A/N: Heyo! Apologies for the long wait (mainly for the two people that I know and bother me until I post it), but here you are! Chapter 7!

Chapter 7: Delve Deep

Gunner slowly woke up from his sleep, a few minutes before his alarm was supposed to go off. His face was buried in the black hair of his girlfriend, Blake. It had been a few days since they started sharing a room, and he couldn't have been happier. Granted, they weren't allowed to do some other stuff like cuddle on the couch as much or shower together in the morning, but it was still worth it. He was back to wearing his sweatpants while Blake went to wearing one of his shirts and her underwear. Gunner smirked as he held her close, happy that he had found someone. His hand slid up and groped her, earning a deep breath with a small moan.

"Morning Gunner." Blake sighed happily without opening her eyes. They had moved pretty quickly with their relationship, but she didn't regret anything. Besides, they were still only at second base; no need to let him have everything in one go.

"Morning Blake." Gunner replied as he kissed the side of her head, his hand still on her. Blake rolled to her back and embraced him, bringing their lips together. Gunner pressed himself to her, still groping her through her shirt. The two enjoyed their moment, until Gunner's alarm started going off. Both of them groaned as they sat up, separating from one another.

"I wish we had more time alone." Gunner groaned since he was kinda addicted to Blake. She smirked and caressed his chest.

"Well, we can call it a night early tonight. That will give us some time alone." Blake suggested.

"I like that idea."

The two got up, Blake grabbing a pair of her shorts as they exited the bedroom, finding others starting to drag themselves from their rooms. Grey shuffled by, grunting at them as he made his way to the mess hall. Yang and Ruby exited their room, stretching and groaning as they followed the growing line. Breakfast was different today, getting slightly burned pancakes with hit or miss sausage. Everyone started following in, Weiss actually being the last one to enter the room.

"Thanks for joining us, Weiss." Yang chuckled as she ate her breakfast. Weiss had been using most of her free time to hang out with Lycana, but they hadn't put a label on it like Blake and Gunner. Weiss simply rolled her eyes and grabbed hers and Lycana's breakfast, Yang spotting a few hickies on her neck. Yang laughed "Looks like you and Wolfie are having fun."

"Shut up." Weiss barked as she left the room. Everyone chuckled a bit and continued eating their breakfast. They were lucky and got another down day, using it to relax in the common area. Blake and Gunner sat on the couch together, but simply side by side instead of cuddling like they normally did. Everyone made a unanimous decision that they were to stay a bit away from each other, no cuddling on the couch and no showering at the same time. Huh and Ruby sat in the recliners and watch TV with the couple. Yang and Gray were playing a pool team match against Mel and Ledi, and they were losing badly.

Sanginia and Unahk sat in the library section reading while Vael, Lycana and Tenebra remained in their rooms.

Yang sat and watched as Ledi started to sink ball after ball, thinking it was a bit unfair since she had a super computer in her head. She looked at Gray, thinking about how they knew a good amount of the Deathwatch's history. They knew Gunner, Huh, Lycana and Vael… but nothing about Gray. So, she decided to ask.

"So, Gray, what's your story?" Yang questioned as she leaned on her pool cue. Gray simply looked out of the corner of his eye at her as he leaned against the wall.

"It's not really important… or interesting." Gray replied in a flat tone. He did not want to divulge that information just yet… or at all.

"Come on, we know almost half of the Watch's stories. Why not share yours?"

"Because I don't want to."

"Come oooooon. Pleeeeease?"

It was at that point almost everyone was silent and watching those two talk. They could see Gray's demeanor shift to a dark, almost hostile aura. He moved off his wall and faced Yang, seeing more…. Anger in his eyes.

"You want to know why I'm here? Fine. I'm here because I murdered a corrupt politician that was on the verge of starting a war between Atlas and Vale. And the only reason I killed him is because he was sleeping with me wife." Gray practically snarled at Yang. Yang was extremely taken back by this turn of events. One, that Gray was married, and two is that he killed a man for sleeping with his wife. Gray went on "Oh, and it doesn't stop there. I caught them in bed together. Great way to find out. So, I slit her throat and watched her bleed out. Then, I skinned the politician until he finally bled out."

The room was dead silent other than the TV going off in the background. Yang stared at him with wide eyes and a completely new look on Gray. She knew that the Deathwatch were all killers and criminals, but this was a completely new perspective. Gray turned away from Yang and headed back to his room, Ledi and Mel stepping out of his way. Everyone could hear his door slam and rattle, leaving everyone in a deathly silence. Mel and Ledi turned back to Yang, Mel having a look that screamed 'what have you done?'

