Author's Note: Evelynn knows about Gary and Grayson now, but she's not the only one.
Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or its associated characters. The characters in this writing so far are mostly original characters, but I make no claim over the existing characters.
Chapter 26
Old Friends
As I was busy ripping the communications systems out of our Bullhead, I heard a knock, and looked up to see the newest member of the Ace Ops, Winter Schnee, standing at the hole in the back of the aircraft.
"Can I help you ma'am?" I asked distractedly. I was focused on extracting the modulator for the antenna so I could use it to boost the signal from my scroll. I pulled off the glove of my armor so I could better reach into the guts of the instrument panel. I had to sit down on the floor of the cockpit and twist my head to the side at an awkward angle as I slid all the way up to my shoulder inside the ruined panel in my quest to find the correct component.
The recently promoted Atlesian operative stepped inside the bullhead as I extricated myself with the part in hand. I looked up in surprise as she knelt down and pulled me into a swift hug. I reflexively tensed, confused by her behavior and half expecting some sort of attack. From what I knew of Operative Schnee, she didn't seem like someone who hugged random people, of that I was certain.
"It's good to see you here," She said after she released me. "I could really use your help. The Ace Ops expedited my induction process to backfill their ranks after Harriet died. I've been so caught up with training with them that I've hardly even had time to speak with my sister. It's a relief to finally see a familiar face."
I blinked slowly, trying to figure out what she was talking about. Finally, one particular phrase leapt out at my sluggish brain, 'familiar face.' I jerked back and stood up, examining her more closely and trying to force my damaged mind to dredge up some memory of her.
"You know who I am?" I asked excitedly. "I haven't met anyone who knew me since I was injured. Well, except The Pantheon."
Her expression shifted from hopefulness to concern as I spoke, and she looked me up and down, as if trying to examine me for injuries beyond the physical.
"What happened to you?" She asked. "What injury?"
I pointed to my left temple, miming a bullet cracking against my skull.
"I got shot in the head a few weeks ago while fighting in Argus." I explained. Her eyes grew wide as I elaborated. "I woke up in an office building with amnesia. Captain Stone found me and helped me make it back to base safely. After that, nobody knew what to do with me, so I replaced Lieutenant Amber on SGGE when Hyperion killed him."
I had completely forgotten about rebuilding the communications system now, and stepped to the side to continue speaking with her. I was so grateful to meet someone who knew me on Atlas' side that I didn't stop to consider how or why it had happened.
"Like I said," I continued "You're the first person on our side I've met since then that actually knows me, knows who I am. Can you tell me anything? What did I used to do? What was I like?"
Winter studied me carefully, as if unsure what to say. After a moment she finally responded.
"You don't remember me?" She asked, sounding somewhat hurt. I shook my head sadly.
"I wish I did, but almost everything is a complete blank slate. I've been told a few things, but it all seems like it happened to someone else."
"Well," She said slowly, "I guess I can try to tell you what I remember about you." She took a seat on one of the Bullhead's benches, sitting properly in spite of the ten degree angle the ruined aircraft was canted at. I sat on the bench opposite her, resting my elbows on my knees as I leaned towards her in anticipation.
"We first met when I was pursuing leads on rumors of a more radical element of the White Fang. At first I was suspicious because you turned up out of nowhere, offering information in exchange for advice on business deals with the Schnee Dust Company. I hadn't been disinherited yet, but I knew it was coming, so I didn't see the harm in giving out some relatively minor tips on which executives might be better to talk to."
As she spoke, I wracked my brain to try to remember anything about what she was saying. I had some of Gary's memories of my life floating around in my head, and when Cole mentioned specifics I had partially remembered a few things, but right now I was drawing a complete blank.
"Your information was good," she continued thoughtfully, clasping her gloved hands and placing them on her knee as she crossed her legs. "So good in fact that I took you up on your offer to work together more in the future."
"Work together?" I asked, "On what?"
Winter refocused on me, no longer lost in thought remembering.
