Chapter Fifteen
"Finally," Oscar said as the plates arrived, Qrow at his shoulder. "I thought it would never get done."
"The one to talk to is the slaughterhouse by the city wall at the base of the mountain," Qrow said, taking the order. "If he's drunk everything gets late."
"Well, tell the professor he won't have to go hungry anymore," the Valean said with a smirk. "We can hear his stomach growling from here."
They exited the tavern and moved around to the alley for the side entrance, down the short hall and to the stairwell. It wasn't as hot as high summer but it was still a heat trap. Qrow held two of the meals and Oscar held his own, climbing up the stairs when they heard a cacophony of noise from above, banging and pounding, followed by an unnatural stillness. Oscar and Qrow shared a look, and Oscar felt anxiety in his chest bloom. No way… he was too careful… and he had no reason to use the stairs…
He moved up at a faster pace, feeling his thighs burn with the push but somehow knowing that he had to be fast. Qrow's much longer legs kept pace, and his height made him see it first.
"Oz!"
There on the landing between the third and fourth floor was Oz, bent around the metal bench like he'd crashed into i-there was blood on the bench. Oscar gasped, dropping his lunch as Qrow cleared the steps and crouched down by the professor. "Oz, Oz! Can you hear me? Say something!"
Oscar finally reached the scene, hovering. Ozpin's forehead was streaked with blood, spreading into his hair as Qrow rolled him onto his back. One arm was bent at an unnatural angle, and his bad leg - brothers his bad leg was actually bent, but not in a way that inspired hope. A tear in the pant leg showed that the bulbous protrusions leftover from the backbreaker had been ripped open, oozing blood and something noxiously yellow onto the floor.
"Come on, Oz!" Qrow growled, a calloused hand moving Oz's face from side to side.
Oscar was horrified, his father was so still, he was so quiet, and he didn't know what he was supposed to do, what was he supposed to do, how was he supposed to react to this?
"Brothers of Light and Dark!"
Oscar looked up to see Mr. Lionheart, standing at the top of the steps in wide eyed horror. He moved to go down the stairs, his motions jerky and uncontrolled. One foot slipped out from under him and he slid down the rest of the steps, ignoring the tumble to crouch down next to Qrow. "Is he breathing?" he demanded.
"I don't know, I'm not a doctor. Oscar!" Qrow looked up and caught Oscar's gaze. "Get Pietro and Penny! Tell them we have an emergency!"
And leave Ozpin? "But-"
"Now!"
He jolted to action, squeaking as he struggled to navigate his way back down the stairs, tip-toeing over the dropped meals and bolting as soon as he cleared the side entrance of the building. He ran full tilt back to the apartment, pumping his legs and overworking his lungs. Once he saw the building he started shouting. "Doctor! Doctor Polendina!"
A few heads peaked out of windows, but Oscar barely registered them, stumbling up the five steps of the brownstone and momentarily confused as to why the door wouldn't open before he remembered he needed to use his keys. His hands were shaking as he turned out his pockets, jittery with energy as he tried to remember how to even open a door though his panic.
"Oscar? What in Brothers' name is the problem?"
Nana Calavera had opened the door, excellent, he moved past her and took two steps into the hall, pounding on the first apartment on his right. "Doctor Polendina!" he shouted. "It's Oz! He fell down the stairs!"
"He what?" Nana Calavera said.
"Please, he won't wake up! I need help!"
Penny opened the door, her red curls swishing behind her back. "Take me there," she said with no nonsense. "We can evaluate him on site and then get him here."
"You'll need help getting him here," Calavera said, and Oscar frowned, trying to recognize why they weren't all running back to the stairwell. "You can lift a lot, Penny, but even that old codger would give you pause."
Move Oz, right, right they had to move Oz. "Qrow is already there," he said, voice shaking. "So is Leo, Mr. Lionheart."
"Excellent!" Calavera said, tone serious. "You two go on ahead, I'll get Qrow's nieces, they're stronger than they look."
That was all the permission Oscar needed, he was already heading out the door but Penny wasn't immediately behind him. He turned, confused, but she appeared with a small leather bag, hopping down the stairs two at a time. "Take me to him," she said seriously.
Oscar started running again, Penny easily keeping up, and they ran the two blocks back to the office building.
"Tell me what happened."
