Yang was lounged in a wooden rocking chair. Her aviators were shielding her eyes from the California sun. Her boots and socks had been kicked off, freeing her to flex her toes. The sensation was mesmerizing. She placed the joint in her mouth and took another deep inhale. She smiled as the smoke flowed out her mouth and nostrils.
She lazily opened in her eyes, and let her view wander the skyline of nearby houses. She landed on the neighbour's porch. Judy stood there, cigarette in her mouth, staring back at Yang. The filthiness of the look Judy had on her face made Yang giggle.
"Afternoon, neighbour," Yang said, with a wave.
"Maybe I should let your parents know I saw you smoking that shit," Judy threw back.
"Maybe you should mind your fucking business, Judy," Yang said, grinning widely.
Judy shook her head and stuck out her chin. She dropped her cigarette to her deck and stomped it, then trudged back into her house. Yang chuckled and took another drag.
There was the sound of tapping on glass behind her. Yang eased the chair backward until a glance up and over her shoulder let her see the screen door. Ruby was tapping excitedly on the glass, blinking in place every few seconds. Yang dropped the joint from her fingers in surprise, and it landed directly on her exposed belly. She cried out in annoyance and slapped it away, then stood.
She hurried towards the door, opened it a crack and slipped inside.
"Yang, Yang! I found some- was exploring the house- something cool in their- not supposed to go in there- but it wasn't Christmas presents-"
"Ruby, slow, down, stop for a second." Yang said, outstretching her hand.
Ruby appeared before her, still jumping with excitement but no longer pulling her newest trick.
"Ruby, not so close to the door, alright?" Yang said, "Judy was just out there, she might have seen you!"
"Forget Judy, Yang, you need to see this box."
"What box?"
"The box I found underneath Raven and Dad's bed, I told you."
"What do you-"
Ruby blinked in place again, and Yang could swear she seemed slightly paler.
"Okay, I got impatient and went through the box, but you gotta see what they have in there."
Yang sighed and allowed Ruby to lead her up the stairs. The door to her parents' bedroom was wide open. Paperwork and photographs were strewn across the floor around an open shoebox, which lay empty.
"Ruby, you shouldn't be in to this-" Yang began before trailing off. She'd just caught sight of something.
She reached down and lifted up a photograph of her father, crouched over a dead body. He was holding up one of the man's arms. Bony spines were protruding along the length of the limb. Tai stared dead-eyed into the camera, his face like stone.
"Holy shit," Yang whispered.
"It's like intel and stuff," Ruby said, "I think this was when they went to Africa. Look at this."
She held out another photograph. A harsh light was cast on a gurney, illuminating the corpse on it, shining directly into the empty skull. Yang gasped, and snatched the picture.
"Hey!" Ruby complained.
"Ruby, we have to put this away, come on," Yang said.
"Yang, Dad and Qrow both got hurt on this mission," Ruby said, "Aren't you curious how?"
"Well…" Yang began, "Well, you said you went through it. What did you find?"
"I saved all the boring reading for you," Ruby said.
Yang sighed, set the pictures down, and picked up what turned out to be a full page sized print of a photo of a laboratory document. Meaningless data about blood levels, or something. She grabbed another. She noticed they both shared a symbol in the corner. A glaive through some sort of gear. 'Atlas' written beneath it in neat lettering.
She looked at the title of the second page. 'Brain Matter Extraction Results'. Yang's eyes widened.
"Look at this dude sitting next to Mom," Ruby said, "Nice moustache."
Yang looked over at the photo in Ruby's hand. The man seated at the outdoor café did indeed have an impressive moustache. Its size was perhaps just short of ridiculous. The photo was taken from an upward angle, peering down at the man through a window. The barrel of a rifle was peaking into the side of the shot, aimed down at the man. Summer Rose was seated beside him. Yang looked at the timestamp on the photo- the day before the four of them had come back. She turned the photo over, and saw was what written on the back.
'Suspects us? Does he know about Qrow?'
The blades of the descending helicopter turned the light rain into a chaotic storm over the roof of the Atlas Facility. The edges of Watt's longcoat were blown about, the fur-lined collar along with them, but Watts kept a steely gaze on the chopper, and a death grip on his umbrella, held almost like a shield against the wind. The chopper's wheels hit the tarmac of the helipad, and the back door opened. First to emerge was Sergeant Clover Ebi. He waved a hand over his shoulder and two of his soldiers lead out Cinder Fall, each with a loosely held grip on one arm. They dragged her kicking and writhing before Watts. Her hands were bound in front of her, the left visibly deformed.
Behind them, Belladonna and Schnee were brought out, each with a weapon to their heads and being lead along by mercenaries.
"What went wrong?" Watts asked Ebi.