"On most things really. Our goals were fairly similarly aligned, so when Atlas sent me after criminals or terrorists I would let you know, in case you had time to help. You did the same when clearing out some of the worst criminals in Wind Path. I'd say we probably worked together a few days out of the month for two years."
She nodded to where my scroll was resting with its back panel open atop the jumble of components from the Bullhead's communication system.
"That's why I was so surprised when you suddenly dropped off the face of Remnant. Normally we spoke at least once a week, if only to catch each other up on investigations. It happened right after the war began, so I assumed you were busy. I'm glad to see you finally took me up on my suggestion to join Atlas properly, I never liked the idea of you working for The Pantheon."
I shook my head, still completely unable to recall anything about our interactions. I could see myself reaching out to a reliable partner if I needed a full fledged huntsman to deal with criminal elements in the city, I certainly wouldn't be capable of even trying anything that dangerous without LIWI and my armor. Providing Winter with intelligence information also seemed like something I would have done while working for The Pantheon, since I would have had access to their information network.
"I'm afraid it really doesn't ring a bell." I admitted, "Don't get me wrong, that's nothing against you, and what you're saying makes sense, but I just can't get my brain to remember any of it."
She looked at me with a surprisingly soft expression.
"Can't LIWI help you?" She asked. "His magic should be able to heal you shouldn't it? I saw you use it during our fight with The Pantheon earlier."
I looked up with a start.
"You know about LIWI?" I asked redundantly. The real question was how she knew about magic in the first place, let alone about LIWI. She nodded in reply, then elaborated.
"I do, you introduced us after I was selected to be the next Winter Maiden. You said you trusted me with the knowledge because I understood how important it was to keep his abilities a secret."
She looked around the cramped interior of the wrecked Bullhead's cabin.
"Where are you hiding him by the way?" She asked curiously. "I didn't see where he was in the fight, though he's obviously here somewhere."
I realized that while she may know about LIWI, she clearly didn't know everything. She probably thought that he was some sort of strange maiden offshoot, or perhaps simply someone who could innately access magic. I could sense that LIWI had tuned into the conversation once I had said his name out loud, but he appeared content to stay quiet.
"He's safe." I told her, "But no, he can't restore my memories unfortunately. They're pretty much lost to me forever."
"Phoenix!" I heard Evelynn shout from outside, "Where's my comms?"
I shot a guilty look towards Winter.
"Talk later?" I asked hopefully. "I need to finish this right now."
She nodded sympathetically, then stood and stepped out of the missing back half of the aircraft. She turned partly back towards me before stepping away.
"It's good to see you again Gary." She told me, "Let me know when you're free."
As soon as I heard the name 'Gary' the happiness fell from my face, and my heart dropped into my stomach. I felt such a deep repugnant reaction that bile churned in my stomach for a moment before I got my reactions under control.
Before I could reply she had already departed, leaving me alone with LIWI, a half finished communications system, and the crushing realization that my greatest hope for a friend had just been taken from me by Gary yet again.
-/-
About an hour later I watched as the tiny civilian aircraft I had managed to contact set off with Eugene, Evelynn, Major Fin, and Senior Operative Clover crammed uncomfortably in the back. They also had carefully loaded Captain Ripley's body, covered by a small sheet. LIWI had been able to heal the others, but he was now working overtime to purge the excess energy, and had fallen silent again. Randall leaned on the side of the cliff Gary had been perched on during the fight, his head cocked curiously as I sat on a small box to keep out of the snow.
"A clone?" He asked, "I didn't think that was medically possible."
I didn't bother lifting my head from between my hands to respond, still sulking about what would happen now that more of my secrets were out.
"Yeah, well. Most of the stuff I do probably isn't medically possible." I told him.
I was still stuck in a profoundly negative headspace. This entire day had been horrible, and just when I thought I had a spark of brightness by finding Winter, I learned that she was Gary's friend, not mine.
More pressing however, was that if Evelynn decided to share my relation to Gary with Atlas High Command, or worse, if Major Fin found out about it, I could expect to spend the rest of the war in a cell. At best I would be interrogated about Gary. At worst I would become a medical test subject, poked and prodded until the doctors were satisfied.
