In no way am I connected to Rooster Teeth

Beacon had been oddly quiet this week.

Classes had continued as normal, but there had been no pranks or anything too wild. Combat Classes seemed to have toned down a little as the students, even ones that were fierce enemies, held back much more than they would.

That made it much easier on Dr Birch. He hadn't had any patients this week.

Dr Waterbrook had taken temporary leave six days ago.

Ever since, the children had started to behave themselves and became very docile.

There may have been no official confirmation for them, but they weren't stupid. They knew of the large number of kidnappings recently. Mercury had disappeared at the Vytal Festival and it was obvious from REY's behaviour what happened to him. They were out of Beacon at the moment and had been for six days. The students had put it together.

Is that why there is no one going to the infirmary?

The lift chimed.

Ozpin spun the chair around to see Glynda with two mugs of coffee. He smiled as he took one.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." Glynda took a sip from her own. "It's been a long week."

"Despite nothing happening for us," Ozpin agreed. "There is a dark cloud around the whole school."

"Ida learned of her cousin's death this week. That has since got around, so everyone knows. One of the officers gave her all the gruesome details." Ozpin closed his eyes. "He has since been suspended for that insensitivity."

Ozpin's scroll rang.

"It's James." Glynda rolled her eyes as he answered. "General. How can I help you?"

"I had an inquiry Headmaster Ozpin. My second year students are due to take supervised missions next week, but I would prefer it if they were not conducted in Atlas."

Ozpin leaned back in his chair, staring into his coffee. He knew that until this shapeshifter at least was found, Atlas was dangerous to those who weren't fully trained against real dangers. "My third years have already chosen." Each school had a different year group for this precise reason. "I'll send through a list that would be suitable. However, keep in mind that the White Fang was seen a few months ago along with Cinder herself just outside the Kingdom." Nothing else had been reported, but it had been pure luck Ruby had stumbled across that.

"I haven't forgotten. Thanks Oz."

"And tomorrow?"

There was a brief silence. "The doctors have done all they can for the moment. All they can hope for is that Black can be treated and Qrow is still alive."

"…Thank you."

Tomorrow was going to be rough on that family. Throughout his many lifetimes, Ozpin had never come across any individual like Mercury Black. It was a relief, but Ozpin could guess at what 'home' really meant.

Qrow was in for a very traumatic experience, even with his background.

"Any news on Venus Solgale?"

"None. I will keep you updated on that. If you'll excuse me, I have work to do."

"As do I. Good luck James."

James hung up.

Ozpin took a deep gulp of coffee before he began to look through missions around Vale and the neighbouring area. He could think of a few that would be suitable for second years.

The difficulty were the inmates of the prison that were currently roaming around civilisation. Very few had been found. He would make sure to check the current news on the nearby villages before sending the potential mission off.

With so many Huntsmen being killed by human Grimm, there were many more jobs recently.

Qrow should have known.

How had he not?

'Home'.

It was bizarre; that a house could look so normal on the outside. The room that a guest first stepped into was little more than a meeting room with chairs and side tables to go with the lights.

Step into the locked hallway and reality seemed to shatter.

The normal trick of suppressing emotions wouldn't work here.

Qrow started down mechanically and searched methodically.

Mercury really didn't like having his photo taken. There were photos of him on every wall. Different ages, from around 2 to 16. Many of them in every room. In them, the child was either humiliated, in agony or, in most, both.

Mercury got up at a ridiculous hour, near four in the morning every day. There was an alarm clock by the full bath, with water all over the floor. Didn't take a closer look; didn't need the photos to know. His alarm clock every day had been being drowned.

There were two shower heads, both with chains and shackles over them. There were three temperatures pre-set: freezing cold, boiling hot or nicely warm. Each one was separate from the other.

Mercury only helped in the kitchen when he was specifically asked. There was nothing to protect the hot cooker from a child and the grill was a little too low than was safe. Some of those photos did have burns from metal as well as scolding hot water.

The dining room looked normal at first glance. So did the connected living room. Looking around the cupboards and shelves, there were a lot of drugs among other things. None labelled. For once, this was out of a child's reach. Qrow picked a water bottle out of the fridge. It looked sealed. He tipped it upside down and placed his palm against it. There were drops on his hand.

In the back of his mind, Qrow remembered the trip he and the kids had taken in the London Dungeon tourist attraction. While the girls were very bothered by the stuff they saw, they still had that morbid curiosity many kids and teens had. Mercury had been bored and had seemed to bite his tongue a few times. He had had a real Iron Maiden in 'his bedroom' which had obviously seen use for years. Maybe he had been about to point out was what incorrect before he stopped himself.

