Chapter Twenty-Six

Marrow woke them right at sundown, his eyes red and droopy after a twenty hour watch. Qrow heard them moving around and dragged himself out of Oz's grip, getting dressed and leaving the room to hide sleeping in Oz's bed. It was a farce by now, probably, but he was not going to give an inch to that white witch bitch, even in front of friends.

They all gathered in Oz's room, even the nodding-off Marrow.

"What are we expecting?" Yang asked.

"Blood and fire, Oz said," Qrow explained. "Robyn says the rebellion is going to attack the north gate - right about now - and the people they've been sneaking in will move up from the south gate."

"Pincer movement," Yang said, nodding, her blond mane up in a tail. "The city is big enough there won't be friendly fire."

"The city is big enough there won't be any coordination," Marrow said, rubbing his eyes. "The imperials could wipe out one side and there would be no way of knowing."

"Yeah there would," Yang said. "We had a system of smoke signals, if Sun and Neptune were sneaking people in, then some of them will be on roofs to manage the smoke. It's an old Vale trick."

"Doesn't matter regardless," Qrow said. "Our job is to survive the night. We got Maria and Ruby and that hollowed out squad at the apartment. Here we only have ourselves. We keep a dark house, no fires, no candles, no invitation that someone's here. One of us is on watch on the roof, one of us guards the professor and the doctors."

"Do we know if anyone knows about this place?" Pietro asked. "I'm all for keeping my daughter alive tonight, but we're doctors, too."

"That's why you're here," Ozpin said. "The sands say injured people will come here, and I would rather we be able to treat them."

"Do we know what kind of injuries, or how many people are coming so that we might prepare?" Penny asked.

"My reading wasn't that specific," Oz said. "We can ask the sands if you wish."

"Please," Penny said. She stood and moved over to the cobbled-together junk pile that was the makeshift sand basin Ozpin had assembled, frowning suspiciously before putting two fingers on the copper hairpin.

"You may hold my hand, if you wish. It helps with accuracy. What is your question?"

"How many people should my father and I prepare for?" Penny asked.

Qrow watched his lover's eyes glow softly before the pendulum started to swing in the sands, a simple design for a simple question, probably.

Oz's lips were a thin line as he frowned at the reading, studying it. "... the sands aren't very clear," he said after a pause. "There is… hm, a lot of people are going to go through a paradigm shifts, a decision that will somehow fundamentally change them. Until they make that decision it is hard for the sands to know what pattern to make. More than one, but that's all I can say confidently."

More than one…? Qrow had been so focused on Oscar and his question about getting him back, it hadn't even occurred to him to think that other people might end up at the house. That made him frown and reassess what he thought he would do.

"Well," Yang said, "We all know what to do now. Marrow, get some sleep while you can. I'll be up on the roof. Uncle Qrow, guard the doc and the professor. Here's hoping nothing sneaks up on us." They adjourned after that, Penny rolling her father back to their room and Yang guiding Marrow to bed before taking position. Qrow lingered, watching his lover as he stared at his reader, his lips a thin line of a frown.

"Is something else there?" he asked quietly.

"No," Ozpin said. "Rather, something isn't there. Something I was expecting."

"And what's that?"

"The Grimm."

"What, the curse?"

"Yes, I don't see the concentric spiral of isolation and misery. I thought the curse was still active. I thought that was why Oscar…"

Qrow's eyes widened, realizing something the professor didn't know. "She doesn't know about him," he said. "The white witch bitch. I asked Oscar, after you fell, if the bitch knew about him."

His eyes widened. "That was a very dangerous question to ask Oscar," he said. "Soothsayers can't give readings on themselves, and if a question gets too close there is sometimes a toll extracted. I'm surprised he was able to give the reading." He leaned back. "But the question was specifically about Salem so perhaps…" He frowned again. "If Salem doesn't know about him, then… maybe I was right."

"Right?"