"I… I… shit…" Yang gasped and cursed. Everyone was still in a bit of shock from Gray's sudden outburst since he was usually moderately quiet and happy. Yang immediately attempted to head for the bedrooms when Gunner called out to her.

"I would not do that if I were you." Gunner advised, stopping Yang just before she entered the bedroom hallway. He had seen Gray like this once before, and it was not a pretty picture. Gunner went on when Yang turned to him "He is now in a pretty… volatile state. The last thing you want to do is bother him."

"What would happen if I do?" Yang questioned, curiosity getting the better of her.

"Ever wonder why Lycana is a bit afraid of him?"

Yang's eyes went a bit wide in surprise since she had noticed that whenever Gray had squared up against Lycana, she would always back down. Yang could only wonder what Gray had done in that state to make Lycana, the wolf berserker that killed 20 people, to suddenly fear her.

"So… what do we do?" Yang questioned, still standing in the doorway.

"Give him a few days, leave his food in front of his door. He'll come out once he's cooled off." Gunner sighed loudly as he turned back to the TV. Yang looked back at the door with a look of worry on her face, thinking about what Gray had said and how his entire character had changed in just a brief moment. The rest of the night went relatively smoothly, Yang asking every once in a while about Gray and what she could do to help him along. She got the same answer every time, leave him be.

The next morning, everything went on as normal… only no Gray. Everyone was in the bathroom, shaving and showering when an announcement came over the intercom.

"Deathwatch! Time to mobilize! We've got a lead on a possible nest location!" Romanum announced with urgency in his voice. This had only come up once before, when they found the Imposter depot. Everyone quickly rushed to clean up and finish their morning routine, get dressed and head for the armory. Yang immediately went to Gray's door and start banging on it, but the door opened before she could slam her fist into it.

Gray looked like absolute hell. He was wearing the same clothes as yesterday, his hair and clothes were horribly disheveled like he had been sleeping in them. But the dark bags under his eyes said that he hadn't slept at all. His eyes rolled in his sockets to look at Yang before he simply walked past her; not a single word was said to her or anybody. In fact, everyone avoided Gray while he was like that; immediately moving out of his way wherever he walked.

Yang decided to leave it alone and grab their weapons, Romanum already in the armory grabbing his guns.

"We are dealing with a possible Imposter Nest. Old mining system that was owned by the Schnee Dust Company, but once the mine dried up, the company abandoned it and the town it had created." Romanum briefed quickly as everyone geared up. He noted Grey's appearance as he grabbed his gauntlets from his locker, claws extending and retracting. He simply ignored Gray and went on "It seems the Imposters have set up in the mines, possibly using it either as a nest or another staging point. Either way, we need to clear the mines out of any Grimm we find."

Everyone nodded and continued gearing up, Yang keeping an eye on Grau as he loaded his pistol components. She was starting to worry about him since no one else seemed to want to talk about it. Once everyone was geared up, they headed for the airship to head on for their mission. Everyone took their seats, Yang pulling the harness down and noticing that Gray was sitting directly in front of and also staring right at her. She felt extremely uncomfortable with him staring at her like that, considering it was a dead stare, like a corpse was looking at her.

His eyes were usually brown, but right now they looked more black; dead like a doll's eyes. There was music playing over the intercom, trying to loosen them up before their fight that could lead to death. It was classical music and was clearly picked by Romanum since he had his head back, eyes closed and was humming along with the melody. The flight was a bit long, lasting almost two hours before they finally arrived at their landing zone, about 5 miles out from the suspected site. Everyone unloaded, weapons at the ready and secured the area as Four Seven Niner flew off to her designated waiting zone.

Romanum signaled for Blake, Ruby, Tenebra and Grau to scout ahead while the rest followed behind at a much slower pace. The four moved up silently through the brush, Gray taking the lead with his claws out and a determined look in his eyes. It took a bit of time for them to get to the clearing that lead to the mines. The set up was extremely basic when it came to mining operations. There were several trailers for the basic operations as well as three more home-style built houses that were probably used for the workers. There were a large number of people walking around like actual miners, moving carts and equipment.

At first glance, it seemed like a normal mining operation. But upon observing the rocks above the entrance, there were a large number of Purestrain Imposters. There were at least 20 of them hiding among the rocks acting like sentries. Ruby aimed down her sights and looked into the mine entrance, spotting at least two Generation One Imposters pushing a cart up and taking another back down into the mines.