Not wanting to go in their room without their permission, Tai had asked if they knew how to change the beds. Being given two blank looks, he had shown them how to change the sheets and make the bed. Mercury's 'bed' was nothing more than a single mattress that was soaked through with blood along with things like acid and spikes within it. Not even a blanket to keep warm. Every inch of the mattress surrounded by bloody chains or ropes.

Qrow didn't look in the cabinet. It was small and the only thing that it could hold was clothes. Mercury hadn't packed many when he was going to leave after Yang threw him out.

Compared to Emerald, Mercury didn't tend to watch TV. There were a few odd shows (mostly quiz shows he was getting quite good at except celebrities and soaps), but it wasn't a pastime for him. The TV in 'his bedroom' only connected to a video player. The videos were extensions of pictures or had incidents that didn't make it onto the walls.

Nothing else in the bedroom save for the photos on the walls. Literally nothing.

Marcus had many restraints in his own bedroom too, along with furniture to tie his son to. There was a wardrobe along with bedside cabinets and a lamp. The photos in this room were of Mercury when he was older. A teenager at least. Qrow didn't look in the storage places.

Qrow now knew what happened on Mercury's 13th birthday. Or, to be more accurate, what started on his 13th birthday.

It was never the ridiculous education that had been Mercury's problem with pureblood magicals, although that was an annoyance. It had been inbreeding. Qrow had misjudged the reason why.

A large cupboard in the hallway past Marcus' room had a blue swirl seven foot high and three feet across. That was the portal back to reality. No sign of what had been in it in reality.

The centre room was a study. There wasn't much in here that wasn't used in planning assassinations or thefts, but there were still restraints in sight in a corner. Not much blood though.

It had taken Mercury quite a bit of time to be in a room with Qrow or Tai before he would turn his back to them. He had always been on alert; never letting his guard down, even around Yang until at least starting Beacon. He was still like that around all the teachers. Even some of the other students.

Mercury only felt safe around his new family.

And that had taken a lot of time and effort from both sides.

Never mind any humanity. How the hell had he gotten out of this house with any sanity?

Qrow stopped.

He had been around the entire house. He had opened every proper door there had been. There wasn't a second floor.

So how did you get into the basement?

Marcus was a nutter.

But Qrow hadn't realised how sadistic he really was. His victims were normally killed quickly unless they had information he needed. That was part of what made him so dangerous.

Mercury had seen a very different Marcus than most.

Honestly, no matter how much it sickened him, Qrow hoped that was the one he encountered here. Marcus was the most feared assassin on Remnant for the past one hundred years for a reason and most of his ancestors had been assassins. That one Qrow was very sure he would lose to.

But this Marcus (and Qrow was very sure that was the orange dot) would have been created from what Ginger had seen in Mercury's memories. How often had Mercury seen him in action? At least enough to respect his skill as a killer.

That wasn't counting Ginger.

All three must be in the basement. It was the only place Qrow hadn't checked.

But how to get there?

It was ridiculous that there would be a hidden switch. No one would be willing to go farther down that corridor and, from the looks of it, Mercury had spent most of his life chained down. There was no reason he would want to go down there.

But the man had built this house with torture specifically in mind and this was not training no matter what Mercury claimed. Why else have two shower heads? The Iron Maiden? The numerous stands that were design to restrain?

Bad line of thought. Marcus was more deranged than anyone knew. Unless…

Where had Mercury's mother been through all this?

Qrow had assumed Mercury had never met her. He had never spoken about her. He had run Mercury's DNA through the criminal database and, other than Marcus Black (or Plate Seam as was thought his 'real' name by police), the other was a prostitute that had been killed-

Around the time of Mercury's 16th birthday.

Maybe Mercury had met her. When he was old enough.

If there had been a stranger to this house, maybe there were a few things Marcus would want to keep hidden. But if someone came into this house and saw the main hallway alone, they would have to be a nutter not to care. There was some dust on those photos. They weren't new.

And for them to be so clear and detailed, Mercury has to remember them that well. And there's nowhere where there's a picture missing. He remembers all of it. Before or after Ginger's Semblance? Thinking back, almost certainly before.

Qrow returned to the meeting room. That was the only room with a connection to outside. Only then did Qrow realise the 'windows' in the other rooms were reinforced.

Doesn't matter now. The switch isn't going to be in here. A lot of clients came in here.

Save for the pictures, there wasn't anything in the long hallway that snaked around to the other rooms. He really didn't want to touch those framed photos; didn't want to confirm them as real.

Nothing was loose in the bathroom. No surprise there. Everything would be nailed down. Mercury would struggle.

If Mercury was trained to fight while forced to wear chains, why was he never strong enough to break free? There were only three broken in sixteen years…Maybe he was drugged quite often.

There was nothing in here.

The next room along was the bare essential sleeping room.

The mattress didn't move when Qrow kicked it. It was very firmly in place, with enough room to walk around. A shove showed the wardrobe was the same and the Iron Maiden had been built into the wall, which looked wooden from the outside.

