AN: So this is basically the fifth version of this chapter. I lost the original and have not been satisficed with any of my attempt at it since I lost the orginal. I'm not really happy with this one either but I know I've waited far to long to post anything and I need to get back to it.

This chapter wasn't Beta'd either, so I'm certain there are mistakes I just couldn't catch.

Yang

As her dad pulled into the driveway of their home, she was lost in…more than thoughts, but a swirl of emotions too. Thor gone, Ruby vanished, Weiss taken. Blake was the only one still here, and that was something, she thought as she looked to her partner, riding next to her. But Ruby leaving, with just a letter, without telling anyone in person, that had upset her more than anything. She had a strong inclination as to why she didn't tell anyone, so she couldn't be stopped, but it still hurt.

The car came to a stop, and Blake and her father got out, but she sat there. The sky was a bright, clear blue. She sighed and opened her door and got out.

"Home sweet home."

"Do you need help with your bag?" Blake asked.

Fighting back a tinge of mild irritation, she responded: "I got it." She said, pulling it out of the back seat.

A sudden rumble of thunder made a tingling sensation run up her spine. Then the sky turned black, not just a little cloudy, but black.

Lightning started arcing down in the distance in an insanely fast manner.

"Inside, let's go." Her dad said in a calm voice that didn't completely hide his concern over the bizarre weather.

They all walked at a brisk pace, it wasn't raining yet, but none of them wanted to be caught out in it when it came.

Putting her bag down, Yang turned to look out the front door to see a downpour come on.

"I hate the rain." She mumbled to herself.

Thor

The Grimm swarmed like gnats, and they fell as quickly. Lighting, hammer, and fist, they were as simple to kill as insects. But his typical thrill in battle was blunted. He needed to kill them all as quickly as possible. He didn't know how long his power would last.

His last two voyages into his strength hadn't been the same in terms of length, but close enough that he thought he might have a guess at how long it would last. But it wouldn't do to chance it.

He raised Mjolnir, and the forest of lightning came again, and the Grimm vanished from his senses.

He'd cleared them out for miles around last time he had transformed, yet he woke up to this horde. It was true they weren't all on him at once, he could feel them miles out, but something had drawn them here, and more specifically to him.

Looking at Mjolnir, a thought came into his head. He spun the mallet over his head and called a torrent of lightning to destroy all the Grimm in and around the island. Then, just before his power broke, he threw the hammer out into the sea. As he landed on the ground, he wondered if that had been wise.

Thor fell to one knee; his leg was getting worse. He wasn't letting it heal, and it was aggravating the injury. He needed proper rest, but he wasn't going to get it while Grimm kept coming after him.

If the hammer was attracting the Grimm, well, they'd be out in the middle of the sea. If it wasn't…well, he couldn't use it now anyway, at least until…well, that was yet to be determined. Sleep might be the factor or general recovery. He just knew he had to recover in some regard to call it back with its real power…his true power. Otherwise, it was just a weight he couldn't bear.

How his power faded was something he wasn't sure he could get used to, in an instant, he was back in his mortal form; hurt, weak, and vulnerable.

He'd have to find another weapon while mortal, even if he could lift Mjolnir while mortal, it was too heavy to be a proper weapon when he didn't have access to its power.

So instead of sitting down to rest, he walked. He had spied the region while in the air in his godly form, and after some time walking, he spotted what he was looking for, an old wreck of a building, standing alone in the forest. It looked abandoned, but at least it was a shelter, but hopefully, something of he might be able to use to defend himself, even a knife until he managed to get a more suitable weapon.

As he walked, he pondered his situation. He was a shell of his former self after his fight with Adam, his eye and arm lost, and a score of other injuries to his body. And while they were healing quickly, he was noticing that unlike in the past, transforming didn't just fix him.

The building, which may have been a cottage at some point, came into clearer view, and it looked even worse from the ground. The roof was caved in on the north side, and parts looked like they had been burned. Still, it was some form of shelter, which could save him if he had to face another Grimm horde before he could call his power back.

Before going in, he did a lap of the building and found an old tool shed. In it, he found several tools that might serve for defense, but they were all old and rusted. Several of the wooden handles crumbled when he picked them up, having rotted in exposure to the elements. A machete seemed to be functional, and a wood ax that might also work. He also eye's a sledgehammer and a hunting knife.

He was still in his hospital clothes and didn't have the means to carry more than one, and frankly, he didn't plan to keep them long. He decided to take the ax and headed back into the house.

