YES! TEAM FREEZERBURN IS BACK TOGETHER! (I don't actually ship Freezerburn at all. I'm just happy that…) TEAM RWBY IS REFORMING! YAY! DEM FEELS! Oh, and Ruby being the adorable leader trying to get everyone to get along...If anyone so much as scratches the cinnamon roll...
Summer pushed the front door open. All lights were out in the house, and no one moved about. Then again, it was past midnight, and Tai wasn't expecting her back until, well, later in the day. Tai wasn't a morning person, but he typically didn't stay up late either. If he was still up this late, there was a problem.
Summer entered the house and closed the door behind her. She crept up the stairs, but instead of heading directly for the master, she stopped by her daughters' room. She pushed the door open and looked at the bed and the crib. Yang and Ruby were fast asleep, neither one making a sound. Summer smiled and she felt tears running down her cheeks. They were so peaceful, so innocent.
She walked over to Yang's bed and knelt by her oldest. "I love you, Yang." Summer brushed Yang's forehead and hair. "You are so beautiful." She leaned forward and kissed Yang's forehead. "I'm making the world safe for you, Phoenix. You won't have to worry about these guys."
Summer stood up and walked over to Ruby's crib. Her baby girl was so beautiful. When Summer looked through her own baby pictures, she saw one heck of a resemblance between her and Ruby. It looked like there was another Rose clone on Remnant.
"Ruby," Summer caressed her youngest's head, "I hope you'll never have to face who I have. I want you to stay happy, stay you." She leaned forward and kissed Ruby's forehead. "I love you, Gem, and I'll do anything to protect you."
She pulled her hand away and left the room, instinctually flicking off the lights, even though they were never on. Summer approached the master and entered just as quietly. She only took off her white cloak, which she recovered from her hiding spot, and hung it on its normal hook. She crawled under the covers on her side of the bed and snuggled next to Tai. That was the first time she felt safe since leaving Raven's apartment. She closed her eyes and she drifted off to sleep.
…
Summer heard Ruby scream. She snapped her head upstairs to her baby girl's room. What happened this time? She ran up the stairs three at a time. She pushed the door open to the girl's room…and saw a longsword sticking out of Ruby's chest.
"No!" Summer rushed to her baby girl's side. She couldn't take the sword out. Ruby would lose too much blood. Summer put two fingers on Ruby's neck…no pulse. "No, no, no." She snapped her head over to Yang's bed. Blood ran like a waterfall off the side. Summer left Ruby's crib and checked on her oldest. Yang's throat had been slit.
Summer's legs gave out and she crumpled on the floor. Who would do this? How'd this happen? She rasied her head and looked to the sword sticking out of Ruby. There was a note on the hilt. Summoning the last of her strength, Summer forced herself to her feet and walked over to Ruby's crib. She tore the note off the sword and read it. 'This is what you get for messing with the Nevermores.'
Her legs gave out once again. No. This couldn't be happening! She took all the precautions! She made sure she wasn't followed! Raven would never give her up! Neither would Barty or Peter. How'd they find her? She checked herself for any kind of tracker. But there was nothing…Summer fell to the floor and curled into a ball. Her girls were dead, and it was all her fault.
She started shaking uncontrollably, like she was having a seizure. The rocks only got more intense as time went on. "Summer!" Tai's voice echoed in the distance. "Wake up!" The shaking grew more intense until she blacked out.
When she opened her eyes again, she stared up at Tai's concerned face. She felt sweaty, and that couldn't be from overheating. She saw frost forming on the walls. Her heart felt like it was trying to punch out her ribcage, and her breathing desperately tried to keep up.
Without really knowing what she was doing, Summer threw her arms around her husband. She buried her face in Tai's shoulder and cried hard. As soon as the tears left her face, they froze solid. Tai returned the hug and rubbed circles on Summer's back. Neither one said anything for a long time.
It took a while, but Summer got her emotions under control. She pulled away from her husband and wiped her eyes with a hand. "Sorry Tai. I didn't mean to wake you." Summer cut the unintentional flow of Aura and the room started heating up again.
"Whatever it was, it wasn't your fault." Tai paused. "Summer, what are you doing home? I thought you wouldn't be home until a lot later."
"I couldn't stay away." Summer hugged herself and shook her head. "I was out visiting Raven, and she brought up a Nevermore warehouse in Bullworth."
Tai's shoulders slumped. "Something you did there?"
