AN: Warning, this chapter has a lot of cursing and a pretty brutal drop of Warren's past. You've been warned.

Chapter 08: Painful Past

After the others left Warren wandered out of their room. He slowly paced through the halls as cheerful chatter rang out from all around him. Playful banter from new teammates. Surprised shouts of discovery as the first years explored the grounds. Jokes and laughter drifted over the air as Warren walked the grounds lost. To him it all seemed fragile. How long with the laughter last? How many missions before the first years faced a casualty? The happy atmosphere reminded him of better times with his parents...and how it all ended when he lost them both. [What am I even doing here?] Mentally, War was miles away as his feet carried him aimlessly through the school.

-x-x-x-x-

Fae had long since grabbed a quick bite to eat before she excused herself to go to the workshop. Oz and Liz stuck around to enjoy a full meal complete with dessert. Well, Oz tried to, until Liz stole his dessert...as well as his second and third helping. Liz dropped her fork on her now empty plate as she declared, "That is it! I can't eat another bite!"

Oz gave her a dubious look as he deadpanned, "If this was the first time I heard you say that, I might believe you. It lost its meaning after the third time."

Liseran shrugged happily, "What was I supposed to do? We may have tricked Velvet into trying the carrot cake, but you saw the look on her face when we told her what it was! I couldn't leave her to finish it alone!"

"And what about all the cookies you took off my plate?" Innocently Liz replied as she twirled a strand of her hair, "You did promise me your desert for the next three days."

"That is why I grabbed seven cookies! So I could still have some after I gave you a few!"

She pulled out her scroll and replied distractedly as she typed on the scroll, "Well that is what you get for trying to wiggle out of our deal."

Ozwald sighed as he slumped over the table on defeat. "You know, if I didn't sit here and watch you eat, I would never believe anyone who told me you could eat THAT much."

With a grin she sat forward and bopped him on the head to get him to look at her. When she had his attention she winked at him as she placed a finger before her lips, "A girl's gotta have her secrets!" Oz groaned at himself for expecting anything more serious from his whimsical teammate. Someone sat next to him but he ignored them. He wanted to wallow in his dramatized grief a bit longer.

"So Ozwald," Startled he jumped up in his seat and spun around when he heard Aqua say his name. Liseran grinned smugly as the other girl continued to talk, "Is it true what they say? That you have a really bad poker face?"

Wide eyed he slowly turned to face Liz. She looked away in a hurry and whistled tunelessly. Already everyone on their team knew she liked to hum and whistle often, and fairly decently when she chose to do so.

Right then, she had purposely chosen to whistle poorly in her mock innocent act. [She. Told. Aqua.]

His face went bright red as Aqua laughed. "Don't worry about it! I have a terrible poker face as well. If you ever get roped into a game, I'll tag along." She smiled cheerfully before she added, "That way you won't suffer alone!"

Oz stared at her in complete shock. Slowly the wheels in his head started to turn once more as he recalled Liz's earlier threat of a game of strip poker. If he played...Aqua would join. Who also had a terrible poker face. Once again his face turned red as a small noise escaped him before he clamped his mouth shut. Liz immediately guessed his train of thought as she broke down into hysterical laughter. Aqua looked at the two of them in confusion as Oz pulled out his scroll and sent Fae a message that consisted of a single world.

-x-x-x-x-

-Shorty after Fae left the cafeteria-

Fae confidently strolled through the halls until she reached the workshop that Liseran showed them the day the arrived. She walked over to the locker area and hit a button on her scroll. Soon after the sound of a rocket roared through the air as her locker descended. She removed Six Slicers from the locker and pulled up the schematics on her scroll. The most ideal solution would be to up the caliber of her rounds but even that would take a LOT of work. The barrels would have to be replaced, as well modifications to the clips to carry the larger rounds. Then she'd have to ensure that the changes in 'gun mode' would not adversely affect the balance of the weapon in 'blade mode'.

She placed her scroll to an empty work table as the schematics were projected across the surface of the table. She kept the schematics on hand for modifications like this. Sure she could remember the stats and details of the components, but without the 'whole picture' it was difficult to know how individual changes would influence the entire piece. To start, she would have to decide upon what caliber to work with. Just as the thought crossed her mind a voice spoke up behind her.

