Chapter 5

Jet Black

After a quick detour to his room to change into his regular attire, and stealthily peeking into Cinder's room to check on Eirian, Mercury went to the warehouse that held all of the vehicles. He took control of the Bullhead that Cinder kept there for personal use and used a map he found on his scroll to fly to Patch. He'd never been to the small island.

Patch, from a bird's eye view, was more forest than civilization. Houses were far apart and surrounded by woodlands. There were jagged cliffs and sharply angled hills. The very center of the island had the most bustle: restaurants and pubs and stores littered the streets, and while it was busy, it had the small town vibe. Mercury flew over the town and towards the western side of the island.

Mercury eventually found the house he was looking for. It was a large house, two stories high with forest and rock cocooning it. Smoke billowed from the chimney and the windows glowed a warm orange. With the falling snow, it looked like something straight out of a Christmas movie.

It was easy to spot Jet. He was a black and red speck among the tower of grey rock and powder snow. Mercury doubled back and landed the Bullhead in a small clearing before sauntering through the snow dipped trees and the glittering white plain. Once the pile of rock appeared from through the thick oak, he began scaling the tall rock face with careful steps and far leaps. Since he didn't want to alert the Rose family or Jet himself, Mercury avoided using his boots to propel himself up faster. He just hoped Jet passed his Bullhead for just another transport and didn't book it.

He worked up a bit of a sweat once he reached the top. Hiking wasn't really his style, especially without his boots at his disposal. Couldn't risk Jet hearing the shot. He took a second to look at the land rolled out before him, the gentle breeze that angled the snowflakes just right to be a nuisance and pile onto his eyelashes. Jet sat at the edge, towards the small house.

Mercury began walking toward him, noting the curved blades folded up and connected to a bulky, mechanical staff on the small of his back. How it connected with the sheath of arrows, he didn't know. "Any Mom sightings?"

Jet must have sensed someone before Mercury spoke, because he just snorted. "She was out with Aunt Yang in the snow just a few minutes ago. I think Zwei caused a nuisance to Grandpa Tai, since they ran in fast without a reason."

He didn't look like he was moving anytime soon. Mercury heaved in a silent sigh, and went to sit beside his doppelganger in different colors. He let his legs hang over the edge, and ignored the frigid temperature of the rock and the layer of snow melting to soak his ass. "Who's Zwei?"

"He's Mom's pet corgi. He died before I was born, but Mom took him everywhere. He was a hunting dog, so he helped her on missions," Jet said with a smile. "Course, we have pets, and Mom loves them to death, but they'll never replace Zwei."

Mercury nodded slowly. He wasn't sure where he was going with this. He didn't know Jet, but in some aspects he felt like he did. It was nice to see Jet not seething in anger or snapping out of protectiveness though. "So, you gonna tell me why you freaked out over what your sister said?"

Jet scoffed. "Thought you didn't care, since we're liars and all about you being our dad, apparently."

"...I don't know what you are." Mercury placed his elbows on his knees as he arched forward. Two shadows passed by one of the windows, but he couldn't see who it was. "But you do look like me. And Pearl acts like me. Summer is… sort of antisocial like me. And Eirian." Mercury frowned. "I don't know what the hell is up with her. She's bouncy one minute, and the next she's hunched over with a migraine because of her semblance."

The only boy of the quartet shook his head with a smile when Mercury mentioned Eirian's antics. "She has your fighting style."

Mercury blinked. "Seriously?"

"Oh, yeah. Those sterling steel boots of hers that look like they weigh twenty pounds? Work just like your legs." Mercury tensed up at that. Jet shrugged sheepishly when he noticed. "Sorry Pop, we kids know everything about you."

"Just… keep talking about Eirian or something."

Jet grinned. "Eiri is the diva of the family. That's why I call her Little Diva. Don't let her innocent vibe fool you, that girl can be evil… she gets it from Auntie Neo."

"Auntie Neo… Oum," Mercury groaned. Now that he was away from the insanity, he had time to process that. Uncle Roman and Auntie Neo. His kids were close with those two? How? Mercury hated them, and they hated Mercury.

"Yup. Eirian loves her to death. Almost as much as Summer goes nuts if Uncle Roman stops by."

The memory of Summer latching onto the crime lord caused him to chuckle. "Torchwick must be really different in the future."

"He's very different from what he was when Mom first met you. Would you believe me if I said he's got a kid too?"

Mercury didn't hesitate. "No." A pause. "With Neo?"

Jet reeled back in disgust. "Eugh, no! Auntie Neo is married to Uncle Scarlet. Uncle Roman… well, he isn't married, but the mom didn't want him, so Roman took him in and having a son gave him some perspective, I guess."

"You're pulling my leg."

"He's also a faunus."

"Okay, now I know you're lying." Mercury smirked. This banter was… nice. Jet's coiled muscles were loosening, his posture more relaxed as he talked about his life and family. Mercury allowed himself to admit that it was nice to see. And, maybe, it felt good to be the reason he was calming down. Yeah. He could admit that.

Jet shrugged. "Not sure if I should be telling you about the future in detail because of the space time continuum, but so far we haven't messed anything up, so. His name is Raiden. He's actually pretty cool, though him and..." Jet suddenly froze.

After making sure Jet didn't freeze because of something he saw, Mercury narrowed his eyes. "What?"

"Well. Future you doesn't exactly know this, but you suspect it."

Mercury stared.

"So… him and Summer…"

"No." Mercury shook his head vehemently. "No. No way is Torchwick's kid going anywhere near Summer now. Not happening."