"It wasn't even that." Summer let her head fall more. "What I saw there…it was terrible. What they did to those kids…how can anyone do that?"
"So you saw them?"
"No." Summer lifted her head and looked at Tai through the distortion of her tears. "I saw Yang and Ruby." Her head fell again and she leaned forward, with the top of her head pressing against Tai's chest. "If they find out I was there, they'll come after our girls. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't just disappear. They know how much I love them from when they spied on us when they were after Raven. They'd come after our girls until everyone on either side is dead.
Tai wrapped his arms around Summer again. "I suppose forgetting about it and never doing that again isn't an option."
"I can't." Summer shook her head, awkward as it was in her position. "Those kids are someone else' babies. They were all so scared. No one deserves to live like that, especially kids." She sniffed. "I would want someone to do the same if Ruby and Yang were ever in that place."
Neither one spoke for a while, until Tai finally said, "Okay. I'm not exactly thrilled, but I understand. Something tells me that I'd be in the same boat if I was there. If you ever need anything just ask. And if Ozpin says anything about this, I'll take him. You have too much to worry about already."
"I wasn't exactly asking before…but thank you." Summer adjusted her head so her chin rested on Tai's shoulder. Now this felt right. All that was missing was…
Summer watched and heard the doorknob jiggle. She froze in place. Who was here? Her girls were asleep. She took an arm off Tai's back and pointed it at the door. The door opened…but no one stood on the other side. Since when was the house haunted?
"Mommy?" Yang's voice asked. Summer jumped and dropped her arm. She lowered her gaze and saw Yang just inside the door. Ruby's head poked in beside her sister. Yang took another step in. "Mommy, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Yang." Summer pulled away from Tai and wiped some of the tears from her eyes. "Mommy has nightmares too."
Both Ruby and Yang gasped, and it looked like both of them were about to cry. They exchanged a look, then Yang locked eyes with her mom. "Can we sleep with you?"
Summer bit back her own gasp, but she couldn't keep her eyes from watering again. She didn't even look at Tai to see if it was okay. "Yes. Yes, you can."
Yang and Ruby stepped fully into the room, and Yang closed the door behind them. The girls walked, or in Ruby's case waddled, to Summer's side of the bed. Yang crawled up herself and Summer lifted Ruby up onto the bed. When Summer turned around, Yang had already laid down by Tai's side, or more accurately almost on top of one of Tai's arms. She'd need to have a talk with her oldest about letting Ruby out of her crib without help, but that could wait until the sun was up for a few hours.
Summer laid down on her bed, trying not to squish either of her daughters. When her head hit her pillow, her girls attached themselves to either side of her, with their foreheads in perfect kissing range. "Good night, Phoenix. Good night Gem." She kissed both her girls' foreheads. From the sound and feel of it, both girls fell asleep as soon as Summer's lips left their skin.
She smiled over at Tai who was already returning the gesture. "What did we do to deserve such beautiful, loving girls?"
Tai shrugged. "The same thing we did to deserve to be on the same team at Beacon. We're just too nice."
Summer giggled. "I can live with that."
"One of these days, ma'am," the cashier started, "you're going to have to tell me how you do that." He pointed at the bag that completely hid a paper towel roll that once stood taller than it.
"Hmmm, nope!" Summer popped the 'p' and picked up the bag. "It's not my secret to give. See you some other time." She left the store and turned toward Patch. On a normal day, she would have teleported to the top of a skyscraper and then to Patch, especially since she had frozens, but it was such a nice day outside. She'd still teleport once she got to the beach, but that could wait.
Summer made it about halfway out of the city when she saw something she didn't want to. A grown human man was kneeling in front of a Faunus girl. The girl looked like she had been crying. From this range, Summer couldn't judge the man's expression. It could just be someone comforting a lost child, but she'd seen too much lately to believe that was the case.
The man stood up and led the girl down an alleyway. That did it for Summer. She ran toward that alley, nearly dropping her groceries along the way. She turned into the alley at full speed, then snuck along the wall. She heard two voices up ahead, and one of them didn't sound nice. Summer dropped her bag where she stood and took a deep breath.
Summer walked down the alley and around a corner. The man now held a knife and one of the girl's bear ears. "Hey you!" Summer yelled. The man took his eyes of the girl. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"
The kidnapper pointed his knife at Summer. "This doesn't concern you. If you leave now, I'll forget you were ever here."
