Honestly, I didn't expect to be updating this so soon, but I just couldn't get this idea out of my head. My muse just urged me to write it, and when I sat down and started, I couldn't stop. Then again, I don't expect very many people to complain about faster updates.

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

"Pyrhha, you awake?" Jaune Arc whispered to the slumbering form of his partner. Normally he wouldn't be willing to wake up his partner in the middle of the night, but he was in desperate need of help. Professor Port had assigned an essay that he had only halfway finished by the time class had started, and Port had jokingly commented that he had captured a Grimm for the person with the lowest score to fight to make up for their grade. Jaune was terrified that he would have the lowest score; Pyrhha had been training him for just over a week, and he knew that wasn't going to be enough to come out on top of any fight with a Grimm.

"Jaune? What happened?" Pyrhha yawned, sitting up and looking around groggily. Her eyes drifted to the alarm clock and she stifled another yawn with her hand. "Why are you waking me up at two in the morning?"

"Pyrhha, I really need your help right now. I have a really big problem that I can't solve on my own, but I know that you can help me," Jaune said earnestly, looking deep into her eyes.

Pyrhha blushed, and her eyes drifted down to his waistline. "Wha-what? I don't know if I'm prepared for this Jaune… but if it's you, I think that I can do it…" She mumbled, her face a vibrant red.

"Great!" Jaune cheered quietly, grabbing her by her wrist and pulling her to her feet. She stumbled, disoriented by the sudden change of position, as Jaune dragged her across the room to stand in front of the door. As he put on his shoes, Pyrhha shook her head slightly to clear it. There was no way that Jaune would ask her to do that… was there?

"Jaune? Where are we going?"

Jaune turned and gave her a slight smile. "Not right now. Wait until we get there," he whispered to her as he opened the door and slipped outside, Pyrhha following closely behind.

Pyrhha stared blankly at the door to the Grimm Studies lecture hall. "Jaune… why are we here?"

Jaune laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head with his hand. "Well, I… kind of forgot to turn in the Grimm Studies essay that Professor Port assigned, and I really, really don't want to have to fight a Grimm…"

Pyrhha sighed inwardly. 'Of course it would be something like this,' she thought to herself, feeling slightly ashamed for expecting anything more. Outwardly she asked, "I think that Professor Port was making a joke Jaune. And even if he wasn't, how am I supposed to help?"

Jaune smiled sheepishly again. "Well, I was kind of hoping that I could sneak in my essay while everyone was asleep. He seemed a little distracted during lecture today, so I think we might be able to pull this off. The only problem is, the door's locked."

"And you want me to… break it?" She asked, raising one eyebrow. "I don't think that's a very good idea. We'd definitely be caught."

He grinned impishly at her. "Nope! That would attract too much attention, and we'd be caught, like you said. But one thing I did notice is that the lock is metallic." When she only stared blankly at him, he elaborated, "You can control magnetism, right? So I was thinking that you could do something with your semblance and get us in!"

She looked at him for a moment, then broke into a smile of her own. "Jaune, that's a really good plan! The only problem is, the doors are electronic, so it may not be possible to unlock it with my semblance. I'll give it a try, but I can't guarantee that it will work."

She concentrated, focusing on the lock, magnetizing different parts in order to get a feel for the locking mechanism. "Okay, I think that if I do this," she murmured, magnetizing a specific area, "And twist this here…" The lock clicked, and she pushed the door open, motioning for Jaune to enter as well. After he entered, she poked her head through the doorway, glancing to the left and the right to see if anyone had noticed their entrance. Seeing no one, she withdrew, closing the door with a soft click.

"Alright, there are the essays," Jaune murmured to her, pointing at a stack of papers on the desk. "It looks like he only graded half of them, so I'm home clear," He beamed at Pyrhha, and she blushed slightly. Her blush intensified when he wrapped her in a hug, whispering, "I really appreciate this Pyrhha – I would have been in a lot of trouble without you backing me up."

She smiled, and whispered back, "It was my pleasure Jaune – we're partners right? We look out for one another."

Jaune pulled away and smiled sheepishly at her. "It seems like you're the only one contributing to the partnership then – I haven't really done much for you."

She giggled quietly. "Jaune, we've gone over this. Before I came to Beacon, I had no true friends, only people who tried to get close to me for fame or prestige. You, Nora, Ren, and to a lesser extent Team RWBY, are the only ones I can truly be myself around. Now go on," she said, pushing him gently towards the pile of papers on the desk, "You've got an essay to turn in."

"Right," he nodded, making his way down the stairs, turning his head to glance back at her. As he did so, he misjudged the depth of the final step, sending him stumbling across the floor, hands flailing for purchase. Right as he was about to hit the floor, one hand brushed against something, and he grabbed onto it for purchase. There was a loud crack as he felt something give way, and he fell face first to the ground.

