Chapter Twenty-Two

Patch was coming along nicely, Arlo thought to himself as he finished nailing down the shingles he had been placing. He wiped the sweat from his brow and took a deep breath. The air was heavy with the scents of fresh-cut wood and turned earth, and the sounds of construction rang out around him. It hadn't taken him long to ingratiate himself with the townsfolk, given his background in construction, and the work soothed him. It was therapeutic to build new homes and repair the ones people already lived in, especially after the terrible destruction he had witnessed in Vale.

Asher, the young man who had lost everything that day and survived the journey to Patch, was even learning the trade under his tutelage. The young man was a quick study and had thrown himself into the work with abandon. Arlo suspected he was trying to suppress the memories of Vale's death, and he understood completely. It was hard to have nightmares when you exhausted yourself with physical labor during the day.

As he took his break, observing the bustle of the town from his rooftop vantage, he spotted Asher returning with food. He had sent the young man out to grab them some lunch from the community kitchen that had been set up to help feed the refugees. Asher climbed the ladder to the roof one-handed with a bag clenched in his free hand. Arlo chuckled at the sight. Nothing like youth to make something like that seem so trivial.

Asher dropped down next to him and shook the hair out of his eyes. "Bread, cheese, and meat today."

"Solid fare for solid workers," Arlo replied. "Thank you."

Together the two of them began their meal. Arlo ate slowly while next to him Asher bolted his portion. Today they had grainy bread with mild yellow cheese and salted beef. Arlo would have given a lot of Lien for some hot mustard or horseradish, but beggars couldn't be choosers. Food was food, and it'd keep him going.

Asher, done eating, took a long drink from his waterskin, then nodded towards the gate to the town. "We've got some visitors."

"Whereabouts from?" Arlo asked between bites.

"Came from Vale, I guess. Huntsmen, the lady at the kitchen told me, but dressed weird."

Arlo chewed, considering this. "Good to have more trained fighters here."

"Kinda odd they didn't have any civilians with them." There was a bitter note in Asher's voice. Arlo understood, Huntsmen were supposed to be protectors. They'd seen a lot of good men and women die getting people to the safety of Patch, and a group of Hunters from Vale, without wards, felt wrong.

"Maybe they left them somewhere safe, while they made sure the town was ok," Arlo said.

"Maybe."

Arlo finished his meal in silence while Asher brooded. "Got another home to roof this afternoon yet," he said after wiping the crumbs from his beard. "We'll need to pick up some supplies from Slate."

Asher nodded and stood, stretching out his lanky teenage frame. "Right, sounds good."


One week ago

Yatsuhashi did not like Harriet very much. She was intense, and while he was sure she knew what she was doing, she had rubbed every member of team CVFY the wrong way. She had made it clear that her team was only working with CVFY because they had been ordered to. Marrow and Elm were both agreeable enough, and since CVFY was very invested in the recapture of the escapees, they were determined to make it work despite Harriet's prickly nature.

They had been given a Manta, Harriet had been given the leadership role for the two teams, and they had left with encouragement from Theodore bolstering them. From what they could tell, the group of four they were pursuing hadn't used an airship, and there was some confusion as to where they might have gone. Harriet had flown the Manta in a search pattern until they got a report of a large grimm flying in the direction of Vale from a team on the ground. With that as their lead, they had gone to the northeast.

It hadn't taken long for them to leave the range of Shade's CCT and enter the dead zone that had been Vale. The sands of Vacuo had given way to forests and mountains, the brown disappearing into a sea of green and gray. "Anyone else not the biggest fan of our fearless leader?" Fox asked via telepathy to his team, referring to Harriet. Ostensibly, the Ace-ops knew of all their semblances, but that didn't mean that they had to know when Fox was using his. CVFY liked keeping inter-team communication to themselves when they could.

"She's a bitch," Coco sent back, not mincing words in the slightest.

A wave of reproach came off Velvet at this. "She's not that bad. Remember she lost two teammates when Atlas got attacked. I think she's still grieving."

"Velvet is right, but she isn't trying very hard to make us like her," Yatsuhashi added.