Randall looked thoughtful as he considered the implications of my heritage.
"Okay." He finally said, "I don't see the problem really with that. I think the problem is that you didn't tell us about it."
I looked up at him in disbelief.
"Seriously?" I asked, "I'm the exact same guy that you've been fighting for months, the same guy that killed Lieutenant Amber, and that's not the problem?"
He frowned.
"You didn't really kill David though," he said thoughtfully. "You were actively trying to save his life. Just because the other you managed to kill him doesn't mean it's your fault."
I shook my head.
"Even then, it was my plan that got him killed."
He turned his head upwards as he considered that.
"No," he replied. "I don't actually think that's your fault either. If the three of us had managed to beat him by ourselves, or if we had been able to stall him better in negotiations, then you might have had a better chance. Really the rescue failing all came down to luck, and that's nobody's fault."
I thought about his point for a while, and we lapsed into silence for a long minute. Eventually I sat up straight, putting my hands on my waist and turning to face him properly.
"You're really willing to just accept this?"
He shrugged.
"Are you any different than the person you were yesterday?" He asked. I shook my head.
"Then yeah, pretty much. I don't get paid to worry about that kind of high level strategic stuff. I get paid to fight, and you showed me that you can be relied on. If I thought for even a moment that you weren't fully committed to this team then I'd throw you out on your ass."
He stuck out his fist, and I bumped it.
"Now," he changed the subject, "We've got to deal with everything else that happened today."
-/-
That night I dreamed for the first time in almost two months. I was sitting in a Bullhead, laughing and eating with my friends as we flew back to Argus. I had my armor off, and was talking with Cole about how he had managed to get a hold of Sergeant Green during the fight.
"It was great," Cole said, "He had me on the ropes for a while, but then Yaslin just grabs his foot with her semblance and *whup!* There he goes!"
I chuckled, though part of me felt slightly uncomfortable with the mental image. Memories that had been shared with me the night of the hospital, memories of Team SGGE fighting alongside me and saving my life flashed through my head, and I couldn't fully bring myself to be indifferent to them.
"What about after I left to deal with Grayson?" I asked.
"Oh, you missed it then." Cole continued, "That major? The one with the mustache? I bashed his head clean through the side of their Bullhead, I'm honestly surprised I didn't scramble his brain."
Hackett said something that caught Cole's attention, and I just focused on eating for a moment. Once finished, I cleared my throat, then stood up, addressing all of my friends in the cramped cabin of the aircraft. It was awkward fitting all of us in the same cramped space, and Hackett had to revert back to his non magically enhanced size to fit in the aircraft, but we made it work.
"Alright everybody" I announced, "It's night time in Atlas, so if you have anything you want to say to Grayson now is your chance." Yaslin and Thomas both raised plastic cups in a toast.
"We miss you!" Yalsin called out like she was speaking to a camera. "Come back and visit sometime soon." The rest nodded and spoke their agreements, though out of the corner of my eye I could see Cole staring away from me and into the corner of the cabin.
In my dream I made my way to the tiny bathroom in the back of the aircraft, stopping to look at myself in the mirror. I wasn't in my armor, and was instead wearing a comfortable dark blue long sleeve shirt and black cargo pants.
"Hey Grayson," I said to the mirror, "I figure you're probably getting this, but I just wanted to let you know, what happened today wasn't because I don't care about you. It's because I want you back safe, and that means getting you away from Atlas. I know that the only reason you've stayed with them is out of loyalty to your team, which is admirable. But now you know it's only a matter of time before Atlas High Command finds out now, and there's no possible way they let you go once they know who you are. Heck, I don't even want to think about what Winter is going to do to you if she figures it out, I hope it doesn't hurt too bad." I let out a breath as I paused to think.