As he did, his stomach growled. He hadn't eaten in…he wasn't sure how long.

Closing his eye, he listened for anything that might lead him to food, a rustle in the underbrush, or maybe babbling brook.

He could hear water running, and now that he was looking for it, he could smell the water. That was good anyway.

The stream was only a hundred meters from the house, and wading into it, to Thor, it felt unusually warm. This was an island, maybe it was volcanic and had had water springs feeding it. He waded into the shallows, found a likely spot, and stood there, as still as possible.

In an instant, his hand struck and came out gripping fish, thrashing trying to escape, but Thor threw it onto the grass, before returning to his previous position.

The sun was low in the sky once he decided he had enough fish. Tearing his hospital gown, he made a rough rope to carry them back to the house.

Gathering wood from the broken structure, he started a fire in the fireplace of the ruin before going to retrieve the knife from the shed to clean his catch.

It was hard with only one arm, but he eventually managed and cooked the fish on a green branch he'd cut from one of the tree's outside.

No sign of any Grimm, which was good, but he wouldn't be able to tell for sure until he could call Mjolnir again. He could feel it, but it was still the sensation of how it felt without his power, and if it was attracting Grimm, it was better to leave it where it was until he could use it again. He'd have to test the theory more than just throwing it into the ocean for now, but he couldn't use it anyway.

Still, he felt terrible throwing the hammer away, it was like a friend, but he had to try and figure out the situation. Mimir had granted him some knowledge, and what he felt was intuition towards what to do, but he didn't gain his father's all-knowing wisdom. He just had to trust his gut and hope he'd been given some subconscious information.

As he finished his fish, he wished he had some salt. This wasn't going to be a comfortable existence, he had to make contact with someone, preferably someone who wouldn't try to throw him into an insane asylum, not that it could hold him.

It was dark now, and by the light of the fire, Thor put up some rudimentary defenses, just enough to wake him if something tried to get in, a broken piece of furniture in front of the door, windows covered with planks, and what little metal or glass he could find to act as an alarm.

Laying the ax down next to the fire, he threw another piece of wood onto the fire, and lay down for the night, letting the fire keep him warm.

Feeling as secure as he could, he drifted off to sleep.

Blake

Yang's father had been more than generous in offering her the spare room in their home during all this. Yang had mentioned that her uncle Qrow stayed in the room typically when he was visiting, but they'd offered it to her. Ruby's room was also available, but for reasons she completely understood, they'd left it alone.

Tai had been around sparingly, leaving her and Yang to the house, and while it was awkward at times, they were getting along excellent, and repairing the rift Blake felt had formed when Yang had lost her arm to Adam.

She didn't think Yang held her nearly as responsible as she held herself, but still, it wasn't going to leave her mind right away. Mostly, in addition to whatever needed doing around the house, they'd been working on getting Yang back up to speed with a prosthetic. She'd been gifted one by Ironwood, for reasons Blake wasn't totally clear on. Nevertheless, it was a good thing to help Yang recover, being able to do many of the more day-to-day tasks she'd been struggling with.

Yang had been…different since they'd left the hospital. Ruby had gone off on some sort of self-imposed mission, and that had both Yang and Tai worried, but they had accepted far easier than Blake would have thought they would have.

Still, Yang seemed different in a way she couldn't place. She seemed more…physical in her expressions. She'd rub her shoulders, hold her hand a moment longer than usual, and was broke hugs less quickly.

It didn't make Blake uncomfortable exactly, but it was a marked difference from before. But Blake couldn't help but remember the day when Ruby found out about Yang and Thor. She hoped that this wasn't a continuation of that. That was too awkward and uncomfortable, and the idea that she didn't want to deal with.

Right now, Blake was more concerned with where she was heading in life, now that Adam and his Whitefang splinter group had been obliterated. She didn't have to run anymore, but she still felt deep shame over what she'd done while she'd been with Adam. She didn't know if she could face her parents.

Still, she knew that her situation was better than it had been, she wasn't hunted or on the run, but she'd also found herself grieving for Adam, and it was so bizarre. In some ways, she was relieved, but in other ways, she couldn't get over the person Adam had been before he'd fallen into his own hate and anger.

She pushed those thoughts away. She would deal with those emotions later.

The sky darkened as she thought, which was weird to her. She's never been to Patch before, but this seemed like atypical weather anywhere, how these thunderstorms just rolled in out of nowhere. Or maybe it was normal, but Yang didn't seem to think they were.