"I don't know!" Oscar said, moving to the side entrance. "Qrow and I were downstairs waiting for lunch, we were going to bring it up and eat together. We heard all this crashing noise as we were going up the stairs and when we came up…"
"Oscar! That you?"
"Qrow! I'm here, I have Penny!"
The stairs were full of people, all the different offices pouring out to see what all the hubbub was about. Penny moved through them easily, announcing herself as a nurse and making them step aside, Oscar following in her wake. "Everyone, please give me room," she said in a stiff, formal voice, an order that forced people to listen to her. She knelt by Qrow, motioning him to move aside, and Qrow got up to his feet. One hand was streaked in Ozpin's blood and Oscar wasn't even sure how much more he could take.
Lionheart moved to the pair. "This will take a while," he said. "My aunt was a nurse, evaluating him will be a spell."
"We're waiting," Qrow said, his voice dark, and Oscar nodded emphatically.
"I know that," Lionheart said, shaking his head. "I'm offering to wait upstairs in my office, give the nurse here some time to do what she needs."
"No," Qrow growled, slouching forward. "We're not going anywhere."
Lionheart held up his hand, not pushing further. "I'll go lock up his office. Oscar, you want to come with me?"
Office…? Something in Oscar's mind started to finally move past his father motionless on the floor, and he nodded mutely, knowing everything had to be locked up. He moved up the stairs, a little unsure how his legs were still functioning, and he followed Lionheart into the office. It felt like a lifetime ago he had last been in here, he dimly remembered the ledgers and invoices. He started to sift through them, his hands were still so shaky, and Lionheart moved to the reading room to close the window and lock it with the block of wood. Oscar filed the papers and locked up the money they had been counting, moving into the reading room and placing a charging wreath around the sand table.
He wiped at his face, realizing belatedly his cheeks were wet. He hummed, frustrated with himself. Oz needed him, he had to keep it together, he could lose it later.
Lionheart gave Oscar Ozpin's keyring, and they locked up.
"Keep me in the loop, eh?" he said, putting a hand on Oscar's shoulder. He nodded, not really listening.
Yang and Ruby were in the stairwell now, Ruby carrying blankets for some reason. Ozpin was stretched out to his natural height, a bandage wrapped around his knee and his broken arm bound to his side. The blood on his forehead was wrapped, too, but not before half his hair was streaked in red, and Oscar suddenly felt weak in the knees. He carefully made his way downstairs, still unable to comprehend why his father had taken the stairs when they were always so difficult for him.
Qrow saw him and shifted around the landing to be near him, Penny giving instructions. Ruby and Penny slowly unfolded one of the blankets and carefully maneuvered it under Ozpin, Yang using her one hand and teeth to make knots in the corners. Closer inspection saw that a wooden board had been placed under Ozpin's back and head, tied to him and keeping him straight. Red and yellow still leaked from his bad leg, Oscar couldn't even ask what that might mean, all he could process was Penny's determined look and clear, concise direction.
"Everyone take a knot and slip your arms through," she said, "It will alleviate the pressure as we move him down the stairs. We will need more people once we are on ground level. Ready? One, two, three!"
The four of them lifted, and Oscar watched in fascination as Penny directed them to move around. She and Qrow were at Oz's head, the sisters at his feet. Oscar realized dumbly that he wasn't doing anything, he felt useless.
"What should I do?" he asked, dimly surprised his voice worked.
"Please go down to the tavern and ask for help," Penny said in her serious tones. "It is a long walk back to my dad, and I do not wish any of us to tire."
That made sense, and the direction helped. He squeezed his way ahead and moved down the stairs yet again. Instead of taking the side entrance he moved through the back storage room of the tavern, exiting behind the bar and finding the Valean who had given him their lunch.
"Oscar!" he said, dropping everything. "How's the professor? Is he alright?"
Oscar shook his head. "They're moving him down the stairs right now," he said. "They'll need help once they're on the ground floor, it's a long walk to the doctor."
The Valean turned out to the tavern. "You all hear that?" he said. "Who's a strong back willing to help the soothsayer?"
By the time Penny and the others arrived four other people had stood to offer help, three men and a woman with black hair were all prepared at the side entrance. Everyone took a bit of the blanket and Penny, still in charge, gave quick, precise directions on how to keep Ozpin flat and straight. They all moved to the street, drawing dozens of eyes as they started the two block hike back to the brownstone. Word spread like wildfire, the streets clearing for the walk but also filling to see the procession.
"Look after him!" the shopkeeper who saw Oz weekly said.
