"…and that's… just about everything," Raven finished, while rubbing her forehead with eyes closed. She slowly dropped her arm back down to her side, and then raised them both to cross beneath her chest as she shifted her weight in a fit of nervous energy. "Now, Kali doesn't have to explain everything yet again while she's busy feeling terrible. She seriously looks like she's simultaneously about to scream and throw up, at all times."
Bartholomew, Taiyang, and Qrow all cast sidelong looks at Adam as the five friends stood on the grass just outside of the professors' living quarters. The bull faunus' jaw was clenched shut, and his hands were balled into fists. Despite his earlier convictions, his bandanna was back in place over his scarred eye, and he spoke in a low, seemingly calm voice.
"…okay. I'll keep my feelings about Jay and Willow to myself, for tonight. What really matters here is that all of us care about Kali. The implications of all of this can wait until later… once Kali is feeling better, and she and I can go over the details about her treatment at the hands of the police alone," Adam finished with an involuntary lip twitch.
"A mature way to handle the situation, and dare I say, the best way, in this particular case," Bartholomew praised as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "While the social implications of this afternoon are grave and terrible, taking care of our teammate, friend, and truly, family member, needs to be priority one, for all of us."
"Yeah," Qrow agreed, though he was looking at Raven, rather than Bartholomew. "Yeah, it does."
"That's how we should all think of this situation," Taiyang agreed as he gently laid a hand on Raven's shoulder and tried to catch her eyes. The girl refused to look up at him, and he frowned pointedly. "You did your best out there, Raven, and thankfully, it all worked out well enough that everyone's alive. You're doing a good thing by prepping us ahead of time, and letting Kali save her energy. We're all one big family, and if one of our sisters needs us, we need to be there for them… when they're ready to accept our help. Let's all head inside, and do what we can for Kali. Lead the way, Adam," he said softly as he dropped his hand.
The faunus nodded and moved to the large glass door, with Bartholomew and Taiyang in tow. Raven swiped Willow's borrowed I.D. card through the reader, and the three boys proceeded into the building. Raven made her way toward the door to follow, only to feel a familiar, tense grip upon her shoulder hard enough to bring her to a stop.
"…not just yet," Qrow chided in an authoritative voice. "I want to talk to you."
"I want to see Kali," Raven countered as she wrenched free of her brother's grasp and put a hand onto the door handle. As she moved to pull it, Qrow's palm pushed into the glass beside her and held the door firmly shut.
"You've seen Kali, and I'm not going to let you pretend that you're just f-"
Qrow leapt backward with a graceful fluidity as Raven whirled and threw a hard punch for his face. He took another step backward as the girl spun into a low sweep, and then rose into a full-body haymaker aimed squarely for his gut. Qrow sidestepped the blow and caught the following rising palm strike when it was mere inches away from his jaw. Raven's hand trembled in his grip, and he narrowed his eyes as he looked down at her with distaste.
"Sloppy, which is unlike you, Sis. You know, you might be our clan's 'chosen one', and you might be the officially ordained assassin, here, but don't forget- I was given the same field psychology lectures and readings as you. I went through the same tests, and learned how to read people just as well as you did," Qrow reminded. "Honestly, I think that's one of few things I do better than you. All of the signs that something's up are there, and it's not just because Kali's hurt, or because you're tired. You're compromised, and I want to know why," he finished as he let his grip on Raven's hand loosen.
Qrow slowly lowered his hand back down into his pocket, and Raven scowled up at him in response as she folded her arms once again. The twins merely stared each other down in silence for nearly a full minute, before Raven let out an ugly, frustrated sigh, and shook her head.
"…it's my fault."
"What's your fault?" Qrow asked as he tilted his head. "That the Vale police force is apparently made up of a bunch of racist assholes?"
