Ilia ran as fast as her aching leg would allow her, weapon at the ready and her opposite hand with its fingertips just above the gem inlaid in the palm of the glove. She was ready for anything, including the possibility of running away and leaving whatever unfortunate victims she found to their fate.

Or so she thought.

Upon entering the alleyway from which she had heard a scream, Ilia found a small group of children huddled up against a chain link fence at the opposite end. A young woman she didn't recognize was standing between the cowering youths and a leonine grimm, holding a glowing pair of odd weapons that Ilia couldn't quite make out in the darkness. The beast was unaware of her and approaching at a slow gait, snarling as it whipped its bone-tipped tail. Unbeknownst to the grimm, it stood absolutely no chance as Ilia pressed a fingertip to her palm and allowed her body to shift into a running gout of living flame. With a leap, she phased straight through the beast, rendering it to black flecks before re-forming on the other side mere feet from the guardian of the children. Ilia brushed off her chain-link shoulder cape nonchalantly as she returned to flesh, ashes swirling around her.

"…well aren't you fancy?" the exhausted woman asked, her white hoodie streaked with patches of ash and blood and her orange hair hanging in sweaty strands around her face. "Who the hell…?"

"Ilia Amitola," the faunus replied before doing a quick turn to check behind herself for more grimm. "I guess you could call me a special agent, at this point. You?"

"Neon Katt," the other woman replied, lowering her glowing nunchaku to her side and putting her opposite hand upon her hip. "Academy student. I didn't make the evac plane, and now I'm stranded down here with these kids."

"What? How?" Ilia probed, stalling mostly to allow her leg time to stop throbbing. "You must have been sent down to protect an LZ and had first dibs on getting aboard during the escape."

"I gave up my slot to let a family escape once our ship hit capacity," Neon said as she tried to catch her breath. "I was expecting… hoping for another round, but…"

"Where's your team?" Ilia asked, only to receive a solemn shake of Neon's head. "All of them?"

"…all of them," Neon confirmed, the usual fire and playfulness gone from her eyes. "I'm all that's left to protect these kids. Tell me you have an out."

"…not quite," Ilia admitted as she took a head count of the children, coming up with three. "I'm on a borderline suicide mission. Making it up as a I go."

"What's suicide?" a girl no older than seven with a pair of blonde pigtails asked nervously. "I-is it fun?"

Ilia wiped a hand down her face and took a steadying breath.

"…this is why I'm utter shit with kids. Don't worry about it. Forget that's even a word."

"Okay…" the little girl said apprehensively as Neon approached the small group and dropped into a squat, her forearms on her thighs.

"Hey, look at me," Neon said sweetly, putting on a smile despite the small specks of dried blood on her cheeks and nose. "We're gonna make it out of here, okay? Having Ilia with us means we can take on twice as many grimm… and I can already handle like, a hundred at once on my own."

"Really?" the only boy in the group asked. "A whole hundred?"

"Hell yeah," Neon said with a wink. "And I'm sure this new huntress can handle at least 50. We faunus are super tough."

The final child, a girl with red hair in a bob cut hanging down around her face raised a brow.

"…but my dad said that the faunus are all ev-"

"Don't worry about whatever he said," Neon interrupted as she narrowed her eyes. "We're gonna find your families, and we're gonna get you guys up to Atlas, okay? You three just have to stay behind me and Ilia and stay quiet. No more screaming. Got it?"

"Got it," the first girl said.

Ilia shivered not due to the cold, but an odd feeling that Neon gave her. Something about the way that the woman could so easily shift her personality and just lie rubbed her entirely the wrong way. Though she wanted to remain optimistic that Neon would have her back on the way to the tavern, Ilia could help but feel like they would not get along as time went on.

"Great," Ilia said snarkily as she kept her eyes on the entrance to the alley. "Can we please get moving, now? We've got a limited window and places to be."

"I thought you didn't have a plan?" Neon questioned as she waved for the group of kids to follow her. "And what do you mean limited window? There are more ships going up, right?"