"He'll be in my thoughts."
"I'll pray to the Brother of Light to keep him around."
"He better pull through!"
"I'll stop by later," the general store man said, "I'll get you a discount for whatever you need!"
"Brothers save us, not the soothsayer. He better live!"
Oscar darted ahead, but Calavera already had the brownstone open, and someone had laid out planks on the front steps to make hefting Ozpin up them easier. "You stupid useless old codger of a fool!" Calavera shouted, blind gaze locked on the noise. "If you don't live through this I'll kill you myself! Who's going to keep a rhythm on the stairs without you!"
They dragged into the doctor's apartment, Dr. Polendina already set up in his wheeling chair. "Set him on the table," he ordered. "Penny, tell me what happened, all the rest of you mosey somewhere else. Let a doctor do his work."
Even Oscar was gently pushed out of the room, and he stared at a shut door without quite understanding why he couldn't see Oz anymore. He worried his hands, shifting his weight and unable to come up with what to do next.
He… didn't really move from the Polendina door. He didn't know where to go or what to do. All he really saw was his father motionless on the landing, blood pooling at his head and smeared on the metal bench. Calavera sat with him, her hand permanently attached to his shoulder. Qrow paced up and down for a while, but he disappeared at some point.
Yang, of all people, stayed sitting on the floor next to him, her arm wrapped around his shoulders with Calavera. She said nothing, was simply a solid presence, her face grim and lost in memory. Ruby appeared and disappeared, bringing cups of tea or asking for an update. Eventually, she joined the vigil, the four of them crowding the hallway with their extended legs. Everyone had to step over them, asking if something had happened and Nana Calavera explaining that the professor had taken a fall. Every tenant in the building offered their thoughts and well wishes to Oscar, and he sort of heard them even if he didn't really process it. Several said they would take care of the gardens for the next few days.
"It's hard, waiting," Ruby said softly.
"Yeah…" Yang agreed.
The younger sister looked up. "I wish I had been there for you," she said, "Waiting for you."
Yang caught her eyes and smiled. "You were where you needed to be. I was where I needed to be. The rest of it doesn't matter."
Ruby sniffled, rubbing at her eyes, but she smiled. "That's all that really matters."
"Hey, did you see one of the lifters?" Yang asked. "Girl, black hair."
Ruby shook her head. "I was a little focused. Why?"
Yang bit her lip but looked away. "She looked familiar, is all."
… Beyond the door noise was mostly muffled. Oscar could hear Penny and her father talking, but not what they were saying. He couldn't focus to hear more, his mind couldn't stay together long enough to put in the effort. Now that there was quiet, now that he could almost think, he realized what had happened.
This was the Grimm.
Ozpin had warned him weeks ago, shown him how the spiral of the Grimm the soothmaker laid on him had tightened over and over and over again. He'd almost died from backbreaker. And yesterday he had admitted to loving Qrow, and admitted how that terrified him because of the Grimm. Oscar thought… it didn't matter what he thought, it was just wishful thinking.
Would this be it? Would this be the time the Grimm finally killed him…? He didn't want that. He didn't want to lose his father, and every time he had that thought he started to shake. Yang and Calavera tightened their grip on him, but they didn't understand, they didn't know how perilous this all was.
"I'm going to check on Uncle Qrow again," Ruby said with a sigh, getting up.
"Is he drunk yet?" Yang asked, voice flat.
"No…" she said, but her voice was dubious. "But he really should be down here."
She disappeared upstairs, leaving Oscar with Yang and Calavera. He leaned into Yang, listless and mute, still trying to process it all, still trying to figure out if his father would live through this.
"It'll be okay, Oscar," Yang said. "He'll be just fine."
No… he really wouldn't…
Nana Calavera didn't say anything, only muttered in her native language occasionally. Eventually, Ruby came down with Qrow. He was slouched forward, curses falling out of his mouth.
"Anything yet?" he demanded.
Oscar shook his head.
"Dark Brother's filth," he cursed as Ruby joined them back on the floor, fluffing out her red skirt. Qrow paced up and down the hall slightly, his curses filling the silence. The sun was setting earlier and earlier, and as a result the hallway got darker and darker. Calavera got up briefly, moving into her apartment and coming out with a candlestick, sensing the need for light for everyone else. Ruby offered to reach over and light it, and the vigil continued: Oscar numb of all thought except the Grimm, Yang holding him with her good arm, Ruby silent solace, Calavera ever-practical, and Qrow pacing up and down, cursing.
