loved by no one.

        to emerald’s relief, oscar didn’t press mercury for information — she almost admired the kid for speaking up at all. almost, if not for how fucked they were. she physically placed herself between mercury and the others to keep as much space as possible, vaguely slowing down to walk behind them.   ’   sounds like a task. if you can tell me where he set things up i can probably shoot them down. he’s going to start looking for you as soon as you don’t show up.   ’

        scarlet eyes settled on mercury, her jaw set. when tyrian came after them, emerald already swore to herself she wouldn’t hold back. his dedication to salem and destroying the entire gods damn world was unparalleled, but emerald knew vacuo. she grew up here before cinder found her. she could use the land to her advantage. with a hiss - like sigh, she finally responded.   ’   i don’t know if i can trust anyone. on the other hand … they put their trust in me. i gave them a fuckin’ pep talk, mercury. we aren’t friends, but we’re better off with them than we are alone.   ’

       ALONE. emerald realized how strange it sounded after the fact, briefly glancing down at her shoes. their reality was that they were alone now, even if the hunters momentarily accepted them into their broken ranks. what were they supposed to do now? where did the other portals lead out ? if hazel were here — no. he wasn’t here. emerald would never see him again.   ’   they … we can’t tell them about summer. i didn’t tell yang her mother was there. i fucked up.   ’

   “sounds to me like you’ve gotten real chummy.”   mercury shot back under his breath, the sound like a hiss.   steel eyes narrowed, watching the others like they were going to turn on him at any second, ignoring the rational part of his brain that told him they’d never turn their back on someone they deemed a threat.   he was seething with anger, and something more painful too, a feeling that gnawed away at his chest and left him hollow.

   “its not like it matters any more.  as far as they knew, she was already dead.”   mercury spat, fingers curling into fists once again.  he knew it was wrong of him to be bitter, but summer rose felt like his.  she was the only person in the world who had ever truly cared about him, and after years of having her all to himself, it only fueled his fire to think about having to share.  summer rose died the first time her children’s hero.  she died the second time as his.

       the others watching their exchange mattered as much as the sand under emerald’s boots. they were a team now, even if she still felt apprehensive in regards to trusting them. they were equally reluctant to trust her, rightfully so — that didn’t mean emerald felt comfortable bringing up their relationship with hazel and summer. it was theirs, and neither had time to grieve.

      ‘  i’m sorry. it happened so fast, merc, they — salem’s base was blown up. portals to vacuo opened up, because of team rwby. i don’t know what happened to watts, or team rwby, but tyrian … you need to get away from him, before he finds everything out.  ‘  emerald was heartbroken, and even with the fake confidence she mustered up — she knew she looked torn up, worse than ever.

     what she didn’t expect was oscar moving forward, his own expression tense.   ‘  if you‘re really coming with us, we need to go now.  ‘  he spoke in a tone much too commanding for a fifteen year old kid.  ‘  we aren’t ready for a fight with tyrian. ‘  he looked at mercury with a curious expression.  ‘  there was … someone else in the grimm, someone else you knew, huh ?  ‘  oscar looked between them, but emerald shifted her gaze to avoid him.  ‘  come on, mercury. we can walk and talk.  ‘  her hand extended towards him, fully expecting her closest friend to ignore it.

   mercury recoiled the moment another voice piped up, taking a stuttering step back from the kid like he’d been burned.   “the hell would you know?”   mercury spat, anger boiling inside him.  his brows furrowed, fists twitching at his side -- and he might have taken a swing were it not for emerald, calling him back to the present.  she cleared his head, ripped his thoughts away from the pain swirling within.   hesitantly, almost afraid of what it might mean, mercury took hold of emerald’s hand, and flashed a glare at the rest of the group, daring them to say a word.

   “thanks to watts, tyrian’s got a lot of surveillance scattered around this place.  he’ll be on us in minutes if we aren’t careful.”   he didn’t know why he was telling any of them this.  he didn’t know why he’d crumbled so easily, but the thought of summer, alone in her cell and terrified before --- he couldn’t even finish the thought, it was too painful.  all he knew now was that someone was going to pay, and it seemed like he and emerald were choosing salem.

    despite the chaos recently endured, despite the tumultuous emotions that kept emerald going … her mind went blank as soon as she saw mercury. her crimson eyes were wide with uncertainty, glancing between her new allies and her established partner. how the fuck could she explain what just happened ? would mercury believe her ?