…

Why wouldn't Qrow be surprised if that was where the switch was? When the door closed, it would be pitch black in there-

Qrow rolled to the side.

He glanced up.

So. This is Marcus.

The authorities had the DNA. They had a lot to suggest he was responsible for deaths as he often left a symbol by his victims, possibly to assure his client that he was the one who killed them. The symbol didn't match what he was wearing.

The one thing the authorities didn't have was a photograph of the man.

Looking closely, Qrow couldn't see any physical features this man shared with Mercury. There had been a photo of Mercury's mother and he shared nothing with her either. He looked absolutely nothing like his parents, not even his eye colour. If it wasn't for the DNA, no one would believe they were related.

At least he doesn't see anything of them when he looks in a mirror.

Right now, Qrow should be worrying about the fact Marcus had managed to sneak up on him so well, instinct was the only thing that stopped him from being in that Iron Maiden right now.

Marcus dashed forward, a knife flashing-

That was identical to the one in Qrow's possession right now.

Of course. The silver Dust weapons; their replicas would be here too. That might have been what was originally in the cupboard.

In any other room in this house, Qrow would struggle. His way of using a knife was for a sneak attack. He wasn't used to one to use it in a proper knife fight and he certainly wasn't going to challenge Marcus to one. Mercury hadn't needed training from them to be deadly with that knife.

However, this room was bigger than it should be for what was in it. Qrow had room to swing his sword around and he didn't care if he broke anything.

He wanted to break things.

He wanted to burn this whole place to the ground as it deserved.

Qrow wasn't sure which one of them destroyed the TV but good fucking riddance.

Within seconds of Qrow overpowering him with a longsword, despite the fact Marcus should be too close for it to properly work, Marcus switched tactics.

Qrow felt the electricity.

He just didn't notice the pain.

He was far too infuriated for that.

Yellow Dust normally resulted in an electricity based weapon. It was very easy to anyone to get, so criminals tended to use it a lot. The others, save blue that was ice, was too damaging to the area to go unnoticed or was unpractical.

Qrow had a lot of experience in getting hit with electricity and he had a lot of aura. With his Semblance not active, all his aura was staying in his shield. It didn't even slow him down.

The difficulty was using his anger properly. He normally had little problem. But Qrow had never been this angry before. Even Raven hadn't managed that.

Marcus hung back a moment, studying him. "Why are you here?"

Qrow just attacked.

It might be mind games.

It might be him trying to figure out if Qrow had a personal stake in this-

You're going to die. And this time, you're staying dead.

Qrow had seen Marcus' corpse. He knew how Mercury had killed him. When he had first heard about it, the day he met Mercury, he had thought it necessary but worrying that a son would commit patricide.

Now Qrow was thinking Mercury had been far too merciful to give him a quick death.

He was desperate.

But then, after all this, after everything Qrow had seen…

Qrow ducked and jabbed the knife into Marcus' stomach when his stab went high.

Marcus backed off, but still had aura.

You didn't snap, did you Silvertongue? You planned his death for a while, but he kept you chained. When you were free…

When he was free, Mercury had made sure he stayed free.

And then along came Cinder and he would have been bound to her for the rest of his life if they had succeeded against Amber.

…

Is the Animin bond a chain?

"We don't have anything to pack…"

He didn't want to come back with us. His other options were just worse.

Marcus had again changed tactics.

It was clear from his stance he had figured out why Qrow was here. It went from cautious to confident.

Qrow tried not to listen. He couldn't hear it now, but he would remember later.

He didn't rely on tactics. Marcus would probably win in experience; if he never let Mercury outside and they were certain of that, he was used to fighting in this room; he knew how to manipulate his opponent.

So did Qrow, but he was too unfocused.

So he relied on instinct.

Qrow had been brought up in a bandit tribe. He had been used to fighting and killing, though it wasn't until he had shown he was skilled, at ten years old, before they even allowed him on raids. It wasn't just that they were of age for Beacon; he and Raven had had the skills too.

They attended Beacon to learn how to kill Huntsmen. Qrow would say they succeeded there.

But Qrow had made a choice not to go back to the tribe.

Yang didn't know any of this. Ruby didn't. Emerald knew about the tribe, but not why they went to Beacon. She thought they wanted to get away.

Qrow was sure Mercury had guessed the truth.

It would be the reason why Mercury listened to Qrow more than Taiyang. Qrow had been raised a killer, had known very little about another way of life, and he chose his own path.

The difference between Qrow and Mercury was how their 'guardians' treated them.

Qrow couldn't think properly.

So he relied on instinct. Those had been honed since he was born and bounty missions only made them sharper.

If Qrow focused on the fact he was fighting Marcus Black, Mercury's 'father', he would be killed.