"Ah! Hello Fae! How's loverboy doing?"

Fae turned and was about to reply when she saw Coco's weapon and her reply went unspoken and forgotten.

"Is….is that a gatling gun?"

Coco peered over her shades at Fae. With a mischievous smile she replied, "Why yes it is. But Miss Von-Vert, did you just respond to a question with a question?"

Fae's eyes went wide as before she shook her head and composed herself. "Yes, I am sorry. That was rather impolite of me, I offer my most insincere apologies." She flashed the fashionista a wry grin as Coco covered her mouth with a mock gasp. The two smiled as Coco asked again, "So how is Ozwald and the rest of team WOLF doing? Sleep well?"

"He was doing fine last I saw him. He and Liz went to get lunch. I was going to stay longer but I really shouldn't put this off." She gestured to the table before she frowned and looked back at Coco. "Although I do recall a rather rude awakening to someone shouting your name."

"In my defense I've never HAD to 'share' a room before. When I did it was always girls. I forgot Fox and Yatsu were then when I started changing…"

In the silence that followed both Coco and Fae realized the entire room had fallen silent as the other students listened in. Coco cleared her throat as she looked over at one of them with a glare and she placed her hand on her hip with attitude. There was a scramble of motion, in which more than one person stubbed their toe.

Fae shook her head with smile as she changed the subject, "So what are you doing here Coco?"

"Adding another barrel."

Fae stopped and looked at the other girl in surprise. "What? The tri-barrel overheated to often with the constant battles. Yeah adding another barrel will increase the weight but Beacon has access to many more resources than Signal. They have this alloy I am going to try out. The weight is a little less but it has better heat dispersion."

She sighed as she looked over the schematics on her own work table and made a sour face, "Unfortunately that does mean I have to cast and modify 4 barrels."

Fae brightened as an idea occurred to her. "Well if you agree to assist me with modifying my weapons I can help you with yours."

As soon as she spoke her scroll went off. Surprised she checked it. [A message from Ozwald?] She opened the message and stared at the single word written there, "Help!"

"Everything okay?"

"Yes. I apologize for that." Coco shrugged as she started to disassemble her weapon. "Who was it by the way?"

"Ozwald."

Coco perked up and turned to face Fae and gave the other girl her undivided attention. [Uh oh.]

"What did he say?"

[If he needs help...Coco tagging along will make things worse.] So she went with the first thing that came to mind.

"Just some team building. We talked about our backgrounds some. Oz just wanted to give me an update."

Coco's eyes brightened at the prospect. "That's...not a bad idea. I mean I already know Velvs pretty well but the other two…"

Fae silently apologized to Ozwald for being unable to excuse herself. [If it was a real emergency he'd used the priority alerts. Please be ok.]

-x-x-x-x-

Oz hopped the table as he made for the exit. [How long is Fae going to take! It's been hours!] He pointedly avoided looking at the clock on the wall as he dashed around the crowded cafeteria.

Shouting as she leapt to her feet, Liseran called out after him, "You're not getting away that easily!" Flushed with embarrassment, Ozwald retorted, "If I stay here I'll die of embarrassment!" With a playful laugh Liz shouted back, "You can run, but you can't hide~! I already tagged~ you~!"

Oz swore severely as he burst through the cafeteria doors and crashed right into Yatsuhashi. In pursuit Liz burst through the doors after him but stopped when she saw giant look down at her teammate sprawled out on the floor. She pumped her fists into the air as she cheered, "Yes! Backup has arrived!"

With a pained groan, Oz sat up and shot the taller teenager a dirty look. With a raised finger Yatsu weakly asked, "I am backup?" With an exaggerated giggle, Liseran clapped her hands as she nodded. "Yes of course! You came to my aid in my hour of need!" Both boys stared at her as she looked up at him from under her eyelashes as she continued, "I would offer you a kiss as thanks for your assistance but I don't think I can reach your cheek. Can you kneel to receive your reward?"

