Last chapter we left off with weiss, blake and onxyia figuring out the swan true identity along with meeting some white fang defectors. Now it seems Roman Torchwich has a tale to tell.RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum. I own the OC's, AU. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 3:A Huntress and A Criminal

It was fourteen years ago and Roman was in a medium sized apartment in Vale. The apartment wasn't the best but it was home to a girl in a swan shrit who seemed be five or six maybe was sitting on a couch watching some tv. Roman was about nineteen and couldn't believe he agreed to take care of a kid.

He only found the girl in some park abandoned and half starved it seemed. But he was in the girls shoes at one point being abandoned by a parent. He didn't care that Lil Miss provided some good cash to him since he did some jobs for her. But he decided to move to Vale to do some work their for her. He was in the kitchen making some lunch for the girl consisting of rice and fish. Soon enough a oven went off and he pulled the fish out laying it out on the plate.

"Alright kid time to eat"Roman said as the small girl in a swan shirt walked over looking at the food. Then she made a disgusted face at the face.

"Eww fish….again"she said with Roman laughing.

"Come now kid you gotta eat, otherwise you won't grow big and strong alright."Roman said as the two ate their dinner. About twenty minutes later they finished dinner as he was doing the dishes. As he did his scroll rung and the small girl looked at it answering it.

"Hello?"she asked the person on the other end.

"The old man is busy"the girl said to the annoyance of Roman.

"Hey i'm not that old yet….I think"Roman said as he turned the sink off and wiped his hands down. As he walked over the girl handed him the phone and he answered it.

"You've reached Torchwich who is it?"he asked the person on the other end.

"Torch you need to come down to the gym now"The voice said and he recognized it.

"Nadia….what are you calling about. Is their a favor for some info on some pushers or slavers. You know lil miss is happy you let us go. Saying how we needed to stop pushing blessing around instead be your info brokers. But what…"roman tried to finish but she interrupted him.

"Get down here now! It's important….please"nadia said with worry and sadness in her voice as Roman sighed

"Alright give me ten minutes"roman said hanging up before going to a closet grabbing a jacket putting it on. While the young girl watched him with a sad expression. He sighed before grabbing a smaller coat and helped her put it on. Soon the two made their way over to the gym.

It was midday and it was a little windy outside. As they drove over he looked at the young girl in her seat looking out the window. They haven't been Vale long but she seemed enough the two made it too the gym and the girl looked a little confused.

"Why are we here?"she asked holding Romans hand now.

Roman smiled before kneeling down to the girl"were visiting an old friend of mine. You can call her like ummm a…."Roman tried to find the words but the girl spoke.

"A aunt?"she asked tilting her head with Roman chuckling.

"Yeah a aunt….lets head inside and see what she wants"Roman said as he opened the gym doors. Their were only five people in their one was a man named Colt. He was a heavy weight boxer from Vale and seems to know the tiger faunus women in front of him.

Roman smiled at the women while walking over"Nadia dear what do you…."roman begun as he noticed her right arm missing. He was shocked at her missing apengade and he looked at her worried

"What the hell happened to your arm?!"Roman yelled in shock

"Swear"the little girl said, Roman looked at her with colt laughing a little.

"Hey you know what they say put a lien in a swear jar"Colt joked with Roman laughing sarcastically.

"Alright big guy….that didn't answer my question where is your arm and…"Roman said as he looked in her left arm was a small kid with his head draped over her shoulder. Then he noticed a girl with a fox tail in the corner balled up scared. While a boy with Lynx ears was sitting against the wall quivering.

"Who are they?"Roman asked with Nadia sighing pressing her temple.

"That mission I went on with my huntresses friend…we found a bunch of slavers. We killed them because their were several people their they kidnapped. But soon enough grimm came with all the panic and…."Nadia said gesturing toward her missing arm moving her remaining arm. It was close to the shoulder with some of her arm their still with some bandages around it.

Roman sighed at this because this friend of his lost her arm. He used to consider her an annoyance but she didn't report him to the cops a year ago which was nice. Then he looked at the young girl with him staring at everyone. He kneeled down looking at her.

"Sweetie why don't you go with uh….him their while me and her have an adult talk"Roman said with the girl nodding and walking over to colt who brought her over to the other kid with Lynx ears.

"So….why did you call me over, it wasn't just for this. "Roman said with crossed arms.

Nadia looked away before looking at the kid in her arms then back at the others. The girl roman brought tired to get the boy with lynx ears attention. But he was shy and didn't want to interact with her. The girl just kept poking at him for a bit while Colt tried to make her stop.

