This was first suggested by a review who wanted a sequel part where to some extent Neo worked with Ruby. The idea bounced around in my head a bit and this was the result. Not sure if it came out right but that is for you, the public, to decide.

I spent a full week in the bunker. Not out of any kind of grief or morning. I worked all of that out of my system in the first twelve hours. No. It was for more practical reasons.

After suffering from such a large attack Vale would take a week to stabilize, either with the city back in control of the authorities or for it to be completely overrun and abandoned.

At least, that's what I kept telling myself.

Living down there was fine. It was stocked so that if Vale got too heated, Roman and I could hunker down there for a month without ever needing to leave. But it was isolated. I didn't know what was happening nor could I get in contact with anyone. So I waited.

I found a good place to put Roman's hat. There's a large stuffed Ursa that I bought for myself using the earing form my first solo job and hid it down there to scare Roman. I could think of no better place for the old bowler.

The lighter I kept for myself. It wouldn't fetch that much so why not indulged in a bit of sentimentality.

It was the pocket watch that was the problem. When I reemerged, Vale was in ruins. Entire blocks were crushed by Grimm. So the chances of finding a jeweler to apprise the time piece was out of the question.

In the ruins I found Melanie Malachite supporting her sister while they were on the run from a small pack of Crawler. I saved them and after a bit of a breakdown in communication, Miltia tried to kill me, I learned the general status of the city. After Cinder's crew pulled back, the Grimm took complete control of the city. Ozpin was missing in action and most of the other cities rulers had fled ahead of the approaching wave of Grimm. The Atleasian military evacuated the city and that was about it.

"Junior" and his mafia were tried to still eek out a living here but after over 170 hours of constant Grimm attacks, he and his people were running on out of energy and rounds. That was what the red and white twins before me were trying to do. Look for more ammunition or dust so that Junior could keep up that fight.

After thinking about it for a moment I typed onto my phone, 'how about a deal?'

"Why should we trust YOU?" The red one demanded.

"Last time we tried YOUR boss killed our men." The other finished.

I rolled my eyes.

The arrogance of these girls never ceased to amaze me. We were in a city overrun by Grimm for the first time in decades and they were questioning my competency. It was true that Roman had hired some of the gang out for help stealing the dust until Cinder could send the White Fang people to us, but he didn't kill them. Didn't these girls read the police report? First 'Little Red' showed up and interrupted the heist and then overly stern librarian teacher broke into the scene. If Cinder wasn't there he likely would have been arrested as well. How on earth would Roman have time to kill the mobsters?

Not to say that they didn't end up dead. I killed them while they were in police custody to prevent them from talking but these two didn't need to know that. In retrospect maybe not the best idea but I couldn't have stood the chance they would rat out Roman and myself.

'Fine. Bye.' I turned to leave and just as expected there came a "WAIT!"

Looking back over my shoulder I raised an eyebrow.

"Not that we are inviting you but…" White began

"… some additional support would appreciated." Red finished.

I turned back to them and broke into one of my smiles that boarded on insanity. Holding up my phone for them to read 'in exchange for info. Deal!'

I spent the next month working for Junior's mob. It's wasn't too bad. The old man had taken over a police station and impound lot. Strong enough to withstand most Grimm except for the Goliaths and that ominous dragon that was frozen at Beacon. But they were good enough to keep the giant elephants at bay.

I acted as the muscle. Providing security for Junior's team as the scoured the city looking for anything valuable to steal. He also had a rather lucrative side business of escorting families that could pay back to their houses to collect there things before leaving the city for good. Overall not too hard of a time.

Beside the Grimm there were some others to deal with.

That Black Cat Fanus that Roman always tried to get under the skin of was bouncing around. I don't know why. Especially after I learned that her blond teammate lost an arm to Adam Taurus. Too bad. I rather liked fighting the blond. She was fun to beat up.

Professor Librarian was also about. However she didn't seem to care too much about what Junior's mob was doing. In fact, on a few occasions she would help out in exchange for some food and a secure place to sleep. I have no idea what she was up to but I suspected Professor Librarian was trying to retake the city from the beasts. Fat chance of that.

Communication was a bit difficult at first. I had forgotten how rare Roman was for always understanding my manner by body language and not needing to type everything out. But it had it's advantages. Jr. didn't care if I got overly aggressive in fight as long as I got the job done and the twins were a bit sadistic themselves. It's so rare to find girls my age wondering how fast it would take to break every bone in a person's head.

