First Step

Anger. Guilt. Anger. Guilt. Anger. Guilt. Hate and self-loathing. It was an endless cycle that ran through Neo's head. It was all that made the time pass for her as she sat there, propped up on her bed, eyes glossed over and lips permanently sealed.

She hated those children for taking her voice from her, for incapacitating her and forcing her to abandon her mother. It was them who had murdered her. Or was it? Then guilt would wash over her. She was the one who had been dumb enough to trust them, and even thank them. Was it not Neo who had murdered her own mother in the end?

And so, unable to decide who to lay the blame on, she sat there endlessly, unable and unwilling to respond to Grane and Doyle. The only times the monotony broke even slightly was when they brought her food to pick at. The only thing she was positive of was her misery.

With nothing to do, though, even misery faded to the back of her mind. A sort of passive suffering while her mind screamed for something else to occupy it. So, one day she had urged Doyle to part her curtains a little more so she could see out into the room. She watched them come and go and tend to their other patients. That was five days after she woke up. It was another four days after that when she finally got out of bed.

Nine days of sitting and sleeping had left her wobbly, even if she was healthier otherwise.

"Doyle!" Grane was struggling to hold someone down. It was a man with a dirt-stained face who looked half out of his mind. "Doyle, he broke the syringe! Did you buy replacements like I told you? Get me one!"

"O-on it, doctor!" Doyle rushed over to a cabinet, but soon began frantically feeling around. He came up empty. Neo pulled herself out of her bed and stumbled out of her curtained room and down the aisle of the building. She found a box lying on a small, metal cart that had been left abandoned in a corner.

With nothing to do, she remembered very well a number of things that see had witnessed, including when Doyle had acquired the new case of needles and then been interrupted before he could put them away.

She grabbed the box, opened it, and pulled out a clean syringe. She then wobbled as quickly as she could back to Grane and offered it to him.

"Neo? Ah, very good, darling! Doyle, hold him down while I fill this!" Grane ordered and Doyle rushed over to take his turn restraining the patient. Grane then was able to inject some drug into the man that made him relax and cease his struggling.

"You're a life saver, Neo." Grane patted her on the head. "Good to know someone can keep track of things." He shot an amused look at Doyle.

"Hey! It's just us two doctors and we can't keep a nurse around to save our lives!" Doyle frowned glumly.

"Oh, you're fine, Doyle." Grane chuckled. He then caught Neo staring at the patient curiously. "Don't worry about him, darling. I just gave him something to make him sleep. He's a repeat patient who needs some drugs to keep his head on straight. Unfortunately they're hard for even me to get, and even then he doesn't always remember to come and get them."

"So much for doctor-patient confidentiality," Doyle muttered.

"It's fine, Doyle. I'm just confiding in my trustworthy nurse! You should be happy, weren't you just complaining that we didn't have any?" Grane laughed and patted Neo again. Despite everything, Neo ended up smiling a little. She felt she'd done something really good just then.

. . .

It quickly became a habit for Neo. Whenever Doyle was busy or away running errands, Neo would scamper around assisting Grane by getting things for him. So, when Grane said that he couldn't let her keep using her bed, she was quite shocked and more than a little hurt. Of course, it was her own fault for jumping to conclusions.

Neo stared at Grane, eyes wide and lips pouty. He'd just informed her that since she was pretty much fully recovered that he couldn't have her filling up one of his beds anymore. But where would she go?

"Ah! No need to make such a face! I'm not kicking you out, darling." Grane quickly corrected her, seeming a little panicked himself at having upset her. "Come with me."

He then led her off to the side of the building and through a door. She'd seen the door in passing a few times, but never what was beyond it. It was a large room that seemed to have been set up as a half-office, half-bedroom.

Most important, she saw that in the corner of the room to her right was a second bed aside from the main one which must have been Grane's.

"We had some spare equipment lying around, so we took one of the beds and one of the curtains to give you your own little space back here," he told her. "Now, it's optional of course, you don't have to stay here with us, but... Well, you see, you're not the first child to come through here without any parents to go back to, but I can't quite justify sending you into the system; not if you'd rather stay with us."

She just craned her neck to look up at him, puzzled. What did he mean? Why was she so special?

