Thin strands of red swirl along the surface of the water, circling his arm. Qrow watches the blood disperse, mixing with the water to tinge it pink. He has spent enough time sitting here soaking in the bath, yet his shoulder keeps him rooted in place. The pain has steadily worsened since he first climbed in, a constant pulse that makes him dread the idea of trying to get out. He needs to, though. He knows he does, since his skin is starting to wrinkle. Reaching up, he grabs hold of the cold porcelain of the tub and tucks his legs underneath him, then starts to push himself up.
His hand slips. A startled breath leaves him in a gasp, and he acts on instinct alone, his other hand lashing out to grip the tub. He manages to catch himself, the act of which sends a sharp pang through his shoulder, fresh blood leaving a warm trail down his arm. Hunching over, he squeezes his eyes closed and takes in several deep breaths, trying to ignore the burn as he waits for it to subside. It barely lessens. Resigned to dealing with the pain, he drags himself out with a groan and drops onto the toilet seat.
Earlier Fiona had popped into the bathroom long enough to drop off his new clothes. Watching her go out of her way to use the door to block him from view had gotten a bit of a laugh out of him, but he did thank her for helping. It would be rude not to, since she is one of the women harboring him. Once he dries off, he loosely wraps the towel around his shoulder to stop more blood from dripping onto the floor and wrestles his new boxers and pants on. Sweatpants would never be his first choice of wear, but they are comfortable and the right size, so he isn't going to complain. None of them know his specific clothing preferences anyway.
The continuous throbbing of his shoulder, on the other hand, makes him want to punch the wall. He knows that would only cause more pain, so he sucks it up and calls out that he is finished.
Robyn is the one he expects to show up, but May enters the room instead.
"Where's Robyn?"
"Something came up," May answers. "She'll be back later."
She wastes no time in digging out the bandages, and then she pulls out what he assumes is the same bottle of antiseptic wound wash Robyn used on him before.
"Do you have to use that stuff?" he asks, glaring at the bottle with poorly concealed hatred.
"I'm not going to be responsible for you getting an infection," she responds.
Which is fair. That doesn't stop him from snapping when she starts to clean his shoulder. Unlike Robyn, May says little to him, only complaining when he starts trying to shift away from her. Eventually Qrow forces himself to sit still and let her finish, gripping the sides of the toilet seat to stop from squirming around. He breathes a sigh of relief once she decides she is satisfied with her work. She then moves to wrap his shoulder with the bandages.
"We've got a cot set up for you in the back," she says. "You should go lay down for a while."
A cot. Talk about living the high life.
~0~
Hesitant as Robyn is to leave Clover to his devices, the thought of lingering here when Qrow is injured and out of sorts leaves her with no choice other than to go. Their little chat has left a sour taste in her mouth. Terrible burning anger coils in her gut, intensifying with each step she takes, tempting her to return and unload her fury on Clover. Knowing that he was snooping around Mantle in search of Qrow, who went out of his way to leave Atlas without telling anyone, makes her want to throttle him.
If Clover does keep his word about stopping his search, she may be willing to believe what he said, but she knows how those who serve the Atlas military are. Obedient dogs to the bitter end. The moment his precious leader tells him to seek Qrow out, he will, and when that happens, Robyn will make sure no one finds Qrow. The fact that Qrow has had little to no sleep both times Robyn has seen him proves that his time in Atlas has had a negative effect on him. He clearly doesn't need to go back.
Not wanting her team to worry, she pauses just outside the door and takes a minute to calm herself down before she enters the house. No doubt they will be able to tell that she is in a less than pleasant mood, but she will do what she can to keep her anger under wraps.
When she enters, Fiona is quick to jump to her feet, worried. "Is everything okay? What happened?"
"Just the leader of the Ace Ops being nosy," Robyn says, waving her hand dismissively. "We had a nice talk with each other, and he'll be heading back up to Atlas."
May folds her arms, a subtle frown on her face. "You sure?"