"If you do have to explain our situation to her will you tell her I'm sorry I haven't responded to her? I guess I just don't know how to explain this to her in a way that makes sense." My head dropped away from the mirror, and I muttered under my breath
"This war is costing me too many friends…" A moment later I looked up, as if trying to pretend that I hadn't heard myself. "Anyways," I continued, "Send me a memory sometime when you want to talk, I'll be listening. And if you get into trouble with Atlas then I'll be there to get you out as soon as physically possible, maybe sooner."
-/-
The dream ended and I awoke, sitting up in my cot covered in sweat. I was breathing heavily, and my palms felt clammy. I focused on calming my breathing while the dream, really a memory from Gary, repeated itself in my mind. When I was conscious I could tune him out, choosing to ignore our link, but it seemed that when I slept I still had no control over it.
I thought about whether or not to respond, putting on my winter clothing and boots while I tried to decide. My mind was racing a million miles an hour, and I needed to go for a walk to calm myself. I stepped out of the tent I was sharing with Randall into the crisp night air. Snow was gently falling as I walked to the edge of camp, and my boots crunched softly in the fresh powder. The gently descending flakes were slowly covering up the trampled footprints and spilled blood in the snow from the fighting, as if the weather itself was trying to forget about what had happened.
I left LIWI in the tent, needing to be alone with my thoughts. He could find me if he needed me, but I almost never had time alone from him, and I knew he would be safe with Randall.
I wasn't sure where I was going at first, but after a few minutes of meandering around aimlessly I found myself outside of the Ace Ops tent. Elm Ederne, the heavy hitter on their team, looked over at me from where she was sitting on a discarded piece of their destroyed aircraft. The operative was built like the tree she was named after, and raised an eyebrow at me as I stood awkwardly a few feet from the tent.
"Here to talk to Winter?" She surmised, "I'll tell her. Maybe next time don't blow her off though, it's not a good way to treat your friends."
I cleared my throat, unsure of myself.
"Thanks." I finally mustered. Winter wasn't really my friend, she was Gary's, though I doubted that would remain the case after I finished speaking with her. Really, I would be fortunate if she didn't decide to take my head off after I explained everything. Maybe I should have brought LIWI with me to protect me.
With a small start, I realized that I had made up my mind to tell Winter the truth. I didn't know when that had happened, but I was committed now. Elm reappeared while I was lost in my thoughts, holding open the tent flap and ushering Winter out into the cold night air.
The young huntress looked indifferent, which was much more in line with my initial understanding of her behavior. Perhaps her earlier excitement and friendliness had just been the result of excess energy from the fight. Or maybe I had just pissed her off by avoiding her for the entire day.
"Uh, Hi." I offered awkwardly. "Can we talk somewhere?"
She nodded politely, and fell into step beside me as I led us out of the camp. We both remained silent as we walked, and I agonized over how to break the news to her. Eventually, we reached a quiet spot atop a small rise, where we could see the brilliant shattered moon over the tops of some of the surrounding trees.
"Winter," I began, "I have some bad news."
She looked at me quizzically. As we had departed camp her attitude had shifted, becoming more friendly, walking closer to me, and just generally becoming less distant.
"I'm not Gary Crow." I said flatly. "I'm not the guy you made friends with. I'm sorry for accidentally letting you believe that earlier."
She frowned, looked over her shoulder towards the camp, then back towards me.
"I'm sure that the loss of your memories has been traumatic for you." She replied, "But you shouldn't reject who you were entirely. You seem to be very much the same person, even if your experiences are different now."
She thought I meant that I wasn't Gary because of the memory loss. I almost face palmed as I realized why she thought that's what I was saying. Of course to her that would be the most logical assumption.
"No," I argued, shaking my head. "I mean that I literally am not Gary Crow, I never was. I'm Grayson Phoenix. Gary is a separate person, he still has his memories, he's still out there. I'm just me, but when you said you recognized me I got so excited to have met someone who knew me that I didn't stop to realize you thought I was him."
Winter still looked mildly puzzled, but she pulled back slightly, and I saw the mask of professionalism reappear on her face. Any signs of friendliness she had been exhibiting earlier were slipping away, and I felt a small twist in my gut as I watched her visibly begin to consider me a stranger.
