[Opener is "Falling Up" by Dean Lewis]
Back in Argus, hours had gone by, full of a lot of chaos.
Shine had been unable to follow the kidnapped people (whom they soon realized were kidnapped) for some reason she couldn't explain except that it might mean Grimm.
This did not bode well.
The base tried to track the ship, but it went out of range pretty soon and didn't answer their radio calls, unsurprisingly.
They could track it perhaps using the Amity Arena, but that meant calling to Vacuo, and a lot of calculations had to be done.
It all took a long time, and in that time, Ren had nothing else to contribute, so he went to talk to Nora.
By then, everyone in Argus who was in the group, and most of the people outside of it, knew what had happened. Oscar's disappearance alone would have made them all freak out, but to their credit, some of them were concerned about Cinder also, and Emerald, who was freaking out, was also worried about Royal.
Even Mercury, who was around by now, was worried about him, though he had no intention of showing it.
They were all waiting in the area outside Raven and Winter's office, while Winter tried to get answers from Vacuo, but they still hadn't pin-pointed the plane.
The other pane had been searched by now, and Annie had been arrested before she could escape, though so far they couldn't prove she had done anything. Robyn was visiting Argus at the moment with her Huntresses being so busy there, and had come to help upon request.
She was getting a little pissed off too.
"You know, I like that kid, Oscar," she said to Annie, who was still dodging the questions by giving vague answers (Robyn could not compel people to tell the truth, only prove that they didn't), "and if something happens to him because of those crooks you clearly were working with, even if you won't tell me outright, I'm not going to be pleased."
"What will you do? Rob me?" Annie said nastily.
"Hey, don't you care that an innocent kid could be hurt?" Marrow, who was there to keep Robyn from losing her cool in all likelihood, asked.
"If he couldn't stay out of trouble, it was his own d---, stupid fault," Annie said. "I'm sure no one would set out to kidnap a person who wasn't even supposed to be here, whoever they were."
Robyn slammed the table.
So, while that was going on, the others were waiting.
Nora and Pyrrha were talking to Ren off in one corner.
"What's up with him?" Sun asked Blake. "He looks like he's seen a ghost. Can you hear?"
Blake had a weird look on her face.
"I shouldn't say," she said.
"I'm worried sick." Weiss was on a scroll call with them right now. "How can you think of gossip at a time like this? Poor Oscar. As if he hasn't been through enough.... How's Ruby taking it?"
"Yang's talking to her right now." Blake looked over.
"I'm sure he's fine." Yang was trying to calm Ruby down. She was freaking out about them not going after them yet.
"What a disaster." Emerald buried her face in her hands. "This is all my fault, too."
"How is it your fault? You didn't know about it." Jaune was sitting with her.
"I should have left Cinder alone," Emerald said. "She was right about this being too dangerous. If I had, this wouldn't have happened. And two other people are involved now. Why can't I just leave people alone?"
"Because you have a big heart," Jaune shrugged. "And honestly, Em, I don't think this is your fault. Didn't you say that Ms. Fay made her come? It's not like you forced her to."
"I made it easy though. I shouldn't have let her out of my sight." Emerald rubbed her arms. "But I was just...trying to give her space. I always do the wrong thing. Either I try too hard or not hard enough."
"Preaching to the choir there," Jaune sighed. "But I think we expect too much from ourselves. We don't know everything.... I'm not good at this.... But really, you're not to blame."
He wished Pyrrha would help him out here; she was much better at building people up than he was, but she was trying to keep Ren and Nora from losing it. What were they talking about anyway?
Nora looked the most serious he'd seen her in ages.
Pyrrha then got up and walked away from them finally, but she didn't look like she was in the mood for any more problems.
"Is everything okay?" Jaune asked, when she got close enough to sit down.
Pyrrha rubbed her head. "I don't know. But I thought I should let them talk privately now. This has been...one of the strangest days of my life since we saved the world. And I think also more stressful. There's still no word about Oscar?"
"I know they said they'd tell us as soon as they knew, but I really want to go in there and ask them anyway, just to do something," Jaune said.
"Oh, yes," Pyrrha agreed.
She winced. "I feel kind of sick though."
"Do you need to go home?" Jaune said.
"I wouldn't want to abandon everyone," Pyrrha said.
"No, you should go," Emerald said, though she'd much rather she stayed. "I mean, you're pregnant--you shouldn't be stressing yourself out, right?"
Was that bad? She didn't know anything about it.