"Belladonna jumped the gun," Ebi said, "And this junkie apparently couldn't manage to use a syringe, of all things."
"Give me more of it, and put me in their fucking cells," Cinder spat, "Knock them out first."
"At this point, having you in a powered, Aberrant state inside this facility is no longer a risk I'll take," Watts said.
"So why this whole set-up?" Ebi asked, "Why the urban ops? Just put them in a field. Zeki here on overwatch, he puts down any of 'em if need be. Then you can watch your little feeding frenzy go off without a hitch."
"He wanted a mess!" Blake shouted, "He wanted civilian casualties!"
"You should be proud, Belladonna," Watts laughed, "You delivered the least useful results I could have asked for."
"You're a fucking monster."
"You wanted that woman to kill us!" Weiss shouted.
"I want what you've got!" Cinder shouted over her shoulder.
She swung back and faced Watts. There was wild hunger in her eyes.
"Put a bomb collar on me," She said, "Give me the goddamn implant! I want what they have. You owe me, Watts!"
Watts squinted. Something had caught his eye when he glanced at Cinder's hand. The exposed flesh that remained of the palm was a mottled black. New bone was beginning to extend out of the mess. A black resin-like substance formed sinews between the hanging ring finger and its stump. He grabbed Cinder by the wrists and dragged her closer to him. He peered at the black growth intently. Cinder was hissing through her teeth.
"Yeah, that started growing after we knocked her out," Ebi said, "We think she managed to get a small dose from what she did with that glass, but it's worn off now."
Watts bent down and examined the glass shards sticking through Cinder's red medical scrubs into her thighs. He took hold of a shard and yanked. The shard was covered in a tiny formation of black glass.
"Fascinating," Watts said, "bring her to the exam room. Knock her out again, if you will."
"Sir, do you believe she might still be a threat?"
"Oh heavens, no," Watts said, "You boys with your guns have this under control, I'm sure. I simply find her annoying."
"Fuck you, Watts, you owe-"
The needle jammed into Cinder's neck. Her eyes were lolling back before the plunger was halfway emptied. The two soldiers dragged her towards the doors into the facility. Watts stepped forward and looked Blake in the eye. He grinned. He moved on to Weiss.
"I would have held your success as an equally valuable result," He said.
Weiss tried something she'd never attempted before. She formed a wad of saliva in her mouth, and spat. She mistimed her thrust forward, wasting it. The spit wad clung to a trail and was sent splattering back across her chin. Her glare at Watts didn't falter, despite the snickering of the soldiers, and Watts' silent but unbroken grin.
"Thank her." Weiss said.
"Excuse me," Watts asked, his grin widening.
"Thank her for taking your asset alive," Weiss said, "You owe her that."
"Sir," Ebi spoke up, "We found the subject trying to extort information out of Fall, after she'd maimed her."
"I know what that shit was!" Blake screamed, "And I wasn't letting her take it!"
Watts stormed over to Blake and grabbed her by the throat. She threw a grimace of hatred at him, her teeth bared.
"That 'shit' was everything," Watts said, "Everything that makes you special. I extracted it and put it in a syringe. You're probably not spitting in my face right now, because you're seeing your implant being detonated if you do, yes? Good. You're using your Ability to push the boundaries, see what you can get away with. See how far you can go before I'll push this little button- it's in my coat here. Would you like a go at knocking it out of my hand?"
He held up a small gadget, identical to the one Ebi had used. He put it right before Blake's eyes so she could see the ample space he put between his thumb and the little red button on the top.
"Go on, then," He offered.
Blake's eyes burned hatred at him. She could feel the muscle tensing in the soldier at her back. The tip of his SMG tapped against the back of her head, like an awkward reminder that it was there. After a moment, Watts pocketed the device.
"Put them in their cells."
Ebi nodded, and gave a hand signal to his team. They began marching Blake and Weiss forward. Weiss cried out in protest, but when she saw Blake's helpless compliance, she followed suit. Down they went, along the familiar path to their cells. Blake felt the SMG pressing hard against the back of her neck as she was marched. Ebi, leading the team forward, spoke over his shoulder.
"You got this under control, Marrow?"
"Uh, yes sir."
"Great," Ebi said, "Because out there you looked like a scared dog."
The furniture of the apartment was arranged in a semi-circle facing the large screen TV. Schnee News was playing, muted. Another breakdown of the events of the Detroit incident. The six roommates were lounging, barely paying attention to the drivel.
Ren and Nora were in the loveseat, a blanket over their legs, each with a cup of tea in their hands, with an open laptop shared between them. Ruby, Yang and Pyrrha occupied the coach. Jaune was kicked back in the lazy boy, his legs propped up. Hovering before Pyrrha, just beyond her outstretched fingertips, a handful of coins danced threw the air, each performing its own spins and wild loops, but together forming a spinning vortex of gleaming metal pieces. The display held most of the room's attention, none more mesmerized than Ruby. Occasionally, the TV's image would flicker with interference, but nobody paid it much attention.