Oz shook his head. "After the backbreaker - the first backbreaker, I should say. I was in a very dark place, I wasn't sure how to live with the Grimm anymore and I wondered…" Qrow waited, watching all the small changes on his lover's face as he drifted back to that period of his life. "The first reading my master ever gave me was a reading of my life. I was staring at that reading, trying to… well. I realized for the first time that I had no children in that pattern. Something deep inside me changed to have that realization. I stopped living by that pattern, then. I didn't go back to university, I moved further down the mountain, and I adopted Oscar."

His gaze lifted to Qrow, eyes bright and soft and warm. "These last two years have been the happiest of my life."

Qrow wanted to protect that face: the face of a content Ozpin, for the rest of his life. To do that he had to make sure Oscar was back and safe and sound. That made him put his fingers on the stupid hairpin. "Where's the best place for me to be to get Oscar back?" he asked.

"Qrow, you don't need to-"

"Yeah, I do Oz. I want you happy, and the kid has to be part of that picture."

The smile Oz gave in return went straight to Qrow's manhood, and he gulped it down to focus on the sand basin as Oz started the reading.

"There are two good choices," Ozpin said, "but either one depends on what other people decide, and that makes the sands uncertain. Oscar is also my son, and some things I can't see because of that. Your choices are either as close to the palace as possible, or halfway from here to there. There are dangers to both positions, but the sand can't tell me what they are. I do suggest the sooner you choose to leave, the better chance you get the outcome you desire."

Qrow nodded, getting up. "Then I'm heading off."

Ozpin nodded, reaching up and grabbing Qrow's wrist. For a moment so many things were on his face, the largest being fear. "... please…" he started to say, but Qrow shushed him and put his free hand on the one gripping his wrist.

"I'll be careful," he said softly. "And I'll bring him back safe."

Oz couldn't answer, all he could do was dip his head into a nod and let go.

Halfway there or as close as possible. Tch. The choice was obvious to Qrow, and he hiked up the mountain in long strides. The sun had set, the air was chilly bordering on cold. He kept his ears open but there was no way the rebellion would make it up this far that soon. It was dead quiet, the spring thaw hadn't come yet so there were no insects, no one was up - or if they were they weren't in the streets. Qrow and his crows made good time - they stuck to the main roads but only the edges of the lanes, ducking to shadows and under torches.

When he saw the imperial guards at some kind of checkpoint he paused, looking around. Most places here were residential - he'd have to scale a garden wall to get to a spot as high as he wanted, and after fifteen minutes of hunting he did just that with a quiet curse. The crows were silent, either staying at his shoulder or gliding along with him. He crested a garden wall and looked around, spying a light higher than the others. Watch tower? No, not this far up, the palace would have the watch towers.

He fell lightly back to the ground and made his way to the light, wondering what it was.

"Oh, of course," he muttered. It was the gate that sectioned off the imperial district, the boundary to the residential mansions that government officials. The gate was half again as tall as most of the houses, not tall enough to be a sitting duck but enough to have a decent view of the mountain as he needed it. His two crows flew up to the perch and he spent more time than he wanted to admit figuring out how to climb the gate and join them. Once he was up he had a clear view of one of the smaller avenues up to the palace up the mountain, and down the mountain he could, during daylight, see all the way to the foothill burroughs.

It was full dark now, and he wondered what Yang meant about smoke signals - who was going to see smoke on an overcast night?

Then he saw the signal fires, all on building roofs and spread at regular intervals. The fires were probably blocked with blankets or pallets of wood, creating darkness to act as whatever signal Valeans used. As soon as he had the thought he saw one of the fires far down the mountain do exactly that - the small speck of light disappearing and reappearing in some kind of sequence, and the sequence moved up the mountain and then - Qrow turned his head - probably down the other side.

"That's my girl," he said with a grin, and he hunkered down for the wait.

He watched the signals communicating back and forth - the only thing he could perceive in the Brother of Darkness' domain. The signals were regular and rhythmic. Qrow could pick out certain sequences that were repeated often, but he had no idea what they meant. The crows nestled in his wool, and he kept his hands in their feathers, enjoying the feeling of warm fingers.

