An Unsteady Alliance
Summer sobbed into her childrens shoulders, the three sprawled onto Scarlet's bed.
"I…I finally found you."
Yang merely chuckled as she leaned up, her mask off. "Only took a year."
Summer placed a hand on Yang's cheek, which she leaned into.
"Yang. My little fireball. Now a fiery drake."
Yang chuckled. "Dad called me his 'Sunny Dragon'."
Summer raised an eyebrow. "Seriously. Sounds lame. No, Fiery Drake is much more intimidating."
The three laughed, though Yang noticed that Scarlet still had her mask on.
"No need to keep the mask on, Ruby."
"I…well…" Scarlet stopped when she felt a hand on the cheek of her mask.
"It's alright, Scarlet. You don't have to."
Yang didn't fail to notice how Summer called Ruby 'Scarlet'. Then, Weiss approached the bed, Scroll in hand.
"Mrs. Rose, your readings…how much sleep have you been getting."
"I…" Summer flushed, "Not enough. I've been having…nightmares?" Summer scrunched her face.
"I can imagine," Jaune replied, "Hurting Ruby must've given you a…hollow feeling."
"No…Well, yes, but, the nightmares weren't just that…but…" She placed a hand on her head.
"Mom?"
"It's fine, sweetie, it's just, for some reason, I can't remember the nightmares. I remember that I'd wake up, screaming during the last few months. But, beyond that, nothing."
"That's…strange." Weiss slowly remarked, while Scarlet's eyes narrowed.
'What could've caused that?' Scarlet then noticed something peek around the corner of the room. The bottom half of a familiar cane, then disappeared. Scarlet smiled. 'One last gift, eh, Neo?'
"By the way," Weiss said, "Who's Hatter?"
Scarlet froze. "...How do you know that name?"
"Both you and Summer were...mumbling while you were asleep. Something I don't think any Nightmare Grimm does."
Summer then recalled the ambush, how she was meant to be taken alive. "I...think I know. I think that Nightmare wasn't just designed to fight those with Silver eyes...but also to extract information."
Before they could clarify further, Jaune's Scroll began buzzing, forcing him to answer.
"It's Blake," he answered, "Beauty, what's wrong?"
"Is Summer alright."
"Yeah, she's awake. The Nightmare was destroyed." Jaune could hear Blake sigh with relief.
"That's good. But, did Summer tell anyone she was here?"
"What?"
"Put me on speaker. Masks on time."
Oak, confused, did what Beauty asked.
"Alright, you're on."
"Mrs. Rose, did you tell anyone you were here?"
"No…well, I mean, I told a couple people that I was searching for you, and a few others figured it out, but, no. No one knows I'm here. Why?"
"Ursis, look out Scarlet's northern window."
Ursis, putting her mask back on, ran to the window…and saw a fleet of ten Atlas ships approaching them.
"What the hell!?"
"Ursis," Snow exclaimed, "What's wrong?"
"Atlas is on approach."
"What?!" Everyone cried out.
"But how!?" Summer cried out.
"Were you tracked?"
At Oak's words, Summer's eyes widened in horror.
"That…sonofabitch! I trusted him, and he put a tracking device on the suit!?"
"You trusted Ironwood?!" Ursis exclaimed.
"Yes, he's a bit headstrong, but he was the only person who could build me the suit needed to get onto Ketos. I mean, what did you want me to do, jump off of Atlas then next time you park there?"(1)
"That's not the point! The point is that you trusted him to not do something shady?"
"Yes, why…" Summer then noticed the looks on the others, despite masks on, "He became a problem, didn't he."
"That's one way to put it," Snow retorted, "He became paranoid, and turned on everyone. Tried to have us arrested, then it switched up to kill."
Summer's eyes, already bloodshot, went red at the thought of Ironwood trying to kill Yang and Scarlet.
"I need to stop him." Summer tried to get up, only for her body to tense up and she fell back onto the covers. Scarlet put a hand on her chest.
"Mom, you're in no condition to walk, let alone fight."
"And I'm not in the condition to be in the middle of a battle if James decides I'm dead and attacks you. I'm optimistic, so, since your Ironwood hasn't gone through what I can only assume are a decade or two of war with Salem, he's not batshit insane yet. So I can only guess that this is a rescue mission. But that only works if he knows I'm okay."
Scarlet and Ursis looked to each other, obviously nervous, but understanding the difficult situation.
"Oak, get to the bridge. Beauty, meet us at one of the landing pads and send Cinder and Neo to Oak."
"Got it…let's hope this time goes better than before."
