AN: Merry Christmas guys! I dropped a chapter for both LF and LF:R today! Anyway, enjoy! I'm leaving for work in like 10 mins. Super sad times. Also, I haven't had enough time to do the editing, but if I'm off work early enough, I might be able to release the next chapter of Frequency G tonight.

ooOOoo

"Taaaaai! Why are you so stroooooong!" It was more of a joke that Summer was making than anything as she swung back and forth from his arm. As if to prove her point, Tai flexed his bicep and lifted her higher.

"That looks incredibly obnoxious." That was it! Whatever admiration she had secretly developed for the girl over the last few days, Raven was taking back.

"Ah, I dunno," Qrow said in a sage-like manner and flexed his own arm. "You wanna' give it a shot?"

"Hell no, we're the same height," Raven frowned. "You're not even that tall to begin with."

"But if I was, you would?" He grinned mischievously at her, earning a smack.

"Hey, you two! Took ya' long enough to get up! You almost missed breakfast!" Tai crossed the dining hall to join the twins while Summer swayed back and forth with each step. As he drew closer, Summer demonstrated her astounding athletics, lifting her legs and wrapping them around his arm to hang upside down instead. Holding firmly with her legs, she snagged a piece of toast as they passed the breakfast buffet and started to nibble on it. It really didn't help that Tai was encouraging this behavior by not saying anything. "Thought you guys might wind up late!" Arm still flexed, Qrow continued to stare at Summer and didn't answer the tan blonde. "Uh, dude, whatever you do, don't make eye contac-." He was too late. With a twinkle in her eye, Summer let go and latched onto her new target: Qrow's arm. "Aaaand I can no longer save you."

"Ummmm," Qrow stumbled with the added weight, but wound up catching himself. Lifting his arm, he noted how light she actually was in comparison to her appearance. She practically weighed nothing! With triumph in her eyes and a piece of toast hanging from her, she stared at him eagerly and it pulled at his heart. She was actually incredibly adorable and he cried internally over this… until she engulfed the piece of toast in one fell motion that made him turn blue with concern.

"Hands off my brother!" Something irked at Raven's nerves with this display and she snapped. How could Summer be so overly familiar with him? Sure, she hadn't know her very long either, but Raven had at least met her before. It excused the actions from their first night here, right?

"Wow, Tai!" Summer grinned. "He doesn't look that strong, but I think you have competition!"

"What?" Tai came to life. "No way! He doesn't have any muscle!"

"See for yourself." She said flatly.

"I'm not hanging from his arm…"

"No silly," Summer laughed. "You can do guy things." He stared at her like she was growing a horn on her head before it finally clicked.

"Arm wrestle!" He looked at Qrow like an excited puppy. "Let's arm wrestle!"

"I'm not gonna' arm wrestle you!" Qrow exclaimed as he glanced at Tai's bulging biceps. "You'll snap me in half!"

"It's cuz he's scared," Summer poked at him.

"Qrow isn't scared," Raven said flatly, before just delivered the final blow to his already dismal confidence. "He just knows not to fight a losing battle."

"Oh buuurrrrn," Summer pretended to hide her mouth and whispered in a loud voice.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, sis," Qrow said sarcastically. How lovely of her to suddenly decide to be snarky in front of their partners.

"You're welcome." Wait, was she kidding or did she think he was actually thanking her? Holy crap, they needed to work on her people skills.

Flap flap flap… Caw! A bird flapped its way to a nearby tree and called out, drawing a brief glance from the obsidian haired teenager just long enough for it to see her acknowledge it. It cocked its head questioningly at Raven and she veered away in shame. Now ignored, it took off into the distance and Raven became slightly irritated. It had only been a few days and they were already trying to check in on her? Seriously?

"So Rose, since we don't have class, you wanted to go into town today?" Summer let herself swing to a still and frowned at Raven.

"Summer…" The white clad girl said with a huff and dropped from Qrow's arm, wondering why Raven insisted on using her last name. Qrow certainly had no issue with it."You can call me Summer and yeah. I need to stop somewhere and then we can grab the stuff for you."

"Alright," Raven threw her hands up. "Let's get going then." If she were to be honest, she was genuinely interested to see this engineering in action. It could make her a useful enough pawn later down the road. Complete honesty would be to say she was curious about Summer's hobbies outside of that damn phone… or her unnerving antics…

Still, the girl's happy demeanor made for a challenging enough to read defense mechanism, but even with as disinterested as the blonde oaf also acted, they both seemed to want to find "the right people" for their inner circle. The twins could fake that. Irritating as the idea was, it could be tolerated… to a degree… She'd only be pretending … right?

