#IstandwithGhira. Nora, keep being you. Ruby, never grow up. Weiss, do your thing. Ozpin...you just HAD to mess up my plans more, didn't you? Vernal, is that a UNSC tattoo?

Oh, and for those of you who care, I made the AHWU intro this week. Didn't expect to be taken that quickly.

Summer sighed as she stared at the pure white mask in her hands. The day she could throw it out couldn't come soon enough. Hopefully Raven's problem with the Nevermores would end soon. Then she could finally be with her daughter as she should have been years ago.

Still, Raven was half a continent away. It took a while to teleport that far. Summer didn't want to keep her waiting. She stood up and fit the mask over her face. Summer faced west and began the first of many teleportations. She stopped paying attention to the area around her over a year ago. It was always the same. A cliff, an abandoned village, an intact village, it didn't matter. Summer didn't even stop long enough to kill nearby Grimm.

Eventually, she made it to the surprisingly large town on the border of Vale and Vacuo. She took out her Scroll and checked the time. It only took her an hour to get this far. Summer smirked under her mask. She was getting faster. Maybe she could teleport a little farther on her way back home.

Summer put her Scroll away and walked into the town on the Vacuo side. Around here, it wasn't unusual for people to wear masks. Pretty much any kind were acceptable, as long as they weren't blatantly Grimm. Raven must not walk around with hers on.

As she walked, Summer watched for anyone that could possibly be watching her. She didn't want anyone tracking her to Raven, or worse, anyone tracking her back to Patch and her little girls. As far as she could tell, no one spared her a look except for passing interest. She had been in the area quite a bit.

Summer made it to Raven's apartment building and climbed up to her partner's floor. She made it to Raven's apartment without anyone stopping her. Summer knocked on the door and lowered her mask so only her eyes stuck over it. A few seconds later the door opened and Raven gestured her partner in. She closed the door right after.

"How was your trip?" Raven asked.

"The usual." Summer shrugged as she took her mask off. "A few Grimm looked at me, but didn't have time to do anything. And as far as I know, no one followed me."

"That's good to hear." Raven averted her eyes and rubbed one of her arms. "Do you…have any more pictures of Yang?"

Summer's smile broke off her face. "Of course!" Summer ripped off her brown cloak and pulled out her Scroll. "I've got tons! Sorry, but most of them are with Ruby." She plopped down on the couch and pulled up the most recent album.

Raven sat down next to Summer. "Are those two ever apart? You've said they do everything together."

"Well, they sleep in their own beds, they don't used the bathroom together, and I'm not giving them baths at the same time anymore. Then again, those are the few things they don't want to do together." Summer scrolled through the pictures until she found one she hadn't shown Raven. "Oh! I took this one right after I got back last time." She tilted it toward her partner.

Raven looked over and laughed. "Oh my gosh! What happened here?"

"She was trying finger painting. She saw Tai's tattoo and wanted to give herself one. I think she said this was a snake."

"Really? She likes snakes?"

"I guess? Ooh! Speaking of creepy crawlies…" Summer flicked a few more pictures over. This one showed Tai with a piece of toilet paper going after a bug. Yang was curled in a ball in the corner of the room while Ruby was watching Tai. "I think Yang's scared of spiders."

Raven snorted. "Yep. She definitely wouldn't make it in the tribe. Too many Arachni around."

"That's like the only thing I've seen her scared of…apart from…well." Summer flicked to the next picture, where Yang somehow managed to get grape juice in her hair.

"What?" Raven's smile disappeared. "How'd she do this? Is she alright?"

"She's fine, except for having a bit of her hair clipped. Tai…" Summer flicked over again, this time Tai was sprawled out on the floor face down, hands covering where the sun don't shine. "Like I've said, she's strong for a three-year-old. That was one heck of a punch."

Raven covered her mouth with a hand, the corners of her lips peeking out. "How did she know where to punch?"

"I didn't teach her that. My guess is she was going for something to reach other than a leg."

Raven stared at the screen for another second, then burst out laughing. "He should have known better. She's my kid. Don't mess with the hair."

Summer smiled at her partner, but it became bittersweet. "Yes Raven. She is. I'm sure she'd love to know her real mom."