Around midnight he heard musket fire, far, far off in the distance. The crows cawed, and he looked around, trying to place direction. There, south side of the mountain, he saw a burst of light on a roof - a roof? - and the echo moved up to his ears seconds later. He stared at the spot he had seen the musket fired, wondering what soldiers were doing on a roof instead of fighting in the street, but then he watched one of the signal fires slowly grow and grow into a building fire.

"Dark Brother's filth," he cursed. The imperial soldiers had figured out the signal fires and in the ensuing fight had turned a controlled blaze into some kind of disaster.

Inside an hour four more signal fires had been either extinguished or were burning out of control. It was half way up the mountain, right about where Yang and the bolt hole was, and he felt a ball of metal drop in his stomach. Yang… Oz… He could hear musket fire intermittently now as the fighting moved up the mountain, smoke started to scent the air and his crows cawed in agitation, wanting to fly away but staying with their master. He rubbed at their backs and wings, trying to offer comfort as time dragged on.

The wind changed, the smoke blowing downwind now, and Qrow hoped the fires didn't flow down the mountain - the blazes were enormous now, and he didn't look forward to running through it to get Oscar somewhere safe. He didn't like thinking about the state of the bolt hole. He didn't like thinking about the risk to Ruby, the least defended because she was furthest down the mountain. Maybe she wasn't as safe as she thought. Maybe…

He shook his head, turning away from the mountain and setting himself to watch the avenue to the palace. Imperial soldiers were moving everywhere now, running from one direction to the next. More than a few passed under his position on the district gate to join the fight down the mountain. Qrow ignored it, looking for some sign that Oscar was coming. He alternated from watching the lane to the palace itself, not sure where to put his attention.

"If either of you see the kid," he told his birds, "Fly over and lead me there."

More chaos, two soldiers moved under the gate and he heard them talking:

"... and the general is trying that bratty soothsayer. He said not to disturb him!"

"While the war's right outside? What is he thinking…"

He heard more as the soldiers started to thicken, running out to fight on the mountain.

"... said the soothsayers are resources…"

"... opened fire…"

"Opened fire?"

"... absolute chaos…"

"... ran to the emperor…"

"... blood everywhere…"

"Fire! Fire! We need back up! The palace is on fire!"

Three squads turned completely on hearing that, double-timing it back to the palace grounds, and for several minutes there were no soldiers to listen to. Fye and filth, what was going on up there? He shifted, shaking out his numb extremities and getting ready to move. He realized belatedly he could see the silhouette of the palace - the night sky bright enough with the different fires to make its stepped roof visible. No, it wasn't just the ruined signal fires, there was a yellow glow from the palace itself.

Light Brother's fye, the palace really was on fire?

"Filth," Qrow muttered, working his way back down the ground. He shouldn't be this far away from the palace, he would have to practically be at the damn door if he wanted to get Oscar out of here.

Musket fire was everywhere, echoing in the air and making direction difficult to determine. Smoke wandered in and out of the road, giving periods of temporary blindness. There was shouting, but so distorted and echoed by the fire and the changing winds he couldn't make it out. Qrow had no idea where he was supposed to go, but he was going to find Oscar, damn it, and bring that boy home. He heard more musket fire.

"Amber!"

Qrow stiffened, that was a distinctly female voice and a definite change in the string of male shouts and orders. It was also a hell of a lot clearer, meaning it was a hell of a lot closer.

One of his crows cawing and taking off cinched it, and he followed the bird through a burst of smoke and down an alley, turning left, then right, then left again to keep his crow in sight. The other took wing, too. All at once he cleared out into a major lane of some kind, and in the middle of the street was a body.

Cursing he ran to it, crouching down. It was a girl, face horribly scarred and in a uniform he didn't immediately recognize. She'd been shot in the back. Dark Brother's filth.

He glanced up, caught sight of his bird and took off again, skirting down another alley and cutting onto another avenue. Smoke filled the space and he coughed, eyes watering as he tried to get his bearings. A building was on fire here - the fire had spread to the imperial district as well as the palace? Qrow cursed under his breath. More musket fire, close enough that the sound made him instinctively duck. He cleared the smoke and saw four soldiers with muskets trying to run and reload at the same time, chasing something Qrow couldn't immediately make out.