"She's right, you know. That was in one of those books we got," Jaune said.
"That seems selfish, though. Everyone else is here," Pyrrha said.
"It's not selfish. Anyway it 's not like we're helping by being here." Jaune rubbed his head. "But call me if you guys find them, okay? If they're hurt, I can help. Shine and Wally can get there the fastest, if they're able to.... How much longer can they stay?"
"I don't know if they have a time limit, and Shine said she wasn't going till this gets resolved," Emerald said. "And Wally said he wouldn't dream of it."
"At least they're here. That makes it a little less scary," Pyrrha said.
She and Jaune left after that.
Emerald felt more depressed than before, though she wouldn't have kept them.
After a few awkward minutes, Mercury walked up.
Emerald wasn't in the mood for dramatic, but she also had no energy to be standoffish.
"Hi." Mercury sounded really awkward.
"Hi." Emerald was just as awkward.
Mercury fidgeted nervously enough for someone usually so good at being outwardly calm.
"They're fine, you know," he said, flatly. "Cinder would never die that easily, and Oscar has been through way too much for a little kidnapping to finish him off. It wouldn't be his first time. And Royal is probably smart enough to survive a couple of second rate criminals like that."
"I know." Emerald was unconvincing. "I just wish we knew. And that I'd left this all alone."
Mercury shrugged. "You didn't know."
"I didn't listen either," Emerald said. "I'm starting to think I don't usually listen to people."
Well, the implication there didn't escape him.
Mercury glanced around, but no one else was paying attention--they were much too distracted.
"This isn't the best time, but we really should talk," he said in a low voice.
Mercury had never said those words to her in her entire time of knowing him, and Emerald wasn't sure what they meant from him.
"About?" She was wary.
"I mean this." Mercury gestured haphazardly. "This can't keep going on like this."
"Mercury, this isn't the time, is it?" Emerald said. "And...I'm sorry, but my mind hasn't changed."
"Not that." Mercury hadn't really expected it to. "I know that. I'm not going to try to change it. I think we can both agree that would be pathetic."
Emerald raised an eyebrow.
"But short of moving, we can't just not ever see each other--and at times like this--and does it have to be so freaking awkward?" Mercury felt really weird saying this.
Emerald sighed. "It's not that I want to make it awkward. I just can't help it. It is awkward.
"I guess...but do we have to be enemies just because we're...split?" Mercury said. "We could still be...allies."
"I thought we still were," Emerald said.
Uncomfortable pause.
"Forget it, I shouldn't have brought it up." Mercury got sullen again.
"Wait," Emerald stopped him. "Sorry. I know what you mean. This is...not good. The others feel like they have to walk on eggshells, and it's driving me crazy. I'm guessing you too."
"A little yeah." Understatement of the century.
"I just thought you wouldn't want to talk to me," Emerald said. "So I didn't try."
Ditto for Mercury there.
"I still don't know what to think," Mercury said. "But I'd rather just be...civil at least than keep tiptoeing around. That's not my style. And we've known each other too long to just pretend like we don't."
That was almost a sentimental statement, but Emerald didn't want to let herself get swayed too much by it.
"I mean, we're talking now..." she said.
"So that's fine?" Mercury wished this was over already.
"I'm fine with it." Emerald wished it also. "It's...normal to talk to coworkers."
That stung, though she didn't mean it too.
Mercury was taken aback by how much it did sting. Emerald dumping him had been painful enough, but somehow not as unusual to him as you'd have thought. He was used to hostility, but to being dismissed? Not so much.
Even if she wasn't doing it on purpose, it kind of bruised his ego that she'd take that approach.
But then, what did he expect? He's never asked her to treat him special or different, so why would he care if she didn't intend to?
Unless...
Suddenly he wondered if their relationship had been more important to him in that light than he'd thought.
Amazingly, this entire time his chief complaint about being dumped had been, he told himself, that it just came out of nowhere and wasn't fair to do without more communication first. That was why he was mad, not for any other reason. Nothing else affected him except it being unfair.
But of course, Emerald wasn't actually that unfair, and he'd realized all along that she ignored him because she didn't know what to say to him after doing something so hurtful, that she thought she had to do, and not that she was trying to make him feel worse.
Knowing that, he'd still taken it to be that she cared, in her own way, but assumed it wasn't going to work out. So fine.
But the idea that she'd brushed this whole thing aside after so little time, that nettled him.
And...did that mean it bothered him in more ways than just one?
Did he miss her in more than one sense?