"Sum…" Raven sighed, "you know I want to."

"Then just come with me! Leave this place and come back! Do you even know anyone here?"

"The Nevermores are still after me. Have you seen the curtains?" Raven gestured to the main window. Summer followed her friend's gesture…Weren't those curtains blue last time, not black? "A week ago a Nevermore sniper tried to get me while I was in the kitchen. Obviously that didn't work and I got him back, but they know where I live. I need to move, but if I move back home, I'll lead them right back to the rest of you." Raven shivered and hugged herself. "We can shrug off Dust rounds like they're nothing. Yang and Ruby can't."

Summer stared at her partner, then shook her head. "Then how can I help?" Raven stared at Summer like she had two heads. "If taking down these people could make you come home faster, I'll take it."

"But…they'll find you. They'll track you back home. There won't be any convincing them that you don't want anything to do with the girls."

"Frankly Raven, taking them on dressed as yourself besides the mask was a stupid decision. That made it so much easier to track you down." Summer gestured to her disguise laying on the floor. "Who would expect Summer Rose showing up in a Grimm mask and not wearing her white cape?"

Raven blinked and looked between Summer and the disguise. "But, Summer."

"Raven," Summer put a hand on her partner's shoulder, "this has grown into more than just getting you and Yang back together. If they're coming after you at your home, they need to be stopped. At this point, getting you and Yang back in each other's arms is a side effect."

"You don't need to do this."

"You're not the only one who can't be talked out of something. Just say the word, and I've got your back."

Raven continued to stare at Summer, then sighed. "Well, the Nevermores are leaving their traditional areas. They're moving away from Vacuo city and more toward here, maybe into Vale. I got information on a warehouse on the coast." Raven grimaced. "Supposed to be a big one. A 'distribution point.'" Raven spat out the last two words. "I don't know where they distribute to, but I don't care. If we take them out there, we deny them a lot of Lien."

"Okay." Summer put her Scroll back in a pocket, intentionally not asking how Raven heard about this place. "Is there anything I need to know before we go?"

"First off, if you're going full secrecy, you can't have Sun's Light or teleport." Raven stood up and walked toward the kitchen. She opened one of the cabinets and pulled out a Desert Falcon and a few ammo mags. "I'm sure you could use this as a club as well as a gun. Most people do."

"Not teleporting won't be a problem. Besides," Summer raised a hand and a weak wind blew around the apartment, "I got this to mask my Semblance."

Raven gave a sideways nod. "True. But you'll need a mask. I actually have Qrow's around here somewhere." She opened a closet and took out a few boxes. "He never wanted to go back and tried to destroy his. Me, well, you know my halfway through third year speech. I kept him from breaking it. I honestly think he forgot it still exists."

"I guess it's my temporary gain." Summer stood up and helped Raven look through some of the boxes. As they searched, Summer told more stories of Yang and Ruby. As far as Summer knew, Raven loved hearing about the girls. It was a good thing too. Summer loved talking about them. "And then one time, we were watching Tiger King as a family. I don't think Ruby knew what was going on. She's too young. All she knows is 'Ruby,' 'food,' 'Yang,' 'mama,' 'dada,' and all those early words. Anyway, she fell asleep on Yang's lap around Lakuna Jatatta, then Yang fell asleep with her head on Ruby's! Oh! It was so cute! I wish I had that picture on my Scroll. They were on my lap. Tai took the picture. I couldn't sneak it in time. Then two days later-"

"Found it!" Raven pulled a mask out of her box, this one with the markings of a Griffon. "Thought you could use a breath."

Summer smirked. "Did you just find that, or did you want to hear more about your Rae of sunshine."

Raven groaned. "What works better when it's directed at me, not my daughter."

"Well she's your chick. But I don't want to twist feathers. Just say the word and I'll Yang it out to dry."

Raven slapped a hand onto her face. "Oh my God. What did I do to my girl?"

"She's trying to make those puns herself. I think I'm quite the positive influence." Summer grabbed the mask and her smile disappeared, along with her good mood. "So I need to wear this?"

"If you want them to think you're a bandit, yes." Raven put a hand on Summer's shoulder. "Summer, I know what you think about them, but trust me, these guys make my tribe look like honorable huntsmen."