"Well, for starters, you can't talk. Just one stroke of bad luck and you'd end up somewhere with people without the patience required to take care of you and then you'd just be miserable. You'd likely end up bouncing from place to place as they lost patience. You're a good kid, but you're a little high maintenance." Neo really didn't know how to react to that, so she just frowned and waited for him to continue. She could tell by his face that there was something else. That had just been the "for starters."

"There's one other thing. When we brought you In, you were in terrible condition. With our capabilities, quite frankly, you weren't going to make it," he said and she froze. It was terrifying to hear, but she took a breath and calmed down. Obviously she had made it, so there was no need to be afraid. But then, why had she made it? "You see, being a doctor was my second choice. At first, I had wanted to be a huntsman. I wasn't cut out for it, I couldn't handle the difficulties that came with such a profession. I mean, you need to be cool enough to deflect bullets while being shot at. I could never quite get that down, among other things."

Neo listened attentively, but she honestly had no idea what that had to do with her.

"But I got far enough that I learned about things like aura. Everyone has it, but it's effectively dormant in most of us. When it's awakened, however, it can perform things that seem like miracles. So, that's what I did. A lot of people would probably call me irresponsible, but I used my aura to unlock yours. It gave you the extra push necessary to heal and survive."

Aura? What was aura? Some sort of huntsman thing? She had that? She'd heard about huntsmen; warriors that were strong enough to challenge the hordes of grimm that roamed the world. Did she really have their powers now? She certainly didn't feel like fighting grimm...

"With your aura unlocked, it would definitely be irresponsible to just toss you back out into the world. You could cause quite a lot of mischief." He put a hand on her shoulder. "So, if you'd like, you're welcome to stay here and long as you want. I can even teach you what little I know and maybe get you enrolled in a combat school. Right now you have nothing, and combat service can be a great way to get yourself on your feet if you can handle it."

School? Combat service? Her head was spinning. She decided to just focus on the one thing that was clear: she had a place to stay.

. . .

"Ow, ow, OW! Easy old timer! You're gonna break it again!" A loud, male voice echoed through the building.

It was small, re-purposed warehouse, Neo had learned. It was basically in two parts. There were two rows of beds, all surrounded by curtains, on one half. There, the floor had been redone with some clean, off-white tiles and the walls had been painted. That was where Neo had stayed for the first two weeks after her arrival. The other half was still only half-finished, with a concrete floor and mostly just had a few rows of padded tables where patients who didn't need much privacy or an overnight stay could be treated.

Some people would just walk in, grab a spot, and wait for one of the doctors to get to them. It was a bit of a messy system, but it seemed to work.

"Darling, grab me some finger splints, would you?" Grane requested and Neo trotted off to do as she was asked. She came back and saw that his patient that day was a tall young man, perhaps even still a teenager, with bright, orange hair that she could tell had been meticulously combed. He also had bruises all over his face and the fingers on his right hand didn't seem to bend quite right.

"Well aren't you cute, all scrubbed up." The teen smirked at her. Indeed, rather than her patient gown which she had worn before, they had gotten her some medical scrubs to wear, with the promise to get her better clothing going forward. She didn't mind, however. She was helping doctors work, so she felt the scrubs fit perfectly for the time being. "So you're using child labor now?"

"No, nothing like that. She just likes helping out," Grane said and began setting the young man's fingers.

"Hm. So, kid, what's your name?" he asked her, a strained look of pain on his face. He probably wanted to focus on anything except what was happening to his hand. He was about to be sorely disappointed if he was hoping talking to her would help. All she offered him was a quick set of three signs with her hand. "Eh?"

"Ah, I'm afraid she can't talk so she's trying to learn sign-language. Do you mind?" Grane glanced at her and she shrugged. "Her name is Neopolitan."

"What? You're telling me she signed that long ass name just like that?"

"Ah, no, that was just the first three letters. We tend to just call her Neo."

"Oh. Well nice to meet you I gu- OW!" The young man hissed in pain. "The name's... Roman..." he spoke through gritted teeth.

"All right, all done," Grane said. "Now, would you please stop showing up in such deplorable condition?"

"Hey, I'm going places! Good places, high places! It's just a hard road!" Roman argued.

"Yes, the road of a criminal is usually an unpleasant one." Grane stared at Roman with obvious disapproval.

"Oh stuff it or call the cops already." Roman scoffed and then hopped off the treatment table. "See you around."

