Chapter 16: Six Mill-Lien Dollar Man
The smell of something chocolatey was the first sensory detail that Yang noticed when she returned to the world of the living. She hadn't opened her eyes yet, but she was awake. A quick sniff confirmed that it was, as far as she could tell, chocolate, not another insane dream or flashback.
"Hey! Ren! Look! Is she… smiling?" A voice asked from across the room.
Am I smiling? She wondered. Smell was the first sensation to return, but it would not be the last. Her thoughts were much more collected and organized now than they had been. Yang remembered the excruciating pain from her first attempt to wake up, and then the drug-induced super haze from the second.
This time, she was acutely aware of a sharp pain in what remained of her right arm. Other than that, the rest of her side effects were manageable. The fragrance that had permeated the room reminded her of waking up to the smell of chocolate chip cookies when she was a young girl growing up in Patch. The thought of Summer walking into the room with a warm plate of fresh cookies made Yang realize that, Yeah, I guess I am smiling. She decided it was time to open her eyes.
As she slowly began to open her eyes, she was reminded that it had been some time since she'd used them. Yang wasn't sure how long she had been out, but it would take a while for her eyes to readjust to the light. For now, she would settle for a squint. The colors and shapes around her began to coalesce into people and things.
The sound of footsteps approaching from the right inclined Yang to turn to acknowledge Nora's presence. "Hey sleepyhead!" It was the same voice from before. Her eyes opened a bit further with the short passage of time, allowing her to make out the shape of Ren kneeling on the other side of the room. She couldn't tell what he was doing, but he turned toward her to acknowledge her awakening with a smile.
"It's good to see that you're doing so well in your recovery." Ren was always very concise. No one expected a long, dramatic speech from him.
Nora chimed in, "Ren's been working on making some food for you. He made you some poison vegetable juice too, but I… accidentally knocked it over..." she changed to a whisper, "...you can thank me later…"
An angry, "Nora…!" Came from the other side of the room.
She finally finished adjusting to the brightness around her, opening her eyelids to their normal, relaxed positions. Words were still slow to form, but Yang managed what she considered the most important question at a time like this. "Chocolate?"
"Oh, yeah! Someone said you were talking about chocolate pudding this morning when you were awake. I may or may not have but probably actually did smuggle an electric cooking plate into your room for Ren to make pudding with." Nora was clearly pleased with her team's ability to help their ailing friend.
Ren spoke up again, this time to Nora, "Weren't we supposed to go find someone when Yang woke up?" The question caused her to tense up a bit, as if she'd forgotten something of great importance.
"Right! I'll be back as soon as I can!"
Nora ran out of the room, showing almost no signs of her recovering bruised ribs. Yang knew how little Ren would probably have to say if left to his own devices, so she decided to try to catch up on some of the things she'd missed. "Ren, thanks for all of this. Nora too."
"There is no need to thank us for this. We're doing what we can to help while we recover ourselves." He stood up, rubbing his midsection gently. "It's literally all that they'll let us do."
Up until that point, Yang hadn't been especially observant. She had been focusing on her two caretakers, and the pot full of molten chocolate pudding, since opening her eyes. "What else is there to do?"
"While you slept last night and this morning, the Grimm started to push into some of the outlying sections of the safe zone here in Vale. Anyone healthy enough pretty much volunteered to join the fight. It sounds much better than sitting here all day."
"So, it's tough to meditate when Nora's around?" Yang asked bluntly.
"Yes. Impossible," he said dryly. "I thought I would be alone here with the two of you, but after a while, Nora joined us."
For a moment, Yang considered what Ren meant by 'two of you'. When she looked to her left, the almost jovial atmosphere was crushed by the gravity of the realization that she wasn't the only patient in the room. She'd been awake for some time now, and not once had she noticed her younger sister on the second bed, resting silently. Her voice trembled a bit at the sight. "R-Ruby?"
Ren turned his attention away from the pudding to address Yang directly. "No one knows what happened. Weiss found her at the top of Beacon Tower, unconscious, just like she is now." The door to the room creaked as it swung open slowly, but Yang either didn't hear it or didn't care.