Summer nodded. "What can I expect to see in there."

Raven hesitated, then sighed. "The reason I wanted you to come with me long ago. The places they hold the Faunus are like old Mistral slave camps."

Summer's shoulders dropped. "That bad?"

"Maybe worse. Have I really not told you this before?"

"No specifics." Summer shook her head. "Well, should we get going?"

"Yeah. We need to scout this place out." Raven picked up Summer's disguise and handed it over. "Plus, I haven't been there before, so there's going to be a little more travel time."

Summer took the mask and fit it over her face. It felt weird on her face, then again, Qrow's was much more angled. She hefted her borrowed weapon from where Raven set it and checked the chamber. Satisfied, she grabbed the mags and put them in her ammo pouch. "This is your op. When do we leave?"

"Now." Raven reached into the closet and pulled out her own weapon and mask. She swiped her sword in front of her, opening a portal. She stepped through and Summer followed soon after.

It took a few more portals than Summer expected, but they reached the outskirts of a familiar city. "Bullworth? A little high profile, don't you think?"

"Yeah, and since this is on Vale's side of the border, things are a little more tricky. My 'friends' in the Vacuo police called ahead. The police here know what we're doing and are ready to assist when necessary."

"Okay." Summer turned to where the main Bullhead factory churned out more transports. "We know if it's around there, or somewhere else?"

"The warehouses near the factory are in constant use. That place is too high profile. No, our target's in the outskirts, somewhere."

Summer looked around the rest of the city. Most buildings were about the same height, besides the factory of course. Perfect for running and jumping across. "Split up?"

"Call if you find anything." Raven turned around and ran in the opposite direction. Summer ran forward and jumped to the next roof over.

Navigating like this felt so weird. Sure, team STRQ and several others trained like this in Vale when they were still at Beacon, but Summer hadn't done it since they got flagged down by some police…that wasn't a fun night. Bullworth wasn't Vale, but they were in the same Kingdom. Hopefully not too many people called the police on a couple people running from roof to roof.

As Summer approached the other end of the city, she thought she heard some familiar voices. She stopped running and peeked over the edge of the roof, hoping she wouldn't attract too much attention. To her surprise, Barty and Peter were sitting outside a coffee shop together. Barty had several large books by him while Peter had a notepad. Summer cocked her head. Weren't they out of school? Barty got his Masters in History, and Peter never showed any interest in going further…Barty might be going to his Doctor's, but that didn't explain Peter. Summer shook her head and backed away from the ledge. That would be something for another time.

Summer continued across the rooftops. As far as she could tell, they all looked exactly the same. Nothing was out of place. Then again, she hadn't gotten to what looked like the warehouses yet. Those were a few buildings up. She set her eyes on one, and the door on the roof opened up.

Summer dove for cover behind the half wall on the edge of the roof. She poked her head out and stared. On first look, the guy didn't look out of place. Just a worker moving outside to get better Scroll reception. He turned around and Summer saw a large sword on his hip, and it looked like it had blood on it. That, or it was normally half red, half silver.

If this place wasn't it, there was definitely something shady going on here. Summer ducked under the half wall and took out her Scroll. She punched in Raven's number and waited for her partner to pick up. She didn't have to wait long. "Summer, you got something?"

"Yeah, there's a guy with a bloody sword over here that came out of a warehouse. I think I found it."

"Okay. I'm on my way over. Lay low until I get there."

"Got it." Summer ended the call and put her Scroll away. She poked her head over the roof again. The man still stood on the roof, but he no longer had his Scroll. He stared up at the sky with his arms crossed. "What are you waiting for, creepy guy?" Summer whispered to herself.

About a mile away, a Bullhead rose from between a few buildings. It flew toward the warehouse the creepy guy was standing on. Summer ducked her head so only her eyes poked over the half wall. The Bullhead rotated its engines and landed on top of the warehouse. The man with the sword boarded and the transport rose up again. Summer searched the transport for any registration or a serial number, but couldn't find anything. In fact, it looked clean enough to be right out of the factory. That couldn't be good.

A few minutes later, Raven showed up by Summer's side. "So where is this place?"

Summer gestured to the building in question. "The one with the tan roof door two buildings down."