It was much, much, much later that the door to the Polendina apartment opened. Dr. Polendina wheeled out, shrugging out of an apron that had flecks of blood on it. Everyone jolted to their feet.
"Doctor?" Oscar asked, holding his breath.
Polendina sighed and pulled his glasses off. "He's stable for now, and it's a right miracle he's made it this far."
"But will he be okay?" Qrow demanded, leaning forward.
"It's still up in the air," Dr. Polendina said gently. "Let me explain: there's two things to worry about. Technically three, but his broken arm isn't the same level of worry. The head injury is the most immediate concern. For all the advancements we've made in the last few decades in doctoring in Atlas, head injuries are still a mystery to us. We can't open him up like we can on an arm and see where the damage is. His skull looks intact, but if there's any kind of internal bleeding we have a problem. Time will tell, and the next several hours are critical. I don't have any domain over that. If he survives that, the next worry is his leg."
"Yeah," Yang said. "What was all that yellow stuff?"
"That's the acid buildup from the backbreaker," Polendina explained. "This I know a bit more about, I was there during the Lost Summer. The fever brings some kind of acid with it, and it builds up in different parts of the body, mostly the legs. The longer those deposits persist the harder they get, you probably knew Master Ozma's were downright solid, but even years later we've seen that they aren't solid on the inside. His fall cracked open the shell and released the acid still inside. With the acid reintroduced to his body, well. I've seen people relapse to the backbreaker when that happens."
"Fye and filth," Qrow muttered. "Fye and filth!" He turned and lifted a fist, punching the opposite wall, the thud echoing down the hall. "Brothers-damned bastard!"
"Wait, wait," Ruby said quickly. "Do people survive a relapse?"
Dr. Polendina sighed all the way down, finally putting his spectacles back on. "Some do, some don't," he said. "I can't sweeten this, much as I want to. I got him stable, but what he really needs is a hospital. I have some friends up the mountain; Qrow if you message them they can get here in the morning and transport him there."
"Can…" Oscar blinked, realizing he was the one who spoke. "Can I sit with him?"
Dr. Polendina smiled, soft and sad. "Of course."
Qrow stared at the bottle of whiskey across the way, counting off all the reasons he wanted - no, deserved - to drink.
First: the Vale army was on the other side of the mountains. The entire campaign was one disaster after the next according to the papers, Mistral losing territory ever since Southpoint had been taken. Military strategies were wild and inconsistent, changing from moment to moment, creating chaos in the war.
Second: pushed so close to the capitol, the military patrolled the streets in waves. Qrow had watched from the aviary for weeks as people in uniforms moved up and down the rows of brownstones, questioning people seemingly at random. City leaders ordered that anyone not born in Mistral had to have papers justifying their presence. Qrow was off the hook but he'd had to work real fast to get papers for Yang and later Ruby.
Third: sometimes even that wasn't enough. Their Vale features made the soldiers stop them every day. Oh, the girls were great about it, Ruby just talked them to death and Yang - even with one arm - could stare down just about all of them. Those she didn't tasted the ground, and while he couldn't be prouder of her he absolutely hated that his girls had to go through that.
Fourth: the burrough was filled with people from the other countries: Vale, Atlas, Vacuo, even that tiny nothing-island Menagerie that had popped up in the last fifty years. Oh, things were nice and orderly up the mountain closer to the Imperial compound, but down here where people were just trying to live everyone had a chance of being harassed.
Fifth: City leaders and close military meant food was starting to get scarce. Oscar had already started hiding food from his two gardens but Qrow was counting the days down before the military started confiscating again - and so close to the capitol they'd want to grab everything to feed themselves. Damned stupid thing all around.
Sixth: Taxes were going up on everyone, they were already paying the Imperial Court enough to starve over the winter but the war made everything more scarce, more expensive, and harder to live. The court still had their fine silks and probably ate cake but the regular folk had to do more with less. Qrow had grown up on the streets, he knew what hunger looked like, and he was lucky that he had money for food the last few years, luckier still this year with his two jobs as building repairman and amateur crowmaster. If taxes went up any more...
Seventh: That was just the stuff that would drive a guy to drink in the city in general. There was also the personal stuff.
Qrow growled, low in his throat, glaring at that bottle of whiskey.