"How bad do you think this Tyrian guy is?" Fox asked. "We know Mercury, we know the twins, but we haven't dealt with that guy yet."

"They have," Velvet said, referring to Harriet, Elm, and Marrow.

"And Tyrian iced their old leader with Qrow's sword. That whole fight was a mess from what I heard," Coco said.

"We should ask them, maybe they need to talk about it," Velvet said.

"Velvet, you sweet, sweet cinnamon roll," Coco said, and they could feel her amusement and affection through Fox's link. "Have at it."

"What can you tell us about Tyrian?" Velvet asked aloud, directing the question at Marrow and Elm.

The two exchanged a look, and then Marrow spoke up. "He's dangerous. He likes to kill, likes to inflict pain."

"His semblance is dangerous too, right? We heard it can pass straight through aura," Velvet said.

"A semblance for killing people and not grimm," Marrow agreed. "If you guys are worried about it, don't be. We're taking point, we have a score to settle with him."

"We have a score to settle with that asshole Qrow," Harriet called from the cockpit. "He's the one that messed up and got Clover killed."

"She's still working through that," Marrow said.

"Qrow could have just gone quietly, but he still fought a needless fight with Clover, and Tyrian capitalized on it."

"We're sorry for your loss," Velvet said.

"Thank you, Velvet," Elm said.

An awkward silence descended, until Fox broke it with Telepathy. "You're a natural, Velvet. Well done."

"A least I tried! You all are hopeless," Velvet huffed.

"Are you guys doing that thing?" Marrow asked. "You get all quiet and then make extended eye contact with each other. It's kinda weirding me out."

"Apologies. We're used to talking amongst ourselves," Yatsuhashi said. He turned to Marrow. "Velvet was just trying to break the ice. We feel like our teams haven't gotten off on the right foot."

"It'd help if you didn't bring up our dead friends," Harriet said.

Velvet squirmed, looking so miserable that Coco stepped in on her behalf. "She brought up Tyrian because if you hadn't noticed, we're going after him. And she really does feel bad about your lost teammates, so I'd appreciate you not biting her head off."

A frosty silence descended, and then Harriet grunted. "Right. Sorry. What you need to know is that Tyrian is a ruthless maniac who enjoys causing misery. Don't rely on your auras when you fight him, he can bypass it completely." There was another minute of silence. "What can you tell us about the twins? I understand you've tangled with them before."

"Jax can control you with his mind and Gillian can suck out your aura to boost her own. They're quite the pair," Fox said.

"Jax requires physical touch to activate his semblance, but I do not know how effective he'll be. I was not… easy on him when I wiped his memory," Yatsuhashi said, shifting in his seat.

"And Gillian turned on him in the end. Makes me wonder how Salem planned on using them," Coco added.

"Gillian turned because they were losing and she didn't want to die," Fox said. "Not sure that counts as a proper change of heart."

"And if Jax somehow gets into one of our heads, Yatsu can fix it! He's our trump card," Velvet said.

"How many people can Gillian suck aura from? And does she have to touch you?" Marrow asked.

"Answer to the first part: a lot. Dozens, at least. As to the second part, it's complicated? She can siphon it and transfer it. I think it works better if she's touching you, but she definitely doesn't have to. We ran into people she was boosting when she wasn't anywhere near them," Coco said.

"That sounds problematic," Elm said, her brow furrowed in concentration.

"There's a reason they thought they could take down Shade," Fox said. "They're not chumps."

Coco scoffed. "Still lost to us. We can handle them."

"Let's not get overconfident," Marrow cautioned. "These people are dangerous and we need to be careful."

"Where are we right now, anyway?" Velvet asked, peering out her window. "We've been flying for a while."

"Just crossed into Vale. About two hours flight from the city, which we are not approaching by air if intelligence is right and Salem is there," Harriet said. "Out of CCT range to Shade now, too. We're on our own."

"Would have been nice to catch those guys before we got too far," Fox said, morose.

"We knew this was a possibility. Not chickening out on me are you?" Harriet said, glancing behind her.