"Okay, I'll call it in. Keep your eyes on it." Raven took out her own Scroll and backed away.

"Just so you know, the guy I told you about got on a Bullhead and left. He was the only one." Summer paused. "Raven, why was his sword bloody?"

Even though Raven wore her mask, Summer could see her partner scowl. "Remember what I said about the slave camps? They do some of the same stuff here, maybe worse."

Summer dipped her head. "I'm not going to like what I'm going to see, am I?"

"No, but I'm pretty sure you'll be the best sight those kids will have seen in who knows how long." Raven turned away and focused on her Scroll.

Summer once again focused on the building. If this really was the place…this could be bad. How many people were in there? How many Nevermores…would waiting now put some of those kids in danger? She'd seen documentaries on the slave camps. One minute people would be doing whatever. The next, they'd be on the firing line. But…they wouldn't do that to those they were trying to…sell, would they.

Raven crawled up next to Summer again. "The police here know. They'll have a SWAT team here in an hour and they're trying to get a few trustworthy Huntsmen in town here as well. I usually do these things at night, but I should still be able to handle it in the daylight.

"For now, we wait. When I give the signal, we go."

Summer nodded and laid flat against the roof. As the team sniper, she knew patience. She'd waited for hours for a pack of Grimm to come by, and a few criminals the few times she worked with the VPD. An hour was nothing.

In fact, it was significantly less than an hour. Raven patted Summer's back. "It's time, let's go."

"Okay then." Summer rose to a crouching position and gripped her Desert Falcon. "I've got your six."

"Stay focused. You'll know where you're needed most." Raven sprung up and jumped to the next roof. Summer followed right on her heels. They sprinted the distance to the next roof and jumped over the next gap.

Summer rolled and ended up kneeling on one knee with her borrowed weapon swinging across the roof. "Clear."

"We're not the police here." Raven walked to the roof's door and knelt by it. "No need to use those callouts." She forced a few pins into the lock on the door.

"Habit, at least we're still working with them." Summer sniffed the air. It smelled like an open sewer was nearby. "Raven, you smell that?"

Raven sniffed as well. "I'm getting used to it. That's the holding room." She pulled the door open and grabbed the hilt of her sword. "Follow me and stay quiet." Raven walked inside.

As Summer followed, the smell only got worse. She bit her lip. Hearing about those kids' condition was one thing. Seeing it was probably something else entirely. Raven stopped by a door and pressed her head against it. She held up a hand, then brought down all but two fingers. Summer nodded and she brought up her Desert Falcon. Raven frantically shook her hand then tapped where one of her ears hid behind her mask. Summer let her gun drop and nodded.

After another minute, Raven pushed open the door. The smell hit Summer like a Goliath. She turned her head away and shoved a hand beneath her mask to cover her nose. Yeah, that was a sewer. Summer shook her head, then followed Raven onto a catwalk in what looked like the main storage room.

Summer looked to the floor and gasped. Ten kids were chained to the wall, judging by the floor beneath them, they had to use the bathroom where they sat. As far as Summer could tell, they were all Faunus. Except…they were missing parts of them. An ear, and antler, part of a tail…one of them looked like they had a fresh wound on his arm.

Summer jumped off the catwalk and landed right in front of the injured boy. Taking another look around the room, he looked like the oldest one there. Even so, he couoldn't be more than ten. He looked up and his eyes widened. He struggled in his chains to back away, but he couldn't get far. Summer slowly took off her mask and let it drop to the floor. The boy stopped struggling, but the fear never left his eyes.

"Hey there." Summer knelt in front of the boy, ignoring what got on her leggings. She reached an arm out and caressed the boy's face. At first, he tried to pull away, but after a while, he leaned into it. "I'm going to get you out of here. I'm going to get you all out of here."

Summer focused on the lock on the chains holding the boy's arms. She set a hand on it and tried to keep her eyes from glowing as she forced a gale into the lock. Something inside clicked and the chains unhooked. The boy's hands fell to the ground. Summer moved to the chains on the boy's legs and did the same.

With all limb's freed, Summer grabbed one of the boy's hands and clasped it between both of hers. "I will be back to help with your arm, but I need to help the others." Summer left the boy and moved onto the next Faunus in line. She went through the same process with the next three Faunus, all of them girls.