"We'll know if he doesn't." Taking a glance around the room, Robyn notes their missing guest. "Qrow?"
Jerking her thumb over her shoulder, Joanna points to the door behind her. "Back room."
Robyn nods. "Keep your ears out for Clover. Better safe than sorry."
Between their information network and the support of the general Mantle populace, keeping tabs on the movement of Atlas personnel is easy. Should Clover or his team try to poke their noses where they don't belong, as they tend to do, the Happy Huntresses will be among the first to know.
In the meantime, she just has to wait and see if Clover will take what she said about leaving Qrow alone to heart.
The back room had previously been a guest room, but some time ago she converted it into a storage room. Ironic, considering she now has a guest, one who could use a proper bed. When she knocks, she receives a muffled response, and so she goes ahead and opens the door. The various items inside the room have been rearranged, moved to the far corner to make space for the cot now occupying the rightmost wall. Qrow sits perched on the edge of it, gingerly rubbing his injured shoulder, red eyes peering at her through his mussed hair.
"Look at you! You clean up nicely," she says with a laugh. "The messy hair is definitely a better look for you."
Unamused by her teasing, Qrow glowers at her. "So, what business did you need to deal with?"
"Nothing serious. Just someone being a pain in the ass. What else is new?"
He makes it clear he knows she is bullshitting him by narrowing his eyes. With a sigh, she leans against the wall and shakes her head.
"Clover was out looking for you."
Qrow is silent for a few moments before he asks, "Why?"
What kind of question is that? With a raised eyebrow, she stares down at him.
"You mean besides running off?" That makes Qrow grunt and lower his head. "He said he was worried about you. Don't know if he was being honest or not." She pauses to comb her hand through her hair. "I probably should've checked if he was, but I got annoyed when I heard he was looking around and didn't think about it. He was alone, though, and no one has seen the rest of his lackeys, so..."
"...Right."
"He also said something about your nieces being worried? Told me to tell you to message them."
It takes a second for him to respond, staring off into space as he mutters, "Fuck."
"Gotta admit, I didn't know you had nieces. How old are you anyway?" When he glares again, she chuckles. "Alright. Don't bite my head off. So, you want me to find a way to contact them, or...?"
"No."
"If you're sure. You think they'll tell Ironwood or something?" Qrow says nothing, and Robyn shrugs. "Well, whatever. It's about time for lunch anyway."
"Not hungry."
"Too bad. You're under my roof, so you're going to eat."
To her surprise, he says nothing when she helps him to his feet. Judging by the way he scrunches up his face, nose wrinkled and lips drawn downwards in a sharp frown, she bets his shoulder is hurting him more than before. She gives him time to steady himself, letting him even out his breathing.
"You want something for the pain?"
Instead of a direct response, Qrow just tilts his head towards her, looking at Robyn as if she should already know the answer. If he is in this much pain, that means he must have refused any medication from the others, which leads her to a solid 'no'. That begs the question as to why. Hopefully there is more to this than him just being stubborn, because if his reason is something ridiculous, his opinion of her will be much more negative once she is finished lecturing him.
For now, though, it can wait. Better to get some food in him while he is being at least somewhat cooperative. It may be the pain making him compliant, but she is going to take full advantage of it. It is rather easy to usher him out of the room and to the kitchen. All he does is grumble a few choice words, which she can just ignore.
"Can't just eat back there, huh."
"Nope," she says, shoving him into a chair. "This way I can make sure you eat."
The way Qrow can deepen a scowl more than she thought humanly possible is, admittedly, rather impressive. Perfect ammunition to tease him with later. He must know that she is serious about it, because he chooses to sit there with a perpetual pout on his face as she gets the rest of the team to join them. There is little in the way of fresh food here, thanks to her forgetting to go shopping, so she settles on heating up some day-old leftovers. If Qrow has any complaints, then she will gently remind him that he chose her over a hospital. She doubts he has anywhere else to go, so he will just have to deal with it.