"I want you to take one of them with you"Nadia said surprising Roman.

Roman sighed at the suggestion of having another kid. He already had the little girl with him, and it took a while for her to warm up to him. But with another kid he'd be paying for alot of accommodations for them now.

"Nadia….I can't I live in a decent sized apartment. But with my work it'd be hard for me to take care of them. Hell I have a hard enough time dealing with her"Roman said with Nadia sighing.

"Torch please take one of them…..they've been through alot. Their parents….are dead, Amber took most of them to her orphanage in Vacou. I took these three since she didn't have space for them. "Nadia said looking down as Roman looked at her with a somber look.

Roman took a deep breath before looking over at the young girl playing with the lynx boy. He finally warmed up to her and the two were playing tag it seems. The two ran back and forth in the background with Colt watching them with the fox tailed girl looking down still.

"Alright…..but why one of them?"Roman asked

"I only got enough room at my place for two. Colt said his place isn't an option he on his tour right now. And since my arms gone I guess i'm going to be running the gym full time now. "Nadia replied

Roman tapped his chin for a moment deep in thoguth"Alright i'll take cat ears over their then"Roman said surprising Nadia.

"Really….why him?"Nadia asked, holding the sleeping kid in her arms still.

Roman chuckled at her response"because he and Lazuli over there seem to get along. Besides, if I ever wanted a kid I always wanted a son. You also seem attached to the little guy here"Roman said, pointing the small kid out.

Nadia laughed a little at his answer"well you're not wrong….thanks torch by the way I can watch them while you're busy. Just make sure to keep them…"Nadia began before Roman stopped her.

"To keep them fed, healthy and give them a happy life. I know i've been through what they've experienced in a way."Roman said with Nadia smiling as he began walking over to Lazuli and the lynx-eared boy.

The two were chasing each other until Lazuli accidnrlty pushed him over. She stood their frozen until the lynx eared boy got up looking at her then jumped on her. The two then scrapped with each other for a bit back and forth. As they did Colt and Roman pulled them apart annoyed.

"Your a big meanie"the lynx eared boy said

"Shut up you're just a baby fish eater"Lazuli said as the two swiped their hands at each other. Roman looked at Nadia with a depressed face.

"Can I trade him now?''Roman asked with Nadia and Colt laughing a little.

"Sorry torch no take backs….who knows they might care for each other sooner or later"Nadia walked over with Lazuli in his he sat her down in front of the boy and the two stared at each other.

"Lazuli, don't fight with your new brother,"Roman said, surprising the girl and the lynx boy who seemed a little scared.

"Brother….?"she asked confused

"Yeah, if you two are going to be sibling you shouldn't be fighting. Say kid whats your name?"Roman asked the young lynx.

The boy looked down and couldn't respond at all until Nadia spoke up"his names Vance Wheeler on what the documents I found at the camp. Kid parents along with these two in a ditch. They….burned them"Nadia replied looking away at the kid in her arms still asleep.

Roman sighed before offering a hand to the young faunus. The lynx slowly reached for him and grabbed the man hand. Roman smiled before he motioned for Lazuli to grab his other hand. Then the two made their way out of the building and back into the car. He helped both of them into their seats and put seatbelts on them.

As he got to the drivers seat he looked at Nadia smiling at him and he smiled back nodd. He got in his car and started the engine. Then he looked in the mirror at the new kid he just adopted and wonder what this will bring in the future.

Back in the warehouse Roman sat their smiling as the three teen girls looked at him with a little surprise. As he finished his story waiting for a response Vance was off to the side giving fake tears.

"You know its enough to make me cry that you adopted me along with my annoying sister"Vance joked with a fake frown.

Roman looked at his son shaking his head"oh shut up when you came back to my house you two already started a fight. But you and her along with Neo are thick as thieves now"Roman replied with Vance smiling.

"So wait, that explains how you found those two. What about Neo?"Blake asked, sitting in a chair.

"Oh that poor girl, I found her on the streets during the winter. She wore a torn dress and was freezing half to death. I only managed to find her close to my originally apartment. I tried to ask her where her parents were but it seems her vocals cords didn't develop properly when she was born. It made communication hard"Roman replied

"Hmmm despite that I think it was the right thing for you too take these three in. Despite your being a criminal"Weiss added

"Yeah, but still weird too see a huntresses and criminal working together"Onxyia added as her tail wagged

"Me and her ran into each other when I was doing a gig for the spiders. I left a while later to get more profits, lil miss was fine with it. She even gave me some extra lien to take care of those three"Roman replied

"Yeah but despite that, what are you three going to do? Turn us in to the police?"vance asked rubbing his narrowed his eyes at them with crossed arms.