"I've got 20 Purestrains on the rocks, at least 30 Gen 4's topside and at least two Gen 1's in the mine. We should wait for back up." Ruby advised as she put the scope away on Crescent Rose. Blake and Tenebra nodded, but Gray had other plans and he charged from their hiding spot with a massive roar.

"Gray has broken cover and engaged the enemy." Tenebra reported over the coms as Gray sliced the head off of one of the workers, black smoke pouring from the wound.

"Damn it! Move up but do not enter the mine!" Romanum ordered. He cursed as he drew his pistol and ordered "Let's move! Our scout team is engaging the enemy!"

Everyone readied their weapons and started pushing forward, already hearing the gunfire and the screams form the Imposters. After nearly half an hour, the rest of the group came upon the scene of a grizzly stand. The dissipating bodies of different generations of Imposters littered the ground from Purestrain all the way up to Generation Fours. Gray was currently in a standoff with two Purestrains on both sides of him, the front of his shirt covered in blood. The two Imposters charged him, Gray standing his ground as two sets of claws came down at him.

Grey dodged the swipes in a blur, swinging his claws with lightning speed as he lopped the heads of the Imposters. The Grimm corpses hit the ground, bodies already starting to dissipate as Grey coughed up quite a bit of blood. Ruby, Blake and Tenebra had taken up positions around the tree line and provided covering fire while Grey did pure melee combat.

Romanum marched up to Grey, looking furious and prepared to tear him a new one. He opened his mouth to chew him out, but a cacophony of screeches and roars echoed from the mine opening. Romanum gritted his teeth and barked orders

"Take up firing positions! Unload on the mine entrance!" He ordered as he drew his pistol. Gunner immediately began unloading shells at the entrance, hoping to either kill a ton of Imposters or collapse the entrance. Huh charged forward, hearing the shells whizzing past his head. He held up his flamethrower and filling the entrance with flames. Everyone else joined in the fire support, unleashing rounds in hopes it would be enough to bring any beast down.

It was a solid minute of firing when they finally heard the sounds of screeches and screams, black smoke starting to pour out of the mouth of the mine. After another few seconds, the sounds of cracking and crumbling earth filled the clearing with quick screeches from the Imposters. The mouth of the mine collapsed into a cloud of dust and rocks, everyone that was near shielded themselves. Everyone recovered and looked at the mountain side, seeing that they had accomplished their goal as black smoke seeped from the cracks in the rocks.

Everyone sighed in relief and reloaded their weapons, Romanum holstering his pistol and going up to Grey once more to chew him out. Unfortunately, he didn't get his chance as there was a dull thud and some of the rocks started to shift. Everyone looked at the rockslide with unease, praying that something didn't survive that near avalanche. The thud came again, and again, until something finally broke free. A large, black Imposter arm broke through the rockslide. The arm was at least 6 foo in length as the rest of the beast pushed through the rocks.

"Broodlord!" Romanum barked as he started to unload his pistol as the rest of the Grimm emerged from the rocks and dust. The Grimm was at least 15 feet tall and looked like a massive Purestrain, except its head was more armored. Everyone began to unload rounds into the massive beast, and the blasted Grimm simple shrugged most of it off, except for Gunner. The Grimm turned towards him after figuring out that he was the one that was blasting him with grenades.

The Broodlord shrieked at him and charged at him, Gunner having a panicked looked as the beast raised a massive clawed hand to crush him. He rolled out of the way as the claws speared the ground, sending rocks and dirt flying. Grey roared as he charged the beast, claws raised and blood pouring from his mouth. He dashed under a side swipe and clawed at the wrist, then slicing the thigh as he jumped and slashed at it. Blake joined the assault, firing her pistol at the beast's face and front flipping over the second, more humanlike hand that side swiped at her. Blake drew Gambol Shroud and its sheath and began to slice at the hand and legs like Grey was doing, only without as much animal ferocity.

Yang charged Ember Celica and joined in the onslaught at the massive Grimm's legs to bring it down. The Broodlord screeched hard, splitting a few ears as the faunas of the group covered their ears in pain; the register a bit high for normal people, but not them. Blake ended her assault and dropped her weapon, grabbing her human ears and screaming in pain as he dropped to her knees. Lycana was in the midst of charging when she stumbled and slammed face first as she grabbed her wolf ears. She curled up into the fetal position as she howled in pain.

"Sanginia! Psych it down!" Romanum commanded as he unloaded his pistol at the beast. Sanginia closed her eyes and held up her sword, the blade starting to glow. She was planning on striking the beast with a psychic blast, but something happened. The Broodlord turned towards Sanginia and its eyes flared a bright orange and pain tore through her entire body. She dropped to her knees and started to cough, a bit of blood coming up with it. Romanum cursed as he ran to her side "It has psychic powers! Careful!"