Coco opened her mouth to retort when an alarm blared suddenly from the cockpit. Harriet swore and violently yanked her control stick, and the aircraft yawed steeply to the left, starting to roll. It was too slow. Something impacted the wing with a shattering impact, and the cabin was abruptly filled with icy, rushing wind as it tore away. A sinuous black mass thrust its way into the opening with a snort, red tongue flickering between jagged white teeth.

"Wyvern!" Marrow yelled, desperately trying to free his weapon.

"No shit!" Coco yelled back as she spooled Gianduja up, the minigun's barrels whirring away.

Yatsuhashi braced and steadied himself and Velvet as Coco swung the barrel of her gun towards the grimm. Things were about to get very messy. Gianduja roared, and the wyvern screamed.

"Gods, Coco, give a guy some warning!" Fox yelled, covering his ears.

Coco ignored him and kept firing. The large head disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared, but the damage was done. The manta fell to the earth trailing thick black smoke, spiraling in a lazy circle towards its death.

"Go! Out now!" Harriet yelled as she leapt from the doomed craft.

Yatsuhashi squeezed Velvet's arm, she nodded at him, and together they jumped into space. The air whipped past them, making Yatsuhashi's eyes stream. He spread his arms, still clasping Velvet's hand in his own, and tried to gain control of their descent.

Below them a forest rose, an all-encompassing mass of fir needles and sappy trunks. He pulled his sword with his free hand, the tendons in his arm standing out like steel cables, ready to hook it into a tree to slow their fall, when something hit him, sparking off his aura. He'd just been shot. Was still being shot at, he realized, as more bullets glanced off his shielded form.

Without thinking he dropped his sword and pulled Velvet into himself, wrapping her in a protective embrace, concentrating his aura across his back as he did so. He grunted when the first tree limbs whipped across him, stinging despite his aura, and then he hit something much more solid with a resounding crash. The pain was immense, a sharp spasming that felt as though a series of hooks had been sunk deep into his back muscles and then pulled taut, released and pulled taut, over and over again, the strings held by a sadistic giant that relished in his pain. He heard Velvet screaming his name, and then was swallowed by a wave of black that obliterated conscious thought.


When he came to, he was seated in a chair with his hands bound behind his back. The spasming pain continued, this time echoed by a deep pulse in his head. It felt like a cudgel had been lodged in his spinal column and an obstinate giant kept jerking it around. He blinked, taking in his surroundings. He was alone. No Velvet, no Coco, no Fox. None of the Ace-ops for that matter either. Fulcrum, his sword, was missing as well. No surprise there, at least. He remembered dropping it to shield Velvet. What had happened next, though?

He tried to wiggle his toes, and they responded. That was good, his back wasn't broken. Probably. He worked his way through his extremities, methodically testing their responses and was relieved when everything checked out. He was in pain beyond any he had felt before, but his limbs were all in working order. Self-evaluation complete, he looked at his surroundings.

He was in a run-down room with a splintery floor and cracked plaster walls. There was a single window, four panes of frosted glass smeared with dust and dirt that let an anemic light through. An old fireplace sat on the opposite wall, dusted with ancient coal. It stank of rot and mildew. He was in a house, likely from an old settlement long since abandoned. But who had put him here?

A door creaked open behind him, and he tried his best not to react. He had to control himself, show his captors that he was unafraid. He took a deep breath and regretted it as the giant that now lived in his spine gave a fierce tug in response. As he tried to center himself, something cold and sharp pressed to the side of his neck. He went very still.

"Oh-ho! You are alive. I watched you hit that tree, trying to save that poor girl. How does it feel to know that you failed?"

The sharp thing dragged across his Adam's apple, leaving a trail of something cold and wet behind it. Yatsuhashi knew he was being taunted, but his heart raced anyway. What did that mean, he had failed? What had happened to Velvet?

"You made such a delicious crunching noise. I was sure you would be broken to pieces, imagine my surprise when we found you still breathing. Such a sturdy toy you are."

The thing at his throat traced its way back to where it had started. It felt like a knife, coated with something. He dared not move his head, in case the blade slipped and he cut himself. He remained quiet and focused on his breathing. He would not give his captor the satisfaction of fear.

