Yet another impossible AU(because why not) no one asked for, but I came up with anyway because I listen to too Gothic music too much.

Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY.

Winter was astounded when Gilderoy Marigold-one of the sons of her father's multiple business partners- has asked her to Circus Salem for a 'show'. She at first refused, she didn't want anything to do with her father's business. She has chosen life for herself in the military, and anyway she was too busy for silly things like a circus. However, her mind has changed when she received a message from her younger sister-Weiss. It turned out that Weiss had met Henry Marigold, younger brother of the man in question. According to her, she was so shocked by the boy appearance- especially as she had some friends with her- that she'd panicked and agreed; and now was too afraid to cancel. She got too tangled up. Winter suggested that Weiss turned to her teammates and friends for help, but Weiss would not hear of it. She'd said that she didn't want to get her friends involved in that for many reasons. Winter suspected that a lot of it was Weiss's pride. She did not want to appear weak...and Winter could understand that very well. If she had found herself in a similar situation, especially when she was younger she would have reacted the same. So out of sisterly love and loyalty, she offered she will chaperon the outing, and accepted the invitation of the elder Marigold brother.

"Now, dear Winter," said the man, as they walked down the street "normally I would not attend such an event but this carnival is apparently something different. The man who sold me the tickets had said this will be something extraordinary, something that will take us back in time to the days before The Great War" he explained "and the tickets were rather expensive too, so there must be something in it"

Winter only smiled politely and gave him a nod. She herself, did not share his sentiment in the slightest, quite the opposite. The words time before the Great War sparked more fear in her than curiosity. She knew that the good old days-as some people would call it-were in fact horrible. Slavery was legal, the medicine wasn't as great and people could wind up in mental institutions for really minor things; especially women. It was very easy back then for influential husbands to get rid of their wives that way, and the treatments inmates were subjected too were monstrous! Lobotomy, shock therapy. From a modern perspective, it was inhumane! But she suspected that men like Gilderoy and Henry or her father would like to live in such times. They would be even more privileged and wield more control over lives of their employees and households. She spared a glance at her sister, who was walking with Henry by their side. Her face was a mask of politeness and interest. She seemed to be listening intently to what Gilderoy was saying, but Winter knew better than that. They were sisters after all and had been brought up in exactly the same manner. She knew where to look and she could tell her little sister was just as put-off as she was.

"Oh, we are here" her musings were interrupted by Henry. She turned her head. Indeed, they were at the tall metal gates, with a sign in dark obsidian spelling out Circus Salem in a fancy Gothic font. Winter raised her eyebrow and out of the corner of her eye she saw Weiss wrinkle her nose. Henry and Gilderoy however smiled, and lead them through. They found themselves in an aisle of different stalls with games and food, that really did vintage. In the distance, there was also a merry-go-round and a Ferris Wheel. The centre of the fair, however, was a huge strapped marquee, with little lights around the top, on each side, there were other stalls undoubtedly with some side-shows if Winter's limited knowledge of carnivals was right.

"There is still some time till the show starts," said Gilderoy, looking at his scroll "let us look around. I would like to find out what ordinary people find so funny about the circus"

"And if what they have to offer is worth the money" added Henry, with slight laughter. Winter fought off the urge to grimace. This was why she hated the circles her father moved in! They valued money before all else but at the same time treated it as if it was worth nothing to them and made fun of regular people. Plebs as her father- and she shamefully had to admit herself at some point in her childhood- called them. She shook off such thoughts, letting her partner lead her ahead, with Weiss and Henry in tow. They passed several small shows like people doing fencing, a puppet show, some bisque dolls that moved and laughed. The latter caused Winter to shiver. It was creepy! The lifeless eyes and jaws moving on some ancient mechanism, to form words! It was out of a horror movie! These things were threatening to come to life!

"Let's get out of here," said Weiss, equally disturbed "those dolls are kind of creepy"

"I agree" nodded Henry "maybe we should check out the Freaks. I wonder what kind of oddities they put in there!"

Winter furrowed her brow, feeling disgusted. Oddities! Freaks! She liked this event less and less with each passing minute! Alright some of those freaks could've come with this show willingly-or at least she hoped so- but it still was disgusting. To show people who could not help the way they looked, and have others ogle and laugh at them! But it was also incredibly sad, that those people would agree to it because they had nowhere else to go...because their own communities and even families-if they lived-did not want them!

"Is everything alright, Winter, dear?" asked Gilderoy, and she felt a twitch of annoyance. Dear? Dear? She was not his dear and certainly not in that tone! But she was a military woman and a Schnee and she had too much pride and self-respect to let this man affect her in that way! At least outwardly.