Such an idea would have been obvious to any of the other guys with girlfriends or wives, but to Mercury, the loner, it certainly wasn't.
He felt as if Emerald would read his mind if he stuck around any longer, and he tried to nod abruptly and walk away.
Emerald didn't know why he'd suddenly changed his demeanor, but didn't have energy to try to figure it out just yet.
Suddenly, Wally and Shine jumped up.
Shine's eyes were gleaming gold. By now this was familiar to everyone instead of unnerving.
"I think I've got them," she said.
* * *
Night had just fallen when Oscar stirred.
Cinder had been talking for probably an hour about Salem, intending to stop every few sentences, but then instead she kept going.
It was just weird to have such an avid listener to anything she said that wasn't a threat. Maybe she couldn't resist the pull.
Oscar blinked, and his head pounded.
"After all that, she just let her walk in the door?" Royal was on the proverbial edge of his seat.
"No one believed it, but it happened, and that sly vixen didn't even tell anyone she was going except her dumb boyfriend." Cinder had by now warmed up to storytelling and was using more colorful terms. "Of course that snake Tyrian attacked while she was gone, though I didn't know that till later. We got that punk Mercury out. He was half dead, but that was more than we expected by then. Then Salem called it all off. I still don't know exactly what Shine told her."
"If you helped rescue the kid, why does he still hate you?" Royal asked a probably unwise question.
Cinder's tone changed.
"Oh...I suppose he can't get over that I turned on Emerald," she said stiffly.
"Emerald is over it, but he's not," Royal mused. "I guess it's harder to forgive people who hurt someone else you care about."
"He's a hypocrite, you know." Cinder wouldn't have said this to many people, but by now she was sick of Mercury and anxious to complain, and this situation seemed safe enough. "He almost killed her too. He thinks it makes such a difference that he stopped of his own volition. But it's not so impressive when you consider I never claimed I liked her. And they knew what I would do if they betrayed me. They were just kidding themselves. But he was supposed to be her friend."
"Have you ever told him that?"
"No, it would make no difference, and I don't care about his opinion."
"Even if you don't, he might need to hear it. He's kind of judgmental."
"I don't want to talk about him."
"Guys?" Oscar finally croaked. He was still groggy, but it was dawning on him this wasn't a normal situation.
"Oscar?" Cinder turned to him. "Oh...finally."
"What...what happened?" Oscar was surprised he was still alive.
"Well, you fell, the plane crashed and sunk, the Grimm turned after the pirates--who most likely either escaped or were eaten by now--and we're waiting to be rescued," Royal supplied.
Oscar tried to sit up and found at once that it was not a good idea.
"Did I break something?"
"I don't think so, but you likely bruised your ribs," Cidner replied.
"Great...that again. I should win some kind of prize," Oscar said. "All this time, and I'm still the most breakable."
"I don't know, a drop like that could have killed someone else," Royal said. "They say any crash you walk away from is a good crash."
"That's stupid--" Cinder stopped because a light had just flashed.
She and Oscar both knew it was Shine's portal, and Royal recognized it a moment later.
Shine and Wally appeared, with Qrow and Emerald.
"I told you they wouldn't be dead," Wally said, seeing them.
"I knew that, but I thought they'd be mangled more," Qrow said.
"Oh, gosh." Emerald sounded on the edge of a breakdown. "You guys are actually okay. I was sure you'd be barely conscious and bleeding out."
"Neo isn't around, so no." Cinder made light of it--sort of.
"Oscar?" Wally had dashed to him already. "Uh oh...should we get a stretcher?"
"Maybe I can help," Shine said. "Or you can. I guess we should have brought Jaune anyway."
She knelt down.
"Where's the ship?" Qrow asked Royal.
"In the sea," Royal said. "We're going to need a crane."
"Winter will love that," Qrow said flatly.
Shine put her hand out, and Aura appeared.
"I haven't had to do this in a long time," she mused. "You healed already, someone else, didn't you?"
"Dang, is she also a mind reader?" Royal's eyes were huge.
"At times, I swear..." Cinder muttered saltily.
But she felt bad. Oscar might have had more Aura if he hadn't had to heal her before.
Her own Aura flickered.
"This is not working very well," Shine said. "I'm too out of practice, not adjusted anymore."
"It's okay. I can wait," Oscar said.
"Maybe I can." Cinder walked up. "I mean, if he can..."
"You could try," Wally said. "You know how to unlock Aura?"