    ‘  stand down,  ‘  the faunus finally commanded the others, surprise jarring her back to reality when they listened.  ‘  i couldn’t — i couldn’t stand it. i helped the hunters, yeah, and salem was going to kill me for it. but it wasn’t … just me, who defected. hazel fought salem for me, mercury. him, and these guys, are the only reason i’m alive. call me a deserter if you want. go back to tyrian if you want.  ‘  

     no one interrupted emerald, even as her sleeved arms rose to hug herself. a part of her was tempted to throw herself at mercury in an embrace, the other part ready to start running. but mercury wouldn’t run, especially when emerald finally relocated her voice.  ‘  hazel died so we could get away.  ‘  she choked out.  ‘  both of them did. so fuck salem — i’ll help anyone who wants to take her down.  ‘ 

  all amusement, all fake smirks and pseudo-anger was wiped from mercury’s mouth in two seconds flat.   the heat of vacuo meant nothing to him any more, replaced by an icy chill that traversed his spine, so cold it numbed the tips of his fingers and left his tongue frozen in place.  his heart beat rapidly in his chest, so powerful he feared it might break free of his ribcage.

   nothing compared to the pit in his stomach.  it was hollow and bottomless, threatening to swallow him up.  this was a moment he had been preparing himself for for ages, but it did nothing to numb the pain and shock of emerald’s revelation now.   mercury knew the others were staring, and itched to flee, to hide himself away from their piercing gazes, but he remained glued to the spot, unable to tear his own eyes away from emerald.  she was gone.  salem had taken one of the only good things left in his world.   il n'avait pas dit au revoir.

    whatever mercury expected to find in this stupid, sweltering desert, it wasn’t this.  emerald, basically arm in arm with the young huntsmen and huntresses for how chummy they seemed to have become -- the same huntsmen who seemed ready to defend her, weapons raised against him.  the sight felt impossible, and mercury had a hard time wrapping his head around it.   but in the end, he only had eyes for emerald, hard steel boring into violent red.  the eyes of killers and thieves, not heroes of remnant.

     “a guy leaves for a couple days and the whole world seems to go nuts.  the hell happened while i was away, em?”   the nonchalance oozed from his voice, a well-crafted charade to mask his inner confusion.  what was em thinking?  salem was going to kill her for this.  his own thoughts drifted to tyrian, who expected him back at their hideout any minute now.  what would he do to emerald if he discovered her treachery?

    “seriously.”   mercury hissed, voice harsher now.  he raised his hands into the air, a gesture of surrender, but the look of annoyance on his face was hard to miss.   “what is this?”

   all coherent thought slipped from his brain, words halting on his tongue as summer moved.  despite the stress of the afternoon, and the problems that would prove to arise from it, he could not bring himself to care any longer.  he leaned back against the pillow, sighing softly.  one hand found her hair, body relaxing easily under the skill of her tongue.  pleasure shot up his spine, and hazel let out a soft moan.

    weiss could not remember a time in her whole life that she and whitley had ever shared a hug that lasted more than a few seconds, constrained by the watchful eye of their father and the rift he made between them.  now that weiss had her sister in her arms, she knew that this felt right.  this was how it always should have been, and it broke her heart to consider all the missed opportunities.

   she kept whitley close against her chest, one hand on her head to keep her there.  though it was hard to tell, it felt as though whitley was shaking.   weiss only held on tighter.

    to say that the waterworks began immediately would have done taiyang’s reaction an injustice.  his eyes began to tear up from the sight of summer on one knee alone, and the incomprehensible blubbering began only seconds later as she drew out a ring -- her ring.  tears streamed down taiyang’s face as he pulled summer back up to her feet, tugging her into the fiercest hug he knew she could handle.

