Chapter 25
Recovery
He was floating somewhere between consciousness and sleep, but the voices arguing were making it painful to be the first and impossible to be the later.
"You don't even know this kid! Why'd you take him here!" Sharp, frantic, but male based off the tenor pitch. There was a full-bodied tone to the man's words. Nobody that William knew.
"Look, he protected Ruby, fell down the side of the tower for her. What more do you want out of him?" There was Qrow, the rock-salt rasp, strung out into an exhausted drawl of words.
"It could be an act!"
A pause, then a snort. "His wounds an act too Tai? What about those? I bet he faked those just to fool us." There was another pause then, "you weren't there Tai." Low and soft. "You didn't see the look in his eyes. He had something to protect. Something to get back to. You can't fake that look."
Victoria. Leo. Sandra.
He groaned, blinking himself awake. Pain lancing up his side, various cuts and bruises throbbing, his right arm a dull ache of pain at this point. His stomach still hurt, feeling tight and hot. He grimaced, closing his eyes again and trying to focus on what wasn't bleeding or broken.
His right arm didn't move at all. No surprise there.
His feet felt fine, though his right leg burned when he flexed, likely a bullet wound close to a muscle.
His left arm felt fine, though his fingers tingled, and the movement was sluggish.
Nothing that would really keep him from moving.
He gathered himself, taking a slow breath before easing into a sitting position. Everything burned, pain lancing up his side and it felt like he'd just ripped open every cut and slash. That notion was confirmed when he felt heat pool on his stomach, staining the covers red.
Damn.
He eased them back, shifting until his feet touched the floor. He swallowed, flexing his toes before he let them ease onto the wooden floor.
He had to get up.
He had to get up.
He flinched as he shifted his weight, pain radiating up his legs as he edged his weight off the bed frame. He managed to stand, left hand gripping the bed side with a white-knuckle grip. He let out a tense breath, stepping away from it.
His right leg buckled, sending him to the floor with a snarl of pain.
"You here that?"
"Must be the kid." Qrow muttered.
God it hurt to land on his bad arm. He was seeing colours, red and yellows and purples spiraling around the floor by his head. Everything from heat to cool pumping through his veins.
The door opened, and a pair of hands slipped under his arm pits, hoisting him to his feet.
William recognized Qrow.
He didn't recognize the blonde that walked in, but it wasn't hard to see the man was a Hunter. As Qrow pulled him up, the other man crossed the room, examining the sheets with a scowl. His steps were smooth and careful, with a steadiness William knew came from combat.
The man glared at William, holding his gaze for a moment before his eyes dropped down to William's torso.
"He split his stitches sitting up."
"Stitch them back then Tai." Qrow replied in a tone not unlike a patronizing parent as he eased William back onto the bed.
"I'm fine." William managed, ignoring the spots in his vision as he flexed his fingers.
He had a better grasp on the wound now. He knew the bindings and limits of his flesh. He activated his semblance. His Aura rippled off him, pooling on the gut wound as a band of wires laced through the edges and tied it up.
He might have blacked out.
But he blinked his eyes back open and pressed a hand against the wound, making sure the wires were still there.
Qrow whistled softly. "Impressive." Again, there was a pause, almost like a habit had been removed before Qrow spoke again. "How ya feelin' kid?"
"Not quite the worst. Definitely not the best." He quipped, wincing as he tried to shift his arm. "Though the arm is new."
"Broke it in four different places." The blonde provided. "Dislocated too if that counts for anything. What were you doing?"
"Catching your daughter." Qrow shot back with a look. He turned back to William. "How does breakfast sound? You've been out for a while." He got up, shuffling towards the door as his hands slipped into his pockets. "Five days… actually."
William jerked, going to stand but thinking better of it. "Five days!" He surged to his feet, ignoring the protests of his legs as he grabbed onto something to support him, the bed frame. "How's the rest of the kingdom? The hunters? Are there any reports about Southern Vale?"
Had the same thing happened to Victoria? Was she safe? Oum, was Leo and Sandra safe? What if the Grimm had triggered something in Sandra? What if they'd gotten ambushed and killed?
His stomach churned.
"Hold your horses' kiddo. The whole net is down." Qrow stopped at the door. "Look. That dragon knocked out on of the beacons, we're flying dark right now, but from what I can gather, the damage was concentrated at Beacon. Grimm are still flocking there. They shut down the district and posted up a patrol and watch there." Then he smirked, a flicker of something in his eye.
Hope? Amusement?
"There's something keeping the Dragon there." William guessed, recalling the light. "Ruby did something."