"I so dearly wanted to stay and play with you, but the Queen has decided you'd be more used to her alive. How disappointing for me."

The blade withdrew, and Yatsuhashi saw that it wasn't a blade at all, but a steel scorpion stinger. Tyrian. The faunus moved in front of him and crouched on his haunches, stinger now leveled at Yatsuhashi's eyes.

"I heard that you caused a lot of trouble for poor Jaxxy. Not right in the head, that one." Tyrian giggled, the sound bubbling up bright and clear, juxtaposed against the manic gleam of insanity in the Faunus's eyes. "How cruel, to have your memories taken away, wiped clean from your mind like blood from a blade. He's so very cooperative though. Does what he's asked without question. A loyal new soldier in the Queen's army. His sister was more reluctant, but we made her see reason."

Yatsuhashi's mind raced. They had been cleanly beaten by the people they were trying to catch, without even putting up a fight. He hadn't been able to fight, anyway. He didn't even know if any of his team was alive. He stilled his mind, focusing on the iron pillar of resolve that made up the core of his being, and stopped himself from lashing out. He closed his eyes and slowly breathed in. "Where are my friends?" he asked as he exhaled, reopening his eyes.

"None of them are dead, never fear," Tyrian said. He looked much too disappointed at that, Yatsuhashi thought. "But we've taken advantage of this fortuitous gift, yes we have. Thanks to old Jaxxy, they're soldiers in the Queen's army now too."

Yatsuhashi felt his blood go cold, the iron pillar at his center ringing from this blow. All six of the others, mind controlled by Jax. This was bad.

"But you don't get that treatment, no you don't!" Tyrian said, waggling his stinger in front of Yatsuhashi's face as he did so. "You get an audience with the Queen. A great honor, that is. But first, to make sure that you're nice and passive." The stinger whipped forward and jabbed into Yatsuhashi's stomach. Only an inch, but that was enough. When Tyrian withdrew it, Yatsuhashi could see the venom dripping from the end, mingled with his blood. Tyrian brought it to his mouth and licked it off, sighing in delight.

Yatsuhashi's stomach was on fire, an icy heat that spread and quickly matched tempo with the spasms in his back and the pulse in his head. His vision started to swim.

"That won't kill you, but it will make it easier for my associates to bring you to the Queen. Can't have you making trouble for them." Tyrian giggled again, and then broke into a full-bodied laugh as he left the room. Once again, a black wave enveloped Yatsuhashi, and unconsciousness took him.


Present

Qrow parried the first attack that came at him, his mind racing. Raven wouldn't know what was happening in Patch. They hadn't communicated it, but the unspoken agreement had been that since an in-person conversation would be better, Raven would need to stay behind so they wouldn't get stranded in Patch and she could bring them back when they were ready. He was the only reinforcement that Tai was going to get.

He threw himself backward, trying to get to the portal before it closed. He hit the wall instead, breath whooshing out of him in a huff. Tyrian came at him, rictus grin on his face, and Qrow ducked under the blades that slashed at his head.

"Too slow, Qrow! You're all mine now!"

Qrow dodged another slash of Tyrian's blades and chopped down Harbinger in response. Tyrian nimbly danced to the side, chuckling. Always with the laughter, this one. Harbinger flipped up and boomed, but Tyrian disappeared into the smoke as he avoided the spread of the shotgun.

Behind him, Tai was still fighting hand-to-hand with an assailant that Qrow hadn't gotten a good look at yet. He kept his eyes forward, scanning the thick smoke for signs of his vanished opponent. His hands restlessly twisted on the hilt of his weapon, and then his body jolted, tingly and numb.

"Tai! Left!" Qrow shouted, diving away.

Tai responded immediately, mirroring Qrow and dodging in the direction indicated. They may not have fought together in years, but the trust was still there. A fiery beam crashed down where the two men had just been standing, sending whorls of sparks towards the ceiling. Qrow scrambled back to his feet, pushing himself up with the aid of a familiar coffee table. He knew where he was, now. The living room of Tai's house, flooded with smoke and flames, hadn't been easily recognized at first.

"What happened?" he called to Tai; sword held firmly in front of him.