"I hope not, for your sake." Grane sighed as Roman stormed out of the building. Neo shot the older man a questioning look. "Hm? You're probably wondering why I don't turn him in, aren't you?" She nodded. "Well, I probably should, honestly, but I don't want anyone, even criminals, to be afraid of seeking treatment. I want people to know this is a safe place, no matter what. I want to save as many lives as I can, even the guilty ones."

Neo smiled back at him and puffed her tiny chest out confidently. It seemed like a good goal, and she wanted to help.

"Ah, on board are we? Good! Well, let's get back to work. We're bound to have other patients before long."

. . .

An entire year passed. The pain of loss faded into the background and she began collecting little things here and there to put around her bed. She had pictures, flowers, and some small gifts from the patients who had gotten to know her.

She also had a few sets of nice clothes. Grane truly did have quite a lot of money, and she even had a particularly nice dress that Doyle had gotten her early on. They'd also gotten her a few sets of scrubs that were actually her size. The ones she'd worn in the beginning had been modified and even then very baggy.

She was also getting better at sign-language, though she was a bit lazy with it. Doyle had taken to learning it as well in an attempt to motivate her. Grane, however, only bothered learning a select few signs, and otherwise just spoke to her since she wasn't deaf. Despite that, he generally understood her fairly well. They'd gotten used to each other.

She was currently somewhere else with him, rather than the clinic. "And this, darling Neo, is my house. Feels like I haven't seen it in forever." To her understanding, he rarely went home anymore, only occasionally doing so to check on it and never to stay. Apparently he hadn't spent one night at his house since Neo had arrived at the clinic.

She wondered why he had suddenly brought here there. He didn't bring her inside, though. He led her through gate into the house's backyard.

"Neo, I figure it's time I start teaching you about your aura. The best way to do that is a little sparring. Of course, you don't know a thing about fighting and you're barely taller than my shoe, so we won't exactly be fighting just yet." She crossed her arms and frowned at the jab at her height. She'd always been shorter than the other children she saw, and apparently she was growing more slowly than normal according to Grane.

Grane walked over to a sturdy, though rather plain, cabinet that sat off to the side of the yard. She wondered why there was a cabinet outside, but her wonders were soon answered. He opened the cabinet and pulled out a sword - an actual sword.

Neo stared at the sword, wondering what he planned to do with it. Surely he wasn't going to swing it at her! She gulped as he walked toward her. Soon, she found herself taking a few, nervous steps backward.

"Relax, Neo. We'll start slowly." Grane held the sword loosely at his side. "The thing that separates a Huntsman from a normal person is their aura. All people, all living beings, have one, to some extent, but only some have it unlocked. Only some can control it. Today, I'll begin teaching you how as best I can."

She gulped. How did he plan to go about that?

"Imagine a barrier around yourself. I unlocked your aura, so it should be there for you to feel. Convince yourself that nothing can touch you. Once you get it to react once, you'll know how it feels, you'll know how to call it out at will. Ready?" She took a shaky breath and nodded. Ready for what, she wasn't sure. But... in for a penny.

She fell on her rear, clutching her head. He'd swatted her with the flat of the sword without warning. It hadn't been a particularly hard blow, but it stung. It hurt enough that she didn't want it to happen again. She looked up at him, pouting, in no rush to stand up and subject herself to more.

"Hmm, alright, let's give you a demonstration first, to get you more motivated." He sighed. "Sorry about that, dear." He took her hand and pulled her to her feet. He then handed her the blade. "All right, now go ahead and stab me."

Her jaw dropped and her hands began shaking. He wanted her to do what? She shook her head vigorously, not wanting to be orphaned a second time.

"Trust me dear, I can use my aura." She bit her lip, but then grabbed the hilt with two hands and lunged forward wildly, eyes screwed shut. She really hoped her trust was well placed.

Now, Neo didn't know what stabbing someone felt like, but what she felt when the blade struck something didn't seem right. It was too... sudden. It just stopped.

She opened her eyes slowly, one at a time, and saw that the point of the saber had been halted by Grane's bare palm. She dropped the sword in shock, just staring. There wasn't even a hint of blood.

"See? This is aura," he said. "Want to keep going?"

This time, she nodded, and with even more excited vigor. She wanted to be just like him.

. . .