"Who are you then? His twin?" She asked. Her voice was still polite, but with a hint of an underlying edge.
"I'm his clone." I replied flatly, and I could see the gears in her head spin as she considered the implications of the statement. I kept explaining as she considered it, but she had now taken a complete step backwards and I was once again a stranger.
"A few years ago Gary was learning about magic. Before he could make LIWI, he needed to be able to manipulate magic for himself. While he couldn't reclaim that power for himself, he could use small bits of existing magic to do a few specific things. He grew me using a myriad of magical and technological tools, and implanted me with the ability to see magic."
I reached up and tapped the side of my eye as I spoke, activating my arcane sight which I knew tended to create an almost imperceptible flash of light when it focused. In the dark, the small twinkle of pale blue light would be visible, and Winter's own eyes opened wide as she saw it. Interestingly, their was a faint thread of magic that seemed to be linking her with someone in Atlas. A moment later it was gone, but it was there long enough for me to see it.
"He used me to manipulate magic that could still be found in the world to create new tools for him. Stuff like his armor, his weapons, even LIWI. I agreed with everything we were doing, everything he was doing, because I was him. We were the same person entirely, with the only exception being that I lack a soul."
Winter had stopped visibly expressing surprise at this point, and had now evidently decided her best bet was to study me as I spoke. I couldn't tell whether or not she believed me yet or just thought I was rambling as a result of brain damage.
"Instead of my own soul," I elaborated. "I carry a tiny portion of Gary's. It links us together, and allows us to share memories. I have a few of his that he gave me, but not enough to see the full picture. And he never gave me any of you, so I'm afraid I was never going to remember the time you two spent together."
I released a pent up breath, feeling the stress in my gut loosen somewhat as I came to the end of my tirade. The truth was out there, and now I would simply have to see how she reacted. Winter remained silent for a long moment, standing with arms crossed as she judged what I had told her. Finally she posed a question.
"If you aren't Gary, then why hasn't he responded to my messages? Why isn't he helping us right now?"
I grimaced.
"Because he's Hyperion."
She blinked, this time I had surprised her badly enough to pierce her carefully crafted bearing.
"That can't be true." She asserted. "They have entirely different semblances, they are provably different people."
"What did Gary tell you his semblance was?" I asked curiously.
"He could turn himself intangible, I watched him walk through walls myself. There's no way that he and Hyperion are the same person."
"And do you know what Hyperion's semblance is?" I asked in a leading tone.
"Control of light." She answered as if reciting an intelligence dossier. "He uses it to turn himself invisible, to blind his opponents, and to create detailed but silent illusions."
I let her last point hang in the air for a long moment, until finally she realized what she said.
"Oh." She finally whispered. "That son of a bitch!" Anger flashed on her face, and she didn't bother concealing it. I didn't blame her, and fortunately it didn't seem directed at me yet. I let her stew for a moment as she worked through her feelings, once she had replaced her mask of stoicism I spoke again.
"So now you know. Where do we go from here?" I asked.
She took a moment to respond, eyeing me suspiciously.
"You're the same as him?" She asked. "Why aren't you on his side?"
Implied in her voice was a further question, 'how do I know you aren't still on his side and working against us from the inside?'
I shrugged.
"Ask Evelynn, she can confirm that Gary's not too happy about my being here. And if I was working for him then why would I tell you any of that? Especially about him being Hyperion? He wants you to trust him, to be his friend, especially after the war is over."
"What do you mean?" She demanded, "Why specifically after the war is over?"
I sighed, then launched into an explanation of what I understood of Gary's plans, including replacing Ironwood with another suitable candidate, possibly even her. My best theory was that the reason they had selected Winter as a potential leader was three-fold.
One, she was going to be the next Winter Maiden, which would give her significant pull with both Ozpin and the Atlesian Council. Two, her father's influence. Jacques Schnee could be convinced to throw his support behind her, especially as a way to force her to live up to the family name one way or another. And finally, she was still young and relatively inexperienced. She would be reliant on the advice and counsel of people around her to make decisions.