"Ambush! Careful, there are Beacon kids out there."

Beacon kids? Qrow thought. He sucked in a breath to respond and hacked out a cough instead. "We need to get out of the smoke!" That bastard Tyrian was still at large, but smoke inhalation would kill them just as readily. The men ran towards the door and burst into fresher air.

"Whose blood was that?" Qrow asked as they moved into the yard, backs together, remembering the blood on Tyrian's stinger.

"Old Hyde."

"Shit." Hyde had been one of the teachers at Signal. He looked unassuming, but Qrow knew the old goat had a wild side. The number of nights they had spent drinking together when Qrow had been a teacher were a pleasant memory.

"I"- Tai cut off as a barrage of bullets shot out of the woods towards him. He spun out of the way, breaking away from Qrow to do so.

Qrow looked to the woods, and, as the hairs on the back of his neck rose, stepped to the side, Harbinger chiming as it deflected the blade that was lunging for his throat.

"Fast!" Tyrian said, landing in a crouch and springing forward again.

Qrow wasn't fast enough this time and one of Tyrian's wrist mounted blades slashed through his aura and across his check, leaving a weeping red gash behind. Qrow flicked his wrist and Harbinger shifted, scythe blade folding open and locking in place. He kicked out at Tyrian's chest, buying himself space, and the other man casually flipped backwards, easily avoiding the blade of Qrow's weapon as he did so.

Once again, behind him, Qrow could hear Tai fighting a different opponent, and now he knew that there was someone in the trees as well. Tyrian, noticing his distraction, screamed, eyes wild.

"First blood me! Can you really afford to look somewhere else, Qrow?"

Qrow's eyes snapped back to Tyrian. "Wounded sparrow!" he yelled.

Tyrian's eyes crinkled as his eyebrows furrowed, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he lunged again, and Qrow spun his scythe in a defensive motion, warding off the slashing. It was like fighting a bladed windmill, with how fast Tyrian pressed the attack. He kept moving backwards, one step at a time, feet slipping on the muddy ground, wildly warding off blows. Twice, he narrowly avoided receiving a twin to the wound on his cheek, and he could feel Tyrian's frustration mounting. Good. When he took another step and felt a solid presence behind him, he grinned. "Now!"

His foot slipped once again, and Tyrian took the bait. The scorpion faunus darted forward, whites of his eyes prominent, spittle at the corner of his mouth. Qrow went down, rolling, and felt a moment of warm contact as Tai went over the top of him. He came out of his roll and onto his feet, Harbinger screaming forward. As he made eye contact with his new opponent, his heart skipped and he pulled, twisting the haft of his weapon as hard as he could. His blade missed its target and slammed into the ground, tearing a furrow into the rich black earth. Harriet Bree's knee smashed into his ribs, and Qrow felt his aura give under the ferocious blow.

Behind him there was a solid thwap of meat hitting meat, a sickly wet crunching sound, and then Tyrian screamed. "OH YOU FUCKER!"

From the sounds of it, Tai had just shattered Tyrian's nose, and as dearly as Qrow wanted to see that sight, he kept his eyes forward. Harriet, crackling with energy, was fast. Faster even than Tyrian, and he had just aborted the attack that would have hit her. 'Wounded Sparrow' was an old favorite of his and Tai's, a ploy where both men would feign difficulty, baiting attacks, and then would swap positions, usually taking their opponents by surprise. It had worked beautifully this time, judging by the awful screams coming from Tyrian, but Harriet was not someone he wanted to kill. Hurt, maybe, when she was being a bitch, but they were supposed to be on the same side.

"Harriet! The hell is this!?" He yelled, outraged, as the woman windmilled kicked at his head. He could feel the static in the air as her foot slipped past his face, and he had the briefest of moments to consider the irony of the situation. This had been a terrible idea, Tai was much better at hand-to-hand than he was, and Harriet was godsdamned fast.

"Do I need a reason to want you dead?" she said, sending another flying knee at the back of Qrow's head.

"No, but I'd expect you to have a reason to not want to work with Salem." Qrow just barely ducked the knee in time, but Harriet kept spinning, her opposite foot crashing into his bicep. Arm numbed, he barely held onto his scythe.