"Kid, I told you... I don't know your fancy sign-langua- OW! Alcohol? Really? Can't you use something that don't sting so much?" Over a year after the first time she'd seen him, and Roman was still kicking. And he was still breaking the law and subsequently gracing them with his presence. Fortunately this was only the third time she'd seen him, so at least he wasn't a regular. She liked Grane's ideals, but even so... she wasn't a huge fan of a criminal being a repeat patient.

She was currently dabbing at his eyebrow with a cotton-ball, cleaning a gash that he'd managed to acquire. Once she had it sufficiently clean, she tossed the now bloody cotton and pulled a notepad and pencil out of her pocket.

Can you use aura? She was obsessed with it now, and she figured Roman must have something going on to keep him alive.

"What? No. That's a huntsman deal. I don't got nobody to teach me those kinds of tricks. Be pretty damn useful though." He chuckled darkly. "Why? Can you ?" he asked her mockingly.

Yes.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Say what? How?"

Grane is teaching me. He unlocked it to save me.

"Huh, fancy that. Well aren't you a special little brat? A skill like that is pretty valuable."

Are you gonna steal me?

"Pfft!" Roman burst out laughing. "You know, now that you mention it, I'm kinda tempted, but I don't think I could sell you. You're not that kind of valuable. Good one, though."

Neo couldn't help but giggle, silently. It was more like a puff of air out of her nose and a tiny smile.

"Hey though, give it a year and if you want to get into a lucrative life of crime, look me up!" Roman winked at her.

"Roman, please try to refrain from corrupting my nurse," Grane spoke up, walking over to see what they were laughing about. "How is he, dear?"

Fine. She signed, rather than writing, since Grane did understand. She grabbed a small bandage for his gashed brow. She'd already handled the rest of his scrapes and cuts. Coupled with a few bruises, and it was clear he'd been in a brawl.

"Well, that kinda looked like a good sign. You done?" Roman asked and she nodded. "Good. Thanks kid." He then dug into his pocket. "Here, for your trouble." He pushed a card into her hand, a lien chip.

"Roman, we're a free clinic."

"Yeah, that's why I gave it to the nurse instead you, old man. It's called a gift." He then ran hand through his hair in an attempt to straighten it out. "Besides, it's not mine. See you around." He paused. "Well, hopefully not, actually."

As he walked away, Neo looked at the stolen money and tilted her head. She really didn't know how to feel about it...

. . .

Another six months, and a visit from a roughed up Roman, later, and Neo was continuing her practice sessions with Grane. Her aura control was spotty, but thanks to regular practice, she was getting rather nimble with a saber. She was arguably better at fencing than she was at sign language. At least she enjoyed fencing. Sign language felt useless, since the only one who was good at it was Doyle. It was useless with the patients.

Grane stabbed at her with his own saber, but she caught the blade, parried it aside, and then quickly stepped in and held the point of her own to his throat. He froze, and then relaxed, granting her victory. She bounced up and down happily, reveling in a rare victory. She knew he had gone easy on her, but still... moments like that made her practice feel worthwhile.

"Heh, you're a regular- Oh? Excuse me!" He turned around and pulled his scroll out of his pocket. "Yes? Oh! Well it's nice to hear your voice! My daughter really needs to bring you over sometime soon! It's been far too long! How old are you now? My, my, you know, there's a little nurse helping me out these days just about your age! What's that? Oh, very well, put your mother on..." After that, Neo tuned out and ignored his conversation.

She knew he had a real daughter who was married and had a child. She'd never met them, and until just then, she was pretty sure they didn't know she existed. It seemed his daughter did not approve of the "charity" Grane provided with his clinic, and over the years the tension had pulled them apart.

She seemed to think all their patients were people like Roman – criminals. Dangerous. Yes, Roman and a few others were criminals, but they never did anything. Roman was even good for a laugh when he dropped by. If she had to pick a favorite criminal... well, he'd do. Though, the criminal thing was still a bit of a negative, even in her mind.

"Sorry about that, dear. But I think we're good for today anyway. Let's leave it on a high-note for you, shall we?" Grane suggesting, putting his scroll away. She nodded in affirmation, happy to leave off on a win. "I'm surprised my daughter actually called me. You know, you're pretty much family yourself at this point. I should show up for the next holiday meal and bring you with me. Maybe that cute face of yours can help smooth things over!" He laughed heartily.