Predictably, Qrow pokes at his food, using his fork to shift the meat and potatoes around on his plate. A subtle glare from Robyn has him take an actual bite, though his face twists into a grimace as he does. Either the food isn't to his liking, or his stomach is upset. Since he did the same the last time they ate together, and to spare her own ego, she is going to go with the latter option. Once she makes sure he will continue to eat, she turns her attention to her team, falling into conversation with them. A few times she spares a glance at Qrow to check on him, but otherwise she leaves him be.
By the time the rest of them have finished their plates, Qrow has only finished half of his.
When she shoots another look at him, he glowers at her. "Don't you have anything better to do?"
Robyn rolls her eyes, though she has to stifle a laugh at how petulant he sounds.
"Slow day today," she responds. "Unless something big comes up, we won't be doing much."
"So you're keeping an eye on me," Qrow says.
"You can do whatever you want once your shoulder heals up." She points the knife in her hand at him. "I mean, wouldn't you do the same?"
With a huff he turns away, roughly skewering a piece of meat on his fork. Just as she thought. Yet another addition to the list of things she can hold over him. It takes a while, but Qrow does manage to clean his plate. His displeasure is clear on his face when he drops it into the sink, staring at Robyn with a pointed look that she merely shrugs off.
"Hey, if you don't want me hovering, start taking better care of yourself. Refusing to eat is gonna make your recovery last longer, and I really don't think you want that. Unless you do. Whatever floats your boat. You got free room and board here."
At that he slinks out of the kitchen. She watches him head into the back room and shakes her head.
"He's an odd one," Joanna says.
Robyn lets out a soft laugh. "Sure is."
"Why do you want to help him so much?" May asks.
"We're friends," Robyn replies, like it is the most obvious thing in the world.
"You barely know him."
She opens her mouth to object, only to close it again. It is both true and not. Trying to explain that she feels as if she has known Qrow for years despite their encounter on the wall seemingly being their first meeting is a difficult thing. It hadn't been; Qrow himself said they met before, and she believes it. Her Semblance proved his honesty. The fact she recognized him upon seeing his face and his subsequent reaction to her knowing his name only serves as further proof.
All that aside, nothing he has done warrants distrust, at least not from her. Why would she not help? Even if she didn't trust him, there is no way she could have left him out there. It would be akin to leaving an injured puppy out in the cold.
That is a comparison she will keep to herself. For now.
"Doesn't mean I can't help someone in need."
"Sure," May mutters, uncertain. "I just hope you aren't making a mistake."
"I'm not."
"Robyn?" Fiona says, drawing her attention. "What should we do about Qrow? We're scheduled for patrols soon."
Oh. She had completely forgotten about the patrols. With Qrow here, they can't all leave together. The best course of action would be to rotate in pairs, one going out to patrol while the other stays behind. As much as she wants to believe that Qrow wouldn't try to slip out, she knows it is likely he could. After all, he got himself hurt being reckless, and he made his displeasure with the fact she is keeping him here quite clear.
Which would be unnecessary if he just cooled down and gave himself time to recuperate, but there is little she can do about that. What she can do is make sure that he rests by not giving him the chance to injure himself further. Like she told him, he is free to do whatever he wants once she is certain that his shoulder is healed, but until then, he doesn't need to be putting himself in danger.
She relays the plan to her team. Joanna and Fiona say nothing, and though May is less than enthused, she relents.
"Don't worry," Robyn says, chuckling. "I can take the first shift with Fiona."
"Think it'd be better if we did. He wasn't too happy about you forcing him to eat," Joanna says.
"Yeah, that's true. You sure you're up for it?"
May snorts. "What, you think we can't handle him whining?"
Tempted as she is to say she does, Robyn settles on responding with, "If it gets to be too much, give us a call."
"Sure thing, boss."
