Lucas snuck into the second year combat class with Velvet's team, and it was amazing. They were so much more skilled than he was, exchanging blows and taking hits as if they were nothing. Velvet giggled at his excitement, sometimes stopping him from jumping to his feet and whooping like an idiot.

"These guys are holding back so not to hurt each other." Velvet whispered to the over excited teen. "Except Nora. That's a dangerous battle to fight." Lucas couldn't believe that they were holding back.

"I wonder if I will be this strong one day." Lucas wondered aloud.

"Bet on it, little man." Coco said, smacking him hard in the back. "Remember, we're only second years." The class went on, more battles being fought on the stage. Lucas was on the edge of his seat the whole time, entranced by the show.

With 20 minutes to go till class ended, the room was unusually quite. No one was volunteering. "Why is no one going up?" Lucas asked, looking around the room. Everyone was looking at each other, as if dreading what was about to happen.

Goodwitch answered his question. "Ok, no one volunteers, so we will have to draw lots." She turned to her scroll. "We will be having John Straiter vs. Nora Valkyrie." The two combatants took to the field and Lucas recalled what Velvet had said.

Except Nora. That's a dangerous battle to fight. Lucas glanced over to Velvet, concerned for his friend. Velvet watched the field closely, not noticing him. The battle started, Nora launching a salvo of pink projectiles at John, passing straight through him as he flickered out of existence. Nora continued to blast at his last know whereabouts and he reappeared, stumbling slightly. The girl in pink rushed forward and slammed her massive hammer into his gut, the savage blow sending him flying into the wall.

John got to his feet and check the large aura gauge on the wall, a look of grim amusement on his face. He split into three clones of himself, charging Nora. One of them jumped, aiming to land a downward cut on her head. Nora countered with an uppercut from her hammer, dissolving the teen. Lucas didn't have time to gasp as the other John rushed past, landing a passing slash on her. Nora caught him in the back as he tried to get away.

John collapsed against the wall, Nora letting out a cheer of victory. Lucas stared down at the limp body of his friend, fearing the worst. Then his body dissolved.

"Where did he go!?" Lucas down right shouted. The guys of team CFVY pushed his head down as people around looked towards his voice.

"Be silent and watch." Yatsuhashi told him, letting him back up. Nora was spinning in a circle, trying to locate her target.

Suddenly, a hand with a bone white dagger shot out of her shadow, landing a few cuts on her ankles before retreating. Nora panicked and smashed her shadow, John escaping narrowly behind her. He landed a few hits by the time Nora could turn around, but he was to slow to dish out any real damage. John seemed to be floating in midair when Nora hit him next, sending him flying to the ceiling.

There was a beeping noise as the aura gauge read empty, followed shortly by a pair of loud sickening snaps. John screamed in agony as he fell, both of his legs broken. He was saved just in time as Goodwitch sprung into action, stopping his decent with telekinesis. Lucas rushed down to the field, not caring that he was not supposed to be there.

"I'm not even going to ask why your here, mr. Cain." Goodwitch said, pulling up the unconscious teens pant legs. "But I need you to run to the nurses office. Tell her we might have a wash out." She called for someone to help her move him to the infirmary.

The color drained out of Lucas's face as he heard those words. Over the last month of school, John had become one of his closest friends. His thoughts turned to the worst as he rushed down the hall, already working up a deal to let him stay in school.

Lucas let himself into the infirmary and nocked on the nurses office, waiting impatiently for her to answer. After a few seconds the nurse poked her head out the door.

"Can I help you?" She asked, looking him over for injuries or sickness.

"I just came from the training hall. Their bringing in a boy with two broken legs." The nurse nodded grimly and exited her office, making her way over to one of the beds and began to prep it for John's arrival. Shortly later, professor Goodwitch and a girl in a black bow brought John in and placed him on the bed, tailed by Nora. The nurse didn't seem surprised to see her.

After a quick talk with Goodwitch, the nurse ducked into her office to look up John's medical history. The girls took up seats next to John's bed, Nora looking guilty and Blake worried. Lucas took a seat on the other side of his fallen friend, not entirely trusting little miss pink.

"Do you think their going to kick him out?" Lucas asked Blake. She shrugged and shook her head.

"His grades are right up there with Weiss, so probably not." She didn't sound to sure about the words coming out of her mouth, but Lucas was willing to take anything he could get.

"Damb bastard, I still have to thank him." Lucas whispered to himself. The guy had played him like a puppet, practically dragging him into a relationship with Velvet. The clever guy did them good.

Lucas stayed by John's side for a few more minutes, planning on making an appeal on John's behalf until the nurse chased him away as Ozpin of all people showed up. Blake was called into her office as he left the room.

Velvet was waiting just outside the door. "Is he going to be ok?" She asked. Lucas nodded, walking down the hall to the dorms.

