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“So, who is she?” Rowan asked, as Ten entered the car. He was completely over his head, which, admittedly, was not particularly uncommon. Even so, Ten’s expression worried him. She usually kept a stern face, only showing extreme emotions in dire circumstances. Apparently, this was one such situation. She looked… disturbed? Frightened? Apprehensive? He wasn’t quite sure. 

“Her name is Colleen Gwaed, age eighteen, human. She was born in Vale, and has no known living family. That’s the extent of the information that official records  show.” 

That wasn’t particularly uncommon. With so many people living outside the kingdoms in grimm-infested territory, many didn’t even have birth certificates. But this girl had been born in Vale. “That’s all we know?”

Ten rolled her eyes. “Of course not. That was the stuff that was easy to get. Unfortunately, whatever else I could find was from the database at Arkham Innovations. You heard of them?”

Arkham Innovations. He had heard the name once or twice. “They’re a weapons company, right?”

“Something like that. They do a lot of experimental stuff for the military. The point is, someone from Arkham erased the records. All the information is there. And that’s not all.” She closed her eyes. “Rowan, they had her in their custody for nine years. What they did… It’s not pretty.”

“What do you mean? What would a weapons company need with a kid?” He knew, of course, but was hoping desperately to be wrong.

“T-to make her into a weapon. They cut her open, Rowan, they did things to her, I wasn’t able to get all of it, but the result, well, it’s bad. Really bad.”

“What. Did. They. Do.” Rowan felt his heart start racing. He had seen many horrible things, but nothing that enraged him more than harming children. He know what it was like, to be turned into a tool for someone else, to be hurt, tortured and broken to carry out the will of another. “Ten, what did they do?”

They implanted a mechanical endoskeleton to augment her muscles, and used some sort of chemicals to boost her semblance-regeneration- into overdrive. They performed all sorts of tests and training. It broke her. The psych profile I found listed paranoid, psychosis, and posttraumatic stress among others. Violent tendencies, homicidal rages, and cannibalistic urges too. And let’s not even get started on what it did to her body-”
Rowan felt sick. “Enough. Why are we looking for her?” 

“Six months ago she escaped, and has been on the run since. Argo thinks that her abilities are the only way we will be able to complete the job, so, we’re going to get her out of jail, and ask her to help us, in exchange for help in finding someone who can fix her.”

Rowan raised an eyebrow. “And do you think we can? Can we help her?” 

“I don’t know. But we can at least help with therapy to help with the psychological damage.”

“And you’re just going to lie to her? I think the kid’s been manipulated enough already.” She never understood, empathy was never her strong suit. “I can’t condone that.”

She sighed. “Not my choice to make, take it up with Argo.” He recognized her tone. It was cold, wooden. Her shield was up, and nobody was going to get through, no matter how much she needed it. 

“Of course, every time I try to get something out of you, it’s ‘Argo will explain’, or ‘talk to Argo about it!’ Well, fine. But let me tell you, if I think the kid is being hurt, I will make sure she is made safe, whatever the cost.”

Ten’s voice was flat and cold. “I know.” She pulled into a lot near the police station. “Alright, follow my lead. Don’t say anything unless prompted, stay by my side, and try not to cause any trouble.”

“Wait, how are we getting in?”
“I picked up a few tricks at Beacon.” In a flicker of light, Ten changed, her skin becoming pale and her hair gold. Her red eyes shifted to green, and her black and white dress became a more formal attire with a short purple cape. “Let’s go.”

The two of them walked through the doors of the station, and up to the front desk. Ten stepped forwards, and her cold, reserved mannerisms were replaced by that of stern, confident woman. “Where is the prisoner?” 

The officer at the desk looked startled. “I’m sorry?”

“At 10 PM tonight you arrested a suspect for a double homicide. Where is she?” 

The guard raised an eyebrow. “Are you family?”

Ten rolled her eyes, and slapped the man across the face. “Are you going to continue wasting time?! This is a life and death situation!” 

Another officer entered the room with a cup of coffee in his hand. “Hey, what’s the commotion- Oh! Is there a problem ma’am?” He seemed startled to see Ten. Whoever she was disguised as was obviously important. 

The man at the desk, however, seemed just as lost as Rowan was. “Wait, do you know her?” 

The other officer put down his cup and addressed Ten. “I’m so sorry Miss Goodwitch! He’s new.” He turned to the officer at the desk. “This is Glynda Goodwitch, from Beacon. How may we be of service, ma’am?’ He once again turned to “Glynda.”

Ten nodded her head. As she did so, Rowan noticed something problematic. There was a wanted poster on a bulletin board near the door. A wanted poster for him. Oops. This could be bad. Think fast, Royman! He tried to nonchalantly block the poster from view. 

