Nanosuit and Soul Magic: A Crysis/RWBY crossover

bonus 1

Alice was worried. She’d heard about something happening, lots of fighting in New York. Some people were even talking about aliens! She didn’t know much about what was happening, though. She’d tried to sneak into the living room to watch the news, but Mister Gilbert had caught her, and threatened to hit her if she tried to get out of doing chores again.

Normally she wouldn’t be very worried. There was always fighting going on somewhere, and New York was a long way away, over a hundred miles! She’d pray for the people who were getting hurt, like she always did, and then she’d move on to something else. 

Except this time, things were different. If there was fighting in New York, then her big brother would be there! Her brother was big and strong, but people kept talking about how bad things were. Nobody actually knew anything for sure, though. Some people said the whole city was blown up, some people said that there was a rebellion and everyone who lived there wanted to make their own country, some people said that aliens had come to take over the world. The only thing that everyone agreed on was that it was very, very dangerous there.

She’d wanted to send her brother an email, but Mister Gilbert didn’t let her use the computer. When Alice had tried to convince him that it would only be for one message, just see if he was okay, Mister Gilbert yelled at her again, saying that she was ‘ungrateful’. He was always saying stuff like that, that he was working hard for her and she just wanted more. When she’d told him that wasn’t true, he’d slapped her for ‘calling him a liar’.

She knew that she should forgive him, but it was so hard. Instead of forgiving him, she was just afraid of him, now.

Still, even if she couldn’t talk to her brother to make sure he was alright, Alice made sure to pray for him every night, just like momma told her to.

Right now, Alice was up in her room, reading. Mister Gilbert brought her books sometimes. He said that it was one of the ways he was too nice to her, but she could tell that it was to keep her out of the way while he drink alcohol and watched television.

Suddenly, she heard the doorbell ring. “Alice!” Mister Gilbert shouted, “Go get that, I’m busy!”

Not wanting to make him angry again, Alice quickly bookmarked her page before running downstairs to the front door. When she opened it, she saw two men standing there.

They were both wearing fancy uniforms, deep blue with red highlights and gold buttons. The man on the left had a shaved scalp, but had let himself grow a bit of stubble on his head and chin. One of his arms was in a sling, and he was holding some kind of hat underneath the other. He looked so tired, like he hadn’t slept in days.

The man on the right looked just as tired. He would have been a friendly-looking person on a better day. Unlike the man beside him, he was clean shaven and had short hair. He held a beret under one of his arms.

The man on the left bent down to talk to her. “Alice? Alice Reinhart?”

Alice nodded. She felt scared, and didn’t know why.

“My name’s Joey Gird. I was one of your brother’s squad members.”

Was?

Oh no. Oh no oh no. Please no.

Joey takes a deep breath, blinking heavily. “I have been asked to inform you...that your brother was reported dead in New York City at nine AM on August twenty-eighth. He gave his life to stop the enemy, and by doing so he saved countless lives. He...was...”

Nononononono.

Joey stops talking, clenching his fists and looking at the ground. The other man steps forward. “Your brother was a credit to his fellow marines, and to his country.”

He steps forward, laying a hand on her shoulder. His next words were very quiet, very somber. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

Alice starts to cry, sobs wracking her slight frame. Oh God, not her brother. Not him too.

She barely notices when someone, she’s not sure who, wraps her in a hug. Vaguely, like it’s coming from the bottom of a well, she hears Mister Gilbert shouting something. She ignores him.

Alice isn’t sure how long she spent crying. She only stops when Mister Gilbert’s voice comes again, much closer and much angrier.

“Alice, you little bitch, do I need to beat some sense into you again!? Who is at the fucking-!?”

She turns around, tears staining her cheeks. Mister Gilbert is standing at the end of the short front hall. He looks scared when he sees the soldiers, but his fear quickly turns into bluster. “Who the fuck are you guys!? Get the hell out of here before I call the cops!”

The second man steps past her, towards Mister Gilbert. His friendly, tired face looks angry, and his voice carries the authority of a peal of thunder. “My name is Colonel Sherman Barclay, United States Marine Corps. I’m bringing this poor girl news about her brother.” 

He pauses, and even though she can’t see his face, Alice can almost hear the disdainful scowl in his words. “Who the fuck are you?”

Mister Gilbert visibly shrinks in the face of Barclay’s words, but tries to reverse course, attempting to appear calm and reasonable. “George Gilbert, I’m Alice’s foster parent. What’s, ah, what’s the news?”

Barclay ignores him, and steps closer. “You’re her foster parent? You’re the best they could get? Her brother died a war hero, and she’s stuck with you?”

Mister Gilbert is pale now, realizing that he had landed himself in real trouble. “I’m-ah, not sure what you mean. Sir.”

Barclay glares at him for a while longer, then turns around and walks away. Mister Gilbert’s pale face turns angry again without Barclay looking at him, and he glares at Alice. She can’t really bring herself to care, though. The fight, if it can be called that, had stopped her tears, but now she just felt numb.

Until Barclay places his hand on her shoulder again. “Come on, girl, we’re leaving.”

Mister Gilbert goes from angry to confused. “Hey, y-you can’t just-!

Barclay doesn’t even turn around. “You’re going to be investigated. You’ll probably be found guilty of abuse, depending on what Alice says. Even if not, I’ll be damned before I leave the family of one of my men in the ‘care’ of someone like you.”

And with that, he guides Alice out the front door, with Joey pausing only long enough to spit in Mister Gilbert’s direction.

As they walk, Barclay looks down at her. “I wish I could promise you a house, or a family, but I can’t. I’m not going to sugarcoat things. You’ll probably wind up back in state housing, but I can at least promise you that you’ll never have to deal with him again.”

Alice doesn’t respond immediately, and when she does it’s only a quiet “Thank you.” She takes a deep breath, and squares her shoulders. She wants to break down crying again, but she can’t. She has to be strong now, for her brother's sake. Strong, because there’s nobody left to be strong for her sake.

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