"Of course," Cinder almost snapped at him.
"Right, right, I forgot," Wally said.
Cinder's Aura flickered, and Oscar's went brighter.
"Jaune would be better at this," Qrow spoke.
"Jaune is a natural at it, but anyone could do it," Shine said. "Of course, his Aura lets him do more. You know his isn't really healing, it just is one of the perks. It's Aura projection and channeling. Has he named it yet?"
"He'd probably just name it that," Cinder said, frowning.
"Better than it just being called 'Glass'," Wally said.
"Oh, and what do you call your sh-- power? Speed Force? That's so creative," Cinder said.
"Look, super obvious names sell well at home," Wally said. "They're marketable, but here, you're more creative. I just expected more, like...crystallization, or something."
"But it's not crystallization, it's glass," she argued.
"Okay, I think I'm better now." Oscar sat up. "Ow..."
"Let's just go," Qrow said.
"No, we can't take them back," Shine said.
"What? Why not?" Cinder frowned.
"The Argus ships will be looking for you." Shine gestured upward. "And they'll need to know where you were and the other ship too. I wanted to check on you for myself. And here, Winter sent these."
She held up some scrolls. "They're not personalized, but they have the base's line. I guess they're for emergencies--she didn't say much about it. So you can call them. I guess you'll have to claim you had them already. I don't like lying, but..."
[You know, about a week after I wrote this, my phone broke. I had to replace it. That's a weird coincidence.]
"But why can't you just take us back?" Royal asked. "I can just take a picture of the spot."
"Because no one should know we were here. We'd end up in the news for sure," Shine said.
"And we can't do that anymore," Wally said. "Once was bad enough."
"Most people don't avoid publicity like that," Royal said.
"But I can't end up in the news either!" Cinder almost panicked.
"They won't identify you. Raven and Winter know better than to allow that," Shine said. "Us on the other hand, too many people saw us already. How would we explain Qrow and Emerald being here either? I only hope no one saw me portal out."
"I'm confused," Royal said.
"Get used to it," Qrow said. "We're always confused."
"Love you too, Qrow," Shine smirked.
"It's just leaving them out here alone with Grimm around." Qrow cast Cinder a look that said he wasn't confident that she wouldn't attract them.
Cinder looked down.
"Of course.... I know you have to be careful," Oscar said.
Shine and Wally both seemed reluctant.
Qrow understood. He'd felt the same way about Ruby and Yang when they were little.
It must hurt to always have to be in and out of the action.
Though they never acted as if they were upset, and they made the most of the time they did have.
In some ways, he felt like he'd come to like them more once they weren't so close, just because it took that to bring things into perspective.
"We'll wait in Argus," Wally assured them. "You'll be back in a couple hours, tops. We'll have a party."
"I guess we can call if anything else goes wrong," Oscar said.
"But why can't anyone know about you portaling?" Royal was still lost.
"Oh, shut up." Cinder was terse because she was displeased that they were just going to leave them here. Even if she knew perfectly well that they'd only come to check at all out of concern.
"Sorry," Emerald said, awkwardly. "But it's true.... I don't think Raven can portal to Oscar, and who else would make any sense? We'd better just go."
"You want us to pick you up any food?" Wally tried to smooth it over. Food was his love language.
"I wouldn't mind some soup." Oscar was 100% the practical farmer when it came to cold weather food.
Emerald thought that was funny.
They then left.
"Strange friends," Royal said. "I suppose they came out here to check on us. They seem to have these unspoken rules they don't explain."
Oscar looked at him, a little concerned. How much did he have figured out?
"Oh, I get it. Classified," Royal mocked, putting a finger to his lips. "I'll keep it on the QT."
"What does that mean?" Oscar asked.
"I have no idea, but it's what people at the base say," Royal shrugged.
"What did they tell you?" Cinder suddenly realized he'd never explained this, and they'd been talking to him before.
"I'm not sure that's any of your business." Royal clearly loved throwing that back at her for once. "After all, it wasn't to you, and you know they don't like people talking about them too much."
Cinder was speechless.
"I guess that's true. I won't ask," Oscar said politely.
[Somehow the contrast between him and Cinder's reaction is hilarious to me. Maybe I'm weird.]
* * *
After telling everyone else how things had gone, Shine and Wally seriously needed to take a break from worrying, and Winter suggested they come to her house.
Perhaps she didn't like that Pyrrha always hogged their time.
But of course, her real reason, Wally said, was to chew them out for not letting her know sooner what had happened.