Light Brother's fye it was just yesterday that he and Oz had finally… And Oz wasn't the kind to take a tumble just for the sake of it, their connection had been more than just their bodies - even Clover had never been that tender in their time together. He'd been so confused to see the professor panic afterward, going on and on about a magic curse over his head and it somehow being triggered and bad things coming.
Stupid-ass superstition, Qrow had thought, but Oz and Oscar thought it was real enough and he tried to meet them at their level.
Less than a day later Oz falls down the stairs, the doc has Qrow message the hospital, there's blood and yellow ooze and Oscar looking on in wide-eyed, overwhelmed horror.
He could still picture Oscar sitting in the hall downstairs, legs drawn up and staring at nothing, too overwhelmed to process it at all. His voice was absolutely tiny when he asked to sit with his dad, and Qrow could only picture Yang and Ruby stretched out in the doc's apartment, him doing the same thing, and none of this was filth-fair.
He could still see the blood on Oz's face, the gash along his forehead and into his hairline. He could still feel the looseness of his body, the dead weight of it as he tried to shift Oz around on that landing. He could still smell the sour scent of that yellow ooze, the backbreaker liquid. Fye and filth. Brothers' fye and filth. There had been no noise, even when Penny showed up and straightened him out, even when he was hoisted up on a blanket and being carried downstairs. He was well and truly gone, and that was brothers-damned terrifying.
He deserved a drink for this.
He deserved a drink for this.
He deserved a brothers-damned drink for this.
He glared at the bottle, fighting with himself. Fighting so hard, because as much as he deserved a drink for this, as much as he tasted the burn of the whiskey, as much as he wanted to dive in and never come up for air… he couldn't.
Oscar needed someone to look out for him. Yang still hadn't found a job as she was healing. Ruby hadn't finished her apprenticeship. Maria and Tai would kill him.
… Oz would be disappointed in him.
Filth.
He started counting again.
Then he shook his head.
Quality over quantity. Oscar. Yang. Ruby. They were all worth a hell of a lot more than him getting drunk.
He just had to focus on that.
"You gonna keep staring or are you going to drink?" Yang asked sourly from her cot.
Qrow took a deep breath and ran a hand through his messy hair. "No," he said heavily. "I'm going to head down and check on Oscar."
Yang's small smile definitely did not reassure him that he'd made the right choice, and it most certainly did not give him the strength to put the whiskey back in the crate he'd had it in and put another crate on top.
Oscar had stayed the night with the Polendinas. Like Ozpin, they had divided their apartment. The front section was reserved for doctoring and only had one cot of a bed. Behind that was the stove, marking the boundary to the actual living space that Pietro and Penny used. Oscar had clearly slept on the floor by Ozpin, and he was still uncomfortably asleep from the looks of things when Penny let him in, giving him a mask to wear.
With a gesture, Penny brought him back to where Pietro was in his wheelchair by a tiny table up against the wall where a meal had been set out.
"How's he doing?" Qrow asked softly.
"He survived the night," Pietro said. He looked exhausted. "That's the first good sign we've had. It would be better if he woke up, but right now, being unconscious would be best. He's going to be in a lot of pain."
"The break of his backbreaker protrusions are still worrisome," Penny said. "If he is reinfected with backbreaker, we must all take precautions to make sure it doesn't spread through the city again."
"The masks?" Qrow asked, still trying to find a place for it to be comfortable.
"As long as they cover the nose and mouth," Pietro nodded. "For all our advancements in technology, this is the best we have."
Qrow shrugged. "Better than back when medicine was animal urine."
They both nodded. "Penny checked the aviary this morning, a wagon will be brought down this morning to take Master Ozma up the mountain to the hospital."
"I'm going with him," Qrow insisted.
"I am uncertain they would allow it," Penny said gently. "You are not family. Oscar is."
Qrow swore. Darkly. They finally got together and no one really knew. Fye and filth. He got up, went back to the front and carefully stepped around Oscar and even more carefully sat at the edge of Oz's cot. He gently swept his fingers through silver hair that wasn't matted down under the thick bandage around his head.
"I want to kiss you, Oz," Qrow whispered softly, tracing around Ozpin's own mask. "I want to hold you and never let you go. Until you're back with us, I'll look after your son."
Oscar stirred from the floor, groaning and probably stiff, looking confused.
"Good morning, kid," Qrow greeted.