"We can only hope." Summer exclaimed.
Scarlet and Ursis, Summer's arms draped behind their necks, stepped into the light as the sun battered down the landing pad, Snow and Beauty closely behind them. The Atlas fleet held position as a dozen airships flew towards Ketos. As they got closer, most of the squad held back until only one was approaching. As Ketos did not retaliate, the pilot assumed that it was safe to land, and circled around the landing pad before touching down. When the door opened, Ironwood stepped out, alone, his hands on his pistols, but still holstered. He glared at Scarlet, but sighed with relief when he saw Summer.
"Summer," Ironwood said softly, approaching the group, "I'm so glad your-"
WHAM
Summer, despite her exhausted state, still landed a solid punch onto Ironwood's face, causing the man to exclaim in both shock and pain.
"Wha-"
"You jackass! I put my trust in you, and you put a tracking device on the suit?!"
"I…" Ironwood looked like a boy who got caught with his hands in the cookie jar, "I was…worried. If what you said was true, then they might've imprisoned you, or even killed you, to protect their secret."
"Wait, you TOLD him!?" Snow cried out.
"Only that your time travelers." Summer replied, quiet enough that only the group could hear, and not the people in the airship. She then stared down at Ironwood. "Well, let's be so glad of Atlas's response time."
"I came as soon as the suit activated."
"Well, not soon enough," she sarcastically retorted, but Ironwood didn't get the meaning.
"If I knew tha-"
"Because if you were ten minutes sooner, I would be dead."
"I know that-" the words finally hit her, "What?"
"Summer was infected by a Nightmare Grimm." Beauty explained.
"If we had to deal with your military on top of trying to help Summer…well…" Snow let the danger remain unsaid. Ironwood, much to their relief, looked horrified.
"I…I didn't know."
"That's one of your problems, General," Ursis, "You tend to jump the gun way too fast."
"You got that right," Summer added, "I put my trust in you, to not only make the suit, but keep it quiet from Ozpin. I confided in you one of ROWSE's greatest secrets, and you repaid my trust by not telling me there was a tracking device. I mean, I probably would've told you to take it out, but-" Summer then thrusted her arm, pointing past Ironwood, "I SEE YOU, QROW!"
Everyone turned, looking at the edge of the platform. A crow's head briefly popped up, before ducking down. Then a hand came over the edge, and Qrow Branwen pulled himself up.
"Why is Qrow here?" Scarlet questioned.
"Ozpin found out I was looking for you, and sent Qrow yesterday. But, seriously, how did you find me so fast?"
Qrow approached them, "Well, you didn't make it easy, pipsqueak. The truth is, I was searching for you for a week before the call happened. Ozpin just wanted me to make sure I was close before calling you. I found you had taken a jeep at Argus, so I just followed the tracks best I could. Then I found Jimmy's fleet and figured something must've been going down to have him leave the safety of Atlas."
Ironwood rubbed his face, "Add that to the number of ways I've messed this situation up. How much did you hear?"
"Something about a Nightmare Grimm," Qrow was now at Summer, and looked her over, "Are you…sure you're alright?"
Summer gave a sad smile, "Yeah," she looked at Scarlet, "Better than ever."
Qrow looked between the two, "Well, clearly I missed something important."
Summer looked between Ursis and Scarlet, almost expecting an answer. "Do…you want to…?"
Ursis looked at Scarlet.
"This…" Scarlet began, "Shouldn't be a public talk."
Snow approached Scarlet, "I can take Summer from here. You have your talk with Branwen."
Scarlet smiled, "Thanks, Snow."
"For you, always."
Summer couldn't see her face, but she can feel the emotion Snow had when she said that to Scarlet. She smirked as Ursis and Scarlet led Qrow into Ketos.
"So," Beauty stated, "You know that we're from the future."
"Yes."
"Do you intend to tell Ozpin?"
Ironwood shook his head, "No. It's clear that Ozpin's plans, whatever they may be, won't lead us to winning the war against Salem. You girls have been more proactive in this conflict, successfully stealing two relics right from underneath Ozpin, when Salem couldn't do it for almost a century."
"It's more that Salem isn't trying," Snow retorted, "Age isn't a factor for her, so she can create plans that can take decades to accomplish."
"Which is why we need to act now. Atlas can provide you with some of the best tech. A ship this size should have a complement of soldiers, protecting it. I mean, if Summer was an assassin, then it would be a severe hole in your defences that she was able to get in."
"I'm sorry, Ironwood, but…that's going to be hard to accept."
"Why?"