"This is personal."

"Harriet, I didn't kill Clover! That mad asshole behind me did!"

"And the look on Qrow's face was delightful!" Tyrian screamed. It gave Qrow some small comfort that his voice was thick and distorted, clotted with blood and pain.

"See!"

Harriet lashed out again by way of response. Qrow parried it, barely. This fight had gone to shit, fast. Hell, it had been shit from the start. "Tai, you got backup coming?"

"If they see the smoke, sure." Tai's breathing sounded labored, his voice raspy from the smoke. He wove around Tyrian's attacks, keeping ahead of the blood-crazed killer, but Qrow could tell he was slowing.

"Woods?" Qrow said, desperately ducking a punch from Harriet that made his hair stand on end.

"Beacon kids. Working with him," Tai said, indicating Tyrian.

A connection happened in Qrow's mind, fragments of memory lashing together in a frenzy of details. Harriet was supposed to be after Tyrian. Mercury and the Asturias twins were with Tyrian. Marrow, Elm, and Team CVFY were with Harriet. Beacon kids. Harriet's team had lost, and Jax or Salem had gotten their claws into them. Shit. But why had no more attacks come from the forest?

Harriet darted forward, left fist raised, and Qrow reflexively moved to block it. It was a feint. Harriet ducked and powered upward, right fist connecting solidly with his jaw. His head exploded, like a nova of stars rattling around a metal cage. He fell backwards, landing heavily in the grass. His vision doubled and swam, and he turned his head and vomited as his stomach revolted against this disruption.

"Leave him! He's mine!" Tyrian said. Qrow tried to focus on this and saw Harriet intercept Tai as he tried to come to his aid. It was hard. It felt like his brain had been knocked loose and was sloshing around his skull like a cork in a rough sea. Tyrian, blood soaking his face and chest, knelt on Qrow.

"Nasty trick you pulled. I win in the end though, oh yes. Yes indeed."

Qrow fought against the weight to sit up, to fight, but his body rebelled and the most he could manage was a feeble waving of his arms. Tyrian's face was from a nightmare, scarlet with blood and slick with mucus, eyes showing far too much of their whites, teeth bared in a maniacal smile.

He stabbed downward with a blade and Qrow managed to get a hand in the way. Bright, fresh pain lanced up his arm and his vision went white. Something furnace-hot went off inches above him, scorching him with its heat. Tyrian shrieked horribly and the weight disappeared from his chest. He could hear singing, a warm melody that poured into his chest and spread to his limbs, flowing and clear. His pain didn't disappear, but it was muted, and his vision started to come back.

The grass around him was burned to bare earth in a wide circle, but he was remarkably unscathed. He sat up, gingerly, and looked around. Harriet and Tyrian were gone, and there were some teens he didn't recognize talking to Tai, along with two people he did know. Helsing and Slate, the other two teachers at Signal, had finally made it. They also had someone bound and tied on the ground, a rabbit faunus dressed in brown, black and yellow. Velvet. One of CVFY accounted for, at least.

A portal opened behind Tai and Theodore and Glynda bulled through with fire in their eyes. CCT must be up, Qrow thought. Raven to the rescue, and then he passed out.


When Qrow woke up, Willow was at his bedside, expression fraught with worry. "Oh thank all the Gods! Tai told us what happened, and your poor hand!"

Qrow blinked, eyes smarting from the light, and looked down at his hand. Sure enough, it was thoroughly bandaged. An IV was placed in his arm, and he could see that his blood had started to infiltrate back up the tube. A small worry, all things considered. He remembered Tyrian kneeling on his chest, the downwards stab, and reaching upwards in a feverish attempt to keep the blow from landing.

"They couldn't find your finger. Normally they can reattach them, but they think it was incinerated," Willow said. Tears lined her eyes, unshed, and her hands wrung helplessly in her lap.

Qrow also remembered the scorching heat, and how the grass around him had been burned to nothing. Still didn't know what had caused that, but he wouldn't ask too many questions. One missing finger didn't equate to his life. A thought suddenly occurred to him, and he started to chuckle at the bitter humor of it.