Reluctance makes her linger, gathering together her things at a slow pace. Well-acquainted with her antics, May watches her with a raised brow. It is a silent sign for her to move along, lest she deal with her friend's impatience. Not that Robyn can blame her. The sooner Robyn and Fiona finish their round of patrols, the sooner May and Joanna can leave for theirs. With a wry smile on her face, Robyn wishes the two luck, earning a small frown from May, and heads out the door with Fiona in tow.
What are the chances that Qrow will cause trouble while she is out? The pain and exhaustion left him opposed to the idea of even eating a meal, let alone anything more. The man is sharp as a tack when he wants to be; surely he will have the sense to rest instead of choosing to push himself. It is far from a certain thing, but he seemed to be of sound mind during lunch, if not a bit cranky thanks to his choice to deal with the pain. Bathing and having his shoulder tended to helped quite a bit, it seems, at least from what she could tell.
Or Qrow is biding his time, waiting for the perfect chance to slip out. If he does try, she and the others will stop him, though she isn't quite sure what to do if he succeeds. As much as she wants him to rest, tracking him down is not an option in her playbook. There needs to be at least one place where he is comfortable, and she wants to do her best to make her home welcoming to him.
"You're more worried than I thought," Fiona says, jolting Robyn out of her thoughts.
"Hard not to be when he almost got himself killed."
"Why do you think he did it?"
There are a few possibilities, some of which are ones that she would rather not entertain. The one she suspects above any other is a falling out of some kind between him and Ironwood. It would explain his distress over the thought of having been seen, since fleeing Atlas would warrant caution. Which he failed at the moment he decided to face down a whole Grimm horde on his own, but she digresses. Whether or not that is the case, or if the reason is more complicated, is not her place to say.
"Who knows."
"Do you think he'll tell us why?"
"No," Robyn says, disappointment creeping into her voice. "He probably won't."
Fiona nods in understanding, her eyes drifting to the clouds above. "I guess I can understand that, if it's something personal."
Whatever it is that Qrow keeps close to heart, it weighs on him heavily. How severe is it for him to feel it necessary to hide it from everyone around him?
Rubbing her neck, Robyn glances out at the tundra, watching sparse flakes of snow drift through the air.
In truth, part of her concern stems from a rather awful nightmare the night before, one whose hazy details left her feeling rather ill when she first woke and continue to make her uneasy about her current situation hours later. She is no stranger to brutality; there are a number of horrendous acts she has borne witness to over the years, giving her first-hand experience with the kind of cruelty the worst of humanity can inflict on others, or the devastation brought on at the hands of the Grimm. It is just one of many hurdles to be faced when being a Huntress, unfortunately, but even with all she has seen in her time, none of it compared to that dream.
A body lies in an ever-spreading pool of crimson, mangled to the extent of being near unrecognizable, yet bearing a face she knows well. Qrow, despite having his chest and abdomen ripped open, still clings to life. Each ragged breath he draws is a wet gurgle, blood bubbling from his mouth.
To see him standing out there, arm drenched in blood, shook her to her core. All she could think of was that nightmare, that terrible image of Qrow torn apart yet somehow alive burned into her mind. Him being his usual grumpy self helped alleviate the worst of it, but even now her stomach clenches at the thought of it.
That the dream felt real made it all the worse, as if it had happened in a past life. It is one of many things she wishes she could ask Qrow about. With how things stand, it would be for the best not to, just to avoid the possibility of adding to his stress.
"Robyn?"
Dragging herself away from the memory of torn flesh and blood, she turns to Fiona, who stares up at her leader with her ears drawn back.
"Sorry," Robyn says, forcing a smile on her face. "Spaced out there for a sec."
"It's just... the look on your face..."
Robyn brushes off the concern with a small wave of her hand. "Don't worry about it. I've just got a lot on my mind, that's all."
For a moment it seems that Fiona is going to argue as she purses her lips. Instead of saying anything, she turns away. "If you say so."