"Oz!" Oscar sat up immediately, readjusting his mask, and getting up to his knees before wincing at what was probably dozens of sore muscles. Eventually he worked his way up to his feet, and moved to the head of the cot, staring at his father. He looked a wreck, and Qrow couldn't blame him. He reached down to hold his lover's hand, wondering if he could feel it at all. It was hot to the touch - Dark Brother's filth he was already feverish.
Oscar put the back of his hand by Oz's temple. "At least he doesn't have a fever," he muttered.
Wait, what?
"You sure kid?" Qrow asked.
Oscar looked up and frowned, blinking owlishly. He turned back to his father, placing his hand more firmly on unbandaged skin. "Yeah," he said, "No fever."
"Tell that to his hand," Qrow muttered, looking up and seeing Penny walk over.
"He has localized temperature increase in his hands," she said with clinical air. "It's been like that all night, we do not know why."
"Wait… his hands?" Oscar said, straightening. His spine cracked several times after sleeping on the floor. He moved around to the other side of the cot, picking up Oz's other hand, Qrow watched his eyes double in size and heard a small intake of breath. "His magic is open," he said.
"I do not understand," Penny said with a frown, invisible behind her mask. "Magic is baseless superstition invented to explain natural phenomena that mankind was too primitive to understand."
Oscar shook his head, "Not if you're a soothsayer," he said. He reached out and snatched Oz's other hand from Qrow, laying his palm flat over Oz's palm. "Everyone has a little magic in them, and if you have a lot you have the gift of being a soothsayer."
Pietro wheeled from the far end of the apartment. "Assuming all of that is real, does it mean something to his health if his magic is - what did you say - open?"
"I… I don't know," Oscar said, looking up. "Opening our magic… the energy to use it has to be pulled from somewhere - using a sand table minimizes how much it pulls from us, but I've seen him do readings without it. When I was first learning to open my magic it left me breathless. He's susceptible to insights and visions now, and that pulls a lot out of us."
The one thing Oz didn't need. "Can it be closed then?" Qrow asked, placing a hand on Oz's shoulder.
"I… don't know," he said. "I'll try." He shifted, trying to get a leg up on the cot, and he closed his eyes.
The two adults shared a look, Penny frowning. "There has been no research into the existence of magic in any of the textbooks I studied in Atlas," she said. "I am very confused as to how to proceed."
Pietro offered a soft smile. "That part's easy, honey," he said softly, "We let the soothsayers do their job. Come on, go see if the medical wagon has arrived."
Qrow moved outside with Penny, sitting on the front steps and wondering if Ruby would be good enough to handle the aviary for a day. That was assuming the medical wagon would let him ride with Oz. It would be cruel for Oscar to be there alone, and Qrow swore to himself that he'd raise hell if they tried to suggest otherwise. Maria came out eventually with tea for the two of them, and muttered something about burying Qrow in work once this mess was all over. Soon after Yang exited for her morning run, hugging Qrow and telling him it would be okay, and that Ruby was already with the crows.
"I remember you, you're one of the people that helped carry Ozpin out."
Qrow looked down the street and saw a graybeard approaching. "Who the hell are you?" he demanded.
"Leo Lionheart," he said quickly, bowing his head. "I'm Ozpin's neighbor, so to speak. His office is next to mine." He offered a hand.
"Qrow Branwen," Qrow replied, Penny curtseying and introducing herself as well.
"I came by to see how he's doing," Leo said, hands clasped in front of him. "He's had a hard time of it over the years, until he got that boy of his. We all want to make sure he'll be okay."
"I cannot discuss a patient's condition with a stranger," Penny said clinically, sounding like she was quoting something.
"He survived the night," Qrow said, under no such obligations. "But that's not really saying much. Hospital wagon's on its way."
"Oh, dear," Leo said, face full of concern. Qrow wanted to punch it, but he couldn't justify why. "Can he afford it? I know he's been having fewer and fewer clients… I can make rounds around the building. I mean no one has much money these days, but maybe we can pull something together to help him get through this. He's a good man, hard working and always a little sad. It wouldn't do for him to leave his boy so suddenly."
"We can worry about expenses later," Qrow growled. "Right now we need to get him better."
Leo's lips thinned. "I hate to sound harsh, but Ozpin didn't get around to paying his rent for his office yesterday, because of his fall. The last thing he needs is to get behind on payments."
Fye and filth. "I think the landlord will be forgiving if they know he took a fall."
