So...I am far from okay right now...

I've begun work on this chapter immediately after watching the Volume 3 finale. So many unanswered questions, so many things that were the last thing I wanted to happen, so much feels for one episode.

So, eh, I know I've said it before, but it's pretty clear my works aren't cannon anymore, isn't it? Penny's gone, Roman's dead, Yang's down an arm, Pyrrha...well, you get it. That's not changing a thing from what happens next in my works from here on out. I'm dubbing my works for the Stolen Innocence trilogy as a new alternate timeline: The Fall Syndicate AU, where the events of SI, Broken Home, and a future story are canon in this timeline, as well as select one shots, but that's another story you'll have to wait for.

...The more I type like I'm talking, the more I feel like Sans from Undertale. XD

This isn't why you're here though. You came for another chapter right? Well, here it is. Leave a follow or a comment (I read all of my comments), and I'll see you lads and lasses next time.


"With no sightings since their escape early this morning, authorities have turned to the public to see if they have had any of White Fang activity-"

Click.

"The SDC has issued a statement that the apparent fighting was not involved with the White Fang, but not who it was either-"

Click.

"The events of today's terror attack on an SDC shop, and a later apparent fight at the company's headquarters the same day, have not slowed down the legal process for Mercury Black, the same man who-"

Click.

"Will Vav save X-Ray and Mogar in time? Tune in next week to find out!"

"Yang, please shut that off." Ruby requested, looking up from her Scroll.

"Man, this place only gets fifty channels, and all but one of them are only talking about us." Yang shrugged as she flicked off the television set of their motel's room. There was a major difference in the hospitality levels of the lodging they stayed in currently and the Schnee family estate. Ruby and Yang sat on the worn-out twin-size mattress to the left of the room, closest to the door, while Weiss sat out on the balcony overlooking the parking lot of the fast food joint next door and Marron sat on the adjacent bed from the two half-sisters.

"How can you even care about TV at this time anyway with everything that happened today?" her younger sister asked.

"It's the only thing I thought could get my mind off of it and calm me down." Yang huffed in response. Ruby couldn't help but notice her sister's eyes were a few shades between lilac and orange, and there was a touch of heat radiating off of her at the same level as a space heater on its medium setting. "Kinda hard for it to work when it keeps reminding us about all of it."

"What are we going to do, though?" Ruby asked. "Weiss is broken, Blake's been arrested, our cover's blown...I was really hoping our first mission overseas would be a success."

"These things happen, Ruby." Marron piped up from her side of the room. "Probably not to this degree of things being fucked up, but they happen."

"So, how do we fix them?" the blonde of the two sisters asked.

Marron bit her lip as her gaze shifted to the former heiress on the balcony, staring out absentmindedly. "The business between Weiss and her family might take some time. Ozpin's assured me he can take care of Blake's situation though."

Ruby's gaze shifted to a corner of the room by the grimy bathroom door where they laid their bags and belongings. Blake's backpack and Gambol Shroud sat slightly separated from the others by a foot. "How so?" she asked.

"To be honest, I don't know. He's assured us it's being dealt with, and I trust him in that regard." Marron replied, not exactly boosting anyone's confidence, but giving them an answer they could be somewhat satisfied with.


Blake followed the Huntsman through the slum to something that seemed out of place that normally wouldn't be caught at first glance. The door he stopped in front of was much more intact and not covered in graffiti. Opening it let the two into a small room that seemed to be man-made by the dusty old crow she had met. The back left corner had a cot while the one across from it was a desk covered in dust and files.

"You live here?" Blake assumed out loud.

"When I pay the good kingdom of Atlas a visit." Qrow shrugged. "I've been across Remnant a few times over, and set up a few secret caches if I ever come back to this place."

"What did bring you back?" the younger Huntress asked. It was very unlikely the Huntsman was here by coincidence.

"I was working a mission nearby when an old friend told me my nieces' teammate was in trouble with the local law." the elder of the two explained, producing a flask from his breast pocket and taking a swig.

"Oh, well, I'm sorry for pulling you away from whatever you were up to." Blake apologized.

"Don't be." Qrow countered as he swallowed the whiskey in his mouth. "The team I was chaperoning's pretty experienced and hardcore. I think they could handle being left alone for a bit." He put his flask away and turned back to the cat Faunus. "Now, onto the matter of getting you out of here."

"You have a plan?" Blake asked.

"For me to get out, yes." Qrow nodded. "For you, I have Plan B." He moved towards the cot, lifting it up in its hinge that kept it standing at a ninety degree angle and revealing a secret passage underneath. "This leads right into the sewage system. They won't know you're gone until tomorrow morning's roll call."

Blake took a look down into the tunnel before looking back to the Huntsman. "If this leads out of the camp, why not let everyone in here know?" Blake asked. "There's somebody I met in here that's lived here nearly all her life. That child we saved was probably born here. They could live so much better lives outside of here." she ridiculed.

"Believe me, the last thing I enjoy Atlas doing is keeping their own private Faunus enclosure, but if word got out about it, every last denizen in here's gonna take it." Qrow sighed. "Once the military notices attendance dropping, they're gonna start looking into why that is. It's better for everyone that this stays under wraps, at least for now."

Blake gave out a sigh and nodded as she hopped into the tunnel, looking up and expecting to see the Huntsman follow her down, only for him to begin resetting the bed over the hidden passage. "Wait, what about you?" she asked, holding the bed up before he closed it over her.

"I've got my own way out. You just get going." he said in a hushed tone as they both froze the sound of knocking on the door from the outside.

"Hey! Who's in there?" a voice called. Both recognized it as one of the patrol guards from earlier. Acting quickly, Qrow shut the hatch with a loud thud as Blake began her escape, probably arousing more suspicion as the guards barged in. All they were met with was a musty squatter's hut with a startled crow squaking at them as it flew in between the two soldiers.

"Gah! Dumb bird!" one of the guards cursed as he moved out of the way of the illusionary fowl. "Was that it?"

"Look at this place; there's stuff knocked over everywhere." The other noted. "Whatever. We're behind schedule for the guard change. Let's go."As the bird watched them leave, he made a mental note not to use that hideout again, as it was compromised.


It was moments like this Blake was glad she wasn't a dog Faunus. She didn't think her nose could take the strong scent of whatever foulness was in the sewage water beside her as she meandered through different corridors of the pipelines beneath Atlas City. She felt like she had been traversing the maze of darkness and sickness for a while since Qrow had broken her out of Little Menagerie. Knowing she had no way of getting a hold of her team with her Scroll being confiscated and no knowledge of where the pipe she was walking through lead, Blake decided to get out through the next manhole she came across. First lightly lifting it up to make sure the coast was clear, she scanned the area. She seemed to be in a seedier part of what was considered to be one of the most luxurious cities on the planet, the only car on the street being sat upon cinderblocks in front of a closed down store whose worn out sign read "Coal and Sons' Dust Shop: Family Operated for Twenty Five Years!" Behind her was an old, but still operating, motel, which had a familiar sight sitting in one of the balconies with a shocked look on her face as she saw somebody climbing out of the sewers.

"Weiss?"

"B-Blake?"