The sight of her sister being so still sent her into a frenzy. "Wait, what was she doing all the way up there? Was she alone? How does nobody know what happened?" A flood of questions filled her head, but the emptiness of the expression on Ren's face indicated to Yang that she wasn't the only one who didn't have all of the answers. "Is she alright? How long has she been like this?"
"Yang, please… just calm down," her uncle said as he casually walked around the corner. "There's a lot of moving pieces right now. No one has all of the answers. If you want-"
She raised her voice for the first time since waking up, "Calm down?! I've been asleep for… I don't even know how long... I don't know where I am, or how I got here, or where the rest of my team is… Where Blake is! I don't know how you expect me to calm do-"
"Two days. A hospital in Vale. Blake carried you to the docks up at Beacon. Weiss is across the hall getting sleep for really the first time since she and I brought Ruby back here a day and a half ago." Qrow was visibly upset with his niece's outburst, even though he understood the reasons for it. "I can answer some of your questions Yang. You just need to let this conversation happen naturally. I promise, it'll make more sense that way." She looked down at her sheets, still unsatisfied, but more accepting of the notion that in time, she would have answers.
Silence prevailed for a few seconds before, of all people, Ren spoke up. "I'm going to… put this in the fridge to cool. I'll be back later." He nodded to both Qrow and Yang, turned, and walked toward the door. As he rounded the corner, he could be heard saying "Nora, I think we should go back to the room for a little while." before moving on down the hall.
In Ren's wake, General Ironwood stepped into the room. He had previously been flanked by Nora, until the two teammates decided to give everyone a little extra space. "Qrow, I need to speak to Yang for a moment. If it's alright with you, I'd like to do it alone."
Qrow took his best guess with regards to what this might be about, before acquiescing to the general's request. "Absolutely, General. I forgot to put on my big boy pants anyway. I'll be outside when you're done." He turned to leave the room, but stopped before disappearing out of sight to give Yang a smile and a wink.
The general thanked his sarcastic ally for his cooperation, and waited patiently for him to leave the room. He closed the door behind Qrow, and locked it. As he walked back to the center of the room, he looked at Ruby first, then made eye contact with Yang. "I'm… inexplicably sorry for everything." He paused for a moment, shifting his gaze to her right arm.
Yang still wasn't entirely sure how she felt about her own injury, let alone how she felt about others pitying her constantly. She was angry that no one was answering her questions or filling in the empty spaces that had created a huge void in her memory over the last two days. But for the sake of being a good audience, she did her best to maintain a stern expression. She also came to the conclusion that she would not accept pity from others. "I… There was nothing you could have done. I put myself in a bad situation without really understanding it. You shouldn't be sorry for me."
Ironwood matched her stern expression, "So then. You've learned a valuable lesson from all of this. You're stronger than I thought."
Yang was somewhat irritated by the tone of his statement, "Well, yeah… but it doesn't matter now, does it? I can't do this any more." This realization hit her particularly hard. The adventure, the friends, the stories, all of it had been ripped away from her. "My days of being a huntress are over. How can I protect people when I'm only half of a person myself?"
He hesitated for a moment. The thought crossed his mind to try to explain the cause of his own physical tribulations. Instead, he came up with a more delicate way to convey his thoughts. "You have a choice, Yang. This does not have to be the end for you."
"What are you gonna do... grow me another arm? Maybe see if there's a guy with three arms somewhere who wants to donate one?" Her snark earned a disapproving look from the general, who chose to overlook the comment. After all, there was no rule that said she had to be happy about her current situation.
"In a manner of speaking…" he said, as he raised his right hand in front of him. "Atlas is home to the pinnacle of scientific research and development. Surely, you saw what happened to Ms. Polendina in the tournament?" Yang nodded. "Penny, as you likely knew her, was designed, developed and built in Atlas. Thousands of people believed that she was just a normal competitor. There were… some… that knew the truth." A frown formed on Ironwood's face. "The fact of the matter is, the technology that we used for Penny, can be applied to your… situation. It's been thoroughly tested and proven to stand up to the trials of combat."
"I don't know if we both saw the same fight, general. Right now? Penny isn't standing up to much of an-y-thi…." Her trivializing rebuttal was cut short by the sight of the proud general removing the white glove on his right hand, revealing a sleek, polymer prosthetic, protected by a metal exterior. He showed off its range of movement by spreading his fingers apart, and clenched his fist to prove its strength. Yang was speechless for a time, while Ironwood showed off the practicalities of his cybernetics. Eventually, she was able to summon the will to inquire further. "What happened to you?" She asked bluntly.