"Yes, thank you" she replied with an even, perfectly polite tone. He seemed to have bought it because he smiled, in a way she supposed was charming for some women, and they set off again. The Freak Show was just as she'd expected it to be. People with deformities or strange marks. The usual, according to her research. And they all looked positively miserable, she dared even say scared. They did not show it and to a random observer they seemed alright but she was a huntress and a soldier in the best military in the world. She could read people better than that, and this aroused her suspicion. She might have found some aspects of this carnival creepy or disturbing, but this was something else entirely!

"Hey, you! Turn!" her attention was suddenly caught by a loud demanding voice. She turned around and saw a young man she'd recognised from her father's parties standing in front of a barred cart "I paid a great deal of money for this show!"

She took a deep breath to calm her budding anger. She hated those words more than anything else. They reminded her all too much of her father's abuse and anger. He would come home after something like that, where he had been denied something or something went not the way he'd wished and he would take it out on her or mother! And later Weiss! Just because he didn't get what he wanted instantly! She shook her head.

"Come on," said Henry "let's see what is this guy all about and what is in that cage"

Winter felt another stab of anger and clenched her free fist, the one that was not by Gilderoy's side. Those were people! Disabled, maybe deformed but they were people! She took a deep breath again, reminding herself that compromising military by punching a spoiled rich manchild was not worth it. She followed after everyone else, and they stopped before the cage. There was a tag on it, on the side saying Bad Luck Charm-Crow Shapeshifter

Well, that explained what this person was doing here. She lifted her eyes from the label and felt her heart stop.

'That's impossible' she thought

In the cage, there was a man. He was dressed in a grey shirt, black pants and a red cape. She could not see his face well as he was well-hidden in shadows. She could only make out his spiky hair, that looked very much like a bird. There was only one person that she knew of, that looked like this. Qrow Branwen, a Vaelian Huntsman working for Professor Ozpin, and a man she had been looking for, for past couple of years. The fact that he was a crow shapeshifter should have told her that in the first place, but in her defence she did not expect to meet him here and she had been focused more on circus itself and on her unpleasant company. Now, however, all these thoughts had been blown away, gone and replaced with utter shock. For a good while, she could just stand there and stare. She had found Qrow Branwen, after all this time, after everyone had given him up for dead...and it was by complete and utter accident! She made an instinctive step forward, not really knowing why or what she would say to him in front of all these people, but before she could do or say anything she was stopped by an arrival of a man in white coat and black bowler hat. Another wave of shock hit her. This was Roman Torchwick! Vale's elusive criminal mastermind! He had been quiet for some years now, many thought he had left Vale for good or was dead! Well, it turned out he'd decided to work for a creepy carnival. But his presence once again brought forward the previous mistrust and suspiciousness or rather confirmed them. If this man ran this place or worked here and if they had a missing huntsman then there was something wrong with this circus. She remembered that Qrow disappeared while looking into case of possible people smuggling. These people had to be involved with that. Her mind at once went into military mode. She was a special operative, she should be paying attention now. She stepped back and fixed her eyes on Torchwick.

"What is going on here?" he asked, looking at the young man who had been yelling before.

"The bloody freak won't turn!" explained the man pointing at the cage

"Ah, I see," said Roman "well, my deep apologies sir, but the thing is we have timetables for our shows and exhibitions. If you look closely there is a sign there" he pointed at a wooden board to the right "it shows you when each of the freaks will perform. Birdie here has a show every half-an-hour, but right now he's on hold because we're gonna use him in our main show today"

The young man pouted, clearly displeased but said nothing

"Well, I hope that the main show is worth it," he said "and I do expect to see him turn there, or I will be suing"

And with that, he spun on his heel and walked away, but Winter barely paid attention to him.

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen" said Roman, clapping his gloved hands as his cane swung on his elbow "there is nothing more to see here, the show will begin in twenty minutes, until then please check out our other attractions, or if you like you can already claim the best places in the marquee"

"Come on, darling," said Gilderoy, taking her arm "let's go"

She nodded her head and let him lead her away as Henry took Weiss, but not before she turned her head for one more glance at Qrow. He wasn't looking at her, his head was still dipped down, and he was facing her with his back.

'I'll get you out of here' she promised silently 'just hang in there for a while, and I will get you out'

But for that, she knew she needed help. There were after all others, not just Qrow and she wanted to get those responsible too. There was much more at stake here, if they apprehended whoever ran this place there was a possibility of solving a major international case. But she also knew she had to act fast, she didn't know how long the circus would be in town after all. With business practices such as dealing with people trafficking and keeping said people in cages they certainly wouldn't be staying in big cities with strong law enforcement for too long.