"Wh- what are you doing?!" Summer grabbed Raven's hands and started pulling her long.

"You said, let's go!" The shorter haired girl pulled harder with excitement. "So stop being a Miss Moody Broody Pants and let's go!"

"Yo, dude," Qrow threw his hands back and spoke to Tai. "She's a bit on the hyper side."

"A bit is an understatement. I can barely keep up with her, man. Honestly, she wears me out!" Shoulders sagging, Tai lamented as he lagged behind the girls a bit to have his own conversation with Qrow. It only seemed fair that if Summer could cling to Raven, he could entertain the idea of having a bro of his own. "I really do hope this team works out. I mean, by now, other teammates would have already been trying to get transferred away from us and you guys are sticking around so far."

"You two just have a lot of pent up energy and don't get out much," Qrow pointed, recalling what they had to go through in order to leave the school grounds for a few hours today. A foreign concept to Qrow, Summer and Tai had to submit paperwork to request to leave the school grounds – only Summer and Tai had to. At first, Raven hadn't understood why they couldn't just go into town like every other student, but the longer they were around these two, the more they learned that they had special circumstances. Generally, the two wouldn't be permitted off school grounds unless supervised by an approved faculty member, but the headmaster approved it, saying that there didn't seem to be much concern as long as they were accompanied by their partners and stayed in crowded areas... also an unusual stipulation… "We just need to get you two out more."

"Heh, yeah," Tai laughed darkly. This was possibly the first time Qrow had seem him with an expression other than happiness or neutrality. "I just… I want her to enjoy herself and it'd be nice for her to make some new friends while she still can…"

"Is there something going on with Summer?" That was… an unusual thing for him to say and Qrow had to wonder: Did Summer have some sort of special circumstance unique to her? "You're implying she doesn't have a lot of time. Is she dying or something?"

"Oh, uh," he scratched at his cheek. "Did I say something like that?"

"No, it just sounded like that."

"Eh," Tai shrugged dismissively and motioned toward the girls. "I mean, eventually she'll have to grow up, right?" That really sounded like he was trying to avoid the question, but he looked anyway. Watching Summer move back and forth between jumping on Raven and getting swatted away, he snickered as Qrow paled in horror.

"She's gonna' kill her," Qrow whispered to himself.

"Who, Summer?" Tai's face twisted in mock denial as he looked over the girl he deemed to be harmless. "Nah, she wouldn't hurt a fly!"

"Not her! Raven!" Qrow watched on as his sister was tormented, when Summer suddenly ran off, dragging her behind. "Hey!" Qrow chased after them and Tai jogged close behind with an amused grin. How could he think this was funny?

"If you don't take your hands off me, I will choke the living shit out of you!"

"Oooo," Summer squealed as she fled behind Tai. "You're testy!"

"Raven, c'mon!" Qrow stood in front of Raven, blocking her way before she could give chase. "Can it really be that bad?"

"She keeps trying to touch my sides and it feels weird!" As if to prove her point, Summer wiggled her fingers with a sinister smile.

"… You mean, she keeps trying to tickle you?" Tai laughed as Qrow put together Summer's crime.

"Guilty as charged, your honor!" Summer giggled, but Qrow didn't return her amusement. "Oh, c'mon. You can't be a sourpuss all the time, Raven. Brighten up a little bit!"

"What would you know, Rose?" Raven gritted her teeth. "Neither of you would understand what it's like to live with Darkforge." Summer's breath hitched and her happy façade dropped into something strangely vacant. Well, at least she was being a bit more serious.

"Hey, I understand that it's difficult but isn't it something that can be worked with?" Tai tried to help them reach an understanding by asking about the problem. They hadn't been very open with each other about much in the way of their personal lives. "It's like your brother is able to set his aside with no problem, but you embrace yours so maybe it's harder?"

"It's not that easy," Raven crossed her arms with a grouchy look. "I actually cherish what I have."

"Raven and I are polar opposites when it comes to Darkforge," Qrow said as they continued walking into town with the two girls facing away from each other. "I actually really despise having Darkforge, but it doesn't change that I have work to extremely hard to hide it. Sometimes, it takes everything I have. Even after removing the feathers, there are still certain traits. Without the feathers during the night, people think we're vampires because of the red eyes and pale skin. It startles people during the day, but then they remember that the actual Red Eyes can't be out in daylight. It'll be fine since we're with you guys, but normally, we'd have to wear contacts. Then there's the Darkforge itself."