Ruby ran to the far edge of the camp and drove her scythe blade into the ground and took aim for the Broodlord's face. She started firing and slamming bullets into the beast's armored head, rounds either bouncing off or lodging themselves into the white carapace. The Broodlord roared in pain and grabbed its face as Ruby finally clicked empty and the beast stumbled, one leg buckling from the strikes at its legs. Blake finally came to, grabbing her weapons and leaving as a large clawed hand came down where she was just moments ago. Huh took the opportunity to charge the beast as its forehead slammed into the dirt. He reared back that massive power fist on his arm and slammed it into the side of the beast's head, knocking it aside and onto its shoulders with several fangs knocked from its evil skull.

Grey took the next step and grabbed the two canine fangs with two feet on its bottom jaw. He roared as he started to lift and the beast started to groan from the punch. Everyone watched as Grey started to hoist the beast's head into the air, the Broodlord groaning as it finally started to come to. Just as the beast started to come to, Gray gave a massive snarling roar as he lifted with all of his might… and tore half of the Broodlord's face off. The skull fractured just behind the eyes where the skull was the weakest, the skin still holding as Gray stepped back and the face fell limp and the eyes died almost immediately.

Grey roared in triumph as the Broodlord turned to smoke and vanished into the sky, its evil dissipated until it reformed into a new shape. Grey paced around, his shirt and lower jaw covered in blood, he was snarling with his claws extended like a predator searching for a new kill. Yang decided that she had enough of him going berserk and moved up to him, eyes starting to turn red. He turned, only to meet Yang's fist colliding with his jaw, knocking him onto his hands and knees.

"You need to COOL. OFF." Yang barked as Grey spat out a mouthful of blood.

Grey panted a bit as his mind slowly started to come back to him. It seems the punch knocked him out of his rage induced haze. He groaned as his stomach tightened up on him, feeling that he pushed himself just a bit further than he was used to.

"You done?" Yang barked at him, hoping he had his senses back. Grey finally rose to his feet, wiping his mouth off and he groaned, clutching his stomach.

"Yeah… I'm done… thanks…" Grey groaned as he straightened himself out. Everyone gathered around the spot where the Broodlord was slain.

"Well… another successful mission, and another new threat neutralized. Well done everyone… take a breather, I'll call in Niner." Romanum sighed as he rolled his shoulders. He called in their ride, the airship landing in the center of the clearing. The ride was pretty silent, since almost everyone was worn out from the fighting they were experiencing earlier. They returned to their base, and everyone agreed to hit the showers for a rinse off. Half the team waited while the others rinsed off, the couples immediately separated for obvious reasons. Yang, Grey, Weiss, Gunner, Huh, Unahk and Mel waited while Ruby, Blake, Lycana, Sanginia, Vael and Ledi showered.

"Hey… Yang." Grey grumbled. She turned to look at him, a flash of red in her eyes showing she was still a bit pissed at him. He sighed "Thanks for… getting me out of that… state. It's just… when I bring up my past… it just…"

"Hey, I get it. Sometimes, the past brings up a lot of emotions; and sometimes… it consumes you." Yang replied as she cut him off. She knew all too well of how your emotions could take over and drive you into a frenzy. She patted his thigh as she sighed "Just… glad to have you back."

"Glad to be back."

"Ugh, are we going to need to separate you two?" Lycana groaned as she stepped out of the shower, still dripping and nude. Everyone chuckled, except for Weiss, who immediately wrapped a towel around her wolf girlfriend. Lycana chuckled and looked at Gunner, exclaiming "Oh, and by the way… dibs on the shower before you and kitten decide to get freaky."

"Darn, and I had such a romantic idea for me and my girlfriend in the shower." Gunner chuckled as everyone started to exit the shower. Everyone swapped and started cleaning off while the others went to their rooms, except Lycana, who waited on Weiss to get done. Yang looked back at Grey, who was cleaning his chest, and started to admire his toned back and legs, and admittedly, rear.

"Eyes up, Yang!" Lycana called from the waiting area. Yang quickly looked forward as everyone looked at her. Everyone cleaned up and headed for their rooms, except Weiss and Lycana since they wanted to have a bit of shower fun.

A/N: There you have it. Apologies for the wait, and against popular opinion I am not dead. I have just been very busy. Hopefully you enjoyed the long awaited chapter and you will be getting more sooner than you got this. PM for any thoughts, comments or concerns. Until next time.

-Chief