah, just let me change my shirt and I'll-"

Sage placed his hand on Sun's shoulder and shook his head. Sage had once told them that he still thought his voice sounded too feminine, so he only spoke when he had to. "Goodwitch said you're resting, got it."

Sun wanted to argue with him, but the hours were piling up on him and his team did not look like they would listen. "…Yeah, okay I'll get some sleep. Watch each other's backs will ya?"

They all nodded but Sage didn't move away. "Sun"

"Yeah"

Sage pulled back and punched him full in the face, sending him over a bed and to the floor with a crash. When Sun pulled himself to his feet, he saw Sage glaring at him and Neptune and Scarlet staring at Sage. After a moment, Sage let out a breath and grinned. "Now we're good. Don't scare us like that, Sun" Sage simply turned and left, followed by the confused Scarlet and Neptune.

Sun rubbed a hand over his slowly bruising face, Aura focusing on the damage. Sage was usually the most subdued member of SSSN. I must have really worried him. Man, I'm an idiot. Sun stripped off his clothes and laid on his bed, forcing his Aura to stop healing his soon to be black eye. He deserved to hurt a bit for being so scatterbrained, just as long as it didn't affect him in combat. He placed his hands behind his head and stared at the ceiling.

He could feel his body trying to relax, but his mind was still racing. Was his team going to be okay without him? Should he be running around the city looking for Blake? Will Juniors people find her and not turn her into the police? Sun focused on his breathing, like his uncle had taught him and eventually fell asleep.

When his team returned. Sun sat up and began getting dressed while they sat on the bed next to him. "How'd it go, guys?"

Neptune smiled wide. "We found some families sheltering in a half-destroyed building. Only some bumps and bruises!" Sage looked away from the excited Neptune and shook his head lightly with a slight smile on his face. Scarlet chuckled slightly and pat Neptune on the back.

Sun grinned. "That's great news!"

Scarlet turned to him. "It's nice to have some good news. Do you have any news from last night?"

Sun smiled and told them about what happened last night, glossing over the death of the kids' father to not drop his teams morale. They were still worried when he brought up Ruby and Yang. "So, she still hasn't woke up?" Asked Neptune, looking down at the ground.

Sun shook his head. "No, but I'm sure she will. Ruby's not one to sleep when there are Grimm to kill?"

The rest of the team chuckled at that. After a moment, Scarlet gave him a significant look. "So, how's Blake?"

Sun had wondered when that question would come up. "That's what I was spending the rest of the night doing." Their heads swiveled to stare incredulously at him. "What's with that reaction?" Then his wording hit him like a truck. "Shit! No, that's not what I meant!" His team somehow raised their eyebrows simultaneously. Sun turned even redder. "I'm serious! Look…" Sun then told them about the police looking for Blake, Yang asking him to find her, and meeting with Junior. He made sure not to tell them about Yang crying or how emotionally damaged she was.

Neptune seemed to be thinking harder than he usually did. "Are you sure you can trust Junior?"

Sun gave them a reassuring smile and spoke honestly. "I think we all have to work together to keep Vale in one piece and Junior appreciated that I was direct with what I wanted, paid up front, and helped him out when he needed it."

Scarlet looked unconvinced. "You do remember he is a criminal, right?"

Sun laughed. "Criminals aren't usually working with the Grimm." His team still looked worried, but Sun needed to tell them how committed he was. "Even if they go against the deal, I made a promise and I intend to keep it."

There was a heavy silence between them that lasted several minutes. Sun's teammates looked between themselves and him while Sun kept his gaze firmly forward. It was Sage who broke the silence. "We understand you are committed, but what are you going to do when we leave Vale if you haven't found her."

Sun smirked and his team sighed in unison. Neptune seemed like he was going to say something before Professor Goodwitch knocked on the door and called in. "Mr. Wukong, may I speak with you?"

Sun got up and moved to the door, giving Goodwitch a wide grin. "Yes, ma'am?"

"Are you prepared for another night mission? Huntsman Snow is requesting your assistance."

Sun looked back at his team, who looked at each other before nodding to him. Neptune called out. "Don't forget your phone this time!"

