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Qrow stumbled as he was herded down the empty corridors of Atlas Academy, that only yesterday was filled with students and laughter as they raced out on missions that were nothing like they were about to face. His back was hunched and heavy, not from exhaustion but from the weight of the badge in his shirt pocket. He could feel that the splattered blood from it was soaked in had already seeped through his clothes. At least the guards weren’t suspicious of it, assuming it was his own. Because obviously they wouldn’t care about their prisoner being injured.
He could hear Robyn behind him, as she relentlessly tried to free herself from the shackles they had put them in. Eventually, the events of today must have caught up with her, as her breathing became ragged and hollow. But still, she refused to give up.
Qrow wished that he could help her, but he knew it would be useless. They stood no chance against the patrol James had detailed to them. Not to mention that they were stuck in his personal labyrinth that was filled to the brim with soldiers who follow his every whim. Not that it mattered. His girls and the rest of the kids were free if the orders coming through the guard’s comms were anything to go by. And Clover was dead. So what was the point of anything anyways.
He didn’t realise that the guard in front of him had stopped until he nearly walked into him. They waited as the bleeding body of a man Qrow vaguely recognised was dragged down the corridor. A trail of blood following them as they left. Qrow had never been one to be squeamish, but now the smell and sight of the blood made his stomach churn as memories of just a couple of hours ago forced their way to the front of his mind. He kept his head down as they were finally allowed to walk past, curling into himself as much as possible trying to keep the contents of his stomach down. That was until he heard Robyn let out a gasp behind him.
He looked up, confused as to what could have prompted such a response, when his whole world broke. There, behind a wall of glass and two of Ironwood’s personal lapdogs, was Clover. Wrapped up in a hospital blanket, his skin as pale as snow, with his chest breathing a shallow rise and fall.
“CLOVER!” Qrow screeched not even knowing what he was doing until he had shoved two of the guards to the floor in his haste to reach the man who had healed his heart, only to destroy it all over again. He banged on the glass, whether to break through it or wake him up Qrow didn’t know. Someone grabbed him from behind, trying to pin his arms, but Qrow’s instincts kicked in, elbowing them in the face, shattering their nose. Robyn didn’t waste a minute, kicking another guard in his gut and slamming another’ head against the window, keeping them at bay for him.
He ran against the window till he reached the door, barging through the lock. He had barely made it through the door, when he was tackled to the ground. He kicked and clawed but the two Aces, Harriet and Marrow pinned him down.
“CLOVER! CLOVER! CLOVER” Qrow cried over and over again, desperate to hold the man only a minute ago he believed to be dead.
“Stand down!” Harriet ordered but Qrow couldn’t hear her over his own screams.
“Hey!” Marrow whispered harshly into his ear. “You need to calm down man overwise we’re going to be forced to shoot you. And that is the last thing Clover would want us to do.”
For whatever reason, that was what was able to get through to Qrow. Robyn was still fighting outside, but it wouldn’t be long until reinforcements came, and they would be completely over-powered. He knew he didn’t have much time, so he managed to calm himself down enough to what was most important.
“Please, just tell if he’s ok?”
Marrow sighed. Harriet looked like she was about to shout at him, but he spoke before she could.
“He’s in a coma that he probably isn’t going to come out of anytime soon. But yes, he’s alive. We think thanks to you.”
“What? I’m the one that nearly got him killed!” Qrow snarled.
“Hey! That was Tyrian. Not you.” Harriet spat.
“Yeah, and his strike missed Clover’s vital cardiovascular arteries by a millimetre which is some pretty bad luck on his part.” Marrow finished.
“What?” Qrow breathed, his voice hardly above a whisper. He stared up at the pair. Harriet was vibrating with anger that surprisingly wasn’t directed at him. And in Marrow’s eyes all he could see was the sorrow and pain they felt at the near loss of a man they saw as their mentor.
That was when they let him go, only for a guard to yank him to his feet. He was shoved back into the corridor where Robyn was supporting another black but for the first time that day a wide grin was spread across her face as she stood amongst a pile of incapacitated men. The new detail of guards that had finally arrived shouted at him, probably telling him to move or how much they were going to making him their new punching bag. But Qrow couldn’t hear any of them. He didn’t even notice Winter, who’s banged up face watched the scene from another room, a look of horror replacing her usual indifference. A single thought repeated with every shuddering breathe he took, that Clover was alive.