I kept walking, every few seconds turning around to push away the strange grey smoke that was aggressively following me. My lights only lasted an hour at full charge, fortunately my hand charger ran on elbow grease so could keep them full.

"Where's that Phillips Head?"

I jumped slightly from the sudden voice. I flashed my lights to where the sound came from. It took me a moment to even realize I was seeing something, but after a moment I could clearly see a black silhouette of a man on his knees. He didn't have any features to distinguish him, no face or eyes; it was like looking at a shadow. His hand was moving through the air to his left, I guess where he thought there was a tool box.

"Excuse me. Can you hear me?" I honestly didn't think he could, since it looked like he was trying to fix a power box that had long since been ripped off the wall, with tools that weren't there.

I was proven right when he completely ignored me. He lifted his hand "finding" what he was looking for then working on fixing the non existing powerbox.

I looked over my shoulder to push back the smoke, which almost made contact with me. When I looked back I only caught the last moments of the figure as it faded into nothing. I looked around thinking I might see him rematerialize somewhere, but he didn't after I waited a minute for him to reappear.

I kept moving, wondering what I just seen, until I came across a crowd of the specters like before. They had their backs to me and looked to be looking at a man separated from the group. I noticed a few tails, ears and other signs they were all faunus. The man in front was introducing someone else, but oddly there was no specter.

"This is the human who will be in charge of our operation at Mountain Glenn. I expect you all to show him the same respect you show me. I have also given him permission to see to anyone who fails to show him that respect. Understood?"

There was some nodding and other gestures of compliance as the crowd acknowledged.

"Thank you all, I'm so glad we can put our differences aside to achieve a common goal."

Is that Mr. Torchwick? It sure sounds like him.

"My only rules are; don't question my orders, save insults 'till after you are behind my back, and-" He continued on, but his voice and the crowd in front of me faded like the first man did.

Not even two steps forward and another pair were walking toward me through the tunnel.

"I'm telling you Rame, we should just abandon the metro tunnels and focus on defending the different terminals."

"The four kingdoms fell because they were isolated Mosaz. You want us to do the same thing only on a smaller scale in the metros? We wouldn't last a year. The grimm would destroy the terminals one by one."

I wanted to reach out to them and touch them, see if I could influence them in anyway. I reached my hand out to the spectres, but before contact could be made, withdrew my hand. I didn't know what was going on, all I knew was there was some strange smoke trying to get me. Maybe they were trying to trick me; pull me in through curiosity.

"Well patrolling the whole metro isn't any better. The trenches are a constant battlefield. The grimm can just grind away at us 'till there finally aren't enough of us to hold them; and that will come sooner than expected if the rumors are true."

"They aren't going to replace our ammunition with those cheap bullets they've been starting to make Mosaz. They might start giving them out as a backup supplement, but they aren't going to become standard issue-"

I watched them fade then pressed on myself. The tunnel was quiet for a bit, I let my mind reflect on what I saw. Who were those people? The first man didn't even seem to notice he was in the metro without an escort, then the group of faunus; who where they? And why would they care about Mountain Glenn? No one, save maybe a few lucky scrapers, had been down there since we moved into the metros. Maybe Mr. Torchwick could tell me... and why was he not one of the phantoms there? Was it because he was still alive?

My thoughts were cut off when I heard yelling behind me.

"We need to fall back!" A group of four coming from behind were going to hit me if they continued on their path towards me.

I moved out of the way so they could pass without contact.

"Where? Everything is being over run! We're going to have a last stand, just pick a hill you want to die on."

"Shut up! We just need to find one of the reserve units and have them help us."

They vanished just before they would have reached me, but still, better to be safe then sorry.

The smoke had filled the whole of the tunnels save where I treaded, as I swung on Crescent Rose every other step. Straight ahead I saw another phantom walking forward. I ignored them this time, not really caring what was going on. I passed a kid crying for his mother, a man fighting what I guess was grimm before he was overcome and killed.

Two people kissing in the tunnel made me pause for a moment imagining me and Jaune in their place. When the man's hand cupped the women's private I retracted that thought and decided to move on.