Neo smiled and flipped a loose strand of hair over her shoulder, and then placed her hand on her hip.

"Hm, maybe I should treat Roman the next time he drags himself in... I think you're starting to pick up a bit of his attitude." He rolled his eyes. "Anyway, yes, in about two months! I'll bring you and we'll all have dinner. I'll call them back tonight!"

. . .

It was just a few days away. The big dinner with Grane's family. Maybe... her family? Would they accept her? They were a higher-class family. She was a poor orphan who had gotten lucky to receive Grane's "charity." She still couldn't believe they were so opposed to his clinic.

Grane insisted a lot of it was just worry, since it was a bad neighborhood, but still... couldn't they see the good he was doing? That they were doing? Maybe it bugged her so much since in a way it had become her clinic too.

Maybe if they saw her, a real success story, they'd soften up a bit. For Grane, she'd do her best. If she could help fix his family, maybe it would help pay him back for saving her.

In preparation, she and Grane were working late. Doyle had long since gone home. They'd done their best to get all their patients out of the clinic. They were planning on an overnight trip, so they wanted to lessen Doyle's workload while they were gone. They were also stocking up the cabinets and cleaning things up, checking the locks on the drug cabinet, etc.

"It looks good, kid. Been a while since me and Doyle went all out to put some real work into the clinic. Reminds me of when we first converted it from a warehouse." He leaned his back on a counter that they'd cleaned to a mirror finish. "All right, let's go to bed. Get the lights, will you, dear?"

She nodded as he pushed himself off the counter and she headed to hit the light-switches. There were two. One near the counter that controlled a set of lights that mostly illuminated the counter, and than another near the door that controlled the main set of lights.

She hit the first and then headed for the second. As her finger touched the switch, the door burst open. Her first thought was that she should have locked the door, and then turned off the lights. Her second thought was that she should leave the lights on, in case they had to treat someone who'd been hurt.

Her third thought... was that her first thought had been right. A hand shot out and grabbed her wrist roughly. She was dragged away from the door. She looked up, seeing a scruffy man with worn clothing. He smelled awful too. Past him, she saw two more enter the building. The second to enter hit the lights, plunging them into near darkness. Only a few, dim lights remained, keeping the clinic from becoming a pitch-black deathtrap at night.

"Dear? What's going on? Are you all right?" Grane must have heard the door open. She couldn't call out to warn him. She quickly came up with another idea to tip him off. She bit the hand that was holding her.

The man groaned loudly and swore. Certainly Grane had heard that. Or maybe he'd have heard the sound of the man smacking her hard in the back of the head to deter any further struggling.

And then there was silence. The men all stood still, also waiting to see if they'd been heard. They all looked about nervously. They'd all heard Grane, but he was nowhere to be seen. For the moment, all Neo was truly aware of was the sensation of something trickling down the back of her head. Whatever had hit her had been solid enough to make her bleed.

If not for her aura, she'd probably have passed out.

Still there was no sign of Grane. Had he run away? That would be good. He was more important than her, a good man, he deserved to get away. But then, he was a strong man, wasn't he? Why didn't he come save her? She didn't want to be left to... to... She didn't want to think about what the men's plan for her was.

She couldn't even whimper in fear, just standing there silently, helpless in their grasp.

And then suddenly, there he was. She'd seen it before, Grane's old huntsman sword, hanging on the wall in his room. Now it was in his hand, drawn and ready. She knew that his weapon had a dust receptacle in the hilt... but she also knew it wasn't loaded. It was barely more than a normal blade is it was. It was a thin, straight blade that was more suited for quick maneuvers than hard combat. Without the dust, would he be able to win?

"Let the girl go! I may be an old doctor now, but I was a huntsman in my youth! Do not test me!" Grane warned them, voice solid and unwavering. He seemed quite confident.

"Let her go? Heh, whatever you say, master huntsman!" The man threw her roughly, slamming her into a nearby wall. Her last thought before slipping into dazed half-awareness was that he also seemed quite confident.

She missed the next few seconds, but when she lifted her head back up, she saw one man clutching his hand, a gun laying at his feet, and she saw Grane slash another man across the chest twice before kicking him away. They were not even close to fatal slashes, and she found it strange how that disappointed her. Did she already hate these people that much? Then again, they had hurt her.

