Chapter 9 abounds! I gave you all fluff in Red Line, and a tiny bit in Chapter 8, and now...I give you something! But I won't say what! On a serious note, thank you to everyone whose followed, favorited, and said such lovely and kind things in the reviews and comments. I truly appreciate each and every one, so thank you all! I hope you continue to enjoy!


Ren led the way carefully, keeping his muscles tensed as Weiss and Nora walked behind him. He knew better than to trust Nora would be able to keep Weiss under control…she still couldn't control herself. And in narrow corridors like they were walking in now? He'd be at a disadvantage. You would think that with the size of Nora's weapon, and Weiss' proclivities for summoning, he'd be better equipped to fight back, but not when the walls were as fragile as they were. Sure, they were metal, but that wouldn't stand in the way of either of the two women.

He was startled out of his worried musings by Weiss' quiet voice. "Where…where are we?" He glanced behind him to see Weiss, eyes shifting slightly as she kept glancing around her at the walls and ceiling. He could see her tense, her body shrinking in on itself as she walked, hugging her arms to her midsection.

'Shit. Of course," Ren thought to himself. Weiss had spent eight years living out in the wilds as much as possible. Of course she wouldn't take well to narrow passageways where she couldn't fully bring her summons to bear. He took a deep breath. "We're traveling to your room so you can rest. We'll be there shortly, we just need to get through here, I promise." Keeping his voice steady, he kept walking, hoping that if he kept firm, she'd follow his lead.

Nora had never been comfortable in narrow areas either, even before the fall, but she had learned where this led. He could see her give Weiss a shaky but reassuring grin as she put her hand on Weiss' shoulder. "Don't worry! It's just through this door and a little further!" She pointed to the door just before them.

Ren reached down and twisted the handle, pushing the door open, letting bright, fluorescent light shine in, momentarily blinding Weiss as she squinted her eyes and held her hand up before her face. Ren stepped out the door, Nora following quickly, and Weiss with little other choice followed into the brightness, only to freeze as soon as she crossed the door.

They were in a massive central plaza, with people walking around. Hundreds, maybe thousands, walking, talking, laughing. She could see a woman holding a child's hand in her own, a plastic bag full of groceries in her other. Two young men, holding hands as they laughed at a story being told to them by a young woman standing before them, her using exaggerated hand gestures to make her point. Shops along the walls, people walking in and out of them, bright lights and lively sounds coming from them. To her left, enticing scents coming from the open front door of a restaurant. Weiss' mouth had dropped, eyes wide, unable to comprehend. She couldn't reconcile what had been there years ago, with what was there now.

Ren stood beside her, speaking quietly. "This is what we've been doing. This here, this is the Reclamation Project. Most of what we've retaken doesn't look like this, if I'm being honest. But this plaza, this central area, this is what we've managed to build, and we're building more every day. And frankly…this is all thanks to your sister."

Weiss' paralysis wore off as she snapped to attention, her head turning about sharply to look directly at Ren. "Winter?"

Ren nodded sagely. "You remember how Atlas used all of its dreadnaught's and the rest of its air force during the Fall of Vale?" Weiss nodded, not bothering to speak. "Well, they didn't use all of it. It was…not long after…well, after you left Atlas." Weiss flinched, her left hand shaking. Ren didn't bring attention to it, but Nora sidled up next to Weiss and took her shaking hand gently in her own. He continued in his calm, even tone.

"After that, Ozpin made it clear he wanted to retake the city, and we had decided to help him. As did Blake. We hadn't named the movement yet though. But we realized quickly, even with expert hunters, even with Ozpin fighting beside us…too many Grimm in the city. We had people to keep safe and under guard, we had to find food, shelter, clean water…and Cinder's people weren't all gone. We even had some ex-Fang members helping us, helped us track down the last few cells, but it wasn't enough. We were losing ground at first, and it looked like we might have to abandon the idea."

Ren gestured to the ground directly before them, leading Weiss to look down. She blinked rapidly when she saw it…a large, perfect line in the ground, reminiscent of…of a hangar door. She glanced up at Ren again to meet his eyes as he nodded slowly. "Yes. Below this plaza, rested one final dreadnaught. Pyrrha found it on accident, sensed the massive metal below, and we delved down to find it. It was more than a dreadnaught though. It was designed specifically with the idea of keeping refugees safe. Its armor was incredibly thick, it held huge quantities of food and its own water filtration system. It was armored to the teeth. And when we broke into the control room, we found a single file waiting. A single set of instructions and just enough information that Ozpin could figure out the passcodes. All courtesy of your sister, Weiss."

Weiss gulped. "Win-Winter did all that?"

Ren nodded. "We found documents in the computer system. We found out she'd convinced Ironwood to build and store it in secret, as a last resort, after the Fall had begun. But well…neither of them survived long enough to use it." Ren paused, seeing Weiss flinch again. He watched carefully as her face spasmed, eyes shut tight. Nora grabbed Weiss' other hand and squeezed, before holding them up to Weiss' ears again, covering them. Nora let go of Weiss' hands, and covered Weiss' eyes with her one hand as the other rested on Weiss' shoulder.