"What? Qrow, what on earth could be making you laugh right now?"

"I promised you I would come back in one piece. Sorry."

Willow blinked, and then her tears started to fall as she berated him. "You complete and utter idiot!"

Qrow chuckled some more, which made his head throb. "Sorry, sorry. Bad time for humor." His merriment evaporated as suddenly as it had come, and all he felt was exhausted.

"You came back, that's the important part. You've got a concussion, a broken rib, and the missing finger, but you came back. When I saw Tai carry you through the portal I thought my heart would stop. You were so broken."

"I'm a tough guy," Qrow said. But it was a hollow affirmation. Harriet had kicked his ass, and the physical beating was only part of it. He had been beaten, again, by Tyrian. His streak of bad luck continued, and Willow could see right through his despair.

"I know you think you lost, but if you had waited for the CCT, Tai would be gone. Salem would have him. You felt a premonition and acted on it. You went headlong into what you thought was danger for a friend. I really don't think you're such a bad luck charm, Qrow."

Qrow absently reached for the talisman with his good hand and encountered only torn fabric. His fingers scrabbled more frantically, and he looked down. There was a ragged hole in his shirt where the emblem had once been pinned. Had he lost it in the fight?

Willow grabbed his hand with hers, stilling his frantic fingers. "Qrow, I'm sorry," she said.

"Yeah. Me too." Qrow stared listlessly at the spot where emblem had been.

"Did things go well? No, not really. But you're alive and Tai is safe, and some of the team that was sent after Tyrian has been recovered. Velvet and Marrow are both here as well, injured but ok. Losing consciousness seems to overwrite whatever Jax does to people."

Qrow looked back up. "How do you know about that?"

"Winter told me. I demanded some answers, seeing as how the man I'm falling in love with nearly died for something I didn't fully understand."

He blinked at her, processing her words. Before he could speak, she put a finger to his lips. "Just rest, ok?"

"Ok." He laid his head back into his pillow and closed his eyes again. Willow kept hold of his hand and began to hum something sweet and slow. Qrow focused on the melody, and his thoughts drifted, slowly losing their panicked edge as they followed the unhurried cadence of the song. Eventually, he slept again.


The following day, there was a brief meeting at Qrow's bedside. Tai had come to visit, along with Theodore, Velvet, and Marrow. The latter two looked miserable. They had their own wounds that had been wrapped and bandaged, but the true pain showed in their eyes. Their friends were still in the enemy's clutches, and there was no knowing when they would be recovered.

Tai sat down next to him. "Raven said you had a feeling I was in trouble. Misfortune doing some good, eh?"

"Not in the mood, Tai."

"Sure. But thanks anyway. If you hadn't acted, I don't think I would have made it through that."

Qrow just grunted. He sure didn't feel lucky. Theodore cleared his throat, and Qrow noticed that the Headmaster had quietly closed the door to the room. "Feeling alright?" he asked Qrow.

"Eh. Head's still swimmy, missing finger hurts like a bitch, morale's low. But sure."

"Good thing you're laying down then," Tai joked. It fell flat. "Listen, Qrow, I've got some news. Big news, good or bad subjective to the individual."

Qrow blinked. "Yeah?"

"I want to reiterate, thank you for coming for me. Things we be very very bad if you hadn't."

"And why's that?" Qrow asked. "I'd be pretty torn up if you went missing, Tai, but if the only reason you're here is to thank me I don't get the audience."

Tai looked around the room. "First, I want to assure you that everyone here already knows this. I told Theodore, and the other two knew when Jax took over their minds."

"The suspense is killing me," Qrow said. Truthfully, while he was glad to see Tai, damned glad, in fact, his head still ached and he just wanted some peace and quiet.

"I've got the crown."

Qrow sat up, pain forgotten. "You what!?"

"I've got the crown." Tai had a mild expression on his face, and Qrow searched it thoroughly for any signs that his old friend was taking the piss. Seeing none, he sank slowly back down onto his bed.

"You're serious," Qrow said.

"Deadly. Let's go back the beginning."