"I don't have an exit," Ilia corrected. "I've absolutely got a plan. As far as more ships… I wouldn't count on it, but I know a place we can go that should have some allies, and then we can regroup."

"And the limited window?" Neon pressed as they all began to make their way out of the alley. "Don't dodge the question."

"…I flew a plane directly into Salem to get down here," Ilia explained, not bothering to look at Neon. "Completely obliterated the bitch, but she'll be back up before long."

"…what's a bi-"

"A breed of dog," Neon interrupted before the little girl could finish. "They're really fluffy. You fought Salem?"

"Wouldn't really call it a fight," Ilia admitted. "But I did go up against her one-on-one before that, so… yeah. Not good. Not good at all. She fu-… screwed up my leg, but I'll live. This way. Our goal isn't far."

"Where are we headed?" Neon asked as she kept one hand on her weapon and the other latched to the inquisitive little girl's.

"Robyn Hill's tavern. Hopefully we find my friend and my other friend's family there, or at least close to it," Ilia explained.

"Hopefully?" Neon balked. "And then what? Nothing? That's a terrible plan…"

"Do you have a better one?" Ilia snapped. "If not, shut up and stay behind me. I've trained with the Aces. I know what I'm doing."

"…so you know Yang, then," Neon replied. "She's a friend of mine."

"That explains a lot, actually," Ilia said as she broke into a run out on the open streets of Mantle. "It really does…"

Sun was beginning to feel sick. Throughout the journey over Mantle and out to the sea, he had seen a myriad of contrasting sights. The mountains around the besieged location and its nearby crater were majestic and snow-covered while the city within their embrace was covered in smoke and firelight. Though the fighting in Mantle was confined to distinct pockets, moving masses of black grimm were all throughout the city in different densities. Sun knew it would take days, maybe even weeks for the city to fall completely, but the situation didn't look good at all. Oddly enough, the airborne grimm hanging over and around the city seemed almost catatonic as the transport ships passed by. Sun could only guess that Salem's temporary incapacitation had an effect on their behavior, as well as that of the flying whale that had landed itself atop the harbor and laid motionless. They had gotten incredibly lucky with the timing of their escape.

Despite his worry about Ilia being lost in the mess down below and his overall worry for the fate of both Mantle and his friends, Sun knew that none of it had anything to do with his nausea. There was an odd, throbbing pain in his head, surrounding his entire skull and pulsing in a way he had never felt before. Though he had only experienced a migraine once before early in his time in Atlas, he knew for a fact that whatever was going on wasn't the same. The sensation felt as though someone was drilling into his skull from all sides at once, but never quite made it past the bone. It was enough to get Sun to press his fingers into his forehead hard enough to turn them white as he rubbed in slow circles.

A sudden hard punch in the shoulder got his attention, and he looked over to Neopolitan to see her mouth a simple, three-word question his way. It didn't need to be put into text for him to understand.

"…I've got no idea," Sun replied as he shook his head. "I feel like I'm gonna puke…"

Neopolitan leaned away from Sun, making it very clear through her glare that getting any such sickness on her would result in his immediate execution.

"I'm gonna see if there's a bucket in the cargo hold," Sun announced as he unstrapped himself from the copilot's seat. "Check on the guys while I'm back there. Need anything?"

Neopolitan took a moment to write out a message on her scroll before passing it to Sun, and despite the pain in his head, he couldn't help but smirk.

Large espresso, two shots of mocha, steamed milk, whipped cream, chocolate sprinkles. And a cookie.

"Yeah, I'll get right on that," Sun reassured as he handed the scroll back. "See you soon."

Neopolitan waved the boy away dismissively as she pocketed the device and put both hands back on the control stick. Sun could see in the reflection of the cockpit's glass that despite the joke, she wasn't smiling. He didn't much feel like doing so either as he made his way toward the back of the plane.