With a bland look Yatsuhashi stared at her before he stated, "Never thought I'd be thankful to Coco for her constant flirting." He then offered a hand to Ozwald to help him off the floor. Upset that her playful banter went ignored Liz pouted while Oz stood. Yatsu apologized quietly to Oz before he nodded in Liseran's direction and marched on into the cafeteria. Huffing, Liz continued to pout as she address Ozwald, "Well, my mood is spoiled. I'll see you latter Ozy!" As she sprinted off Ozwald shook his head. [Well, time to find something else to do.]

-x-x-x-x

Hours later, Fae had just left the workshop with Coco in tow. The two were discussing holding a meal in the common area on each floor of the dorms, when Fae's scroll rang for a call. Fluidly she drew the scroll and popped it open to see the caller was none other than her partner. Distracted by a tap on her shoulder, the noble looked over to Coco as she asked, "Should I leave?" Fae shook her head, she didn't mind if the other girl overheard.

"Greetings, this is Faerien."

"Okay first of all, that? That is going to need to stop." A slight frown tugged at Fae's lips at her partner's remark, while Coco stifled her laughter. [What is wrong with my greeting?]

"Secondly, have you seen Warren? I think he's been avoiding us. I mean, yeah I tagged him but...Should I track him down? It is one thing to track down Oz, he is fun to screw with but...Warren is our leader ya' know? It feels a little weird to try and track him down if he really is avoiding us. Plus with our whole talk this morning he seemed really upset when we left."

Coco's face darkened into a scowl, a fact that did not go unnoticed by Fae as she responded, "No. I do not believe that is necessary just yet. Message him first, and if he doesn't reply by dinner we'll track him down. Additionally since Coco and I were planning on making dinner in the common room, it would be a good bonding chance between teams."

The other girl flashed her a thumbs up before she pulled out her own scroll and started to send messages to her team. Somewhat reluctantly, her partner agreed and ended the call. Satisfied with that plan, Fae asked Coco "So what was it we were planning on making again?"

"Um...hot dogs, instant mac-n-cheese, and frozen veggies?"

Faerien came to a complete halt as she stared at the fashionista. "Please tell me you are joking."

Huffing Coco crossed her arms as she defended herself, "Hey, everything else was just us talking about stuff we COULD make. That stuff I know we currently have in the common room." Embarrassed Fae's face flushed as she explained herself, "That is not the problem, it is just that…"

Unable to help herself she turned away as her voice dropped, "I have never cooked any of those."

This time, Coco came to a halt as she stared at the young noble in utter disbelief. "You have got to be kidding me."

-x-x-x-x-

Laughter echoed out from the common room. At first it started with Fox, Coco, Fae, Liz, and Oz as they pulled together the simple dishes. Velvet, Yatsuhashi, and Aqua wandered by and joined in after Yatsuhashi ordered pizza. Aqua called her teammates, and told them to bring drinks. After they arrived, and everyone teased Fae in her first attempt to cook mac-n-cheese, they all settled around a table and talked amicably. Eventually Fae pulled out her scroll and composed a message for Warren.

"I'm not sure what Liseran told you, but we cooked some food in the common area if you'd like to join us? The rest of the team are concerned that you are avoiding us, and want to track you down if you don't start replying. Just a heads up if you really need to be alone."

Satisfied, she sent the message. She lifted her glass to take a drink when she heard a scroll go off. For some reason, everyone noticed and nearly a dozen pairs of eyes turned to the open archway. There stood the missing leader barely in the room as if he couldn't decide to enter or not. Some of them gave greetings while most picked up on his awkward hesitation. Coco looked outright offended by his presence, while Velvet turned away in embarrassment.

"Um...hey."

"Hey man! Glad you could join us!" Instantly Ozwald jumped up from his spot and made his way over to his partner. Before War could protest, Oz managed to march him around the room. Swiftly he collected a plate with pizza, some mac-n-cheese, and several cans of soda before he parked his leader at the table next to Fae. Cheerfully Oz plopped down next to him and chatted away, "We were just talking about starting a few games if you feel like hanging out after grub is gone. Coco and Aqua brough cards, but we'll have to decide on what to play first."