Then what would happen to Mercury?

It was just another Huntsman that had nothing to lose.

Qrow ducked and rolled. His swipe was dodged, but sidestepped. One very lucky hit that Qrow wouldn't have consciously attempted because it was so unlikely to work and the knife went flying out of Marcus' hand.

He had another, but this was slightly longer.

A few dodges and the replica knife was in Qrow's hand. The throw was a miss, but Marcus did have to step oddly to avoid the remains to the TV.

Marcus had stepped left.

For a second, the Ring was switched off.

Qrow didn't stab or swipe. He shoved. Pushed all his rage into it.

Marcus stumbled back-

Right into the open Iron Maiden.

The real knife hit his heart. With spikes and glass shards imbedded in his back, that final blade was enough. His aura shattered.

Still impaled, he began to bleed out.

But a blade in the heart was fatal in a matter of seconds.

The Iron Maiden in the London Dungeons skewered its victims to death. If Mercury had been left in that, there must be a way to stand in it to prevent death. Or maybe…it was just enough to cut but not deep enough or were carefully placed to avoid death.

Bastard.

…

If this was the real Marcus, would I have won?

Doesn't matter.

Qrow pulled the knife out of the 'corpse'. A mental scan and Qrow put his aura at around 65. He had taken less hits than he expected. He switched the Ring back on. It didn't matter if that was luck or his Semblance. The result was the same.

Is someone…clapping?

Ginger.

She was alone.

And by the look of her, had gotten dressed in a hurry.

"Where's Mercury?" Qrow was in no mood for games.

Don't touch her.

Both her Semblances were game ending.

"I dropped him off his dad's room." She smiled, looking for all the world like an innocent angel. "Don't worry. I'm letting him rest for a while. Maybe-"

Qrow struck.

'Letting' him rest?

Bullshit.

Emerald had told him about her fight with Ginger on the train in great detail before he left (well done and thank you Mint). It made sense that she wasn't the strongest fighter, but Emerald was more skilled than any student in Beacon at the moment. They had planned with an invisible Pepper in mind. On her own, Ginger's strategy would be quite different.

There hadn't been anyone unconscious in LiaGuard, so she probably hasn't stolen anyone's Semblance at the moment. I don't know what she 'stores' it in, but she can almost certainly take mine.

With spikes in the mattress, fixed furniture and a destroyed TV with sharp objects and the videos lying around, bad luck could be fatal.

Qrow wasn't convinced enough that Ginger was telling the truth to risk using it.

A baton was Ginger's weapon and she needed to get close to use it. She didn't try to switch it to the longer range gun. This one had been designed with humans in mind.

But not to kill. A blade like that is unlikely to hit anything fatal unless it hits an organ.

Here was the problem: Qrow couldn't allow himself to be touched by Ginger herself. The fight was over the second that happened. However, in order to prevent that, Qrow had to dodge her reaches in ways that could bring him into her weapon's range.

In fact, Qrow wasn't entirely sure if Ginger was trying to kill him or not.

It didn't matter.

The replica Dust knife was picked up by Ginger when she went low to dodge a swing. She was very fluid with it, easily adapting to dual wielding. It had been a while since Qrow had had to respond to dual wielding, especially with very short weapons.

That was easy enough.

The difficult part was that taking a hit from a weapon was preferable to a physical hit from the wielder. That was taking some getting used to.

But Ginger hadn't touched him yet.

Physically anyway. When he realised what she was saying, that would bother him. Right now, he was making himself deaf to her words.

In order to take someone's Semblance, she has to at least concentrate on them. If she took it off anyone instinctively, then she would have been too unstable to be around. She would drain her own sister and brother, but they had been killed by someone else. So…

They were dancing around each other again.

Then her blade got caught in the remains of the TV.

Qrow was on the other side of the room, but that wasn't an issue. He sheathed his weapons and shifted.

His talons slashed into her face.

Ginger screeched, the first sign of anything other than amusement and mockery.

Before she could retaliate, Qrow landed, shifted back and drove the silver Dust knife straight through her hand into her eye.

That made her aura shatter.

One swing of his sword later and Ginger was dead.

Decapitated.

Qrow let out a long breath.

She's dead. She'll never come after the kids again.

Without another thought, he ran out of the room.

Marcus' bedroom door was shut. Qrow had left it open.

I'm not going in the basement.

He hesitated. Zephyr's warning came back to him. A deep breath and he twisted the handle. It wasn't locked. The room was the same as before-

Save for the figure on the bed.

It took Qrow a few seconds to realise who he was looking at, even expecting him.

But it was one thing to suspect something. It was another thing entirely to see it.

What…the…hell-

Emerald had been branded with words.