Their patrol goes smoothly enough. Other than the occasional straggler off in the distance, the two see almost no Grimm. Thanks to Qrow's stunt, if she had to guess. It is a relief considering how common Grimm attacks are, though she wishes it hadn't taken Qrow getting himself hurt in the process for it to happen. She makes a note to keep that from him, on the off chance that hearing it had a positive result encourages him to try it again. She doubts it would, but better safe than sorry. If there is one point that she will concede to Clover, it is that Qrow does have a tendency to get himself into trouble.
She did mean what she said about Qrow being fine. He may not be at the moment, but he will be with time. It will take a while, but Qrow can bounce back from all this, and she will do what she can to help him. Why her faith in him is so strong is beyond her, though she has come to terms with it since their meeting on the wall. Whether it is tomorrow or years from now, she will one day get answers. For now, she is content with taking things one step at a time.
It is a relief to return home. The update from May and Joanna reveals no major changes, besides Qrow being a bit less cranky and much more restless.
"You don't know how to sit still, do you?" Robyn asks when she finds the man in question fidgeting.
"Feel better when I'm doing something," Qrow replies.
"And you'll be able to once your shoulder heals up."
Leaning back, he slings his good arm over his eyes and mutters, "Yeah, yeah."
The rest of the day goes by slowly. In truth, there is little reason for patrols today, but she continues to switch out with her teammates in case of any sudden developments. Each time she and Fiona finish their rounds, Robyn takes to doing random chores around the house, trying to preoccupy herself by cleaning and organizing. She can sympathize with Qrow; she feels just as restless, but in her case, it is because she can do nothing to help make his recovery easier. Mostly. Not having Grimm to fight or any major issues to sort through is rather strange. There is always something happening in Mantle and yet there is nothing today, not since Qrow cleared out all those Grimm and she ran Clover off. It feels wrong, as if there is a shadow lurking over them, prowling about.
Here she is, just waiting for the pin to drop. An unsettling sensation, to say the least.
"It's kinda nice having a quiet day," Fiona says.
Rather than argue, Robyn simply nods in agreement.
Now and then Robyn pokes her head into the back room to check on Qrow, just to reassure herself that he is fine. The first few times she receives a half-hearted glare from him, but when he realizes that she is going to continue keeping an eye on him, he gives up and chooses not to acknowledge her during her subsequent visits. The only time he does is when she changes his bandages out for clean ones. The wounds are closing at a slower pace than she would like, but they are starting to heal, so she cleans and wraps his shoulder with few words exchanged between them.
At no point does he sleep, despite his blatant exhaustion. To be expected, since he sported bags under his eyes the last time as well, but it is frustrating. His Aura would replenish faster if he had proper rest. At the rate things are going, it will be a couple of days before his shoulder is in good enough condition to be active, let alone fight. From the way he jerks awake each time he starts to drift, though, she wonders if he is capable of sleeping at all.
Maybe I should have him take some sleep medication, she thinks, then shakes her head, quick to cross it out as a possibility. Who knows what it would take for him to even consider it, let alone do it?
"Everything okay?" Fiona asks when she notices Robyn stewing in her thoughts.
"Trying to find a way to make him sleep."
Fiona taps her chin with a thoughtful hum. "Well, I don't know if it would help, but how about some chamomile tea?"
Getting him to drink it might be a problem, but they might as well give it a shot. "Better than nothing. Think you can make a cup?"
"Will do," Fiona says with a nod.
As her partner dips into the kitchen, Robyn heads into the back again. Whereas Qrow had previously been lying on his back, he now lies curled in a ball on his right side, his hand resting on his bandaged shoulder. The poor man looks absolutely miserable, lips pressed into a thin line, breathing heavily through his nose. He must have moved wrong again. If he keeps this up, those wounds will just continue to reopen and prolong his recovery, and she has a feeling he would rather not stay here longer than needed. Lecturing him will do no good, unfortunately, so she steps up to the cot and puts her hands on her hips.
"How're you holding up?"
Bleary red eyes drift to her. Instead of responding, his expression twists into yet another scowl.
A sympathetic smile tugs at her lips. "Yeah, I figured," she says. "You sure you don't want something to take the edge off?"