And this is what she did, at least for a full 10 minutes.
Qrow spent most of that time messaging Ruby, who wanted to know if Oscar was okay--that is, if everyone was okay, of course.
He shook his head. He knew where this was going.
Well, she could do worse, he had to admit.
"Well?" Winter turned to him suddenly.
"Huh?" Qrow said real intelligently. He hadn't been listening.
Winter looked at him like "back me up."
"Oh, uh, well, she's right," Qrow said.
"Dude, you weren't listening," Wally said.
"I was," Qrow lied. "But I couldn't say it better than that."
Winter gave him a frosty look that said she knew he was faking it.
Qrow hoped Shine would distract her, be a pal. After Wally had just thrown him under the bus there.
Shine glanced at him, and then she cleared her throat--and she seemed surprisingly unbothered by Winter's tirade.
"I know we should have let you know sooner," she said calmly, "but we just didn't know it was going to blow up like that. I thought we could resolve the situation and then let you make it official. I mean, you don't need more work. And solving crime has never been your favorite pastime. We love it, so..."
"Is that really your excuse?" Winter said.
"Winter, Raven already snapped at us while we were still on the base," Wally said.
True. Though Raven's method was to pack her criticism into one scathing speech and then leave it to sink in.
Frankly, it had bothered Shine more when Raven said it because, as much as she loved Winter, she had never taken her temper that seriously.
But she knew better than to say so.
"But we could have prevented this whole thing, probably, if we'd just called you," she said, holding her hands up. "So you're right, okay? But what can we do about it now?"
"And we don't live here, so really, the odds of us doing this again are pretty slim, if that helps," Wally said.
"Well, that's just the problem." Winter was finally cooling off a little. "If you're not going to live here and be accustomed to our ways, perhaps you shouldn't be interfering."
Silence.
It took...some gall to say that to her own teachers, and Qrow half thought lightning would strike her just for the audacity.
Shine and Wally stared at her in astonishment.
Wally finally looked actually hurt.
Shine studied her.
Qrow knew that look. Shine was either about to go of like a bomb, or she would be super calm about the statement, and that would be more shocking still.
He braced himself.
"You know--" Wally didn't wait for Shine. "--I really think that's a little unfair. It's not our fault that we're temps here. In fact, sometimes it drives me nuts, but you're not my only other dimensional friends. I just can't check in on the other ones. Here it's like I'm still part of things a little. We didn't mean any harm."
Winter felt a little bad, despite her anger.
"I don't mean that it's not understandable," she said. "Just that you bypassed my authority, and you will not have to deal with the consequences."
"She's right, you know," Shine said.
Wally was more surprised than Winter was.
"She is?" he said.
"I am?--I mean, I am surprised you said that so easily," Winter covered her shock clumsily.
"Huh." Qrow hadn't bet on the calm response.
"I'm afraid our time to act so recklessly here has passed." Shine had her hand to her chin contemplatively. "I rushed in to help Cinder. Until then, I wasn't going to do anything directly. However, I didn't advise them to let Winter or Raven know right off. I should have. Then again, I'm not responsible for their actions anymore. In some ways, you cannot blame me for the recklessness if the others. I did correct them on it later. Still, had I thought of it right off, it would have been better. Someone could have died over this. That's not a joke. On the other hand, Winter, you can't expect us not to feel things and not to take some action, limited as we are. We're still your friends. Should we be inhibited about what we can and cannot do? You can give us a list if you like. However, I doubt you'd feel comfortable doing that any more than we would letting you dictate to us what we can do. I recognize your authority here; it's more than ours is now. But we are still DJs, and that is a different position. You can't simply scold us like children or subordinates. It's not the right way. We're not above reproach, but there are honorable ways to reproach people. We are your seniors in the faith, if nothing else."
This was well thought out considering how little time she had, and Qrow felt it was reasonable.
Winter couldn't argue either.
"I...suppose you have a point," she conceded, still a little annoyed. "I didn't mean to disrespect your authority. And...I see why you rushed to get involved once someone was in danger. But I didn't even know Cinder was in town. I feel I should have been notified right away. But then, that was Emerald's job, not yours."
"Please don't give her a hard time," Shine said, at once more willing to go to bat for someone else. "Perhaps she did neglect her responsibility, but she was trying to think of Cinder's peace of mind also. On top of that, she's already had enough of a rough time about it. She knows without you telling her. There's a time to remind that you are her friend, not just her boss."