"So, he was their contact for at least one mission," Jaune mused, "And how long was it after that that they hit your house?"
Yang shot Jaune a dirty look. She reached for the bong on the living room table.
"Eight months after that mission," Ruby began, "Is… when my Mom disappeared. Then it was… it was almost a year after that… we got caught."
The light lowered in Yang's hand. She looked at Ruby.
Qrow emerged from the front door of the neighbour's house, blood splattered across his T-shirt.
Yang put the bong to her mouth and struck the lighter.
"And we learned, from that doctor in California, that Atlas was there at that time," Ren noted, "They must have been watching your family."
"Waiting to either hire them again, or come for us all," Ruby said.
Yang left smoke drift from between her lips.
"So this box of intel," Jaune said, "What happened to it?"
"Gone," Yang whispered, sending swirls of smoke in different directions, "A few days later it was gone. We were careful to put it all back together properly. I don't think they ever found out we got into it."
"They would have talked to us about it if they found out," Ruby said, "They never said anything."
"Yeah," Yang shrugged.
"So, they probably hid it in a more secure location," Jaune said, "Any idea where?"
"Nope," Ruby said.
Yang thought for a moment, then shook her head.
"A safety deposit box, most likely," Ren said.
"Which we would have no idea how to find," Yang said.
"Yeah," Jaune said, "That sucks. Evidence of what Atlas was doing in Africa could be the piece that ties everything we have together. It could be enough to go public."
"It's a shame your parents never got the chance to use that intel themselves," Pyrrha said.
"Well, it wasn't Atlas that came for us," Ruby said, "It was the cops."
The family car went up on its left wheels and skidded sideways across the driveway. It slammed down on all fours, bouncing on the suspension, a full three meters from Yang. There was a massive indentation in the passenger side door, the fiberglass crushed inward, encircling where the door handle had been very nearly smashed through the side of the vehicle. The remnants of the window had rained down both on the passenger seat of the car and onto the driveway. Yang stared at the damage, her mouth agape. She hadn't meant to…
The driver's door opened, And Taiyang stepped out. He was wearing a look of abject shock.
"I- I-" Yang stammered, "Never used it like that before. Never, never- I didn't mean to…"
Her father's eyes went to her, filled with concern. Suddenly, his gaze focused and moved over her shoulder.
An awareness creeped up her spine of a world of watching eyes at her back. How many people had just seen that? Yang inched around slowly. She turned just in time to see Judy disappearing into her house.
A moment passed. Other than the neighbour, the street had been clear. Tai began moving around the car.
Qrow appeared on the front porch, shoeless, in sweatpants, drink in hand.
"Fuck was that?" He asked, looking about, then doing a double take at the car.
"Qrow, Judy just saw," Taiyang yelled, "She just saw!"
"Fuck!"
The glass tumbler hit the porch steps and shattered. Qrow was moving for the neighbour's house at a dead sprint. He crashed through the line of hedges separating the lawns.
"Qrow, no!" Yang shouted.
She moved to sprint after him. Her father's arms wrapped around her from behind and yanked her backwards.
"Yang, listen to me!" He shouted, "We don't-"
"Uncle Qrow!" Yang screamed, "No!"
"Yang, listen!"
"Let me go, Dad!" Yang demanded, "Right now!"
"I can't" Tai said.
"I'll use it!" Yang shouted, "I'll use it if you don't let me go!"
Tears were streaming down her face. Her father held his grip tight.
Qrow emerged from the neighbour's front door. There was blood splattered across his t-shirt. Yang began to wail. Qrow stumbled forward, pushing back through the hedges, only this time making the effort to push branches out of his way. He walked toward Tai, his face set in stone.
"Did she…?" Tai began.
"She got a call off," Qrow said, "They're coming."
Weiss was shoved into her cell with a force she found to be entirely unnecessary. The door slid closed, and her only window to the world outside was cut off. She turned and hurled curses at the door until the sounds of the soldiers faded into the distance.
She paced around the room a moment, fuming with anger.
"Schnee?" Came Blake's voice from the cell next to hers.
Weiss plopped herself down on the cot, and put her back to the wall. One stroke of good luck about their predicament: the cell walls were just thin enough to hear each other through.
"Blake, what are we going to do?" Weiss asked, "They're suicide missions now! He's trying to kill us!"
"Stay calm," Blake said, "Stay focused."
"I… I can't," Weiss cried, "I'm not… I'm not like you, Blake. I can't do this!"
"Yes you can," Blake said, "I know you can. You're strong Weiss, I've seen it. He's going to send us out again soon. When he does, we have to stay calm, and stay focused. I promise you, there's a way out of this alive."