"All of it is my fault!" Raven replied, her voice raising to a level near yelling as she leaned slightly forward toward her brother. "I'm the one who led the charge to the dust shop and forced us all to drop everything, instead of leaving it in the hands of the local authorities, and I'm the one who split us into two teams. Kali ending up with Summer, and chasing that other thief is what led to her getting arrested… and for that matter, my lack of semblance or any way to stop Tyrian from continually getting close to Willow almost got her killed, Qrow! I ordered her around, and failed her. She knew just enough to be able to fight him off until I got back to her out in the streets. Any longer, and she could have gotten murdered by that psychopath! The rest of STRQ, OKRA, and Willow are all practically novices when it comes to real combat, and I tried to direct them to stop a very real robbery that almost turned into a murder. They're not ready, and we don't fit in with them in terms of skill level, at all. I feel like I'm directly responsible for everything that happened after what was supposed to be a relaxing day out, and now, things are going to get even worse for all of them!"
Qrow stood statuesque as he listened to his sister rant until she seemed to run out of breath, mental capability, or willpower to continue. Once she was finished, he closed the distance to Raven and spread his arms for her. Raven took a hesitant step backward with uncertainty, before automatically rebounding into the hug with a desperate grasp. She pressed the side of her face into Qrow's chest, and heaved another enormous sigh as she closed her eyes.
"…and Taiyang trying to make me feel better by acting like I did something right is only making me feel worse," Raven admitted. "I don't know what the problem with me is right now, or why it's all suddenly too much, out of nowhere. All I know is that I hate it, and I'm not hugging you again for the next year, at least," the girl finished as she slipped from Qrow's embrace.
"The problem is that you're starting to care about them. Really care about them, I mean," Qrow said in a softened voice as he watched his sister's hurt and desperate expression twist into one of anger. "Don't look at me like that. You know it's true, and you're feeling the fallout of a conflict of interest. That's your big problem, right now."
"And you think that once I make a choice to stick with our real family and mission, or switch sides and ally with these people, everything's just going to magically work out," Raven mocked as she shook her head with disdain. "This isn't a fairy tale, Qrow. We can't just jump on over to the side of 'right' and 'good' and walk away from Those Above All unscathed… and I'm not even sure if I want to, to begin with, even if you do."
"Oh, I definitely do, and I have no problem saying that flat-out to your face," Qrow confirmed. "Do you, or don't you care about Team STRQ, Raven? And Kali, and Roman, and Willow, and the rest of OKRA?"
Raven glowered as she blew a breath out of her nose. "Fine. Yes, I care, Qrow. At first, I didn't. Then, after day one, I started to think of them all as friends, however temporary. Now, after today? I feel something deeper, and I'm well aware that it's been building, and I don't want to lose them… but I know I'll have to in the future, one way or another. Are you happy, now? Is that what you wanted to hear?" Raven pressed as she threw her hands up in exasperation.
"Partially," Qrow confirmed. "But some of that is bullshit. It's time to start acting on those feelings you have for our team and the others, Raves."
"I will knee you in the balls," Raven threatened with a hiss as she ground her teeth.
"Wouldn't be the first time," Qrow replied flippantly. "I've already started acting on it, on your behalf. I made two calls back home- yesterday, and today. No answer. No number even in service. Nothing. They've cut us off, Raven. We're on our own, out here."
Raven's posture stiffened a bit at the news, before she looked off to one side. "That isn't unusual. It's a security concern to have us calling them, in case someone was to get at our scrolls, and Father said he would contact us as needed."
"And you really think he's going to see contacting us as necessary? Ever?" Qrow questioned. "If you ask me, I think we'll never hear from them again, and I'm honestly fine with that notion. I have a funny feeling that they gave you your wing just so they could push us both out of the nest without resistance."
"Don't say that," Raven seethed as she returned her gaze to her brother. "They wouldn't mark us, only to abandon us. That isn't our way, Qrow."
"Oh? What is our way?" Qrow inquired as he turned and moved to lean up against the wall beside the door. "Dad never thought it important to tell me how exactly the clan functions, or the way that the chain of command works. Did he tell you? Or did he just throw us out onto another continent with some vague objective way above our level to shut you up and get me off the mountain and out of his hair?"