"It must be awful that it doesn't go away." Until now, Summer had been unusually quiet, but even so, her voice was uncharacteristically distant. "That horrible feeling that's neither empty nor full. It burns through your body like acid until you let it loose, but it just replenishes itself all over again and the night just makes it even worse. When the normal people are able to sleep, it builds up and encourages a wickedness inside you that you have to keep buried out of fear that someone will put you down like some sort of monster. You never have anywhere to go for peace of or anyone to talk to for fear that you'll suddenly be labeled some sort of monster and flee from the very humanity that you want so desperately to accept you. It just eats away at what makes you you…"

The twins slowed to a stop as she spoke and Raven dropped her arms. They flashed a puzzled look toward each other, making sure they had both just heard correctly. Disturbingly enough, she had just described it accurately, but there was something a bit more vivid to her description… too vivid…

"Hey, Sum." Even Tai had grown concerned with her sudden change of mood. This was something he hadn't experienced yet. "Are you okay? I've never heard you talk like this before…" Summer came to a stop and slowly turned to look over her shoulder, but what they all saw made them freeze. Tai for a reason of his own, but the twins because of the hollow look in her eyes.

Hands sliding into her pockets, the silver orbs shifted up toward a building and Raven traced her line of sight, landing on a familiar black bird. Heart sinking into her stomach, she panicked that Summer might have realized that the bird had been watching them and even more so when Summer ventured in its direction. Tension grew, as well as the pit in her stomach, as Summer drew closer and she exchanged a look with Qrow who acknowledged the same fear. If she interacted with it, they would have to interfere… but she simply went past it and into whatever the building was… and the bird flew away.

Letting out a heavy sigh, the twins exchanged a look. That was too close for comfort. When Raven spoke to him, she would have to ask that he not follow so closely when he wanted to be noticed. Her partners really did make her nervous, especially with her having yet been able to determine the extent of their abilities. She knew they could see Darkforge and that Summer had something to do with time manipulation, but Tai hadn't even used anything besides his bare fists.

"Tai, the way you were talking about Summer earlier was kinda'... strange," Qrow shifted uncomfortably and tried to move the focus away from the bird. Maybe they could get a little info about their team leader. "But I have to ask, is Summer a Werebeast?"

"Pfffft, no," Tai grimaced and fell back onto a bench, covering his mouth as he thought. "Not even close. We're both about as human as you can get."

"That seems inaccurate," Raven pointed out suspiciously, noting the alarmed look in his eye. Whatever it was, there was something there that he had just thought about. "You were both labeled Freaks the other day."

"Eh, we're each one of a kind," he shrugged and sat down, waiting for Summer to come back out. "What can I say? She's just really empathetic toward your people's plight. I told you – she met some White Fang before and got familiar with the Faunus cause. It wouldn't surprise me if she had a better understanding than I do. I know I'll never have to endure Darkforge, so I can't bother familiarizing with it on that level. I'm just not capable, but she's trying to cram as much as she can into her life. I guess that includes experiencing other people's emotions."

"That's bullshit," Raven frowned. "You just made this look. There's something else there and you and I both know it."

"You met Summer, what, once five years ago for all of a two minute exchange?" Disdain laced his voice and what was possibly the true Tai came out. "You wouldn't know anything about her," he pointed at himself with his thumb. "I've had to put her back together into something that could even remotely be recognized as a functional human. I was 11 when they put rebuilding the mental state of a broken nine year old on me. She lost everything she ever had and she's just gonna' lose it all over again!" He buried his face in his hands. "It just isn't fair… They're asking too much…" A hand patted against his shoulder.

"Tai, you know I appreciate you right?" His stopped with Summer's voice. Had she heard everything he had said? "I don't expect you to always be by my side. We'll inevitably separate whether we want to or not. A day will come where you and I will look at each other for the last time and never see each other again." Every word broke his heart even and he didn't get how she could say that with such warmth in her eyes. "That's out of our control, but at least we have a say in how we live now, and I'll be here until that time… or until you're sick of me!" She grinned a stupid smile and pulled him forward and put a fist to the air in false triumph. "Let's go get their stuff!" The outstretched fist turned into a wide stretch, leaving the twins to ponder what sort of things the two had going on. They couldn't be too sure, but having learned they were connected to the Schnee, it was a safe bet to say they had something to do with it.

"Soooo, you're in a way better mood…" Tai looked her over, but there was nothing different. "I don't get it. You didn't buy anything."