"How about this," Summer drew Sun's Light and pointed it at the kidnapper, "you let her go right now, and I won't hand you your butt on a silver platter."
The man froze, then tried to bring his knife to the girl's throat. Summer launched herself forward and snatched that arm away. She grabbed the arm with both hands and threw the would-be kidnapper against a brick wall. If he had Aura, he'd be back up in seconds and might put up a fight. If not, he'd be out cold until the police arrived.
Seeing no movement at all, Summer took out her Scroll and dialed 119. A few dials later, someone picked up. "119, what is your emergency?"
"This is Huntress Summer Rose. I just stopped an attempted kidnapping in an alley about six blocks west of Hy-Dee. The kidnapper is out cold," Summer took her eyes off the unconscious form and looked at the girl, "and the girl is scared, but from the look of it, she's unharmed."
"Okay Miss Rose. Officers will be dispatched to your location to apprehend the suspect. Stay on location until they arrive."
"Copy that. No problem. I'll try to calm her down." Summer put away her Scroll and smiled at the girl. "Hey there."
The girl squeaked and retreated into a corner. "Stay away!" She shook like an earthquake.
Summer knelt down and set Sun's Light on the ground away from her. She reached into her cloak and pulled out a badge given to her by the Vale Police Department. Please have good experiences with the police. "It's okay. I'm one of the good guys. I'm not going to hurt you." The girl retreated further back into the corner. "What's your name?"
"…Rosie."
Bear ears, Yang's age...Oh, no, please tell me not that Rosie. "Do you know Yang?"
Rosie nodded. "She's my friend."
Summer smiled, even though it hurt. "I know her too. I'm her mommy."
Rosie stopped shaking and she looked up at Summer. "Ruby too?"
"Ruby too." Summer nodded. "I take it Yang talks about her?"
"A lot." Rosie stood up and walked to Summer. She wrapped her little arms around the huntress. "She says you give good hugs."
"Well, I don't like to brag," Summer hugged the scared little girl, "but I give the best hugs." She rubbed small circles on Rosie's back, and the girl started shaking again. "It's okay. You're safe. The police are on their way. You'll be home soon."
"Don't leave." Rosie buried her face in Summer's chest.
"I won't. I'll be here until the police come. I'd take you home myself, but at this point, it's better for the police to take you. They're nice people." And if they aren't, I'll be by your side until you can be dropped off.
In the few minutes it took for the police to arrive, Summer alternated between soothing Rosie and making sure the would-be kidnapper didn't wake up. When red and blue lights flashed down the alley, she pushed Rosie away and looked her in the eyes. "Well, the police are here. They'll take good care of you and get you home." She stood up, but kept a hand on Rosie's shoulder. "If you want to play with Yang, you're welcome to come over anytime. Just ask your mommy or daddy for permission first."
Rosie nodded. "Thank you."
The first officer walked around the corner with her weapon drawn. She looked around the area, then lowered her gun. The officer approached Summer. "We'll take it from here, Miss Rose." She looked down and smiled at Rosie. For the first time, Summer noticed the wolf tail pointing out of the officer's pants. A Faunus officer was probably the best-case scenario here.
"Need anything else from me at the moment?" Summer asked. "I've kind of got frozens in a bag you passed while coming down the alley."
The officer returned her attention to Summer. "You're going to need to give a statement. Another officer will take care of that." She placed a hand on Rosie's shoulder. "I have someone else to take care of." The officer escorted Rosie away.
A few more entered the area, two of them approached the downed criminal, and a familiar one walked up to Summer. The officer approaching Summer sighed. "How many times are we going to meet like this?"
"Like this, hopefully not too many." Summer's smile disappeared as soon as Rosie walked out of sight. "I know it's not protocol, but I would really appreciate it if I wasn't mentioned in any official reports. I've run into these guys a few times before, and I'd rather not have them know who I really am."
The officer raised an eyebrow. "May I ask why?"
"It's undercover work. That's all I'm allowed to say."
"Okay…Huntress that I've never met before. Can you tell me what happened here?"
Summer proceeded to answer every question the officer had, without incriminating her or Raven. But for the first time, she said who was behind this attack, and several more across the Kingdoms of Vale and Vacuo. People everywhere would know about the Nevermores. Hopefully none of this would be traced back to her. If anything did…well, she hadn't lived in Mistral since she lived with her mom. It might be nice to go back to where she grew up.