Slowly talk around the table resumed as Warren started to eat quietly. Nervous, Fae caught her partner's eye and silently asked her to make a distraction.

"Oh hey! Have I told you guys about the one time I accidentally shot an apple out of someone's hand?"

"...how the hell did you 'accidentally' pull that off?"

As Liseran launched herself into her story, Fae subtly nudged her leader and asked, "You alright?"

Slowly Warren chewed his food before he lowered his fork and bluntly stated, "No. I'm really not."

As soon as the words left his lips, Coco slammed her hands down on the table and shouted, "Okay, seriously what the hell is your problem!"

All discussions stopped as Coco glared at Warren, "I get being jerk to assholes like Jade, but not the rest of us! You still haven't even apologized to Velvet yet! Not to mention whatever talk your team had this morning that pissed you off."

Startled Faerien's eyes went wide. She was going down a really dangerous path, "Coco wai-"

"No! You all are stuck with this piss-poor excuse for a leader and person! I don't know who the fuck raised you but somewhere along the line they sure as hell screwed up."

Warren's eyes went wide, before he tensed up and his eyes went cold. "Yeah. Sure. My parents had a real tough time raising me." A flicker of rage entered his gaze before he turned and stared Coco down. "Especially considering they have both been dead for years now."

Everyone was still. They hardly dared to breath as Coco's jaw dropped, "Wait, what? Warren, I-"

"Didn't know? Of course not. It's not like I enjoy talking about watching Baewolves tear my father apart. Listening to them snap his bones and eat his corpse while I hide cowering in terror in the ventilation shaft." Yastuhashi started to turn a little green as Fox subtly stopped mid bite and returned the food to his plate. "Then I get to play hide and seek with the damn creatures trying their best kill me as well. Trapped in my own home with the Grimm, while they tear the place apart." His gaze flickered across each of their faces. None of them could bring themselves to meet his gaze, or even to ask him to stop.

"Then mother finally made it home from her supply run. Course even a trained huntress isn't prepared to find Grimm in their own home, add in the fact that she decided she needed to protect her hot blooded son hell bent on taking revenge for his father, she never really had a chance. Course she managed to kill them all, but being run through by an alpha beowulf and having a lung collapse tends to be fatal."

Slowly he brought himself to his feet and despite his short stature he towered over Coco, as pure venom entered his voice. "So, yeah. I'm fucked up, and tend to be an asshole because of it. But don't. You. DARE. Insult my parents, again." He stormed out of the room without a backwards glance.

Coco sat there and stared at his seat, and looking utterly devastated. Everyone stayed frozen in place before Ozwald finally broke the silence.

"Well...shit. That was, rather horrible."

Several other muttered their agreement when Coco asked, "The talk, that I heard you guys had this morning." She turned to face Fae, as she continued, "I misunderstood that didn't I?" The others watched in confusion, while Faerien winced. "We talked about our families, and-" Pausing as she glanced over to Liz asking for silent permission. After she received a slow nod from her partner she continued, "My father died about a month after my mother found out she was pregnant. Liz lost both her parents as a small child. When we asked Warren about his family he-"

She gestured somewhat hopelessly so Liseran cut in, "He panicked. Almost freaked out right there. He said he'd tell us later." The sniper looked away as she added, "I don't think this is what he meant."

Coco ground her teeth together in frustration, "Damn. Damn it all. I'm sorry, I totally screwed this whole night up." She looked over at Team AZUR before she turned back to Team WOLF. "You can tell him that if you want to, but don't apologize for me. I need to do that in person." Sighing she shook her head as she left the room. One by one, the others followed suit until only the three remaining members of Team WOLF were left behind.

"Well...shit. This is a rather horrible situation."

Liz rolled her eyes as Ozwald repeated himself. Taking stock of the room she sighed before she rounded on her teammates and clapped her hands. "Okay!"

This time Oz rolled his eyes as he commented, "You do that a lot." Instead of replying she stuck her tongue out at him before she continued with what she planned to say. "Alright. You two, clean up this mess they left us with. I'll track down our leader, I think I know what to say to calm him down a little bit."