Fye on that.

Qrow drew his gaze from his crows and pulled out his knife, stepping carefully and handling all four in the span of seven moves - caught by surprise, no chance to fire a musket, and absurdly better fed than the squad in the apartment building, they were also soft and Qrow made short work of them. He stood over the bodies, catching his breath and looking around, trying to figure out what they were chasing.

One of his birds swooped down, cawing and landing on his shoulder for half a second before taking off again.

"Thanks, girl," he said, giving chase. The crow stayed low, under the smoke and easy to follow. They cut back to the first avenue, one of the buildings on fire and blasting heat. It also, Qrow realized, gave enough light to see a trail of blood. Brothers fye and filth he felt fear.

And then he recognized Blake, the girl in her servant clothes, stumbling down the lane dragging someone with her, one arm over her shoulders. His two birds were circling her and oh, no.

"Blake!"

She turned, heard darting around. "I'm here!" she shouted.

Qrow closed the distance, eyes drinking in the green coat in the firelight and the massive, frightening, heart-stopping streak of red that went from hip to knee. What the actual filth…?

"Qrow! Please, I'm not strong enough to carry him!" Her cheeks were streaked with tears.

"Easy," he said, biting down every thought going through his head. "Easy, I got you."

Oscar was as pale as his father, eyes open only to slits and unresponsive. There was so much blood… blood and fire… oh, Oz, what did you see?

Qrow hoisted Oscar out of Blake's hands, the kid barely making any noise, and grabbed Blake's hand. "Get us to the bolt hole!" he shouted to his crows, and they stopped circling and changed direction, Qrow following his birds. Blake kept pace with him, he could feel her grip positively shaking. How much energy had she burned through just to get this far? No wonder he had to be as close as possible, the poor girl had no hope of carrying Oscar halfway down the mountain.

They ran through the streets, the smoke and chaos giving them plenty of cover and distraction as they passed soldiers who barely noticed them - consumed with trying to put out the fires or blinded by the smoke. Breathing wasn't exactly easy, but Qrow had a goal and he was going to see it through the way he never saw anything in his entire life. He had failed at everything he ever set out to do but he was absolutely not going to fail in this. Not when Oscar's life depended on it, now when Oz wouldn't survive the news. He would be damned if he failed the first person in his life that didn't look down on him for being drunk, instead lifted him up with little more than kind words.

He saw the district gate and the two flew under it, the crows cawing and veering. Qrow followed suit, tugging at Blake when she stumbled. If possible there were more fires here, and instead of empty the streets were filled with people, running around with buckets to try and stop the spread, military and residents both. Where the hell was the rebellion? Qrow growled under his throat.

Then one of his crows shrieked and fell.

"Son of a Brother's bitch," Qrow cursed, darting forward and letting go of Blake's hand, crouching down to see what had happened. Blake all but fell to her knees, panting and coughing, trying to control herself.

Qrow reached out to his bird, the poor thing was still alive, and she hobbled into his hand. Her wing was broken, he couldn't tell in this light but his lien was on a stray bullet. Damn it. Oscar groaned in his ear. He whistled, bringing his other crow back, and ducked into an alley, Blake stumbling to get up and follow, ducking around the back of a garden all and setting himself down. Blake joined him and both of them tried to catch their breath as they stretched Oscar out across their respective laps.

"What happened?" Qrow asked in a low voice.

"The general," Blake said, ripping at her sleeve and using her teeth to tear it into strips. "He put Oscar on some kind of trial, he had all the soothsayers and the servants in the saying room. He knew someone was helping him but he hadn't found out it was me yet. He wanted to make Ocsar some kind of example, break him down and then break us. The sayers had stopped giving readings.

"He didn't back down. Oscar, I mean. You should have seen him. But he pushed and pushed and the general finally…"

"I'm killing him, too," Qrow vowed, his breathing evening out. "Bastard."