More images. I wasn't sure if they were real or not, as it could be whatever the smoke was, trying to toy with me, but I've yet to see anything that would hint they were fake either. I just continued on, charging my light when it reached half and consistently looking over my shoulder to push back the smoke.

I looked over my shoulder to see the same female specter for the third time. She was leaning to her side like she was trying to get a better look at something. I moved to the side to let her pass without worry of contact. When I stepped aside though she walked in front of me and stopped too. It's hand reached out and I moved out of the way.

My sudden reaction caused her to pull back her hand and she looked at me. I couldn't see her face, but from the way her head was slightly cocked to the side it looked as though she was confused.

"Can... Can you see me?" I was surprised when she nodded.

I kept the idea this was some sort of trick in my head as I continued the conversation.

"Can you speak?" She shook her head no.

"Did you just show up?" She nodded yes.

"Have you known I've been down here for long?" A single nod in return.

"Is there something you need?" It wasn't a yes or no question, but I thought she was capable of showing me what she wanted.

She waved her hand, gesturing me to follow her. She was a silhouette like the others so I couldn't get any details on her looks; less so as she had a cloak around her that blocked view to much of her figure.

"Do you know where the exit is?" She stopped and nodded to me, then once more waved for me to follow.

I was still suspicious, but without anything else to go off of I followed anyways. Plus I just liked being with her. Maybe it was the idea of not being alone in the metro with her around, but her presence just made me happy.

I limped after her, keeping pace while we avoided more images. We went by a fork in the tunnel, but the woman seemed to know exactly where she was going. Her foot steps pushed away the smoke at her feet like she had a solid form. The images stopped coming. I asked if she knew why, but didn't get a response.

I almost walked into her when she came to a sudden stop. She leaned forward and pressed a hand to her forehead. I waited a moment, but she didn't stop, she just pointed forward down the tunnel; expecting me to go on.

"Are you ok?" She didn't respond now visibly rubbing her head.

"Where is the exit?" She flicked her hand, restating the direction.

I wasn't exactly sure if I should have trusted her, but she hadn't given me any reason not too. She also seemed very insistent that I go down that way. I waited an extra moment to see if she would get better, but when she didn't I decided that our short journey together had ended. I kept limping forward, I was going to turn around if she was starting to catch up. When the feeling of happiness left me though, I knew the answer.

I was a little disheartened about leaving her behind. Not that I knew if it could have been prevented in anyway. The painkiller in the antibiotic was starting to wear off and I could feel the light pain in my leg that would no doubt get much worst.

I heard foot steps ahead, accompanied by deep ragged breathing. I stopped to see yet another specter in the tunnel. I was going to blow them off till I realized it was the women from before. I called out to her, but she didn't acknowledge. She didn't even seem to realize I was there, just like the others.

She was holding her side like it was injured. She must have been suffering from light headedness as she was stumbling toward the cave wall. With one hand leading she made it to the stone surface. Pressing her back to it she slid down to her butt and sat in a comfortable position.

"I'm sorry sweetie... I'm not going to make it home to kiss you good night."

She sniffed and slowly her breathing started turning into crying. I stood there watching her, only breaking sight to push back the smoke around me. I could feel my eyes watering up as I saw the women slowly bleeding out in front of me, crying. Occasionally she would mutter 'I'm sorry,' or something similar.

Her silhouette lasted longer than the others, but even she started to fade. Whether it was from her actually passing away or just an end to the vision I don't know. As her shadow faded I realized that beneath her form was an aged skeleton. After a moment to make sure she was fully gone, I got on my knees, ignoring the pain in one, to inspect her remains.

They were each in fine condition considering their age, each of them were whole; so the damage must have been to her organs. Underneath a thin layer of dirt was her cloak preserved under the dirt, white with red lining. I attempted to lift the aged cloak up, only for it to rip when I applied even a slight amount of force to it. I thought for a moment before I pulled the pins for my own cloak and pulled it out. I felt strangely naked without it on, but this was important.

I carefully placed each of the bones on the cloth before carefully taking the weathered cloak and gently rolling it into a ball. Once everything was in place I wrapped my cloak around it and carried it in my free hand.