Qrow winked at him, clinking his tongue as he pushed back off the door frame. "Bingo. But first, let's get something in your stomach. You need calories to burn so you can heal."
He couldn't argue with that logic, regardless of the information tease presented to him. He eased forward a step, his leg shaking but holding his weight. Thankfully he didn't have to manage far before Tai looped his arm around him, supporting his weight as he made it out the door and down the hall.
William glanced ahead. "Whose idea was it to put the wounded on the second floor?"
"Don't have first floor bedrooms, and you weren't complaining when we put you here." Tai muttered.
The stairs were tricky. More of William stumbling down them and Tai or Qrow alternating between catching him or just stopping him from tumbling down the rest of them. When they finally made it to the kitchen, William all but collapsed into the chair, shirt damp with sweat.
He swallowed, then nodded at both of them. "Th-thanks." He tripped over the word.
Tai grunted, heading to the fridge as he started to prep breakfast.
Qrow took a seat beside him, resting his forearms on the kitchen table. "Not a common saying for you?" He pulled out a flask, unscrewing the top and bringing it to his lips. William wrinkled his nose, more than familiar with the scent of strong whiskey.
He answered with a small delay, "No. I don't usually rely on anyone."
"Hmmm. Sounds familiar." He took another sip of the alcohol, then tucked it back into his jacket.
There was a lapse of silence as Tai pulled out a frying pan and started making eggs. None of them volunteered to break it, but as Tai finished up, setting a plate of eggs and toast in front of him he found a question on his lips.
"How's Yang and Ruby?"
The temperature in the room dropped, and both men stiffened, exchanging a look. William ignored it, picking up the fork Tai had set on the plate and starting in on his eggs.
"...Ruby is… recovering." Tai muttered, shifting awkwardly at the stove. He cracked another egg. "She's been out since, but her Aura is stable, and I think she'll wake up soon." He tossed the shell in the garbage but hesitated as he picked up the next egg. "Yang is another matter."
"She lost her arm." William recalled, humming softly as he chewed. He really hated fried eggs now that he thought about it, but food was food.
"She's not taking it well." Tai admitted.
Tai rapped the egg on the side of the pan, slow and gentle as whatever thoughts William had provoked stirred inside of him. He barely managed to crack it before he coaxed the yoke out, mindlessly swirling a wooden spoon through it.
Qrow didn't seem inclined to interrupt the man's thinking, and instead let all of them stew in the second awkward silence.
William broke that too as he set his fork down, plate clean. "Is she up?"
"She needs her rest." Tai protested immediately.
He hesitated, eyes flickering from the pan to William and back. "I'm sure you mean well. You did save Ruby. But…" He eased from one foot to the other before shuffling the pan a little. "I don't think I know enough about you to trust you yet. I saw your scars. And Qrow mentioned he'd been tracking you. You're not just a kid."
William grunted, nodding slowly as he pushed the plate away. He eased back, letting the pain build slowly as his right arm shifted. It was fine. Nothing too painful, nothing that told him it was bad, just a touch uncomfortable at this angle.
"No. I suppose I'm not." Five words, but William felt like they meant quite a bit more. "I'm not a student, or child, or even I hunter I suppose. Roman Torchwick used me as his enforcer since I was a kid, and then sent me to Beacon this year. I've done a lot of things I'm not proud of, and a lot of things I'm sure I can't ever make right." He flexed his fingers, setting the left ones on the counter. "But Ozpin mentioned quite a few things that made me think on that. And I'd like to make this right."
Qrow hummed softly. "That's the truth." The comment directed to Tai. "William's got quite a bit of blood on his hands."
William glanced at Qrow, sizing him up before he said, "You see everything I've done?"
"Enough of it. And enough to know you're honest about it when pressed the right way."
William snorted, letting his gaze return to Tai. "So. Yang."
"Yes-No" Tai interrupted Qrow, before they both glared at each other, leaning over the table to sneer at one another.
"What do you mean yes?" Tai snapped.
Qrow rolled his eyes with a huff. "She's siting in a bed staring out the window. IF she does it any longer then I'm going to buy her a saxophone so she can at least play the blues while she does it! She's done nothing but mope and snap at anything that moves for three days." He gestured at William. "Let her talk to someone other than us. It'll do her some good."
"She's in shock." Tai said. "She lost an arm. It's not just going to heal. She has to come to terms with it in her own time. That kind of pain isn't just physical. She's a seventeen-year-old girl Qrow. She's not you." That seemed to spark something between the two, more importantly Qrow, and the man was across the table, taking Tai to the ground.