"You know, Raiden isn't that bad—"

"I am not going to be related to Roman Torchwick, it's not happening, and Summer should set higher standards," Mercury said in a spill of words, only to blink at what he just said. More Dad-ish talk. This is...frustrating.

"...Maybe we should move on from that subject."

Mercury merely grunted as he stubbornly kept his eyes on the treeline.

"But uh… about what happened back there." Jet rubbed the back of his neck. "Guess I should apologize. I'm normally not as… volatile."

"Color me surprised." Mercury crossed his arms with a flat look.

Jet sighed, pulling out the red handkerchief in his front pocket. He unfolded it to display Mercury's emblem and his mother's emblem side by side, embroidered on in black. There were other emblems in black, but the boot and the rose were the largest. His thumb ran over an emblem that resembled a heart of flames.

"Mom always said I have Aunt Yang's temper. Her sister. And you always said that I don't have the amount of control you have to keep it in. Pearl is more like you with that." Mercury spied more emblems. Roman's, Neo's, Emerald's. A snowflake, a trident, a monkey. There were so many fit on the small, red handkerchief. "Luckily, not a lot of things poke my buttons. Unluckily… one of my main buttons happened to be sitting next to me at the table."

"Cinder."

"Bingo." Jet dropped the cloth into his lap. "Besides her, only Pearl can really push my buttons. And if someone decides to fuck with Summer, but that's more of a protective rage than anger."

Maybe he shouldn't pry. Maybe it was better to just let time run on without any knowledge of… whatever caused that resentment. Why Cinder tried to kill his wife, or future wife, whatever. But the higher power can't just hot potato something like this into his lap and not expect him to ask questions.

"What exactly happened when Cinder went after your mother?"

Just like that, Jet stiffened up again and his fingers curled up to dig into the fabric covering his palms. His sterling eyes pulsed and swirled, before settling. Jet strained to keep his voice even and calm. "She's your boss. You really wanna know?"

Mercury just stared. His expression was blank, but his eyebrow raised.

"...There wasn't an epic fight. She just found our house, managed to get to Summer and Eirian, and demanded Mom hand over the relic."

"Relic?"

Jet shook his head and waved his hand. "Amethyst will explain it to you when you're older." He blinked. "…that sounded so weird."

Mercury squinted. "Who's Ameth—"

"Anyway!" Jet loudly proclaimed. It was obvious he wasn't going to cough up who she was, so Mercury decided to let it slide. "Mom said no, Cinder made a comment about you, and Pearl ended up going full idiot and called her a whore."

Mercury recoiled. Jet shrugged.

"Yeah, Cinder wasn't a fan. She was gonna go full Vlad the Impaler on Pearl's ass, but Mom pushed her out of the way. Didn't have enough time to bring up her aura, or maybe she was so frantic she didn't even think to do it, and Cinder got her...really bad." Jet swallowed hard. He clenched his fists and ground them into his thighs. His voice turned shaky. "She was coughing blood, and Cinder just smirked at her. Pearl and I, we both ended up unlocking our semblances then and there to try and stop her from killing Mom. When everything suddenly paused around me, I ran outside to find you…"

Jet's eyes were glassy, faraway. Mercury felt an uncomfortable knot form in his chest; it felt like the knot was a sign that his mind wanted to know it all, but his heart wanted the words to stop flowing to avoid the emotional turmoil. His mouth listened to his brain. "And?"

"Next thing I know, you're running into the house and I hear Cinder screaming." Jet sucked in a breath. "Aunt Yang wouldn't let me go inside. She called Uncle Jaune and after Pearl ran out making a face like she was choking on her own tongue, Yang went and thawed Eiri and Summie."

A familiar buzz settled in the back of his skull. Fury. It bubbled up in his stomach and ran through his veins like a poison. Maybe he shouldn't have asked. No. He had to. But the hell was he supposed to do with that?

Okay, so maybe they were his kids. Cinder… tried to kill them. To get to him? He didn't know. But the itch was underneath his skin. The heat was spreading across his brain, soothing it, making it numb. The snow-covered rocks burned his fingers with cold. But he felt none of it. None of it.

"If she tries that. If she hurts any of you." Mercury clenched his jaw. Everything, numb. Numb. "I'll rip her open with my bare fucking hands."

His son said nothing. There was nothing to say to that. Mercury felt fingers brush against his arm. He jolted to see Jet looking at him with a wariness, a hint of fear. Did he cause that fear? Was it—

Jet fell into him and wrapped his arms tight around his teenage father. Mercury wanted to go stiff, but he knew the look in Jet's eyes. It was haunting. It was him when under Marcus' thumb. He brought a hand to Jet's head, another to his back. Guided Jet's forehead to press against his collarbone. Was this how you comforted someone? Hell if he knew.

"Thanks, Dad." His voice was so small, it made Mercury's hardened shell crack, another splinter to the outer frame. First Summer, now Jet. Damn these kids for making him feel empathy, damn them.

Marcus flashed across his eyes again. Old wounds reopened and closed up within a snap of a brain shutter. If these kids were his, he would not resort to his own father's methods. He knew what it felt like, to be on the receiving end. How it felt not knowing if the day was your last, or even if you wanted to try to live through the day. The desperate strive for control against a totalitarian house. Marcus was true tyranny. True dictator.

"…Don't mention it, Son."

Vaguely, he heard the caw of a crow. Mercury dismissed it, even when the damn bird was insistent enough to get closer, but then he heard the flap of wings morph into dress shoes on the rock face.

He turned his head just enough just to see the red eyes of Qrow Branwen.