"Because you think that it's all on you. In any kind of alliance, you take charge. You do things your way, and won't accept anyone else's opinion if it threatens your plans."
"That's ridiculous."
"Is it? I'm reminded of that little stunt you tried to pull in Argus a year ago. I doubt that Ozpin told you to do that."
Ironwood flinched.
"You see? Ozpin's supposed to be your superior in those circumstances, yet, if push comes to shove, you'll easily toss him to the side if it meant accomplishing your mission."
Ironwood's eyes widened, "Why would I-?" He stopped himself, "No…I did just that, in your timeline."
Snow and Beauty looked to each other, and nodded. "Yes. It was at Atlas. We were attempting to evacuate Mantle to Atlas, but Salem's agents had infiltrated. We stopped two of them, but two others snuck in amongst the evacuees. One of them even left a queen chess piece in your office."
"The effect worked as intended," Beauty added, "You turned to paranoia, and stopped the evacuation. You planned on raising Atlas high in the air, abandoning the city to its fate."
The scowl Summer gave Ironwood alone would've scared him, but the thought that he would abandon his own people.
"That's…" he couldn't find the words.
Snow continued, "We argued against it, but you didn't budge. It was your way or the highway," Snow gave a sad laugh, "What's funny is, if you had simply compromised, or tried to explain it in a way that we'd understood, we might have joined you. You could've said we'd continue the evacuation until Salem's army hits Mantle, or something to that effect. But…you didn't. To you, it was 'If you aren't with me, then you're my enemy'. Even shoot Ozpin."
Ironwood's legs felt like they were turning to jelly.
"And it was that division," Beauty finished, "That allowed Salem to destroy both Atlas and Mantle. We barely were able to get most of the people out, but…we lost."
Ironwood couldn't take it anymore, he collapsed to his knees.
"I…I don't know what to say…"
"That's a good thing," Summer stated, "If you're that horrified by your future selves actions, then it means you aren't the man who'd become that."
"Y-You're right…but the idea that I could…I think I'll be sharing those sleepless nights you had, Mrs. Rose."
"Have fun." She taunted.
"But…" he stood up, "Even if you won't accept my men. At least accept my help. Any information that comes my way, I can provide."
Snow smiled, "Well, it's good to know you can compromise. That's a start."
Ironwood began to walk back to his airship, but stopped just before boarding.
"I'm…sorry. For what my counterpart did."
"Like Summer said," Beauty replied, "You aren't that man yet. Just keep your goal on protecting Remnant, not just Atlas."
Ironwood nodded."
"I'm surprised you didn't ask for the Staff back."
At Snow's comment, Ironwood turned to the ship. "No. It's clear that I'm not the person to protect it. As much as I hate to say it...You girls would do a better job." With that, he boarded the airship and it took off, returning to the fleet, which was showing signs of turning around.
"Well," Snow happily declared, "That wasn't on the agenda. Not sure if Ironwood as an ally is a good thing or not."
As the three turned, they saw Scarlet and Ursis coming back out, with a stupidifed Qrow in tow.
"So…Qrow…got anything to say?"
Qrow, for a moment, said nothing, then shook his head.
"I'm sorry, Sums, I'm just trying to come to terms with the fact I have two more nieces."
Ursis elbowed her Uncle. "Just means you can get double the gifts each year."
"Oh NO! You girls burn my wallet more than alcohol. If I have to do it for four nieces, I'll have nothing left for myself."
The family laughed at the absurdity, but Summer took on a serious tone.
"So..are you going to-"
"Oh, hell no. But…I still want to give Oz a chance. I won't tell him about you guys, and, if you need anything from me, I'll be there. But I won't abandon the man just yet."
Scarlet and Ursis nodded, sad but understanding. Ozpin gave Qrow a place to belong, a purpose. Though he'd join them if they asked (which they didn't), he wasn't going to give up on the wizard just yet.
'Though,' Summer thought, 'Doesn't mean I won't be telling everything to Scarlet when I get the chance.'
"Now," Summer declared, "If you don't mind...I think I'm going to sleep for a month to make up for all the lack of sleep I've been getting."
"Should we continue the normal flight path?" Beauty asked, "Or change things."
Summer said, turning to Scarlet, "Well? Where do we go from here?"
Scarlet smiled, "Home."
Author's Notes: One more chapter, and Act 1 of the story will be done. Ironwood is on ROWSE's side (for better or for worse) And Summer's now a full on spy for ROWSE. Qrow neutral. He'll still work for Ozpin, but the seed of doubt has been placed.
(1) Yes, that is a reference to CipherWrite's version of the infiltration.
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