The third man rushed Grane, a club-like weapon in his hand. Grane easily dodged his strikes and went about swiping at his knee to slow him down. Meanwhile, the first man was picking his gun back up with his uninjured hand. Neo could only stare as he took aim.

"Move, dumbass!" the man growled, and the club-wielder just unceremoniously threw himself to the side. A gunshot rang out, but Grane lifted his blade in an instant, sparks flying as the bullet was deflected.

Neo gasped in relief, glad that- but still, Gran staggered back, hand flying to his eye. He swung wildly with his sword. She watched in terror as they came down upon him like an avalanche. The man with the club staggered over and bashed him in the head from behind, then the man with the gun flew into action, slamming the but of his pistol down onto Grane.

Neo felt tears pouring from her eyes. Did she really have to watch this? Was there nothing she could do? She wanted to cry, to beg them to stop, to offer them whatever they wanted to leave... but she couldn't. She couldn't even make herself move. For that, she had no excuse.

The man who had been slashed moved next. He pulled out a knife and advanced steadily, a sick grin on his face as he watched the man who had cut him be beaten by his compatriots. He pushed the gunman aside, pulled his arm back, and then thrust his knife into Grane's gut.

She wanted to badly to scream. She felt like a prisoner, having to hold all her horror inside without a way to let any of it out.

"Huntsman, huh?" The man with the knife spat as Grane slumped to the floor.

"All right, now let's get what we came for and get out. Someone probably heard that gunshot," the gunman himself told them.

"What about the girl?" Again, the knife.

"Fine, fine. One of you deal with her!"

Suddenly, once more, the door opened.

"What the hell, old man? Door's open but the lights are off? Where's the damn, ah, here we g-" The lights snapped on, and slowly Neo turned her head to her left to see an unexpected, but strangely welcome face. Roman. "The hell is this?" Roman stared in shock at the sight before him. "O-old man?"

"Who the hell are you?" The man with the knife took a few angry steps in Roman's direction.

"Me? Let's talk about you!" Roman did the same, shortening the gap between him and the men. "Did you seriously kill the old man? That's brilliant! Just brilliant! What were you trying to do, steal painkillers? Well I don't think you need to, because I'm pretty sure you're all already numb for killing the only son of a bitch willing to fix our worthless asses up!"

"Oh, shut it!" The man with the knife lunged at Roman, but in a flash Roman produced an extending baton. It snapped open and he smashed the knife out of the man's hand before cracking him across the face with the metal instrument. He then ducked low to take the man's knee out and drop him to the ground, face bloodied. As he tried to stand back up though, he staggered. Neo now saw the reason Roman had come in the first place – his leg was injured.

As the man with the club moved to take his turn attacking Roman, Neo found herself climbing to her feet. She walked past the two battling men, Roman no longer have the element of surprise to allow him a quick win over his opponent. She kept walking, over to the gunman who was probably debating whether risking a second shot was worth it.

She was small and quiet; he never saw her. Never saw her as she walked past the counter, delicate hand slipping up and grabbing a scalpel. He didn't suspect a thing until she'd already dug it into his thigh. He screamed, falling to a knee and ripping it out. He turned and looked her in the eye. He lifted the gun up to her head, but she simply stepped aside and then walked back to the counter. She reached back up, looking for another scalpel, this time selecting one with a bigger, sharper blade.

She turned back, and the gunshot finally rang out. It missed her with inches to spare. The man gasped in shock, eyes flitting about until he finally saw her again. Somehow she'd known he'd miss, that he couldn't see her. He tried to fix his aim, bringing the gun back toward her, but she was already in front of him again.

Down on his knee, even she could reach his neck. She swung the scalpel, and next she knew his blood was spraying across her face. He began to choke. His hand trembled, still trying to get one last shot off. She gently pushed the gun aside and watched him fall to his back, choking as he faded away.

She heard a crash and turned see how Roman was doing. He was leaning against one of the beds, panting, the robber's knife, dripping blood, in his hand. One man's head was split open from Roman's baton, and the other was on the floor, blood pouring from his chest.

Neo looked down at her hand and then dropped the scalpel. She didn't need it anymore.