"It doesn't work that way. Haven's a mess of worry, there's talk of lowering the draft age again, the military are going to go through and take all the food in a few weeks, I'm certain, everything's getting more expensive…" Leo shook his head, his mane of gray hair shaking. "I don't know how long this borough can handle these conditions. I've been holding off raising rent as long as I can, but I also have expenses to worry about."
"Wait, you're the landlord?" Qrow asked.
Leo nodded.
"What, by the brothers, do you want?"
"For Ozpin to get better, of course."
"The rent will be paid," Oscar said tiredly, and Qrow turned quickly to see the kid looking pale. "I'll be in tomorrow."
"No way," Qrow said, standing. "You're an apprentice. You've only had, what, just over a year of training? There's no way you can-"
"I'll figure out something," Oscar said. He rubbed at his eyes. "Any sign of the hospital wagon?"
"No," Penny said. "They should have been here by now."
Oscar stepped down next to Qrow and sat down.
Qrow leaned over. "You okay, Oscar?"
"...tired…"
"Rest up, kid," Qrow said, putting an arm over his shoulder.
Oscar gave a small scowl, but just let out a sigh and leaned into Qrow's side.
Poor kid was exhausted.
"Beat it, Leo," Qrow growled.
The man simply sighed. "I'll talk with young Mr. Pine tomorrow. Please. Keep me informed."
"Will do," Oscar mumbled.
Leo left. They were still waiting and Penny eventually went inside to check in on things. One of the crows from the aviary floated down, landing on Qrow's knee while Oscar seemed to be snoring.
"Hey," Qrow said softly, rubbing at smooth throat feathers. "You good?"
The bird tilted her head, giving a soft caw, and giving an inquisitive peck at his fingers. He chuckled and moved to stroke the crown, enjoying how those feathers always warmed his fingertips. "Sorry. Someone I love is very sick right now." The crow nuzzled back at him and he rather thought it might be understanding. "Ruby will be looking after you today. No messages from me at the moment."
The crow gave another affectionate nip, hopping up to his shoulder and settling down.
"Hmph. Miss you too," he muttered, letting the crow nuzzle into his hair.
He stayed like that, Oscar snoozing into his side, probably doing more damage to his back after all this, when an hour later, his crow gave a loud angry caw, beating wings that kept smacking into Qrow's head before launching up back to the roof.
Wondering what his bird had noticed, Qrow looked around and saw a hospital wagon coming down the street.
"Oscar, wake up. Wagon's here."
"Hmm?" Oscar looked around, face still looking like filth, before he saw the wagon. Then he bolted upright. "I'll tell Dr. Polendina."
Qrow stood, energy filling him. As the wagon approached, he called, "It's about damn time!"
The driver was dressed in hospital reds, guiding the horse as close to the sidewalk as possible. "We got a ramp in back. That'll be easier than the steps."
From the back of the wagon came two nurses, also in hospital reds, and General James Ironwood himself.
"Fye and filth, what are you doing here?"
The general, not dressed in his military whites, merely stood there with such straight posture, Qrow felt the immediate need to knock him down. "Ah, you're the crowmaster of the building. When we heard Master Ozma was hurt, I of course wanted to ensure he had the best medical care."
Qrow, frankly, wanted to tell him to piss off. But the military, unsurprisingly, was also requisitioning most medical personnel and supplies. And Oz deserved the best.
"Wait, you mean you halted the hospital wagon that was coming for him so you could do it yourself?"
Qrow surged forward in complete surprise and slugged the damn general right in the face, knocking him flat on his back. "That's for delaying getting him the help he needs, you piece of brothers' filth."
The general rubbed at his chin. "I suppose I deserve that from your point of view." He stood up. "Now can we get Master Ozma to the hospital or will you be the one delaying him?"
Qrow growled. "You stay out here. You don't have a mask."
"Mask?"
"Backbreaker," Pietro said from his wheelchair at the door. "His deposits ruptured and have been leaking acid. We don't know if he's having a recurrence, and we didn't want it spreading through the building. Now are any of you going to get in here? As his doctor, I have a lot to explain. Do you have space for me in the wagon?"
"Ramp's in the back," Qrow repeated. "This way." He guided the hospital workers around the back to the ramp he'd built for Pietro and Oz and unlocked the backdoor with his key. Dr. Polendina was back in his room, but Penny was holding the door open, mask over her face. Qrow slipped his mask back on and the hospital workers lifted their waxed scarves up over their noses, holding the mask in place with heavy goggles over their eyes.