As she was about to move on, the fourth kid she freed hugged Summer's right leg. She cried and buried her face in Summer's leggings. "Thank you."

Summer smiled and knelt down to meet the girl's eyes. "You're welcome." She moved to stand up, but then she saw the girl. A bird Faunus missing part of her tail…She couldn't have been a year older than Yang. Summer leaned forward and brought the girl into a hug. The girl returned it immediately and cried into Summer's shoulder.

BANG! Summer released the girl and drew her Desert Falcon. She pointed at where the gunshot came from. Several more followed, but the door she stared at stayed closed. They all sounded like standard assault rifles, not huntsman weapons. The weapons fell silent, but Summer kept her weapon trained on the door.

When the shots didn't start up again, Summer continued getting the kids out of their chains. But with every single one, she couldn't help but see at least one of her little girls in those chains. She tried to keep a friendly smile on her face, but she didn't know if it turned out right. The kids followed her around, so she couldn't be doing too bad.

The last chains fell away Summer faced all the kids. "Okay, you're all going to the hospital after this, but I can help a few of you right now." She took off her temporary cape and ripped off a piece on the bottom. It wouldn't be the best tourniquet, but it would be better than nothing.

A few of the kids lined up, holding out arms, legs, or pointing to the stumps on their ears. Summer did the best she could with only scraps from her disguise cloak. But every time, the kids voiced their appreciation.

Summer heard a door open and she grabbed her gun again. She was ready to shoot anyone who came through the door. A blunderbuss stuck through the door followed by…Peter. The gun pointed in Summer's direction. "Drop your weapon…" Peter let his weapon fall and his overly bushy eyebrows rose. "Summer?" Barty followed his partner, the end of his thermos on fine. He also lowered his weapon.

Summer's heart sunk and she shook her head. "My name is Robin. I think you have me confused with something else." Please run with it. Please run with it.

Barty straightened and nodded. "It appears so." He shifted his weapon back into thermos form. "What is the condition of all these children?"

"As best as I can tell, there's no broken limbs, but most have some sort of deep skin laceration and are missing an ear, tail, or what have you." Summer stood up and rested her hands on shoulders of two kids. "Take care of them. They've been through a lot." She retracted her hands and walked to where she dropped her mask. She picked it up and faced her former classmates. 'Not mine' she mouthed while pointing at it just before she fit it over her face.

Raven reentered the room from another door on the catwalk. "Come on, let's get going. The police have this handled." She looked down at Barty and Peter, both of whom gripped their weapons once more. "Your assistance has been appreciated. Don't follow me." She waved at Summer, then disappeared through the door they entered.

Summer walked toward what looked like a staircase. Before she climbed, she looked back at all the kids. She gave them all a small wave. "Be nice to these two. I believe they're good people." She faced the staircase again and climbed. Raven met her at the top. "Get me out of here. I think I'm going to be sick."

"You got it." Raven slashed her sword in front of her and a portal formed. She jumped through quickly followed by Summer. As soon as Summer's feet touched grassy ground, she ripped her mask off and lost her lunch. She stared at the ground. All she could see were each of the kids in chains…How could anyone treat a person like that? Much less kids?

A hand fell on Summer's back. "You see why I never asked you before?" Raven asked.

"Maybe." Summer wiped her mouth with an arm and shook her head. "How could anyone do this?"

"That's what people who only care about Lien look like. They don't care how they get it."

Summer looked up at her partner. Raven had since taken her own mask off. "Raven, I'm sorry I ever thought you did this only for the Lien."

"You're forgiven. I didn't give you any reason to believe otherwise."

Summer pushed herself off the ground and hugged her partner. "At least the kids are in good hands. You'd be surprised on how good Barty is with kids."

"You did all you could." Raven rubbed Summer's back. "The hospital will patch them up."

Summer sniffled and pulled back to look Raven in the eyes. "Raven, next time you go after these guys, call me. I can do so much more for those kids. I'll be more prepared next time."

I don't know if I can ask this, but I have a family member in the hospital, and it doesn't look good. If you are that kind of person, please pray for him.