"Ugh…" he groaned, lifting himself to his knees and checking his face to make sure that nothing was damaged. He glanced down at his hand to see what he had grabbed, and found himself staring at a broken lock.

"Jaune?" Pyrhha whispered loudly. He looked up, and noticed a look of absolute horror on her face.

"What's wrong Pyrhha?" He asked, confused. There wasn't anything… Slowly, carefully, he turned around, and found himself face to face with an enormous, very puzzled looking beowolf that stood in the center of a massive cage. A cage that just so happened to be missing a lock. He looked down at his hand again, and then back at the cage. 'How the hell did I miss that?' He wondered to himself, edging away from the increasingly angry looking beowolf. Once he wasn't within immediate bite range of the beowolf, he chanced a look over his shoulder and frantically whispered, "What are we supposed to do now?" The beowolf turned its head towards him and snarled, a low, menacing sound that sent shivers down Jaune's spine.

Ruby yawned as she made her way down the deserted corridor, covering her mouth with one hand as she did so. She really should have finished the homework for history class, she thought, but it had slipped her mind until the night before when Weiss had reminded her that it was due the next day. At least she'd managed to finish it – and there were still 6 and a half hours before classes started. It really was convenient that the library was open for 24 hours – otherwise she would have been doomed. Smiling to herself, she sped up a little, eager to get into bed.

She slowed as she neared the Grimm Studies lecture hall, noting the dim light coming from within. She shrugged; it was probably just Professor Port grading the essays they'd turned in yesterday. She began to walk past it when the a gnshot echoed throughout the empty hall. She jumped slightly, looking around to see what if there was anyone else around. Slightly confused from the lack of sleep, she didn't realize that the gunshot had come from the lecture hall until she heard voices from within. Glancing furtively around to see if anyone happened to be watching, she crept to the door and put her ear against it, straining to make out what the voices were saying.

"Hah! How do you like that you bastard! Not so cocky now, are you," came Jaune's voice. He was panting for breath, but his voice was triumphant.

"Jaune?" Ruby whispered, frowning slightly. What was Jaune doing in the Grimm Studies lecture hall at 2 in the morning? Maybe he had to talk to Professor Port?

"Jaune," Pyrhha's voice said, sounding slightly exhausted. "Are you okay? He didn't manage to get you, did he?"

There was a brief silence as Jaune seemed to ponder the question. "No, I'm fine Pyrhha, but thanks for asking. Man, I thought we were done for when he charged at us like that. Taking Professor Port's gun was genius – I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been here."

Ruby could hear the embarrassment and faint pride as Pyrhha's voice came from the room again. "W-well, we were just lucky that the blunderbuss was still loaded. If it hadn't been, I don't know how long it would have taken us to take him down. He was a lot tougher than I was expecting."

"I suppose so… Man, when I came to turn in my essay, I never would have expected to have to fight a battle to the death before turning it in."

Battle to the death? What was Jaune talking about?
"Jaune, what are we going to do with the body," Pyrhha's voice seemed calm, but there was an undercurrent of worry within it. "If any of the faculty see it, we could get into huge trouble."

As Jaune hesitated, Ruby's heart leapt into her throat. Had Jaune and Pyrhha killed Professor Port in order to turn in Jaune's essay? Now that she thought about it, Jaune had looked strangely panicked yet determined after Grimm Studies, and he hadn't turned in an essay…

"We should hide it," Jaune said, authority creeping into his voice. "Like you said, we'll get into major trouble if anyone finds out. If we hide it, people might not notice until later, and no one would expect us to do something like this. We might be able to get away with this without anyone knowing."

Ruby gripped her cloak and drew it tightly around herself. Why had Jaune done it? Was he really doing so poorly that he needed to resort to murder in order to ensure that he didn't fail? Why hadn't he just talked to the Professor…? Or maybe he had, Ruby realized with dawning horror. He must have asked Professor Port for an extension or something, and when the professor refused, Jaune must have snapped upon realizing he would fail. She knew how much being a hunter meant to him, but she never would have expected him to go to such lengths…

Pyrhha's voice interrupted, drawing her away from her thoughts. "Hiding it is probably our best bet, since destroying it would definitely attract attention. But where?"

"I think… If we put the body in the forest, we can probably hide it pretty well. And if they happen to stumble upon it, so what? Things like this happen with so many Grimm around... that is, if they even find it before it turns to dust."

That clinched it. They weren't even going to own up or give the body a proper burial? She really liked Jaune and Pyrhha – Jaune was her first friend at Beacon, and she even had a small crush on him, she admitted, and Pyrhha treated her like she was just a normal teenager and not a prodigy who had entered Beacon two years early. But she couldn't let them get away with something like this. Maybe she could argue for reduced sentence? She hoped so… Taking a deep breath, she stood up from her crouch and flung the door open.

"Holy crap!" Jaune exclaimed whirling around. "Professor, I can… oh, it's just you Ruby," he said, clutching his chest. "You really scared me there."