With the 'interview' finished, Summer picked her groceries and teleported to the top of one of the nearby buildings, then directly to Patch. She needed to get home and get the ice cream in the freezer…and make sure no one had the house under surveillance. After a few more missions with Raven, and a couple on her own, she was getting paranoid that one of them would find her. So far, nothing had happened, and hopefully it would stay that way.
Summer made it to the house and stopped at the mailbox. She opened it and pulled out the mail. An envelope with a black feather sticking out of it sat on top of the stack, with a bulge on one end. That was weird. Usually if Raven had something to say, she'd say it in person. Tai and Qrow must not be home. There was also something from Barty, probably another question about her involvement in the whole thing.
Shrugging, Summer continued toward the house. She searched the tree line for anything out of the ordinary. Luckily, nothing stuck out. Summer put on a smile before she entered the house. No need to let her girls know what was going on in her head. She pushed open the door. "Girls, I'm home!"
"Mommy!" both girls yelled at the same time. Summer didn't see them, but she heard two things hit the floor by the couch. Her girls ran around and too their mom. Summer set the mail and her bag down and opened her arms to receive her girls. Ruby and Yang ran into their mom at full speed.
Summer trapped both her girls in her arms, then kissed both their foreheads. "Good to see you two too." She focused her gaze on her youngest. "And how's my birthday girl doing?"
"Good!" Ruby chirped. "Yang teached me how to sing!"
"Did she now?" Summer turned to her oldest.
Yang nodded as fast as a bobble head. "Yeah! She's good too!"
"Really?" Summer booped Ruby's nose, making her giggle. "You're going to have to show me when daddy and Uncle Qrow get home, and before we go trick or treating." She stood up and hefted her bag. "Now I've got ice cream in here, and it's been in here a while. I need to get it in the freezer." She walked into the kitchen and both girls followed close behind.
Summer set the bag on the table and froze just before opening it. She did run a bit with the bag swinging. This could be bad when she opens this up. "Um, girls, could you go wait in the other room? This could get messy."
Yang nodded and grabbed Ruby's arm. She practically had to drag Ruby out. "But…ice cream…" Ruby whined.
Summer took a deep breath as she pinched the zipper in between her fingers. "Fire in the hole!" She opened the zipper as fast as she could. A can shot out of the bag and smashed into Summer's face. It actually had enough force to knock her to the ground. From her new position, she saw things erupting out of the bag like a volcano. Something fell right toward her face and she barely caught it. She stared at the label for Jemps Neapolitan ice cream, Ruby's favorite.
She waited until everything sounded like it settled. "All clear!" Summer stood up and put the ice cream in the freezer before Ruby saw it. Both girls came in and looked at the destruction. "Could you two help put all this stuff in a pile?"
"But…it's my birthday," Ruby whined.
"Ruby," Summer used her mom voice, "what have I said about talking back?"
Ruby's head slumped. "Okay…"
Summer smiled as both her girls picked up the groceries nearest to them. She would have just as soon done everything herself, but she wanted her girls to learn to help others out. Hopefully they would help out in the future. Then again, with how Yang acted without much prodding, that wouldn't be a problem. That, and this was probably preferable to actual chores.
When all groceries were put away, Summer sat down and looked at the mail. She opened the letter from Raven first. Something had to be going on for Raven to contact her like this. Summer pulled out the letter and read it over.
Summer, have you been going after these guys alone? There's too much in our account for the one's that we've done together. If you are, be careful. Don't give them enough to find you and the girls.
Also, I saw that Yang has gotten into Flame Wheel cars. I hope she'll like the one in here.
As with the other few times Raven sent letters like that, she didn't sign it. Summer pulled out the mentioned Flame Wheel car, and a note with the amount of Lien in the bank account she and Raven now shared. It had grown by more than twenty thousand since the last time she and Raven went on a mission together. She still needed to figure out what to do with her cut. The reward for finding the kids, she readily accepted. If there was anything for finding the Nevermores themselves…Summer didn't know what to do. Those kids and their families deserved that Lien, not her. The problem was she didn't have any way of finding out how to find that out, or donate anonymously. Summer sighed. Maybe charities? Maybe that would work.
Summer looked at the clock. It was almost four. Tai and Qrow would be back from Signal soon, and there would go her possible quiet time while baking the cake. Might as well get started.
Continuing from last week, thank you for the support for my grandpa. He's doing a lot better now. But we still don't know what's wrong.