"It was chaos after that," Blake said, shaking as she started to wrap her silk strips around Oscar's side. "He ordered the soldiers to fire into the soothsayers, everyone was running and screaming. I couldn't treat Oscar, I had to get him out. Lady Fria and Amber…" Her eyes welled, sniffling.

"Save the talking for later," Qrow said, running his hand through Oscar's hair. "Let's get him safe first. You ready?"

She took a deep breath, holding it, but she nodded. Carefully she reached to pick up his injured bird. "Oh, sweetie," she said. "They hurt you again…"

They got up, Qrow telling his crow to begin moving with a whistle, and they took off again. The smoke was a bitch to get through, but it looked like they'd finally cleared one of the fire lines - Qrow dreaded to think where the next one was. He kept trying to figure out the time but there was too much smoke and too many fires, he couldn't read the sky.

The running was quiet - that surprised him - right up until four muskets appeared in his face. Son of a…!

"Wait! Hold your fire! They're civilians!"

Qrow blinked, realizing he'd finally found the rebellion because none of the muskets were in uniform. One of them, the familiar-looking leader, stepped forward as the others lower their muskets. Slightly.

"Where you heading?" she asked.

"Bolt hole," Qrow answered.

"Please," Blake begged. "We have to get him help. He's been shot."

"Brother of Light they fired on civilians," the leader cursed.

"... oz…"

Qrow stiffened, red gaze swiveling to the kid, but he didn't say anything else. The leader's eyes softened, and with a gesture the squad lowered their rifles completely. She turned to her squad. "Hold position here," she ordered. "I'll escort them to their bolt hole - I assume it's near here?"

"Empty house in the Atlas burrough, right at the edge of the Vacuo block."

"Good, not a lot of fighting over there for now. I can take you as far as Fionna, and she'll know where to take you from there. This way."

Qrow followed, grateful, and Blake took his offered hand, her other holding his injured crow. Oscar's weight was starting to burn out his arm and shoulder, and he had a small continent of fear in his throat if he thought about the boy too long. He focused on following Joanna, who led them to the tiny slip of a girl named Fionna. The new girl took one look at Oscar and gasped, agreeing to take them a little further. After her was May, and Qrow dimly realized these were Robyn's girls. Brothers he must be tired. He looked up and saw the sky was actually lightening, he could make out the difference between the overcast and the lower-hanging smoke. His crow was circling over the house, and he finally felt he was safe.

Marrow was at the gate, musket in hand and lowering it immediately as soon as he recognized who was running at them.

"Qrow! Blake! Brothers of Light and Dark, is that Oscar?"

"Get the doctor!" Qrow growled.

"Uncle Qrow! Blake!"

"Yang! You're here!"

They piled into the house in a cacophony of noise. Weiss was there for some reason, a bandage on her arm and sniffling with Penny before they both rose in horror to see the state of Oscar. Qrow stretched him out and the boy moaned, this tiny, weak, nearly inaudible sound. Too much blood was outside him and Qrow didn't know what else to do, his brain slowly turning off. Pietro wheeled in already shouting orders, Yang and Penny as the powerhouses lifting Oscar and carrying him to a different room of the house, taking the noise with them.

The quiet settled, Qrow and Blake staring at each other, both a little confused on how they had survived. They were exhausted, ready to collapse, but Qrow had one more thing to do, and he shakily got to his feet to find Oz.

He didn't have to look far, he turned and saw him standing in the doorway, leaning on his cane, having witnessed the entire arrival.

Qrow's heart froze to see the look on his lover's face, so pale and so lost, shaking and tears leaking down his cheeks, one by one by one.. His gaze drifted up to meet Qrow's, and he had no idea how he could help his lover. He stepped over, his limbs feeling like lead after everything, and he reached out.

Oz took his hand, shaking, and buried his face into Qrow's smoke-stained shoulder.

Author's Notes: ... we don't MEAN to be so mean, but this was the best place to stop. It's a really short chapter as a result. And, like the last one, it kind of speaks for itself. We'll have more to say next time.

Next chapter: Oz holds to choice.