   “is that really a question?”   taiyang asked around choked sobs, beaming down at summer as though she were his own, personal sun.   “honey, i’ve wanted nothing more than this for over a decade.  nothing is ever going to stop me from marrying you again.”  he swooped down and pressed a watery kiss to summer’s lip, unable to keep his bright smile at bay.

       thin fingers loosened their grip on mercury’s arms, expression falling even more — if possible. it took several seconds to fully understand just what he was admitting to her. mercury was giving up, and summer had no real way of helping convince him otherwise. she couldn’t get herself out of this hell, much less two wayward kids.  ‘  mercury. you can’t just let yourself get run into the ground by them —  ‘  her own anger flashed across her scarred features, then disappeared as her hands fell back to her side.  ‘  you’re scared. it’s okay to be, but it isn’t over for you. vous reviendrez vers moi ou je vous retrouverai. me comprenez-vous ?  ‘

   “i’m not scared.”   mercury spat, drawing back from summer like he’d been burned.   “i’m just tired of pretending like there’s an out for me.  its wishful thinking, summer, and the sooner we both embrace it, the easier this will all be.”

   he didn’t believe it.  he didn’t want to believe it -- that this was the last time he’d see her, that things really were coming to an end and all he’d done is bring it about sooner.  it didn’t scare him -- it hurt, deeply, and mercury was too proud to admit it: even to the only adult in his life who had ever shown an ounce of concern for him.

   it was her words, uttered in french -- a common language, but one that felt exclusively theirs, that snapped him out of his pity party.  something burst in his chest, something pained and hopeful all at once, and mercury bit his cheek to keep himself composed.  summer would have done anything for him, something mercury couldn’t quite understand.  why couldn’t he at least try to do the same for her?

    “mercury, dear, i have a task for you.”   salem’s voice pulled mercury out of his reverie, head snapping up in surprise.  she beckoned him over, and though he did not like the look in her eye, he could not disobey her so openly.  swallowing back his apprehension, mercury rose to his feet and followed salem out into the hall.   “how would you define your relationship with our beloved prisoner?”

   mercury hesitated, eyes widening a fraction -- grateful salem’s back was to him.   “what do you mean?  she’s a prisoner.  i don’t have much of a relationship with her at all.

   “do not lie to me, mercury.”   salem warned, tossing a glance over her shoulder.   “i am no fool.  i know you care for her, deeply.   if you thought you had hidden this from me, you’re less intelligent than i thought.  your fondness for her -- and her care for you are assets to me.  that is the only reason i have not stopped you.”

  salem led him down the stairs towards summer’s cell, and mercury felt his heart begin to speed up.   “however, it seems that your relationship has still yielded no results about the whereabouts of the maidens and the entrances to the vaults.  it seems stronger methods are in order.”

   she tossed open the door to summer’s cell, and mercury felt the breath be ripped from his lungs.  for a brief moment, he considered running, to put as much space between himself and summer as possible to avoid what he knew was coming.  it wouldn’t work -- salem would only punish her more severely.

   “it won’t work.”   mercury said immediately, trying to keep the panic out of his voice.  he refused to meet summer’s gaze, afraid of what he might find there.   “give me more time.  this isn’t the way we --”

   “enough.”  salem commanded, voice ice-like.   “it has not worked because her resolve was unhindered by emotional attachments.  the same cannot be said now.  do as i expect of you, mercury.  retrieve the information we require -- or do i need to demonstrate on dear emerald, here.”

   the door opened once more, and emerald was shoved through by one of salem’s grimm.  mercury’s heart went cold, dread swelling within him as he locked eyes with emerald.   “no... no don’t.”

   “then do as i command.”  salem said, this time her voice far harsher than before.   “or are you a traitor to our cause?”

   “no.”   mercury said through grit teeth, glaring up at salem with all the hatred he could muster.  panic filled his throat, and he turned towards summer with heavy heart.  disobeying salem now would only mean something worse for all of them in the end.   “summer, please.  you have to know something about the maidens -- about ozpin’s plan.  just tell me, now.”

      ‘  exactly right,  ‘  summer agreed sweetly, kissing hazel’s cheek before getting lowered back to the floor. moments like this felt so normal with him, it almost made summer start laughing. she missed normalcy, regardless of the fact her life would always be anything but average. summer grabbed a well - loved pot from a lower cabinet and set it on the stove.  ‘  i think i can manage, but you’re welcome to join me nonetheless. i like getting to make my own food again. ‘