Weiss let these words hang in the air. Her lower lip quivered. A tear was threatening to spill over her eyelid.
"Blake, you can make it out of this, but I don't know about me."
"Weiss-"
"Listen! If I don't make it… just… don't let them get away with this. Bring these monsters to justice."
"We'll do that together," Blake said.
Silence for a moment.
"You'd seen that drug before."
"I have."
"Ottawa?"
"Yup."
"What happened there?"
"We were set up," Blake said, "Our group was doing everything we could to undermine the military's crackdown on the city. But we were losing people every day. Some taken in, some executed in the streets. Too dangerous to be taken alive."
"Were you all Post Human? How many did you have?"
"Not all of us were. There were plenty of humans trying to help where they could. There must have been a dozen or so Posts on the team then. Before we started getting picked off. We weren't enough to fight an entire army.
Then one day, something happened. Adam- um, this one Post Human I knew- he showed up with this case. A case full of black vials. 'We have a benefactor' he said to us, 'and they've given us a weapon you wouldn't believe.'"
"The drug? You were supplied with it?"
"Suddenly, everybody could have an Ability. Everybody could fight. That stupid asshole he… he got a lot of good people killed trying that shit.
Everybody gets a unique Ability, right? Not all of them are good. Some of those kids tore reality apart around them and didn't know how to put it back together again. Some of them took whole squads of soldiers with them in… in fucked-up blazes of glory.
Khan, our… leader, I guess you'd say- she took advantage. Started handing out vials carefully. She used the human members of our group as expendable pawns. Ground they died to take, she held. Suddenly, the drones weren't enough to stop us. My guess is, she's still running things in Ottawa, inside that military barricade, and maybe still getting supplied with that drug."
"So, what does it mean that- that it came from Atlas?"
"It means Ottawa was one big experiment to that creep," Blake said, "It means my friends died for his test results. It means Atlas is preparing for the moment when they double cross Khan and probably kill the rest of them. And it means I have to go talk to my ex again. So, that sucks, too."
"Blake?"
"Yes, Weiss?"
"Will you teach me how to spit?"
The polished, stainless steel door opened, and the drawer within slid out with a hiss. Frothing clouds of freezing vapour poured out around the shape on the long, thin drawer. Watts bent low over the shape, wrapped in a black plastic bag.
"Well, well, was it any wonder this was how things were going to end between us?" He asked.
He slid the mass in the bag onto the gurney, then pushed the drawer closed. He brought the gurney to the center of the lab. Fluorescent lights illuminated every inch of the chamber, making every surface, every glass jar or beaker, every blade on every tool gleam. He unzipped the body bag and tossed it aside.
"Sorry it took me so long to get to you, but I've such more interesting candidates than you. Oh, you wouldn't believe the day I've had."
He walked over to the mounted camera, aimed directly at the gurney. He hit record, and held up a toe tag where the camera could see it.
"Doctor Arthur Watts, performing autopsy of James Ironwood."
The mess on the table was a twisted pile of bones with a too-thin coating of blackened, burnt flesh.
"Subject is a semi-rare case of Physical-type Aberration," Watts said, pulling on a pair of surgical gloves, "Superhuman damage resilience, and regenerative ability."
Watts picked up a surgical scalpel and approached the mangled corpse before him. He took hold of the skull, and turned it side to side, seeing how far within the eye sockets he could peak. He began to cut away the tissue of the forehead.
"Due to what we observed Ironwood surviving in the field, I elected to use the Detroit incident as a test. It seems he was not the one we've been looking for."
Watts lifted the mechanical saw up from his tray of tools. He gave the trigger a couple of pulls, listening to the electric motor whir. He pursed his lips in frustration, then grabbed another 10-volt battery from the charging stand. He swapped the battery out, and this time the motor roared with life. Watts nodded and then returned to the body. He checked the viewing monitor on the camera, ensuring that the skull was in view.
He activated the saw and began cutting.
"The Hellfire missile overcame the subject's superhuman durability- specifically, that of his eyes," Watts was shouting over the grinding noise, "This was followed by…"
The top third of the skull popped loose from the rest of the bone. It fell back against the gurney, revealing the hollow chamber within.
"Flash disintegration of the brain," Watts said, "Consistent with most cases of Physical types experiencing direct Hellfire strike."
He spoke the next words low, too low for the camera's microphone to pick up.
"Couldn't even die in an interesting way, could you James?"
He turned and faced the camera, taking a step towards it. He looked directly into the shiny black lens.
"We are still making progress towards Project Goal. I assure you, the loss of Ironwood is of no true consequence. I am already planning another field test of our most viable candidate. And this time, I have no doubt you'll get the headlines you're hoping for, too."