The three all looked at each other trying to come up with something.

"Honestly aside from the previous thefts. They haven't committed any other crimes out of their own will"Onxyia said in which the other two agreed.

"I don't think we should turn them in. Its a death sentenance for all of them, including Nadia if they find out she helped a criminal stay hidden."Blake added

"So your not going to turn us in like those friends of yours?"Roman said surrpsing them.

"Umm what do you mean and who are you talking about?"blake asked

"Forget it if I tell you then you'll be spilling the beans to everyone else. I can't have several people knowing my kids are criminals and then people will go after them."Roman said

"Thats understandable but it wouldn't feel right to turn you in anyway. Besides my father could lose a bit of dust for what hes done."Weiss replied

"Alright we keep this between us. Nothing leaves this room"Blake said.

Onxyia stood their silent for a bit and Roman took notice of this."whats up dog ear?"he asked the wolf faunus

"What about Zane shouldt he have the right to know about this?"She asked

Their was that him and Romans family are pretty much family in a way. But their is the possibilities he could react badly to this and not respond well to it.

"Look don't tell him alright…..feather head along with the rest of our little family will tell him when the time is right."Vance said as he tried to get up but winced. Weiss stepped over helping him as Roman motioned for her to help him to an upstairs bed. As she did they went upstairs as the others waited for her too return.

Soon enough she did and joined the others in the room.

"Alright since thats done I suggest you kids head back its late. You might get in trouble"Roman suggested as the three nodded heading out of the building.

Onxyia looked at the man before nodding smiling as a sign of gratitude for what he did for her brother. Roman returned it and soon he began working on a small holographic computer on his desk with his scroll plugged in.

A few hours went by later in the night as he work and soon his computer flash an ID on it and he scolwed. The ID was Bonnie Thanotos. He answered it.

"I thought we were done, i'm not putting my kids in dnager anymore"Roman shotued very angry at this point.

"Oh too bad Roman their is no need to act so rude. Their just one more thing you need to do for me"Bonnie said on the other line.

"Nothing you say or do is going to make me…"Roman start but Bonnie stopping him from finishing that sentence.

"I would consider what you say next very carefully Roman. Especially if you don't want anything happening to your son and daughter upstairs."Bonnie said

Roman didn't know what she was talking about before relziing Lazuli returned about an hour ago and went upstairs to sleep. Vance was also resting up from his injuries. He went upstairs as he grabbed his scroll with a look of worry on his face. He opened a door to see another person holding Vance while Lazuli in a pair of long pajama pants and a tank top had a shotgun poitned at him.

By vances throat was a scorpian tail as Vance stood their half awake struggling to man had a sick smile on his face as he turned his gaze to Roman.

"I suggest you continue talking to her or I might snap his neck then kill her. Along with that little ice cream one at Beacon."he replied tightening his grip around Vances neck with Lazuli worried.

"What do you mean, what did you do to my little sister!?"Lazuli yelled

The man smiled laughing then pulled out a scroll revealing a video feed. It showed a women on top of the roof of beacon with a rifle aimed toward a window. Near the window was Neo and Emerald talking since the two seemed to have trouble sleeping.

Roman gritted his teeth before putting his scroll to his ear. While Lazuli looked worried and put the gun down looking at her father.

"Now it seems wehave your attention. Their is just one more job for your little family and I want you to do it. In two weeks time our faithful general Ironwood is having a platoon of ships guard Amity Arena preventing anyone from getting in but that isn't your goal here. I want you to hijack one of his ships and cause havoc with his little toys. Use the new machines they have to do it."Bonnie replied

"Are you people nuts?! That much chaos will draw grimm within ten or fifteen miles of Vale! It'll be a massacre!"roman shouted with Lazuli looking stunned.

"And your point it? I don't really care what happens to those people all I care is about completing the task given to me. Don't disappoint me Roman or you know what will happen to your family."Bonnie said as she disconnected.

The other person let Vance go as vance gasped for air with Lazuli running to him. While the figure vanished into the night, Vance hacked and cough trying to get air back into his lungs.

"What are we going to do"Lazuli asked as she held her brother.

"Something that won't end well for Vale."Roman finally said not knowing the real purpose of what she demanded.

It seems that roman got in too deep with these new client of his. This is a short chapter because I wanted to keep things short and simple. Thanks for reading.