"Mr Marigold" she spoke up, putting her hand on Gilderoy's arm and pushing it away "I'm sorry but I must leave you for a moment. I have...private business to attend to"

"Of course, My dear," he said "we will be waiting for you in the marquee"

She sent him a fake smile, before turning around and quickly departing from them. She wandered around the circus grounds for quite a while, looking for a quiet place where she could call General Ironwood without attracting attention but at long last, she found it, in a corner near the trees. She looked around for one last time and satisfied with no one being near she dialled the number.

"Schnee?" spoke the surprised voice on the other side

"General" she greeted "I am sorry for calling you at an inappropriate time"

"It's quite alright" he assured her "I'm not as busy, I was just surprised because I thought it is your day off"

"Yes, but this is very important," she said "I've...I've found Qrow Branwen, sir"

There was a long silence on the other side and she could almost picture the shock on her superior's face.

"Are you sure?" he asked after a while, his voice low and serious.

"Yes" she nodded "I'm positive"

With that, she told him everything, how she and her sister ended up going to the new circus, and how there were people in cages and Qrow amongst them, as well as about her suspicions.

"I know this is a sudden request," she said "but we do not have much time, sir. These kinds of travelling groups never stay for more than few days, and since they have come to a major kingdom they might want to escape even tomorrow, and if they escape then we might never catch them again. Not to mention, sir you know how much Qrow Branwen's case means to me...what finding him means to his family. I would hate to have to tell these girls that we found him only to lose him again"

The General sighed, she knew he considered her determination to find Qrow borderline obsession, and worried she was letting it get to her.

"Please, sir," she implored "I know this is a short notice, I know we are not fully prepared, but we really do not have time. I-"

"Schnee" he interrupted her "I understand the urgency, and we will act as soon as we can. I will send over your Atlassian Knights, and add some from my personal guard, as for the rest I will ask the members of the council as well as contact the police and ask them to put the city on lockdown. For now, keep your eyes open, and try and gather evidence, and send me what you can right away. It will help a great deal with convincing the rest of the council and chief Bronzenberg to act"

This wasn't what she had hoped to hear-since the General had two seats on the council -but it was all she would get and it was better than nothing or 'tomorrow'.

"Thank you, General" she said "I appreciate your help"

With that their conversation ended, and Winter pocketed her scroll and headed back. She decided to check the sideshow first. When she got there it was pretty empty, most of the visitors having headed to the marquee for the main show. She was about to make a couple of pictures when she saw a young grey-haired teenager walking up to Qrow's cage with a plate. She moved a little bit closer, to hear better, all while pressing the recording button.

"Well, hello there freak," said the boy cheerily "how was your day? Brought you some food" with that he extended his hand to past the plate to Qrow, but in last moment he took it away and tossed it in the air, causing it to land on the ground. He then laughed loudly and shaking his head, walked away. Winter was shocked and appalled by such behaviour. How could anyone treat another living being like this? How she regretted she didn't take her sword with her, a bit of concentration and she could create a glyph and send this kid flying...she shook her head. No, she could not draw too much attention to herself. However she couldn't leave it alone either, she looked between the cage and the food on the ground and made her decision. This couldn't cause any trouble, surely? She wouldn't make anyone suspicious by doing this...and anyway, there were close to no people around. With that, she switched the camera off and headed towards one of the food stands.

"One small bowl of noodles," she said to the man behind the counter. He nodded and soon enough she got one. She paid and thanked him, before returning to the sideshow, and approaching Qrow's cage. She spotted him, sitting in the shadowed corner, his face hidden in his arms.

"Qrow?" she asked quietly. Her heart was now hammering in her chest, and she didn't quite know how to act or how to speak to him. They barely knew each other, and their first meeting wasn't one of the best. And on top of that, it has been so long since they saw one another. After what seemed to be an eternity, but what in reality was most likely just a couple of seconds Qrow raised his head, and she took a step back in shock at how ashen and gaunt his face was. And the eyes she remembered being quite animated and filled with emotions the last time she met him-and all the times she saw him on the home videos and photographs at Tai's house-, were now dull and resigned. That is until he saw her. Then a sparkle of surprise and disbelief appeared in them, only mirrored by his voice.

"Ice Queen?" he croaked out. His voice was raspy and tried as if he hadn't had any access to drinking water in quite a while.