No punches were thrown, but they rolled around the floor for a while before Tai pinned the man on the ground.
"She needs to learn!" Qrow barked. "The world ain't sunshine and rainbows Tai! It's going to hit her harder and harder until she can't stand up by herself anymore. Doesn't matter if she gets back up or not, it'll keep hitting her!"
Tai snarled, and William watched the first punch of the fight being thrown. Hard, without retribution or retaliation, Qrow took it in his jaw with gritted teeth and a cold glare.
"She can't handle that right now." Tai hissed. "Her world is in pieces! Her school is destroyed! One of her friends is DEAD." Tai eased up, leaning back so he was just straddling Qrow. "She can't shrug it off like you can Qrow. She's just not… not you…"
"Then it's time she learned." William said slowly, easing himself out of the chair. Both men jerked, pulling away to watch him as he hobbled to the stairs. "We don't have time for her to take it slow, to mope and come to a nice conclusion all on her own. The world is falling apart." He stopped at the foot of the stairs. "And I caused it." He wobbled as he pulled one leg up, forcing it to take his weight as he pulled himself up one stair. "But I'm not going to let it crumble. And she needs to realize she's not helping anyone by sitting in her bed. All she's doing is hurting herself, and her team."
Qrow let out another "hmm." Tai pursed his lips, looking like he wanted to say something, to protest and rebuke that, but he couldn't find the logic to do so. If William could read his expression right, the man wanted to tell her that himself, but hard knowledge like that, couldn't come sweet and gentle from a father.
Sometimes it had to come from an honest asshole that had seen the best and worst of people.
He could tell which bedroom was hers by the flower. A bright golden daisy plastered on the door. At the end of the hall.
He huffed, forcing his legs to stagger their way forward. He reached the door, leaning up against the wall as he collected himself.
No matter what happened, what she did, he had to appear put together. If he was a mess, sputtering words about pulling yourself back together, it wouldn't matter.
He swallowed his pain, forcing his brain to numb itself to the agony in his arm, the throbbing in his legs and the potent warmth on his stomach.
He turned the doorknob, finding it unlocked. He pushed it open, taking a step in before leaning back against the doorframe. That was all he'd allow himself. Anymore and he wasn't sure he'd look the part, any less he wasn't sure he'd last long enough for it to matter.
Yang's room was decorated like he suspected. More of less. There were fewer posters up, but the room swung from a fangirling teenage to a quaint dreamer, accompanied by flower motifs, boyband posters, and a stack of Huntress Weekly dumped haphazardly on her desk.
Yang herself was curled up on her bed, blankets tight around her chest. She glanced back at him, then returned her lilac gaze to the window.
"Thought it was Dad." She muttered. She finally adjusted, turning around to face him and putting her back to the window frame. He could feel her eyes raking over him, noting the blood on his shirt, the shake in his legs, the general haggard appearance.
"You look pretty rough." She muttered.
William shrugged. "I've had worse." He rolled his shoulders, swallowing the urge to hiss when the scabbing on his shoulder seemed to crack, heat welling up and staining his shoulder. "Some people have it worse."
Yang smiled, though the look didn't reach her eyes as she raised her bandaged stump. "I suppose so."
William snorted and cocked his eyebrow at her. "Don't." He said, nodding down to his own arm. "Four places, dislocated. Saved your sister."
She pursed her lips. "One cut, lost the whole thing, didn't do a damn thing."
William hummed softly at that. She was kind of right there. "So why are you in bed?" He asked. "Did your legs get cut off too?"
She swallowed, shifting so she didn't have to look directly at him. "I just don't want to get up."
"And face the world?"
She didn't answer, so William pushed on. "Face the fact that you aren't the worst off? That you're still alive and that's more than a lot of people involved at Beacon can say."
She jerked, lilac eyes surging to red. Then she blinked, pursing her lips and looking away. "Don't lie to me. I lost an arm. I wanted to be a Huntress, now what chance do I have?"
"What chance did Fox have? He's blind Yang." William eased off the door frame, taking a handful of steps forward before he slumped back against the wall. "And bad? Oh honey, you don't have the first clue what bad is."
Her jaw clenched, teeth gritting as she turned that gaze back on him. "I lost an arm. From where I am, you have all your limbs."
William took another step, then dropped onto the bed next to her. "Tell me what it feels like to wake up screaming about the blood you've spilled. All the pain you've caused. Tell me that limbs matter more than your mind telling you you're a monster."