Raven opened her mouth to retort, only to be interrupted by the sound of the nearby door opening. She turned to face the portal as she lowered her hand to the hilt of her katana, only to find Professor Ozpin standing inside, holding the door open.
"…I saw the pair of you arguing from my upstairs window," the headmaster said calmly as he swirled his mug. "That, combined with the fact that you, Miss Branwen, are all over the news right now, led me to come and check to make sure everything is alright."
Raven's face fell along with her hand, and she suddenly began to feel sick. "I… I'm on the news?"
"Indeed you are, along with Miss Schnee and Miss Rose," Professor Ozpin confirmed, before taking a sip of his drink. "I think it would be best if you both came along with me."
The Branwen twins looked at each other, before moving to follow the headmaster inside.
Roman could feel his patience thinning like a fraying braided wire as the tipsy woman before him continued to speak about her business ventures in Mistral. She was older than him by a few years, and Roman found absolutely nothing interesting about her appearance, her words, or the droning, dull classical music that filled the enormous dining hall in which she had cornered him. Not even her rather ample cleavage, which had been pushed up using what Roman suspected to be witchcraft and duct tape, could hold his attention, and the thought crossed his mind that there truly was nothing for him in Atlas anymore.
"…uppity faunus starting to talk about rebellion against the Mistrali government. Isn't that just adorable?" the woman mocked, before taking another sip from her mostly-drained wine glass. "As if those animals have any chance at making meaningful change. If anything, they should be thankful for what they have already, and that they were officially 'freed' to begin with."
Roman contemplated what the repercussions might be for throwing his fist for the woman's teeth, and ultimately decided that the move wasn't worth being cut out of his father's money. Instead, he merely shrugged, and drank deeply from his own wine glass. The bitter liquid stung at his tongue and throat, and he made a mental note to go and procure more of it soon, lest he be forced into another conversation in which he needed a distraction.
"But I don't want to waste any more breath discussing our lessers. Word around the party is that your father is paying for you to attend Beacon Academy?" the woman asked, with a particular strain on the word. "Why not Atlas? I understand that some people just have no other practical talents beyond violence, but why go all the way out to Vale? You were born into better, and you should be using that advantage, Roman. Beacon is a second-rate school, for second-rate people. I thought that much was obvious."
Finally, Roman allowed his eyes to fixate upon the woman's face. He knew that her name began with an 'S', and that he had seen her at other parties and social functions before. He vaguely recalled that her father owned an incredibly successful dinnerware shop selling embroidered plates, custom cutlery, and incredibly expensive kitchen appliances and accessories that had recently expanded with small shops in both Vale and Mistral. Her lips were painted a glistening red to match her glittering, sparkly dress, and her straight brown hair had been pulled up into a businesslike bun. Complex, very expensive crystal earrings waggled daintily as she tiled her head at him, and he drew in a deep breath through his nose as he watched the ornaments sway in silence.
"…because I'm sick of this fuckin' place, and the people like you that would traffic babies if it added a '0' to your annual income. I hope those Mistrali faunus steal everything you've got in your shops and piss in the registers on the way out. Enjoy the rest of your evening," he finished, while setting his drained glass upon the tray of a passing attendant. He turned away quickly enough to barely see the woman open her mouth in shock as she let out a loud, offended gasp. Roman stuffed his hands into the pockets on either side of his white suit vest, and made his way for the nearby staircase as the woman's high heels clicked away in the opposite direction behind him.
"Good riddance, you haughty bitch," Roman mumbled to himself as he began to ascend the stairs. He knew that he would pay for his comments later, but he couldn't bring himself to care at all as he made his way up to the second floor of the unfamiliar mansion. Just as he reached the top of the steps, his scroll began to vibrate furiously within his pocket, and he pulled it out to look at the screen. Roman's unamused scowl quickly gave way to a satisfied smirk as he saw that he had one message waiting from Kali.