"Everything okay?" a voice asked in a hushed tone the second Sun came into view. Jaune was sitting with his back against the wall of the cargo hold, one arm around Corsac. The older faunus seemed to be asleep with his head on Jaune's shoulder and lengths of gauze wrapped around his bare chest and one arm. An open first aid kit was sitting on the floor next to Jaune, and he nodded toward the box. "You didn't get hit, did you?"

"No, but it feels like I did," Sun admitted as he lowered his voice to match Jaune's. The faunus brought a hand up to his head once again as blackened dots swarmed his vision. "My head feels like it's gonna collapse in on itself. I guess it's just… stress. You seen a bucket anywhere? Or even a cardboard box? I think I'm gonna hurl…"

"Uh… there's a mop and rolling bucket over there," Jaune said, pointing out the bright yellow basin in the corner. "Do you need my help…?"

"Nah, I'm probably just pregnant," Sun joked as he made his way over to the setup and pulled the mop out of the caddy before dropping it to the floor and lowering himself onto his knees.

"Wow, when did you and Blake find the time?" Jaune teased.

"I don't last that long," Sun replied, continuing the banter. "All we need is a broom closet and about thirty seconds."

"…I hope I find what you have, someday."

Sun continued staring down into the yellow basin, the edges of the reinforced plastic blurring in his vision as he tried to focus.

"Jaune… I'm sure you will. All of you guys will. You're good people."

"Yeah, but we've all gotta make it out of this alive, too," Jaune reminded. "Today's been a reminder that we might not."

Sun made a noise of discomfort, partially at the notion and partially due to the pain in his head. Just as his vision became entirely undecipherable and he felt like he might pass out, it all suddenly cleared up without warning. There was no pain, no nausea, and Sun felt as though he had never been sick to begin with. The faunus blinked several times in utter disbelief at the situation, his vision clear or almost better than it had been and the urge to vomit entirely absent. Though he was covered in a cold sweat and not exactly happy with any of the situations around him, Sun felt strangely good.

"Sun…?" Jaune asked as his friend stood up and retrieved the mop.

"I'm… fine," Sun said, not quite sure if it was just a lull in the pain as a cruel cosmic joke. "I don't know what's going on, but something's not right. Maybe I'm just starting to come down with something…"

"Keep an eye on it, okay?" Jaune asked. "We can't afford to have you down and out."

"I know, I know," Sun said, sounding less than thrilled. "I'm the leader."

"Not just that- you know Vacuo," Jaune pointed out. "And… we all care about you, too. We trust you to make the right call, and you've been supporting all of us the whole time we were in Atlas. We're all here to support you too, if you need it."

"Yeah," Sun acknowledged, still feeling quite fine. "I guess… I'll head back to the cockpit with Neo. Give you two some space."

"…yeah," Jaune acknowledged with a small blush. "He's doing alright, he's just exhausted and needs to recover, but… yeah."

"Wait… yeah?" Sun asked, looking over at Corsac. "Like… you two are…?"

"…I don't even know anymore," Jaune admitted. "There's Yang. There's him. It's a mess, but none of us seem to mind. Maybe I'm just getting used to living in the chaos and just going with it."

"Gods, do I know that feeling," Sun reassured. "Well hey, good luck with all that. No one in our crew is going to judge you. Maybe Neo. I don't know about her."

"You and me both," Jaune agreed. "I don't even understand how she ended up with us."

"I'm slowly starting to put that picture together," Sun let on as a small twinge of pain streaked through his skull and then vanished as quickly as it had come. He paused for a moment, electing to say nothing about it. "You'll know as soon as I do."

"Good luck with that," Jaune said as Sun waved and headed toward the cockpit. "I get the feeling you're going to need it."

Author's Note:

Alternate dialogue for this chapter:

"…not quite," Ilia admitted as she took a head count of the children, coming up with three. "I'm on a borderline suicide mission. Making it up as a I go."

"What's suicide?" a girl no older than seven with a pair of blonde pigtails asked nervously. "I-is it fun?"

Ilia wiped a hand down her face and took a steadying breath.

"…maybe according to Rooster Teeth…"

-RD