His answer is to bury his face in his arm.
Why is he being stubborn about this? Just what is going through his head that he thinks he needs to suffer through this?
Before she can think twice about it, she asks, "You got a history with pills or something?"
That makes him glare, and he rasps out a quiet, "No."
"So, you gonna tell me why you don't want to or not?"
"Don't like 'em."
"Uh-huh. Okay."
Fiona chooses then to enter the room, nudging the door open with her shoulder, a steaming cup of tea held in her hands. She pauses when her gaze falls on Qrow, but she is quick to recover, approaching with a small smile.
"What is that?" he grumbles, suspicion in his eyes as he squints at the cup.
"Chamomile tea," Fiona says. "We thought it might help you relax."
When Qrow glances at Robyn she shrugs, and he lets out a soft sigh as he starts to push himself up. The subtle tremble of his arm catches her eye, and she steps forward to help pull him up into a sitting position, taking care not to jostle his shoulder. He mumbles his thanks to her, then reaches out with his good hand to take the cup, grunting in acknowledgment when Fiona warns him about the temperature. The first sip is a tentative one, as if he is unsure whether or not to trust it, before he begins to drink it in earnest. Fiona flashes a triumphant smile at Robyn, though Robyn knows the only reason he is drinking it is because he wants to satisfy the duo in the hopes of getting them off his back.
"Try to get some sleep, okay?" Fiona says softly, taking the empty cup from him.
"Sure," he mumbles, slowly lowering himself back onto the cot with Robyn's assistance.
"We'll leave you alone for a while if that'll make you feel better," Robyn tells him, "but let us know if it starts getting worse."
"Mhm."
With that he closes his eyes, and the two take their leave.
Once the door closes, Robyn leans over to Fiona and whispers, "He is a terrible patient," earning a small giggle from her.
"At least he drank the tea?"
There is a mixture of annoyance and mirth in her voice when she says, "He just did it to avoid a lecture."
Having no other chores to see to, Robyn settles for lounging on the couch with Fiona, trying to push the lingering sense of dread to the back of her mind. It is difficult to focus on the screen, the sounds washing over her. She is itching to do something, but her only other option at present would be to go out on another patrol, which she would rather not do, and so she does her best to relax, leaning against Fiona and listening to her partner chatter about the show.
Nearly an hour passes before her incessant worrying gets the better of her.
Unable to sit still, she gets up to check on Qrow again. Tiptoeing across the room to avoid making any noise, she approaches the door and reaches out to grab the handle. The hinges let out a low creak when she begins to open it, and she winces at the sound. She settles for cracking the door open just enough to peek in. To her surprise and relief, she finds him asleep. Not a pleasant sleep, if the crease of his brow is any indication, but he needs what rest he can get, even if it ends up being a few meager minutes. Resolved to let him sleep as long as he can, she decides to leave him be until he wakes up on his own and closes the door as quietly as possible.
She returns to her partner with a thumbs-up.
"Guess the tea was a good suggestion," Fiona says.
"Looks like it." Robyn drops down onto the couch with a sigh and runs a hand down her face. "Who knew one man could stress me out this much?"
Trying to offer some comfort, Fiona shifts to press herself against Robyn's side, wrapping an arm around her. Resting her head on Fiona's, Robyn closes her eyes.
"Do you think this means there's trouble in Atlas?" Fiona asks quietly.
"Don't know for sure. He said it was personal, so I don't think there is, but..."
There is always a chance, especially with Ironwood. Who knows how he feels about Qrow leaving Atlas? Qrow seemed concerned that Ironwood might label him a felon over it, which would be ridiculous but not outside the realm of possibility. Loyalty is one of the most important things to Ironwood, and if he feels someone has betrayed him, then he will no doubt see to it that they are dealt with. She may not know Ironwood well, but she feels the same strange certainty about that as she does with Qrow.
"With Ironwood, it's hard to say," Robyn finishes. "Basically a waiting game right now."