Mercury was branded with symbols. A gem. A rose. A burning heart. A gear with a wing. A spiked heart. The…injuries weren't healed; hadn't been allowed to heal; had been ripped open again and again-

He's not moving…

Qrow took long strides to the side of the bed. His hand reached out and gently massaged the scalp.

Mercury didn't respond. Not even a twitch.

That's not right…

Qrow couldn't focus on his aura well either. Mercury must have some; Qrow could tell he wouldn't be alive if he didn't. It was like it was blocked somehow or…withdrawn…

He's not restrained. And that could easily be done, they're already in place.

Qrow knew the problem.

Mercury was trapped in his memories, courtesy of Ginger's Semblance. Even now, he wasn't free of her.

Bitch.

Qrow knelt on the bed and lifted the teen into his arms. His fingers fiddled with the back of the very thick, metal but not metal collar that was around the neck. If Qrow was going to donate what little aura he had, this needed to come off.

There wasn't a key hole. It was some kind of puzzle. It wasn't that it wasn't simple, but the pieces to get it off were remarkably small and difficult not to slip out of his fingers.

Enough mucking around with it and the collar eventually snapped off. Qrow threw it away, careful not to touch the raw and almost peeling skin underneath. Trying to ignore that, Qrow's hand returned to his scalp, gently petting.

His hair's not longer than I remember, but something's different…Oh. They cut it around the coyote 'ears' too. They were hidden before. I'm also sure they didn't look that bad.

Qrow didn't have much aura to give, but everything he did have he pushed towards Silvertongue. There was a brief resistance, but it felt different from the other times. It was almost like it was being analysed before accepted.

All but 1 of it was accepted.

Some sort of shift.

Mercury's eyelid was fluttering. It took a few seconds, but it opened. Looking straight at Qrow.

[F…Felix…]

Qrow swallowed. Fought to keep his voice from shaking. "I'm here, Silvertongue. I'm sorry I took so long."

Mercury closed his eye and 'relaxed' in Qrow's hold. Now Qrow had a proper look, the damaged eyelid looked far worse than it used to; crusted and swollen.

[Took 19 weeks…to invade a perfect defence…Perfection is such a disappointment these days…]

Despite everything, Qrow smiled shakily. He was still Silvertongue, still in there.

Images of Ginger and Marcus fake.

"They're dead."

The images faded.

Qrow swallowed and looked at Mercury. Properly. He looked like hell but…what could actually kill him? His right arm was almost grey from the hand to just past his elbow. Through Mercury's aura, he was getting an image of his heart and it felt like there was something next to it-

Mercury's heart isn't beating.

Qrow's own heart skipped a beat.

He quickly moved his free hand over Silvertongue's chest.

Nothing.

He hadn't noticed but since he woke up-

[I'm doing that…Poison…Running out of aura though…]

Mercury was making his heart not beat? But how-?

Qrow very carefully picked his son up. Mercury didn't respond. "We're going Silvertongue. There's something you need to see first."

If it was Ruby or Yang, Qrow wouldn't do this.

But he thought Mercury would benefit in the long run if he saw it for himself.

Qrow returned to the mostly empty room. Still dead. He knelt down and gently turned Mercury's head. "Look." It was a struggle, but he did manage. When he saw Ginger's corpse, relief flooded through him. But not just for himself. Emerald. "Not as painful as I wanted, but she'll never hurt any of you again."

Mercury closed his eye.

Basil was dead too. All of the triplets were so-

Hang on.

Qrow then realised something. He had a rainbow Dust crystal. Okay, there were colours that weren't in a rainbow, but rainbow Dust did have them. Half black Dust maybe but the way Ozpin described it-

How the hell do I use it?

That…had not occurred to him either.

Qrow needed to call Ozpin.

Maybe he could heal Silvertongue quickly. Physically anyway.

Cradling him, Qrow walked down the hallway towards the portal that would take them back to LiaGuard, one step closer to home.

I'm sorry for what you're about to see Emerald, but he needs you. Now and for some time. You'll understand in a way the other two are too sheltered to.

At any other time, Emerald would be proud that she was understanding a lot of the discussions between the doctors. Most of those words didn't sound like real words.

Right now, she wished she was still too uneducated.

It was a huge risk she was taking, but Mercury was worth it. She had told her Semblance was healing to Dr Waterbrook and a few students (like Coco) she had told so she could try and guess what was wrong with them before the doctor examined them, if they allowed it. Once she got the 'feel' of an injury, she never forgot it.

The rest of the school knew she was studying in the infirmary, but most didn't know about the scanning thing. Emerald had been careful which students she asked and they held to their word once they gave it.

Dr Waterbrook had agreed to teach her the basics, within reason.

Emerald looked around. She knew that thing was an IV, but they weren't entirely sure what else would be needed in it and she knew you had to be careful when mixing medicine. That console against the room. The simulator itself.