Day 2, Evening

Snow waved Sun over as soon as he entered the marshalling area. As he moved over, he saw the same group he traveled with the previous night. Velvet gave him a bright smile that he happily returned before turning to Snow. "Sun Wukong, reporting for duty." He saluted with his staff on his shoulder and a serious look on his face. He even managed to hold it for a few seconds before a camera flash distracted and blinded him.

The usually stoic Snow let out a hearty laugh before gathering his team together and setting out like yesterday. They were going to dive deeper into Beacon, closer to the stone dragon and the deadliest packs of Grimm. The civilians with them were very concerned, but Snow reassured them that he would keep them safe. Sun understood what the owl-faunus meant. If they were surrounded, Snow would focus on helping the civilians over Sun and Velvet. Sun had simply turned to Velvet and gave her a confident grin. Velvet returned it after a moment. Her face looked strange with such a confident expression, but it wasn't an unwelcome strangeness.

On the way to their designated search area, they checked the areas they had to avoid due to heavy Grimm activity. They found neither survivors nor fresh bloodstains so they could do nothing but hope any survivors had escaped. Their search area wasn't as filled with Grimm as Sun had expected, but what Grimm were there, were some of the more dangerous ones in Vale. The low numbers allowed Sun and Velvet to eliminate them relatively easily before checking the rubble for survivors. They were lucky enough to find some almost immediately.

May Zedong of Team BRNZ was trapped in a half-collapsed building, under a collapsed staircase. As soon as she came to, the sniper wanted to check the last place she saw her team, despite being bruised, bloody, and dehydrated. Snow had tried to talk her out of it for a moment before giving in and moving the group forward.

They found Nolan and Brawnz not far from where May last saw them. They had been knocked through the floor into a basement of a building that was then covered in rubble. Brawnz had been wounded in the fight and Nolan had spent the days since the battle keeping him alive. Thankfully, the search party brought plenty of medical supplies with them and the remaining members of Team BRNZ were soon able to move on their own. May's rifle had a night vision setting, so she helped lead her team back to the basecamp with one of the guards while the search team moved on.

They found half a dozen civilians over the rest of the night. Due to their various injuries and dehydration, the final trip back to the basecamp was slower than the previous night. When Sun looked at his scroll, he had a dozen messages from his team, mostly from Neptune. Sun quickly texted back as Snow was calmly congratulating the civilians for their excellent work. Hey guys, sorry I've been out of contact too long. We found some survivors so getting back to the safe zone was slow.

Neptune responded almost immediately. Thank the Brothers! Everything work out?

Sage's response was simple. I'm going to sleep

Sun chuckled to himself. Neptune must have been keeping him up. Yeah, worked out good. We found BRNZ.

Neptune responded by a lot of keyboard smashing, but Scarlet got a coherent question out. You found all of them? I heard Roy was carried off by a Nevermore.

Sun looked over to the room where Nolan and May were looking over their team leader. Roy's confirmed KIA, the rest should be okay.

Scarlet responded quickly. Well at least there is confirmation. Are you coming back or are you staying out for the night.

Sun turned to see Velvet moving over to talk to him. I'm a little too wound up. I'll stick to the safe zone and get a drink. Sun shut his scroll and smiled at the rabbit-faunus. "Nice work tonight. Wouldn't have been able to find all those people without ya."

Velvet shook her head. "It wasn't just me. You did a lot of good too."

Sun smiled, looking out at the group of medics helping the survivors. "You gonna be able to sleep after this?"

Her ears drooped. "Honestly, I barely slept last night, and I don't think I will tonight either."

Sun gave her his best grin. "Well I'm gonna go find a drink. Wanna come?"

Velvet's ears shot straight up as she tensed and looked away. "Oh! Uhh, sure Sun. I'd love to." When she looked back, she had a small smile and slight blush on her face.

She is dangerously adorable. Sun laughed and did an exaggerated bow. "Then follow me, Milady." She laughed at him before following.

Late Evening, Junior's

A combination of wanting to get information on Blake and not knowing what else was open, led Sun to Junior's. Velvet seemed to know the club's reputation from the look on her face but followed him in anyway. Sun grabbed a few bottles from Junior, who told him he was still looking for information, before heading to a back room to drink away from the refugees still on the main floor. They began the night with a toast to the fallen before trying to get to know each other, which quickly devolved to telling stories about their teams.

"He didn't!" Sun laughed, slapping his hand on his thigh.