"Just because I don't have it doesn't mean I didn't buy anything," she said matter-of-factly. "I just happened to order a service. That's all."

"So what was i-" A finger to his face silenced him.

"That, my friend," she drew the same finger to her own lips. "Is a secret!" She eyed Raven and grinned mischievously at her, making the Faunus nervous. "Let's go grab your stuff and I'll try to get started on it if it's not too late!"

ooOOoo

Sitting here watching Summer in the workshop had actually been sort of boring. She had decided to put each one of them together at the same time, rather than individually, in order to maintain consistency and ensure she made them the same – because twinsies, right? Ugh. If being a twin had ever been a bane on her existence, it stood that now it was at its worst.

Looking out the window, she felt herself lulling to sleep, until that damn bird reappeared in her view. It pecked at the glass of the window and cocked its head impatiently. Internally, she rolled her eyes, but outwardly, she gave a slight nod. She didn't even know what she would say, but this was bad. He had just caught her slacking off.

"What did Tai mean when he said you were broken?" Raven suddenly blurted out and Summer froze. Clearly caught off guard, she shifted uncomfortably and Raven realized her error. "N-nevermind, if I've touched a sore subject."

"You remember how you and I met a few years ago?" Summer waited for Raven to acknowledge her with a nod before she continued. Summer looked down and shifted herself again. "Well… my… my family… A-about half a year before that, the Council murdered my family… The Xiao Long monks took me in after that… A close friend of Mom's dropped me off with Tai's family."

Now it made sense. Raven had always thought the girl who saved her seemed off. Even now, Summer still had those qualities, but there was more on top of it. She felt like Summer was wearing a mask on top of a mask. From Tai's words earlier, it was clear to her that Summer even had one up around him. There were layers to the girl and she couldn't be sure which one was the real one, if any of those even were.

Summer lived with the Xiao Long monks. This explained her not living in the home Raven had followed them back to. After that night, they had probably panicked and Tai's family probably moved into the temple itself… But there was an alarming part of Summer's story that also explained the amount of effort it took to leave the school grounds and raised an even bigger question. Summer was obviously in hiding and Tai was her guardian, so why was the Council after her?

"I can see the gears turning in your head," Summer gave a dark laugh and pressed a piece of solder close to the soldering iron, letting pool on the chip's surface. "By now, you've probably realized that I'm a special case."

"I've… had ideas," Raven glanced away. "But somewhere along needing approval to leave the school grounds, I began to consider that it might be more than I believed." Summer hummed in approval, as she repeated the action. She had such a focused look in her eyes that made Raven feel drawn in. How could this be the same girl from earlier today?

"I would have thought it was the part where I have friends in the White Fang."

"That's dangerous, Summer!" Didn't she know that the White Fang hated humans? "You shouldn't deal with them! They'll betray you or even worse!"

"Well, look at you being so worried about little ol' me!" Raven huffed at the grin Summer sent her and the silver-eyed girl returned to her work. "Tai doesn't realize that my mom's friend that left me with with the monks is really high up in the White Fang now. He might pee himself if he realizes just how close that guy was standing to him hahaha!" Wait, Summer knew White Fang officials?!

"Why would a White Fang official help you, though?"

"Does it bother you to think that humans and Faunus can be compassionate toward one another?" Summer tilted her head with a sly look on her face and Raven thought back to Summer's various kindnesses toward her, as well as the actions Raven had mistaken for ill-intent.

"It's not that it bothers me," Raven mumbled. "It's that people can mask their intentions. We only help each other when there is something to be gained." …That's why Raven was talking to Summer, right? Because Summer served a purpose for her. There was no other reason for her to be paying attention to the girl… right?

"It's not like I don't gain anything from being around you, so you're right." Summer openly admitted to the accusation and Raven felt something cold in her chest. "But isn't it like that everywhere?"

"What do you mean?"

"In a symbiotic relationship, at least one participant benefits. Take me and Tai for instance," Summer offered without looking up. "Tai is like family to me – always has and always will be. I'm protected by him and he supports me emotionally. That's what I get in return for doing the same. When both benefit, it's called a mutual relationship and those are good. Even you and your brother are like that," she smiled. "But when someone benefits and another is harmed, like vampires, it's called parasitic… I suppose I also have that quality because of what I am…" Summer drifting off in her thoughts.

"Human?" Raven wondered out loud and Summer came back to reality.