I didn't have any other direction to go off of, so I just continued down the same direction the women pointed me to go. The smoke was now moving more aggressively, I guess it was angry that I was taking the woman's remains with me.

I continued limping, taking note that the slight irritating pain was now starting to become stronger, like when you accidently it something with your hand; no doubt it would get worse as time went by. The actual tunnel was starting to open up slightly as I went. I guessed there was a terminal coming up or at least a crossroad, and smiled when I guessed right.

A small platform elevated up to the side, while the rails continued forward north. There was a fork in the rails behind me, but I only focused going north. I stopped when a patch of gold caught my eye.

The station was just just a standard maintenance platform, but what caught my eye was along the back wall was the icon I had seen the other day. The gold crown with a black lightning bolt splitting it was painted in the back corner.

"Nam revolutione!" painted underneath.

I let curiosity guide me to the platform. I pulled myself up and took a look around. In the corner looked to be a create unnaturally new looking compared the other garbage. It had a lock, but the key was inside it.

I took half a step forward when my aura flared. Listening to its call I looked down to see a trip wire, with my foot on a collision course with it. A small tube at the end that I immediately recognized as a homemade Alisian style pipebomb.

I couldn't stop my foot from tripping the string. I knew it would hurt later, but I brought Crescent Rose out from my side. My foot pulled the fuse while I fell back from the lack of balance. The thundering bang of one of my .50 cal rounds rang through the small cavern while I expertly brought the flat head of my scythe around in a smooth arc around me.

The precision strike resulted in the flathead to make contact with the bomb. The small explosive flew through the air. Coming out of my spin I lost balance, making me fall on my bad leg.

The loud blast of from the bomb was quickly drowned out by the massive BOOM, from whatever the contents of the box where. The power of the blast was enough to throw me through the air, despite my laying position.

My body yelled with pain when I made contact with the ground, my legs screamed as they came down on one of the rails. I know I'm not supposed to, but at that moment rules be damned.

"Ah! Fuck!"

I continued cursing to myself while rubbing my leg in a desperate attempt to sooth some of the pain. My fingers stroked something that felt like bone through the cloth. With a little prodding I gave a sigh of relief that it wasn't mine. Reaching through the blood red cloth I ripped out a sharp tooth that was colored to match, with little bits of flesh caught on the tiny barbs along its edge.

I tossed it away while I inspected the wound. Removing the tooth might not have been the best Idea. Blood pumped out of the newly created hole in my leg, and my current bandages were too soaked in blood to do anything about it. I struggled to lift myself, a small feeling of sadness sprouting in me.

I just want to go home.

Getting to my feet, I took a moment to calm myself. The corner with the create was completely destroyed. I looked about, none of the other boxes had explosives thankfully, and one that was blasted open only had old posters in it.

After collecting myself I started to continue on my original path, muttering, "Ow," to myself every other step. I was about to leave the cavern, when I remembered I dropped the women's bones, and quickly retrieved them.

I felt a strange pull as I went, like I was being guided to somewhere. I let the tug pull me toward a small tunnel that looked like it had been made very recently compared to the rest of the metro. I continued along my head starting to hurt for some reason, and the pain in my leg getting even worse. My gaze was on the ground, to tired to actually bother looking up. My light started blinking in warning of being half dead, but I just ignored it for the time. I'll charge it later, for now I just wanted to keep moving.

I paused to take a swig from a canteen I kept in my pack. Footsteps drew my attention down the tunnel. they were slow and sounded like they were dragging along the ground.

"Hello?"

I dropped the canteen when no reply came and threw the tip of Crescent Rose into the ground, in anticipation of a grimm rounding the corner. Instead a person walked into sight, I lowered my guard and looked away from my scope to look him in the eye.

The smile that was starting to sprout on my face, quickly withered and died. When my light shined to his face, I saw smoke retreat away from his mouth and nostrils. The body shifted slightly, but remained standing. its eyes were dead. The chest and stomach were bloated. The corpse continued to walk toward me, a sword in its hand. slowly it made its way closer, I hoped that my light would keep it away, but no such luck. The sword was raised over it's head and finally I decided that I needed to take action. I fired a heavy .50 caliber round into the center of his body. The chest cavity bust in a torrent of gore, with me having to jump back a little to avoid the flying guts. my light shined into the open wound and the smoke within the body fled from my sight. I waited a moment to make sure the body wouldn't get back up, and when it didn't I pressed forward.