She stared at him, swallowing thickly before leaning away. "Quit messing with me."
"You don't understand." William snapped. "You're a child playing an adults game and refusing to accept the consequences. You got out alive, that's more than a lot of people can say. You lost an arm. You can get that replaced." He reached out with his left hand, forcing her to look at him. "Come back to me and tell me you're broken when you can't trust your mind. When you can't stand on your own because someone crippled your ability to know what's right."
She pulled away, glaring at him. "Leave me alone."
William pulled back, resting his back against the bed frame. He let her sit for a moment, let his legs rest in reality, before he forced himself to his feet. He staggered but refused to let his legs buckle as he made his way back to the door.
He stopped there, looking back at her. Then he let out a low chuckle. "I think it's funny."
She glared at him but chose not to retort.
"You, a Huntress, refuse to rise to the challenge because you're scared of getting hurt." William swallowed, focusing on keeping the room around him steady. The walls slanted, but he leaned back to keep the room grounded. Mostly.
"You train to protect others, and yet here you are, refusing to protect yourself. Refusing to accept the pain, the burden and return to doing what you swore you would do."
"What if I don't want to do that anymore?" She muttered. "What if it's too hard."
William hesitated, then reached up, peeling up his shirt to expose the faintly glowing cut. "Courtesy of Adam Taurus. While Blake pulled you away, I kept him at bay." He pulled the shirt up higher, exposing all the criss-crossing scars on his chest. "And there's so many other stories here too."
Yang's expression was tight. She swallowed, making an effort to meet his gaze. "Why show me this?"
"Do you think the world is kind?" William asked, running his thumb across the largest scar, tracing his collarbone and across to the opposite hip. "Do you think it cares that you're tired of it?"
Yang pulled her blanket tighter, burrowing into the warmth. William pursed his lips, wondering if he did that as a child. Wondered if he ever got the opportunity to.
"No." She said with a small voice. "If it was… then none of this would have happened."
The snort was uncontrolled, and it boiled over into a stuttering chuckle as William shook his head. "The world is what you make of it, Yang Xiao-Long. Your choices make all the difference, between having a shitty hand and keeping it, or having a shitty hand and knowing how to change it for a winning hand."
She stared at him, then her eyes hardened. "So, it's my fault for loosing my arm." She hesitated, then added, "and Blake."
"Could be." William agreed. She jolted, legs dropping to the floor as she stood. "The world isn't all sunshine and rainbows princess."
She stalked towards him, reaching him because he didn't have the speed to escape her even if he wanted to. Her fingers curled around his collar; the bandaged stump of her arm pulled back. If she had her hand, he was sure it'd be curled into a fist.
"Wanna say that again?"
William smiled, wondering where she got such a childish threat. Where she had the idea that by denying it, she could counter every suggestion, every truth thrust upon her.
He wondered again if he did that.
He slammed his head into her nose.
She howled, stumbling back and cupping it as she backed away. William shook his head, grimacing as his vision spotted and cleared.
"You pay a price for every decision Yang." He shook his head, willing the blotches of darkness to fade. "The hardest decisions usually have a matching sacrifice. No good deed goes unpunished as the saying goes. I sent my team away." He smiled at that, then gestured to his body. "And I paid for not having their support. But it kept them safe. It kept them alive, I hope. And in a situation where they might have died, any price was worth that."
She collected herself, one hand still holding her nose. Damn he really hoped he gave her a bloody nose. Would serve her right. She swallowed, then spoke. "What if the sacrifice isn't worth it?"
"Did you follow what your heart told you was right?"
Yang rolled her eyes. "Blake ran away. That creep is still alive. And I'm…" She pursed her lips, eyes trailing down to her missing limb.
"Blake needs time." William assured her. "Adam Taurus was her previous partner and leader of the White Fang. He's a monster of a fighter," he tapped his belly, "and I think while you had the heart, you lacked the skill to beat him. You at least saved Blake's life, even if you didn't come out unscathed. That's worth something."
She stared at him for a minute longer, then turned back to the bed. "And what's the point of that? It doesn't change the fact she abandoned me."
She said it like abandoned was something else. Another issue there. But not one that William knew enough to pick at. A weakness all the same, but not one that William could address.
"What was the point of me delaying Adam then? If I hadn't stepped in, both of you could have died." He paused, "or if I had been faster and stopped Blake, you could have just died." William crossed his arm over his chest, letting it prop up his right. "I didn't have to chase a man I knew I couldn't handle into a burning building when I already had a couple bullets and tears in me. But I did. And yet, I don't get thanks. I don't get a smile. You complain about all the shit you yourself should have fixed. Do you expect to help the world like that?"