“Glynda” spoke to the officer in a sharp, no-nonsense manner. “I need to see the prisoner. She’s dangerous, and needs to be moved to a more secure location, so I’ve been assigned to guard her on the way.” She gestured towards Rowan, who was leaning against the board trying desperately to look casual. “He’s a student who has been assigned to work with me on this mission. Now, if you will excuse me, we need to do this as quickly as possible.” 

The officer saluted. “Of course, ma’am. Do you have any authorization from the Council?” 

As he spoke, there was a loud crash. Ten turned around to see Rowan sprawled on the floor under the bulletin board, papers scattered everywhere. She ignored him. “We don’t have time, officer. She’s a ticking time bomb, and we need to get her out of here before she ends up killing someone!”

A bead of sweat ran down the officer’s face. “I’m sorry, ma’am, but I need authorization-”

Ten sighed, and looked the man dead in the eyes. “Were you at the crime scene?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Then you’ve seen what she can do. Unless you want every officer in this building and quite a few people in the surrounding area to end up like those two men, then I suggest you get your ass moving!”

The officer considered this for a second. “Understood, ma’am” He hurried to a flight of stairs and down. Ten followed, with Rowan close behind, after he had pulled the thumbtacks from his body. They went down to the cells, which were mostly empty. One young man, a faunus, sat on a bench in the nearest cell, looking like this wasn’t the first time that he had spent the night there. An old man, obviously drunk, leaned against the wall of another. Finally, they were led to the back, where the girl had been detained. 

She was curled up on the floor like a sleeping dog, and Rowan was immediately struck by just how unhealthy she looked. Her crimson hair was streaked with black, and her skin was pallid and stretched over her bones. 

“She fell asleep just a few minutes before you arrived.” said the officer. “What is she?”

Ten brushed the question aside. “That’s classified. I need you to help me get her into the car.” She turned to Rowan. “Can you pull the car up to the front?” 

Rowan waved the stump of his left hand in front of her. “Depends on if you want it trashed.”

“Right. Well then, I guess I’ll do it. Stay here and watch over her.” She turned and headed up the stairs.

Watch over her? What am I supposed to do if something happens? Rowan turned to ask her but she was already gone. “Okay, let’s get you upstairs.” He reached down to pick up the small girl, only to find that she was much heavier than her gaunt frame should have allowed. “Augh! What the hell?!”

“Yeah,” the officer said, “we weighed her when we brought her in. Three hundred pounds.”

How in the hell? Rowan looked once again at the girl, who would probably stand about five feet tall, and looked barely more fleshed out that a skeleton. “Where does she have that kind of mass?”

“No idea, I was hoping you would know. Come on, I’ll help.” He grabbed her legs, and Rowan supported the shoulders. With some difficulty, and quite a bit of cursing, they managed to haul her up the stairs. Miraculously, the girl didn’t wake.

They loaded her into the back of the car, and drove off, after Ten signed for the transfer. The handwriting wasn’t perfect, but it would be a little bit before they caught on. After they were out of sight, Ten sighed, and her features and clothing returned to normal. “See? Easy. Even with you fooling around.” Rowan muttered something under his breath. “Come on, let’s get going, we leave in the morning.”

They pulled up to a small hotel near the waterfront, and carried Colleen inside. After checking into a room, they laid her down on a mattress in one of the bedrooms.  Rowan looked at her again. She was a small girl, perhaps a bit under five feet tall, with messy red hair, streaked with black, as he had noticed before. She might have been pretty, if she wasn’t so gaunt, and her waist was so thin that she looked like she had some sort of eating disorder. Which, he reminded himself, she probably did. 

Ten put a hand on his shoulder. “Rowan, we need to talk.”

He looked at her, and saw that her mask was up again. Which meant she was concealing something. “What’s wrong?”

“Look, I know you. I know you’re going to try to be a hero, and help her. It’s what you do.” Her voice began to waver. “But you have to listen to me. Please. She’s dangerous. I don’t think she wants to hurt anyone, but that won’t matter. If you let your guard down around her, she’ll kill you.” The mask shattered, just like that, and he saw that she was deathly afraid. “I can’t lose you. You’re the only person in this world I give a damn about, please, just stay away from her.”

He knew she was right. The police had been terrified, and if what Ten had told him was true, if she snapped there wouldn’t be much he could do to defend himself. He looked back to the girl, tossing fitfully in her sleep. He thought he saw a tear run down her face. Damn it. “I can’t. You know I can’t.”

“Rowan, there’s nothing you can do. What they did to her, it’s not something you can fix. They hollowed her out, and stuck something else inside her, she’s really not even human anymore.”

Rowan’s voice turned icy cold. “And as we all know, that means her life is worth so much less,” he said sarcastically. 

“You know that’s not what I mean-”

“I know exactly what you meant. She’s inhuman, she’s dangerous, she’s practically an animal. Sound at all familiar?” He turned away and stalked out of the room. “I’m going out to get some food.” He slammed the door behind him.