Emerald ignored the rest of the room and placed a hand on the currently empty bed. It was heated slightly, not too hot, with blankets at the bottom.

The argument of what was going to happen that day had been solved when Dr Waterbrook called Taiyang. More investigation of past action in this prison had brought a 'few observations'…

Such as Mercury using his aura for a lot of things. Illness should have killed him by now, so his aura was working on that. Starvation and lack of water was another thing his aura had to correct. Another was uncertain, but one live 'witness' had commented that Mercury didn't look starved. He was still as toned and muscled as he was before he was imprisoned. His aura was probably doing that too.

Emerald shook her head. Bad thoughts.

The point was that he needed aura. He could only get that from Qrow, Emerald, Ruby, Yang and Taiyang. He would reject it otherwise.

Emerald was in the room so she could scan him first, with the medical scanner used to confirm her guesses. The others were waiting outside and the sisters had been very unhappy to hear that. Tai put his foot down and only backed off about Emerald when he learned Zephyr had thought Mercury had a kill switch.

Who was now dead.

But thank you for helping him.

She swallowed.

A…kill switch.

Emerald took a deep breath.

If it was there, she would find it.

The main worry was that Mercury wouldn't be stable enough to operate on if it was needed. Another reason why he needed more aura.

Emerald…was ignoring the ache in her heart.

Her eyes flickered to the simulator and back again.

What did he just say?

Emerald focused on the four doctors and one nurse. She didn't know all their names, but she knew three of them. The female doctor and the nurse were the only two she didn't know and the nurse was leaving as soon as she wasn't needed. If that was the final doctor's name…

I know that name. Why do I know that name? Where have I heard that name?

It was before Cinder, Emerald was sure of that.

If it was before Cinder…

Where have I heard that name? Why would I remember I heard that name?

The doctor was young. She was maybe seven years older than Emerald herself.

Where…

Emerald's heart skipped a beat.

"Get out."

Silence followed.

Emerald turned to look her right in the eye. "Clover. Misty Clover." The others were surprised, but not because it was wrong. Because it was right. "Get out."

For a second, it was there. Emerald saw it.

But that expression was gone fast and she spoke calmly. "I was called in to help a patient. I trained under a highly respected doctor that is unable to be here. I studied pharmaceutical-"

"So your dad bought your grades?" Emerald cut in. She didn't wait for her to answer. "I don't care what qualifications you have. The way you and your entourage killed your own friend tells me all I need to know about you. Get. Out."

This was the ringleader of the girls that had murdered their own friend. Emerald was about 9 then. She had been worried HION had been like that. They had proved her wrong.

In the corner of her eye, Emerald noted the scowls or exasperations of the others had faded. They were frowning. Dr Waterbrook's face was blank, his gaze carefully going from Emerald to Clover.

Clover hadn't hid her surprise.

Dr Murphy spoke. "Miss Sustrai-"

"I don't trust her around Mercury. She will leave or I will make her." Starting with making her relive her crime. Emerald had been close enough to hear and see far more than she would have liked to. Than she realised at the time.

There was a brief quiet.

Again, Dr Murphy opened his mouth-

There was a blue swirl in the simulator. Qrow appeared.

Holding a very still Mercury.

Not forgetting the threat but not yet, Emerald raced to his side. She gently cupped his cheek.

[Hey Em…Been a while…Not at my best…]

"We'll get you there," she murmured back, placing a kiss on his forehead. "Just trust me." Every bit of aura she had went to him.

Then she began to realise very serious problems.

Qrow's hard eyes met her gaze. He knew.

"Mr Branwen." Dr Waterbrook.

Qrow broke eye contact, but Emerald looked at Mercury. What to do…His heart wasn't beating but Mercury was doing that and he was doing that to stop the poison from killing him. Still breathing, still alive-

Brain.

Brain surgery wasn't her thing, but she had touched Mercury enough to instinctively know what was normal for him.

"Miss Sustrai has expressed concerns of one of our doctors and refuses to let her treat Mr Black. As his registered guardian, you have the final say."

Mercury's brain was still functioning normally. He was getting oxygen there. Emerald didn't know how without his blood pumping (aura probably somehow) but how to help him?

Okay. Source of the poison. There's something against his heart that shouldn't be and that's the biggest problem…There's a different poison in his arm, but that can't spread further until his heart beats…Neither poison can.

"If Emerald doesn't trust her with Mercury, then neither do I. She'll leave." Emerald felt his eyes on her again. "How's he doing?"

"He's managing just as well…somehow. But we need to get the thing next to his heart out before it can be restarted. And if that poison in his arm hits his organs…"

Emerald backed to the side so Qrow could lay him down on the bed. He pulled one of the blankets to his waist. Emerald only realised then that Mercury was naked.

She swallowed when she saw his chest. Her own words stung.

There was blood on Qrow's arms. The back was probably just as bad.