Velvet laughed, face flushed from the drink. "He did! The rest of us didn't even get a chance to do anything before Coco threw the horny drunk out of the bar!"

Sun wiped a tear from the corner of his eye, face equally flushed. "I don't know where he thought he was gonna get. I was barely off the boat before I heard about Coco 'Lady-Killer' Adel!"

Velvet giggled as she shook her head. "You wouldn't believe the number of girls asking me about her in the showers."

Sun laughed, patting her hand lightly. "I usually get dudes asking after Scarlet, so I feel your pain."

Velvet's ears shot up and her blush deepened. She leaned in conspiratorially. "Really?"

Sun grinned and leaned in. "Oh yeah, back in our freshman year, he was the worst flirt. Hit on most of the men in Haven, including some of the teachers. He had a few 'meetings' walked in on."

Velvet placed a hand over her mouth to stifle her giggles. She gathered herself and took a drink before responding with a shaky smirk. "Must have been great for team building."

Sun took a drink and smirked. "Well there was a little discourse when Sage and Neptune walked in on us"

Velvet turned beet red. "'Us?' Y-you just casually-"

Sun grinned. "Oh yeah, we had some fun a couple of times before Scarlet fell head over heels for his boyfriend. He's still a flirt but not nearly as bad as he used to be."

Velvet grabbed the bottle and took a quick swig before looking back at Sun. "W-was there an issue with the team?"

Sun shook his head. "Not really, Sage just rose his eyebrow. Neptune turned bright red and started sputtering everywhere though. It took him a few weeks before he could look either of us in the eye without blushing. He's actually very pure. He is too focused on seeming cool to actually get anywhere with the ladies."

Velvet giggled. "Really?"

Sun leaned in conspiratorially. "Oh, it's true but don't tell him I told you. He is very sensitive about his appearance." Velvet giggled, nodding emphatically. Sun wondered why she was so worried about his team dynamics. He had an idea and the alcohol let it fall free of his lips before he could stop it. "Have your feelings about a teammate changed recently?"

Velvet's ears shot up again as she stared at him, suddenly looking like the stereotypical scared rabbit. "Umm, well I…yes" She looked away and reached for the bottle.

Sun snatched the bottle away before she could get a hold of it, the alcohol affecting her reaction time more than his. She gave him a shocked expression, making him laugh. "I don't want the 'Lady Killer' to kill me for bringing you back passed out." Velvet was eyeing the bottle like she wanted to jump over the table to get it, so Sun tried distracting her. "Dating a teammate is a gamble."

Velvet's eyes shot to his and she waited for him to continue, but he didn't. "That's it? That's all you have for advice?"

He laughed, taking a swig from the bottle himself. "Well, all I can say is if you want to make it serious, make sure it's not trauma acceleration."

"Trauma acceleration?"

Sun shrugged. "Something my uncle explained to me. After a big attack, the survivors want to deepen their connections to the people they know. Helps them feel alive. Most of the time, those relationships don't last long."

Velvet looked down. "I see what you mean."

Sun smiled at her, handing her the bottle which she quickly drained. Then she slammed the empty bottle down on the table hard enough to shatter it, sending glass shards flying. Sun reached over the table to check on her, but Velvet just stared at the broken bottle in her hand before bursting out laughing. Sun laughed right along with her, scooting closer and brushing the shards of glass from her arms. "I think that's a sign to stop."

Velvet dropped the remains of the bottle and doubled over laughing, holding her side. "I guess so!"

Sun laughed harder. He would have to ask Junior what that bottle was. He had never felt as warm and giddy as he did at that moment, laughing with Velvet at her own clumsiness. The laughter only increased when a goon in red shades stuck his head in, looked confused, and shut the door again. As the laughter died down Sun looked up at his drinking companion and froze. Her skin was flushed with her eyes shining with laughter. In the dark, quiet room, it felt like the battle of two nights ago was a distant memory. When she looked at him and smiled, Sun felt his heart skip a beat. He had to look away. "I see what you meant, Uncle Gyn."

Velvet wiped her eyes and leaned closer. "Did you say something, Sun?"

Sun looked her in the eyes as he thought. In the end, he saw no point in lying. "I'm feeling some acceleration."

Velvet's brow furrowed and her ears dropped slightly in thought. "Acceleration? Oh, who abo-... oh!" Her face reddened again as she scooted back from him.