"Yeah, Blake said he stood a good chance of staying." Lucas said. "This doesn't happen to him all the time, does it?" He asked her. She shook her head and he sighed in relief. "I just had a hard time believing the mastermind could go down so easily after a whole year here."

"I wouldn't know. He only just started this year." Lucas did a double take. John was new? Who knew.

"You know, I was planning on taking you out tomorrow as a thank you for the food, but if you don't feel like it it's ok." Velvet rocked side by side, a blush on her face. Lucas grabbed her hand, making her glance up.

"Why would I turn down a cute girl like you?" They both smiled. "What time?"

"My classes end at three. I'll meet you in the entrance hall then." She hopped away, literally. Lucas chuckled to himself as he watched the adorable display. He had to thank John after his date.

(Time skip)

Lucas sat through all his classes impatiently, often tapping his foot and drawing the attention of his teammates.

"Dude, what's up?" Eric finally whispered. They were in the middle of one of professor Port's lecture, so they had to be quite if they wished to avoid being detected. The fat guy really disliked stoping his stories.

"Nothing. Just got a date with Velvet later." The bell rang to dismiss them, catching Port halfway through his tale. There was a small amount of laughter as he blundered, promising an end to the tale when they came back.

Team COLE wandered back to their room, dropping off their books and getting ready for their next class. They had a half hour break until they had to go to their next class, but the wait was killing. All Lucas wanted was to go on a date with his new girlfriend, was that too much to ask? And to top it off, his classes ended first, so he still had to wait afterwards.

"Relax captain." Olympia said. "A little bit of a wait is nothing if you really want the final reward." Lucas truly didn't like being called that.

"The giant girl has a point." Eric said from where he lounged on his bed. "You shouldn't spend so much energy waiting." Ouch. It really meant something when Eric told you to calm down. Olympia got annoyed at her nick name, Lucas having to get involved to stop the coming argument.

"I'll take your advice." He said, putting his hands up as if to hold them apart. "Just leave the room in one piece today." Olympia backed down, reverting to her normal happy self. Such terrifying changes of mood. Lucas thought. And Charles wants to date her?

Lucas waited his way through dr. Oobleck's class, distracting himself with the lesson. It didn't work to well, seeing as Velvet would constantly pop into his head. He almost got caught daydreaming, narrowly avoiding having to stay after class.

Lucas decided to wait around in the entrance hall instead of joining his teammates as they went to study in the library. After a 20 minute wait, (agonizingly counted.) Velvet joined him.

"Did you wait long?" She asked, taking his hand.

"I've been waiting for this all day." Lucas said as they started to walk. A memory of how much John had raged when he found out there was a path that led to town popped into his head and not for the first time he wondered what exactly he had been up to. He pushed the thought out of his head, returning his attention to the girl at his side.

"What do you want to do?" He asked Velvet. "We could go see a movie, shopping is an option, or we could go and eat." Velvet giggled at his cluelessness. He was practically stumbling in the dark, trying to guess how to make her happy.

"Let's just enjoy ourselves." She said. "But I guess I could use some new clothes. Your paying, right?" She smiled and Lucas gulped.

"Yeah, of course." He said quietly. Velvet laughed and let him know she was joking, fully knowing her brother had all his money. The pair arrived in Vale around 3:25, barely noticing the time go bye. Velvet switched back to being shy, not entirely comfortable in a crowd of strangers. Lucas gently squeezed her hand, taking the lead. She huddled closely to him, holding onto his arm.

As time went on, Velvet seemed to accept her surroundings more, becoming more relaxed. "Sorry about cutting off circulation to your arm." She said bashfully.

"No problem." Lucas claimed, windmilling his poor arm. She might be cute, but she didn't get into beacon that way. "I kind of pegged you as the shy type to begin with anyway." They had entered a clothing store and Velvet was looking through their shirts.

"It used to be far worse." Velvet said, picking up a shirt with brown and maroon stripes and held it to her body. She put it back. "But a year with Ruby can change anyone. Blake used to be really moody, but now she can be fun sometimes."

"Do you mean to tell me Weiss is less stuck up than she used to be?" Lucas pictured what Weiss would be a year ago and shuddered.

"That would be unbearable." Velvet agreed. "But unfortunately for them, she is as bad as she was a year ago." She wandered over to the coat section, browsing the fall section. She picked out blueish purple coat that extended to her feet and had a series of fuzzy buttons on the upper toro. "What do you think? Good enough for detective work."

"I'm innocent inspector, I swear." The pair laughed. Lucas ended up buying the coat for her, insisting it was his present. She put it on over her current out fit. The arms were a bit to long, but Lucas convinced her it was ok.

The pair wandered around town for another hour or so before they had to start making their way back to the school. They chatted merrily about their families, having fun guessing how much Kyle could milk out any given information. Lucas stayed with her all the way to her door, getting a goodbye hug before he had to go back to his team.

And I would have got a kiss if this three hadn't been staring! He thought to himself, whistling a four note tune that John had taught him.