Something else was happening on the island, and she wasn't sure she liked it.

Weiss

The factory was loud and had a chemical smell to it she didn't like. But her father had insisted she spend a day touring the factory, and she was on the production floor now, and this was by far her least favorite part. It was loud, chaotic, smell weird, and filthy.

And the workers leered at her, and she just felt uncomfortable. Soon the plant manager directed her out of the production building and to a more office-like building, which she knew was research and development. This was more to her interest, and she knew it to be their last stop.

Her father had explained it as "knowing the family business," but she wasn't fooled. She'd been asking about going back to Beacon and her friends. This was a distraction to keep her out of his hair for a few hours.

The manager walked her into the building and down a hall and showed her something that made her heart stop.

"You know this one." He said as he gestured to the team working behind the glass. Thor's belt, vest, and maul were stripped down and being examined. "It's a shame." He said, "We lost all our data on this weapon, and have to reverse engineer the only copy." He sighed and shrugged, "Well, we'll have it mapped out soon."

"It's a fascinating piece of equipment." She said, "Who is the initial designer?"

The manager chuckled, "I'm afraid that's above my pay grade, but if I had to guess? One of those brainiacs." He gestured vaguely to the team working on the equipment.

"Of course, that makes sense," she mumbled despite thinking quite the opposite. If the original maker was working on it, then reproduction shouldn't be taking nearly this long. Even accounting for delays, her father had access to this equipment for more than long enough for the creator to reproduce it. This time-lapse only made sense if the original manufacturer wasn't working on it.

"Well, if you'll follow me, there are a few more things to show you." The manager, whose name Weiss, couldn't remember for the life of her, said as they moved on. Still, her mind lingered on what she saw, and she intended to come back.

Twenty minutes later, she did just that. The tour was over, and she made her way back to the room where she saw Thor's gear.

There was only one person left in the room, checking her scroll for the time, she saw the workday for the lab was over, but one young man was still working. He was sitting at one of the computers, typing away.

As he stood up, she was taken aback by how young he was. He was about her age or perhaps slightly older, but to be working in the lab, especially in this building, most of the people here were in their late twenties and early thirties at the youngest.

Weiss realized she was staring at him when he turned and looked her right in the eye.

She flushed ever so slightly as he walked to the door, scanned his ID badge, and walked out to meet her.

"Can I help you?" he said with the vaguest hint of an accent she could not place.

"Yes." She said with all the authority in her voice, she could muster. "I … Wish to know more about this…project." She gestured to the room.

"I'm sure you do, Ms. Schnee." He said, "But I dare say you know more than we do at this point; you've seen it in action."

Weiss was a bit surprised this man knew about her time at Beacon and her hand in reclaiming the equipment, but she supposed she should not have been, especially with the people working on it.

"Yes…I have." She said, "But how long have you been working on it? Don't you have the plans? I thought this was Atlas tech…"

He laughed "If you think Atlas made this…well…"

Weiss felt her heart sink at that "What do you mean…Ummm…." She glanced at his ID badge to get his name, "Loki." She added quickly.

"Well." He said, "This has almost none of the hallmarks of what we produce here, and frankly is in no way up to the safety standards of Atlas military-grade technology."

"How so?"

He looked her up and down in such a quick glance that she'd have missed it if she wasn't watching his eye's so closely.

"Well…as you are my boss's daughter…it's remarkably unstable." He gestured vaguely as the glass "I know the boy who used it had quite a bit of success with it, but frankly he's lucky he didn't blow himself and his team to kingdom come." He turned to look in at the lab " The dust plates in the vest, the gravity dust in the hammer, and the fail-safe in the belt…it's a great deal of different dust types all in a very reactive environment and extremely close to each other, slight damage to the containment units or an overheated battery, could have set off a chain reaction to cause the whole system to explode."

"Really?" Weiss looked at the partially dismantled gear and thought maybe Thor was mentally ill.

"Yes." He said, walking closer to her. "Still, it is remarkable."

Weiss looked at him and felt…something odd in her stomach. She looked at his ID badge to get his full name and saw his last name was Laufeyson, which somehow felt familiar.

"Miss Schnee." He said, "What are you doing here, …really."

"I…" she began.

But he cut her off. "I'd much rather you tell me over dinner…this Friday."

Weiss was a bit taken aback by this request, gave him a quick once over. He was tall, slim, but quite handsome.

"Do you think it's wise to ask your boss's daughter out?" She asked him to delay her response.