Was she always this adorable? Damnit, focus, Sun! Sun kept his eyes on hers, trying to stay focused. "Yeah, I think we may have relaxed a little too much."

Velvet looked away and grabbed an ear with her hand. "Right, you probably just drank too much."

Sun didn't like the way she said that at all. He reached over and placed a hand on her shoulder, but immediately removed it when she flinched. She looked up at him with wide eyes. "The way your eyes sparkle when you laugh makes my heart hurt. The way you can run into battle and choose the perfect weapon for the job is inspiring. You're amazing Vel. I don't need alcohol or trauma to notice that and if anyone tells you different I-mmmph?"

Velvet, redder than ever, had pressed both her hands over his mouth. "Stop saying words!" She takes a few quick breaths before dropping her hands and speaking again, staring at the table. "I couldn't look at you because I was feeling the same."

"Oh" This is the part where you say something smart, Sun. "Wait, that's bad?" Damnit Sun! He raises his hands. "No, you're right. Trauma acceleration is bad." He gave her a warm smile as he remembered. "Besides, you have enough to worry about with that teammate of yours."

Velvet smiled and peeled through her bangs at him. "And you have Blake." Just like that, he was no longer warm. The walls between the destruction and this dark room weren't as thick as they used to be. The low light was no longer comforting. You KNOW she will be fine. She was a White Fang ninja who won't be caught by Grimm or police. He couldn't focus on the room despite his rationalizing thoughts, until he felt a hand on his face. Velvet was looking at him confused, her eyes slightly unfocused from the drink. "Are you okay?"

Sun placed his hand over hers. "Just worried about her."

Velvet nodded. "I talked to Yang this morning, she said that Blake was on the run."

He nodded lowering their hands from his cheek and leaning back. "She is probably lying low, but I have people looking out for her."

"People?" Sun gestured to the door with his head. "Hei Xiong? You know they are criminals, right?"

Sun gave her a smirk that made her look away with a reddening face. "Of course, but who better to find people hiding from the police then criminals?"

Velvet looked back to him with a matching smirk. "You are going to run right after her, aren't you?"

Sun spread his arms and laughed. "You know me so well already, Vel! Yang asked me to make sure she is okay, and I will."

Velvet stood up and dusted her clothes off. "Well, it sounds like you are going to have a busy night." She giggled at Sun's confused expression. She jabbed her thumb over her shoulder. "There's a woman with information for you outside the door." Her ears helpfully swivel toward the door.

Sun stood up and dusted himself off too. "In that case, I had a wonderful night, but I guess I have more work to do."

Velvet smiled. "I hope I will see for the night shift. Get some sleep. I need to know you will be able to watch my back."

"Happy to watch your back anytime!" Velvet gives him a raised eyebrow and Sun raised his hands again, looking away as his face heating up. "I-I didn't mean that to sound as suggestive as it came out." A familiar flash made Sun look back to see Velvet with her camera and a wicked grin on her face. "What was that picture for?"

Velvet turned and walked to the door. "Well I just really love your staff, Sun." She said as she turned and gave him a lecherous smile. Sun turned bright red but couldn't look away. After a moment her face turned into a grin. "As a weapon of course!"

Sun let out a sigh and covered his face, causing the rabbit-faunus to laugh again. "I thought you were supposed to be the shy one."

Velvet turned and walked out the door. "Oh, Coco just takes up all the attention. Take care, Sun!"

Sun waved after her with a grin. "You too, Vel!" When the door closed, he sat back in the chair, chuckling to himself.

After a few moments of silence, the door opened again and the black-haired girl he had seen the night before walked in, dressed in a short white dress with blades attached to her high heeled shoes. It was Melanie, the uninjured of Junior's twin lieutenants. She moved smoothly, but quickly, her body giving off the air of irritation. "Not getting lucky tonight, Monkey-boy?"

Sun grinned at the newcomer. "That depends on what news you have for me."

Melanie smirked and sat on the table next to him. "Don't get too ahead of yourself." She tossed a data chip to him.

Sun clipped it into his scroll and pulled up the address. "Is this where she is?"

Melanie picked up a piece of glass from the table, holding it up to the low light. "No, it's a place where someone who has information is waiting for you."

Sun stood up, pulled out his weapon, and ran it through a few tests as he spoke. "Do you think I'll need this, Miss Kickblades?"