Gary could present himself as someone who had already helped build an empire, but had separated from it when they turned on Atlas. He could give her advice that would benefit their plans, which she would trust because of their existing friendship. That would give The Pantheon influence or direct control over nearly half the world, and the only two standing armies on Remnant.
When I finished, Winter seemed lost in thought.
"Can you prove any of that?" She asked, "If you can, I could take it to my team, to General Ironwood himself. I'm sure he would listen to you."
I snorted, amused more than anything.
"If I told him that I was a soulless clone of one of his nation's biggest enemies, how long do you think I would stay out of a cell? Worse, if I told him I could see magic and make weapons out of it, how long would it be before he had scientists experimenting on me to figure out how to replicate my arcane sight? Even once he figured out he couldn't do that, magical weapons would spark a new arms race across Remnant. I can't talk to Ironwood, and not just because of what would happen to me. I'm responsible for people, I have to take care of them."
"LIWI?" She asked, and I nodded in reply.
"And SGGE," I agreed. "They'd all certainly be interrogated as well for their association with me. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if you were detained for a while once the revelation about Gary was made more common knowledge."
"I could offer my support, provide backing for your claims to the general." Winter argued, "We could convince him that you are loyal to Atlas."
I winced, I wasn't even sure if I was loyal to Atlas. Loyal to SGGE? Absolutely, but only to Atlas by association.
"Could you give me an absolute guarantee that he wouldn't take LIWI from me?" I demanded, "Could you say with certainty that SGGE wouldn't be impacted? They would always be marked as the team that didn't rat me out to higher leadership, their careers would be effectively over."
She looked down at her feet, and her silence was my answer.
"That's what I thought." I said bitterly. "I'm going to keep fighting The Pantheon, I'd appreciate your help, but I'll do it with or without you or anyone else in Atlas."
"Hm." She intoned. "You really are just like him."
I stiffened, unhappy to be compared to Gary.
"Maybe not in a bad way." She clarified, "But you have the same sense of personal responsibility he does. I suppose it just manifests differently in you."
"I doubt it," I replied. "We both want to protect the people we care about. I'm just not arrogant enough to think I have the right to kill thousands to do it." I ran a hand through my scalp, trying to think through things.
Fortunately, Winter didn't seem particularly inclined to turn me in to Ironwood. If that changed however I would probably be screwed. I needed to determine her intentions.
"What will you do then?" I asked. "Now that you know about Gary?"
She thought about my question for a moment before answering.
"I haven't decided yet." She admitted. "On the one hand, I intend to tear him to pieces for betraying me. On the other, some small part of me still thinks of him as a friend. He wasn't always Hyperion, he used to just be someone I could lean on for help."
"I noticed." I commented. "Back when you thought I was Gary you seemed thrilled to see him again. Sorry for giving you that false hope I guess."
"I doubt it was intentional." She remarked. "And I appreciate your honesty with me. Knowing Gary, it must have been tempting for you to keep this hidden from me. Doubly so now that I understand how often he deceived me before."
That had been part of it, but the other half of the temptation was the desire I felt for an actual friend, someone outside of SGGE and LIWI who actually knew me. With a forced mental shrug I brushed that notion aside, focusing on what could actually be done.
"So…" I asked awkwardly, "Are we good?"
"I hold no ill will towards you personally, if that is what you mean." She replied. "It seems that you are doing your best to make a poor situation better. I doubt we will ever be friends, but you may be useful in the future, so I will trust you enough not to reveal your secrets. For now."
"I'll take what I can get." I replied, impulsively offering my right hand. She took it, though not before appearing to consider it for the briefest of moments.
"Alright then." I concluded. "Now I just have to convince Evelynn to feel the same way."
"I'll speak with her." Winter replied. "She seems like a good leader, and I doubt that she has any desire to hate you."
I frowned. She hadn't seen the look Evelynn had given me. Even if she didn't want to hate me, that didn't mean her anger wasn't real.