A/N: The site limits story summaries, and fairly so, but it did leave me a little strapped for character space. Brevity is the soul of wit, I know, and I did try so to do the story justice in the official description, in both setting the scene and making it interesting enough to check out, but the full summary below is closer to how, in an ideal world. I'd like to advertise it.

Vale, the capital and namesake of one of the four Kingdoms of Remnant. On the surface, the city is the epitome of peace and prosperity; progress and pedagogy; a lawful metropolis citizens of all four kingdoms can look to as a symbol of hope. Taking a closer look beneath the veneer, however, reveals the hidden truths of a violent and corrupt heart. For Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee, rookie detectives thrown together by fate and the VPD, digging into that violent heart is their day job, and revealing that hidden truth their determination. But for Cinder Fall, and master thief Roman Torchwick, causing that chaos is everything…

(Will have hints of White Rose throughout.)

Now, then, to the teaser...

Chapter Zero Point One: Vale Confidential

"I'm sorry for the interruption, Captain, but this fax just came through for you," Ciel said after knocking on the door. She opened it fully and quickly ran in, dropping the page on the captain's desk and scooting back out the door, carefully closing it behind her.

Behind her desk, Captain Goodwitch pushed up her glasses as she read the page, then sighed and handed it to the man sitting in the chair across from her. "What is it?" he asked as he placed his coffee on the table, freeing his hand to take the paper that was offered to him.

"It's confirmation of what you were just telling me, sir," Glynda said. The room was largely silent for a few seconds as he took the necessary time to read the page as well. When he finished, he put it down on the desk.

"I see," he said. "Well, you shouldn't act surprised. Have I ever lied to you before?"

"Is that all you have to say for yourself, sir?" Glynda asked. "You can't fault me for believing this would be the first time. Put yourself in my position."

"I've been in your position before, Captain. I survived. And now look at me."

"Very funny, sir. You should know why this could-and will-pose a problem. Your ivory tower is not so high as to leave you blind to the problems we face here in the dirt."

"And what would you have me do?" the man sitting across from her asked. "I may have the ear of many people, but I can't do anything about budget cuts and personnel assignments. I'm all knowing, not all-powerful," he joked.

Glynda growled. "Sir, you could prevent this if you wanted too."

He shrugged, unconcerned. "Water under the bridge, Captain. I certainly can't prevent anything now; the process has already begun. All I can do is ask that you, the captain in charge of the most efficient precinct in the city, do something about it to ensure its success. View it as a compliment if it'll help you sleep better at night. The brass trusts you. And, as I said earlier, it could have been worse. Both of them could have been rookies, instead of just the one."

"I fail to see how they're not," Glynda replied.

"Well, young Miss Rose has served for the past six months, and right here in your very unit. She has experience, both on the streets and with you."

"She's a glorified taxi driver, that's all. Without any formal training. And the other one doesn't even have that much in her resume."

"Yet they passed all the necessary exams…Perhaps they'll balance each other out, Captain. One has knowledge gained from books and study, the other has the experience of working on the streets. Besides, they both have rich family histories," he said in response.

"And since when has this been something passed down through genetics?" she asked rhetorically. "You could have prevented this."

He stood, placed the printout on her desk and turned his back to her, preparing to leave. "Captain Goodwitch, there are laws in place to prevent abuse of the system, and as regrettable as it is even I must abide by them. You will continue to have my full support in all your investigations, of course, but do not expect me to break the rules for your sake." He reached the door and opened it, pausing in the doorway. "Of course, if you were to, let's say, stretch the rules a little, I'm sure I could convince the attorney general that no harm was done and there isn't any need to press charges against you. He's willing to look the other way from time to time."

"What are you suggesting?"

"Me? I'm not suggesting anything," he said casually as he walked out of the office. "I'm merely asking you to do the best you can with the tools you are given. Even if those tools are untested and unprepared for the challenges ahead of them. You, Captain, are the carpenter, and it is a poor carpenter who blames the tools for her own failure."

"Of course, Commissioner. I'll do my best," she called after him. She looked once again at the paper Ciel had brought in to her. "Dust above, why me?" she asked under her breath. "Two rookie detectives, partnered together? I don't care what her transcripts say, she's not ready for this. And Miss Rose is at least as unqualified. This will not end well…"

Next time, on Vale Confidential:

(In her office) Glynda: "And this is your first day out of the academy?"

(Wrapping Ruby in a hug) Yang: "Oh, I'm so proud of my little sister!"

(Extending her hand) Ruby: "I'm Ruby! Nice to meet you!"

(Menacingly) Salem: "Remember, Cinder, I'm counting on you…I want that city…"

A/N: So this chapter is meant as a teaser of what's to come. I'm currently finishing up my first fanfic, Defender of the People, but I've started writing the first few chapters of this as well. I expect to finish Defender early to mid-February, and I want to have a few more chapters written for this before I start just in case so if something were to come up and I don't get anything written for a few weeks, I'd still be able to post something each week. There will be one more teaser chapter coming in a couple of weeks (so, in this case the "Next time" feature is actually for what happens two chapters from now, in the first real chapter) and then more of this beginning, most likely, in March (yeah, that's still some ways away, isn't it?). As of now, I don't expect the story to be any more graphic than your random episode of CSI, Law & Order, or Castle (any of the generic crime shows, really), but there may be times that it goes into some detail. I don't have the full thing written yet; I'm just stating what I expect.

-T.Y.