"Hmm." He said, rubbing his chin, "maybe you're right." He turned from her.

"Wait." She said quickly, "I didn't say no." she didn't want him to go just yet, the way he spoke about this…gear, made her curious and she wanted to know more. Besides, something about him was…attracting her. "Where on Friday?"

He turned and smiled in a way that made her heart skip a beat. "How does the 'Silver star' sound? At five?"

The Silver Star was an upper-level restaurant, not incredibly high on the list of Atlas top-level restaurants, but not anything to scoff at either.

"Sounds like a date." He said, and almost bowed as he turned to leave, "I'll see you then." And with that was walking away.

Weiss felt oddly off, and like Loki had somehow taken advantage of her. He hadn't, but she was just left with the vague feeling of having been outmaneuvered somehow.

Thor

His shelter was a poor thing, but he'd turned the run-down building into a serviceable shelter. He's more or less built a shelter within a shelter, using the buildings remaining structure as a windbreak and using lumber from the building and what he could harvest from the woods to build a type of lean-too next to the fireplace of the cottage.

It hadn't been easy, with one arm, one eye, and a leg that refused to fully heal. But this situation wasn't without its compensations. He thought he might…might have figured out how Mjolnir was operating.

He could use it once a day for a little over a minute… more than long enough to dispatch any Grimm in any numbers he faced. He didn't know if the time was based on how rested he was or how long had passed since his last use. He was inclined to think it was time-based because on the times he waited an extra day, he was able to use his power longer, and on the other days, how well-rested he was or how well he felt didn't seem to matter.

So silver linings. Still, he was living off the land, and he thought it might be a factor in his slow recovery. It was once that Mjolnir would heal his human form when it was damaged, but not this time. And his Aura didn't seem to be healing him as it should and thought it might be because he wasn't eating as he should. Or maybe not as much as he should, he'd always eaten copious amounts of food even as a mortal, right now he just didn't have access to the quantity or quality of food.

His clothes were in tatters as well. That wasn't a surprise; they were hospital-issued, designed for comfort, not utility.

He'd have to either try and steal something or go to someone for help. He didn't like the idea of stealing; he'd preferably find a charity who might be able to clothe him.

He knew he was maybe a day away from the nearest populated area. In prime physical condition, he'd be able to get to it and back in one day, but he'd developed a fairly severe limp and wasn't moving like he was used to.

If he was going to attempt the journey, he'd have to pack for two full days of travel. He'd been surviving mostly fish, and he could smoke some, but the bigger problem would be water. He had one jug he'd found in the shed.

His other option was to just travel there while transformed, then travel back the next day. He was only worried about the lingering too long while in his mortal form, especially without a guaranteed source of food or water.

Still, that seemed to be the best option. And decided that…there was no time like the present. Walking out of his shelter, out of the house, and into the open. Raised his hand, and a moment after hearing a boom in the distance, then his power returned.

Yang

"Looks like rain again," Yang said aloud. She took a sip of her drink. She'd been home a little over a week and it had been raining daily.

Blake's voice cut through her thoughts, "What are you drinking?"

"Lemonade," she said a little too quickly. It was true, but she didn't add she'd put a splash of vodka in. Blake was getting a little too nosey lately when it came to her drinking. She didn't understand, it helped keep the nightmares away, and helped her deal with the pain in her arm. Phantom pains, that's what it was called, but it didn't matter if it wasn't there anymore, the pain just seemed to come back, and she didn't have any more painkillers.

"You think this storm will pass like the rest?" Blake asked.

"Probably." Yang said as she took another drink, "It's so weird, the weather was never like this before." Yang wasn't one to typically discuss the weather, but she didn't want Blake to go back to her drinking habits, and besides, this was a topic of some interest.

Extremely violent storms that rolled in out of nowhere then vanished as quickly. She remembered hearing about these types of storms in some parts of the world, but it had never been like that here.

"When is your dad going to get back?" Blake asked.

Yang shrugged. Blake was just asking one question after another, and Yang could recognize she was just killing time while trying to bring up some other topic.

There was a silence that seemed to come as the storm ended, and whatever was on Blake's mind seemed to pass with the weather.

"Well, I'm going to the store…need anything?" Blake asked

"No…" Yang responded and waited for Blake to turn around to look at her. She watched her, and she was noticing her in ways she hadn't before…at least not as strongly as she was now.