Ironwood stayed outside.
Oscar was sitting with Oz again, palms on palms and eyes closed and Qrow just reached over him to gently trace a finger along Oz's face.
"Don't worry, Oz," he said softly, "You're going to be just fine."
One of the hospital workers was with Dr. Polendina behind the privacy screen talking medical nonsense that made no sense to Qrow, while the other was doing some sort of exam on Oz.
The hospital worker examining Oz leaned forward, pressing her head by his chest. She jotted things down on a slate, and Qrow just watched, feeling completely useless.
"You two family?" the woman asked.
"I'm his apprentice," Oscar said, letting go of Oz's hands and looking pale again. "He has no family."
"He's my…" Qrow bit down what he wanted to say, to shout. He wanted to scream for everyone that Ozpin was his. His beloved, his lover, his… there wasn't a word to describe what this gentle soothsayer was to him. "He's my friend," he said instead, remembering that Ironwood was outside and that Ozpin had taken great precautions to make sure that the bastard didn't know of his closest people.
The woman nodded. "You all have masks?"
"Lady, are you even looking at us?"
"Standard questions with backbreaker," the woman replied, unruffled. "The man who came with us doesn't have one."
Qrow smiled in pure spite. "Then he can't be in the wagon. We don't know if Oz is going to be sick again."
She nodded. "We should have room for all of you if he rides up front."
Dammit.
"Fine," Oscar said softly. "What hospital are we going to?"
"Higanbana."
Qrow and Oscar both stared. "Higanbana? You sure?"
Oscar gulped. "No wonder you took so long getting here…. That's in the Imperial district."
The woman nodded. "It's also the best hospital in the city," she said gently.
Fye and filth. Was that bastard Ironwood isolating Ozpin? Given what happened the last time Oz saw Ironwood and the absolute mess he was when he came back, sobbing up by the roof in the middle of the night, Qrow wouldn't put it past the bastard at this point. He seemed like a complete control freak.
Peitro rolled forward. "Okay, it's time to get going. Out the back, the ramp will be gentler for all of us."
In the wagon, the two hospital workers were by Oz's head on either side, next were Pietro and Penny, with Oscar and Qrow by Oz's feet. The general had to join the teamster up front. Just before they got going, Qrow leaned out of the wagon and gave a sharp whistle. There was a light caw and one of his crows came down, landing deftly on an offered finger. "We'll keep you updated!" he called back to Maria, who had opened a window to listen to everything."
"You better!" she shouted back.
Author's Notes: Welcome to arc 3 everybody! Oof, lots to say in this chapter.
First off, Oz's fear about the Grimm comes to pass: Salem has pushed Oz down the stairs and the Grimm has activated for the umpteenth time. We have some experience in a loved one falling down the stairs (we still miss you Da...), a lot of Oscar's emotional headspace is pulled from that experience even if the circumstances are wildly different. Poor Oscar, he's trying so hard just to keep up with everything that's happening - especially when he's someone who's slow to process major events like this.
Ruby and Yang start to earn their keep, and we get a small but sweet scene between them. There wasn't room in the fic for going into the entire casts' circumstances, but we tried really hard to give small, meaningful scenes here and there to let readers know they're having lives off-screen. Ruby wishes she was there for Yang when she was injured, and Yang is able to shrug it off and be mature about it.
And we finally get to visit Qrow's headspace! That took forever, but he's finally in a place where he can mostly make mature and healthy decisions, even if he has to stare very intensely at a bottle to make that decision. He and a lot of people in Haven sure have a lot of reasons to drink, but Qrow has some very significant reasons not to, and he now has a third job: look out for an overwhelmed Oscar.
We'll get into more detail later, but there's a lot of things happening to Oz all at once. Health-wise he has the broken arm/leg, the loose backbreaker fluid in his system, and the traumatic brain injury. If anyone remembers from the first chapter, we're roughly putting medicine at around the 1850s, aka syringes have only recently been invented and medical journals have been circulating for a little over fifty years to share methods that work in order to improve the art of doctoring. It's not a good time for Oz to have so much wrong with him.
Also, side note: Happy New Year everyone! May 2022 be the absolute inverse of 2020 and 2021.
Next chapter: Qrow and especially Oscar start to realize how far the scope of an active Grimm can reach in making Oz (and by extension them) Isolated and Miserable.