Winter rubbed her forehead. "At times, Shine, I wish I could think just a friend. I've hardly ever had the luxury of doing that."
"Luxury?" Wally snorted. "Winter, it's not easier to have to think as a friend. Bosses don't have to worry about offending people and hurting them real deep, usually, but friends do."
True...
"Then...shall I say the privilege?" Winter amended. "I could be closer to them all if I was not in charge. Raven seems fine with balancing those two things, and I used to think I was, but I find I'm confused about it a lot of the time. She had less of an issue separating those things."
"She is afraid of closeness, so she treats all relationships as that kind of one," Shine said. "She's improved, though. But Raven is a born taskmaster, and that's not a bad thing. I've seen it more and more over time watching her. This is her gift. She loves it, and it's good, because other people respond well to her loving it. Even if she's tough, people like tough if it's sincere. On the other hand, I don't think this is your gift in the same way."
"I'm trained to be a leader," Winter objected, a bit insulted.
"And you're good at it," Shine said. "But it doesn't make you happy."
This simple statement said a lot.
Qrow nodded. "She's right, you know," he said in his turn.
"What?" Winter gave him a sharp look.
"I mean, face it, your favorite part of this job is watching people succeed," Qrow said. "The rest of it is a migraine, and I frankly don't feel any more inclined to do it myself. Maybe you should think about stepping down."
"Just like that?" Winter said.
"It's been 3 years. It's one thing when it was a crisis and they had no one else, but isn't anyone allowed to relieve you?" Shine said. "I think you have much more to offer as a closer friend and mentor to the team and to other people, than as just their boss. Not because you're a bad boss, but it's like it's only half of you, and they need all of you. It's not the best thing. And we're interested in the best thing."
"I think they're both right," Wally said. "You've gotta maximize your potential, as Supes would put it."
"How did this become about me?" Winter said.
"Sorry, I know, there's time for this some other day," Shine said, "but it just occurred to me that this is stressing you out more than the others because of this."
"I couldn't just quit," Winter said. "No one is ready. Raven cannot do this alone either. You need a team. And sadly, Camilla has hardly done a thing as councilwoman. I believe the fall of Atlas weighed her down."
"Witnessing the things she did would be hard on a person who has no deeper hope," Shine mused. "She may just want out. I mean, Sleet was shot right in front of her. It's just...well, scars are real. We can't just pretend they aren't."
"I saw the same things." Winter was somber. "I still dream about them at times, but I press on."
"That's your nature," Shine said. "And perhaps your earlier life was not as cushioned as hers was. You're less reliant on things being ideal. I don't know her that well, but it did seem most of those elites were a little out of touch. But whatever the case, you ought to have a new council. A lot of the young people will be the most resilient and open to change. They're young, perhaps, and inexperienced, but frankly, the older people are already set in doing things the old way, and that's not helping you. You want people with management skills who aren't addicted to routine and regimentation the way the older generation was. Marrow could help you, couldn't he?"
"Marrow is good enough at what he does, but he's spending most of his time working with the Happy Huntresses lately, now that they're re-branding themselves into more of a non-profit sort of disaster relief organization," Winter said. "He's not so bad at doing it."
"He'd be good at leading then," Wally said. "In the right place. I mean, don't most councils have a different head for each kind of thing?"
"Well, ours works a little differently," Winter said. "Currently."
"Marrow is just one. You'd need at least two more, besides Raven," Qrow said. "There's supposed to be 5, and that's a good number."
"Well, it's something to think about." Shine tabled it for now. "About Cinder...what are you going to do about her?"
"We'll have to keep her presence a secret," Winter said. "Today's disaster wouldn't be the last attempt on her life if people knew she was here. I'm well aware that not everyone has let the past go. I believe the only reason more people haven't attacked us here in Argus is because our reputation is that we're extremely powerful, and they're in awe of us. But that illusion can't last forever. They'll realize we're regular humans. And today might have only sped that along."
"Well, being untouchable can be the worst. Just ask Pyrrha," Wally said. "And some real weirdos show up when other people think they can't beat you. Like people who use exploding boomerangs."
"By now, I know that you're not kidding, but I just don't know why." Qrow looked chagrined. [Poor Qrow, he never will understand the DCU's weird characters.]
"Someday, she won't be able to hide anymore," Shine said somberly. "Perhaps preparing people for that would be more effective. We need to talk about that, the other part of what you're supposed to be doing. With the others also."
This sounded like it would be a long conversation.