"Classified. What you are seeing is not exactly… common knowledge, and I would prefer to keep it that way." Yang was still fixated on the mechanical hand, but her attention snapped back to General Ironwood once she realized that he required her acknowledgement."
"Yeah, sure. Of course." The young huntress still wasn't quite sure what all of this meant for her.
"What happened to me... makes what happened to you look like a skinned knee." Ironwood began to remove his coat, tossing it on the chair behind him. Yang was confused by the sudden change in his mannerisms. Up until now, he'd been pacing back and forth across the room. Now, the general had stopped, and was meticulously unbuttoning his vest, and loosening his tie. "I hope my demonstration is not in some way offensive to you. I mean nothing other than to show you what the possibilities are for you, if you so choose."
Yang's curiosity caused her to remain silent until Ironwood could finish doing whatever he was doing. By now, he was undressed to the point that the only things remaining were his boots, trousers, belt, and black undershirt. As he began to remove the shirt, Yang's eyes opened wide and she covered her now ajar mouth with her left hand. An audible gasp escaped from the young huntress.
The shirt was draped over his coat, vest and tie on the chair. "Miss Xiao Long. I want you to understand that your injury, while serious in nature, does not make you… half of a person. While it's true that you may not be exactly the same person that you were, I can assure you that your days of being a huntress are far, far from over… should you choose them to be." Yang wanted to say something, anything. The sensory overload from what she was seeing left her at a loss for words. Tears began to form in her eyes. General Ironwood picked up on this, and continued. "Do not rush this decision, Yang. It can only be made with the blessing of both your heart and your mind. Even though I can offer you a path to redemption, you must decide for yourself whether it's worth taking."
She stared intently at the half man, half robot standing in front of her. After a few moments, he turned to the hastily organized pile of clothes behind him, and began to dress himself again. He was interrupted by Yang's response. "I will. Take some time with this, I mean. I want to be normal again… that much I know for sure. There's just some… things I have to figure out for myself first. So I guess... I can't give you an answer right now. But as soon as I know, you'll know."
"I understand. And I think you should know that you're handling all of this with a lot of composure… More than I could muster when I was in your position." He was still not wearing his vest, tie and overcoat, but he walked to the bedside, next to Yang. Reaching into the folded coat in his arm, he pulled out a tiny rectangular piece of paper with an address scribbled on it, and offered it to her. "If you decide to go through with this, that's where you'll need to go. It's in Atlas, unfortunately. The facilities to make this sort of thing possible do not exist in Vale. I can not promise how much longer I'll be staying in this Kingdom, but please, try not to let that affect your decision making process."
She took the paper, and held it for a moment while she considered where to store it. She realized that the clothes she currently wore were not her own, so she put it in the awkwardly large pocket on the front of her hospital gown. "Thank you," was all she said. It was all she had to say. Ironwood let a smile slip for the first time since entering the room. He knew that in the coming battles, fighters with the skill and tenacity of this girl would be at a premium.
The room was quiet after that. Yang had returned to inspecting her bandaging, and occasionally looking to her left, as if she didn't want to miss Ruby waking up. Ironwood donned his full military uniform, and gave Yang a nod on his way to the door. He turned the lock on the door, and pulled it open. To his surprise, a large crowd had gathered in the hall, and each member of it looked at him as if he had some kind of news to share.
Qrow's voice was the first one to speak up. "How'd it go?" Before a response could be given, he continued, "Don't answer that. The important thing is that I get a chance to talk to her before the parade of visitation begins." Ironwood vacated the doorway, and extended his arm back towards the room, indicating to Qrow that he was more than welcome to enter. "Thank you, General," he said politely, so as not to belittle his authority in front of the crowd.
He entered the room with a purpose, leaving the door open behind him. No one else dared to follow. Qrow walked directly to the chair that had seen so much use over the past few days. He lifted it, rotated it around, and sat on it backwards, leaning against the end of Yang's bed. The two made eye contact, which Qrow used to gauge her frame of mind. It lasted for half of a minute, before he was satisfied with the information he'd gathered. Then he spoke.
"Let's talk."