Okay.

Vital things first. Then the rest.

The reason people breathed was to get oxygen into their lungs. That oxygen was taken to their brain. If someone doesn't breathe for too long, brain damage occurs then brain death. This kills the person.

Mercury was breathing. The oxygen was getting to his brain (somehow). If his aura was responsible, something of that magnitude was going to drain it very quickly.

Dr Waterbrook was at the bedside.

Dr Murphy returned from the exit door. There was no sign of Clover.

"Restart what?" He must know, but he needed to ask.

"His heart," Emerald replied. "He's stopped his heart to stop the poison getting around and he's somehow getting oxygen to the brain. If his heart is restarted before either poison is dealt with, he'll…"

Dr Waterbrook lifted the right arm. The grey one. "I think I know this and if it is what I think it is, then there isn't an antidote. The only way to deal with this is amputation."

Emerald was really hoping he wouldn't say that.

Qrow just closed his eyes for a moment before glancing at the door. "The family close?"

"Yeah. Just outside." Mercury really needed the comfort. And aura.

Because even Emerald knew there was only one way to get something out that was very snug next to his heart.

Dr Waterbrook studied the results of the medical scanner. Emerald had been aware of it and had hoped that she was mistaken. She could tell from his expression she hadn't been.

"…Emerald, can you tell his brain activity?"

"It doesn't feel any different to me." Mercury's heart wasn't beating. If his brain died, Mercury was dead. "Can you check?"

"According the scanner, it's normal but we don't have time to check properly." He sighed. "The big problem is this tiny sphere next to his heart."

"What's the problem?" Qrow asked. "Can't we just take it out?"

One of the doctors was trying to decipher a very, very thick folder.

Fucking hell…Is that Mercury's medical history for his time here?

"The problem is where it is. It's surrounded by blood vessels and one wrong move could cause internal bleeding. With how low his aura is at the moment, he couldn't afford that." He rubbed his temples. "If there was any way it could be left in without killing him, I would say it was too tricky to operate on."

Emerald swallowed. "N-Not even if he got more aura?"

"He's back down to 1 now." From nearly all of Emerald's aura?! "On top of that…" Dr Waterbrook hesitated. "On top of that, it is a conscious action to get oxygen to his brain. I can't put him under anaesthetic because he would never wake up."

Emerald…had been trying to ignore that.

Qrow's fists clenched. "So he's going to be awake throughout the whole procedure?"

"Most likely. He might fall unconscious and he should still do this instinctively. But I can't make him fall unconscious. He had a poor reaction to anaesthetic before and, while the black Dust is most likely to blame, I cannot be sure he wasn't naturally adverse to it."

Fucking dammit.

"So…" Emerald swallowed. "So we're at amputating his arm and cutting open his chest in an operation that has such a low success rate that it's more likely to kill him than the poison at the moment?"

"Crudely put, yes." Dr Waterbrook took a blood sample from the grey arm and a separate blood sample from the normal one. He also took a sample from the chest, which confused Emerald.

If we do nothing, he dies.

Emerald petted his hair, very careful to avoid the now exposed coyote 'ears'. She could see how she hadn't noticed them before his eye was damaged.

That eye now…

She felt it this time. Felt 1 aura.

[Em please…I'll manage…but I need this stuff out…I trust you…]

Zephyr said Mercury had never begged. It took forever for Mercury to trust.

Emerald transferred that 1 aura of his back. "Okay then. If that's-"

Qrow put a hand on her shoulder. "First off, we'll get him more aura." His free hand went a little below Emerald's, rubbing circles into Mercury's scalp. "Is it going to be one operation after another or both at the same time?"

Dr Murphy and Dr Waterbrook had a whispered discussion. They went to Dr Patri, who seemed to have figured out the medical file…

Which is sickening in of itself.

The nurse that Emerald still didn't know the name of came over to the head of the bed with a chair and a bucket. She placed both on the floor and lifted an ice pack out of the small bucket. She placed it over Mercury's damaged eye.

"Trying to reduce the swelling. Or at least make it a little easier."

It did, actually. Less uncomfortable for him. "Thank you."

"The chair's for you or him." She moved Mercury's arms out of the way slowly so she could pull the blanket up to cover his chest without covering his arms. "There will be screens during the operations even if you are allowed to remain."

"I'm not leaving him alone," Qrow replied softly.

Dr Waterbrook walked over to one of the machines on the side. He studied it for a few moments before returning to the doctors' discussion. Another two minutes and he approached Qrow and Emerald.

"So far, the poison from the sphere is staying near his heart. It hasn't gone any further. However, in this situation, it might be worth removing as much tainted blood as possible. This has no known antidote either and we are relying much on his immune system to fight it while we find a way to help."

Qrow frowned. "Mercury's blood type O, isn't he? So am I. He can have my blood. Everything."