It made Ren's heart ache to see this, to see Weiss having to go through this, to see Nora having to see it from his side. He could see it in his mind, just a few years back, having to do this with Nora every few days. Sometimes they'd sit in silence for hours, her focusing on nothing but breathing as he helped her keep herself steady. Dust, it wasn't fair. He gave a tiny snarl at himself. Now wasn't the time to be thinking about that. He'd deal with that later. For now, Weiss needed him at his best.

He waited patiently, hands clasped behind his back, waited until he could see Weiss stop shaking. She lowered her hands from her ears, Nora pulling hers away from Weiss' face when she did. Weiss' eyes were wet, tears gathering in her eyes but not falling as she nodded a thank you at Nora. Nora smiled softly, before Weiss managed to look back at Ren again.

Taking that as his cue, he began speaking again. "We got all the refugees in it, and with the help of some of the more clever ones, we found a way to use the dreadnaught as a sort of central signal. Between that and the two remaining CCT towers, we can run a small number of Scrolls on the network again. We're working on rebuilding the Atlesian tower as we speak. After that, we were able to use it to destroy some of the larger Grimm groups, leaving us room to go in and search for survivors, or to mop up the remainder."

Weiss took a deep breath. Her head twitched to the side again, but she shook it and looked at Ren. He could see it creeping back into her, could see that all the news was starting to affect her, but she looked determined to speak. She opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again. With a sharp clack of her teeth as she shut it once more, she growled, her entire body shaking in frustration, before she raised one hand and slapped herself as hard as she could. The slap echoed across the plaza, drawing curious glances their way as Nora rocked back in shock. Ren gulped as her eyes settled on his, ice-blue hot with frustration, tiny twitches present, but she spoke in the clearest voice he'd heard from her yet. "What did she name it?"

Ren let out a humorless half-laugh. He could understand why Weiss asked. She wanted that connection with Winter, she wanted that memory that she'd missed eight years before. She wanted that moment of knowing what her sister had created. That, he could give her. He smiled softly at Weiss. "The Reclamation."


Ren sighed as he slumped into the chair in the communications office. After all those reveals, Weiss had needed some time, so he'd led her directly to her room. He'd made sure she understood that Nora and his room was right next to hers, and at any time she could come over and talk to Nora. He had a call to make, so he'd left Weiss in Nora's hands as he left to the communications room.

Slumped in the chair, he rubbed at his eyes. It was getting late, he'd had one hell of a day, but he needed to make this call. He knew he couldn't sleep, not now. Not just because of his responsibility…sleep was elusive for him. He'd always had trouble sleeping, and even when he did, it never was very restful, but it had only gotten far, far worse since the Fall. But either way, time to make the call.

Hitting the button on the dashboard, he waited for the connection to secure itself. If he knew Ozpin (and by now, he knew him very well), he'd still be at his desk in the Reclamation, working. A single ping sounded as a face came up on the screen, the calm visage of Ozpin filtering through.

"Hello, Ren," he greeted.

Ren gave a half wave back, still slumped in the chair. "Hey."

Ozpin arched an eyebrow. "Long day, I presume?"

Ren gave a humorless chuckle. "Weiss and Yang's reunion didn't go so well. Weiss tried to kill Yang."

"Not unexpected, considering her mental state and how they parted ways. How was it resolved?"

"Nora got to Weiss, somehow. I'm still not sure how, but I guess whatever's wrong with Weiss is similar to what's wrong with Nora. Nora's tricks work on Weiss too."

Ozpin made a tsk noise. "Your tricks, Ren. You keep refusing to admit it, but more than anyone else, you brought Nora back from the dark hole she had fallen into."

Ren sighed again, letting his head drop onto his chest. "Fine, fine. My tricks. Either way, it's helping, but I'm still not sure Weiss is safe, or for that matter, any of us are."

"I presume you told her about the Reclamation?"

"Yeah."

"How did she take it?" Ozpin asked, steepling his fingers as he leaned forward.

Ren shrugged. "Good, I think? She didn't blow up or anything, but she was shaking. Hell if I know Ozpin, I'm not some psychologist!"

Ozpin didn't react to Ren's sudden increase in volume, waiting patiently until Ren slumped back in his chair. "I believe, given time, she'll be alright. Just like Nora."

"It's not just the problem Nora had though. She's…she's obsessed with Ruby. She thinks that all the violence she did on the Grimm is what 'brought Ruby back to life.' What's going to happen when they find Ruby? If they even do! I already heard that Yang apparently promised to 'break her fucking face' if she finds Ruby. Yang, hit Ruby? What the hell kind of bizarre world did we make, Ozpin?!" Ren's explosive rant came to an end when he leapt to his feet, kicking the chair away in frustration. He planted his hands on the desk, head bowed, his bangs falling to cover his eyes. Without looking up to the screen, he continued.

"I…I don't know if any of this is a good idea. Should we risk everything we built, everything we accomplished, for some people who don't even want our help? Dust, I feel so selfish saying that, but someone has to!"