"Hi," she said, rather awkwardly "I-I brought you something to eat"

She stepped even closer, showing the bowl of noodles. Qrow blinked few times in disbelief before reaching out to take the bowl but he stopped midway, and she saw a hint of suspicion appear in his eyes. He then looked down at the food the boy had dropped to the ground before, and Winter imminently understood. He thought it was a trick. A small part of her felt insulted a by such an accusation, but she quickly pushed the feeling away. The boy and the other people at the carnival had to do such tricks often with him. She let out a sigh and came closer, extending the bowl further, with a small reassuring smile. Or rather she hoped her smile was reassuring. She was still working on showing support towards people more outwardly.

"Here," she said "I swear I'm not going to trick you and drop it, Qrow"

He gave her another look but then raised his hand again, and reached for the bowl, at first slowly and carefully, shyly even, but when he got the bowl in his hand he quickly snatched it out of her hand.

"See?" she said "no trick"

"No trick" he echoed as if astonished by the fact. Winter felt her heart break in two, and her resolve to get him out of here only became stronger. She felt sudden urge to tell him that his captivity is coming to an end, to give him some sort of hope for the future. And by talking to him she could also find out more about this carnival to pass on to Ironwood. With this new resolve, she looked around and making sure that absolutely no one would take notice of her or overhear her she came even closer.

"Qrow," she said in a low voice, he looked up at her from his food. She paused, not really knowing what to say "we're gonna get you out of here. All of you" she said, straight to the point. Like always "my men and General's personal guard are going to come, and General is talking to the council to ensure more men and the police. We just need evidence to convince them"

Qrow, who had been eating, paused at these words as he processed them, he then narrowed his eyes at her again looking for some hint of a cruel joke or trick. Again, the more prideful side of her felt injured and offended but she again snuffed that flame out. She remembered that after all he barely knew her, and he did not trust Atlasian military much, and on top of that, she was a Schnee. Her family was known for playing games, after all. So she said nothing. Finally, she noticed Qrow's eyes widen.

"Oh, gods you're serious" he whispered

"I'm known for that" she replied, surprised by the casual nature of this remark. A small smile briefly appeared on Qrow's face, at the words. Winter let out a small cough, before returning to the matter at hand.

"As I said" she continued "there will be someone coming, but to get proper aid from the police and rest of the council we will need more evidence. Do you think you'd be able to provide us with some?"

Before Qrow could tell her anything, they heard the muffled sound of a conversation. And judging by Qrow's reaction he knew who it was. Winter turned around and paled when she saw who it was as well. Roman Torchwick alone would have awoken some kind of shock and fear in her, but his companion was something else enterally. It was Arthur Watts! Winter would recognise him anywhere! He had been one of Atlas' brightest minds, both as a doctor and as an inventor. He had been the mind behind the robotic prosthetics that put not only Atlas but the whole of Remnant on a path of making disabilities such as amputated limbs, and even paralysis history. He could have been hailed a hero and remembered forever, but his sick ambition became his downfall, and after a huge scandal involving one of his experiments he had been expelled from the Institute of Technology and afterwards, he simply vanished from the face of Remnant. Winter felt chills run down her spine when she thought about what he could have been up to, having a whole bunch of caged people no one gave a damn about under his care. But him being here spelled bad news also for her. He knew exactly who she was, and he would be suspicious of her at once. And she couldn't really do much on her own. She didn't know how many people were here and what their semblances were, she had no weapons and she seriously doubted anyone would listen to her if she asked them to surrender in the name of Atlas all on her own. She looked at Qrow and grabbed his hands.

"I'll get you out, I promise" she said as earnestly as possible, before releasing him from her grip, and turning around, she was about to go away but she paused and acting on a sudden idea unclasped the red broach she always wore, even with her civilian clothing; before putting it in Qrow's hand "I promise" she repeated, before finally letting go of him and walking away. She only fished out her scroll and made one last photograph of Watts and Torchwick before sending it to Ironwood. That and the recording should get the council to act. Her heart filled with new hope, she pocketed the device again and headed for the marquee.

So this is the first chapter. Again. I've decided to rewrite this, to fit more with the canon. That is, Qrow and Winter know one another, but very shallowly, as they have seen each other sporadically and only on some public functions or business occasions. So their judgment was a bit Pride and Prejudice-esque.

Great thanks to drunkdragon (the wonderful, talented author of Countess Dracula, and many short prompts. Really, go check it out now!) for helping me with deciding where to end, and telling me whenever I convey what I want :). now serously off you go read his stuff. **royal princess Luna voice: **NOW!