But that was all just side job for me. My real goals were much farther away.

The White Fang had abandoned Vale not long after its leadership did. Only a few were left around to keep an eye on things. After 'interrogating' a few I learned that Adam was no longer in the city or even on this part of the continent.

Cinder's people had disappeared too. While I couldn't determine if Miss Fall still alive or not, I did learn that Mercury and Emerald had retreated to Mistral Kingdom. They were my best bet to find Cinder.

I sat in the room I shared with the twins as space was at a premium. Looking over the files I had complied. They were separated out into two categories. My target and potential help.

I dropped file on Pyrrha Nikos on the floor. She had apparently tried to fight Cinder and lost. Along with Ozpin. He was still MIA and thus useless for my endeavors.

Next was my blond sparing partner, Yang Xiao Long. She had apparently been moved home and was out the picture for a while. I briefly considered visiting her and finishing our little match… but that would wait till later.

Then came the Atlas file. While they would have served my purpose rather well I had just killed an entire airship of their people not too long ago. I seriously doubt that General Ironwood was the forgiving type in that manner of that nature.

Cinder, Mercury and Emerald all shared a file. Roman had dug up a fair amount on the two underlings and I had updated it with their more recent activates. However Cinder Fall was still a black hole. I couldn't find anything on her and that troubled me.

Both Roman and I knew she wasn't the top of the food chain. That she was reporting to someone else. It wasn't Adam Taurus or the White Fang. They were using each other. Allies of convenience rather than true friends. But that didn't answer the question of who Cinder was and who was she working for.

The next clipping of papers was what truly interested me. 'Little Red' aka Ruby Rose. She had apparently had some hand in freezing the dragon Grimm. I had also found out just the previous day that not only was her Uncle Qrow Branwen, a member of Ozpin's inner circle but that 'Little Red' herself had just disappeared from her father's house. She and a few others had been spotted heading in the same direction Mercury and Emerald were confirmed at.

They would be my ticket. I knew that in order to get to the Mistral, they would have to pass through a choke point in the mountains. If I hurried, I could beat them there and offer my services to them. It would be a little tricky. Ruby knew that I worked with Roman and depending on how much her sister Yang had told her, that I was on the train as well.

However I had something to offer. All the information before me on the White Fang's operations, Cinder Fall's people and their last known location. Between all that intelligence and my own prestigious fighting skills I could buy my way into her little team.

I took a step back from the table.

I promised Roman that I wouldn't go after 'Little Red' for revenge and I would stick to my word. It wasn't the girl's fault that Roman was gone. We were on opposite sides of the game. Thinks happen and people die. No. I placed the blame sole on one person's head. Cinder Fall. She was our employer. The success and failure of any job rested on her shoulders alone. And putting him in a situation where Roman died would always be a failure in my book.

So I reviewed my plan. She was too strong for me to take on in a fair fight at this point. I don't know what this 'Fall Maiden' power is but it was beyond what I could handle. So I wouldn't play fare. I sold my severance package from Roman, the pocket watch, to a clock maker under Hei Xiong's employ for a fair amount. It apparently retailed for 900 and with a bit of arm twisting, and only one broken finger, I was able to get 650 for it. That was a start and with everything I had been saving up I was finally there.

I looked down at the small vile that had been delivered that morning. It was a highly concentrated extract of a poison form a rare kind of Spider Grimm. Once in the system it could disrupt and disable Auras and Semblances. It was however very difficult to acquire so that is why it had taken so long. The governments of the four, now three, kingdoms kept the poison under lock and key for good reason. It was the bane of any hunter's existence and not for sale legally. I could have bought my own airship for the amount of Len it cost me to acquire it through illegal means.

The plan was simple. Follow Ruby Rose and her people. Locate Cinder Fall. Introduce the poison to Cinder and cut the raven hair woman's head clean off. Take it back to Vale and burn in as a totem to Roman. Then I would say goodbye to the man and move on with my life. And should 'Little Red' or anyone else get in my way… well, I can handle them.

That's it.

This wasn't originally my intended second part. I had originally wanted a snapshot of Roman's life up till he got hired on by Cinder but that one is not coming out right.

If it every gets done I'll post it but for now, this is it.