Emerald glanced at Qrow. The man was very tense, but his hand on Mercury was very gentle.

Dr Waterbrook considered. "I will check my records and confirm your blood type first, but he is most likely to accept blood from you than a stranger. I would recommend you keep any aura you regenerate and keep reading him. That should make him less likely to reject that blood."

Emerald didn't know much about transferring blood, but by the sound of it, it was very complicated.

"But that won't work for the arm. I'm sorry."

Mercury won't care.

Qrow nodded slowly. "Hook me up." He patted Emerald's back. "Go fetch the others Mint, then throw them back out again. What they can see now is bad enough."

"I don't approve of Miss Sustrai being present for the procedures," Dr Waterbrook stated.

"I was told that a doctor's job is to do what is best for the patient. What is best for Mercury is for Emerald to remain." Qrow wasn't happy about it either.

Dr Waterbrook sighed. "…Touché. The others stay outside."

"That I'll agree with."

Emerald reluctantly moved away from Mercury and walked to the door. She pulled it open.

The three immediately looked at her. Desperation was all over their features.

Emerald swallowed, not sure what to say.

Yang came up and hugged her.

"…W-Well, we're sure he'll be okay but…he's going to lose his arm. Come on. He needs help right now."

"It's bad, isn't it." Ruby didn't even phrase it as a question.

"Very." They were about to see a little. No point in lying to them.

Ruby shook. Yang rubbed Emerald's back a little before stepping back and taking Ruby's hand. They walked past Emerald to inside.

Emerald took a breath and looked at Tai. "I'm staying with him. When…I mean during-"

Tai put a hand on her shoulder.

Without a thought, she pushed herself into his chest, crying.

"It'll be okay Emerald. He'll be okay. He's safe now."

"W-What if I can't help him? W-What if…?"

Up. Down. Up. Down.

"Emerald. He's going to recover. He'll come home. Now let's go see him."

Ruby reappeared. Her eyes were red and there were tears. Her voice only wavered a little. "Emerald, who did Uncle Qrow call? He was so sad…"

Ruby was trying so hard not to focus on what she just saw.

Because seeing Mercury just says he's not going to be okay…

"I don't know Ruby. I didn't know he was calling anyone."

"He…" Ruby sniffed. "Mercury promised we'd go flying again."

Promised.

"Then we will," Emerald replied. "I…had better head back."

Ruby hugged her. "He'll be okay."

"Yeah." Ruby. Ever the optimist.

Yang appeared then, a small smile and shaking her head slightly. It vanished in an instant. She ruffled Ruby's hair before going to Emerald.

[He'll be okay.]

Cheater.

The sooner he was treated, the sooner he would recover.

Tai first went to Mercury. He patted his head, then gently rested his hand there for the moment. He placed a gentle kiss on his head. Whispered something.

He then headed over to Qrow, who was now connected by tubes to Mercury's arm.

An aura reading conversation with him later, he returned to Emerald. Guided her to the chair next to him.

"Stay calm. He'll be fine."

Emerald nodded. She didn't say anything. She wasn't convinced.

Screens across Mercury's collarbone, blocking the view.

Emerald didn't want to look anyway.

Qrow's hand wrapped around hers. He had been quite quiet. "First steps Mint."

Emerald kept her hand in his hair. Whatever her aura regenerated, she gave it to him.

20 weeks…For us. Do you even know how long it was for you Merc?

So much to show you Merc. So much to tell you. Where do we start?

Yang's started to play an instrument. I doubt you've heard of it. She learnt how to read music sheets from the internet and she showed me too. I was thinking of a flute or something similar. I haven't found one I like though.

Ruby found Taiyang's old guitar. It's like thirty years old and is still in exceptional condition. Tai looked like he was going to have a heart attack. It's odd though. We never found that and we searched that house pretty thoroughly. Fancy another look around when we get back?

Come to think of it, you didn't ever go fishing in Patch, did you? You loved it in America. I don't think the others will mind going again. I think we'll all enjoy it.

Tai was teaching us how to cook. We're getting good. Not as good as him because you know his cooking but better than before. That's not saying much in my case, but I know you'll love the fish pie and some of the sauces for steaks. You might even be better. Your sense of taste was always better than ours.

Qrow stayed home, Silvertongue. Qrow stayed home.

Beep.

Emerald jolted.

Qrow's head turned to the side. A relieved smile fleshed out.

"What was that?" Emerald asked. She knew that sound; had heard it before.

"That's a heart monitor Emerald. His heart's beating."

Which meant-

The sphere was gone. So was the right arm halfway between the shoulder and elbow.

But his breathing was peaceful. For the first time, he was unconscious but otherwise fine. Just sleeping after a very long day.

His heart was beating. Too slowly technically but he would grow stronger.

He's going to be okay.