Ozpin tilted his head to the side. "Do you still care for team RWBY?"

Ren snapped his head up to stare into the screen, an expression of shock written across his face. "Of course I do! What the hell kind of question is that? They're my friends! I promised Blake long ago I'd make this work. I'd find a way to bring them back, so she could finally have some peace!"

Ozpin held his hands out wide. "It seems to me you've answered your own question, Ren."

Ren let out a breath. "You're right. I know. I know it's what we promised. But that's not what I'm asking. I'm asking if it's the right decision, for the project, for Atlas. For Vale. For Remnant itself. Weiss is a disaster waiting to happen, Yang's volatile, and Blake…I'm worried for her. Dust knows where Ruby is, or why she hasn't come back. She can't have missed all the news, not in eight years, not if she is going into towns and protecting people like Blake has heard. Ruby clearly doesn't want to be found! What's going to happen if they find her? Ozpin, what are we supposed to do?!"

"Ren, I'm not your teacher anymore. You're my adviser for a reason. You ask these questions so I don't miss any. However, after all that happened in the Fall, I will not compromise my morals again. We promised Blake we'd find them for her, and so we have. As for what will happen? Only time will tell Ren. But remember how broken your team was? Even now…Pyrrha still drinks, we all know it even if we don't say it. Jaune and Nora, well…we know their problems too. You're the most stable member of JNPR and you are an insomniac. But you've managed to pull through, all of you."

"Because we didn't run! Because we faced our problems! We fought and kicked and struggled, but we came together and are stable now because we stayed. Team RWBY didn't. They broke apart. I just…I'm not confident this will go well."

Ozpin chuckled darkly. "It won't, Ren. It's not going to go well. Their first meeting will be explosive at best, tragic at worst. But the first meeting isn't the important one. It's the second. And the third. The fourth. And on and on and on. Spending more time together will remind them of what they want, of who they are."

Ren arched an eyebrow at Ozpin. "How can you be sure?"

Ozpin shrugged. "I'm not. I'm merely guessing. But as you should know by now Ren, my guesses are very, very accurate."

Ren sighed again, briefly wondering why most of his conversations with anyone led to him sighing multiple times. He pushed that thought out of his mind before responding. "I suppose. We'll see."

"I'll be back tomorrow, Ren. Let's talk more then. You should get back to Nora."


Blake had just settled into her bunk after helping Jaune reach his room, a book in her hands as she tried to take her mind off what had happened earlier. A small Dust powered lamp was on the nightstand beside her bed, switched on so she had enough light to read without straining her eyes. She had just opened the book to her last bookmarked page, when a series of rapid-fire knocks brought her attention to the door.

With an indulgent smile and roll of her eyes, Blake called out. "It's unlocked, Lily."

The door burst open as a young girl came rushing in. She leapt onto Blake's bed, making the older woman give out a loud 'oof' sound as the girl landed in her lap. Light purple hair, with deep blue eyes, the little girl leaned forward with wide eyes to stare at Blake. Blake reached out and ruffled her hair, the young girl snorting and shaking her head in protest. Blake chuckled. "What are you doing out of bed, Lily?"

"They told me! They told me you found them! And you found her! Did you find her? Did you?" Lily said rapidly, her words running together in her excitement.

Blake sighed, looking up. "They shouldn't have told you. Your aunt is correct. I found two of my teammates, and I did find evidence of Ruby. We'll be looking for her soon, once we've sorted everything out."

Lily cocked her head to the side, confusion present on her face. "Sorted what out?"

Blake looked away from Lily's inquisitive blue eyes for a moment. "It's nothing you need to worry about. But I promise you, I'll find her."

"It's the most important thing in the world to you, right?" Lily asked, her voice growing soft as she looked calmly at Blake.

Blake blinked for a moment, looking back towards the suddenly calm child in her lap. It still surprised her every time this happened. Sometimes, Lily would suddenly stop being a child, and this moment would happen where she seemed so much older than she really was, where her eyes were unfathomable as she'd seem to look straight into you. Blake gulped slightly, before schooling her face into a smile again. She reached out and patted Lily on the head.

"It's one of them, yes."

Lily nodded, seemingly satisfied as she slid off Blake's bed. She walked towards the door, her bare feet making no noise on the plush carpet, before she stopped at the door. Holding the handle in her hand, she turned around to look back at Blake again. "Blake?"

Blake had set her book down, deciding now was as good a time as any to go to sleep, but she turned back to look at Lily. "Yes?"

"When you find her…can I meet her?" Lily asked, her voice having fallen to a whisper.

Blake took a deep breath. She didn't know the right answer, know if it would be right for Lily to meet her. At least not at first, not until she found out why Ruby had disappeared. She opened her mouth to reply, but Lily beat her to it, shrugging. "It's ok. You don't have to answer that. Come say bye before you leave to find her please!" She called back as she shut the door behind her, her small form disappearing into the night. Blake stared at the door for a moment, before sighing. She clicked the lamp off, laying down, letting herself drift off.