Ruby marched down the stairs, tears welling up in her eyes. She hated to do this, but it had to be done. She had to make sure that Jaune knew that what he had done was wrong. She walked up to him and slapped him as hard as she could, sending him crashing to the ground with a cry of pain. He looked up at her, pain and confusion warring for dominance, but no hint of the anger she had expected. "Jaune, how could you?" She said softly, letting tears fall quietly to the ground. "I know you weren't doing very well, but I thought that after you told us about the transcripts you weren't going to go and do something like this," She sniffled, raising a hand to her eyes and wiping away the tears.

Jaune looked as though he'd been shot, eyes wide and mouth gaping. He closed his mouth and swallowed. "Ruby, I… I don't… I shouldn't have…" He seemed at a loss for what to say, and seemed completely heartbroken.

Ruby resisted the urge to give him a friendly hug – she couldn't afford to let him go further down this path. "Jaune, I know classes are hard – I was moved up two years, but just because you get poor grades doesn't mean you can murder someone!"

"Murder? Wait, Ruby, wha-?"

"Murdering Professor Port just because you might fail is going way too far Jaune, and you should have gone to Professor Ozpin or-"

"Ruby!" Jaune interrupted, looking very confused. "I didn't murder Professor Port. What are you talking about?"

Drawing herself up to her full height (which wasn't very impressive) she pointed a finger down at his prone form. "Don't give me that! I heard you and Pyrhha talking about how you killed someone and were planning on hiding the body!"

Pyrhha, who had remained silent through the entire exchange, spoke up, a bewildered look on her face. "Ruby, we accidentally released the beowolf Professor Port captured and were forced to kill it. See?" She said, pointing at the body.

Ruby followed her finger, noticing the dead beowolf on the ground. She froze, processing what had happened, before throwing herself at Jaune.

"Oof! Ruby, wha-?"

"Oh thank goodness! I was so worried that you were a murderer and that I would have to turn you in or that you weren't going to listen to reason and I'd have to fight you and I'm really sorry for slapping you like that," she said, gasping for air as she finished. Then a thought occurred to her and she drew away from the hug, staring suspiciously at the blonde. "Wait, if you didn't murder anyone, why were you acting so guilty?"

"I – well, I… I may have snuck in in order to put the essay I forgot in the grading pile," he said sheepishly, pointing at the stack of papers he'd put the essay in. "But like you said, that's wrong."

Ruby rolled her eyes at him, smiling slightly. "Jaune, Yang used to break into Signal after it closed all the time in order to turn in homework. Heck, I've even done it a few times. There's an unspoken rule among hunters that as long as you don't get caught turning in something minor too late, you're fine. Just always make sure to finish important things when you say you'll finish them."

Ruby climbed off Jaune, and Pyrhha stepped in to offer him a hand, pulling him to his feet. He thanked her before turning to Ruby and asking, "So… did you want to help us hide the body?"

When Grimm Studies began early in the morning, Jaune was feeling great. He'd managed to turn in the essay that he'd written, and he was sure that it would be good enough that he wouldn't be singled out. Plus, he had a pretty awesome story to tell, now that he thought about it. Sitting down next to Pyrhha, he whispered, "Looks like Professor Port hasn't noticed anything. We clean up pretty well."

She smiled at him, before saying, "We do, don't we? I can't help but feel that we're forgetting something important though…"

Professor Port chose that moment to interrupt her thoughts. "Would Dove Bronzewing please come down to the floor?"

Dove stood up, looking confused, before making his way down to the floor. Pyrhha's eyes widened, and she turned to Jaune, intending to tell him what was wrong, but Professor Port spoke over her.

"Dove, you did the poorest on the essay, so we'll be having you fight a Grimm to be sure that you're actually keeping up. Get ready!" He barked, before unlocking the repaired lock and throwing the door open. When nothing happened, he peered inside, only to find the cage devoid of any Grimm. He frowned, then barked, "Stay put, class – I have a call to make."

"Who do you think he's calling?" Jaune whispered.

"I don't know for sure but probably…"

The speakers buzzed to life, silencing her. "To all students, faculty and staff at Beacon; we have a code orange. An ancient beowolf has managed to escape confinement. I repeat, an ancient beowolf has escaped confinement. Please arm yourselves and prepare to begin searching for it immediately. Until an announcement says otherwise, assume that the Grimm is still within the boundaries of the school. Proceed with caution, and good luck." The speakers went dead.

Jaune exchanged horrified looks with Ruby and Pyrhha, before slamming his head into the table repeatedly.

Wow… I really didn't expect to actually have any feels in this story, but the scene just seemed to write itself. I guess this is what it feels like to have your muse step in and guide your writing. Anyway, I'm not entirely sure how this one turned out. It feels a little incomplete to be honest, so I might write out a short sequel to this next chapter, since I don't feel as though things were resolved nicely. Until next time!