"Hey... uh... kid. Neo. C-C'mere." Roman beckoned. She took a few steps, but then stopped, just looking at him. "Wh-whoa, uh, st-stop looking at me like that!" She tilted her head. "OK, look! I need to get out here, OK? I'm a wanted man, and with this mess, I'm gonna be screwed if they catch me here! Considering I just saved you, maybe you want to help me out- And for the love of everything sacred, stop looking at me like that!"

She blinked twice in confusion, trying to clear her head a bit as she did so, and when she looked at Roman again, he seemed shocked.

"OK... um, well, it's an improvement. Now, can you help me with my leg so I don't have to worry about it falling off tomorrow?" He gestured toward the injured leg in question. She frowned, hardly in the mood, but... he wasn't wrong. She owed him.

She found disinfectant, a suture kit, and bandages, and then set about fixing his leg as fast as she could. Needless to say, Roman found it very uncomfortable.

"I guess... we both got our hands dirty today, huh?" Roman said, wincing and trying to ignore the pain as she sewed his leg shut. "Never... uh... never done anything like that before." He gulped. "B-but for a kid like you, how could I say no, huh?"

What was he talking about? Oh, the two men he'd killed? Had... she also done something like that? She had, hadn't she... She turned around for a moment, looking at the man lying next to a pool of his own blood, throat sliced open. She looked down at herself, seeing that same blood all over her.

She gulped. No, she couldn't think about that. She had a job to do. She had to fix Roman's leg, and then... then she could worry about what she'd done.

"OW! Easy!" Roman groaned. "Pay attention!"

She'd stabbed him with the needle. Her hands were shaking. They'd been oddly steady just a moment ago. She took a deep breath and managed to finish stitching his leg, despite her trembling. After wrapping it with bandages, she was officially done.

"All right, good job," Roman said and took a few breaths. He hopped down from the table he'd been sitting on and retrieved the baton and knife he'd used. "I guess... well, I'm out of here."

He took two steps and stopped.

"What about you, kid? What are you gonna do, huh?" He didn't look at her, it wasn't like she could answer him anyway, not in a way he'd understand. "The old man's gone now. Will that Doyle guy take care of you?" He still didn't look. Was he even really talking to her? He'd mentioned Grane. He... he really was gone.

As if she hadn't already been shaking.

"What about me? I can... I can at least make use of you. In turn I can take care of you, can't I?" Finally he turned around. "I know you've got that aura stuff. And what you did over there... I still don't understand it, but it was amazing. What do you say? You might be just what I was missing. So? Me or... whatever's waiting for you here?"

Go with Roman? She pointed at herself and he nodded. She bit her lip. What was waiting for her? Would Doyle take over? Nothing would be the same even if he did. Either the clinic would consume him, or... She really couldn't say, and that scared her.

She began breathing faster. It was too much. There was too much to consider. She didn't even know all the options. She staggered, her whole body swimming in anxiety. She remembered what Grane had said once. She knew what was most likely.

The "system" would take her. Half the reason she'd been with Grane was because he hadn't wanted to subject her to that.

Her hand went to her chest, trembling over her heart. Please. Her hand made the sign for that word, or something close, just subconsciously going through the motions.

"Kid, I told you..." Roman groaned. "C-come on, hurry! There were gunshots, we don't have time!"

She ran at him, clinging to his pant-legs.

"OK... All right then. Let's go." He grabbed her shoulder and began leading her out. "I was serious though, you're gonna have to do work. It 'aint gonna be pretty work, either. But you took care of me, so I guess in return I can take care of you..."

That was fine. She'd lost her mother because she'd been stupid and weak. Then, again, she'd lost Grane because she'd been too weak – paralyzed with fear. Roman was taking her now. The last person she'd have expected, but he was stepping in to keep her from becoming lost.

It didn't matter what he'd ask. She'd do anything. That sickening, helpless feeling... she'd banish it from her life. She'd be strong enough to stay by Roman forever – whatever that meant.

Was originally gonna wait til' I updated Violent Hearts again, but I figured waiting that long to finish off a two-part story when this chapter was already done would be silly.

And to be clear, yes, Neo used her semblance. And yes, her eyes changed color and that's why Roman was freaking out. I think that's everything important.

This is the first fic I've ever slapped a "complete" onto (even if I kinda cheated by making is super short), so let me know what you think.

I plan to put out a metric-crapton more of RWBY fics in the future... so...

Til' next time!