Can you talk right now? I want to call you.
Roman's heart leapt in his chest as he began to furiously compose a response while walking down a long hallway with several chandeliers hanging overhead.
Gimme five, and I'll call you. At a stupid fucking party.
Again? I thought you were at one yesterday with the Winchesters.
I was. Also, fuck the Winchesters. All of these parties blow huge whale dick, and I have to attend a formal breakfast tomorrow with some bankers or some shit. I don't even know.
Roman shook his head softly as he sent his reply, and quickly looked around as he reached an intersection. At the far end of the hall on the left was a long set of glass doors leading to a balcony. The boy grinned as he began to walk once again, and navigated to his contacts to call Kali. The scroll on the other line rang several times before a voice familiar, and yet not, answered. Kali's voice was incredibly strained, and her words were stalled by a series of dry-sounding coughs.
"Hey! You managed to get away from the party?"
Roman froze with one hand on the sliding glass door, and the space around his heart changed from being occupied by a light, fluttering feeling to harboring a cold, worried one. "Kal? What's wrong? Are you sick? You sound like total shit."
"And I feel like total shit, too," Kali confirmed. "We had our girls' day out, but it turned sour when a bunch of assholes tried to rob an S.D.C. store. We managed to stop most of them, but some dumbass cops took me down in the process, because I dared to exist in public with cat ears. I got the shit beaten out of me, and my aura semi-permanently drained by some nightmare technology that the Winchesters came up with. So… yeah, fuck the Winchesters, like you said."
Roman listened to Kali in silence as he made his way out onto the balcony and lowered himself into a waiting white deck chair. The stars and shattered moon were out in full force, bathing the terrace in a faint glow and providing the rooftops and streets far below at the bottom of the massive hill with some illumination. Roman could barely see people moving around upon the crowded streets, and the neon signs that spilled unnatural light all over the walls and sidewalks of the shopping district of Upper Atlas. He shook his head at both the sight, and his companion's words as he crossed his legs and instead turned his eyes up to the moon.
"Un-fucking-believable. What do you mean your aura's semi-permanently shot?"
"The police now have these… weird-ass devices attached to their handguns that can fire aura-draining mechanical parasites, and some kind of collars with anti-aura venom in 'em. I got hit with both, and I might not get it back for a few days. Hell, the only reason I'm not in jail right now is because Willow's got a silver tongue, and an even more silver spoon in her purse," Kali informed.
Roman sighed, and raised a hand to his forehead. "Kal, I'm sorry that all of that happened to you, and the people responsible will get theirs, somehow. Willow's… I'm pretty sure Willow's good people, honestly, and I'm glad she's on our side. Where are you, right now?"
"I'm glad, too," Kali agreed. "I'm actually in the bathroom in Willow's swank-ass dorm. The others are all here, and so is Jay. They all wanted to check up on me and offer support… but I'm feeling a little smothered right now, and I also thought you deserved to know, before you get back to Beacon. Besides, you just kinda… get me, you know? In a way the others don't."
The fluttering sensation returned to Roman's chest once again, and he settled deeper into the deck chair as he closed his eyes and transferred his free hand down into the pocket of his pants as he began to rub idly at himself. "I'd like to think so, yeah. It's because we're both real, and open about things. That, and we don't give a fuck what other people think about us, or what we think."
"Yeah, I guess that's part of it." A pause came over the line, and Roman brought the scroll away from his ear to check that the call was still connected. "I miss you, Roman."
Roman couldn't fight back the confident grin that spread across his features as he shifted in his seat, nor did he want to. "I miss you too, babe."
A light, teasing laugh echoed through the scroll's speaker. "Babe? Since when am I 'babe', huh? Not that I mind. I'm just curious."
"You've always been a babe," Roman replied coolly. "And if you're not sure about your babe status, how about I take you out sometime this week, once you're feeling better, and cement it for ya? I don't see any reason to pretend that we don't have a little something going on that the others don't quite get."