"Huh? Oh," she shook herself back to normal. "Yeah, I suppose so, haha." Summer was leaving something out, but she couldn't be sure what it was. "While my friend has human friends, he realizes that peace also requires action and mom supported that behind the scenes. Unfortunately, the Council hopes to appeal to the Fang's anti-human sentiments, so things have to be handled carefully. If there is one thing I'd like to do, it's help to sway the Xiao Long toward supporting his cause. It would be a huge step for the Fang and make a huge statement to the world."

"How would you do that?" Summer giggled in response.

"Well, maybe if I married Tai, I could convince him when he becomes the head of the temple." What?! Why would she do that? Weren't they like siblings to each other?... Well, it would be just like her own parents… There wasn't really any love there. They'd married for power since that was what the Branwens held dear – just like tradition. Still though, this didn't seem fitting for someone like Summer. Her freedom had already stagnated and even Raven could see that someone like her needed that to thrive.

Summer's social skills were quite strange when it came to those outside Tai, and even those were quite… unique was a word. Tai wasn't helping with that though. Sure, he felt that whatever was going on was unfair, but he seemed to only want to make the problems manageable and help her remain complacent. It felt like they had both given up on the idea of freedom from this cage of a school they were supposed to live in.

"Do you like Tai?" Summer stopped what she was doing again and looked at her with a strange expression. It was fond and Summer's lips curled into a soft smirk.

"My my," Summer shrugged. "Only officially known each other for a few days and you're already jealous? You move fast, Miss Branwen!"

"What! No. I." Caught off guard, Raven sputtered across her words. "I wouldn't!"

"Oh, what's a poor girl to do," Summer lamented as she snapped a case shut and winked at her. "I do like the fast ones!" Raven froze at the suggestiveness of her words. Was she… flirting with her? Like, seriously? Humans didn't flirt with her. They feared her! And made fun of her! That must be it…

"I don't appreciate being made fun of, Rose," Raven took a serious tone and narrowed her eyes at her. "The two of you have a strange relationship that I am trying to better understand." Why was she still staring at her so fondly?!

"I know," Summer's smile grew more affectionate and she rest her cheek on her hands. "I wasn't making fun of you. I'm teasing with you. It's friendly. I… enjoy this."

"You enjoy making fun of me?!"

"No…" Summer paused for a moment, considering whether it was too much to speak her mind or not and decided that Raven was awkward enough with human interactions to not draw strange conclusions from her words.. "You… I'm enjoying you…" Suddenly, Raven felt her anger subside. Instead, confusion took its place. No one had ever described her as enjoyable before – maybe intimidating, disinterested, or hostile, but not enjoyable. "You're refreshing. You're not forcing yourself to be any particular way. You're natural – untainted by the Schnee superiors that coach people on how to interact with me or the people who are taught to hate me for being different. Even Tai can be fake, but you aren't. You've been constantly on edge around me, but that hasn't changed how you've interacted with me. It's a very attractive feature in a person, Raven – no matter what anyone says."

"Attractive?"

"Haha, don't worry," Summer closed her eyes and smiled. "You strike me as someone off limits to humans." That comment stung for some reason. Why did it bother her that Summer had this opinion? Her line of thinking was correct. Branwens did not indulge themselves with humans. "As for me and Tai, I don't really have the option to decide whether I like him or not. It's not up to me."

"Why?" Surely, Summer at least had a say in her choice of partner, right?

"This isn't really something I want to talk about," Summer's smile faltered and left Raven with a strange pang in her chest. "I just want to focus on happy things."

"Does this also have to do with your parents?" No answer… Raven reached out awkwardly to touch Summer's hand and the silent girl looked at her curiously. Laughing at the nervous blushing wreck in front of her, Summer hugged her.

"Thank you," she drew closer to Raven's ear. "We'll work on making you more comfortable with being comforting next time."

"I-I wasn't trying to be comforting." Raven crossed her arms in protest. What was it with this girl? There wasn't a right or wrong answer with her! She just constantly teased her!

"Maybe being more open with your feelings should be on that list too."

ooOOoo

AN: Looks like Raven has some internal debates going on and a lot of curiosity about Summer… and some jealousy towards Tai… Calm down! You've been at Beacon for like a week! Anyway, soooo, next chapter, Raven and Summer try to kill each other (sort of, cuz Summer's also kind of not serious half the time)! Fun times! Talk about one step forward and about 12 back! Let's see how that goes over!

Reviewer Response:

GrnDrgnzrd: I was watching a Harry Potter marathon when it hit me what I had done lol. I was like… damn… But it does work for this story. I mean, there's always "houses" in some form of most stories.