Mother and Son

After five days from the birthday and three days after Aegis's release from custody, he finally was about to lose his nerves and burn every paper in his line of sight.

For two whole days, Aegis spent closed in his father's study...

No HIS study now.

For two whole days, he left the office just to train Weiss for one hour or toilet breaks as he didn't even go to sleep when he saw just how many documents his dear oh so dear father left for him to handle...

Now Aegis has even more desire just to visit his father in the hospital and just to punch him...

It wouldn't help with his current situation, but it would certainly relieve a lot of Aegis's stress...

As he found that his dear father let a lot of paperwork for his evil minions who embezzled so much money from it, you could build multiple new homes in mantle what now was just one big city slum...

And he just ignored it as he bought the loyalty of his subordinates with such a method...

Aegis already found at least twenty names of persons who he needs to contact and make them return that more than fifty million liens, and if they even dared to defy him, he will make sure that the legal system of Atlas makes them completely broke...

Aegis sight for at least a hundred times this day as he saw he was just in half of the paperwork tower that surely from now visit him in his nightmares.

And don't even speak about the fact that even more documents are coming every hour as the situation in SDC is completely nuts...

Plus, in three days, he has a meeting with the board of directors and shareholders...

Aegis sights again...

Aegis was about to read another document when someone knocked on office doors.

"Come in."

Aegis said as he tried to mask his tiredness with a fake smile.

"I-I d-did I come in the wrong time?"

Willow said with a little stutter as she saw through her son's fake smile...

Truly, even if Willow was absent from most of her children's lives, which she never stopped regretting and never will, Willow still knew them enough to see through their facades...

Not speaking about the fact that her son Aegis was never good at showing emotions, he was either utterly apathetic with a poker face or showed emotion with was mostly shown from his eyes what at such times radiated happiness.

"No, no, you can always come to me, mother. I WILL always have time for my family."

Aegis said and made very much emphasized the WILL.

Aegis stood from his chair and made his way to his mother and outrightly hugged her, which made her freeze, but he just ignores it as he hugged her even harder.

"So what is the reason for your visit, mother? It normally me who visit you nowadays."

Aegis said as he reluctantly pulled himself from his mother's warm body.

"From when a mother needs a reason to visit her baby."

Willow said, but even if she tried to look nonchalant, her hands in pockets trembled little.

Aegis just looked at her and sighed as no matter how bad she was in his latter years in mothering, and Aegis still remembers their early days when she showed her affection for both him and Winter without fear.

Aegis could never be angry at his mother.

"No, I suppose not, sorry mother, it's just that im a little antsy."

Aegis said, and Willow looked at the two towers that were labeled with 'Next' and 'Done' under them and could see why her son look so miserable...

And again, Willow felt a ping of guilt and pain as she saw what she made her son do for them, but then she stopped as she gets an idea.

"Aegis, you know that I was born into Schnee family like you and my father, that is your grandpa, made me undergo numerous curses ranging from economy to business. He made me so that once I marry, I could either lead SDC or support my husband."

Willow said, and there was little poison when she spoke about her husband.

Aegis just looked at her and got an idea of what she wanted to say, but still, he let her continue.

"That, I, I-I mean if you want I could help you with your current work, t-that is if you wa-want."

Willow said, and there was again a stutter under her tone as she feared her son rejecting her idea.

Aegis just looked at her little surprised as he never saw her with any document. Then again, even if he publicly refuses it, his father IS a major sexist, and he would never let a woman help him even if she was his own wife...

Aegis's silence makes Willow even more afraid as she looks at him, fearing her son finally has given up upon her.

"Very well, but once you start, you are in this ship with me until it sinks. Is that alright with you, mother?"

Aegis said and smiled at the idea of being with his mother more time, even if it means they both would just read and sign boring papers...

"Yes! I mean, yes, I want to."

Willow said excitedly but immediately calm herself, a little embarrassed at her outburst and her son's gaze. What is telling her how much fun he finds that?

"Then come, mother, we have a lot of work. The papers with blue spin do not need SDC president signature, the ones with red spin means are just ideas, and the ones with black are ones I must make myself."

Aegis said that as he shows her hundreds or maybe a thousand documents, and Willow gets a little urge to look for a bottle of wine.

"And what about the white ones?"

Willow said as she saw that white pins that numbered around ten or twenty and immediately stopped when she felt her blood freezing as she quickly looked at her son and saw his eyes change into that of pure ice...

He showed the same eyes the day he freed her and her daughters from that monster who was her husband and their father...

"These are ones I will make myself. Don't open them, mother."

Aegis said with a cold tone, but then as if he wakes up from the trance, he looks at her with an apologetic smile and continue.

"Forgive mother, and It's just, I do not want you to see what is in these documents."

Aegis said as he tried to push his need to kill the bastards who came with such atrocity.

"Aegis, Im, your mother, and even if I made many mistakes and failed so many times, Im still an adult and know about some of your father's dark sides. Believe me, I want to help you."

Willow said, and Aegis just sighs as he knows that if he doesn't show her what's in them, she would just look at herself when he would be preoccupied, so he just reaches for the lightest and the mildest from them all and gives it to his mother.

"Her mother, this is the mildest one you could find from white pins documents."

Aegis said as he looks at his mother's pale face that, after starting reading, it pales even more, and he can see how her hands tremble.

The document Aegis gave her is one where some degenerate that Aegis will find and make sure that he ends up like his father, he submitted right of the first night on every female faunus who marries...

After a moment, Willow stops in the middle of the document as she could feel her stomach rumble and almost made her throw up from what she read.

"I-its. No- that cant be- Aegis tells me this is a joke?! they don't have any right. SDC doesn't have such power to make such sick ideas into reality!"

Willow desperately asks as she trembled little and blanched when she saw her son's eyes darken little and get a bad feeling.

"No, mother SDC doesn't have much power and leeway, but even you know that father planned to go for a council seat, and once he would get that seat there, wouldn't be anything that could stop him from making these ideas reality."

Aegis said with hollow laught what sent chills to Willow's spine as she never saw her son so hollow inside...

She saw him apathetic but never such hollowed like, it made Willow worry, so she has done what her instinct told her and just hugged her son.

"Mother, please don't look into the pin white ones folders. From now, it is my duty to take care of them."

Aegis said as his head was between Willows's breast, and Willow just hugged him tighter.

"As you wish, my baby, but from now I promise I would always be there for you. Even if I can't help you clean this world what I know you will try, I will be there for you always when you need a lap to rest your head-on."

Willow said as for the first time saw her son as a man and not a child when he pulled from her embrace and just dazzlingly smile with sent strange feeling upon her body...

"Verry, well, mother, from now I will make sure you will always stay at my side."

Aegis said, and he made his way back to the desk with new energy as one of the problems that burdened his heart finally been lifted...

His mother is with him again, and that is what matters most...

"Mother, come, we have a lot of work before us."

Aegis said with a smile as he looked at his mother, who was standing in her place in a trance as her eyes were glazed.

"Mother?"

Aegis asks again.

"O-h? OH! sorry, my son, I just spaced little there."

Willow said with a smile as she tried to hide her blush and beating heart and made her way to her son.

Aegis just shrugged at his mother's strange behavior as he saw she was alright and started to give her papers she could do...

Office descended into silence, and just the sound of papers and pens could be heard from there...

Completely obvious that Willow newer closed doors utterly as there was little spar from where Winter was listening to the whole conversation and was able to see her mother's reaction and face from office mirrors...