She didn't know if it was just her realizing something she'd internalized or more just her reacting emotionally to the person she was closest to. But she…wanted something she knew she couldn't have. That was another reason for her drinking to numb those feelings.

Blake didn't react well to her…probing. Nothing overt, but she pulled away from hand-holding, or when she placed and hand on her shoulder.

Yang walked to the fridge and retrieved the vodka that was chilling in it, and added some to her drink. Her love life was so out of wack that she wasn't sure what to do. She was in love with her partner, who she was sure was straight, but she also kept thinking about Thor. She'd had similar feelings for him, still did really. But he was…maybe not crazy at least, but not quite right nonetheless.

She just seemed to be attracted to people who made her life difficult. She slugged back some straight vodka.

She was drinking too much, she knew it, and it was affecting her in terms of her ability to fight. She wasn't as quick as before, but she did hit harder…still, Blake was tagging her more than usual when they spared.

Or maybe that was her new feeling distracting her.

"What am I doing?" She muttered to herself as she drank. "I need to…" she didn't know what she needed to do, not really. Her life was pure chaos, at least internally. On the outside, her life was not stable exactly but held together. In her mind, heart, and soul, however, she felt like she was simultaneously going nowhere and being pulled in several directions at once. Her sister and several of her friends and up and left. She didn't even know if she was going back to school. She and Blake were getting awkward, and that was all her fault.

Her stupid impulses were getting her in trouble…again. And her tendency to drink wasn't curbing those impulses.

The rumble of thunder made her look out the window of the kitchen and that was something else. The weather was insane, and she felt like it was an odd metaphor for how she felt inside.

Making herself another drink, she decided to make it a little stronger and went to sit down on the couch.

Then a siren boomed out. It was one Yang had only heard during drills. It only meant one thing.

A Grimm attack and a big one.

Thor

The creature was massive. Thor had never seen a Grimm of this size, not even the Dragon. It emerged from the sea washing the shore away.

It looked like a hybrid of crab and squid, with had hard shell and claws, but the legs were a writhing mass of tentacles.

He saw Hunters attacking, but it was clear they had no heavy weapons to deal with a threat this size. It was so large the small weapons fire didn't seem to even faze it as it headed towards the city.

No matter, it would die like the rest. Hovering in the air, he spun Mjolnir ready to strike the monster down.

Then a cry of terror broke his concentration. He followed the sound and saw a young woman holding a child running in terror of one of the tentacles, two huntsmen were trying to reach her, but Thor could see they wouldn't, not in time.

Changing his course, he flew with enough speed to the air boomed around him. Slowing down as he reached the woman, he scooped her up in his arms and flew away.

She seemed stunned for a moment and gripped the child closer to her chest before coming to her sense.

"Do not worry ma'am, I have you." He said as he flew her a safe distance away.

"You got me? Who's got you?" She gasped out.

He set her down, and she just mumbled out a few incoherent words.

"Excuse me." He said taking off into the air again, this time intent on killing the Grimm. His power was fading, and he called the lighting to strike down all the lesser Grimm he could feel and threw his hammer with such force that when it hit the center of Giant Grimm it nearly blew it to pieces, but his power faded before he could land.

And he fell.

Blake

Blake only saw him for a moment before he threw… whatever it was that blew the Grimm to pieces, but it was enough for her to recognize him…Thor…somehow.

But something was wrong…. He was flying just a moment ago and now appeared to be in a free fall and she thought she could smell blood on him where there wasn't before.

More than that she could see it on him, flying off him. Bright red droplets flying off him and he tumbled.

Blake acted before she even knew what exactly she was doing.

She collided with Thor before he hit the ground in an attempt to catch him. She felt them both crash and skid along the ground, but it wasn't more severe than some minor scraps for Thor, whose aura had dropped.

It was a second or two before Blake could reorient herself and try to get Thor on his feet. He was fairly beaten up and…much dirtier than she had thought he was before she tackled him.

"Thor." She near shouted pulling him up to his feet and looking into his face and his one eye was unfocused. " Come on." She said as she righted him. "Let's get you home."

Her tone was calm and nonchalant but she was extremely worried they'd be caught. Thor was an escaped asylum patient and she couldn't stand the idea of him going back there.

"Home," Thor said as he started to stand and walk on his own, following her lead.

"Yeah, home." She said, "We'll get you cleaned up and feed and then we…we can."

"Set things right," Thor said as he stood up straight and brushed off her support and seemed back to normal.

"Ummm ... yeah sure thing." Blake said, "let's get you home."