"Well what do you expect me to do!" She roared, hair flashing as heat lit the room. She turned on him, each foot a slam that shook the room and made the walls blur and shake. That might have just been William though. "I can't fight with one arm! I'm a brawler William! I can't do anything now! How am I supposed to protect someone with one arm! Huh?"
"You get stronger!" William grabbed her blanket, ripping it off her. "You think I was born this strong?" He grabbed her shirt, bundling it up in his fist as he took a step off the wall. "You think I got these scars for fun? I made mistakes! I learned from them!" He pushed her back, his weight doing most of the work as he shoved her back, step by step across the room. "You wanna get stronger?" He threw her back the last step and she toppled over into her bed. He was panting down, sweat dripping off his brow and his legs shaking.
"Then quit bitching. Quit wallowing in your own self-pity. Get up. You lost an arm. You saved a life. I thought you were a Huntress." William turned, staggering back out of the room.
"It's not that simple." Her voice was a whisper as he left the room, but he'd had enough.
Physically and emotionally.
He stumbled out into the hallway, snapping the door closed with a half-thought and a flick of his semblance. He sagged against the wall, unsurprised to find both men standing out in the hall, waiting on him.
Wordlessly, either because they didn't want to let Yang know she was there, or because they didn't know what to say, Tai and Qrow gathered him up in their arms, easing him down the hall into his unofficial room and back into bed.
William let himself collapse in the bed, groaning softly as the pressure on his legs was relieved. He closed his eyes, feeling the sweat trickle off his face onto the bed.
"How was she?"
He cracked an eye open, finding Qrow peering at him as Tai quietly paced the room. He shrugged, ignoring the burn that came from his shoulder when he did so. "She's got some thinking to do. Abandonment seems to be a thing," Tai winced, looking physically pained by that observation. "So, her partner leaving hit her hard. Her arm is an after thought in my opinion. An excuse to not do anything. She's looking for an answer to it all," William shrugged again, "and if she doesn't find it, I doubt she'll ever have the courage to be a Huntress again."
Qrow grimaced, bringing a hand up to run through his hair before it dropped back down, fishing his flask out of his pocket. He unscrewed the top but stared down into it instead of taking a sip. "I expected more…" He shook his head, knocking it back for a long swing before he continued, voice rough, "But I guess there are some things you can't teach early."
William nodded, letting that revelation stew for a moment before he put in, "I need to leave. My team's waiting for me."
"Can't do much with your arm in that shape."
He was prepared for that. His Aura uncoiled, knitting together at his fingertips before weaving its way up his arm, all the way to the shoulder. He flexed the fingers carefully, curling them before pulling the arm up. "I'll manage."
Tai didn't look please by that, but he nodded all the same at it. He hesitated then said, "Kid."
"William" He cut in. "My name is William."
Tai obviously wasn't prepared for that and seemed to readjust himself before nodding. "Right. Right. Uh. I just wanted to say uh… sorry. For… questioning your motives. I'm a bit protective of my girls." He gave an awkward chuckle. "They're all I have left of a happier time."
"Forgiven." William assured the man. "I suspect you'd like to look after them as much as you can." He settled back into the bed. "Though that time might be for much longer. Ruby's got her magic light thing. And if Yang can get through this, she just might make a decent Huntress. You'll be the father of heroes soon."
"What about you then?" Qrow asked. "You're strong. You took on Adam. You sparred with RWBY just to get into Beacon. From what I've seen, your combat record and skill is already even with Hunters like me."
William hummed, letting his Aura uncoil off his arm as he relaxed. "Heroes are people that step into the light. I think I'd prefer to be in the background. Unseen. You might be able to handle what I've done, but I don't think the world would look kindly on anyone, even a savior, whose got as much red in their ledger as I do."
Neither replied to that. Another moment of silence.
"When are you leaving."
"Week. Two at the most." William replied, "You have my weapons?"
"Even the broken sword." Qrow confirmed. "But you won't need them in this house." William begged to differ, but decided it wasn't really worth the energy.
"Get some rest k-." Tai hesitated, then nodded once as if recognizing something. "William." He looked to Qrow, jerking his head. "Come on."
William let them, ignoring that they left the door open as he relaxed, letting his body curl up under the blankets. He didn't even comment when he heard the floor creak, someone peeking back in.
"Hehe. A wolf that loves the light." Qrow murmured softly. "No wonder Ozpin liked you."
Whew. Fast update. Must be in a mood for this again.