The duo looked about the room. Stacks of empty pizza boxes, cans of soda, paper plates and dishes in the sink. Before either could protest, Liseran skipped from the room calling back to them, "Hop to it~"

-x-x-x-x-

"I~ found you~"

Warren grunted from the spot he lay upon the roof, instead of giving an actual response to Liz's sing-song like statement. Careening over to him she plopped down next to him and leaned into his field of view so he was forced to look at her.

"Boop."

Sheer disbelief was written on his face when she bopped him on the nose and said that.

"What the fuck?"

Nonchalant she shrugged as she replied, "Well I figured you were somewhat uncomfortable with how that all went down, otherwise you would be in the dorm room. Since you are up here I'm assuming you aren't sure how to face us. But you know what they say about assuming~. I mean, you might be a self proclaimed ass, but if me being one as well gets you back in the dorm, then I can live with that."

Warren continued to stare at her in shock for several moments before he finally asked, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Hm~. Not sure?" She went to bop him on the nose again, to which he scowled fiercely as he knocked her hand away. "I'm willing to bet that Ozzy and Fae are expecting me to be able to relate with you and somehow convince you to come back inside and give your team a chance instead of hiding out up here. Frankly that's not going to work. I barely remember my parents, and they sure as hell didn't die right in front of me."

With a sigh she lay down next to him as she continued to chat away. "No matter what, we will all end up messed up. Some of us already are, you and I are two good examples of that. But all huntsmen and huntresses are quirky. They deal with death on every job. Called out to exterminate a Grimm that killed someone. Hired to protect a caravan because the last one was lost. Go defend a village because they already lost several people and can't deal with it on their own. We will have to deal with that kind of thing often. Eventually it will break us. Sure we will pick ourselves up, a little busted, maybe a little twisted, but if we don't pick up the pieces we'll just end up falling apart. We can't change the past, we can only enjoy the present while we still have it and work towards a brighter future. And this is that start of that. All of us, working together."

She rolled onto her side and Warren was suddenly uncomfortably aware of how close she was. Deciding to take the easy way out he changed topics and stated, "You know, if I didn't know any better I'd say you were trying to make a move on me right now."

Her eyes went wide before she burst into laughter. Warren sat up and scowled at her as she rolled on the ground laughing. Weathering his glares she laughed herself to tears before she managed to bring her laughter under control.

"Sorry, it just you really aren't my type. Fae, Velvet, maybe Fox, and most definitely Yatsuhashi are more my type. I mean don't get me wrong, you and Ozwald are handsome but I like the quiet types."

Startled he looked at her as she cocked an eyebrow at him. "What? Didn't think I'd just outright tell you I like the guys and the gals? Shesh, you've been around me more than 5 minutes, you should know by know that if you ask me a question you WILL get a brutally honest answer."

With honest disbelief he shook his head as he bluntly stated, "You suck at pep talks."

"Yep~ But I'm great at distracting people! Bet you don't feel as bad now huh?" Warren froze, much to his own shock...she was right. He did feel better. Mainly because he felt exasperation for the bubbly girl next to him, but even now remembering why he was up here, he felt better about it.

"Great! Cause it's late and we have class tomorrow." She stood and dusted herself off as she offered a hand to her leader. With a resigned sigh he accepted her help and said, "Alright fine, let's get going." Sighing again he added, "And thanks. For the weirdest pep talk I've ever received. Somewhat glad I'm not your type."

"Aw don't worry about it! You're still one delicious piece of eye candy." She paused before she winked at him, "Just don't get me drunk and you'll have nothing to worry about."

Sputtering he choked out startled protests as she laughed and sauntered off. He groaned before he followed her off the roof. [She's weird. But to be fair, she's right. All huntsmen and huntresses are weird.]

AN: M'kay. That was a thing. So first things first, Coco. No I'm not trying to make her seem like a bitch. (If anyone thinks she is coming across like that. That is not the intention) She is confident, headstrong, and did not get off to a good start with Warren. Because of that I made it where she just bulldozed on over everyone's protests and snapped at Warren for what she interpreted as continued rudeness to not just her team, which she was barely tolerating as is, but to his own team as well.