She looked him up and down and smirked. "I think you're cute, but that won't stop the midget from kicking your ass." Sun looked at her confused. Melanie rolled her eyes. "You're not walking into an ambush, Sunny. Now get moving." She slapped him on the ass, knocking him a few steps forward.

Sun rubbed his backside a bit before waving goodbye to the older girl and moved out to meet with this informant, texting his team about being out late.

Warehouse District

Whatever buzz he had, vanished by the time Sun made his way to the industrial district. It was less damaged then other portions of the city. The lack of workers during the Vytal Festival prevented a lot of Grimm from swarming. Sun held his weapon in front of him as he moved to the appropriate building. He may be laid back most of the time, but he wasn't stupid enough to not be armed for this meeting.

The door was unlocked and creaked on the hinges as he moved into the building. On the side of the warehouse furthest away from the door, so it wouldn't be visible from the window, were a tight stack of large crates with the SDC logo stamped on them. Sitting on one of the crates was a vaguely familiar girl in a pink outfit, with an open parasol propped against her shoulder. She was tapping away at her scroll, one leg swung over the other. Sun took a few steps forward, his weapon out, but at his side. "You seem familiar." She looked up, parasol shifting away to reveal a very familiar hat upon her head. Pink and brown eyes locked with his and Sun knew exactly who she was. It was Neo, Torchwick's right hand woman. Sun took a step back, raising his weapon slightly. The smaller girl raised a hand and pointed at the scroll in her hand, then at him. "You…want my number?" He was very, very confused, which only increased when she nodded.

He read out the number to her and she tapped away before turning the screen to face him. "Thanks. I'm assuming you can't speak sign language?"

Sun shook his head slowly still very unsure what was happening. "Wait, what are you doing here? How do you know where Blake is? What have you done with her!" He took a few steps forward.

Neo held up a finger and gave him a very unimpressed glance. "Relax, Monkey Boy. I know where your precious kitty is, and she is fine."

Sun just stared at her, wanting to do something but having no idea what to do. "Well, you're here with information, what do you want for it then?"

Her smile fell. "Take these supplies and get them to the huntsman fighting in Vale"

Sun was flabbergasted. There has to be a catch somewhere. "Didn't you and Roman steal this in the first place?"

Neo stopped tying for a moment, looking at him with hurt eyes before turning the scroll to show him, keeping her eyes on him. "It's what he would have wanted. He didn't want to get involved in this in the first place. All he could do was stash some dust away to try and hold back her plans."

Sun wanted to reach out and hold the girl, even though she was a criminal and, if Yang's 'war stories' were correct, could kick his ass. "I didn't like him, but I'm sorry." The pink girl smiled warmly at him and moved her hands in a specific way. Sun didn't know sign language, but he could guess what it meant. "You're welcome." There was a strangely comfortable silence between them for a few moments before Sun decided to break it. "I will do it, now what can you tell me about Blake."

She hopped off the crate she was sitting on and clicked a button on her scroll before putting it away. Sun's scroll chimed in his pocket, so he quickly retrieved it and skimmed through the information she had sent him. 'Unknown Sender' indeed. "Thanks for the info, I am still not sure why you're doing this, but I will trust you." He gave her a grin which she didn't return, she just kept her same small smile as she had when he looked down at his phone. He waved a hand in front of her face and the image cracked before disintegrating. Sun quickly looked around, but he was alone. He hadn't even heard the door shut behind her. That is a pretty great Semblance for a thief.

He moved to the crates, opening them one at a time to check for any suspicious materials. He knew where Blake would be leaving the city. Luckily, it was a few days away so he could put his all into helping Vale before he went to find her. If it all worked out, Sun would have her to Patch within a couple weeks and the team would be as together as it could be. For now, he needed to call Professor Goodwitch about his newly found supplies.

I did it! Had to push back a bit of a block to get to the end today, but that's fine. Earlier this week there was a save issue, and I lost a section of the chapter. I did my best to fill in the gaps, but it is probably noticeable and I'm sorry.

Just so everyone is aware, I own After the Fall, but I have not read it yet and I don't plan on using it as far as my story canon goes. Next chapter will be another one from Sun's perspective to get us through 'Stowaways' and to Menagerie (assuming Sun doesn't want to take more time exploring post-fall Vale) Hope you enjoyed!