Roman held his breath and bit his lip as he awaited a reply.
"Sounds like a good time, to me. Just play it cool until you get back here, and th-"
"Roman!" came a furious call from somewhere within the mansion. The boy in question sat up abruptly and turned in his chair, only to find the silhouette of his father storming down the hallway toward the glass doors.
"Shit. Kal, I gotta go, but I'll text you later tonight."
"Text me every damned night," the faunus demanded with an audible smirk.
"I just might. Seeya." Roman barely got his scroll back into one pocket and his hand out of the other as Nero Torchwick emerged onto the balcony, looking decidedly less than amused.
"You!" he began as he pointed a finger at his son while advancing. "You ungrateful, defiant, unthinking, self-obsessed little shit!"
Roman rose from his seat to stand in defiance against his father, only to shrink back slightly as he watched the man stomp forward with an ominous sense of purpose. "What's the problem?" he tried, his voice and convictions suddenly unsure.
"What's the problem?" Nero repeated as he stood incredibly close to his son. "The problem is that you're an asshole, and actively sabotaging business relationships! What the hell is wrong with you!? What you said to Sangria was unacceptable, and she's now got her father on a warpath and yelling at me! Do you ever think about anything other than yourself?" the man fumed, his nostrils flaring.
"Sometimes," Roman answered with an unconcerned shrug. "But when I'm stuck talking the same boring business with some painted slut who wants my dick for a shot at some shady deal party after party, I start t-"
Roman never got to finish his sentence as his father slammed an uppercut into his stomach. Though his aura mitigated most of the damage, the sheer force of the impact was enough to knock the wind from his lungs, and Roman round himself sputtering as he doubled over and clutched at his abdomen. A sudden yank upon his collar caused him to look upward and hiss through grit teeth. Nero was seething with anger, and the two Torchwicks' noses were nearly touching.
"You listen to me, boy, and you listen good. If she wants your tiny, pasty little dick, you serve it to her on a silver platter, if it'll result in more profit. You don't get to make decisions about who you turn away until you run this company, and if you keep behaving the way you have been since you arrived back at home, then I'll not only cut you off, but disown you so that you can live on the streets in the lower city with the faunus people that you so suddenly seem to love," Nero threatened, before yanking his son even closer with a growl. "You behave while you're in Atlas, and especially when you're attending a social function for our family name, or else. Tomorrow morning, you're going to return here, and apologize for your drunkenness and complete lack of tact and formality when addressing Sangria. The Vaso family is a very important business partner for the Torchwick name, and I won't have you putting a strain on that relationship! Am I crystal clear?"
"Yeah," Roman said weakly, only to watch in horror as his father raised a fist. "I-I mean, yes! Yes sir!" he quickly added as he cringed and braced for another impact.
Nero slowly lowered his fist, before shoving his son backward and causing the boy to nearly fall back into the deck chair. The man gripped either side of his suit vest and pulled violently to straighten the garment back out with a curt nod.
"Good. Now, return home, before you cause any more trouble. I'll be informing whoever asks that you were escorted home, drunk, to sleep off your lack of judgment," Nero ordered as he made his way back to the glass door.
Roman watched his father disappear back into the mansion before slumping down into the deck chair and rubbing at his temples. After several seconds, he took his scroll back out and composed another text to Kali.
When I get back to Vale, I'm gonna get revenge on some judgmental assholes for ya. I have a plan.
Kali stared down at her scroll once again while leaning with her back to the wall inside of Willow's spacious bathroom. She hiked a brow as she reread Roman's message, and then tapped out a short response.
Okay, but don't do anything too crazy. See you soon.
Satisfied, she slipped the scroll back into her pocket before making her way to the door and twisting the handle. She emerged into the central room of the living quarters once again, and quickly took in the sight of her assembled friends. Jay, Willow, and Summer sat upon a couch, while Bartholomew, Adam, and Taiyang occupied the other one across from it. The heiress had her feet down in a pink plastic tub filled with warm water, and held a small box within her hands. Kali navigated her way back to the couches, and leaned over the one holding her teammates before folding her arms atop the back of it.