"I thought you'd say that," Fiona mumbles, followed by a soft, stressed laugh.
"Things will work out."
They have to.
"I hope so."
She would nap, but if Qrow were to wake before her, he might try to slip out, so she returns to watching the show. She has yet to decide what to do once night falls. Keeping an eye on Qrow would require her to stay up through the night, and though she cares about him, she has obligations to Mantle that require her to be well-rested. Qrow has stayed this long due to his injuries, but once he has the energy, he may leave. Her concern for him could be enough for him to stay overnight of his own volition, if only to placate her, but if not, there is little she can do.
A selfish part of Robyn wishes Qrow had gotten around to dealing with the wall like he said he would before getting himself into trouble, but she brushes aside the thought. That is a discussion for another time, when all of this has been sorted out.
Fiona snuggles closer to her, and Robyn settles back, draping an arm over Fiona's shoulders.
They have peace for a measly half hour.
Rhythmic knocking on her door has her dragging herself from the couch to the front door with a sigh. There are harsh words on her tongue as she goes to open it, ready to reprimand whoever is knocking, but as she opens the door, it is Joanna and May who greet her.
"Sorry," Joanna says, "but you weren't answering your Scroll."
Robyn checks her pockets. Finding them empty, she sucks in a breath and heads into the kitchen. Sure enough, she left it sitting on the counter. As she goes through the litany of messages, she feels her heart sink.
Seems she jinxed herself.
"Are you kidding me?" she hisses.
Of all the times for there to be trouble, it had to be now?
Before long she and her team are gathered around the dining table, discussing the reports in hushed tones. Though Robyn does her best to keep her voice down, the irritation she feels causes her to grow louder. The last thing Mantle needs is for important systems to be interrupted, and with how deliberate the pattern seems to be, she has little doubt that this is intentional. Considering the security in Mantle is weaker than that of Atlas, someone with enough technical know-how could hack into it, but who could possibly be responsible?
"What's wrong?"
The tired mumble makes her jump, and she whips around. Standing in the doorway, staring at the group through half-lidded eyes, is Qrow, who leans heavily against the door frame. Half an hour of sleep was not enough; he is still too pale for her liking, and the dark bruises under his eyes still stand in sharp contrast against his skin. She glances down at her Scroll, biting her lip. If she tells him, he will want to help, but keeping him in the dark will only upset him, and given who Qrow is, he may know something.
"Reports of Mantle systems acting up," she explains. "This isn't the first time, but it was only a couple of small cases here and there before, nothing major. It's worse this time. At this point I don't think it's a coincidence."
Qrow's voice is barely above a whisper when he mutters, "Shit."
The reaction makes her frown. Intent on asking him, she turns back to Qrow, only to falter when she sees him ducking into the back room. She spares a glance at her team before following him.
"What are you doing?"
Choosing not to answer her, Qrow grabs his weapon, and panic seizes Robyn's chest.
"No way. You're not leaving," she says, blocking the door. "Not with the shape you're in."
"Robyn..."
"If you know what's going on, then tell us so we can deal with it."
Fingers tightening around Harbinger's handle, Qrow glares at the floor, then lets out a heavy breath. He releases the weapon, letting it fall against the wall, and raises his other hand to pinch the bridge of his nose.
"Is this one of those things you can't tell anyone about?" Robyn asks quietly. When he remains silent, she huffs and folds her arms. "Look, I trust you with my life, but right now you need to give yourself time to heal up. Whatever it is, you don't have to handle it all on your own. We can take care of it."
His refusal to answer continues, and so she sighs. No use in pushing the issue now.
"Fine," she says, waving him off. "Get some more sleep."
"You're not gonna bitch if I open the window, are you?"
That gives her pause, and she quirks her brow at him. "No," she replies. "Not like you can fit through it. Just don't complain if you get cold."
Qrow snorts, and Robyn closes the door, massaging her temples.
She needs to focus on getting this mess sorted out.