Chapter 20 (Stan Crow)

Picton was taken completely off guard by the kiss. A low moan caught his attention a split second before a pair of arms caught his neck and pulled him instantly toward the slumbering girl. Patience's lips were warm and soft against his, and he felt years of coldness melting from his heart.

Her eyes fluttered open, and peered directly into his. He saw something in them he had never seen in a woman's eyes before and for the first time in his life, he wanted to play Scrabble. And make out. Maybe do both at the same time.

"Well hello, Handsome," the short girl purred, kissing him quickly a second time. "Way to pull a 'Sleeping Beauty' there."

[Okay, so that was just a joke. Here's the real post.]

Hope watched him go. "Picton," they called him. He had come with his team, and had awoken her in the middle of the night. For a fleeting instant, she imagined him crossing to her bed and waking her with a kiss. Such a moment would have been so much better than having a quartet of armed teenagers storm their room at an unearthly hour.

"Hope. Girly? Are you there?" Optima shook Hope's shoulder. "What we be doing?"

"Huh? What?" Her daydream popped like spent bubble gum, and the dark reality of the moment crashed in on her. Picton had already disappeared down the hall, and Hope still had no idea why he had even come.

"I suggest we join the search for our colleague," Everest said softly. "I have a feeling she isn't gone by her own choice."

Hope shivered and a flash crossed her mind. She saw Patience stumbling in a dark, unfamiliar area, reeling and obviously unwell. Before Hope could see the area clearly the vision disappeared. Her gut clenched, and any thoughts of romance vanished.

"She's hurt," Hope whimpered. "And alone. But I don't know where." Fiery determination erupted inside her and she dashed to her bed, snatching Nash from the wall. "Let's go. Stick together."

Without a clear idea of where to go, and only rudimentary tracking skills, the search proved frustratingly fruitless. Hope was surprised when she checked her palmtop computer and learned that barely an hour had passed.

It felt as though they'd been out all night.

And then, Azure's voice cut through the night air.

"Team HOPE? We've found her. Repeat. We've found her."

"Patience, tell me what happened?"

Patience looked as though she'd been tossed in a garbage truck and smashed. Well, maybe not that bad, but it'd take at least two hours to fix her hair. For an instant, Hope thought that maybe she might actually be prettier than the other girl for once. Even if she was still flat as a board.

Patience blinked groggily at Hope while Optima continued pouring her healing semblance through Patience's ravaged veins. "They…they're at least two steps ahead of us," Patience mumbled.

"Two steps?" Hope asked. What did she mean by that? A glimpse of a fireball lit the deep recesses of her mind, followed a second later by an actual explosion. Within moments an air raid siren shrieked into the night, and gargantuan shadows blotted out the moon.

"There he-e-ere," Patience said quietly.

Hope sent Everest and Optima ahead, instructing them to cooperate fully with Team CAPR. Celeste had seemed hesitant, and her eyes still held questions, but the sudden combat meant Hope's plans to answer needed to be pinned elsewhere on the calendar.

"Good luck using your guitar while holding me," Patience muttered as she hobbled alongside Hope. They stumbled up around a bend leading out of the alleys servicing the bowels of Beacon. "By the way, I don't swing that direction, so don't get any funny ideas."

"How can you make a joke at a time like this?" Hope gasped. "We're under attack!"

"Worse," Patience said. "We've been invaded. The whole army."

Hope sucked in a breath. "The whole army?"

"And a day early. He lied to me. Then poisoned me. He is so not getting to make out with me again."

"You two were a—"

"No," Patience cut in. "He was only ever a tool. Guess the feeling was mutual."

Cresting the rise of the side street, the main courtyard came into view. Hope froze with a gasp, feeling tears in her eye. Patience swore under her breath. The main tower of Beacon had half collapsed, its shining green orbs either doused or dangling precariously over empty space. Hundreds of Grimm of all type saturated the area, from the airship landing pads to the front gates. Several fires cast dancing, demonic shadows on the walls. Dust bolts flew like rain. Occasionally, return fire would come from one of the windows, only to be answered with a barrage. Nearly a dozen Nevermores wheeled overhead, swooping down in pairs or trios to strafe areas of human resistance. Neither Team HOPE nor CAPR were in sight.

The night guards already lay motionless under a black sea of monsters.

"Come on," Hope said, tugging Patience hard left and into an alcove. "We need cover. We need a plan." She tried to force a premonition but, as always, she was disappointed. Tactically speaking, there was no way to win under these circumstances. She knew the whole place would be awake soon, and that resistance would stiffen considerably. But would it be enough? And how long before someone inside the academy would coordinate the counterstrike? As for her team—well, she'd just lost half of it, and the teammate she did have was… questionable. The answer? Guerilla tactics.

Poking her head out, she looked to the small spread of woods just beyond the ground, ringing the cliffs near the landing pads. Pull a few Grimm at a time, and she might be able to alleviate at least some of the pressure on the Academy. If she could distract enough…

"Where's your bow?" she asked Patience.

"Patricius? I left him in my room when I decided to go delusional tonight. Hope that's not too big an inconvenience for you."

Hope growled in frustration. "Never mind. Just stay here." Hope dashed forward, but tripped over something immediately. Patience's foot.

"Suicide won't help," Patience said, "It'd be more effective to, you know, find that figurine thingy DSPR had and use it to turn the tide."

Hope dove back into hiding an eyeblink before stray dust bolts blew a hole in the ground she'd lain on. "Nothing personal," she huffed, "but CAPR already tried that. Somehow I don't think DSPR is going to hand it over nicely."

Patience smirked. The smugness in her eyes bothered Hope more than it should.

"Well," the dark-haired girl said, "I think I might just know where to find it."