"I miss anything cool or explosive?" the faunus girl asked with a soft yawn.
"Not particularly," Jay offered. The boy's shoulders were tense, and he was making a conscious effort to avoid Adam's eye. "We were actually just waiting on you, to do… the thing."
Kali shrugged in response. "Well, go ahead. I called Roman to fill him in, and flirt a little. It sounds like he's having a really shitty time up in Atlas."
"I'll be sure to talk to him, this week. See if I can't exchange some advice for making the experience less painful," Willow offered as she leaned forward slightly. "Adam… if you wouldn't mind, could you please come here? I'd come to you, but my feet are killing me."
"My heart bleeds," Adam snarked as he stood from the couch. Slowly, he made his way to the opposite couch and grimaced down at Willow and Jay. The pair looked at each other, before Willow gave the Winchester boy a firm nod and looked back up at Adam.
"…I know, I really shouldn't complain. That's actually somewhat what this is about- Jay and I know that you're less than satisfied with having to deal with the two of us during your time at Beacon, and… quite honestly, we understand your feelings," Willow offered.
"Yeah," Jay agreed as he scratched the back of his neck. "Look, I know things have been bad since the start of the year, and… things have were already bad long before that, so the two of us thought we'd help you out a bit. It's nowhere near what you're owed, with everything you've been through, but… I hope it's a start, at least."
"Here," Willow said softly as she offered up the small box to Adam. "Please, take it, as a token of apology, and a show of good faith, for the future."
Adam let his eye wander between the two Atlesians, before gently taking the box from Willow's hand and staring down at it.
"Open it!" Summer encouraged as she scooted closer to the edge of the couch. "Seriously, it's wicked cool! I helped pick it out!"
Bartholomew and Taiyang whispered an exchange from behind Adam, though he caught none of what was said. Instead of straining to hear their debate, he refocused upon the box and slowly slipped off the cover. Down inside of the nondescript white case was an incredibly advanced, top of the line scroll, laying silently upon an interior of red velvet.
"…Jay and I split the cost, and we're happy to cover the data plan, as well," Willow began. "Really, it's the least we can do for you, on account of all of Atlas."
Adam found his fingers a bit shaky as he gently lifted the jet black rectangular device from the confines of its box. The sleek, paper-thin piece of technology appeared totally featureless, save for a row of buttons along the left side. The bull faunus raised the scroll to eye level and turned it over in his hands, completely unsure what to say.
"I… I've never even held a scroll before," Adam said hesitantly as he ran a calloused finger along the row of buttons. "I'm actually… not even sure how to turn this on."
"We'll teach you," Jay offered with a firm nod. "Now, you're one step closer to catching up with us, and it'll be easier to communicate with your team. And Willow and I, if you want. Up to you."
Adam allowed his eye to travel to Jay's face, and he returned the nod with one of his own. "Thank you, Jay… and Willow, as well. And… Summer, for helping to pick it out, I suppose. This is… thoughtful, helpful, and… certainly needed."
"I'm glad this went over well," Kali offered from her place behind the couch. "Even when things are shitty for the faunus, you've gotta remember that some people really are looking out for us, Adam. Willow and Jay both mean well."
Bartholomew made a contemplative noise, and nodded. "And let's not forget that Roman quite literally gave you the clothes off his back."
"Come back over here," Taiyang offered with a wave. "I can show you how to set up all of your contacts, and then we'll go around and exchange info."
Adam couldn't help but chuckle as he made his way back to the couch and sat beside Taiyang with a smile.
"…thank you. I think I'd like that."
Author's Note:
So, is Nero everyone's favorite character, or what? He's such a well-adjusted, reasonable, functioning adult, I don't see how anyone could think otherwise. What a hero.
-RD