I rounded the corner the corpse had moments before to find what looked like another crossroad. What caught my eye though was that the northern tunnel had collapsed, sealing it off from the rest of the metro. The second thing that caught my eye were two more corpses shambling toward me. They both carried guns with them, but they seemed more willing to club me with them rather then shoot me. I dispatched them like the first. Like the first smoke retreated from their bodies when my light shined on it.

I heard a noise echo through the tunnel. It was soft and barely noticeable.

"...ee"

I listened, hearing it again. It sounded like it was coming from a vent next to the caved in tunnel. I hobbled over collapsing next to it. After a moment to sooth my leg I called "Hello?" into the vent.

There was a pause, but voice did called back the same way. I called again and it responded, slightly closer. I grabbed the grate and pulled at it, still calling to the person on the other side. With no success with my hands, I propped myself up and folded up Crescent Rose; exchanging it for my DMR. I fired at the corners, and after seven shots, I got the screws and easily pulled it away.

This one was much smaller and I had to take off my bag and equipment to get in. I took a deep breath and pushed myself in backwards, dragging my gear in after.

"Ruby!"

"I'm here in the vent." I reached the other grate and started kicking at it, in hopes of breaking it open or at least getting their attention.

"Where? I can't find you."

"The vent, I'm kicking at the grate."

A moment later I heard the footsteps right behind me.

"Ruby? Is that you?"

"Jaune? Help, I can't get it open."

I stopped kicking knowing he would get me out. I heard metal meet metal and guessed he was trying to break it off. A moment later it was off and I started crawling out. My legs were out and I hoped that Jaune was to the side, so he wouldn't see my underwear.

I pulled my back up, but was confused when it didn't move. It was a tight fit, but it wasn't that tight. I pulled again thinking it might have just been caught on a old screw or something, but still it didn't move.

"Ruby are you ok?"

"Yeah I'm fine, my back is just caught on something."

I heard him say "Let me help" while grabbing my legs and pulling. He groaned as he pulled, and I did the same. The back finally moved, but not how I hoped. A strong force pulled the bag back into the tunnel, pulling me along like I was weightless. If Jaune wasn't holding my legs I would have been fully pulled in. The sound of him slamming into the wall was the only hint on why I wasn't pulled all the way out.

"Ruby! You're slipping!"

I didn't respond. I tugged again at the back trying to pull it back, but to no effect. Jaune groaned again under the strain in his body.

"Ruby! I can't hold on!" he called.

I grabbed Crescent Rose and my cloak from the top of the bag then let it go. I watched it get forced out of the vent. The strange smoke retreated from the entrance, but I didn't need to see to know it was responsible.

The sound of the different bits of metal and other things I kept in the bag slammed on a stone surface. Then again and again with a frightening amount of force. My DMR fell in front of the vent and I watched it get pulled out of sight, only for it to come down a moment later. It struck with enough force to snap the weapon clean in two like a stick, and I grew frightened at the thought that, that it could've been me instead.

I felt Jaune pull at my legs again, this time dragging my out of the vent with Crescent Rose in hand. I flipped over to see him leaning down, panting slightly. Without hesitation I reached up and grabbed his shoulders. I tried pulling myself up, but wound up pulling him down instead. He fell on top of me, but I didn't care. I threw my arms fully around his neck and my face into his shoulder.

"Please, just take me home."

He wrapped one arm around me and stood up while I clung to his chest. He picked up Crescent Rose and my cloak while I wrapped my good leg around him and tried to do the same with my bad one.

"Alright let's get you home."

A/N: Thanks to /u/Challos for editing, and /u/Madgamer2k7 for making the thumbnail.

I'm playing through Metro 2033 again. OMG! Miller, you piss me off so much; FUCKING RUN! Outside that I recently came up with a HUGE plot change while I was soaking in the shower, and I think people will like; well if you like it when I hurt your feels that is. So, yeah, GET HYPED!